Dead Weight

by Ragan, T. R.

  “That’s the name of Jared’s new kitten. Jared told me she didn’t have a name and she’s so precious that I thought she needed an adorable name...thus the name Hannah.”

  Lizzy shrugged. “Sorry. Hannah already has a name and it’s Rumpelstiltskin. Now, if you could just let me in, I’ll grab Rumpel and we’ll be on our way.”

  Charlee Theron or Bingaman or whatever the hell her name was seemed to be thinking about whether or not to let her inside Jared’s house, which annoyed Lizzy further. She didn’t have time to take care of the cat, but hell would have to freeze over before she’d leave Rumpelstiltskin with this woman. There had to be a kind elderly lady in the neighborhood who Jared could have asked for help. What was he thinking?

  The woman opened the door before Lizzy could build herself into a frenzy. Lizzy stepped inside and realized she couldn’t remember the last time she’d spent the night at Jared’s place, if ever. She went to the kitchen on the pretense of looking for Rumpelstiltskin. She grabbed a Rice Krispies Treat from the covered Tupperware on the counter and took a big bite.

  “I made those.”

  “Delicious,” Lizzy said with her mouth full.

  “Hannah...I mean—” she wrinkled her nose, “Rumpelstiltskin is asleep in her bed.”

  Lizzy didn’t pretend to know where the bed was. Instead, she followed Charlee-long-legs into Jared’s guestroom. Lizzy could only pray she didn’t see any bras and panties lying around.

  Thank God. Nothing but a nicely made bed and the smell of kitty litter. She really wasn’t in the mood for a full out cat fight. Lizzy picked up the kitty, kissed her on the head and made a bee-line for the exit.

  “Don’t you want her things?”

  “No, that’s okay. I’ve got it. It was really nice meeting you, Charlee. I guess I’ll be seeing you around.”

  “Guess so,” Charlee said with obvious regret.

  ***

  Lizzy sat at her desk in her office downtown, stared at her iPhone and thought about Jared. Rumpelstiltskin was curled under her desk on top of a sweatshirt she’d found in the file room.

  Jessica had been sitting quietly at her desk looking at the computer screen for the past thirty minutes when she said, “Lizzy, you’ve got to look at this.”

  When Lizzy failed to respond, Jessica hit the Pause button. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Jared’s new neighbor is really getting to you, huh?”

  Lizzy swatted that ridiculous statement away with her hand. “No. I just have a lot on my mind. What’s going on?”

  “Come over here. You have to see this crazy video.”

  Lizzy made her way to Jessica’s desk and hovered over her so she could see the screen.

  Jessica hit Replay and started the video over. “Now watch this. Somebody took this entire video that you’re about to see using their iPhone. I’m guessing whoever took the video must live three or four stories above the crime scene.”

  Together, Jessica and Lizzy watched three men standing on a dark corner. They were making an exchange—most likely money for drugs. Suddenly a silhouette of a girl with long hair came around the street corner and abruptly stopped when she spotted the three men.

  Although the film was fuzzy and a little dark, it was clear that the girl was backing away. She was also reaching into her backpack. She finally turned to leave.

  “Run,” Lizzy whispered.

  “Just wait.”

  “What’s happening? Where is she?” Lizzy wanted to know. “Where did she go?”

  “That’s exactly what 200,000 viewers were wondering when they watched this,” Jessica said.

  Lizzy watched the biggest guy out of the bunch follow after the girl. The video focused on the two remaining men who continued on with their business.

  After a few minutes, the second guy disappeared.

  “Oh, that’s not good,” Lizzy said. “Two against one. It’s bad enough that the first guy was the size of a gorilla.”

  “I know. I know.”

  Lizzy felt sickened to know she was completely helpless. There was nothing she or anyone else could do to help her. Why was Jessica showing her this? Why did 200,000 sick people watch this thing? Probably the same reason she couldn’t look away. The whole world was sick.

  Lizzy gasped when she saw the girl return. She appeared to be okay. Thank goodness!

  The only man left put his hand out like a traffic cop, obviously trying to stop the girl from whatever it was she was about to do him. The girl held something in her hand. It looked like a big stick. Much smaller than a bat. “What is she holding?”

  “It looks like one of those batons that police use during riots. Don’t you think?”

  Hovering closer, Lizzy tried to make out all the fuzzy, blurry parts of the video. The girl poked the guy with the baton, but nothing happened.

  The door to the office came open and Hayley walked inside. Jessica hit the Pause button and waited while Hayley handed Lizzy a package. “Here are your tickets for the Melbourne retreat that you asked me to get.”

  “Thanks for going out of your way. I was there this morning and I completely forgot about the tickets.”

  “Melbourne is a strange one,” Hayley said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Here’s this guy who’s supposed to be promoting exercise and eating right, and yet apparently he hasn’t done his homework.”

  Jessica and Lizzy both waited for Hayley to explain.

  “While I was picking up the tickets from his secretary lady, he brought her in a late lunch or an early dinner, whatever you want to call it. Guess what he brought her?”

  They both shrugged.

  “A big ol’ cheeseburger and French fries. No salad. One tiny slice of tomato. That was the only vegetable. Or are tomatoes fruit? I always forget.”

  “That is weird,” Jessica agreed.

  “Yeah, and not only that, but in the thirty seconds that I watched their exchange, I swear to you that girl is in love with her boss.”

  “Are you talking about Jane? Five foot three, round face, red hair in a tight bun, Jane?”

  Hayley nodded. “That’s the one.”

  “I met her at the retreat in San Francisco,” Lizzy said. “She was overly zealous, but maybe she’s just passionate about Melbourne’s work. From what I’ve seen and heard, women go crazy over that guy. Personally, I don’t get it.”

  “I don’t know,” Hayley said, “the whole thing was just weird. The way she looked at him, the way he looked at her. She would blush and then look away and then stare at him as he walked away. And I was standing right there waiting for her to hand me your tickets. It was flat-out weird.” Finished, Hayley looked at Jessica’s computer screen. “What’s going on?”

  Jessica turned back to her computer and hit the Play button.

  The shadow of the girl in the video, Lizzy noticed, quickly forgetting the whole Jane/Melbourne drama, was holding what looked like a fisted hand to the man’s face.

  The man was about five foot ten and thin. Whatever the girl had held to his face caused him to drop to the ground. He rolled around, using his shirt to rub at his eyes.

  “She must have used mace,” Lizzy said.

  “Yeah,” Jessica agreed.

  “Or pepper spray,” Hayley added. “It’s much more painful.”

  Lizzy looked at Hayley.

  Hayley lifted her hands in question. “What?”

  “What do you think she’s doing now?” Jessica asked, still staring at the screen.

  “Who knows? It’s probably a fake,” Hayley said. “Kids cut school and spend their days making this kind of shit. Everybody wants their two minutes of fame on the Internet.”

  Lizzy watched Hayley head for the file room. She tried not to worry. She didn’t want to mother the girl, but Hayley didn’t look right—she looked tired and maybe even angry.

  “This isn’t a fake,” Jessica called out. “You have to watch the whole thing. Lizzy, what do yo
u think the girl is doing to that man?”

  “I don’t know,” Lizzy said, “but why hasn’t the video person put down his or her iPhone and called the cops?”

  Lizzy didn’t like what she was seeing. The girl in the video was now sitting on top of the man. She was straddling him, holding him to the ground. The girl jerked up the man’s shirt and pulled an object, possibly a knife, from beneath her skirt. Using her knees to keep his arms pinned to the ground, she proceeded to mark him or cut him or maybe even write something on his chest. It was hard to tell.

  The guy was obviously crying out for help, but he appeared to be too wasted to get away. None of it made sense. “We need to call the police.”

  “No need,” Jessica told her. “According to the comments, this video has already been all over the news. The police were called. In fact, they received several calls last night but the girl and this guy were both gone by the time the police arrived.”

  “The police must have taken their sweet time,” Lizzy said, frustrated. “I mean come on, look at that guy. If I had to guess, the way she’s straddling him and the way he’s trying to get free, I’d say she was carving a pumpkin.”

  Disgusted, Lizzy headed back for her desk. “Any word on the other two men?”

  “The bigger man was handcuffed to the bus-stop bench. He had ecstasy on him and he was arrested on drug charges. The other guy, the second one to disappear in the video, hasn’t been identified or found. No witnesses have come forward other than the person who posted the video to the Internet.”

  “Very sad,” Lizzy said before calling Hayley back into the room for a quick meeting.

  The video was done. Jessica swiveled in her chair so she was facing Lizzy.

  Hayley took her usual position on the edge of the desk she shared with Jessica.

  “Meow.”

  Lizzy bent down and picked up the kitten. “First, I’d like you both to meet Rumpelstiltskin.”

  Jessica made a face. “Are you serious? Is that the poor thing’s name?”

  Lizzy kissed the kitty and held her closer to her chest. “What’s wrong with Rumpelstiltskin?”

  “Have you read the fairy tale?” Jessica asked. “It’s about a selfish, horrid little man who wants to take the queen’s daughter from her. You can’t name that cute kitty Rumpelstiltskin.”

  “It’s just a fairy tale,” Hayley pointed out.

  Jessica turned on her. “Would you want to be named Rumpelstiltskin?”

  “I’m not a kitten,” Hayley said. “But sure, call me Rumpelstiltskin if you’d like. I’ve been called worse.”

  “No bickering in the office,” Lizzy said. “First I need to know what’s going on with the lead you got from Theodore Johnson.”

  “I talked to a woman who is on the committee for Burning Man,” Hayley said. “The woman told me that from 1986 to 1989 the event was more of a bonfire ritual. She said she’d try to find a list of people in charge and then get back to me.”

  “Great. Let me know when she calls.”

  Hayley nodded.

  “I need to talk to you both about babysitting this weekend,” Lizzy went on. “You both agreed to watch Brittany, but I wanted to double-check and make sure you would both be there. I have to pick up Cathy in an hour. We’ll leave all of our contact info at Cathy’s house, but I need your assurance that you’ll both stay at the house with Brittany.”

  “It’s not a problem,” Jessica said. “I’m happy to do it.”

  “I have a few things I need to do,” Hayley said, “but I’ll be there for the most part.”

  “What is it exactly that you have to do?” Jessica asked, trying to keep her annoyance to a minimum.

  “I don’t think that’s any of your business.”

  “Well, I just—”

  “Girls,” Lizzy said, interrupting Jessica and stopping either one from saying anything more. “Hayley, can you please stay in for one weekend? It would make me feel better about things if you could do that.”

  “Fine. I’ll stay in.”

  Lizzy set the kitten on the ground. “I also need you guys to watch Rumpelstiltskin.”

  “I’m allergic to cats,” Hayley said.

  “Figures,” Jessica muttered.

  Hayley turned and headed for the file room.

  “Hayley, one more thing.”

  Hayley swiveled around until she was facing Lizzy again.

  “This Monday night you and I are scheduled to teach a defense class to young women at Oakmont High School. Are you still available?”

  “I’ll be there,” she said before she continued to the file room.

  “How do you work with that girl?” Jessica asked Lizzy, her voice low. “She’s temperamental and stubborn. She refuses to work as a team.”

  “She’s a hard worker,” Lizzy said. “Not only does she complete every job I give her, she does everything with passion. She goes above and beyond. Not unlike someone else I know.”

  Jessica shrugged. “It’s your investigative company.”

  Lizzy hid a smile as she set the kitten on the ground and watched her wobble around until she found the rubber band she’d given her earlier to play with. She rolled onto her back, swatting the rubber band, lost in her own little world. If only life could be so simple and carefree.

  Chapter 23

  Remembering Spiderman

  Hayley had plans tonight. And they didn’t include babysitting. Lizzy had put the pressure on her to keep an eye on Brittany as a favor for all Cathy had done for her, but Hayley knew that Brittany wasn’t the only one Lizzy wanted her to watch over. Jessica might be in her twenties, but she possessed the naïveté of someone much younger.

  “Okay,” Jessica said in an overly cheerful voice as she rubbed her hands together. “What should we do? Make cupcakes?”

  Brittany spoke first. “I’m trying to lose a few pounds—”

  “Gotcha,” Jessica said, cutting her off. “Then how about a game of Trivial Pursuit or Scrabble?”

  One glance from Brittany told Hayley that it was time to step in. Hayley had been living with Brittany long enough to know that the look meant: save me.

  “I can’t remember the last time I had a cupcake,” Hayley told Jessica. “Do you really know how to make them?”

  Jessica looked skeptical until Brittany jumped on the band wagon. “I guess I am sort of hungry. Do you know how to make bran muffins or some sort of healthy cupcake?”

  Jessica snapped her fingers. “I know just the thing. Do you guys mind if I run to the store? I’ll only be a minute.”

  “It’s okay with me,” Brittany said before she turned back to whatever show she was watching on television.

  It took Hayley a minute to realize Jessica’s gaze was focused on her, as if Hayley would care if she disappeared for the rest of the night. Although Hayley was eager to take off, despite telling Lizzy she would stay in, she shrugged and said, “Knock yourself out.”

  After Jessica was gone and the house was quiet again, Hayley sat on the other end of the couch from Brittany and stared blankly at the television screen. She had too much on her mind right now to focus on what show was on or what the actors were saying. Judging by the fake audience laughter it was a comedy. But then why, she wondered, did Brittany look so sad?

  Although she’d never been the touchy-feely-talk-about-your-problems sort of person, Hayley found herself saying, “Everything okay at school?”

  A few seconds passed before Brittany glanced her way. “Yeah, why?”

  “You’ve been quiet lately. And now that jabbermouth is gone, I thought maybe we could talk.”

  Brittany picked at a thumbnail. “I wish you didn’t move out.”

  “I didn’t want to,” Hayley said. Lizzy didn’t know she was living on the streets. Cathy thought she’d moved in with her aunt, a well-thought out fabrication on Hayley’s part.

  “Mom said you’ve been up to no good.”

  Silence.

  “Is that true? Are you up to no good
?”

  Hayley refused to lie to Brittany. They had been through too much. “I don’t sleep well. And when I can’t sleep, I need to get outside and breathe in fresh air. I almost always end up walking too far. Before I know it, it’s three in the morning and I’m still out wandering the streets.” That much was true.

  “I can’t sleep either.”

  Hayley turned all the way toward Brittany, her right foot tucked under her left leg. “Maybe it will help if you talk about it.” Hayley didn’t believe that, not for a minute, but that’s what Linda Gates, the therapist, always said. Besides, talking about things probably couldn’t make matters worse.

  “I climb into bed,” Brittany said, “shut my eyes, and most nights I see blood. Lots of blood. Your blood.”

  Brittany wasn’t looking at her and Hayley had to strain to hear every word. She wasn’t sure if Brittany was finished, and she didn’t want to stop her from getting it all out, so Hayley waited.

  “Do you remember when Spider—I mean HE was going to slice off your middle finger?” Brittany asked, glancing at Hayley to see if she was listening.

  Hayley nodded. She knew Brittany didn’t like to say or hear the name Spiderman because Cathy had told Lizzy, who then told Hayley. Hayley liked Cathy Warner. She had a good heart, and she meant well, but Cathy wasn’t a say-it-like-it-is kind of person like Lizzy. That was Hayley’s favorite thing about Lizzy. She never held back. She said what was on her mind, didn’t make everyone guess what she was thinking or feeling. If Lizzy didn’t like something, you knew it. If she was proud of you for a job well done, she told you.

  “When he put the knife to your finger,” Brittany went on, her voice a little louder than before, “I screamed as loud as I could. I remember squeezing my eyes shut as tight as possible. I didn’t want to see him hurt you just to get to me. I thought he’d done it, too. I thought he’d cut off your other finger.”

  He had cut Hayley’s middle finger, but not clean through, only enough to make it bleed like a motherfucker. The doctors had been able to save her middle finger, so now she was only missing her pinky.