Roadkill

by Cheryl Bradshaw

  Jonas raised his hands in front of him. “Hey, I’m taking a guess, not stating a fact. No need to get upset.”

  “Because you were her neighbor, you think you know everything about her now? What gives you the right—”

  Seth cut in. “She said some things to Jonas in confidence. Things I didn’t know about.”

  Now we were getting somewhere. “What things?”

  Jonas shrugged. “She made a comment about wanting to give up on it all. Made me feel like she wasn’t happy in her life.”

  I moved my hands to my hips, suppressing the internal rage festering inside of me. “I don’t know you, Jonas, but what the hell is your problem? Why would you say something like this? Without Juliette here to defend herself, you have no right to even suggest what she meant by any of her comments. You’re making an assumption.”

  Jonas stood his ground. “She told me, not you. I offered Seth my opinion, and I stand by it.”

  “Asshole.”

  I pivoted and walked toward the house.

  Jonas rushed after me, placing a hand on my back. “Hang on a minute. I didn’t mean to offend you. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been so inconsiderate after what you’ve been through today.”

  I shrugged him off. “You’re fine. You gave your opinion. I just don’t agree with it.”

  “Wait, wait,” Seth said. “The suicide idea ... it’s probably not the case, anyway. I just mentioned it because ... hell, I don’t know why. Anyway, I just came from the police station,” Seth said. “They said it looks like what happened to Juliette involved another vehicle.”

  Jonas had a confused look on his face. “What do you mean? They think she was hit on purpose? What makes them think there was another vehicle?”

  “Accidental hit-and-run, or on purpose, yeah. They found paint on the driver’s-side door of her car. They’re running tests on it now to see what they can find out.”

  “Huh. What kind of tests?”

  Seth thumbed in my direction. “Ask her. She’s the expert.”

  Jonas looked at me. “Why would you know?”

  I avoided the question of why. Why wasn’t his concern. “Metal bends on impact. If the vehicle is at an angle when it’s hit or there’s friction between one car and another car, there’s inevitably going to be paint transfer.”

  “Paint transfer?”

  I simplified my explanation. “Have you ever parked next to a metal pole and noticed it was marred with several different colors? It happens when vehicles scrape up against it, thus creating a transfer of paint from one object to another.”

  “Even if they find paint on Juliette’s car, how’s a little paint going to prove another car was involved?”

  “Most auto manufacturers apply four coats of paint and primer to their vehicles. When a lab runs forensic tests on a paint chip, they look for the order the paint was applied and how many layers it has. Sometimes this allows them to nail down the exact vehicle.”

  I could see him trying to figure me out. “You didn’t answer my question. How is it you know all of this stuff? Juliette said you worked in a lab.”

  She was right. A forensics lab.

  “Why do you care so much?” I growled.

  “She’s a medical examiner,” Seth said, “and one of the smartest women I know.”

  Something, a shade of concern or surprise ... something passed across Jonas’s face. Something different than his prior demeanor. I couldn’t explain it; I only knew I didn’t like the guy and wanted him to get lost. Before I escaped into the house, he said, “Well, I should get back home and let you two be together.”

  It was the best thing he’d said all evening.

  Jonas patted Seth on the back. “I just want to say again how sorry I am, man. I really am. I’ll let you two talk. If you need anything, you know where to find me.”

  CHAPTER 20

  Paint chips. Paint transfer. Multiple coats of paint. Jonas’s head was a merry-go-round running at full speed, spin, spin, spinning out of control. His usual kills were well planned and simple. Clean. Precise. A bullet to the head, permanent disposal of the body, and voila, his victim vanished, never to be heard from again. No body, no evidence to recover, no flipping paint-chip issues. Juliette wasn’t a well-planned job. He hadn’t had time to organize like he usually did. And he hadn’t considered Victor would do such a sloppy job of helping him. There would be blowback from Max. He just didn’t know how bad it would be.

  He slammed a fist into the stucco exterior of his house, cursing himself for not taking care of Juliette himself. At the last moment, he’d passed it off, allowing feelings of sentimentality to creep in. How could he not? She wasn’t some mark he didn’t know. And she wasn’t just a random neighbor—the kind a person saw day after day but never spoke to. She was a friend. His friend. He felt sick about what happened to her.

  His cell phone buzzed. He picked it out of his pocket, grunting a sound of disgust when he saw the name of the caller. “What now, Adam?”

  “Turn around.”

  Jonas looked over his shoulder and saw nothing. The street was quiet. He was alone. At least, he appeared to be. “Why? What do you want?”

  “Do you see me?”

  “It’s dark, Adam. How could I?”

  High beams flashed on and off. “I’m parked at the end of the street. Do you see me now?”

  Jonas sighed. “What are you doing here?”

  “We need to talk.”

  “No, we don’t. Not tonight. You need to leave.”

  “I can’t leave before I talk to you.”

  “We’re not supposed to meet at our personal residences. What if my wife were home?”

  “She left, didn’t she?”

  “You’re missing the point.”

  “Does Juliette’s husband suspect anything?”

  The mess kept getting messier. He had to shut it down.

  “Don’t move. I’ll be right there.”

  Jonas sprinted toward Adam’s car, adrenaline coursing through him. He yanked open the passenger door and slid into the seat, ramming his gun into the middle of Adam’s forehead.

  Adam tried to smack it away. “Calm down! I’m just doing what I’m told, just like you do what you’re told. Don’t blame me if you’re angry.”

  “We had an arrangement. I do the jobs I’m assigned, and I’m left alone. My private life is private. I don’t come to your house, and you don’t come to mine. Ever.”

  “I’m aware, Jonas. It’s the same arrangement we all have with each other.”

  “Then no matter what’s happened, you shouldn’t be here.”

  “Do you think I want to be here?”

  “Why are you?”

  “Orders. Max sent me. You shouldn’t be surprised.”

  “Why did he make you come out here?” he asked, even though he knew the answer to his question.

  “I’ll tell you once you get your gun out of my face.”

  Jonas angled the pistol toward the ceiling, gripping it firmly. He would be ready if he had to use it. “All right, let’s hear it.”

  “Max finally got Victor to return his call. Do you want to know what he said?”

  Jonas shrugged. Adam continued.

  “He told Max that he had been the one to take care of Juliette, not you. No wonder it’s turned into such a mess. That wasn’t the agreement. Max isn’t pleased.”

  The little snitch. He’d snap his neck when he saw him.

  Jonas had despised Victor from the moment they met. It should have been Victor at the bottom of the gorge. Not Juliette. It was only a matter of time before Max discovered even more truths about Juliette’s murder. He just hoped he’d have more time to smooth it all over. If Max was mad now, things would only get worse. “So what if Victor finished the job. It’s finished. That’s what matters.”

  “The police are poking around. You were supposed to shoot her, get rid of the body, and then get rid of the car. Do you see the problem? Her death has made national news.
There’s a car, a body, and an investigation led by some prick named Ford who has a rep for being a hard-ass. He’s not going to let this go.”

  “How many homicides could this guy have possibly seen? It’s flipping Mojave County, isn’t it?”

  “He’s only been here for a couple of years. Before that he was in Suffolk County.”

  “Suffolk County?”

  “New York.”

  Shit. Shit. Shit.

  The news was troublesome. Still, he needed to find a way to save face. “I didn’t know Victor was going to go off-script. I told him what to do, and he didn’t do it. I learned what happened after it was too late to change it.”

  “Really? That’s funny. Victor said you had your chance to take care of it yourself, and you pushed it off on him.”

  Jonas shrugged. “He offered to do it, and I thought he could handle it. I was wrong.”

  “He’s not as professional as you are, and you know it. You should have never let him go after her alone.”

  “I had no idea Nora was ... Anyway, I can’t change it now.”

  “Yeah, well, Max isn’t happy with how it all went down.”

  “I don’t care.”

  “You should. What did you do with the car you tailed her in?”

  “I scrapped it. Max doesn’t need to worry. It will never be found.”

  “Where’s Nora? He wants you to give the kid to me, and I’ll take her to him.”

  “She’s not here. I’ll bring her over tomorrow.”

  “He wants her tonight. Where is she, Jonas? Where have you stashed her?”

  “He’ll get her tomorrow by ten a.m. If he doesn’t like it, tell him to call me.” Jonas opened the car door and stepped outside, turning toward Adam before walking away. “And Adam? Never show up at my house uninvited again. Next time, I won’t just aim my gun. I’ll use it.”

  CHAPTER 21

  I took Seth into Juliette’s closet and showed him the dresses I’d found inside the suitcase. He picked through them, examining each one like it was a foreign object.

  “These aren’t Juliette’s clothes,” he said. “They can’t be. You know they’re not. She’d never wear something like this.”

  “Then why are they here, in her suitcase?”

  He shook his head. “How should I know?”

  “I’m not trying to be rude, Seth, but I’m surprised you didn’t notice any of these things.”

  He looked at me and frowned. It was obvious my words pained him. It was insensitive, and I shouldn’t have said it.

  “I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean it.”

  “Yeah, you did.” He leaned over the pile of dresses and said, “Do you blame me? Do you think if I would have paid more attention to her, if I would have been more involved, I could have kept this from happening?”

  In recent years, I hadn’t been a gold-star sister. I’d been a bronze star at best, always willing to pick up the phone and listen when Juliette called, but not supporting her in the way she deserved. “I don’t blame you at all. I blame myself.”

  He bent down, lifting the red slip dress with the tiny pockets from the pile. “Look at this thing. There’s nothing to it. It’s a thin piece of lingerie disguised as a dress.”

  I showed him the bracelet. “What about this? Have you ever seen her wear it before?”

  He squinted and leaned in for a closer look. “I have, actually.”

  “How long ago?”

  “Five, six months maybe.” He picked it up. “Are these sapphires?”

  “I think so. I think these diamonds are real too. If they are, it’s worth a lot of money.”

  “How much money, do you think?”

  “I don’t know. A lot. It could easily be in the thousands.”

  “Thousands? Are you sure?”

  I nodded. “I buy jewelry for myself from time to time. It looks expensive.”

  Seth pursed his lips, then asked, “You didn’t buy the bracelet for her, though, did you?”

  I shook my head. “What makes you think I did?”

  “I’m surprised you’re asking about it.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  “She told me you sent it to her for her birthday last year.”

  “I’m sorry, Seth. I didn’t buy it for her.”

  He wadded the bracelet inside his hand and threw it across the room. Then he walked to the bed and sat down, covering his face with his hands. “I feel like I’m losing it! I don’t know what’s real and what isn’t anymore. It’s like I’ve stepped into someone else’s chaotic life. How is it my life? How can it be?”

  I flipped the lid closed on the suitcase and sat beside him. “You’re not alone. I feel the same way. It wasn’t like Juliette to be dishonest about anything, and it looks like she lied about a lot lately.”

  “Yeah, not just one lie. Lots of them. One after the other. I can’t stop thinking about the money the cops found. Where did she get it? And why would she move to some tiny town in Colorado? She doesn’t know anyone there.”

  Seth was away a lot for work, and it occurred to me my sister may have been leading a double life, one those close to her didn’t know about. “When you went out of town half the week for work, what was Juliette’s routine while you were gone?”

  “She played tennis at Bellevue, hung out with friends, and visited your aunt at the assisted living facility in Henderson.”

  Aunt Cora, our mother’s sister, had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease four years before. She’d never had any children of her own. At the onset of the disease, Aunt Cora had gifted Juliette a large sum of money, which Juliette used to build their house. I was gifted a much smaller amount. I told myself it was because I didn’t need the money like Juliette did, but the truth was Juliette had always been Aunt Cora’s favorite, and it all came down to the fact Juliette was well behaved and obedient. I was mouthy. Interesting how time brought on unforeseen changes for the both of us.

  “It’s been a long time since I visited Cora. How’s she doing?”

  “About the same. Juliette believed Cora had lucid moments where she remembered her, but the few times I visited your aunt, she acted the same way she always did—like she’d completely checked out of life. She has no idea who I am anymore.” He stopped talking for a moment and then said, “Hey, can I ask you something?”

  “Sure, ask me anything.”

  “I assume you know a lot more about Juliette’s plan to leave me than you let on earlier. How long had she been planning on leaving me? Did she tell you?”

  “She didn’t. She only mentioned a divorce for the first time recently. Not long after, she said she was leaving. I was surprised it all happened so fast. I thought it was something she was thinking about, not something she planned on doing until the week it happened.”

  “Did she give you a reason?”

  “She said she was unhappy. I asked her why. All she said was she’d talk to me about it when she saw me.”

  He shook his head. “Typical Juliette.”

  “Had she made any friends since you moved here? When we talked, she never said much about anyone else.”

  “A few, but she didn’t like going out. That’s what makes these dresses stand out. They’re ... you know ... club wear.”

  “Did anyone spend time with Juliette and Nora when you weren’t home?”

  “Jonas and Anna kept an eye on things. He would stop over once or twice during the week to check on Juliette and Nora. Even if Juliette wasn’t a big talker, I’m sure there were times when they had some level of personal conversation. Jonas made it sound like they did, at least.”

  “I don’t care what Jonas thinks or what he says. Juliette didn’t take her own life.”

  “I’m not saying she did. I was only telling you what he said. I know your first impression of him wasn’t favorable, but Jonas isn’t a bad guy, Raine.”

  “He’s wrong, though. Nora meant everything to Juliette. She wouldn’t rob her daughter of growing up without a mothe
r.”

  “I guess so. Hard to know now.”

  I zipped the suitcase closed and returned it where it belonged. “Jonas asks a lot of questions. I know you consider him a friend, but what do you know about him?”

  “He moved in after we moved in, and he’s spent a lot of time around us. He’s always been a stand-up guy, a good friend to me and to Juliette. And his wife is one of the kindest people I’ve ever known. They’re a great couple.”

  Maybe Jonas was a decent guy. Then again, Seth was the kind of person who always saw the best in people. He was quick to trust and easy to forgive—two traits I lacked. “I want you to know I won’t stop searching until I find out what happened to Juliette and Nora. Even if the police don’t find answers, I will.”

  He nodded like he believed me. “What are your plans?”

  “My plans?”

  “Yeah. We probably should discuss what happens now. Are you going back to St. George, staying in Las Vegas, or ...?”

  “I want to check things out, so I’m planning on sticking around for a while. I’ll get a hotel. I’d appreciate it if you’d call me if you hear anything, and I’ll do the same.”

  He shook his head. “You don’t need to go to a hotel, Raine. We’re family. Why don’t you stay here for now? You can sleep in Nora’s room.”

  I appreciated the offer but didn’t want things to get any more awkward than they already were. “I don’t know. Are you sure?”

  He nodded. “We could work together, see what we find out. Besides, it may sound selfish, but I’d rather you were here. Then it won’t get too quiet.”

  It didn’t sound selfish at all. I was feeling the same.

  “Okay, I’ll remain here for now.” I walked to the bedroom door. “It probably sounds weird, but being in this house, around Juliette’s things, is keeping me sane somehow. Between the two of us, I know we’ll find answers.”

  I had a feeling they wouldn’t turn out to be the answers we wanted, but at least we’d have the truth.

  CHAPTER 22