Zack leaned back against the door and looked down at his cup. He remembered Kate. I really do love her. So what am I doing here? I don’t even remember this woman’s name! I’m not this guy anymore! Meeting Kate has changed me; I’ve left one-night stands behind. “Maybe this was a mistake,” he said.
“What’s wrong? You married?”
“No, but”
She stood and came up to him. “Go on.” She pushed at the bottom of his cup as he lifted it to his lips and drank.
* * *
Shaking, sweating. Zack’s blurry vision began to clear and he turned his head to the side and threw up.
“Gross!”
Zack looked up at the huge breasts and the face of the naked brunette mounted on top of him where he was lying on the bed.
She rolled off him and onto her feet, standing next to the bed. “That’s nasty man. Just when I was starting to get into it.” She began searching the floor for her clothes. “Now the whole mood is gone. Sorry Cowboy.” With an armful of clothes and boots she disappeared into the bathroom.
Zack didn’t move. He laid there naked in the sweaty bed that smelled of vomit. He stared up at the popcorn ceiling. “What have I done?”
Chapter 24
Kate lay on top of her bed in the darkness, her sheet and blanket gathered at her feet. It wasn’t only the night heat that had kept her awake for the past several hours. As she tossed and turned on her bed, her hatred for Tommy flared up. She had finally met Mr. Right, and Tommy was ripping him away from her.
She swung her legs over and stood next to the bed. At the window, she looked down at the street below. The night creatures were out in numbers. Dozens of crickets chirped from places hidden to the human eye. A cat strolled across the street under the light of the corner street lamp.
She loved Zack a lot. Even if that love had blossomed within only a few short weeks, or maybe even within the first few days of meeting him, it was still very real. She remembered the flow of adrenaline she’d felt when he returned that next day to tell her he’d gotten the job and would be staying in town. At the time, she’d tried to ignore the feelings she had for this stranger, but now
Kate heard a soft knocking on the door and turned to see her mother poke her head inside.
“Kate?”
“Yes, Mom.”
Her mother slipped into her bedroom. She wore her old robe and a net covering her hair. “Is everything alright?”
Sitting back on her bed, Kate motioned for her mother to sit. As she looked around the room, her eyes keenly adjusted to the dim light.
“Things aren’t so good, Mom.” As her mother slid an arm over Kate’s shoulder, she continued. “Zack’s friend Max was attacked, and he’s lying in the hospital in a coma.”
“Oh, my dear. I’m so sorry.”
Kate leaned her head on her mother’s shoulder.
“How is Zack taking it?”
“Not well. He’s sure that Tommy and his friends are the ones who beat up Max. I’m afraid he might try to get revenge. I kind of told Zack that if he did anything stupid like go after Tommy, it was over between us.”
Was she really willing to give him up? Part of her attraction to him was how completely different he was from Tommy. Zack, unlike Tommy, was intelligent and handled himself in a controlled, civilized manner. He was sensitive and gentle, and he had integrity. Tommy, on the other hand, would be nice for a while, but he could change at any moment and do whatever he felt like doing, right or wrong. She wondered if he was bipolar or schizophrenic, or if he had some other mental disorder.
“Do you really think Zack would do that?” asked her mother.
“I don’t know. He was really upset.”
“Kate, his friend was just brutally attacked. Being upset and even angry is a natural reaction. Don’t you think?”
But she couldn’t stand to see Zack react with blind vengeance against Tommy. It would lower Zack to Tommy’s level, and might even get Zack hurt or killed. She’d had enough of that. She couldn’t stand having another reckless man in her life. It was better to give him up rather than to try to hold him back. She could get over him, if it came to that.
“But, Mom, I left Tommy because he was violent and couldn’t control himself. I can’t take another man like that.”
“Kate, I have only met Zack a few times, but I have a feeling about him. I’ve listened to the way you talk about him, and I’ve seen how you’ve had this glow about you since you started dating him. He’s special, Kate. I felt that the first time I met him.”
“Me, too.”
“So now you have to decide if you trust him and if you’ll support him. Honey, even good people make mistakes sometimes. If you care about them, you accept them as they are, and you forgive them.”
What should she do? Would he run off on every whim and do something stupid? Like Tommy? No, probably not.
Her mother was right, of course. She tried to look at the situation from Zack’s point of view. She wanted to understand. If someone had nearly beaten to death a friend of hers, and she knew full well who was responsible, wouldn’t she want immediate revenge? Especially if she knew that the sheriff was against her and would be of little or no help in getting to the truth? Of course she would. It had been so obvious, but her feelings for Zack’s welfare had clouded her mind. She couldn’t blame him.
“You’re right, Mom.”
“I’m going back to bed. It’s late. Try to get some sleep, sweetheart. Things will work out okay. Good night.” She stood, kissed Kate on the forehead, and left the room.
“Good night, Mom. And thanks.”
She lay back on the bed, her feet hanging over the side. She’d been too harsh and had shown Zack no support. She wondered where he was right then. Had he gone after Tommy? Had they fought?
Her mind spun with the possibilities of what might have happened. Zack could be lying in some ditch out in the countryside.
She swung her feet up onto the bed. Maybe he listened to me. Even though her mother’s words had convinced her that she should have shown Zack her support, she prayed that her threat had kept him from doing anything harsh. Still, when she saw him, she would apologize for her ultimatum. She had no right to tell him what to do. But still, she hoped he had listened.
In the darkness, as her fatigue started to overwhelm her, she said softly into the night, “I have a feeling that you listened to me, Zack. And that you didn’t do anything stupid.”
With that, she closed her eyes.
Chapter 25
Afew hours earlier
Sheriff Procter had been looking through his mail when his phone rang. He set down his retirement statement and reached for the phone.
“Hello?”
“Sheriff, it’s Arnie at the station.”
“This better be good for you to be calling me at this time of night.”
“Well, uh we got a call from Crestville Hospital. They say they admitted an assault victim. It’s that Max guy from the factory. You know, the retarded guy.”
“Really? What happened?”
“They said that Kate Jenkins and some guy named Zack Taylor brought him in. I guess they found him unconscious in his shack in the woods out by the factory. What do you want me to do?”
“I’ll take care of it. If they call or come in to report it, take their statements. I’ll go out to the house and check out the scene. We’ll get a team out there in the morning to take a closer look.”
“Okay, Sheriff.”
He hung up the phone and bent down to put on his shoes. Before leaving the house, he put his bank and retirement statements back in their envelopes and stuffed them into his desk drawer.
As he drove out of town, he wondered how he’d ever be able to retire. He didn’t want to be one of those poor lonely old men who sat around watching TV, waiting to die. But how could he afford to do anything else? Even now, he usually had to eat a brown-bag lunch because he couldn’t afford to eat at the diner more than a few tim
es a week. Once he retired, all he would have would be Social Security and a pension of a few hundred dollars. He’d heard the stories of old people choosing between food and medicine because they couldn’t afford both. Old ladies eating dog food. He sighed, disgusted at the thought.
Carol and he had had so many plans. They’d saved almost $100,000 and were going to travel through Europe once he retired. They had planned to buy a condo on a golf course in Florida. But then she’d gotten sick with lung cancer. Even though the doctors said that there was nothing they could do, he and Carol kept trying, getting second and third opinions, as their life savings had quickly disappeared. He’d even taken out a mortgage on their previously paid off house. Now he was 64, alone, and would retire to poverty and a pitiful, fixed income. Life hadn’t been fair to him. He was sick of this town, sick of loneliness, and sick of thinking about the miserable life that lay before him. He gave all of himself to this county, protecting these people, upholding justice, and for what? No one cared about his plight; no justice was shown to him.
He sighed and began looking for the turnoff. Along these country roads at night, it was tough to see the entrance to a small dirt trail leading into the woods. If he got to the factory, he knew he’d gone too far. The sheriff’s old, but still keen, eyes scanned the thick forest edge. Then he spotted an opening that looked like a dark cave entrance in this dim light. About a hundred feet farther, he turned off the road. He had found the path to Max’s shack.
Chapter 26
On Saturday, Zack awoke to a darkened and unfamiliar motel room dimly lit by tiny rays of light that had managed to fight through a gap in the tightly drawn curtains. His head ached, and he swore for the hundredth time that he’d quit drinking. He was no better than his drunken father had been. He felt ashamed. Even though he had had no intention of having sex with that woman, he’d put himself into a position where booze had taken over and there was no excuse.
He managed to take a shower, get dressed, check out of the motel, and drive back to Michaeltown.
He cut the engine after parking a half block down from the diner. As he got out and started up the sidewalk, he wondered what he was going to do or say. How would he be able to face Kate again?
All the tables and over half the stools were filled with noisy customers when he entered the diner. He had hit the weekend lunch rush. Back in Detroit, most families would pile in the station wagon and head for McDonald’s or Burger King. In Michaeltown, the diner was the only choice. Most of the town seemed to have turned out.
Zack walked around and took the far left stool next to the wall. Kate glanced at him, looked away, and then did a double take, adding a smile. She delivered the plates that she was carrying to their respective owners. Then she moved back behind the counter and headed toward Zack, still smiling.
But wasn’t she angry, thought Zack? Wasn’t she ready to forget me last night? And now, she smiles. He decided this wasn’t he time to tell her about the woman.
She stepped in front of him. “Zack, I want to--”
“Wait.” He raised his hand, cutting off her words. “Let me speak first. You were right about Tommy.”
Her mouth dropped open. “I was?”
“Yes, and I’ve decided to go to the sheriff. I swear that I didn’t go after him last night but got drunk and…” A pause hung in the air. “And passed out.”
Kate’s surprised expression changed back to a smile. “You didn’t?”
“I didn’t”
“And you’re going to the sheriff?” The guilt was killing him, but there was nothing he could do about it right then. He would tell her at the right time and place.
“I am. Right after I eat. I’m starved, as usual.”
She stepped closer and reached out, taking his hand. “If you wait until after the rush, I’ll go with you. A little moral support.”
Zack nodded in agreement and picked up a menu. “Deal.”
“And, Zack,” she said. “Thanks.”
As she started to turn away, he reached out and touched her arm. “Wait. What were you going to say before I interrupted you, anyway?”
“Oh, nothing,” she said with a shrug, going off to deliver more food.
---
They walked to the sheriff’s office an hour later. The same skinny sheriff who’d ticketed Zack on his first day in town sat behind a desk. He held a copy of Playboy sideways as he eyed the extended centerfold. When he spotted Kate, he quickly closed the magazine and stuffed it into a drawer.
“Sorry to interrupt you, Sheriff,” said Kate sarcastically.
Zack stepped up, saying, “Please, Kate, let me handle this. Okay?”
Kate looked down and took a step back.
“I heard you two have been going around together. Kate, you shouldn’t get tied up with these drifters. They’ll take off in the middle of the night, and you’ll never see ’em again.”
“Sheriff, I want to talk with you,” Zack said. “It’s about Max.”
“I know all about it. I checked out the house myself after you took him off to the hospital. They have to call the local police, you know.”
“Did you find anything?” asked Kate, stepping forward.
Zack stared at her and she faded back, taking his hint.
“No, I didn’t. I figure some drifters” He paused, looking at Zack. “Some drifters were looking to rob the place, but found Max instead, so they beat him up in the process.”
Zack sighed. “How would they ever find his house?”
“Happens all the time. They see a dirt road and figure they’ll find an empty cabin to break into. Only this time they found Max.”
“What about the money?” asked Zack.
“Money? What the hell you talking about, boy?”
“Max had over $10,000 hidden in his house. Did they get it?”
“Must have, ’cause it sure as hell ain’t there anymore. Exactly like I said, thievin’ drifters.”
The sheriff was willing to write it all off to some crazy theory, but Zack wouldn’t let that happen. “Sheriff, we think we know who did it.” Zack looked at Kate, then back at the sheriff. “Tommy Ray and his friends.”
“And what makes you think that?”
He explained what had happened that afternoon and how Tommy had it in for Zack, too, because of him and Kate.
“If you stole my girl, I’d be pretty pissed, too.”
“I’m not his girl!” Kate called out.
“Anyway,” Zack continued. “By beating up Max, he was also getting at me, because Max and I had become friends.”
“Let me get this straight.” The sheriff folded his arms across his chest and leaned back in his chair. “Tommy doesn’t like you because you stole his girl, and Max is your friend, so he nearly beats Max to death to get back at you.”
“That’s basically it.”
“Did you see him do it? Do you have any proof?”
“Well, no.”
“Did anyone see it happen?”
“Not that I know of, but there must be some kind of evidence.”
“Well, that’s where you’re wrong. I went over every inch of that place. There’s nothing.”
“What about tire tracks or fingerprints?”
“It poured rain that night. There were no tracks other than the ruts you made with your car. And fingerprints? We ain’t the FBI. This is a small town, not Detroit.”
“Couldn’t you bring in some outside help? There may be $10,000 missing here. The state police, maybe?”
“A whole team went over the place again this morning and checked everything. There sure as hell wasn’t any money. And there wasn’t any evidence that would prove Tommy or any other specific person committed the crime. We take care of ourselves in this county. I bet we’d find your finger prints out there. Shit maybe you should be the number one suspect. Also, I find it hard to believe that that simple-minded son of a bitch had that kind of money tucked away under a damn mattress. Besides, we don’t need a bunch of str
angers running around here askin’ all sorts of questions. Boy, you watch too many TV movies. In real life crimes go unsolved all the time.”
Zack smelled smoke and turned to find Kate puffing on a cigarette. He turned back to the sheriff. “Will you check this out further? Find out where Tommy was that night? Please?” he asked, trying to stay calm. He hated having to play along with this man who obviously couldn’t have cared less. “If you want proof that there was money, ask the bank. I tried to get Max to deposit the money that day, but he wouldn’t do it.”
“I’ll check it out.”
Zack turned away, exasperated. “Let’s get out of here.” They went out and down the street to Zack’s car. As he opened his door, he spotted them across the street. Tommy and his four friends watched him from the truck. When they saw Zack looking at them, their eyes turned away, and they pretended to talk amongst themselves.
Zack knew now that they would be watching him. What would they do? He supposed they felt safe for now. They had covered up their crime well. Zack had no proof, and the sheriff wasn’t going to be much help. He had promised Kate that he’d give the sheriff a chance, and he would keep his promise. But after that
“Zack,” said Kate, leaning across the top of the car from the sidewalk. “What are you thinking?”
“I was just thinking that I’ll give the sheriff time to do his job. That’s all.”
“He wasn’t always like that,” said Kate.
“What do you mean?”
“I remember when we were in high school; we all liked the sheriff. He was a nice guy. One time he caught us drinking beer out at the lake, and all he did was pour it out in front of us, give us a warning, and let us go. He didn’t even tell out parents. Ever since his wife died, he’s been different. They say he blew almost all of his retirement savings for her treatment. They even flew out to California. She seemed fine, and then, a few months later, she was gone. Lung cancer. After that, he changed.”
Kentucky Murders: A Small Town Murder Mystery Page 10
