by Madyson Grey
“Oh, no!” Rafael exclaimed. “Is she going to be all right?”
“Well, Dr. Stevens thinks she will be. I had gone to visit him because Mother went off on Lena and me this morning to the point where Lena had to call 911. EMTs came and sedated her. She was supposed to be out for at least three to four hours, so I left to go back to the police station to discuss my dad’s death scene photos and some other anomalies I have found. Then I went to talk to Dr. Stevens. He was very concerned and called the psych ward in a hospital that he works with and made arrangements to take Mother there. But by the time we got back to the house, Lena was on the floor unconscious, and Mother was nowhere to be found.
“I went to the hospital with Lena and stayed with her until she was admitted as a patient and moved to a regular room, then I came over here to see if Mother had been here. Lena told me that she had a gun.”
“That she did. Wow! You have had a day of it, haven’t you?” Rafael exclaimed with sympathy.
“I sure have,” Victoria agreed.
“How about if I wrap things up here and take you out for dinner?”
“That would be wonderful, Rafael, but first I am going to the police station with this officer here and he is going to listen to my concerns about Daddy’s death. You may come with me, if you want to,” Victoria said.
“I’d like that,” he said. “But I’ve got to go back up to my office and lock up. I’ve already told Karen she can go home. She’s had enough excitement for one day, too.”
“I’d say!”
Victoria stepped over to the command chief and waited until he recognized her.
“How long will it be before you are ready for me to go to your station?”
“Just another ten minutes or so, while we finish up here. Does that work for you?”
“Yes, that’s fine. I would also like for Rafael Rivera to come with me. Is that all right with you?”
“Certainly, if you want him to come.”
“Yes. I need to know where your station is.”
The scene commander gave her the address and directions to the police station that he was from. She told him that she and Rafael would meet him there shortly.
When Rafael was ready to leave, they took his car to the police station. He told Victoria that they could return for her car later. They went inside and told the receptionist that they were there to see Lieutenant Mobry. The receptionist asked their names. Checking notes on his desk, he okayed them to go into the lieutenant’s office. The lieutenant welcomed them into his office and offered them coffee, which they both gratefully accepted.
It took the better part of an hour for Victoria to go over all the inconsistencies that she had found surrounding her father’s death, starting with his seemingly happy demeanor during their video chats even after he allegedly lost his company to Rafael, and ending with the stain on his desk and the empty bottle of pills in the master bathroom medicine chest. She included the cash withdrawals, the stories that her mother told her of her father’s depressed behavior in the weeks leading up to his death, and the way Marian had screamed that she was glad that her father had died, that he got what was coming to him.
Rafael added parts of the story that he was involved in, namely his relationship with David Thornton, and the events that led up to the sale of the company, and afterwards.
Lieutenant Mobry sat leaning back in his chair, quietly listening to her story, now and then jotting down notes, and occasionally asked a question to clarify a point. When Victoria finally finished, he sat up straight, put his arms on his desk with hands clasped.
“Miss Thornton, Victoria, I believe you have just cause to wonder about these inconsistencies surrounding your father’s death. These are details than none of the attending officers would have been privy to. From the reports I have read, the scene presented itself as a simple suicide, so that is how it was treated. I’ll admit, along with you, that the suicide note is the only piece of the puzzle that can’t be explained away, at least not yet. Tell you what, with your permission, I will come to your house personally tomorrow morning and bring a detective with me. We will look over the papers you have talked about and go over the death scene again to see if we can find some of the missing puzzle pieces.”
“Oh, please do,” Victoria urged. “I will be most happy to have you come.”
She and Rafael stood to leave. They both thanked the lieutenant for his time and interest, and then took their leave. Victoria felt totally drained after the highly emotional day she had just lived. She asked Rafael if he minded if she just went home.
“Can we just go to my place and order something in? Or pick up something on the way to take home and eat? I’m not sure I’m up to sitting in a restaurant now.”
“Of course we can,” Rafael said. “I certainly understand that you are wiped out. I’m still a bit shaky myself. What kind of food would you like? Mexican? Chinese? Pizza? Burgers?
“I dunno. I’m too far gone to choose. You pick whatever you want and I’ll eat it. I’m not sure I’ll even taste it tonight,” Victoria said, resting her head back on the car’s headrest.
“Listen, I’m going to swing by the building and ask Beverly, the receptionist to drive your car home for you, and then I’ll get her a cab home. She always rides the bus to work rather than drive.”
“She can drive, can’t she?” Victoria wanted to know.
“Of course, she can. She just chooses to take the bus to work. Sometimes she drives, but I’m pretty sure she rode the bus this morning.”
“That’s fine. I’m almost too tired to want to drive anyway,” Victoria said.
But, by the time they got back to the building, Beverly had just left a few minutes before. There was no one else there whom Rafael trusted enough to drive Victoria’s car home. So Victoria said she’d make it home, if Rafael would stop somewhere and pick up some take-out. Then they would meet at her place.
Her place. It really was her place now. Her father was dead. Her mother would be put away for a good many years, it sounded like. And if Marian were found to have murdered her husband, she would never see freedom again. How life changes in just a moment. Just one event, the death of her father, and her whole life was turned upside down. She had a lot of decisions to make. But they could wait.
Chapter Two
Rafael was only about fifteen minutes behind Victoria. He brought in Thai food. He hoped that the food from the Thai place he had stopped at would be somewhere nearly as good as that little place on the beach that he had taken her to on their first date. He hoped it would serve as comfort food for Victoria, and help to soothe her wounded soul. He had also stopped at Dairy Queen and ordered two large chocolate blizzards. If he knew anything about women, it was that they needed chocolate when they were down. And if the chocolate came in the form of ice cream, so much the better.
Victoria had kicked her shoes off as soon as she entered the house. There was still blood on the floor where she had found Lena. Lena’s blood. Her thoughts turned to her dear friend lying in the hospital and wondered how she was by now. After she had cleaned up the blood with paper toweling and spray disinfectant, she called Lena’s hospital room. After several rings, Lena answered. Her voice still sounded weak and groggy.
“It’s Victoria, Lena,” she said. “How are you feeling this evening?”
“My head hurts, and I feel rummy,” Lena answered.
Just then Rafael buzzed the house from the gate. Victoria hurried over to the gate panel, looked at the screen to make certain that it was him, then opened the gate for him.
“I’m sure you do,” Victoria said gently. “Have you seen the doctor again?”
“Uh, I’m not sure,” Lena said. “Everything is just fuzzy today. All blurred together. Where is your mother? Did she come home?”
“No, Lena, she is in a psych ward now. She is a very sick woman. I’ll tell you more when you feel better. You just get some sleep now. You’ll feel better tomorrow.”
“OK, honey,�
�� Lena said.
Her voice was beginning to trail off, so Victoria said goodbye and hung up just as Rafael came through the door. She led him into the kitchen and got out two plates to dish up the food. After they were seated at the kitchen eating counter, Victoria picked up the TV remote lying there and turned on the kitchen TV. The events of the afternoon were unfolding on the evening news. They both watched with morbid fascination until it was over.
“Oh, wow,” Victoria sighed. “Whatever good name Daddy had before, and Mother, it’s all gone now. I’ll bet those old biddies down at her country club are gossiping a mile a minute about high and mighty Marian Thornton. I always knew she was greedy and thought she was better than most people, but I had no idea that she could go completely insane like she did today.”
“It’s hard to see it coming with some people,” Rafael said.
They ate in silence for a couple more minutes, finishing up their supper. Rafael picked up their empty plates and put them on the counter above the dishwasher. He opened the door to see if there was anything in the dishwasher. The few things in there looked dirty, so he added their plates and silverware to them. He got the blizzards out of the freezer where he’d stashed them earlier and brought them to the counter.
“Oh, cool, thanks,” Victoria said, eyeing the ice cream treat with pleasure. “Let’s go sit in the family room where it’s more comfortable. I want to relax and savor this. You’re a very thoughtful man.”
Victoria mustered the flirtiest smile she possibly could, given the way her day had gone. Rafael just grinned back.
“I figured you could use a little chocolate this evening,” he said lightly.
They settled onto a double-reclining love seat. Victoria kicked back just enough for the foot part to come up. She sighed as she spooned the first bite of the cold, creamy sweetness into her mouth.
“Oh, I needed that,” she said. “Mmmm. It’s so good.”
Rafael picked at his dessert for a bit and then turned to look at Victoria.
“Vic, what are you going to do now?” he asked kindly.
She paused, spoon halfway to her mouth, and looked back at him.
“I haven’t the faintest idea,” she said. “Probably to start with, I will have to see Daddy’s lawyer to find out how hard it is going to be to settle his estate. With Marian put away, possibly for the rest of her life, I don’t know what is to happen to her share of the estate. Perhaps it will have to go to pay for her care. I have no clue. I had tentatively planned to buy her half of Daddy’s car. I like it better than mine that I left at my Seattle home. What to do about the house? I don’t know.
“I love my job in Seattle, but to tell the truth, the weather up there is horrible. It rains so much and is gray so much of the time. I have missed the California sunshine, but I just didn’t dare admit to it. I knew I couldn’t come back here as long as Marian was so antagonistic towards me. But now …”
Her voice trailed off and she just stared into space, thinking.
“What if you could get a similar job here?” Rafael asked. “Would you consider moving back? If you are able, and if you so choose, you could sell this place and get someplace that is more you.”
Victoria pondered his words.
“Yes, I would consider moving back here. And I would definitely consider selling this house. It has a mixed bag of memories for me, some good, some bad. Mostly bad at this point.”
“These things will all take some time. Estate settlements can take some time. And the police investigation into your father’s death, if indeed they do conduct one, will take time. And you will need to be here for that, I imagine,” Rafael said. “Would you consider just quitting your job up there now, so that you don’t have to be stressed about going back to it? You and I could fly up to Seattle, rent a moving truck, pack up your things, and drive it back down here. Then you’ll be here to finish up any loose ends that are still pending.”
“That’s probably a good idea, Rafael,” Victoria said with a sigh. “I kinda hate to. I always thought that coming back here would be admitting defeat. But with the radical turn of events, I am free to come back to LA on my own terms. Come back because I want to, not because I failed in Seattle. I haven’t failed there; I am just choosing to do something different. Besides, you’re here.”
She looked at Rafael, wondering if she should have said that or not. His eyes told her that it was more than OK, it was what he wanted to hear.
“Yes, I’m here,” he said gently.
He leaned over to kiss her. It was a good thing that they were both still holding their blizzard cups, otherwise he might not have been responsible for his actions.
They sat there for a long while, discussing Victoria’s options. By nine-thirty Victoria was yawning and barely able to keep her eyes open. She was seriously considering asking Rafael to stay with her through the night. Not in an intimate way, but just so she wouldn’t be all alone in this huge house. It was the first night that she could remember spending in this house without Lena. She was missing her much more than she could ever miss Marian. How she wished her daddy were here, though. If he were here, everything would be all right. His presence had always made everything all right in her world.
She got up from her place on the love seat and paced the floor for a minute or two, pondering. Rafael watched her, wondering what was stewing inside her head. He decided to wait for her to open up, if she intended to. Finally she did.
“Rafael, please don’t read more into my question than I am asking, but would you stay in the house with me tonight? I really don’t want to stay here in this big house all by myself tonight. You can sleep in the guest room. It’s right across the hall from mine. I’ll feel better knowing that someone else is in the house.”
Rafael got up and walked over to her. He put his hands on her shoulders and looked into her pleading eyes. It would be a tough job, but he could handle it.
“Of course, I’ll stay with you, Vic,” he said. “And upon my word of honor, I will stay in my own room. It won’t be easy, but I will do it. I would like to stick to the pact we made—was it just last night? It seems like eons ago. I think it is an admirable goal, and I will do my part to uphold our decision.”
“Thanks so much, Rafael,” she said. “I so appreciate it. I can probably find enough of Daddy’s things to get you by for tonight. We’ll deal with tomorrow night when we come to that bridge. Let’s go upstairs now. I’m ready to fall asleep.”
She almost said, “go to bed,” but then revised her sentence just in time. She didn’t want to test their resolve tonight. She was too weak tonight. She went up the stairs and switched on the hallway light, and then Rafael turned off the last light downstairs. They had both double-checked the security system and made sure that all the doors were locked and dead-bolted. They even went up to Lena’s apartment and checked everything there.
It was a good thing they did, because in all the trauma of the day, Victoria had forgotten that she had taken all of her things up there that morning. They gathered up her things and carried them back to her own bedroom. Then Victoria rummaged around in her parents’ bedroom for some clean underwear and socks for Rafael to wear. She was surprised that she couldn’t find anything. Had Marian gotten rid of her dad’s clothes already? Surely she would not have had time. She did find a new razor and toothbrush in the bathroom cupboard.
Then she went into the guest room and checked the closet and dresser. There were her dad’s clothes. He must have moved out of their bedroom at some point. Why had he not mentioned any of this to Victoria? She knew why—he didn’t want to trouble her. But she wished he had confided in her about this.
“Just help yourself to whatever of Daddy’s things you need,” she said wearily.
She showed Rafael where the hall bathroom was and made sure there were clean towels and washcloths available. They lingered in the hall, hating to part for the night, but determined to do so. They held each other for a long moment, and savored a long kiss. A kis
s that spoke of love, of sadness, of promise for the future. Then they released one another and disappeared into their respective bedrooms.
Victoria undressed and got into the shower. It had been such a long day, full of such pain and fear and sadness. She wanted to just wash away all the feelings that had accumulated on her all day long. It didn’t quite work the way she hoped, but she did feel better. Crawling into bed, she turned on the TV, set the sleep timer, turned off her bedside lamp, and snuggled down under the covers, praying that she would sleep.
Chapter Three
Sometime in the night, Rafael was awakened by screams coming from Victoria’s bedroom. He jumped out of bed, threw on a borrowed bathrobe, hurried across the hall, and burst into her room. In the dim light of a nightlight shining through her bathroom door, he could see her sitting up in bed screaming bloody murder. He switched on her bedside lamp, sat down on the edge of the bed, and then shook her to wake her up.
“Vic, Vic,” he said, shaking her shoulders gently. “Wake up.”
Victoria turned her head and looked wild-eyed at Rafael. Then her eyes changed to recognition and she fell into his arms crying. He cradled her in his arms, crooning to her like she was a baby. She clung to him and sobbed for a long moment. When she finally got ahold of herself, she sat up and reached for a tissue, blew her nose and wiped her face.
“Nightmares?” Rafael asked softly.
“Yeah,” she nodded. “My mother had you and Daddy lined up and she was just shooting and shooting and shooting you both. You were just being shot all to pieces and there was blood everywhere. Then she told Lena to clean up the mess, but when she started to, she shot her, too. She was laughing hysterically the whole time. I was begging her to stop, but she said I deserved to die, too, because I wouldn’t get the company back for her. She had just turned the gun on me when you woke me up.”
