Murders on the Edge

by Andie Alexander

  “I’m not endangering your health again. Let the guys do this, because they aren’t as visible as you are.” He reached over and stroked my hair. “You’re beautiful and you don’t need anyone thinking you’re a hooker.”

  I opened my door and put my foot out. “We’ll talk about this, but I’m not happy.”

  “I know.” He smiled. “I know you better than you think.” He got out of the car and joined me, wrapping his arm around my waist. “I love my sweetheart.”

  “Uh-huh.” I crossed my arms. “I don’t think marriage is a good idea.”

  “So I have to trick you into it again?”

  “Trick?” I spun my head toward him. “When did you trick me into marrying you?”

  “Oops. That was a little slip of the tongue. I meant ‘convince.’”

  “Uh-huh.” I had to think back as to how he convinced me to marry him. I thought it was under the guise of keeping me safe from the Russians at the U.N. However, while hiding out for the following six months, I had time to think about it and never doubted my decision. I’d had time to reconsider but instead, grew fonder of him every day. He was handsome, he loved me, and I loved him. What else should I base a marriage on? There was no trickery or deceit involved and I was sure of it.

  We approached the house and Jim rang the doorbell.

  An older woman opened the door wide with a grin. “Jane and Jim. I’m so glad to see both of you. My sister talked so fondly of you.”

  “She did?” I asked. “But we only talked to her for a few minutes.”

  “She said she was sure you two would be dating by now. She also said you acted like an old married couple.”

  I shot Jim a look, making him laugh.

  “Well,” I said. “We are dating, and need to talk to you about a few things that have happened in the past day.”

  “Well, come on in. Norman and I love company. We don’t see many people out this way.”

  We walked inside, taking a step into the past. Old photographs and decorative plates lined every inch of the walls and piles of old newspapers and magazines were stacked on the sides of the floor. It seemed rather cluttered to me, but some might call it ‘homey.’

  “Have a seat.” Pearl pointed toward the couch, covered with a dark brown slipcover.

  I sat down beside Jim, feeling the old couch springs ready to pop under my legs. I shifted my weight, falling to Jim’s side.

  “I knew you felt something for me,” he whispered.

  “I fell,” I whispered back. “Help me.”

  “Would you like something to drink?” Pearl asked.

  Jim helped me sit up. “We’re fine,” I said. Other than being eaten by her couch.

  “I’ll be back.” She left the room. When she returned, she was pushing an old man in a wheelchair. She parked him beside the couch so he could see us. “This is my husband, Norman. He had a stroke a few years ago, but his mind is still good.”

  The older man stuck out his right hand and shook our hands with a smile. I could see a spark of life in him, even though it looked like his left side didn’t want to work. His left hand lay on his lap and I was sure it was paralyzed.

  “I’m the new town doctor,” Jim said. “And this is Jane Black.” He pointed toward me.

  “Are you married?” Norman asked.

  Jim shook his head with a grin toward me. “Not yet. But I’m working on it.”

  I crossed my arms and shot him a ‘don’t mess with me’ look, making him laugh.

  “Why do you treat him that way?” Norman asked me. “I don’t mean to pry, but it looks like you’re upset with him.”

  I had to get out of this and get the conversation back on track. But first, he needed to know my well-rehearsed lies. “Well, we just met. I was running away from my ex-boyfriend in Tucson after being bitten by a tarantula. I was hitchhiking to a hospital when Jim stopped the car and helped me. After we got to the hospital, Jim fixed my hand and now has this wild idea to marry me after just a day.” I blew out a breath. “Can you believe it? I mean, I was happily staying at the bed and breakfast in town, even getting a job at the mortuary. But the weirdest thing happened to my bite this morning—”

  “Let me guess,” Norman said. “Your hand healed.”

  I stared at him for a moment. “How do you know that?”

  “It happens a lot. I was a psychologist back before this stroke, and I’ve been talking to as many people who’ll talk to me. I’ve heard that same type of story over and over again.” He paused and studied my face. “But it still doesn’t explain why you treat this man badly. None of that’s related to treating someone badly.”

  I needed to introduce him to Damon, but had to play the part, so I sighed and moved closer. “He’s moving too fast. How do I know if he’s what I’m looking for? Am I walking into the same situation I was in back in Tucson?” I was such a good actress, I even started to believe the lie myself.

  “Are you still staying at the B&B?” he asked.

  “No. Jim came out to look at my hand, and when he saw what I had to do for my job, he took me away from the town and I’m staying in a guest bedroom at his house.”

  Pearl’s eyebrows rose while she took a seat beside Norman. “Alone?”

  “No,” Jim said. “The new sheriff’s there, too. The state sent him as soon as I called them with the news about the sheriff.”

  “The sheriff? What happened to him?” Norman asked. “Did he leave town?”

  Jim glanced at me, and then over at Norman. “He died. He was at the mortuary and died.”

  Norman sat up closer. “Was he upstairs at the brothel?”

  Jim studied the man. “I don’t think I can tell that. What do you know about everything in this town?”

  Norman nodded with a grin. “Oh, so he was in the brothel. I’m not surprised. Every couple of nights, that place erupts into a sin-starved free-for-all. There’s no pattern to when it happens, and it’s less over the winter months. But right now, it’s really bad. Were you there when the partiers came out?”

  “Yes,” Jim said. “I was visiting Jane. She had to work, making appointments for the prostitutes, which is weird in itself. I couldn’t believe what we were seeing and hearing. Why is this happening?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. It doesn’t happen out here in the country. Did it affect either of you?”

  “Her,” Jim said, pointing at me. “She jumped out a second floor window to get to town. She was acting really weird, and even broke her ankle in two places. But this morning, she was healed, with a type of hangover and high blood pressure.”

  “That’s normal for this town,” Norman said. “If she stays out of town, her blood pressure will return to normal. I told all of this to the CDC and EPA people who came to town, but they couldn’t find anything.”

  Jim sighed. “It doesn’t explain why it’s happening.”

  “Well, they’ve had party night for about five nights straight, so we’re hoping tonight is an off night for them. That’s when they’re allowed to sleep.”

  “Have you ever heard of people losing time?” I asked.

  “Yes. Did you lose time?” Norman asked.

  “No,” Jim said. “But someone came in today complaining of that. He only had high blood pressure and I couldn’t find anything else wrong with him.”

  “Everyone who’s spent more than a week in town has lost time, but usually decide it’s because of the alcohol or the hangover. We think it’s something in the air, so we avoid town as much as possible.”

  “Where do you go for your groceries?” I asked.

  “We grow most of our vegetables and fruit here,” Norman said. “We also drive the whole way up to Hachita to get whatever else we need. It’s not that far, only about half an hour or less.” He pointed toward his wife. “Pearl goes and visits with Edith sometimes. But we don’t go into Señora Bonita.”

  “That’s not quite right,” Pearl said to Norman. “I walk in there once a day for exercise, but th
at’s always in the morning, after the partying.”

  “And you have no symptoms?” Jim asked.

  “No.”

  “Where do people work around here?” I asked. “There aren’t that many places, from what I see.”

  Norman pointed toward the west. “They work over at the copper mines. It’s grueling work, but they make enough money to party at night.”

  I didn’t think that was possible. “Copper mines? They have copper around here?”

  “Yes, and silver, too, which is a byproduct in the copper mines. Some of those people you saw at the party were very wealthy. There’s one multimillionaire who lives in the B&B full-time, just to be near the parties.”

  It made me wonder about that place. “Who owns the grocery store?”

  “That’s Pete Arsenic.”

  “As in poison?” Jim asked.

  Norman nodded. “Yeah. He’s something else. He’s the multimillionaire. His workers do all his work for him. He just goes to the parties and has hangovers all the time, even when there are no parties.”

  Jim looked over at me. “Why did you ask about him?”

  “I met him yesterday. He was lying on the carpet upstairs at the B&B, and had a hangover, but drank to get rid of it. He told me he owns the grocery store.”

  “So what should I do about this?” Jim asked Norman. “Should I call in for help?”

  Norman shook his head. “Nope. The CDC and the EPA have been out here and found nothing. They took samples of everything, but while they were here, there was no party. The state health department doesn’t have time to come out here, after the Grande Mesas mess. Whoever or whatever is making this happen seems to know when to turn it on and when to turn it off. The weird thing is that the ‘lost time’ some people experience always seems to be on party night or the next day.”

  “Is there any pattern to party nights?”

  “No. At first, it was once every few months or less. Then it became once every other month. After that, it was once a month and once a week. Now it’s almost every night. It’s like someone’s testing the inhabitants of the town, seeing how much they can handle.”

  “From the number of deaths, I don’t think it’s much,” I said.

  Jim looked out the window. “It’s almost dusk. I think we’ll go into town and see what’s going on tonight.” He looked over at me. “Are you game?”

  “Sure. If I start acting weird, get me out of there.”

  “Deal.” We both stood and shook Norman’s and Pearl’s hands.

  Jim wrote down his phone number and cell phone number. “Give me a call for anything, even if you think it’s trivial. I want to know what’s happening here, and any small detail might help.”

  “Sure.” Pearl took the number and ushered us to the door, leaving Norman in the living room. “If you need any psych help for any of those people, Norman would love to talk to them. He gets lonely.”

  “I understand,” Jim said. “I know how tough a stroke can be, so we’ll visit when we can get the time.”

  “Good.” Pearl smiled and we left the house. Time to check out party town.

  Chapter 19

  As Jim drove toward town, I pointed to a house on the left side of the road. “What’s that place? The windows are all blacked out and it looks abandoned.”

  “Probably someone who died from the plague.”

  “The plague?”

  “That’s what I’m calling the problem we’re seeing. It’s funny to me that the CDC and the EPA want nothing to do with this. I’m surprised the FBI isn’t down here.”

  “It’s not a federal matter,” I said. “Did you understand that it doesn’t happen all the time?”

  “Yeah. It’s random. That tells me it’s planted on certain dates. But why? What would they accomplish by doing this?”

  “Well, what’s the downside of this?” I asked. “For everyone who’s infected, they can die of heart attacks and the economy of the town sinks. The hookers, the alcohol industry, and the drug trade all make money.”

  “The maker of whatever drug is being used would make money, too, as would the manufacturers of the antidote. On a national scale, it could be catastrophic. The economy would turn south, and the country would lay in ruin for anyone to walk in and take over.” He glanced over at me. “This isn’t good. If it’s that easy to plant, who’s to tell how widespread they could make this.”

  I thought it over. “They may have already, elsewhere. We need to find out where it’s coming from and who’s doing it. If it’s at random, they may have already planted it, just waiting to turn the thing on. But there’s an upside to this, too, and may be the angle. Whoever’s infected can be healed quickly, except for blood pressure. It makes me wonder about the clear liquid antidote.”

  “I looked at it this morning, and it looks like aspirin to me. I can’t imagine that’s a cure, so I sent it to the lab, along with the other samples.”

  “Who took the things to the lab?”

  “Kent flew down this morning and got everything, since they’re short-handed.”

  No. I wasn’t looking forward to seeing him, but I had to be nice. “He did?”

  “Yep. He even stopped in to see you, but you were out of it.”

  We arrived in town, and Jim parked behind the sheriff’s office.

  “What happened to your car?” I asked.

  “You mean my little red baby that I took such good care of but was destroyed by hooligans?”

  “Yeah. That one.” Like he had another one, which he didn’t.

  “Demolished. My insurance company isn’t happy, but it was in the line of work, so the U.S. Government may be helping me out. In the meantime, this is my car.” He tapped on the dashboard. “Hardly a chick magnet.”

  “You don’t need that anymore, anyway. You need a family car, so relax. It’s time to give up your youth.”

  He nodded in agreement. “Fine. Then you give up your bike.”

  “Wait just a minute. Let’s not get too hasty here. I need that bike. I’m glad you had it stored in New York. At least the guys who broke into your house didn’t get it.”

  “You don’t need it. I’m tempted to sell the thing. It’ll never be at our home.” He put his elbow on the back of the seat. “Where would you strap a car seat onto that thing without me arresting you?”

  “You wouldn’t arrest me. Not your own wife.”

  “If it endangers my kid, yep. In a heartbeat. That would be my baby, too, and let me tell you, I’d protect it with my life.”

  I opened my door and stepped out. “You don’t have to worry until it’s born.” I slammed the door and walked around the back.

  He hopped out of his side and ran toward me, wrapping his arm around me. “Yes I do. I don’t want you doing anything stupid. This is the most important time for little Junior—”

  “Or Mary.”

  “If you’re pregnant, I know it’s a boy. Anyway, this is the most important time for Junior and I’m tempted to send you back to DC until this kid’s born, just to protect him.”

  “Where in DC?”

  He nodded in confidence. “Where you were for six months.”

  I shrugged out of his embrace. “Over my dead body.”

  “I’m serious. Now become Jane again. We may have outsiders.” He opened the sheriff’s office door, holding it for me. I moved away from him, took the handle to the other door, and opened it for myself.

  Jim laughed at me. “Pushing the boundaries already, I see.”

  “I’m not helpless. I don’t like being treated like that.” I hoped I wasn’t pregnant, and decided I never wanted kids if he was going to treat me like this.

  His mouth was close to my ear, holding one of the second set of doors open for me. “I just want to make sure Junior’s going to survive. Given your rate of keeping out of trouble, it’s going to be a long haul.”

  “I’m fine.” I shot him a dirty look and opened the other door for myself, making him sigh audibly.

&n
bsp; Archie was behind the front counter, talking to two citizens of Señora Bonita. The gray-haired woman wore a simple blue-checked cotton dress and sneakers. I hoped, when I got to be that age, I’d be wearing a tube top and short shorts, showing off whatever wasn’t sagging.

  “But Sheriff,” she said. “You’re not listening to me. My lawn smells funny.”

  Archie shook his head. “I can’t arrest your lawn. That’s not my job.”

  “Can you at least come out to see it?”

  The old man standing beside her pushed toward the front. “I was here first. My dog’s missing. I want you to find it.”

  Archie rolled his eyes. “I’m not animal control. I’m sure your dog will come home when it’s hungry.”

  “I’ll help you,” I said, stepping forward. “I don’t have anything better to do, and this sounds like fun.”

  “Jane,” Jim warned. “No.”

  I glanced toward him. “Trust me.”

  “I’ll come with you, then.”

  “No, I’m fine.”

  “I need you here, Dr. Henry,” Archie said. “We have another casualty from last night. Mr. Moody called and wondered if you could do an autopsy. It was one of the women from upstairs in his shop.”

  “A hooker died?” I asked.

  Jim shot me a dirty look and walked toward the door. “Call me,” he said to me.

  “Uh-huh.” In his wildest dreams. I was even tempted to turn off my phone so I wouldn’t be lectured about endangering the life of a child that probably didn’t exist.

  He blew me a kiss and walked out the door. I just glared at him, trying to figure out my next move.

  I couldn’t think about it right now, so I approached the two older people standing in front of me. “I need to know where you both live.”

  Archie handed me some paper and a pen and I wrote down their addresses. They were both within walking distance of the police station. “I’m going to start with the dog. Then, Mrs. Ashley, I’ll be over to see you. My name’s Jane Black and I’ll do my best.”

  “Thank you,” the old woman said. “At least someone cares.” She narrowed her eyes and looked over at Archie, who bit his lips, trying not to laugh.

  “Do you have a flashlight I can borrow?” I asked Archie.