by Jack Young
“He doesn’t drive a Red Chevy Silverado?”
“No. He has an old Cavalier. It’s blue and the top comes down.”
“Do you know if he knows anyone with a red truck like that?”
“I don’t think so. Why would you think Tim was the victim?”
Jacobs held up a hand and pointed to the fingers with the other hand. “We got a fingerprint match of the victims.”
Mrs. Roberts nearly fell with her baby in her arms, but Joe caught them. He was holding both of them as she began screaming for her husband. Joe looked over at his partner who was shaking his head. “I really am hating this fucking job and this the is part I hate the most.”
9.
Davy lay in Jamie’s bed with her snuggled into him. After she graduated high school, her parents let her move into the guest house located behind the main house. No one ever bothered her out there and if she was ever needed in the main house someone either texted her or called on her cell phone. This was actually a good place for Davy to hide out until he figured out what he was going to do.
Jamie’s breathing became heavier-not quite a snore- as she fell into a deeper sleep. They didn’t have an exclusive relationship where he thought he could stay the night, but with everything else going on, he wasn’t sure if he should go home. He made it through his shift without anyone approaching him-cops or otherwise-about where he was that afternoon, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t on anyone’s radar yet.
The money was still at the store in his locker and he didn’t have access to it until it opened at seven. It was safe. Davy really needed to think about what he was going to do. The amount was way too much to deposit into his bank accounts without someone at the bank getting curious, and lugging the bag around would get tedious. There was no real reason he could think of that he needed to take the money. It just seemed like the thing to do at the time. One hundred thousand dollars would help his mother and brother. His mind ran wild with thoughts preventing him from sleeping. He lay there staring at the ceiling when Jamie rolled into him tighter. “If you need to leave, I won’t take offense.”
Davy scrunched his head a little to look down towards her. “No. I’m fine. Why? You tryin’ to get rid of me?”
“No. I just know we’re not exactly dating and I’m not looking for anyone to date and you don’t seem like the type who’d stay the night after sleeping with someone.”
“I’m comfortable at the moment. I’m good. I might even take a little nap and then go.”
She reached under the covers and her hand made its way between his legs. “Or you could stay awake a little longer.”
This made Davy smile. “Like I said, I’m in no hurry to leave.” He pulled Jamie closer.
After another round of sex, Davy still couldn’t sleep. He rested on his side facing his left with his face resting in the palm of his left hand. Jamie had her back to him and she was again breathing deep indicating she was asleep. The alarm clock on the opposite of Jamie read four fifty-three in the morning. The sun would be creeping up soon and shine through the slits in between the small window’s curtains.
Davy knew he needed to leave town as soon as he could. He knew he probably shouldn’t have gone to work. It slowed his departure and now he was kicking himself for acting like such an amateur about it all. As much as he wanted to leave now, the money was still at the store. He did have just under thirty grand stashed away at his place that he could use until he figured out what to do about the cash at the store. Dumbass he thought to himself.
He took his time getting out of bed so he didn’t wake Jamie. She was a nice girl and he did like her. He just wasn’t sure if there was even any future with her or if it was just sex between coworkers. There wasn’t time for him to think about that right then. He needed to go back to his place to grab his go bag and collect the money he had stashed away and make his way out of town. The hundred grand would have to wait.
Davy had a bag ready for moments like this. The bag had been ready for some time. It was something Big John told him to always have prepared because there may be times where he needed to leave for a short period of time or for good, and packing would only slow down that departure. Big John told him the bag needed to have enough clothes and supplies for three to four days. Cash was also essential to a quick departure and the main reason he came back to his place. Over the years he’d squirreled away close to thirty grand. This wasn’t an easy thing to do when you’re young and he would have had more, but he liked to splurge when he was younger. The cash was in a safe under his bed. Inside was five thousand dollars in cash. The rest he put onto dozens of prepaid debit cards he’d bought at various locations over the years. They were held together by a rubber band.
When Davy was satisfied he had everything he needed, he sat down and wrote two letters. He only trusted two people at that moment, Orrin and Jamie. He couldn’t involve Orrin any more than he already was, just for tagging along. Davy kicked himself for that one, too. In his letter to his brother, Davy told him he was sorry for not always being there for him and that he hoped Orrin would understand why Davy was leaving. He didn’t put in the letter why he was leaving, but told Orrin he would be checking on him and not to worry about him.
Davy’s letter to Jamie was shorter:
Locker 14. 42-3-22. Hide it all. I will contact later about it. He left three prepaid debit cards with a note and PIN numbers for each. He was hoping she was as smart as he thought she was and that if he didn’t return, she knew to begin loading debit cards. He didn’t mind if she used some for herself which is what he would’ve done.
When he thought he had everything situated, Davy left his place and drove to his mother’s house. He knew she would be awake. She never was one to sleep in. He couldn’t think of a reason to talk to her because they hadn’t been on the best of terms for years.
Orrin’s blue Ford Taurus was parked alongside the curb in front of their mother’s house. Davy actually bought the car for him as a graduation gift. He didn’t mind that his little brother had a better-looking car than he did. In fact, it made him happy. He pulled up behind his brother’s car and before exiting his car, Davy grabbed the letter.
Orrin never listened to Davy about making sure his car was always locked when he wasn’t driving it. This allowed Davy to open the driver’s side door and sit down in the car. The last thing he wanted to do with the letter was leave it in plain sight. He left the envelope between the handle for the parking brake and the console for holding cups where the gear shift was also located. He tried hiding it the best he could without making it completely gone. He hoped Orrin would see it the next time he buckled up to drive. When this was completed, he closed the car door and started making his way back to his car. He was nearly there when he heard someone whistle. He knew that whistle because he grew up hearing it. This particular pitch meant his attention was needed. Davy turned to where he heard the whistle coming from and wasn’t one bit surprised to see his mother standing on the front step of her house. “You creeping around for any specific reason?”
He shook his head. “No.” It didn’t surprise him that his mother would hear him. He never really could succeed in being sneaky around her. It seemed the older she became, the more alert her senses were. She wasn’t even that old, though. She had Davy when she was young and she was currently in her mid-forties. She did live a hard life of drinking and bad relationships that she looked closer to sixty.
“Well, if you’re not too busy, why don’t you come inside and get some coffee and breakfast.”
“I don’t want to put you out, Mom.”
“Oh, bullshit. Come on in. You got that look like you’re leaving again and what kind of mother would I be if I didn’t feed my own son before he took off to parts unknown.”
Davy nodded. “Yes, ma’am.” He then walked up to his childhood home.
10.
The birds chirping woke Paden. Light was also finding its way through Joanne’s curtains. He wasn’t sure what time it wa
s, but as the sun began to rise, he knew his time with Joanne was limited and he needed to get going. He was glad he was able to be with her for a little that night.
It had gotten late when he arrived at Joanne’s house a few hours before and he had a feeling she was already asleep. It was his idea they have dinner together so she could come across the money, but he was also trying to be cautious because he wasn’t sure if he was being watched or not. The police scanner he’d been monitoring hadn’t mentioned anything about finding Lanny or Marcus yet. If Paden was lucky, he’d be long gone before their bodies were discovered.
He parked down the street from Joanne’s house and walked behind a few houses down the alley until he came to hers. After taking one last look around in the dark, Paden used his key and let himself in the back door. It was a sliding door that led into the living room. Off to the left a little from the living room was a set of stairs that were dimly lit by a nightlight plugged into the wall partway up those stairs.
Paden took the stairs because they led to Joanne’s bedroom. These were typical stairs and although they were carpeted, they still squeaked when someone went up them. The noise was annoying at times, but given his current situation Paden looked at the noisy stairs as providing a last moment warning if someone unexpected tried sneaking up them.
At the top of the stairs, Paden took a left towards Joanne’s bedroom. Her bedroom was at the end of a short hallway and the door faced Paden as he approached it. There was a room to his left and a bathroom to his right that he passed on his way to the bedroom. The bedroom door wasn’t closed all the way and he could see some flickering light from inside. This meant she had the TV on which was normal. She would read with a booklight and have the TV on for an extra light in the room. Joanne was a grown woman, but she was still scared of the dark.
Paden slowly opened the door and saw Joanne sitting up, asleep with a book open-faced on her belly. She was an avid reader and often fell asleep this way. Paden loved to read also, but he didn’t read nearly as much as Joanne did.
As he approached Joanne, Paden bumped his foot on the hope chest at the foot of the bed. He didn’t bump it hard or loud, but it was enough to wake up Joanne. “Oh, fuck, Paden. You scared the shit out of me.”
“I’m sorry, babe. I didn’t mean to.” He sat on the bed as she scooted over for him. Paden leaned in and kissed her. It was just a light peck on the lips, but it felt so good for him to do. It wasn’t like he hadn’t just seen her earlier that day when they ate lunch. After everything that happened since then and her telling him that she was pregnant, he wanted more of her. He was scared for them though. Things were getting dangerous for him now and he was putting her in the middle. There was only one reason for him to be at her house at that moment. He knew he couldn’t live without her.
Joanne rubbed Paden’s back as he sat looking at the mirror attached to the wall next to the bed. “You okay, babe? You seem a bit off.”
He looked at her. Even in a dimly lit room at almost two in the morning, she was the most beautiful woman he ever saw. “If I had to leave all of a sudden…get the hell out of here…would you go with me?”
“Where are you going? What happened?”
Paden shrugged. “I don’t know yet. Somewhere. Anywhere. Just away from here. I gotta feeling shit’s gonna get bad real soon for me.”
“What happened? Did something happen since I saw you earlier?” She looked at Paden and in her few years of teaching, Joanne developed a keen eye knowing when someone wasn’t telling her everything. This happened often with Paden and his work and she was nearly used to it, but his sudden behavior had her worried. “Something did happen, huh? That’s why you left me the note in my email. In a draft.”
“You found it already?”
“Well, yeah. Why else would I bring it up?”
He nodded accepting that things were moving quicker than he expected. “Would you go with me though? I thought I could just leave and the money would take care of you and the baby and you’d be safe. Now, I want you with me. That way we’re together.”
“Are you in serious trouble because of that money?”
“You could say that. That and other things.” He explained what happened in the parking lot.
“You think the other guy will come after you for the rest of the money? Is that why you hid it here?”
“One reason, yeah, I guess. I wasn’t thinking clearly when he and I decided to meet up and split the money. I came here to see if you’ll leave with me and go somewhere until things settle.”
“What does that exactly mean? How much trouble are you in?”
Paden took a deep breath. “Lanny had me come over to his place earlier, after the thing in the Heights. This was right after I was over here hiding the money. There was another guy with him. This was the guy who started this shit. Lanny was supposed to deliver the bag, but he must’ve known something was off because he sent me. Lanny had no problem with delivering packages before. I mean, there’ve been times he didn’t want to and had me do it, but maybe I’m just thinking in hindsight there. Anyway, this other guy was there and wanted to know where the bag of money was. He mentioned things about the shooting that I hadn’t heard on the news or scanners and believe me, Jo, I’ve been listening to the shit out of the news reports. Then he made a move for a gun.”
“He had a gun?”
“I thought he did, but he didn’t get to use it.”
Joanne was silent a moment and stopped rubbing his back. “What do you mean?”
Paden turned to her. There wasn’t any fear in her eyes though. It was as if she knew all along what he was capable of doing and now was comfortable with it. Would she freak out when she heard the next part? “I stabbed him with a steak knife and killed Lanny, too. I cut their throats, so they couldn’t be saved. I couldn’t have them coming after us.”
There was a long moment of silence before Joanne broke it. “I will go with you, Paden. I will go anywhere with you. Stay with me the rest of the night and tomorrow I will square things away with the school. I can’t stay away long, but I think I can take off enough time to help you get somewhere safe. The school year is almost over and I’ll resign when it does and come be with you.”
“For real?”
“Yes. I love you, Paden. I’ve loved you for a long time. Maybe, even from the beginning.”
“I love you, too, Jo.”
“Marry me, Paden.”
“Okay.” He kissed her and they fell asleep holding each other.
11.
Joe picked at his scrambled eggs with his fork. His mind was elsewhere. It was still on the previous evening. Telling Mrs. Roberts about her husband’s death was one thing, but then having her identify his body was another. The body was pretty well burned and destroyed except for most of his hands for some reason and from the knees down weren’t burned bad. That was how the wife was able to ID the body because Curtis Roberts had a tattoo on his calf…the Tasmanian Devil. Now, that could’ve been a tattoo anyone had, but under the devil it read: The Devil Went Down to Florida 2008. She said it was a tattoo he got when the two of them went to Panama City Beach, Florida after he graduated college. She always thought it was a dumb tattoo, but when she saw it a couple of hours earlier, she was thankful for it because it gave her the answers she needed about her husband’s whereabouts and death.
“You okay, babe?” Joe looked up and saw Darcy staring at him.
“Yeah, just didn’t sleep good is all.”
“That thing in the Heights?”
“You asking as my wife or as a reporter?”
“At home, your wife, of course. Since when have I ever reported on anything you’ve told me about a case that you didn’t first give me the okay?”
He nodded. “I know. I’m sorry, babe.”
“Is this going to be a tough one?”
Joe shrugged and ate a forkful of eggs. “It might be. Too soon to tell really.”
They both went back to eating along with their t
hree children. Their oldest, Beth, was also picking at her food which was pretty normal for her. Beth was fifteen and lately the only thing she wanted to do was play games on her phone or use it to visit with her friends. Both Joe and Darcy suspected Beth had a boyfriend or at least seeing someone in the early stages of dating. Joe made a deal with Beth that before she could officially go on a date, she had to bring the young man by the house and introduce him. Beth set her fork down. “Dad, I saw something on Facebook last night about some shooting and something about grenades in the Heights. You on that case?”
Joe never kept anything from his family. “Yeah. Nelson and I caught that one.”
Joe’s youngest, Thomas, sat straight up. “That really happened? Like in a movie?” Thomas was ten and into his interactive video games with his friends. Something like the shooting was obviously going to catch his attention.
“Did you catch who did it, Dad?” Joe’s thirteen-year-old son, Garrett, asked. Garrett was in the eighth grade and the most athletic one of his kids. He was nearly as tall as Joe, but Joe still had at least a hundred pounds on his son. He knew that as soon as Garrett discovered the weight room, he was going to be a beast.
“No, son. We haven’t yet.” Joe scooped the remains of his eggs onto a slice of toast and squirted ketchup on the eggs. “We do have some leads to follow, as usual, but we still have to wait on a few things.”
All three of his children stared at him waiting for him to continue, but Joe just looked at them and smiled. All three were a perfect mixture of him and Darcy. Beth had Joe’s hair and ears, but her beauty all came from Darcy. The boys were his “mini-me’s” no doubt about that. Garrett and Thomas were both tired of hearing they looked like twins, but they did enjoy hearing how much they looked like their father.
Darcy broke the silence. “You kids don’t worry about your dad’s case. He and Nelson will figure it out like they always do.”
