by L A Walton
“Because Laci…whoever did this...they didn’t just mug her.”
“What the heck Amber, how is Marie Ann?”
After a moment of silence, Amber finally answered, “She’s dead.”
CHAPTER 6
It was raining. Black umbrellas were circled around the plot of Marie Ann Davis with the exception of one pink and white polka-dotted umbrella.
Dr. Laci Cummings looked at her friend Amber who mouthed the words, "Sorry...I couldn't find a black umbrella."
Normally Laci would have smiled but today she felt numb. Her friend was dead. She had been brutally murdered and the police didn't know who had committed such a disturbing crime. She had been robbed. Marie Ann wasn't rich so her life was essentially valued at a few hundred dollars. Laci was devastated. She looked over at Jacob Davis, Marie Ann's brother. He was sobbing. Laci inhaled a shaky breath. Jacob was a Navy Seal. He was probably the bravest man she knew and here he was...sobbing over the death of his sister. Amber and Kay looked pale and distraught, mirroring how Laci assumed she looked as well. When the preacher finally said the last few words of his prayer, family members and friends began to step forward and place red roses over her casket.
He stood behind an old weather-beaten tree...watching. Dr. Cummings looked upset. He smiled. He could hear the thumping of the rain splattering against his umbrella but he couldn't remove himself from the scene. This was his doing. His actions brought Laci to this cemetery. If he wanted, he could bring her here again. Maybe next time it would be her funeral. He chuckled and turned around. As he walked back to his car, he couldn't help but whistle at how wonderful the day was.
"We're all going to Marie Ann's apartment. Does no one but me think that's weird?" Amber asked.
"It is weird," Kay chimed in from the backseat of Laci's Benz.
"Jacob isn't from here so it makes sense to have it at her place. Besides, it'll be therapeutic for us to see her things, look at her pictures, that sort of thing."
"Will you stop your psychobabble Laci and get real? No amount of picture book looking is going to make this better." Kay was sitting in the back seat with her arms crossed and her eyes closed.
"I know that...it's just that this may be good for us. We all miss her."
"I miss her like crazy," Amber whispered, "Who is going to get their nails done with me from now on?"
"Stop it Amber. I know what you're trying to do," Kay said with her eyes still closed.
"What am I trying to do?"
"Get one of us to go with you to the manicure place where they insult you in Korean. No thank you!"
Amber rolled her eyes, "One of our friends was just buried and all you can do is make jokes? Don't you care at all?"
Kay opened her eyes and grimaced, "Of course I care! Why wouldn't I care? Just because I'm not crying every five minutes doesn't mean I'm not sad."
Amber was about to snap back at Kay, so Laci intervened, "Okay you two that's enough. We're here."
They walked to Marie Ann's apartment and were instructed to leave their umbrellas, rain jackets, and purses in the spare bedroom.
As they were walking out of the room, Laci overheard Jacob, Marie Ann's brother, "I still can't believe it. All she had was our grandmother's ring and maybe less than a hundred dollars on her. Why would anyone want to kill her for that?"
Laci remembered the ring Jacob spoke about. Marie Ann always wore it and even once said that she would be buried in it. That wasn't able to happen. Someone else took that choice from her. As the gathering was coming to an end, Laci felt her phone vibrating. It was a text from her brother Declan.
"When are you coming home?"
She responded, "Within thirty minutes."
"Okay. See you later freckle face."
"Okay Beanie Meanie!" she texted back.
She gave a faint smile as she thought of Declan. She was lucky that he was still with her unlike Jacob and Marie Ann. She gave Jacob her condolences and grabbed her purse and jacket from the spare bedroom. Her friends were already waiting for her beside her car. Laci dropped them both off before heading home.
"Declan!" she shouted into the house. She walked into the living room, "Declan?"
The house was silent. "That's strange. He said he would be home," Laci whispered to herself. She was about to step into the kitchen when a hooded figure jumped in front of her.
Laci screamed and grabbed a decorative glass statue she had in the hallway. She screamed again and hit the hooded figure in the face.
"Dammit Laci! That hurt!"
Laci looked down to see her brother Declan, wearing a too tight Spiderman costume.
She giggled which turned into outright laughter, "What are you doing?"
"I was trying to cheer you up," Declan removed his hood and began rubbing his face.
"Declan you wore that costume when you were eighteen...how are you able to fit into it at twenty-four?"
"Duct tape and determination."
Laci looked at her brother, "What did you just say?"
"You don't want to know."
Laci began laughing as she thought of her huge brother fitting himself into a tight costume just to cheer her up. She smiled and hugged her brother, "Thank you Declan for being such a great brother. You really did cheer me up."
"That's not all. Dinner is on me sis," Declan began ushering Laci out the door.
"Declan, you're still in that costume!"
"So?"
Laci laughed in response, "You're going to go out in public like that? Where did you even find it?"
"In the attic. I started cleaning it out so I can use it as a studio for my graphic designs." He put the hood back on and escorted Laci to his car.
"Sounds cool," Laci stifled a guffaw as the neighbors spotted her brother in his Spiderman costume. It was clearly too tight and he was walking very slowly so that he didn't rip the costume's cheap material.
"Where are we going?" Laci asked.
"The best place ever!"
Fifteen minutes later, they were waiting in the drive-thru of their local What-A-Burger, a fast food place.
"This is the best place ever?" Laci asked.
She laughed as Declan nodded in his Spiderman outfit. He pulled up to the drive thru and she continued to giggle as he ordered them two number fives all the way. She was in tears of laughter as he pulled up and the poor teenager that was working the window didn't know how to respond.
"That'll be twelve seventy-two sir," the pimpled teen mumbled.
"What? Superheroes don't eat for free?" Declan asked while Laci was looking out the passenger side window to stop herself from laughing.
"I could ask my manager," the teen said, clearly flustered.
"No need," Declan realized that he didn't have any pockets to put his wallet in.
"Typical!" Laci groaned, "Even Spiderman pulls this kind of trick to get out of paying." She handed him her debit card and he handed it to the cashier. On their way back home, Declan rolled down his window at a red intersection light. The young kids in the car next door to them kept banging their fists against the window to get his attention. Declan laughed and flicked them off. Laci gasped and hit her brother, who was driving, "Declan they're kids!"
"So?"
"So? You probably shattered their superhero dreams for life. What if they looked up to Spiderman?"
Declan shrugged, "They should learn early on in life that they have to look up to themselves not others."
"You're an idiot."
"Awww but sister, you have to love me anyway."
Laci was still laughing when they got home. Because of Declan, she had forgotten all about her grief from Marie Ann's passing...at least for the time being. As they came inside, Laci tossed her purse on the couch and followed her brother into the kitchen.
"I love you Declan."
"Eeew gross. We're just about to eat and you want to get all girly with me."
"Shut up. I'm serious. You're my brother and I love you so please...don't leave me like Marie Ann left
Jacob. He looked so broken up at the funeral."
They were quiet for a moment, "Laci. You're my sister and I love to give you a hard time but if anything ever happened to you...I would be devastated. I mean...who else would financially support me?"
"Please, you probably make more money than me."
Declan grinned as he bit into his burger, "Yeah I probably do. I'm in high demand sister. High demand."
Laci rolled her eyes. "You weren't supposed to agree with me. I'm a famous psychologist. I make more money, remember?"
Declan shrugged.
"Anyway, don't forget...you can't die on me first."
Declan laughed, "I don't make promises I can't keep." He got up to get some paper towels but accidentally tugged too hard on the dispenser, causing the roll of towels to fall to the ground. He bent over to pick it up when they both heard a loud ripping sound followed by Declan cursing.
Laci pounded the table in laughter.
"Don't even say it Laci!" Declan wrapped paper towels around his waist and slowly walked to his bedroom to change out of his Spiderman costume.
He groaned in embarrassment as he heard his sister shout behind him, "You should have used more duct tape!"
She was running late and slammed her purse in between the closing elevator doors.
"So we meet here again," Dr. Andrew Brett smiled at her.
"Yeah. I guess we do."
"I'm sorry about your friend."
"Uhmm...thanks. I'm still wrapping my mind around the whole thing."
"I got your message about doing a show on losing your loved ones in a relationship. I think it'll be great."
"Thanks. I prepared a list of books that I thought I could share with our listeners."
"Sounds great," Andrew smiled at Laci and they both walked to the office they were now sharing. Laci placed her purse on the desk she used and then left with Andrew to the sound booth.
"Where's your list of books?" Andrew asked about ten minutes after they had begun prepping for the show.
"Oh crap. I left it in my purse. Let me go get it. I'll be right back."
She sprinted to the office that they shared and bumped into a janitor who had a cap on and his face lowered as he was leaving her office, "Be careful miss."
"Oh sorry," she automatically responded, a little flustered to almost be run over by the giant waste bin he carted around.
She stepped into the office and a feeling of dread filled her. "What is up with me?" she asked herself. She spotted her purse sitting on her desk. A feeling of worry filled her, "You are a bad girl Laci Cummings," she said as she began checking her wallet to make sure her cards and money were still in place. She didn't know the janitor but she didn't want to take a chance that he may have gone through her purse that she left foolishly out in the open. Everything was in place. She rummaged through her purse for her list of books when something caught her eye.
She ran back outside of the room and down the hall but she didn't see the janitor.
"Laci? There you are! I've been looking for you. You need to hurry up and get back to the booth." George, her producer, was standing in the hallway, flagging her down.
"George, do you know where the janitor's office is at? I need to ask him a question."
"The janitor? I don't think they're here today. I think they only come in on the weekends. I don't know what cleaning issue you're having...but it can wait. Get back to the booth now!" George rushed back the way he came, leaving Laci alone in the hall while carrying her purse. She brought up her purse and pulled out the object that had caught her attention earlier. It was a ruby ring with small opals. She didn't know how it had been in her purse, but she knew, without a doubt...that it was her dead friend Marie Ann's ring.
CHAPTER 7
Officer Joe Bishop stared at Dr. Laci Cummings. She looked a bit shaken up but her story wasn’t making sense.
“So tell me again…you found this ring inside your purse?” he asked.
Laci softly counted to five before answering, “Yes. For the tenth time…it was in my purse.”
“And it may have belonged to your dead friend?”
His insensitive words caused her to scowl, “My friend that was recently murdered did own this ring. She wore it all the time.”
“So how did it get in your purse?”
“How would I know?” Laci gave an exasperated groan. “Isn’t it your job to figure that out?”
Officer Bishop smirked, “Okay Ms. Cummings-”
“Doctor Cummings,” she corrected him again. She suspected he was addressing her incorrectly on purpose.
"Doctor Cummings. Do you know anyone that would have killed Marie Ann Davis and would also want to hurt you?”
“No. Not a soul.”
“You said a man, a janitor, was coming out of your office. Did you get to see his face?”
“No. He was wearing a baseball cap and had his head down. He did have blonde hair though. I could see it coming out of his cap. George said the maintenance crew only comes in on the weekend so it seemed suspicious to see him.”
Officer Bishop nodded, “Did you notice any tattoos on him? Like perhaps a bald eagle on his left forearm?”
“That’s really specific. Ummm yeah. Now that I think of it, he did have a tattoo!”
“And he was wearing a gray uniform?”
"Yes!”
“Are you sure he only comes on the weekends?”
Laci gave a confused expression and followed the direction of Officer Bishop’ expression. Talking to another worker, was a male janitor. He was smiling and laughing.
“I guess I’m not too sure.”
“I’ll talk to the janitor. Is there anything else you want to tell me?”
Laci clenched her fists, “I really think you should check the ring for fingerprints. I’m telling you that someone is stalking me and maybe that person killed Marie Ann. How else would that ring get into my purse?”
Officer Bishop pursed his lips together, “That’s a very good question.”
Laci could see the look of skepticism on his face and it angered her. Did he think she was some crazy woman? Dr. Andrew Brett, her cohost came towards them.
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
He looked from Laci to Officer Bishop. They seemed to be having some kind of staring contest.
“Everything is fine here Dr. Brett,” Officer Bishop told Andrew.
Laci rolled her eyes at his ability to correctly address Andrew.
“Are you going to check the ring for fingerprints?”
“Yes. I will definitely be checking the ring for fingerprints.”
She sighed in relief, “Good.”
“Did you need anything else Officer?” Dr. Andrew asked.
“No, that’ll be it for now. I’ll go interview the janitor. Excuse me.”
Laci cursed under her breath.
“What was that?” Andrew asked.
She shook her head, “Nothing. It’s been a long day.”
“Hey you were great. I can’t believe you still did the show even though you were so shook up about the ring. Any other person wouldn’t have been able to do that.”
“I just thought that our topic tonight was important. Besides we also dedicated the show to Marie Ann tonight.”
“How are you holding up?”
“I’m fine. I just need to get home.”
Laci smiled as she left the building but something was bothering her. She had a nagging feeling that she couldn’t shake. She felt like someone was watching her. She walked out into the parking lot and looked around. It had gotten late. The parking lot was void of any people. She scrambled inside her purse for her keys which she held in between her fingers. Years ago, her brother had taught her to hold the keys between her fingers, so if someone came up to try and attack her, she could punch them and the keys would cause extra damage that her strength didn’t carry.
She could hear the traffic of the city surround her and one of the parking lot lights was f
lashing on and off. “This is like a scene from some scary movie,” she whispered as she heard the snap of her heels against the pavement. She got closer to her car and noticed a gold envelope behind one of her windshield wipers.
She froze. She was a few steps away from her car and she looked around. Nothing. She could still hear the steady hum of the nearby traffic. She took a step forward…and then another. She reached an unsteady hand out to the small red envelope as her hand with the keys tightened.
Suddenly, the sound of an alarm blasted through the air. Laci realized that she had accidentally hit the panic button of her own car which caused the lights to flash and the alarm to sound off. She fumbled with her keys to get it to turn off. Two quick beeps and it was off. She sighed and laughed at herself. She quickly grabbed the red envelope.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Laci turned around to see an old man standing in front of her. She smiled. It was Eric, the security guard. He wasn’t a very threatening figure but his job was to watch the parking lot.
“Hi Eric. It’s me Dr. Cummings. I accidently set my own alarm off.”
“What’s that in your hand? A wedding invitation?”
“Uh…no. Not quite.”
“Well hurry up and get home. It’s not safe for a lady to be out in the dark by herself.”
“I will. Thanks Eric.”
He nodded and began to walk away, when a thought occurred to Laci. “Hey Eric. Did you see anyone leave this note on my car?”
“No. I can’t say that I did.”
She felt disappointment but smiled at him anyway, “Okay…I just thought I would ask.”
“The security cameras might have caught it though.”
“Really? Can we check?”
“Sure, let’s go back to my office.”
She followed the old security guard with the wobbly gait to his office.
He flipped on some mini television screens and frowned.
“What’s wrong Eric?”
“My camera’s gone out. I’ve been training the new guy so I haven’t been watching the monitors in here. I’ll have to report this.”
