by Roger Hayden
Both Mary and Curtis listened in disbelief. Bob’s tall tale had failed to convince her just yet, as there was no evidence of any of it.
“You hit one step on your way down, bumping your head. You could have very easily died that day, but you stopped mid-fall. Your parents rushed to the stairs in hysterics with Jerome, the Realtor, and saw you levitating in the air, unconscious, floating safely to the ground in front of their astounded eyes.”
Bob paused, taking a deep breath. “They never purchased the mansion, of course, and the next day, you had no memory of the incident or of the mansion at all.”
“How do you know this?” she said in a loud accusatory tone.
“Word gets around. On the day of your parents’ tour, the mayor later arrived just to welcome them to town. But he wasn’t there to simply welcome them—he wanted to see if they could sense the same thing he did. He wanted to see what the house would do to them, what it could do to them, like every unfortunate owner who has lived here before.”
“My parents knew that I moved here. Why would they keep something like that from me?” Mary asked.
Bob shook his head. “Before you moved here, the mayor sent them a very clear message. If they ever wanted to see you again…”
“He threatened my parents?” she asked.
“I didn’t say that,” Bob said.
Curtis remained uncharacteristically quiet, noticeably stunned by Bob’s claims as he continued, “Mayor Taylor is a bit of an enigma, himself. He has some weird fascination with the occult. A relationship, he claims, that is responsible for his entire legacy. You’re now going to help the mayor maintain that legacy.”
Mary remained awestruck, trying to make sense of everything he was saying. She felt along the top right of her forehead, where she’d had a small scar just below her hairline for as long as she could remember. Her mother had always said Mary had gotten it in a fall but never elaborated how.
She shuddered to think of any of it as true, remembering what Pastor Phil had said about coincidences in Redwood: there were none, as everything was somehow connected.
“If this house is so cursed, why come here at all?” she asked.
“Yeah. Why not just bulldoze the place and be done with it?” Curtis added.
Bob thought to himself, finger on his chin, and then addressed the couple. “This is just a payday for me. If you’ve ever gone through bankruptcy, you know how desperation can rear its ugly little head. Plus the mayor has promised to help me find my ex-wife and children.” He then pivoted and began pacing around the couple. “But he’ll explain it much better.”
Bob paused at the rumbling of vehicles outside and then hurried to the window, pulling back the curtain with excitement. “Ah, the entourage has arrived.”
Mary got up from her chair, placing a hand on Curtis’s shoulder. Bob’s back was to her, with the revolver sticking out from the back of his pants. Knowing that he was distracted, she crept closer to the window and could see two black SUVs pull into the courtyard with the Taylor brothers’ Bronco trailing it. Panic settled in upon her realization that she was going to face the mayor and his cronies.
Bob breathed against the window as her hand slowly reached for the exposed revolver. He suddenly turned, as if sensing her, and pointed his pistol in her face, causing Mary to flinch and back away.
“What in the hell are you doing?” he said, motioning to the chair. “Sit down.”
“I wanted to see who was here,” she said, innocently with her hands up.
“Sure you were. No more games. I’m not in the mood for it, and neither will the mayor be.”
Mary peeked out the window as the vehicles parked and the headlights turned off. She watched as men in suits exited the SUVs and opened the door for the mayor to step out of the first vehicle in the line. He was wearing the same three-piece suit she had seen him in earlier when he was speaking at the festival. As he stepped out, he looked up at the house with a mixture of wonder and contempt.
His brothers hopped out of their Bronco, rifles against their shoulders and taking a keen interest in her Ford Expedition. Jeffery pointed to the broken window in the back and laughed, seemingly amused with his previous antics.
Garret led the way toward the house, stone faced and with a look of grim premonition.
“Why are they armed?” Mary asked. “What is this?”
“Sit back down,” Bob said. “Not going to ask again.”
“I’m moving!” Mary said, stomping off to her chair.
“Mary…” Curtis said as she sat near him.
She turned to him with pure sadness in her eyes and lightly ran her hand along his bruised face. “I’m so sorry for all of this,” she said, trying to hold back tears.
“It’s not your fault. Don’t say that. Looks like they’ve been playing us from the beginning.”
“They’re not going to get away with it,” she said, assuredly.
“If we don’t make it…” he began with a swallow. “If we don’t… just know that I love you more than anything. I only wanted us to be happy.” His voice lowered to a whisper. “They can do anything they want to me, but you have to try to escape. We have a child now. That’s all that matters.”
Mary felt warm tears streaming down her cheek as she held his face. “I’m not leaving you, and they’re not going to win.” She paused, looking around the room and hoping for Julie to intervene somehow, some way. “I was supposed to find justice for her,” she continued. “And I think we’re close to making that happen.”
Bob walked toward the foyer at the sound of the doorbell. Mary thought it strange that they would bother at this point. “You two don’t go anywhere now,” Bob said with a smile. It seemed as though he was taking a certain pleasure in the situation despite his claim that it was all business.
With his brief absence in the foyer, Mary knew she had to act fast. “I’m going to untie you,” she said quietly to Curtis. “I can’t stand seeing you like this.”
“Leave it,” Curtis said. “We don’t want to piss these people off. Mary, he killed Deputy Ramirez. Shot him in the head like it was nothing.”
Mary covered her mouth with a gasp. A sickening pain hit her stomach, and she felt dizzy with shock.
“I can’t believe it… Where is he? Where’s his…?”
“His body? Bob made me help him drag it into the woods.” He clenched his eyes shut as tears gushed out. “So help me God, he’ll answer for this. He has to.”
Mary rushed to her purse, hoping to get her cell phone in time. If they were truly going to face their demise, as Curtis seemed to suggest, she had to let the chief know about Ramirez. She leapt from her seat and ran to her purse, dropping to one knee, just as the doors opened in the foyer. With precious seconds left, she pulled her phone from her purse, grabbed the chief’s card, and dialed as fast as she ever had. After two rings, her eyes darted to the side where she could hear footsteps growing near and the voices of several men in their midst.
“Chief Riley speaking,” his voice said.
“Chief,” she whispered in near panic. “Deputy Ramirez. He’s dead. Bob Deckers shot him. Blue Volvo. The same vehicle you were looking for.”
There was a brief pause on the line before he spoke. “Who is this?”
“It’s Mary. Chief, listen. Curtis told me that it’s off of Madeline and Antelope. About a mile down the road, you’ll find his cruiser…” She paused, fighting back her tears. “And his body is somewhere close. Please. We’re in serious trouble.”
She hung up the phone, stuffed it in her pocket, and ran back to her chair, breathing heavily. It was unfortunate that she couldn’t have talked to him longer, but she had pressed her luck as it was.
Mayor Taylor entered the ballroom flanked by his security detail. His brothers entered the room next, cocky expressions on their faces. Most surprising of all, however, was when Beatrice Thaxton entered. Mary couldn’t believe the sight, but then the vision returned to her, as clear as it had been wh
en it entered her mind during Pastor Phil’s memorial service: Beatrice talking on the phone with Bob Deckers after he murdered Phil. She was connected with the conspiracy somehow.
Mary’s cell phone vibrated in her pocket. She knew that the chief was trying to call her back, but it was too late. He would have to put together the pieces from there. Nonetheless, she trusted that he would spring into action soon enough. He couldn’t have been involved in the conspiracy. Like Phil, the chief was trustworthy enough. The main players in the conspiracy, she believed, were now all right before her eyes.
The mayor approached them as his security detail of six husky men in suits took positions throughout the room, some of them watching out the window. His brothers kept their distance and took seats at the staircase, setting their rifles in their laps. Bob Deckers stood with Beatrice near a china hutch, quietly conversing as the mayor exchanged serious, thoughtful looks between Mary and Curtis.
He clasped his hands together and bowed, followed by a friendly tone Mary had been accustomed to hearing in his previous speeches to the town.
“Mr. and Mrs. Malone. I do apologize for the inconvenience, especially on the day of our annual Autumn Festival. I promise not to take too much of your time.” He paused, scanning the room, and Mary remained quiet, curious about what else he had to say.
“No doubt Mr. Deckers filled you in a little about why we’re here, and I would like to further explain so as to clear everything up. Much of this is just one unfortunate misunderstanding. You see, I do not believe our beloved Pastor Phil was murdered.”
He then stopped and glared at Bob, who sheepishly looked away with a hint of embarrassment and fear on his face as the mayor continued.
“Mr. Deckers has a tendency to get carried away while making wild claims that have no place in reality. Just to be clear, I had nothing to do with the tragic deaths of the Bechdels and the Drakes. I was personal friends with both families, and even though George Bechdel was my opponent in the 1975 mayoral election, I respected the man and had nothing but good will toward him and his family.”
Mary remained seated, resisting the urge to call him out. She could see that he was lying and that beneath his cordial demeanor was a cold, calculating, and corrupt man. For now, he was masking his intentions, and Mary allowed the charade to proceed.
“I do apologize about what has happened to you and your husband, and I can promise you that we won’t be here long.” He paused and looked around the ballroom, a hint of nervousness visible on his face and in his movements. “There’s a history to this estate that I’d rather not go into at the moment if you don’t mind. I’m not exactly comfortable being here for any extended period of time.” He then clapped his hands together with vigor. “But be here I must. Believe it or not, Mary—do you mind if I call you Mary?”
She nodded.
“Excellent,” he continued. “I know a lot about you and would like to set the record straight. I know of your gift, and I believe that your presence here thirty years ago meant something. That is why I was so eager to have you back.” He turned and pivoted as if giving an academic lecture, and spoke like the rehearsed politician he was. “I’m a patient man, Mary. I wasn’t going to rush anything. I wasn’t going to force you to come back here, for I always knew that someday you would return.”
He paused and looked at Curtis. “Your husband saw to that, but in his defense, no one in their right mind would turn down this place at the price on offer. No one at all. Now, I know that you were at Pastor Phil’s earlier, probably searching for clues just as my brothers were. They arrived, and you got spooked and hid. I understand that. However, it’s now time to reveal to me what you found.”
All eyes went to Mary. The last thing she wanted to do was to help him with anything, but having what he wanted gave her immediate comfort. Only she knew that the safe in her SUV was full of sand and nothing else.
Mayor Taylor stood over her, waiting, his red tie hanging down and the American flag pin shining on his lapel. Mary looked around the room and pointed to Beatrice Thaxton.
“What is she doing here?”
Mayor Taylor turned around. “Ms. Thaxton? Well. She’s an intricate part of what we’re trying to accomplish today. Some might say a guru of sorts.”
“Don’t worry about me, dear,” Beatrice said, sauntering toward Mary and Curtis in her glittering evening gown and high heels. She carried herself the way a Hollywood starlet might, although well past her prime. She was indifferent to Curtis’s injuries and Mary’s distress.
“I’m here to ensure that everything goes swimmingly.” She placed her arm around the mayor, who then leaned in closer and kissed her on the cheek. “Plus, who else looks after Freddy better than me?”
With his arm around Beatrice, the mayor turned to Mary. “Beatrice has been an advisor of mine for years, offering the comfort I need. She was there for me after my wife’s death when everything seemed hopeless.”
“We’re going to the top,” she continued. “For you see, we’re in the process of priming the mayor’s eldest son, Raymond, for a political career.” She paused, patting the mayor’s liver-spotted hands. “First we took Redwood, next we’ll have the entire state, and possibly more. Our legacy will last generations.”
Mary could hardly bear looking at Beatrice’s self-satisfied smile and turned her head away with a hidden scowl. She knew all too well about the woman’s involvement in Phil’s death. What could possibly be worth such an act to her?
Beatrice left the mayor’s side and approached closer, speaking in a soft tone. “There was a time I felt bad for you and your husband. You seemed like decent enough people. I even tried to warn you about this place, but you didn’t seem to catch on. That was, I believe, because you looked down on us. We’re just small-town folk while you’re the big-city hotshot.”
Beatrice paused, adjusting the pearls around her long, skinny neck. “Well, honey. Today we have the upper hand. You just listen and do what the mayor asks of you, and everything will be okay. Trust me.” She then puckered her lips at Mary and blew her a kiss.
Mary narrowed her eyes as Beatrice turned away, telling everyone she had to use the bathroom. She walked off down the hall as the mayor turned back to Mary and Curtis, prepared to continue his explanation of why they were there.
“I know she can seem a bit… unusual, but she’s loyal, and in my line of work, that’s the most important thing. I hope you can respect that.”
Mary felt primed to throw an insult at the mayor and his ridiculous notion of loyalty, but instead she chose to get to the point. “What do you want, Mr. Mayor?” she asked.
“It’s simple,” he answered. “For starters, I want whatever it is you found at Phil’s place, and don’t try to convince me otherwise. I know you were there, and I know you were able to find something. You’re just that good. I will explain what else I want soon enough, but let’s start at Phil’s place.”
“I found a safe,” she said. “It was buried under the floorboards of his barn.”
Shocked, the mayor turned to his brothers, seated on the staircase. “Did you hear her? Any of you geniuses think to look there?” He took a step back, shaking his head in disbelief. “What the hell am I paying you for?”
The brothers stood up in unison, scratching their heads as Curtis rocked his seat forward, twisting his arms and trying to free himself.
Curtis looked visibly relieved. “There you have it, Taylor. My wife found what you’re looking for. Now take your gang of degenerates and get off of our property.” He swung his head around, looking at everyone surrounding them. “Take the safe and leave!”
Mary placed her hand on his leg, trying to calm him, but he wasn’t having it.
“Did you not hear me? Get out!”
The mayor gave an understanding nod and continued to speak cordially. “In time, Mr. Malone. I know that you’re just an innocent bystander in all of this, and I’d urge you to remain patient with us until our business is over.”
&n
bsp; “I’ve done everything I can, Mr. Taylor. Now untie my husband,” Mary said. “He has nothing to do with any of this.”
From the corner, Bob Deckers snorted with a laugh.
The mayor looked convinced and then turned to Bob. “Can you please oblige the Malones? I
think he’s ready to calm down now.”
“Yes, Mr. Mayor,” Bob said grudgingly as he walked over to the couple, pulling out a pocketknife. He knelt behind Curtis and cut at the rope as Mayor Taylor looked to Mary, holding out his hands as though a deal had been solidified.
“The safe,” he began. “Where is it?”
“In the back of our SUV. The same vehicle your brother vandalized,” Mary said.
Mayor Taylor glared at his brothers, who then looked away. “Very uncalled for,” he said with a chastising tone. He turned back to Mary, sympathetic. “My sincerest apologies. The culprit will gladly reimburse you for the damages.” The mayor then shifted back to an authoritative tone as he pointed at his brothers. “Go get the safe, and don’t come back unless you have some equipment to open it with.”
They nodded and walked toward the foyer, leaving the house. Mary turned to the window, which captured a view of the driveway, watching them approach her vehicle as the mayor continued speaking.
“You do understand why this is necessary, right, Mary? You see, Redwood’s treasured Pastor Phil also had a dark side to him. He was a muckraker, gathering phony information on some of Redwood’s most influential people, myself included, for the purposes of blackmail. No one was more shocked than I to learn that a man of his stature was so blinded by lies and ambition. I don’t hold any ill will against the man, and I still mourn his death.”
Mary stood up, unable to hold her tongue any longer. “You’re a liar!”
The mayor’s security detail reached for their pistols, concealed by their suit coats, but the mayor waved them off dismissively.
