Sucker Punched: A KT Morgan Short Suspense

by Kathryn J Bain

  “With the headlines today, anything’s possible.”

  Irritation raked up Clarice’s spine. “I loved my sister.”

  “Well, don’t worry, I’m sure the Sheriff's Department will find the guilty parties soon. They’re very efficient.”

  “I hope they do so quickly.” Clarice winked at Evenie. “Well, I need to go, but be careful, please. I’d really hate for something to happen since you’re the only person who can identify this girl.”

  Clarice didn’t wait for a response.

  “That should hold her.” She gave a curt nod to her daughter.

  Evenie shrugged. “What good is apologizing?”

  “The apology wasn’t the important part. The warning was.” Crystal patted her daughter’s forearm. “Just a subtle way to give her worry. After all, if someone killed three people, what’s stopping them from going after her to keep her mouth shut?”

  5:21 pm.

  Jonah glanced through the front window. KT was leaning with her arms on the railing, looking straight ahead.

  “What’s she doing?” Karen asked.

  “I don't know.”

  “Seidel. Isn’t that the name of the woman who’d been…”? She looked at Matthew, who was buttering a roll.

  “Yeah. I’ll be right back.” Jonah got up and walked out the front door. KT looked at him when he joined her. “So, what did she want?” he asked.

  “Basically, to threaten me.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She said she'd hate for anything to happen since I was the only witness. I suppose that would scare some people, enough to keep quiet anyway.”

  “But you're not some people.”

  “She doesn't know that.” KT glanced down the road. Two girls were talking on the corner at the end of the block. “I'm thinking it might be a good idea for me to take off until Logan needs me. I don't want to give this woman a reason to come looking for me.”

  Jonah smacked his arms down at his sides. “The wedding’s Friday, four days away. Once it's over you can disappear forever, but don't use this as an excuse to go.”

  “It's not an excuse. This woman is dangerous. If she's responsible for killing her own sister and those two children, she’ll hurt anyone.” KT scanned a blue car driving by. “I'd hate for anything to happen because of me.”

  “Well, first off, it wouldn't be because of you,” His voice rose. “It’d be because of her. The world doesn't revolve around you, KT. You’re not responsible for everything that happens, even if you’re involved.”

  She sucked in a deep breath. Her palms folded to fists.

  Jonah placed his hands on his hips. “Every time you come, it's like you're looking for an excuse to leave again. Why is that?”

  “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Yeah, you do. And ever since the murders, you've had a look in your eye like you’re going to run.”

  “I don’t run,” she growled.

  “Yeah, that's probably more the problem than anything. You're looking for a reason to go after this woman. Maybe even hoping I’ll tell you to take care of her, knowing it’ll make you stick around. Well, I'm not going to.”

  “I don't want anything to happen to you.”

  “With Logan looking into it, it’s just a matter of days before she’s arrested. Besides, there’s no way she can know where you are.”

  “Are you sure about that?” She glanced at him. Her brows raised.

  “Yeah. I’m sure.” He put as much conviction behind his words as he could.

  5:36 p.m.

  Clarice walked up the sidewalk of the beige house, Evenie behind her. Her stomach growled, making her daughter laugh. What a wonderful sound. She couldn’t wait to hear more of her daughter’s laughter once they moved into this house. No longer flitting from place to place but having an actual home.

  The aroma of fried chicken filled the air. Clarice would make a point of giving Daddy back his change, all except the cost of the burgers. If he asked, she’d say she used it for gas and apologize. She had to prove she wasn’t the same girl who would take money and spend it on alcohol and boys.

  “Are you ready?” she asked Evenie.

  “I think so.”

  “Remember what I taught you if you get nervous. 1-2-3.”

  Clarice knocked on the same door she’d slammed when she walked out all those years ago.

  Evenie stood behind her, playing coy like she’d been taught. Daddy opened the door before they could knock a second time.

  “We’ve got the food,” She held the bags up and trotted through to the kitchen with Evenie close behind. She placed the chicken dinner on the counter along with the change from the fifty.

  Her father followed them, pausing in the doorway. Slumped over, he appeared to have aged years just in the past few hours. If he died of natural causes, better for her.

  Clarice placed her hands on her daughter’s shoulders. “Daddy, this is Evenie. Evenie, this is your grandfather.”

  “Hey.” Evenie gave a slight wave.

  “You’re just as pretty as your mom when she was your age.”

  Clarice smiled. She had been pretty. More than Stefania, until they got to high school, and her sister filled out. That’s when the boys wanted her more. At that age, all the boys cared about were boobs.

  “Where are you going to school?” Daddy asked Evenie.

  “Mama homeschools me.”

  He tilted his head to one side.

  “We just moved back.” Clarice turned to fill the plates, hoping he couldn’t tell she was lying. “When they tested her, they said she was behind in English, so I thought I better get her caught up. Next year, she’ll be with kids her own age.”

  He nodded. “What's your favorite subject?”

  Evenie placed her finger against her chin as if thinking. “Math, I guess.” She then turned to her mother. “Can I have a leg?”

  “No,” Clarice said. “Daddy likes the legs.”

  “Give the child a leg if she wants one. Look how thin she is. She needs to put some meat on her bones. Maybe toss a thigh on there for her too.” He patted Evenie on the shoulder. “Do you know how to swim?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Good. One day maybe you can come use the pool.”

  “That would be great.” Evenie grinned.

  Clarice’s insides jumped. It was working. She dumped some macaroni and a biscuit on Evenie’s plate.

  “Well, it looks like your mom's raising you well.”

  “She does okay, I guess.” She rolled her eyes and walked to the dining room table.

  Daddy chuckled, but it failed to reach his eyes. Still aching for his precious Stefania no doubt. “You’d better watch that one,” he said with a nod of his head. “She’s going to give you more trouble than you ever gave me.”

  “Don’t I know it.” Clarice smiled. “If you’d have known I’d have such a beautiful child, would you have still tossed me out?”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Kicking me out when I was pregnant.” She lowered her voice. “Wanting me to have an abortion.”

  “Funny how you have a skewed remembrance of the past.” He walked over and grabbed a plate. “If you recall, you’d dropped out of school, and were stealing from us. Refused to get a job or stay away from drugs. That’s why we made you leave. You didn’t get pregnant until months after you were gone.”

  Heat filled Clarice’s chest. She spotted the butcher’s block full of knives in the corner. No, now wasn’t the right time.

  “Maybe you’re right.” She forced a smile.

  No matter what the truth was, he’d not allowed her back, which was the same as tossing her out. Not wanting her and her child in his house. But that would all change now that his precious Stefania was no longer around.

  8:13 p.m.

  They’d spent two hours with her father, playing games, talking about the past and Stefania. Her kids were oh so smart. Both got straight A’s, would have done
well if grown. Did he not see his other grandchild in front of him? Tired of listening, they finally said their goodbyes and headed to see if anything had occurred on Frog Hollow.

  Clarice’s cell phone rang as she pulled around the corner.

  “What’s going on?” she asked Sophia.

  “A woman and boy are leaving the house. It’s not the Morgan lady,” Meredith said. “What do you want us to do?”

  “We’re around the corner so we’ll follow them.” Clarice hung back two car lengths from the Ford Mustang until it pulled into a condominium community in Live Oak, Florida, twenty minutes from White Springs. Clarice put the van in park and watched as the woman and boy entered the one marked C172. A light went on inside.

  They waited in the car and watched. After about an hour, the lights went out.

  “Looks like everyone’s tucked in for right now.” She turned to Evenie who stared at that stupid phone.

  Back at the house in White Springs, she gave Meredith the keys to go back to watch the woman and boy. Haley and Sophia were spending the night watching the Morgan lady. Finally, a peaceful night.

  Evenie reclined on the sofa, a blanket covering her. “Mamma?” She looked up from her phone.

  “Yes, dear.”

  “Are we going to kill Grandpa?”

  “Why? Would that bother you?”

  “Not really.” She shrugged her right shoulder. “I was just wondering.”

  October 1

  3:15 p.m.

  Clarice leaned an elbow out the open window and watched the kids run through the school door, bumping into one another, and laughing.

  That morning, Meredith had followed when the woman dropped the boy off at school before heading to Publix.

  Now all of them sat watching the kids clamor out for the day. No sign of the Morgan woman or the brother. No sign of mom to pick the boy up. Not that it would matter with the weapons they had.

  Clarice glanced over at Evenie staring at her phone. Did she ever tire of playing that game? Clarice often wondered if her daughter missed being around other kids. The comradery, the playgrounds. After a minute, she shook off the thought. Teachers had always bullied her child, claiming she read at a lower grade level. One even accused Evenie of picking on other children, taking toys away from them. Why shouldn’t her daughter have the toys she wanted? The other kids were no more important.

  They’d spent the morning finding a new hiding place. One with no witnesses.

  “There he is.” Sophia pointed to a kid laughing. The boy had on a blue shirt and carried a backpack with the Avengers’ logo. On his head, he wore a baseball cap. He had stopped outside the school fence, talking with another boy.

  “Do your thing, Evenie,” Clarice said.

  Evenie got out of the van and walked over to the two boys. She tapped the boy in the blue shirt on the shoulder. When she got his attention, she pointed to the backpack. The other boy left them and headed to a waiting car.

  The boy and Evenie crossed the street. They passed the van without a glance.

  “Yeah, my ball practice is just over here at the park,” the boy was saying.

  “I’m going the same way,” Evenie purred. “Are you good at sports?”

  Clarice didn’t wait for an answer. “Stay down you two.” She glanced in the rearview mirror at Sophia, Meredith, and Haley then pulled from the curb and headed toward the ballpark. She parked in a driveway for a business not yet open.

  When her daughter was within feet of the van, she got out.

  “This is my mom.” Evenie nodded. “Mom, this is Matthew. He’s a fan of Captain America too.”

  “Oh, no. Not another one.”

  “Yes, Ma’am.” Matthew grinned. “He’s my favorite.”

  Clarice glanced up and down the road. Two kids crossed at the corner. She waited until they were out of sight.

  “Need a ride?” she asked Matthew.

  “No, Ma’am. I’m just heading to the park in the next block.”

  “Too bad.”

  “Why?”

  Clarice grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. The van door flew open. She shoved him onto the floor inside.

  “What the… Let go of me.” He jerked and kicked to get free.

  “Hey,” an older boy hollered from down the street. “What are you doing?” He yelled to some other kids heading their way.

  “Stop squirming.” Sophia grabbed Matthew by the ankles. He jerked back and kneed her in the chin. “Ow. You little brat.”

  “Get control of him,” Clarice barked as she rushed around to the driver’s seat.

  Haley wrapped her arm around his neck and pressed tight. “If you don’t stop, you’ll never see your mom again.”

  The boy went limp. His breath came out in spurts. He glanced at Evenie, then Clarice. “Wh-what do you want?” he asked.

  Clarice squealed the tires when she peeled out. Little doubt those kids who saw them would contact the police quickly enough. However, the police couldn’t connect her to the van because of several changes of license plates. She glanced at Matthew in the rearview mirror. Though he appeared to be the same age as Stefania’s son, he had more fight.

  How long would it take before he turned into a curled-up bawling worm like her nephew?

  4:00 p.m.

  Jonah sat in the passenger seat of the Jeep while KT drove.

  “Karen and I talked it over last night, and we’re going to take the money for the bakery. She sees it more as a partnership than a loan from family.”

  “I don’t recall asking your opinion.” KT’s brow narrowed.

  “She wouldn’t take money from me, I guess I was a bit put off she had no issue taking it from you.”

  “I have my hand in a lot of small businesses. Most do well enough that I get my money back in a couple of years. Don’t mind helping her out. She’s an excellent cook, has a good business plan, and the location she’s chosen should have enough traffic to do well.”

  “I’ve never doubted that.” His excitement level rose. “She’s been wanting this for a while now.”

  KT pulled the Jeep to the curb across from the playing field. Two dark colored cars with the words “Police Winter Springs” painted on the sides screeched to the curb a half-block down.

  “What do you think’s going on?” Jonah asked. “I don’t see Matthew.”

  “Looks like a bunch of them are in the dugout.” KT gestured with her head.

  They both got out of the vehicle and headed over.

  He hadn’t taken three steps when his phone rang in his pocket. Karen. He swiped his finger over the screen.

  “Hello, beaut—”

  “He’s gone.” Her voice sounded frantic.

  “What?” Jonah’s heart raced. He grabbed hold of KT’s arm. “Who’s gone?”

  “Matthew. Someone saw him get shoved into a white van.”

  “KT and I are at the ballpark,” he said. “I’ll see what I can find out.”

  “I’m heading over.”

  “No,” Jonah said. “Stop by your apartment. If he gets away, he’ll go there. If he’s not there, go to my place.”

  “Okay, just please find him.”

  Jonah swiped the phone off and relayed the information to KT. They walked up to an officer speaking with one of the boys.

  “It was probably someone with that girl.” A boy talking to the officer bounced a bat off his foot.

  “What girl?” the officer asked.

  “The one he was making googly eyes at.” The boy smirked.

  “What’s her name?”

  “Don’t know.” The boy shrugged. “I never saw her before, but she had weird eyes.”

  “Weird eyes, how?”

  “They looked purple.”

  Stomach acid burned Jonah’s throat. KT’s jaw went rigid.

  Jonah took a second to catch his breath. “Officer, I’m Jonah Frederickson and this is my sister. I understand something’s happened to Matthew Thibodeaux.”

  “What’s you
r connection to the boy?” The officer wrote notes using a stylus on his cell phone.

  “His mother and I are getting married. I pick him up after practice.”

  The officer led them away from the kids and took down their information. Jonah explained about KT’s involvement in the murders of the mother and her children as his sister scanned the area like an animal who’d caught a scent and was trying to locate it.

  The officer called Logan, then ordered Jonah and KT to head home to meet the sheriff.

  The five-minute drive had never seemed so long. They’d checked KT’s phone for Clarice Seidel’s number, but one hadn’t been listed.

  Jonah wrung his hands together. “I should have listened,” he muttered.

  “That’s not what we need to worry about now.” Her voice was tense.

  “No, this is my fault. You told me this could happen, but I didn't want to believe it.”

  “You didn’t want to think anything bad could happen to your family. It’s not unusual.”

  “But this is the world you live in. You know how these people think.” He smacked his fist into his leg. “I was so bullheaded I just couldn't listen.”

  “Wasn’t it you who said if something happened it wasn't my fault, it was hers? The same goes for you.”

  “A lot easier to see when it’s someone else.”

  “You just wanted to make sure everyone was together for your wedding. There's nothing wrong with that.”

  “Yeah, but if anything happens to Matthew, there won't be a wedding.”

  His heart sank. He loved Karen so much. Just the thought of losing her or Matthew about killed him. He glanced at his sister. Now he understood the need to find the people responsible. The need to get even.

  They pulled around the corner to his house. A couple police cars were out front. Karen was already there. He stared at her car. A lump formed in his throat. Would she ever forgive him if Matthew got hurt?

  “Here, you get out. I’ll park up the street. I don’t want the Jeep stuck in case the police decide to block the road.”

  She really meant “when” they blocked the road. He’d seen things like this on TV. Only neighbors allowed in when a child went missing. The media all around. Jonah didn’t move. Couldn’t move.