Instead of being a nervous wreck as she’d been last week, Charlene was steady as a rock as she walked up to Leslie’s door. She had her game face on and she was prepared to hit every ball Leslie threw her way. She rang the bell and waited.
“So glad you made it safely, Charlene,” Leslie said as she opened the door. “Please come in.”
Charlene entered, and intentionally stepped over Leslie’s monogrammed doormat, purposely neglecting to wipe her feet. She smiled with satisfaction as she watched Leslie’s eye twitch when she saw the mess that Charlene’s dirt-covered boots left in her wake. “Looks like the situation with your garage got taken care of.”
Leslie nodded. “Oh, that. Yes, one of my kind neighbors came over right after I called you and offered to shovel it for me.”
Charlene knew that Leslie had just told her a lie, but she also knew that this conversation was going to be about lies and deceit, so she didn’t waste her time debating the obvious.
“Let’s talk in my study.” Leslie pointed to her right and led the way. “I love being at the front of my house,” she said. “I’m all about easy access.”
Leslie sat behind her desk as Charlene took a seat in the ultra-plush chair in front of her. The chair was so inviting and comfortable that Charlene almost forgot that she was on guard. This was one of Leslie’s tactics, making people feel comfortable as she went in for the kill. Charlene looked around Leslie’s office, which looked more like a glammed-out walk-in closet than a home office. Now Charlene understood why the TV camera had zoomed in so closely on her during her Saturday morning interview. They hadn’t wanted to include the shoes, handbags, and jewelry Leslie had displayed in her built-ins throughout the space.
“I know this isn’t what you expected,” Leslie said with a grin. “But like I said, I like easy access, and since I spend more time working in here than in any other room in the house, I can work late, fall asleep on my couch, and then get dressed and head out to the garage, which you can see is easily accessible, snowdrift and all.”
“What new evidence do you have?” Charlene asked, getting straight to the point.
Leslie grinned. “You know that one of the first things we learned in law school was never to ask a question in court that we didn’t know the answer to,” she said slyly. “Well, we’re not in court, but I think you already know the answer, and you know that Vivana Jackson is innocent of the murder of Johnny Mayfield.”
Charlene crossed her legs and flipped her foot so the dirty snow on her boot could drip on Leslie’s pristine cream-colored rug. “And how would I know that?”
Leslie didn’t flinch. “Because you killed him.”
“You must be out of your mind.”
Leslie shook her head. “Cut it out, Charlene. I didn’t call you over here to play games.”
“You most certainly did, Leslie. Otherwise you would’ve gotten in your car and driven to the coffee shop the same way you did before I got here.” Charlene’s eyes narrowed in on the scone and cup of coffee on Leslie’s desk. She’d frequented the Whole Bean Café enough to know they were the only coffee shop in the city that served their one-of-a-kind, homemade lemon-poppyseed-blueberry scones. Charlene knew that Leslie was meticulous and careful, and that she’d left the food there on purpose.
“Admit that you killed Johnny Mayfield.”
“As I said, you must be out of your mind.”
Just then Charlene’s phone rang. She’d talked to Phillip earlier that morning when he’d called her before he left Donetta’s house. He’d told her that Geneva’s in-laws were on his flight, and that he’d use their phone to call her once he reached his gate. Charlene pulled out her phone, intending to make sure Phillip had made it there safely and then shut Leslie down before walking back out the door. “Excuse me. I need to take this call from my son.”
But when Charlene looked at her screen, it was Geneva’s name and number that appeared. Charlene had told Geneva that she was going to meet with Leslie this morning, so she knew Geneva was probably calling to make sure. The last thing Charlene needed was for Geneva to take it upon herself to contact Leslie, so she answered her call. “I’m in the middle of something, I’ll call you back.”
“Are you meeting with Leslie Sachs?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you so much, Charlene. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to you,” Geneva said with gratitude in her voice. “I won’t keep you, I just wanted to tell you one more detail I remembered from my dream that I think is proof that Vivana didn’t kill Johnny.”
Charlene’s heart started beating fast, but she remained as cool as a fan. “Okay.”
Geneva spoke quickly. “Right before Johnny was murdered in the kitchen, he’d been sitting on the couch in the living room looking through a decorative blue box, like the kind you get at craft stores, and it was filled with photos, plus a few DVDs and a burner phone. He was still holding the box in his hand when he walked into the kitchen. When I finally walked into the room the killer was leaving, and I noticed the blue box was gone. Whoever killed Johnny has that blue box, because it contained the evidence.”
Charlene immediately regretted that she’d answered Geneva’s call, because she’d been thrown off her game once again, and this time Charlene didn’t know whether she could recover. Geneva had been accurate in all that she’d told Charlene up to now. After Charlene had killed Johnny, she’d looked around the kitchen to make sure she hadn’t left any evidence behind before fleeing the scene. She was certain there hadn’t been a decorative blue box anywhere in the room, since that was something she couldn’t have missed. “Thanks so much, I’ll call you back,” she said in a strictly-business tone. Charlene slid her finger across the phone and hung up on Geneva as she tried to refocus. When she looked up, Leslie was staring into her eyes with a maniacal expression on her face.
“Your phone call almost caught me off guard,” Leslie said. “But lucky for me I added some extra time into my plan to account for any unforeseen mishaps that might arise.”
“What are you talking about?”
Leslie looked at her watch. “The camera crew will be here shortly, and once they call the police this entire messy ordeal will be over.” Leslie pulled a gun from her desk drawer, aimed it at Charlene, and smiled.
“What the hell is wrong with you? Why’re you pulling a gun on me?” Charlene said in terror.
“Because I’m going to kill you.”
“Leslie, put the gun away,” Charlene said, mustering what little calm she had left. Slowly, she looked out the corner of her eye to see if she could run in a zigzag motion past Leslie’s collection of clothes and shoes so that the crazy woman wouldn’t have a straight line of fire. But something caught Charlene’s eye that made her blood suddenly run cold. Sitting off to the side on Leslie’s shelf was a decorative blue box, right next a pair of red heels. Charlene’s mind immediately went to what Geneva had told her, and then to Leslie’s Saturday morning interview.
Charlene had memorized every word that Leslie had said and every movement she’d made during her interview in an attempt to gain some insight into what the cunning woman might have been planning. Charlene remembered that at one point during the interview when Leslie had talked about the new evidence, she’d looked off-camera to the side, as if something had caught her attention. Now Charlene knew that Leslie had been looking at the blue box, and she’d probably been gloating because she had the evidence right there in the room. But Charlene couldn’t figure out how that box had come into Leslie’s possession. Charlene jumped when she heard Leslie bang the butt of the gun against her desk.
Leslie smiled and began to twirl the pistol in her hand, showing that she was adept with the weapon. She changed her smile to a smirk as she set the gun down on her desk, making sure to rest her hand atop the handle. “Bravo, Councilwoman Harris. I see the wheels turning, and you’re trying to figure out how the blue box ended up on my shelf after you carelessly forgot to take it with you after you shot Johnny.”<
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Charlene remained silent and still.
“It must have been pure torture for you, knowing that you left such a crucial piece of evidence behind that contained a video of you and Johnny getting it on. I can only imagine how scared and frantic you felt, especially after I sent you that text.”
Charlene shifted her weight in her seat.
“I would’ve given anything to see the look on your face when you read it,” Leslie said with another wide smirk. “I bet you stayed up day and night trying to figure out who sent it. But I’ve got to hand it to you, Charlene. You didn’t respond, or panic and make a stupid move like most people would’ve.”
Charlene shook her head at the thought that Leslie had been behind the text all along. But at the moment, that revelation was a moot point that didn’t make a difference. Charlene no longer cared about how Leslie had ended up with the blue box, or that she herself had overlooked it that fateful night. The only thing Charlene now regretted was that she wouldn’t be around to see her children through the challenges that lay ahead. And as she stared at Leslie’s gun, she knew how Johnny must have felt when he realized he was going to die.
“I really wish I didn’t have to kill you, Charlene,” Leslie said. “I actually liked you, and I used to think you were one of the few people I’d ever met whom I considered to be on my intellectual level. But sadly, I realized you weren’t on the night of Johnny’s murder—because you left the blue box behind. Lucky for me, I came in right behind you and found it.”
Charlene broke her silence. “What? This is crazy!”
“No,” Leslie said with a smile, “it’s genius and smart, but not crazy. Johnny had been blackmailing me just like he’d done all those other women. I’d been watching him for months, plotting my move. Once I read about what happened to Geneva in the police blotter, I knew I had to stop him, just like I did that pig who raped me when I was a naïve young associate. As fate would have it, though, our brilliant minds thought alike and we planned to kill Johnny on the same night. You got there before I did and handled the tricky part for me by shooting him. After I watched you casually saunter out the door, I went in behind you and recovered the evidence that’s sitting on my shelf.”
“I never saw that blue box,” Charlene said quietly, admitting guilt for the first time.
“I almost missed it, too. I guess when Johnny was fixing his drink, he was so wasted that he put it in the cabinet along with the liquor. I knew he’d been drinking, so I looked to see if he’d left anything near his booze, and bingo!”
“Why are you doing this, Leslie? You’re an eyewitness to the murder I committed and you have the evidence. Why go through all this trouble, and why kill me? Why didn’t you just go to the authorities the next day?”
Leslie laughed, pleased with herself. “What fun would that have been? I decided to toy with you so I could study the way you went about covering your tracks. You actually taught me a thing or two that I can use, and pretending to be Geneva’s friend . . . that was classic.”
“It wasn’t an act. She’s a good woman, and I’m sorry I put her through hell.” Charlene shook her head and swallowed hard.
“Whatever, Charlene.” Leslie sighed, as if she was growing bored.
“You’ll never get away with this, Leslie. How’re you going to explain killing me?”
“I’ve gotten away with at least ten murders since I killed that bastard over thirty years ago, and I’ll simply add you to the list. Once I shoot you, the news crew I called yesterday will arrive under the pretext that they’re going to do a breaking news interview of me unveiling the evidence. But what they’re going to find is the body of a respected city council member I had to kill in self-defense because I’d uncovered your sex tape . . . in that little blue box.” Leslie paused. “Of course, you know I took mine out”
Charlene shook her head again. “You’re sick.”
“Maybe so, but no one will think that except you, and it won’t matter because you’ll be dead. I’ll be a hero, I’ll write a book, and I’ll be the most celebrated criminal defense attorney in the country.”
Charlene looked over at the blue box and closed her eyes.
“If you hadn’t been moving so slowly that night I might not have seen you,” Leslie said, as she picked up the gun. “But I have to admit I was surprised. I didn’t think you had it in you, Charlene. You walked out of there without a care in the world, as if you were taking a stroll in the park. You’ve got guts.”
Charlene’s eyes narrowed in on Leslie’s. “What are you talking about? I ran out of Johnny’s house like I was being chased.”
Leslie laughed. “Most people come clean and confess their wrongs right before they die, so they can leave this world with a clear conscience. But you’re going to lie to the end. Like I said, you’ve got guts.”
“I’m not lying. I was so frantic after what I’d done that I ran out the door at full speed and I didn’t stop until I got to my car.”
“That’s impossible,” Leslie said.
The sound of Lauren’s voice startled them both. “No, it’s not!”
Charlene and Leslie turned their heads to find Lauren standing in the middle of the doorway. Charlene was so shocked she couldn’t move and Leslie was equally taken by surprise. Slowly, Lauren entered the room as Leslie grabbed her gun and rose from behind her desk. Charlene felt a rising sense of panic. She wasn’t sure how much Lauren had heard, but it didn’t matter because she’d seen the gun in Leslie’s hand, and now that meant Leslie was going to have to kill Lauren, too.
“Charlene, you really should’ve kept your daughter out of this. Now the police are going to have a double homicide on their hands.”
Charlene rushed from her chair and stood in front of her daughter. “Leslie, please don’t do this. Lauren didn’t do anything, so let her go. I’ll confess to everything, just please don’t hurt my baby.”
“You don’t have to confess to anything, Mom,” Lauren said in a calm voice. “You didn’t race out of Johnny’s house that night because you’re not the one who killed him. I did.”
Charlene and Leslie both looked at Lauren with shock and disbelief.
“What are you talking about?” Charlene said, feeling as though she was getting ready to lose what little balance she had left.
“Johnny had to pay for what he’d done, so I went to his house to kill him. When I got there he’d already been shot, but he was still alive. I didn’t know who beat me there and pulled the trigger, but I knew I needed to finish him off. I walked over to where he was lying on the floor and I could see that he was trying to talk . . . to ask me to help him. But he couldn’t really speak. That’s when I bent down over him and covered his nose and mouth until he stopped breathing.
Charlene’s eyes grew wide and her hand flew to her mouth. “Lauren, what are you saying?”
“She’s saying she killed that son of a bitch,” Leslie said with a laugh. “Now it makes sense why the coroner’s report said he died of suffocation on his own blood as a result of being shot. This just keeps getting better. A mother-daughter tag-team murder duo.”
Lauren lowered her head. “I’m sorry, Mom.”
They all jumped when they heard a door slam outside and voices coming from the front yard. The news crew had just arrived and they were taking their equipment out of their van.
Leslie walked toward Charlene and Lauren. “I hate to break up this touching confession but I’ve got a job to do before News Channel 7 knocks on that door.” She aimed her gun directly at Charlene and pulled the trigger.
Pooooowwww!
“Urrgghhh!” Charlene groaned. The hot, burning sensation of Leslie’s bullet was painful, but it didn’t stop her because she knew she had to save Lauren. She gritted her teeth and lunged forward, grabbing Leslie by her wrist as they both fell to the floor. In a quick move Charlene managed to wrestle the gun from Leslie’s hand, aim it toward her neck, and shoot her in the throat.
Lauren raced to her mother’s si
de. “Oh God, Oh God!” she said in a panic as she dropped to the floor beside Charlene.
Charlene’s jacket was covered in Leslie’s blood, and the woman’s gurgling became erratic as she fought to breathe.
Ding, Dong. Knock, Knock!
“Is everything okay in there?” One of the cameramen had heard the shots as they were unloading their news van and rushed to the door. “We heard shots. We just called the police.”
Charlene managed to roll over on her side, and when she did, blood oozed from her abdomen.
“Mom!” Lauren cried. “Oh God! Please don’t die. Please don’t die.”
Charlene had faced many difficult situations in her life, and with each one she’d developed a plan and moved forward with solving the problem. She knew that this moment was no different, and she had to think quickly. She was losing blood, her head felt light, and she knew it would be only a matter of minutes before she lost consciousness. “I’m okay,” Charlene said as she breathed hard, trying to calm Lauren. “Baby, I need you to focus and listen to everything I’m about to say.”
Lauren began to cry and that’s when Charlene knew she was going to have to get tough with her daughter. “Listen to me, dammit!” Charlene hissed, as she labored to speak. “The police are going to be here any minute. Don’t say a word, do you hear me?”
Lauren continued to cry, and was now rocking back and forth, nearly hysterical. Charlene grabbed her daughter’s hand and squeezed. “Look at me, Lauren,” she said in a tone that finally got her daughter’s attention. “Don’t say anything, to anyone, under any circumstances. Not even your brother. They’ll think you’re in shock, and that will buy you some time. But don’t say a word. Do you understand?”
Lauren nodded.
“Repeat what I said.”
“I won’t say a word, Mom.”
“Good, I’ll handle everything.”
The last thing Charlene remembered hearing before she lost consciousness was her daughter’s soft cries and the sound of sirens blaring from the police squad cars outside.
Deadly Satisfaction Page 27
