by Tim Kizer
He should check her cell for pictures or videos of Don. He would do it at home.
CHAPTER 5
1.
As he drove back to the highway, Richard asked himself what he was going to do with Mary’s car. It was too risky to leave it here: the police would search the area with corpse-sniffing dogs, and odds were they would find Mary’s body. He needed to move the car. The question was: how? He saw two options. He could tow the Altima, or he could drive it someplace and then return to his rental car on foot or by cab. He was leaning toward the second option. Now he had to decide how far he was going to move the car.
When Richard got to the highway, a surprise, which was both pleasant and bad, was awaiting him. Mary’s car was gone. He immediately recalled that he had left Mary’s car key in the ignition. He felt upset for the first few seconds, but then he realized that he didn’t have to deal with the problem of moving the Altima anymore.
Who had stolen the car? Richard figured it must be some bored dumbass kid with nothing better to do. Hopefully, he would dump it somewhere in Oregon or have it disassembled for parts.
He had driven for about five minutes when the car began to vibrate and he heard a thumping noise. Suspecting a flat tire, Richard pulled over to the side of the road and got out of the car. He turned out to be right: the right front tire was flat. He opened the trunk of the Corolla and took out the spare tire. He was relieved to find that neither a jack nor a lug wrench was missing. He grabbed the tools and shut the trunk lid.
2.
"Are you headed for Bellevue?" a woman’s voice asked.
The sound of the voice startled Richard. The fact that he hadn't noticed a stranger approaching him made him uneasy. Damn, he had lost his vigilance. He turned his head to look at the woman. He wouldn’t call her hot, but she wasn’t homely, either. It was too dark to make a reliable judgment, though.
"Pardon me?" he said to buy some time.
"Are you headed for Bellevue?" the woman asked.
Richard slipped the wrench over the lug nut, and replied, "I’m going to Mill Creek." Then he started tightening the nut.
"That’s great! I live in Bothell. Could you give me a lift to Mill Creek? It's getting really late. I've been standing here for almost an hour.” After a short pause she added, “And I don’t have a cellphone with me.”
“What happened?” Richard moved on to the next lug nut.
“I got carjacked. Can you believe it?" The woman chuckled nervously.
"Carjacked? I can sure believe that. I’m sorry about your car.”
"He asked me to give him a ride... I was on my way home from my cousin Loretta’s place. She lives in Granite Falls, it’s about eight miles from here. I saw that guy on the side of the road; he was flagging down cars. I decided to help him.”
“Didn’t your parents teach you not to pick up hitchhikers?”
“He looked decent. He didn’t seem dangerous at all.”
Richard laid the wrench on the ground and lowered the jack a few notches. “You know what they say: don’t judge a book by its cover.” He picked up the wrench.
"So he asked me to give him a ride to Seattle, I told him I could drop him off in Lynnwood, he got in the car and then pulled out a gun. Then he pushed me out and drove away."
“A gun? That’s serious.”
It crossed his mind that it was a full moon tonight. People get crazy—or crazier—during a full moon, that was a well-known fact.
Richard tightened the lug nuts some more and then wiped the sweat off his forehead with his handkerchief. “Do you have full coverage insurance? I doubt they’ll ever find your car.”
A stranger with a gun. A deserted road. A full moon.
This woman must have peed her panties with terror.
“Yes, I do. And you’re right. Even if they find it, it will probably be all wrecked up.” As Richard removed the jack from under the car, the woman said, “If you can’t give me a lift, maybe you could let me use your cellphone. I’ll call my cousin and ask her to come pick me up.”
“I’ll be happy to help you.” Richard stood up. “What’s your name? I’m Richard.”
“Kathy. Thank you very much, Richard.”
“Just promise not to stick a gun in my face, okay?” He laughed. Kathy giggled quietly. After putting the wrench and the jack back in the trunk, Richard used his handkerchief to wipe his hands. “Get in.” He motioned Kathy to take the front passenger seat.
“I really appreciate it,” Kathy said when he climbed in behind the wheel.
“No problem.” Richard switched on the ignition.
Kathy had a pleasant face: plump pink cheeks, gray almond eyes, a small symmetrical nose, smooth skin. She had some extra weight on her, but she was far from being chubby. She appeared to be in her mid-thirties. Richard noted that she wasn’t wearing a wedding ring.
What would her reaction be if he told her what he had just done to Mary’s body?
“I guess that’s a lesson you’ll never forget,” he said as he drove onto the road.
3.
He told her that he was driving home from Lake Stevens.
"It’s a good place to relax,” he said. “I don’t go there very often, though."
“Do you like fishing?”
“Yeah.”
“Me, too.”
Then Kathy told Richard her address. It turned out that she lived about six miles from him. When he announced this fact to Kathy, she became visibly excited.
“We’re practically neighbors,” she said. “Do you talk to your neighbors?”
“To some of them.”
“Nowadays everyone’s so busy. We don’t talk to each other anymore. We hide in our homes like snails in their shells. I don’t think it's right. People need to stop being so isolated. We need to be more interested in each other’s lives."
She couldn’t take her eyes off Richard and seemed to be itching to hug him and kiss him with her plump red lips. She promised to pay Richard a visit in the next few days. Out of politeness, Richard gave Kathy his cellphone number and said that she was welcome to come over for a coffee. She managed to get him to confess that he was married. She told him about her mother, who lived with her; about her sister, who was raising three children; about her ex-husband, whom she had divorced ten years ago. Richard was glad that Kathy was talking like a chatterbox, allowing him to be silent and think about things important to him.
Of course it would have been safer if he hadn't picked up this woman, but odds were that she was going to forget about him by tomorrow morning, if not sooner. Her mind must be preoccupied with the guy who had stolen her car.
Richard dropped Kathy off at her house. As she got out of the car, Kathy said, "It was nice meeting you, Richard. I hope we become friends."
Before heading for Mill Creek, Richard drove to the Downtown Shopping Center in Woodinville. There, he found a Dumpster and deposited Mary’s gun in it, having wiped off his fingerprints. As soon as he arrived home, he looked through the photos on Mary’s cellphone. To his disappointment, he found no pictures of strange men. There were no videos on Mary’s cell. When he was finished searching the phone, he broke it apart, using a hammer and a screwdriver. Out of caution, he decided to throw the pieces in a Dumpster in Everett.
4.
The next morning Richard went to a hardware store and bought two new locks for the front door. Even though chances were that the person who had stolen Mary’s car was not going to rob his house, he decided to change the locks just in case. If the police ever asked him why he had changed the locks, he would tell them he had lost his keys. The locksmith came at half past two and finished the job around four.
After the locksmith left, he drove to Lynnwood and threw the pieces of Mary’s cellphone in a trash container behind a small strip mall.
Richard elected to eat dinner at Alexander’s again today. He wasn’t in the mood to cook. As a matter of fact, he was rarely in the mood to cook. Before he left for the restaurant, he took o
ut his secret box, where he kept his disguise paraphernalia, which consisted of wigs, fake moustaches, fake beards, and eyeglasses. Within half an hour, he transformed himself into an elderly bespectacled man with gray hair and moustache. He was pleased to note that he hadn't lost his disguise skills.
Fifteen minutes after his arrival at the restaurant, Richard told himself that he should eat here on a regular basis. The food was delicious, there was no excessive noise, and the interior decor was tasteful and relaxing. And then he saw the woman he had given a ride to last night. He recognized her almost at once and hurried to turn away so that she wouldn't notice him. To Richard's chagrin, the woman took a table close to his. He caught himself thinking that he didn't want to talk to her at all. The problem was, he would have to do it if she saw him. Then it occurred to him that he forgot the woman’s name.
After he swallowed another spoonful of mashed potatoes, Richard, consumed by impatience and curiosity, turned his head back to look at the woman. His stomach twisted when he saw that the woman was staring at him with interest. Richard immediately assumed his original posture.
Why the hell was she looking at him? She wasn’t doing it out of idle curiosity, that was what he thought. She must be up to something.
Richard put a piece of beef in his mouth and started chewing slowly. He could feel Kathy’s eyes drilling his back. He scanned the table, searching for a reflective surface that could provide a more or less clear view of the woman. Unfortunately, he found nothing that met his needs.
He began turning his head to his left, trying to catch Kathy in his peripheral vision. To his horror, he saw her rise from the table and head towards him.
"Richard, I'm so glad to see you," she said when their glances crossed.
“Oh, hello,” he replied.
An enthusiastic smile on her face, Kathy sat down on the chair opposite Richard.
"I’m really glad to see you,” she said.
Richard stared at her lips and smiled, saying nothing.
He found it amusing that she wanted to make contact with him. The question was why.
Blackmail. She was going to blackmail him.
What could she blackmail him over? What could she know? What could she have seen?
Kathy knew that he had been on the Granite Falls Highway the night Mary had gone missing. If Mary’s body was ever found, she could potentially put him in prison by sharing this information with the police.
Could she have seen the altercation he and Mary had had on the side of the road? Richard thought that it was not impossible. Yes, he had picked her up a few miles from the place where the fight had occurred. But could he be sure that she had been carjacked where he had first met her? No, he couldn’t. He had spent almost two hours taking care of Mary’s body. An average person could walk at least three miles in two hours.
Would he believe Kathy if she said that she’d been carjacked where he’d picked her up? No, he wouldn’t.
Could she have seen him bury Mary? No, it was impossible. In order to do it, she would have had to follow him into the woods. No sane woman would go after a man carrying a body into a dark forest.
Kathy called over the waiter and ordered lemon herb salmon and a garden-fresh salad. Then she shifted her look to Richard, her eyes full of warmth.
"You know, I recognized you as soon as I saw you." She laced her pale smooth hands together on the table in front of her. "Do you come here often?"
Richard kept chewing, focused on figuring out whether Kathy was a threat in any way to him.
"Every now and then," he answered at last.
"Do you still remember my name?"
"Yes. Kathy, right?"
Kathy’s mouth stretched in a wide grin. "Yes," she said, nodding.
"What about your car? Did you report it stolen yet?"
"Yes, I did. We’ll see what happens." Kathy began twirling her thumbs. "Anyway, I don’t miss that car. It was seven years old, so… Maybe it’s a sign. Maybe the Universe is telling me it’s time to get another car."
After the waiter brought the salad, Kathy said, "I eat here once or twice a week. I usually come around five, but today I went to the mall with my sister. I told you about her. Her name’s Mona. I think it's a stupid name." She smiled. “I didn’t buy anything, and Mona bought a pair of shoes.”
Looking at her lips, Richard thought to himself that she had put on too much lipstick.
"Who cooks for you at home?" Kathy asked. "Your wife?"
Richard had a feeling that this was a roundabout way of asking if he was married. Kathy must have seen his wedding ring and decided to confirm if the wife was still in the picture.
"Yes, my wife."
"Why did you come here alone?"
Richard had expected this question and had already prepared a plausible answer.
"My wife’s visiting her relatives.”
If he had told Kathy that Mary had gone missing, she would have probably become emotional and dramatic; Richard preferred to eat in a drama-free environment.
“You don’t like to cook?”
“I can’t cook. My mother used to tell me that men were the best cooks, but for some reason that never inspired me to learn."
"I know the reason. You must be too lazy for this.” Kathy smiled.
“Maybe you’re right."
The waiter brought Kathy her lemon herb salmon, and she thanked him.
"Do you love your wife?" Kathy asked cautiously as she cut out a piece of salmon. "I mean, do you really love her?"
Richard's hand holding the fork froze in mid-air. He gave the woman a studying look. Why had she asked this question? Did she really suspect something? Or was it just curiosity?
She could be a marriage counselor looking for new clients.
"Of course I love my wife," he said in a confident voice. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have married her."
Why had she asked about that? It was not the kind of thing people that barely knew each other talked about. They had only met once before, yet she thought it was a good idea to inquire about his feelings for his wife. In Richard’s opinion, her behavior was inappropriate. At the same time he didn’t rule out that nosiness was common among middle-aged women nowadays.
Kathy creased her forehead, and said, “I guess it was a stupid question. I’m sorry, Richard.”
"No, no, it’s all right.” Richard withdrew his wallet from his pants pocket. “It was nice talking to you, Kathy. Have a good night." He waved to the waiter and asked for the check. Kathy asked for the check, too. Richard felt a pang of annoyance; he believed he knew what would happen next.
"I'm going home, too.” Kathy looked out the window. "Seems like it started raining.”
Richard squinted at the window. Kathy was right, it was actually raining outside.
Fearing that she was going to impose herself on him, Richard glanced at the check, hastily pulled three ten-dollar bills from his wallet, and gave them to the waiter. Kathy paid her bill, too, and rose from the chair.
"Did you drive here?" She took him by the elbow. "If it weren’t for the rain, I would walk home." She smiled. It was obvious what she wanted him to say. He wondered what the chances were of the rain stopping when they walked out of the restaurant.
"You know what." Richard got up. "Let me give you a lift."
"You’ll do that for me? Thank you so much, Richard. You rescued me again! I hate rains. They’re so cold and wet." Kathy kissed him on the cheek.
5.
Richard got out of his car and headed for the master bedroom. He was boiling with anger over the damn rain, because of which he had had to give Kathy a ride home. He was pissed off that he had to be polite with Kathy, that he couldn’t have refused to give her the fucking ride.
He filled the tub with hot water and eased into it. There was nothing like a hot tub to relax him.
Why did Kathy poke her nose in his business? Why was she trying to worm her way into his confidence?
Her importunity and candidness were
astonishing. Why did she find it necessary to tell a stranger her stupid life story? Why did she think he was interested to hear about her family? What the hell was wrong with her?
Richard had three theories on that score. First, Kathy was insane. Second, she simply had a quirky personality. And third, she was pursuing a certain goal.
Anyway, he was not going to worry about it. Kathy wasn’t smart enough to outwit him. She was just a blip on the radar. She’d be gone from his life before he knew it.
6.
How long did men typically wait before reporting a missing wife? One day? Two? Three?
After giving the matter some thought, Richard decided to file the report this Wednesday.
Before he went to bed, Richard spent an hour searching Mary's closet and dresser. He reckoned there was a chance he’d find something interesting. Some clue. Now that Mary was not around to yell at him, he could rummage through her stuff with impunity.
He started with the closet. He methodically searched every pocket of every dress, jacket, blouse, shirt, and pair of pants, but all he found was a couple of store receipts and four dollar bills. Then he moved on to the dresser. He pulled the drawers all the way out and combed through their contents, leaving nothing unturned. He got lucky on the third drawer. There was a sixteen-gigabyte memory card under Mary’s folded panties in the corner of the drawer. When he examined the files stored on the card, he realized that he had hit the jackpot. The memory card contained five photos of Mary’s lover.
How did he know that it was Don and not some other guy?
The images were located in the folder named ‘Don.’
Four photos had been taken indoors and one near a beach. Also in the folder was a picture of Don and Mary standing in front of the Space Needle. The oldest photo had been snapped in March.
Don was pretty young. He appeared to be in his late twenties. Richard had never known Mary liked guys who were younger than her.
