“You all knew what kind of man Olin was, and still is, and yet each of you is not any better than him, worse maybe, because you let the love of money and power override morals and standards, kindness and sympathy to another human being’s suffering. The only one of you that has any resemblance to a caring human spirit is Carl, and that is simply because he wasn’t here that night and didn’t know. But had you known, Carl, what would you have done?” she whirled around, staring at Carl as he hung his head in shame, knowing the answer to her question. “Most likely, it would be the same thing that you have done in the past: nothing. You throw money at the broken souls that Olin has trampled on and then wash your hands of it, thinking of them no more once they are out of your sight! But do any of you really understand how being tossed aside for the love of money damages a person’s psyche? Do any of you heartless bastards understand what he did to me that night? That evening shattered me on the inside as my life was made a mockery of, my agonizing pain ignored by each of you, my shame and humiliation just swept under your fine, overpriced and gaudy rugs. What you all did to me is just wrong on so many levels. Well, today, that ends.” And with the snap of her wrist, the screen above her changed over to six, live feed images. Nicole was the first to speak.
“What do you want from us Audra?” Nicole said, her voice barely a whisper as she turned her ashen face to Audra and then up to the screen. “Wait, is that Eric’s house?”
“Accountability for your deplorable actions, Nicole, and for all of you to see, maybe for the first time, what damage these selfish actions can cause to others. I want each of you to feel that same gut-wrenching shame and sorrow, that deep down, primal fear that I felt that night as I feared for my life while my naiveté was ripped from me, forever embedded in that rug. And yes, it is Eric’s house. I have couriers spread throughout the city, one at each of your homes, one at each of the three local news stations, all with a package containing every single hidden thing you all have done, just waiting to deliver them. Nicole, I’m sure that Eric’s wife would enjoy seeing the pictures of you two fucking in your apartment, the one she knows nothing about. And for her reading pleasure, the package also includes copies of all of your loving email exchanges with Eric over the years that include all the hateful and demeaning things you two have said about her.
“Eric, I’m sure your lovely wife would be shocked that you are still so limber and such a great liar for all those nights and weekends that you were ‘at work.’ She would also be surprised to know that your knee had healed well enough to keep you hopping between not one, but two, mistresses, as your package contains the same shots of your newest play toy, as well as a copy of the mortgage that you paid off for her. Oh, and Kevin, you actually have couriers at two locations: one at your house and one at your troop leader’s house. I can’t imagine that you would be able to retain the title of ‘Scoutmaster’ when he opens his package, and I’m confident that your wife will have some very interesting words for you after seeing that she is, well, sort of a mother by proxy again, at her age.”
“You sorry bitch!” Nicole screamed, her face almost burgundy as the blood of shame and fury rushed into her cheeks, her long, bony fingers curling around the cigarette that she had dug out of her purse, not giving a fuck that she was indoors or who saw her smoke it as she lit up.
Audra ignored her, glanced down at her phone in her hand and said, “You have exactly three minutes to vote me in and sign the agreement before each courier makes their deliveries. You better hurry, because it will take at least two minutes for me to contact them all and let them know they are to return without dropping their bombs at their intended targets. Nicole, thank you for being first. Who’s next?”
Kevin was the second to sign as his shaking hand snatched the pen up quickly, and he scrawled his barely legible signature on the paper and then passed it over to Eric. Eric tried to exchange glances with Nicole, but she wouldn’t even look his way. He knew he had been backed into a corner by Audra and had no choice but to sign. It was either sign or be forced to endure not only public humiliation, but a trip to the cleaners by his wife. Robert leaned over the table and signed as well, thankful that someone, anyone other than Olin, now ran the firm. Carl, the last one, walked slowly over to stand by Robert, signed his name, and then picked the paper up and handed it silently to Audra, his eyes full of tears as he really looked at her for the first time in years, seeing the shell of a once vibrant woman staring back at him with eyes full of anger and sorrow, as well as a bit of triumph. He could see behind her eyes the depth of the pain she had borne, and his heart felt heavy with guilt. She took the paper from him and said, “Please open the door.”
Audra hit “send” on her phone just as Carl was unlocking the door. As she did, the screen behind her simultaneously went blank again, and she placed the signed agreement into her briefcase, locking it quickly.
“Did you send the text to call them all off?” Kevin said, his voice almost as high as Nicole’s had been earlier, his nerves completely shattered and heart pounding dangerously fast in his chest.
Audra just looked at him and said nothing, enjoying the look and smell of fear that was emanating from all of them. She had finally eviscerated the body of the snake, letting its bloody sins splash onto the table. Now it was time for the poisonous head to be lopped off.
Carl had reached the door and unlocked it, and as soon as the “click” was heard, four uniformed police officers and three detectives burst in. Immediately, the uniformed ones spread out in pairs, taking their place next to Olin and to Robert, and two of the detectives stood on either side of Audra. The remaining one stood at the door.
“Ms. Tanner, I assume you have everything you need?” he said, stepping aside as Gabrielle walked back into the room.
“Yes, Detective Ronson, I do. Gabrielle, will you please mind this for me, and make sure that Agent Fitzgerald receives a copy?” Audra said, handing Gabrielle her locked briefcase. “But first, please, stay. I think you will be glad that you did.”
Olin, who had been enjoying watching the sins of everyone else in the room become the focus of the day rather than his own, suddenly felt light-headed. He tried, one last time, to take control of the room. “What the fuck is going on here? I resigned! And without taking any money! Isn’t that what you wanted, Audra?” he said, glaring at Audra, unable to hide the rising dread behind his eyes.
And with that, the video monitor came on one last time, displaying the grainy image, taken decades ago, of a young girl, smiling sweetly from her high school yearbook.
“Oh, dear God!” Robert said, his knees buckling underneath him as he collapsed. The officer to his left grabbed his arm before he hit the floor and helped him to the chair next to him.
Olin leapt out of his seat, screaming, “What the fuck is going on here?”
“Judgment day, Olin,” Robert said, his voice low and thick as his head sank down, his chin almost touching his chest. “Judgment day.”
“Shut up, you stupid motherfucker! Shut up!” Olin hissed, all of his decorum and humanity gone, his eyes wild with anger and fright. He lunged for Audra, screaming, “You bitch! I’ll kill you!” Olin didn’t make it far for the two officers snagged his arms behind him and immediately cuffed him, throwing him roughly back into his chair.
“What…what the hell is going on here, Audra? Who is that?” Nicole said, her voice cracking under the strain of the day, as well as the full pack of cigarettes that she had almost finished off in less than ten minutes. “And why are they here?” she said, motioning to the cops.
Audra turned her face to the screen and said, “This is Gina Milligan. She was only a sophomore at Tech when she met Olin and Robert the night Robert passed his last final exam before graduation. She met them at Cowboy Joe’s Bar in Summerset, and was never seen again.”
“Oh, my God…” came Carl’s voice from the back of the room.
“So what? We danced with some broad at a bar years ago? We told the cops that back then
!” Olin said, the fear in his voice noticeable to the entire room. None of the other partners had ever seen Olin upset, much less scared, and his panic was migrating over to them as it almost visibly exuded from his skin. “We can’t help it if she ran away from home after!”
“Olin, stop the lies! Stop them!” Robert bellowed from his chair, his face stone white and his eyes brimmed with tears. “We did it, and you know it!”
“Shut up, you ignorant farmer!” Olin screamed, squirming in the chair as he tried desperately to free his arms of his handcuffs and the grip of the officers that held him tightly in his seat. “Say no more!”
Robert raised his head up from resting on his arms, his eyes full of sadness, tears and regret from years of trying to keep the memory of that night buried under just as much booze in his mind as there was dirt on Gina’s grave. He stared off into space as he began to excavate the memory he never wanted to recall.
“No, it’s time, Olin. Time to exorcise this demon.”
“SHE WAS SO BEAUTIFUL,” Robert began, his eyes staring into the farthest recesses of his mind as he finally watched the replay of that wretched night that he had locked away so long ago. “She had the longest blonde hair I’d ever seen, almost to her butt. It was the color of flax and flowed behind her when she moved, like a running horse’s mane in slow motion. When she walked in the door that night, every man, including me and Olin, just stared at her in awe of her exquisiteness. It was like a scene from a movie.
“She had on a tight pair of Wranglers, a white t-shirt with no bra, and a smile the size of Texas. She had this energy that just lit the room up when she came in—almost electrical.”
“Shut up, Robert!” Olin hissed through clenched jaws. Robert just ignored him, utterly lost in the memory of that night.
“Olin headed straight toward her at the bar and sat down and started talking to her. We were pretty smashed by then because I think it was after midnight when she came in, and we had been drinking for hours, celebrating my test score and toasting his tutoring capabilities. I remember being irritated that Olin would just assume she would be interested in a slick, city boy like him, rather than a cowboy like me. It was obvious that she wasn’t a city girl by the way she wore her boots and hat.
“I knew my chances were shot once Olin started talking to her. I had watched Olin seduce countless women over the months I had known him, so I went back to playing pool and took a few more shots of bourbon. Then there was this loud ‘slap’ that reverberated throughout the whole place; the jukebox suddenly stopped and everyone turned to look to see what was going on. Olin was holding his cheek where she had just slapped the fire out of him. Funny,” Robert said, looking over at Olin for the first time, “I never did ask you what you said to make her so angry.”
Olin just stared and said nothing, his eyes both threatening and pleading with Robert to shut up.
“I was afraid, knowing Olin’s temper, that he would hit her back, so I decided to stop him before he did. I guess, in the back of my mind, I knew he was capable of releasing a violent streak because I didn’t put down the pool stick, even though I’d never really seen him hurt anyone before. He was yelling at her when I got to the bar, so I grabbed his arm and spun him around, telling him to let it go and that we needed to leave. He had a big red mark across his cheek, and he was infuriated. But something in his eyes, some expression I’d never seen before, made me back up a bit and raise the stick, and for a few seconds, we just stood there, toe to toe, each of us waiting to see what the other was going to do.
“Then the expression on his face shifted back to normal, and he laughed out loud as that fake smile of his filled his face, and he turned to Gina and said, ‘I’m sorry if I offended you, ma’am. Please, have a drink on me with my friend here. Let me introduce you to your knight in shining armor, Robert.’ And then he threw a twenty on the bar and walked outside. I really didn’t know what to do at that point because I was pretty drunk already, but Gina just smiled, her lovely green eyes staring up at me like I was a hero or something and patted the stool next to her. I sat down, and we started talking. She was the sweetest thing! She had grown up on a farm just like I had, and our love for animals kept us chatting for quite a while. Two hours later, we were still sitting at the bar, both of us hammered, but I was even worse, when we realized that most everyone had left.
“It never occurred to me to look for Olin because I was so enamored by her Southern charm that I could think of nothing else. She was like this delicate yet hardy flower, sweet smelling and radiant. I just wanted to gently pick up and put in my pocket and keep anything from damaging her, but she was the one who took care of me. Because I was so drunk, when I stood up, I tripped and fell onto the hardwood floor. I landed on my left side, arm underneath me, and felt my bones in my left hand crack. I knew I should be hurting, but I just laughed. That small creature helped me stand up and make it out to her car, intent on driving me home. I remember feeling a bit annoyed at that because I was the one that was supposed to take care of her, not the other way around.
“I remember leaning against the passenger door of her car, mumbling that I needed to take her home and her telling me she would be my white knight for the evening, laughing as she said it in that sweet, tinkling bell voice of hers. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Olin was there, standing in between us, taking over as he always did. He came up on us so fast; he must have been hiding outside in the parking lot the entire time, just waiting for us to come out. Gina got defensive, insisting that she could take care of me herself, but Olin talked her out of it, telling her that he wasn’t as drunk as the both of us, and that he would feel better if he drove us all home.
“I saw the look of doubt in her eyes, but in the end, his valid argument about driving drunk won out, and she relented. Her car was small, so Olin decided that we should take my truck. They each took one of my arms and helped pour me into the back seat, and I must have passed out because the next thing I remember, I woke up alone in the front seat in the darkness, surrounded by nothing but tall pine trees…and the truck was rocking.”
Robert paused, sucked in a huge breath, and turned his focus directly to Olin.
“I couldn’t believe my eyes when I looked out the back window and saw you on top of her! It was me she liked, not you! For God’s sake, she had slapped you less than three hours prior! Then I realized that she was writhing and squirming underneath you, and I heard her screams and her cries for help, begging you to stop. When I realized what you were really doing to her, I couldn’t get out of the truck fast enough. I tripped over a tree trunk in the dark and fell, and realized I was naked as my thigh was gouged open by a sharp rock. I was so shocked and confused, my mind still swimming in all the booze I had drunk earlier, that all I could think about was what you were doing to her and why the hell was I naked, too?
“Before I could get my feet under me and stand back up, I heard her sobbing, begging over and over, ‘Please, no!’ And then I heard Olin say, ‘No bitch hits me and gets away with it.’ Then I heard the sickening crack, and then the deafening silence,” Robert said, the anger and disgust seeping out of him with every word. Openly sobbing now, he looked away from Olin over to Audra, eyes pleading for understanding and forgiveness. “I knew that sound from years of raising animals on a farm. I tried to stop him….I did! But it was too late. He snapped her neck before I could reach her.”
Audra just stared at him, her expression hiding the disgust and all-consuming anger that flowed freely through her being. The room was as silent as a grave as each person there was also entranced by Robert’s story. Even the cold-hearted Nicole had a few tears running down her normally stony face.
“I froze when I heard the sound of her fragile neck breaking, knowing there was nothing I could do any longer to save her. Olin laughed and said, ‘Guess you rode up on your horse too late, Mr. Knight in Shining Armor, eh?’ That snapped me out of my drunken, shocked stupor, and I lunged for him in the back of the truck, screaming, calling him every
filthy, wretched name I could think of. Olin ducked, and I missed, and I slipped in her blood and fell on top of Gina’s body.” Robert shuddered and closed his eyes at the memory as he continued.
“That’s when Olin said, ‘Now your fibers and her blood are all intermingled, so if you kill me, how are you going to explain both of our deaths to the police? Work with me Robert, and we will walk away from this free and clear.’ His voice was so calm, almost casual, like he was just having a discussion with a stranger about the weather. It was completely surreal. I remember jumping up off of Gina’s still warm body, looking down at her and seeing blood trickling down her chin and chest, her jade green eyes forever locked in fear, her face contorted in pain and blood pooling between her legs. My delicate little flower was broken, her petals crushed in the back of my truck by the hands of a monster.
“I believe I sort of went catatonic at that point; I was unable to muster a coherent thought or action. I just sat there, staring at her matted, golden hair as Olin jumped out of the bed of the truck and started talking, asking me if I had anything to use to dig a grave with or any duct tape or a tarp to cover her with. I never moved or answered him; I was frozen in that moment and couldn’t pull my eyes away from my Gina’s still ones. I couldn’t stand looking at them anymore, so I reached over and gently closed them.
Eviscerating the Snake - The Complete Trilogy Page 12
