by PJ Fernor
We were close.
On top of that… the killer was close to us.
Living in a small town meant knowing everyone.
I gave Ben the note and he read it once and said he was coming home too.
We all got there at the same time and found Lo pacing the kitchen.
Chewing on her fingernails.
“Lo, you’re going to be okay,” I said. “I would never let anyone hurt you.”
“What about Trevor?” she asked.
“What about him?” I asked.
“Are you going to not let me see him ever again?”
“That’s what you’re worried about?” Ben asked. “Someone leaves a note threatening your life and you’re worried about your boyfriend?”
“Ben, walk away,” I said to him.
He left the kitchen.
Of course Lo was more worried about Trevor than the reality of the situation. She was a teenager in love. He had been sneaking over to the house for a while and now they got caught.
I channeled all my memories of Tommy and what it was like when we were together. And what it was like when we weren’t.
“Lo, look at me,” I said. “We need to focus on one thing at a time.”
“I know,” she said. “I get it. Ben’s father saw someone. We all thought it was his mind, but it wasn’t. Someone was here. And someone left that note hoping I’d find it. Or Trevor.”
I nodded.
Maybe Lo was meant to be a detective.
What she just said…
I turned and walked to find Ben.
I grabbed his arm. “He’s been watching us.”
“Who?”
“The killer,” I said. “He left the note out back knowing Trevor or Lo would find it. Not us. We weren’t supposed to find it. Ben…”
“Yeah,” he said. “Too close to home.”
“Something has to give soon,” I said. “Mayor Jim wants to bring in help.”
“You’re against it though.”
“I don’t know what I am. I have to do whatever is necessary to protect Lo.”
“Agreed,” he said.
“I’m not leaving,” a voice said.
I looked and saw Trevor at the front door.
“What?” Ben asked.
“I’m not leaving this house,” Trevor said. “I’m not leaving Lo. I can’t leave her.”
“Trevor, not now,” I said.
“I can’t do it,” Trevor said. “I won’t do it. I won’t leave. I’ll sleep in my car in the driveway.”
“I respect what you’re doing here,” Ben said.
“I don’t care if you respect me or not,” Trevor said.
My grip tightened on Ben’s arm.
I felt Ben ready to explode.
We were all feeling it.
Anger. Frustration. Worry.
“I’m sorry,” Trevor said. “I care about Lo very much. I love her. I know that doesn’t sit well with you both because we’re just teenagers. I can’t help how I feel about her.”
“What are you suggesting then?” Ben asked. “You’re going to stay the day and night?”
“Yes,” Trevor said. “I will not leave her. Even if I have to sit outside.”
“Let me handle this,” I whispered to Ben.
I walked toward Trevor.
“You’re not going to talk me out of this,” Trevor said.
“I know that,” I said. “I can see you really care about her.”
Trevor nodded.
I thought about myself at that age.
I thought about what Lo was feeling.
I thought about what Trevor was thinking.
I didn’t like the idea of Lo being alone.
I sighed. “Okay, Trevor, you can spend the day and the night here.”
Chapter Seventy-One
As night began to fall, there wasn’t much more we could do but prepare, just in case something was to happen. I had walked through the house ten times, and around the property ten more. Between Ben and Muldavey, they had a plan to keep everything secure without being too overbearing. I appreciated that last part because Lo was jumpy with just the fact that I allowed Trevor to stay.
I allowed Trevor into her bedroom too…
With the rule that the door stays open.
And the rule that if I got any inkling of anything, I would send Ben’s father in to check on them.
I talked to Johnny twice on the phone, only to find out that on his end, there wasn’t anything happening. The mere mention of Lizzy being in town sent him into a barrage of questioning. Johnny was Johnny. In his mind, Lizzy already wanted to sleep with him, because apparently that’s all women could think about when they were near Johnny. While I tried to accept Johnny’s normalcy, it was too much for me, all things considered.
Then I met Lizzy out on the porch with a fresh cup of coffee.
“Feels like a long night is ahead of us,” I said.
“It certainly has a feel to it, Allie, doesn’t it?”
“This is getting a little too close for me,” I said. “It’s happened before though. With Lo. She’s been involved in other cases.”
“She has?”
I nodded. “We didn’t always live here at Ben’s. We had an apartment. We had a neighbor too. A great neighbor. Probably the best woman I ever met in my life. She was murdered… I’m not sure if I mentioned this to you when we spoke during the case of The One.” I shook my head. “Anyway, there were times when Lo’s name was involved. She was even kidnapped once before.”
“Kidnapped,” Lizzy said. “That poor girl. She loses her mother? Gets kidnapped? Now she’s being threatened?”
“All because of me,” I said.
“Allie…”
“One thing you’ll learn quick here, Lizzy, is that you can’t talk me out of anything. Especially when I know I’m right. Lo was seeing a therapist and he was… he was a bad guy… a really bad guy…”
Chills crept down my spine.
I shouldn’t have been going back in time, picking through horrid memories that put my niece’s life at risk.
Beating myself up wasn’t going to help anyone.
“I’m wondering just how close this person is,” Lizzy said.
“What do you mean?”
“It just feels that way,” she said to me. “I don’t want to throw names out and scare or offend anyone. But it just feels very close.”
“Please don’t say that,” I said. “Not after what happened with Laura. And Garrison. At least Garrison was a good guy. If there’s any other issues in the department, we’re done for. We’ll have no choice but to have the county take over. It’s just too much.”
Lizzy sipped her coffee. “I think I’m going to head out.”
“You can stay, Lizzy. You might be better off staying. We can comb through the files again. We can talk this out.”
“Thanks, but I think you should be with your family tonight, Allie,” she said. “Keep that niece of yours safe. And keep that boyfriend of hers calm. Teenagers scare me. Their hearts and hormones are bigger than their brains.”
I laughed. “That’s the truth.”
“I’ve been there.”
“So have I,” I said.
“Yeah? What was his name?”
“Tommy.”
“Oh, Tommy. That’s got a bad boy ring to it.”
“Big time. You?”
“Tyler.”
I nodded. “Bad boy?”
“Next door neighbor,” Lizzy said. “My parents did not get along with his parents.”
“But you and Tyler did?”
“You can’t even imagine,” Lizzy said with a smile. A few seconds later, she cleared her throat. “Now that I’m warmed up, I better go.”
I laughed again.
Lizzy gave me her coffee cup and I went back inside.
I rinsed out the two cups and turned to find Ben sitting down at the kitchen table.
With two guns.
He slowly began
to take the two weapons apart.
Glancing over his shoulder every few seconds.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Do me a favor,” he said. “Call Lo and Trevor into the kitchen.”
“For what?”
“No reason,” Ben said.
He winked at me.
Then it made sense.
I went to Lo’s bedroom and told the two to follow me.
Once we all were in the kitchen, Ben threw a mean look on his face and looked at Trevor. Without taking his eyes off Trevor, Ben kept working, cleaning the two guns.
“How’s it going, Trevor?” Ben asked.
“Oh, come on,” Lo said. “Are you really doing this, Ben?”
“Doing what?” Ben asked. “I’m just cleaning my guns. Well, two of my guns. The bigger ones are elsewhere. I love the big ones though. Then again, these handguns are really powerful too. Easy to hide. Easy to use. You know what I mean, Trevor?”
Trevor’s face turned white. “Uh… yeah…”
“How about I make you both some hot chocolate?” I offered. “You have about an hour until it’s time for Trevor to sleep on the couch.”
“Oh, I’m sleeping on the couch tonight,” Ben said.
“You are?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Ben said. “We’ll give Trevor the guest bedroom.”
“Then why are you sleeping downstairs?” Lo asked.
“Just in case I hear any noises,” Ben said. “I’ll be sleeping with a gun in my hand too. Just in case. Right, Trevor?”
“Right,” Trevor said.
I walked toward Ben and smiled down at him. I whispered, “You’ve made your point.”
I made Lo and Trevor hot chocolate and sent them on their way.
Then I wandered back into the dining room and began to look through the files one more time.
I had a feeling Lizzy was right.
The killer was watching us. Getting close to us. We weren’t like Lenny. We weren’t going to make just a few sloppy notes and let this slip away.
The killer had made a daring move by involving Lo.
They played their entire hand in one shot, hoping to scare me away.
I shook my head. “You screwed up there, buddy…”
Everyone knew I would give my life in a heartbeat to protect my family and those I loved.
Chapter Seventy-Two
LIZZY
I felt like I was sitting right on top of the entire case. That I had it all figured out… yet I didn’t. The small town of Sandemor was odd. There was an allure to it, but it was definitely wrapped in mystery. Nobody seemed to be who they really were. I caught myself wanting to question everyone. Bad enough I had to run through the scenario that maybe Allie Down herself was the killer - or copycat killer. I started thinking about Ben. His father. Maybe even Allie’s niece. Or Lo’s boyfriend.
Each person I could certainly make a case for.
At least for the current murder.
I was brought in to work on the first murder.
Years ago.
Left to be forgotten.
A case colder than the air outside my motel room window.
The whole thing just felt…
I had taken some notes with me from Allie’s house.
My goal now was to get in touch with Lenny Beauchamp. I wanted to do this myself. So there was no connection. No favors. No good vibes or tone. The last thing I needed was Allie calling Lenny and those two ending up chatting like they were old friends.
I was an outsider and this was my best chance at getting information.
I had a phone number.
When I called it, nobody picked up.
That deflated me.
I sat on the corner of my bed.
I called the number again.
The same result.
No answer.
Feeling tired and frustrated, I called a third time.
On the third ring, a voice picked up.
“Well, you must really want my attention,” a woman’s voice said.
“My apologies ma’am,” I said. “I’m Detective Lizzy Cold and I’m looking to speak to Lenny Beauchamp.”
“Oh, he doesn’t live here anymore.”
I shut my eyes.
“My apologies again,” I said.
“If you can give me a second, I can get you the last number I had for him,” the woman said.
I stood up. “That would be great.”
“Sure,” she said. “He gave me his number in case I had any issues with the furnace. He’s a sweet man. I didn’t intend on buying the house from him at my age, but it was much better than going into a home, you know?”
“Right,” I said.
“Such a shame about his wife,” the woman said. “Passing the way she did. And yet here I am, shuffling around, still breathing.”
“I think that time doesn’t care about our feelings,” I said. “Which gives us humility.”
“You’re probably right,” the woman said. “You said you were a detective?”
“Yes,” I said.
“I hope all is well,” the woman said. “Here’s the number I have for Lenny. I’m not sure if it works or not though.”
I wrote down the number as the woman gave it.
I thanked her for her time and hung up.
Then I called the next number.
“This is Lenny,” a rough voice said.
My heart jumped into my throat.
“Lenny,” I said.
“Yeah?”
“My name is Lizzy. Lizzy Cold. I’m a detective.”
There was silence.
“Lenny?”
“What do you want?”
“I have to talk to you about a case,” I said. “From a long time ago. Something is happening in your old town.”
“I don’t remember anything.”
“I think you do.”
“Who do you think you’re talking to?”
“Forgive me, Lenny, but the killer came back,” I said. “It happened again. Now there’s something more dangerous happening. We’re close and there are a lot of people in danger.”
“I can’t help you,” Lenny said.
“You’re talking like you know what I mean,” I said. “I haven’t told you what case.”
Lenny sighed. “I’m not foolish, detective. I know what you’re talking about. The young woman who was killed after her car broke down.”
“So you do remember.”
“I did my job,” Lenny said. “My wife was sick too. It was a hectic time. That young woman had no family. No friends. Sadly, nobody cared about her.”
“Not even you.”
“That’s unfair to say to me.”
“You left the case to sit and rot,” I said. “You agreed to let the killer kill again.”
“I didn’t agree to anything,” Lenny said. “I went along to see where I could catch him when he slipped up. And if you want the truth, things got quiet and stayed quiet. Life moved on. We had other cases to work on. I had to take care of my wife.”
“I’m very sorry about your wife,” I said.
“Don’t get personal with me.”
“Fair enough. What else do you remember?”
“You obviously have the notes and files.”
“Are you sure there’s nothing else?”
“Detective, we came close,” Lenny said. “There was a chance of us meeting with the killer. It was going to be Jim and myself. But he ended up needing to help his brother. The killer never tried reaching out again.”
“Jim as in the mayor, right?”
“That’s right. He was helpful at times.”
“You said you were going to meet the killer?” I asked.
“I said we were going to try. Then Jim got a call from his brother. I remembered it because Jim was upset. He didn’t talk much about his family. He said there were issues and he wanted to be the better person in his family. I respected that. My father and grandfather were alcohol
ics and I didn’t want to be like them. I’m not sure what you want to know here, detective. The killer went away and the case faded into the background. I’m sorry for that young woman’s death and for whatever is happening now. There’s nothing else I can do to help.”
“Lenny,” I said. “Did you kill that woman?”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m just asking. Did you kill her? Did you wait all these years and come back to do it again?”
Lenny chuckled. “You know, in my day, if someone spoke like you did, there would be big problems.”
“Are you threatening me, Lenny?”
“No. I’m just reminding you to watch your tone and your words. They can impact a lot more than you think. Goodbye.”
Lenny ended the call.
I needed to go for a walk and think.
I exited my room and didn’t feel safe at all.
Chapter Seventy-Three
Now there’s no choice.
He hates this.
He really does hate this.
It should have never come down to this.
He forces himself to chase away all he’s thinking about.
Now it’s time to focus.
“Plans change,” he says. “That’s what happens in life. Plans change all the time.”
Maybe that was the point of making plans.
Just to watch them change and then see who could survive those changes.
He parks his vehicle across the street.
Slowly, he climbs out and shuts the door.
Across the street there’s a dull neon glow of lights.
The street is quiet. It’s always quiet this time of the evening.
Everyone is inside, finishing dinner, getting ready to sit down and watch something good on TV. It’s autumn so all the good shows are back up and running. Comedies, crime, drama… an array of entertainment.
It pains him a little to think of it.
In a different world he would be on the couch too.
With a big bowl of fresh, buttery popcorn.
His beautiful wife next to him, his arm around her, her head on his shoulder.
They’d have their TV schedule planned out.
She’d get her comedy out of the way early and he’d get his crime show later.
She’d fall asleep and he would hold her in his arms.
Then around eleven or so, he’d carry her to bed.