A Shadow of Death in The Woods

by Albert Sisson

  Bob was worried. Jack’s life had just come apart. What if he did a complete meltdown? It could put all of them at risk if Jack started to lose it and decided he needed to clear his conscience or some similar deal regarding what happened in The Woods last fall. As near as Bob could determine, Jack’s marital problems started after the event in The Woods, which may have actually started him down the road to divorce. If Jack figured this, what would he do? Would he blame them? Would he turn on them?

  And why had Jack come to West Virginia? Was it because he wanted to think things over like he said or was it because of some other reason. Maybe even one that Jack wasn’t aware of?

  It was good that Jack decided to come to The Cabin. This way they could keep their eyes on him.

  Bob was sure of one thing and that was he needed to keep Jack at The Cabin until it was sorted out. He needed to watch Jack and all of them had to reevaluate their assessment of Jack. Bob was already planning a dinner for the Officers-of-the-Club and their wives. Jack would think it a reunion dinner but it would really be an opportunity to take a reading on Jack. They might have to kill him after all.

  Bob hoped not for a number of reasons. First, Jack had saved their lives and second, he really liked Jack. That was not something you could ignore and still be human. Third, Bob had an idea in the back of his mind. If Jack turned out to be stable, Bob had a plan that he would like to propose to Jack. First, he had to sell the idea to the board. But that was in the future. Right now he had to watch Jack closely. He wanted to get Jane’s opinion on Jack.

  “So, Hon, what do you think about Jack’s situation?”

  “The poor guy has been put through a stone mill. I think his ex-wife ought to be shot. How can a woman throw her husband out like that? And, then to top it off by not allowing visitation rights with the kids. That is inhuman. What kind of person is she? I wouldn’t have thought that the courts would allow such a thing unless the husband was accused of something bad. I don’t think Jack was accused of anything except being a bad husband and what husband isn’t bad from time to time? Of course, we only have Jack’s version but I believe him. I think he always tells it the way he sees it.”

  “Well, I think the deal is that his wife’s family is the court in this case. Money talks. Money causes actions. Money gets you what you want. His wife’s family has gotten what they want. So, how do you think Jack is doing?”

  “I think he is holding up well so far. I worry that sitting up here in this cabin he is going brood instead of thinking. Instead of getting his life together, I fear that it will come further apart. I don’t think Jack realizes his state. I think he is in a state of shock. When reality sets in his mind, that will be the real test.”

  Bob didn’t find that very encouraging. It was more or less what he thought. Jack was a big man and had a big heart but in matters of this nature the problem doesn’t scale. Jack was just as susceptible to a nervous breakdown as anyone. In the army he had seen big men break down and cry like a babies and small men tough it out in incredibly bad times.

  “Jane, what do you think we can do to help Jack?”

  “I think he needs to know that his friends are there for him. We need to support him through this difficult time. We need to help him find his next step on to the rest of his life.”

  This made sense to Bob. In fact, it was kind of cool because maybe this fed into his secret plan. Maybe his secret plan should be moved up timing-wise. It might be just the thing to help Jack figure out what to do. He was glad that Jane had mentioned this point. She didn’t know about his secret plan or idea but her suggestion linked right in.

  “Yeah, I agree. We need to find ways of helping. I think that the dinner for the Officers-of-the-Club will help.”

  Jane agreed and said so but she also knew that Bob was trying to figure out how much of a risk Jack was to them. It was opening a door that she, and the others, thought they had carefully closed. Bob didn’t say it but she knew that the real purpose of the dinner was to figure out what they might have to do with Jack. Just the thought of it made her stomach tighten up into a knot. They had a hard time convincing Mike to let Jack live before. He’d probably jump at the chance to eliminate this risk.

  On the other hand there was Frankie. She liked Jack a lot. She would argue to let Jack live and Jane knew that she had a lot of influence with Mike. Maybe things would work out—or maybe not.

  Personally, she wanted to see Jack live but she also knew that the other members of the group didn’t put much weight on her opinion. They thought she was too emotionally involved. That was probably true. She was a human being, a mother and a wife. She was more accustomed to creating life than taking it. And she wanted to keep it that way.

  She had no idea how she was going to sleep. She kept pacing the floor.

  She said, “You know, the dinner has to be handled well or it will wreck everything. Jack thinks he is with friends. If he figures out that we are assessing him again, he will feel betrayed and that could make things worse. Very much worse. It could send him over the edge.”

  “Who said we would be assessing him?”

  “Give me a break. You didn’t marry an idiot.”

  “Yes, Jane, you are right on all accounts. You are far from being an idiot. We have to evaluate the situation. And, yes, above all we need to handle the dinner with kid gloves. I will talk with everyone so they will understand.”

  Jane felt better. Maybe there was a chance that things would work out well. It was key that Jack felt he was among friends. If he even suspected they were trying to figure whether to kill him or not, the game would be over. In fact, in that case they probably would have to kill him to protect themselves. That realization made her feel worse.

  Finally, Bob said, “Jane, take it easy. Things will work out.”

  “Sure, but which way?”

  “Things will work out fine. Jack is a strong person. He’ll come through this fine, although we need to help him and make sure. I have an idea or two that may help a lot.”

  “What idea?”

  “I’m not ready to disclose it. It is an idea that, if it works, may solve several problems at the same time. Meanwhile, we need to sleep. I need to be up early and get to the office. I have a lot to do tomorrow. And we need to get Jack settled in the morning.”

  Jane was comforted some by Bob’s words. He had listened to her and he understood. She had complete faith in his abilities. He had saved the family business although she didn’t like how he did it. Technically, she didn’t know what he, Paul and Mike did but she knew enough to know that it wasn’t standard business practice. The three of them would disappear from time to time and shortly thereafter there was a lot of cash in the company. Bob used the cash wisely and built a strong business that was now fully legitimate. She never questioned Bob or his methods. She didn’t like it but she had complete faith that he did the right thing for the family.

  She wondered what this idea was that he wouldn’t talk about. She hoped it was legal. It probably was. Whatever it was, she hoped it did what Bob planned.

  Bob turned on the white noise machine, the signal that the talking was over. It sounded like a waterfall and it helped them sleep.

  Chapter 19

  Lonely Days

  Bob and Jane left early in the morning after we had a breakfast of cooked cereal and fresh squeezed orange juice. One thing nice was that we agreed on fresh squeezed orange juice. Well, we agreed on diet in general.

  It had been a pleasant evening with Bob and Jane. They were good people.

  I turned my attention to the tasks at hand. I wasn’t going to fully unpack the truck because I didn’t plan on staying here long. I did need to get a few more things out of the truck and get set up in the apartment. I would be here a few weeks probably.

  Then I needed to shop for groceries. Jane filled me in on the choices for places to shop. It had been a long time since I had to fare for myself. First, I was going to need to make out a menu. I loved to gourmet cook but
this was daily survival. I didn’t think I was going to like it. Being out in the sticks, it wasn’t easy to eat out so home cooking it was. After the menu, the grocery list was easy.

  With the list in hand I boldly started out in the truck. None of the roads were straight and it was easy to get lost. I made my way to the grocery store and I began to get a feel for the roads. By lunchtime I was back at The Cabin.

  I fixed lunch and started to plan out the afternoon. After lunch I wanted to develop a resume and a job search strategy. That is where the wheels came off. What did I want to do?

  My last job was counting beans using spreadsheets. There was no challenge there. I was bored with it. Okay, fine, then what did I want to do?

  I decided to go for a walk. The paths in the woods were snowed full so I walked along the road. I did a few miles and returned to The Cabin. I was no further ahead.

  I opened my laptop and set up a document for a resume. I filled in my job history and education. I left the objective blank because in that area my mind was blank.

  I sat back to think and then it hit me how lonely The Cabin was. There was no one there and it was a large place. Even my apartment was large. A small family could live in my apartment and I didn’t have a family. I didn’t have a home. I didn’t have friends except for Bob and Jane and their group of friends. I liked Bob and Jane. I sort of liked the rest of them but my memory was clouded with the fact that some or all of them wanted to kill me at one time. It is hard to think of people like that as friends.

  I had to face it, I was alone in the world. Few people like to be alone, really alone. I so much enjoyed my family, especially the kids. It would take some doing to get used to the silence and being truly alone.

  My mind drifted from thing to thing. Bob kept coming to mind. All the questions he was asking with Jane watching. He was smooth but underneath it was more than just a friendly chit chat. They weren’t really friends. We met one weekend under horrible, stressful conditions where he and his friends debated killing me. It was all logical. I could see their position and I was lucky to be alive.

  Was Bob really a friend? Not really. Then why was he lending The Cabin to me? Bob owed his life to me. Maybe that was it. Or maybe not. Maybe there was more to it. I normally wouldn’t have thought of this but all the questions Bob was asking struck me as being odd. It was more than friendly interest. It was more like Bob had an agenda. Bob was trying to find out something.

  Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. Bob didn’t trust me. I showed up a complete mess—homeless, jobless and aimless. He would be concerned that I was going to come apart and if I did, what would I do? It would be good to keep me at The Cabin until he saw what I was going to do.

  It all made sense but it was especially disappointing. It would be nice to be able to take people at face value but that wasn’t in the cards. This stunk.

  And the dinner with the gang? That wasn’t about a renewal of friendship. They barely knew each other. It was another go around on checking him out. Suddenly I was very tired. I’d had so much stress in the past few months and the last few weeks were almost unbearable. The loneliness I felt was crushing.

  My phone rang. It was Bob. Bob was in a good mood. Or maybe it just seemed like a good mood because I was feeling so low.

  “Hey, Jack, how is it going?”

  “Okay. I got set up in the apartment and I’ve been doing some thinking.”

  “Well, don’t over do it. You have plenty of time. You should relax for a while. You’ve had a rough time. That isn’t why I called though. I called to tell you Lydia is not going to be here this weekend so I thought it would be a good time to get the gang together. If it is all right with you, I am setting it up for Saturday night.”

  I figured that it would be good to have it soon and get it over with. If they were going to kill me, there was no point in spending a lot of time writing a resume and wrestling over my future. “That would be fine with me. How about I cook dinner?”

  “No, no. That is too much work. I’ve already talked with Momma. She and Betty will handle it. You can fix one of your desserts though if you want.” We agreed on the particulars and hung up.

  This was actually a good turn of events. I liked the idea of getting this over with. I had two days. I could focus on a really nice dessert.

  I wandered down to The Cabin kitchen to see what was available. It was just as I remembered it. There was every conceivable pan, dish, range and oven that one could imagine. All I had to do was decide what dessert and go shopping, again. But I would wait until Friday to do it.

  Saturday came faster than I expected. We had a nice dinner and everyone seemed to really like the lemon cream cake I baked. It was one of my favorites. I had purchased a special, fresh ground Columbian coffee to go with the cake. I made the coffee on the strong side to lean up again the sweet lemon cake. It went well. After dinner we repaired to the library for drinks. I chose to go with Bob’s brandy. It was super fine. The conversation had been light at dinner. I was expecting a grilling.

  I remembered the last time we were gathered here I was grilled for what seemed like hours. Tonight it was much lighter. People seemed more concerned with how I was doing and how I liked staying at The Cabin. Everyone seemed too friendly and concerned over my well-being. This was quite different from what I expected.

  Frankie had sat close to me at dinner. I liked her but was mindful of Mike. I asked her about the painting at Momma’s restaurant. She said it was her work. She had painted it for Bob to hang in his club room. I was a little surprised at that because to me the painting seemed personal and I found it strange that she had done it for a semi-public place. Being a blabber mouth, I told her what I thought. She seemed touched at my remarks.

  She said, “You are right. It is a very personal painting but I think it fits with Bob’s theme in his club room. Bob wanted something to welcome people to the mountains. I love inviting people to the mountains so it went together.”

  I said, “Well, I love the painting.”

  She seemed very pleased with my comments and said that maybe she would paint a picture for me. I told her that I would consider that an honor. She gave me a smile that could lure a locomotive onto a dirt road. She was a beautiful woman with a strong intellect and deep feelings. When looking at her, you were seeing only a thin surface of her true being. Her surface beauty blinded people, especially men, to her inner beauty.

  Liz wanted to dance and campaigned until it was agreed to set up in the great room. Jane put on dance music. Paul didn’t want to dance so I took the opportunity to dance with Liz.

  I also danced with Frankie. It was a lot of fun but I had to be careful I didn't throw her some place. It seemed like she weighed about as much as a feather.

  I love to dance. Most people find that strange since I am such a big guy but I am an excellent boxer. Both dancing and boxing require good footwork.

  We did some slow dancing and then got into rock and roll, one of the true American music genres. I hadn’t had this much fun in years. I forgot all about my problems and danced the night away. I taught Liz the jitterbug.

  Much too soon the evening came to an end. Bob and Jane decided to stay for the rest of the weekend but the rest left. I was glad Bob and Jane stayed. I was afraid of the loneliness. I was having second thoughts about staying at The Cabin but I didn’t have any place better to go. A motel would be worse.

  Sunday, Jane went off to read a book. Bob and I sat in the library, talking. He was circumspect but he got around to the resume. I told him I had the boilerplate completed but I was hung up on the objective. He wanted to know what I wanted to do. So did I. He asked about my old job and in a short time got me to summarize why I didn’t like it. I said I felt like I didn’t have enough control. I didn’t realize this until he pulled it out of me. He suggested a wording for the objective. I thought it sounded good and told him I would finish the resume the next day.

  He then surprised me by saying, “As soon as you have it f
inished, shoot a copy to me in an email. I have a few friends that I want to show it to.”

  Monday I finished the resume as promised and sent a copy to Bob. Then I didn’t know what to do. The Cabin was so big that without people it was very lonely. I had to fight off depression and keep positive. I needed to focus on getting a job.

  That afternoon the phone rang. It was Bob. He thanked me for the resume and said it looked excellent but the real reason he called was to tell me Lydia would be there this weekend and he wanted to set up a dinner for Friday night. Anxious to have something to do other than worrying about a job, I insisted on cooking dinner.

  I found myself looking forward to Friday and meeting Lydia. I kept hearing about her on the fringes but I had never met her or even knew much about her. Bob was tight lipped about her but I sensed that she was very special to Bob.

  In any case I was going to finally meet Lydia.

  You should always be careful about what you wish for.

  Chapter 20

  Lydia and The Cat Show Up

  Friday came. I spent a large part of the day setting up for dinner. I wanted it to be perfect for a lot of reasons. Primarily, it made me feel good and I needed something to make myself feel good.

  I had quizzed Jane and decided that chicken would be a good choice. I was going to present mashed potatoes (of course) with the chicken along with green beans. I had found some “fresh” green beans in the market. The beans were going to be deep fried and then coated with sesame seeds. I went to the liquor store and bought several bottles of wine. One was for making chicken Marsala. The others were for drinking. While at the grocery store I found fresh mushrooms. It makes much better chicken Marsala if the mushrooms are fresh. More flavor.

  I was going to bake fresh bread rolls to serve first with real unsalted butter. I would time those so they would be served hot right from the oven.

  I was ready.

  Bob and Jane drove in and parked. They were a little early. Most people are late but it was their cabin. I had taken off my apron. I thought it would be tacky to greet people in an apron. Especially Lydia. Except Lydia wasn’t there yet.