Bad Blood

by Mary Monroe

  I left feeling better, but only slightly. I feared my pain would start up again as soon as I got home and had to deal with Darla and Darnell. But I didn’t have to wait that long.

  I had parked my Range Rover at a meter. As I approached it, I noticed something on my dashboard. I knew it couldn’t be a ticket. My meter still had fifteen minutes on it, and a ticket for a parking violation would not have been put inside my vehicle. I snatched open my door and leaned inside. What I saw on my dashboard almost made me faint. It was a wallet-size picture of me, Darla, and Gayle that we had taken at Magic Mountain a few weeks ago. It was the same picture that I kept in my spare wallet in a drawer in the nightstand next to my bed. What the hell was it doing on my dashboard?

  I slid into my seat and grabbed the picture, wondering if I was losing my mind. I had not put the picture on my dashboard, and I knew Darnell and Darla couldn’t have done it. They didn’t even know where I was. I turned the picture over. The message that had been neatly printed on the back with a fine-point black Sharpie made my head swim: I should be in this picture.

  I could not believe my eyes! There was no mistake about it. I knew immediately who had stolen the picture and placed it on my dashboard. But I got additional confirmation. The inside of my vehicle reeked of perfume: Poison. It was a fragrance that only one woman I knew wore. That woman was Rachel McNeal.

  Chapter 62

  Rachel

  “YOU SURE ARE QUIET TODAY,” LUCY SAID, HOVERING OVER MY desk. “Is anything wrong?” She looked like a pumpkin with a face, standing there in her orange dress.

  “I’m fine.”

  I did feel fine. I had pulled off another act of revenge against Seth, and this one made me feel better than all the others. Breaking into the Range Rover that he had traded in his BMW for to leave the picture I’d stolen from his house had been a piece of cake. For the money people paid for SUVs, it was amazing how easy it was to break into them. I had locked myself out of my car one night a couple of years ago. Uncle Albert had to come rescue me. He had used a ten-inch metal file with a sharp end to unlock my car. After I’d locked myself out of my car several more times, Uncle Albert had taught me how to use a file, and from that day on, I had always carried one in a sheath in my purse.

  “You were looking so deep in thought, I thought you’d sat here and fallen asleep with your eyes open.”

  “I was just thinking about something,” I said.

  “Well, with the stone-faced look you had on your face, I’m afraid to ask what it was that you were thinking about. Have you heard from your parole officer boo? Uh, what was his name?”

  “Matthew. No, I have not heard from him.”

  “I figured that. If I had known it was going to be this hard to find another man to marry, I’d have begged Nate not to divorce me.”

  “Your husband left you to be with another woman, remember?”

  Lucy exhaled and gave me a sympathetic look. “I guess I shouldn’t feel too bad about my pitiful love life. Yours is just as bad. Matthew didn’t even bother to call you, like he said he would, after you spent time with him in that casino. That should tell you all you need to know. Either he wasn’t serious in the first place or he met somebody he likes better. If he calls now, I wouldn’t be bothered with him if I were you.”

  “He’s not the first man who took my telephone number and didn’t call.”

  “And he won’t be the last! If I had a dollar for every man that did that to me, I’d be able to retire. I think you should go on one of those singles’ cruises, like I do when I get too far down in the dumps.”

  “Why? So I can screw a bunch of men I’ll never see again, too?”

  “Don’t go there now! I have fun on my cruises, and I do more than just fuck a bunch of anonymous men. One night I went to the bar on country-western night so I could learn how to line dance. On top of that, I spent that night with a white boy from West Virginia, who gave me some of the best sex I have ever had,” Lucy swooned. “Don’t be such a sourpuss. I’m just trying to cheer you up.”

  I sighed. “Cheer me up by taking me to lunch today.”

  “Only if you let me pick the place.”

  I was sure that once Seth found the picture with my message on the dashboard of his car, he would know I’d been in his house, too. I wanted him to know that I was still in his life, anyway, and there was not a thing that he could do about it. But if he convinced me that he was truly sorry for what he’d done to me, I would feel that my mission had been accomplished.

  I had put Matthew out of my mind. When he finally called me up on Sunday evening, around five, I was surprised and annoyed.

  “Matthew who?” was the first thing out of my mouth when he identified himself.

  “Matthew Bruner. I first met you in line at the Department of Motor Vehicles a few years ago. Then I bumped into you again at the casino a few weeks ago. You don’t remember me?”

  “Oh. That Matthew Bruner.” I didn’t even try to hide my sarcasm. “What do you want?”

  “I wanted to talk to you.”

  “I can’t imagine what you want to talk to me about.”

  “Give me a chance, Rachel.” I didn’t even have to see his face to know that there was a pout on it. “I would have called you a lot sooner, but I lost your telephone number.”

  I had heard that excuse from several other men, so hearing it from Matthew didn’t surprise me.

  “Oh, really?”

  “I couldn’t remember the name of the school you told me you worked for, so I couldn’t call you at work,” he went on. “I went back to that casino several times, hoping I’d run into you again.”

  “Did you forget where I lived, too?” I snarled.

  “No, I didn’t. But after that incident the last time I showed up at your place, I didn’t want to show up without calling.”

  “You had my address. Why didn’t you send me a note or a postcard?”

  “Honey, I wish I had done that. But so much time had passed by the time I thought about doing that, I figured it’d do me no good.”

  “Well, it was nice of you to call,” I said, sounding bored. Not only was I bored, but I was also indifferent. So far, this man had not lived up to my expectations. I was tired of men playing with my feelings. I made a mental note to go with Lucy the next time she went on a cruise. If she could have fun sleeping and partying with men she’d never see again, so could I.

  “Rachel, I really would like to get to know you. When I realized I had left that matchbook with your phone number in my jacket pocket, I could have kicked my own ass.”

  “And you just found it?”

  “Something like that. I eventually took the jacket to be dry-cleaned and didn’t check my pockets before. When I picked it up today, the clerk handed me the matchbook, which he had removed and had kept in a drawer. He couldn’t call to tell me, because he didn’t have my new telephone number. It was an honest mistake.”

  I felt somewhat better. “Well, we all make mistakes. I’m glad you called.” I didn’t sound as bored now, but I didn’t want to sound too anxious, either. For all I knew, Matthew was lying.

  “Can you have dinner with me this week?” he asked.

  “Well . . .”

  “Tomorrow evening, if you’re available.”

  “Monday evening would be better.” I didn’t want to give the impression that I had no plans for the weekend, which I didn’t. “Next Monday. I’m really busy these days.”

  “I’m sure you are. I don’t expect a fox like you to be sitting at home alone too often.” He laughed.

  The more we chatted, the more relaxed I felt. Now I really was glad he’d called. By the time we ended our conversation an hour later, I had almost forgotten that I had broken into Seth’s house.

  When Seth called me a few minutes later from his cell phone, I was caught completely off guard. As soon as I answered, he started yelling. “Rachel, I’ve had enough of your foolishness! This time you went too far!”

  “Huh?”


  “Huh, my ass! I know you broke into my house!”

  “What? Seth? Is that you?”

  “You know damn well it’s me! And I know damn well you’ve been in my house!”

  “Oh, really?”

  “You broke into my house and stole a picture of me and my family. Then you broke into my car and left that picture on the dashboard. I know it was you!”

  “Prove it!”

  “I don’t have to prove it! Now I know it was you who keyed my car and slashed my tires! And another thing, you were probably behind all the rest of that shit that happened to me after we broke up!”

  “What shit are you talking about?”

  “You canceled my credit cards, too! Didn’t you?”

  “You can’t prove that, either!”

  “No, I can’t. But you’re the only person who had a reason to fuck with me! Woman, do you know what kind of hell you’ve put me through?”

  “You know something, Seth. An insensitive man like you probably has a whole lot of other enemies. . . .”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “You figure it out!”

  “I’ve already figured it out!”

  “You made a fool out of me, Seth. I had every reason in the world to fuck up your life.”

  “That’s all the admission I need. I’m going down to the police station and getting a restraining order. I don’t want you to come anywhere near me or my family or my vehicle again!”

  Seth hung up abruptly, and I called him right back.

  “Remember what I told you?” I asked.

  “What the hell are you talking about?” he growled.

  “I told you that karma is a bitch named Rachel. Do you remember that?”

  What I had just said must have really rattled him, because he made a noise that sounded like that of a wounded animal. “Why . . . why did you say that?”

  “Because it’s true!”

  “You are talking straight-up gibberish! Fuck you!” he roared. He didn’t sound so wounded now. He sounded like an angry bear about to attack. “You are crazier than I thought.”

  “Since it runs in my family, you’re probably right. Maybe I am crazy. Let me tell you one more thing. A restraining order is just a piece of paper to me!”

  I was the one who hung up abruptly this time.

  Chapter 63

  Seth

  IT SEEMED LIKE BEFORE I COULD PUT OUT ONE FIRE, ANOTHER ONE flared up in my face. The same day that I planned to go to the police department to take out a restraining order against Rachel, the cops came to my house to arrest my son for armed robbery. Darla was out shopping that Saturday evening and had been since the malls opened at 10:00 a.m. She had left Gayle with Mother. I had no idea where Darnell was. It had been three days since we’d seen him, and he had not called to say where he was. With the way he had been behaving lately, and with the thugs he associated with, he could have been dead, for all I knew. I was so tired and broken by this time, I almost didn’t care.

  When the cops banged on my front door and told me what Darnell had been accused of doing, I didn’t know what to think.

  “My son robbed a convenience store? You’ve got to be kidding! The boy has had some problems, but he’s not the type to go around robbing people!” I yelled at the tall black cop who was standing in my living room, looking at me like he wanted to arrest me, too.

  “We have two eyewitnesses, and everything was caught on tape. The boy who was with your son is already in custody. He named your son as his accomplice,” the stout white cop, who looked more like a wrestler, said with a smirk.

  I couldn’t argue with that. “Well, I haven’t seen my son in three days,” I admitted, rubbing the back of my aching neck. “He pretty much does what he wants to do.”

  “I figured that,” the black cop said, rolling his eyes. “We will find him, and he will be arrested. When and if you hear from him before we find him, I advise you to have him turn himself in.”

  After the cops left, I sat down on my couch and cried like a baby for the next ten minutes. In the past few weeks I had cried as often and as hard as I had when I was a baby. Had I become that weak? The answer was yes. By the time Darla returned an hour later, I had composed myself.

  “The cops came here today, looking for Darnell,” I told her when she entered the living room, holding two large shopping bags. I groaned at the thought of how much she had charged to my credit card this time.

  “You wouldn’t believe the crowds I had to deal with. It was complete chaos!” she complained. She kicked off her shoes, set the shopping bags on the floor, and headed toward the liquor cabinet.

  “Did you hear what I just said?” I asked.

  Darla poured herself a shot of bourbon, swallowed half of it in one gulp, and took her time answering. “No. Did you say something?”

  “I just told you that the cops came here, looking for Darnell. Apparently, he was involved in a robbery.”

  Darla let out a heavy sigh as she shook her head and sat down next to me. “I’m surprised the cops hadn’t come before today,” she said, still shaking her head. “The boy is beyond help, and the sooner you realize that, the better.”

  “So you keep telling me. And I keep telling you that he’s still my son, Darla.”

  Darla finished her drink and set the glass on the coffee table. She turned to me with a stone face and asked, “Have you tried to find his silly ass?”

  “No. I wouldn’t even know where to start looking for that boy.” I looked at the bags Darla had set on the floor. “You can’t keep spending like this,” I pointed out. “Business has slowed down a lot, and we already have a lot of outstanding debts.”

  “Can we change the subject, Seth?” Darla didn’t give me time to answer. “I saw that woman.”

  I knew she was referring to Rachel. We didn’t talk about her often anymore, and when we did, she was still referred to as “that woman.”

  “Where did you see her?” I asked, with my heart racing. “She . . . she didn’t say anything to you, did she?”

  “She didn’t see me. I was driving past Dino’s Restaurant and saw her walking in with some dude. He had his arm around her, so maybe she’s somebody else’s problem now. I’m so glad she’s finally out of your life. I . . . Why is that strange look on your face?”

  “She’s not out of my life.” I had to cough before I could wheeze out the rest of my response. “She’s been in this house.”

  “What? How? What in the world was she doing in my house! When?”

  “I don’t know when she was here,” I whimpered.

  “What all did she steal?”

  “As far as I know, all she took was a picture. It was one of the ones of you, me, and Gayle that we took at Magic Mountain last month. I had left it in the bedroom.”

  Darla’s nostrils flared, and her eyes looked like they wanted to pop out of their sockets. “That woman has been in our bedroom?”

  I nodded. “That was where I had left the picture . . . in the top drawer of my nightstand. I had just put it there last weekend, when I changed wallets. That means she broke in some time since then. She got into my car somehow and placed the picture on the dashboard.”

  Darla’s mouth was hanging open. “Why in the hell would she do something like that? Are you sure she did that?”

  “Who else could have done it?”

  “I wouldn’t put it past your son—”

  “What reason would Darnell have to do something like that? How would he know where I’d parked my car?”

  “Yes, but can you prove it was Rachel?”

  “She scribbled some stupid message on the back of the picture. From what she wrote, apparently, she thinks she should have been the woman posing next to me. And . . .”

  “And what?”

  “I called her up.”

  “Did she admit it?”

  “No. She didn’t have to.”

  “Look, that woman has been fucking with us for too long. If you d
on’t go to the police, I will.”

  “And tell them what? Everything she’s done? I’m not even sure of what all that is. Even if I did know, I can’t prove a damn thing. I was thinking about taking out a restraining order.”

  “Thinking about it! What’s wrong with you, fool? If she’s been in this house and in your car, there is no telling what else she’s capable of!”

  “Darla, I have reason to believe she’s responsible for a lot of other things these past few years. I think she’s the one who slashed my tires that night we had dinner at Bridges. And I’m almost certain she’s the one who put the sugar in my gas tank, canceled my credit cards, and . . . ratted me out to the IRS.”

  Darla gasped. “The IRS? What do you mean?”

  “I think she’s the one who gave them the information that initiated that audit. They knew too much about my financial activity for nineteen ninety-nine. Um . . . some of the information on my forms was fraudulent. Rachel was the only person who had access to that information.”

  Darla looked at me like I had just sprouted horns. “I can’t believe what I’m hearing! If you were stupid enough to cheat the IRS and let that lunatic bitch know about it, what else are you stupid enough to do? How do I even know your business is not a front for some . . . some God knows what else? Ad agency, my ass! That little one-trick, Mickey Mouse business of yours could be a front for drugs, for all I know!”

  “Well, it’s not, so you can get that off your mind. I’m stupid, but not that stupid.”

  “I can’t believe that that crazy-ass woman has been in my house,” Darla mouthed, looking around. “Did you even check to see if she took anything else? I find it hard to believe that she broke in here and all she took was a picture.”

  “I checked, and I didn’t see anything else missing. I think that after I take out that restraining order, she’ll get the message.”

  Chapter 64

  Rachel

  THERE WAS NEVER A GOOD TIME OR PLACE TO HAVE SOMEONE approach you and hand you a restraining order. I was glad that the process server had not come to my job. I would have had a hell of a lot of explaining to do. But I had some explaining to do, anyway, because he came to my apartment on a Monday evening, while I was cooking dinner for Matthew.