On what I could count as that last day of our friendship, shortly after Hugh had pressed almost a dozen pills into my hand, the merger had been approved. Once the good news had been relayed through Dallas, the late afternoon winter workday became an impromptu party. As both the guest of honor and the low man on the totem pole I had foolishly resorted to a second Xanax from Hugh before realizing the first hadn’t kicked in.
I walked home to my condo that evening in a blur. That is, until my world was thrown into sharp, violent and surreal focus as I was forced to the ground by a man walking behind me and raped.
After the assault, with no one to confide in and my own prescription for Xanax I obtained from a well-meaning doctor the very next day, I went quickly from the peak to the valley and had been summarily and justifiably fired.
Now after all that time here was Hugh leaning lazily against the door frame. “If it isn’t the cat with nine lives! Come downtown to test your luck with that some more?”
Hugh had one of those Opie faces, neither good looking or bad, just pleasantly Midwestern and trustworthy, with a light dash of freckles, a ski slope nose, and unremarkable eyes. You could win a campaign with a face like that, I had often thought.
Dallas gave him a hard look. “Gretchen doesn’t need luck, she’s resourceful and clever. We were damn fools to let her go; or don’t you read the papers?”
“Of course,” Hugh grinned and bile rose in my throat. “Going riding?" He asked, indicating my attire.
Actually, I just got back from shooting rats at the dump.” I said smoothly, “Missed you.”
Dallas laughed heartily then looked at what I was wearing. “You have a job here in the city today? Isn’t this what you wear under the coveralls?”
Hugh smirked, “I’d pay good money to see Gretchen in coveralls.”
Dallas ignored him. “Were you up here for that suicide Gretchen?”
I turned back to him. “Yes, the Dunbarton one. The manager and I both thought there was something off about it.”
Hugh spoke up from the doorway. “I think we can all agree Gretchen that when your reach exceeds your grasp it does not end well. Are you and Christopher going into the private eye business?”
Dallas looked from me back to Hugh reluctantly. “Wasn’t that suicide a gal who was supposed to interview here?” Dallas demanded.
Hugh shrugged, “Obviously she never made it. I understood she had two days of interviews set up for several firms and we were scheduled for the second day. Bright girl, but evidently unstable. We don’t need any more of those do we Gretchen?”
Dallas’s face flushed red and his mouth was set in a grim line. I wondered if he still kept the Sig Sauer in his desk and hoped it wasn’t loaded. Just as he started to retort I reached over and touched the old man’s shoulder to distract him. I had suddenly realized I didn’t have to take flak from anyone here ever again.
“Did I ever tell you Dallas, about the day we were waiting for my merger news?”
I glanced back at Hugh whose eyes narrowed dangerously.
“Yep,” I continued, “I was sitting there waiting for the momentous outcome and who came slithering by, but Hugh.”
Dallas’s shoulders had lost their wiry tension as I leaned back and smiled pleasantly. “Suffice it to say that one of us was having a problem and the other happened to have a solution. You see, Hugh’s wife was getting awfully dissatisfied and I happened to have a Viagra on me—don’t ask why!” I winked. “Well before I could warn him not to take it until he got home? Hugh had swallowed that little blue pill. And you’ll never guess what happened!” Dallas looked from me to Hugh in eager anticipation. “Well,” I said “as soon as the pill started taking effect? Hugh doubled in height!”
Dallas slapped his knee and started laughing until it turned into a cough. I jumped up to pat him on the back and take his cigar away from him. By the time I looked up again Hugh had vanished from the doorway and I heard him whistling as he made his way down the hall, the tune was the Twisted Nerve song from “Kill Bill.” The sound faded away with his departure.
Dallas was still rocking back and forth wheezing with laughter when I began to feel a little nervous. Why couldn’t I have let Hugh’s scathing remarks go? Instead of being his punching bag I had called him out formally as an enemy. That was never smart. On the other hand, I had entertained Dallas, no mean feat.
“God love ya darling I’ve been hoping to see that horse's ass get his comeuppance for years.”
“I apologize for being crass,” I said, “but he just didn’t know when to quit did he?”
“I thought you did a very ladylike job of calling him exactly what he is, a complete prick!”
I grinned, “I’m not the one to cry victim, but I never told you, and I never blamed him at all for what happened to me that night, but he slipped me some Xanax while we waited for the merger news. So using that little joke about a prescription was a reminder to him that he did something that might be frowned upon by the firm.”
Dallas started blinking rapidly, as his narrow face got redder and redder.
“Hang on now,” I said. “He may have given me the pills but no one forced me to swallow them. I just have to wonder sometimes…”
“Of course you wonder!” Dallas exclaimed, “Everything might of come out differently. Look how you defended yourself in that terrible situation in Bridle Springs! But that night you left here drugged. He was your superior, he gave you prescription medication and you trusted him.”
“I wouldn’t have told you this at all if he hadn’t been so mean-spirited just now, but Dallas nothing that happened afterwards is on him. Now, of course I will say that no one had ever seen Hugh the worse for drink or drugs so I did assume the pills were very mild.”
He jumped up and grabbed the turgid, expired cigar and stuck it back in the side of his mouth as he began pacing. Finally he rasped, “Why don’t we just call Harlan in on this and see what he thinks?”
“Lord, Dallas, what will that look like? Plus it would damage the firm. I never told anyone because I guess I felt like the decisions leading up to the rape were mine, I could have declined the Xanax, I could have passed up that drink, I took the second tablet because I thought the first one hadn’t worked and I was a nervous wreck. I could have accepted a ride or walked home a different way. My rapist is to blame for my rape and I could have handled the aftermath with more courage. I didn’t. You’re old enough; hey I’m old enough, to know sometimes the world just hangs on a big old if.”
“He gave you more than one? You ever think you probably wouldn’t have accepted the drink if you hadn’t had the pills? I had noticed when you came on board here that you were always very careful about alcohol. We liked that.”
“But I took them Dallas. Hey I’m no fan of Hugh’s anymore; boy has he turned foul; but we both know he didn’t mean any harm by giving me the Xanax. We were good friends back then. I may be a fairly young adult but I am an adult. But I guess he realized he shouldn’t have done it. He never spoke to me again after that night, even before my fall from grace was apparent.”
“Because he realized giving you his prescription was illegal.”
“Oh, I’ve always had a reputation for being discreet.”
“Yeah, like you just now telling me a partner gave you a powerful anti-anxiety medication?”
“You’re the first one I’ve told about Hugh being part of that equation. If I had known you were going to have a conniption fit about it I wouldn’t have told you today. But has he always been this spiteful? I don’t remember that.”
“That’s because you haven’t known him since he was a young viper like I have. Personally I never liked him.”
“Really? Sounded like you were still on the fence about him with the snake comment.”
Dallas fiddled with his cigar again thoughtfully. “Come to think of it he’s been a little easier to deal with over the past few months until…”
“I showed up.”
�
��Doesn’t make any sense does it? Y’all were close, then you had the big success, then he avoids you. Professional jealousy I reckon.”
“Dallas, he is a partner, virtually untouchable. Any coup for the associates lands in your bank accounts. And there is certainly no reason to be jealous now.”
“Doesn’t keep people from being petty. It happens a lot with mentors. And he’s a snob. Wait, did he ever make a pass at you? Never struck me as a very manly man but…”
“Of course not; we couldn’t have stayed friends if he had. You know, talking about him, just thinking about him makes me feel sick right now.”
“Fair enough, tell me what you’ve been up to since the fishing trip.”
We talked for about ten minutes until the sound of Marge clearing her throat made it obvious that he really didn’t have any more loose time on his schedule. With Dallas time is money; piles and piles of money. I promised to come back and renewed, very awkwardly my vow to let him know if I remembered anything more about my attacker. It was Dallas’s fondest wish that, since I never reported it, he could get enough information to track down my rapist and go on a little hunting trip of his own.
Dallas can be a little scary.
I made my way down the plush hallway to the golden mirrored elevator. I was digging for my keys in my old leather Longchamps bag when I felt a chill run down my spine and looked up into the mirrored doors. Hugh was standing behind me. His tall frame seemed to hover over mine as I stared ahead at his reflection.
He smiled. It was his warm boy scout’s smile, as though nothing snarky had passed between us in his managing partner’s office. I looked straight at the doors casually smothering my internal shriek.
“Looks like we’re both going down,” he said pleasantly.
I wanted nothing more than to make an excuse and head to the ladies’ room, but I said nothing. I looked into my bag and continued to feel for my keys. Once I had them, I gripped them in one hand and slung my bag back over my shoulder. When I looked up again he was gone.
Facebook Post: “Isn't it weird that in the prison system rapists and child molesters are considered by other prisoners to be the lowest among the low and they get the crap beaten out of them consistently but in these wholesome small towns the rapists and molesters are protected? Happened in my home town more than once.”
Chapter 5
My next stop was Harlan’s office. He had left a message asking me to come by and I told him Dallas sent his regards. “You his niece or something?” He asked abruptly. “I’ve never seen him so protective of anyone.
“Oh I don’t need protecting, we just hit it off when I went to work there. He saw my dad in the lobby one day and they had some friends and interests in common, so I guess he appointed himself my unofficial godfather.”
“Well, you couldn’t do any better if you had a Sopraner.”
“Sir?”
“You know, those mob boys that was on HBO.”
I smiled, “That’s probably true. I’m very grateful he introduced us and for all the business you’ve sent my way,” I added.
“Wouldn’t keep sending them if you wasn’t doing a good job,” he said gruffly, pulling at his tie.
“I appreciate it all the same. Is there something particular you wanted to talk about?”
“Actually, I do. Coffee?”
“Sure, I’ve always wanted to try coffee from a police station.”
He grinned and stood up, and his old linebacker frame made his desk look ridiculously tiny.
“COFFEE!” He bellowed once and I heard a scramble of at least half a dozen feet rushing about on the linoleum before a very short policeman with a doughy face and round eyes came in holding a cup between both hands as though it were the Holy Grail.
He set it down before Harlan and gave him a weak smile.
“Davis, you still hoping to be a detective one day?”
The young cop nodded.
“Do you think I am a Philistine?”
“No. Uh, no sir?”
“Do you detect another presence in this room?”
Davis turned around and looked up, and up some more at me then swallowed. I waved my fingers as though from a far height and smiled kindly.
“Davis! Can you think of any circumstance in which I would have myself served a beverage and ignore the thirst of a guest? Why, I would naturally go without if this young lady wanted nothing, or I would join her if she did?”
“Ye-yes sir.”
“Can you deduce why that might be?”
“No sir.”
“Because I am a gentleman damn it!”
Davis looked at me in utter confusion.
“Just a little sugar,” I said gently.
“No coffee?” Davis asked, as sweat appeared on his brow.
I heard the men outside the door guffaw as Harlan leaned over his desk and shouted, “SUGAR IN HER COFFEE!”
Another policeman rushed in with the second cup, gave me a long look and grabbed Davis by the neck and yanked him out of the room.
Harlan grinned broadly. “Between the two of us, I think we could wring any kinda confession out of my boys in blue.”
“How’s that sir?”
“With my stunning good looks and your brawn we could make an imposin’ interrogation team.”
“Very true,” I said settling down in my chair so he could do the same, “but you know, I think my tactics of intimidation might make you feel insecure about your looks after a while. I’d hate for you to feel you were just window dressing.”
“Ah, so now the fabled Gretchen comes out.”
“Aw, don’t make me blush sir,” I said slouching down in my chair a bit and fluttering my lashes.
He laughed. “You are something. I guess now I’m feeling a little jealous Dallas called dibs on the godfathering position. What happened after you solved that serial murder case for everyone awhile back?”
“I didn’t solve it I merely survived it.”
“Which was how they solved it. They should have given you a medal.”
“They offered—well I think it was a plaque.”
“You turned it down?”
“Of course not! I asked them to mail it.”
Harlan chuckled again. “Oh, foiling the politicians’ chance at glory and a photo opportunity; not a good move gal.”
“I suppose not, I never got the plaque.”
“You do know how to play by the rules, you couldn’t have worked with Dallas otherwise, so why aren’t you playing? Woulda been good for business, got your name out.”
“I guess I learned along the way whose rules counted, and that I could sit the game out from time to time.”
Harlan chuckled, “Well, I better get to the reason I asked you here. That young suicide you cleaned up after. Something doesn’t quite ring true and I gotta wonder what’s bugging me about it.” He leaned forward suddenly. “Nothing ties this to anything else but a bunch of well educated young women in town for jobs and becoming victims in one way or another. I’d like to think this is all one guy; that we have a finite number of monsters here but I can’t point to any one thing about this girl that makes her anything more than a tragic thing. I wish we hadn’t been quite so settled on suicide.” His brow furrowed, as he flipped open a file. “Just what that might be, well maybe it will come to me sooner rather than later.”
“The drinks!” I exclaimed, loudly enough to make him rear back in surprise.
“What drinks?”
“I’m sorry, I tend to be overzealous; what were you going to ask me?”
“Now I’m going to ask you this; what drinks?”
“Oh,” I said, a little embarrassed, “I thought you were going to say it seemed strange to you too, that someone planning suicide would order a diet cocktail. I mean, who cares at that point right? Plus, the fact that there were two different drinks and the man using the exit seemed to purposely avoid the cameras. Perhaps he visited her room and the other drink was for him. Then there was that w
hole method of suicide. I’m no expert but I thought the strategy was you draw the bath then slit your wrists, not slit your wrists stumble around and wait for the tub to fill.”
Harlan opened up the file and began to flip through it. “Okay yep, the skinny girl margarita and bourbon, well the bourbon glass should be easy enough to test. Ah,” he shook his head “that bourbon glass was missing from the room. But what’s this about when she slit her wrists and got in the tub? Where’d you get that?”
“I thought you fellows had blood spatter analysts or something.”
“Police in Charlotte don’t have the time and money they seem to have on cable shows, ‘specially when it appears to be a suicide. Still, could have been worth a look.” His massive shoulders slumped. “We didn’t much evidence. No reason at the time. Anything else specific you remember?”
“The blood stains were pretty dark. They were on the drapes, the carpet, but none of them looked watery--not one. I know suicides change their minds but this doesn’t fit. If you had come to your senses and gotten out of the tub the blood would stream right? Mixed in with the water?”
“What else?" He asked
“Oh nothing, the earring, that the lone man on the hotel security camera must have been lucky or sly, he seemed to have purposely evaded the security cameras.”
“You know I wish---”
“That people like me would stop watching CSI?”
“No that those jugheads out there would. Don’t get me wrong, some of what you noticed was in the file, but no one drew any conclusions from it because they assumed it was a clear case of suicide. And with budget cuts and all... Well I asked you here because you went through the room and I’m wondering if we should be looking at the attempted abduction and the suicide together. I saw you caught the cleanup. Might seem a stretch, but the girls were of similar age, visiting town on interviews straight out of college. Rapists aren’t always picky but sometimes, if they are working themselves up to worse, they do. There’s more a’course, we suspect there have been other victims, unconfirmed, but we can get to that later.”
2 Maid in the Shade Page 8
