Taylorwood (Alexandria Whitney Mystery)

by McCarthy, G. L.

  “Gee thanks. That makes me feel tons better. Barney has an accomplice who’s an idiot. I drive a red truck and you drive a blue mustang, how do you get those confused? The only thing they have in common is that they were both made by Ford, but twenty years apart. Not to mention we park in a space with our name on it. I don’t need two Barney’s to deal with.” Alex’s mind was spinning.

  “I’m not explaining this right. I think it could be someone in administration, but for some screwed up reason, not because they want you to quit your job. Maybe the stuff they gave you is a turn on to them. You know, this creep is basically controlling you from a distance. Plus he’s thrown in a poem that mentions you being hurt by the thorns in the flowers. I think he gets a kick out of fantasizing about hurting women or having power over them in some way, whether it’s real or imagined.”

  “Where did you get that idea? Are you reading psych books I don’t know about?” Alex thought she had a vivid imagination.

  “I just think we need to look at all the possibilities. Everybody is a suspect unless Frederick has a slam dunk on who it is.” Cyn was worried about what they would do if Frederick didn’t have a suspect, as she knew Alex was hoping for a quick ending.

  “You’re right. I guess I am being naïve in my thinking. We could be dealing with a psycho. Why can’t this have just stayed a nice sweet crush? Now we have to think of this person as Norman Bates reincarnated. Oh, Fudgesicles.”

  Alex and Cyn parked the truck in the school parking lot and walked over to Frederick’s work room. No one would think it odd that her truck was there, as teachers often came to school to work on special projects. Frederick was there waiting for them.

  “Hi Frederick. It’s nice to see it isn’t raining here. We got drenched over at Cyn’s place.” Alex was nervous and wondered where to start.

  “Yes, it poured here a couple of hours ago, but it is clearing up now. How are you two on this soon to be beautiful Sunday?” Frederick motioned them towards a card table he had cleared off.

  “Frederick, I don’t know how to start this conversation except to just ask you if you have any idea who could be my secret admirer. Please believe me when I say, whatever you tell us will go no further than this room. We’ll keep our source of any information on this matter in complete confidence, I swear.” Alex crossed her heart.

  “I believe you, Alex, and I know you two will keep my identity as your informant a secret. I’m close to retiring and would like to stay here as long as I can.” Frederick turned his chair so he could look at both women to tell them his suspicions.

  Frederick ran through the operations at the school. Being a private school the tuition was substantial and not all of the clients were rolling in the bucks. Mrs. Greenway felt that everyone deserved to go to Taylorwood and tried to help out the parents who couldn’t afford the full tuition. So there were parents who worked at the school, helping out in the office to defer some of the cost of tuition. Then there were the paid employees like himself: Miss North, who they knew, Mrs. Cline who was Mrs. Greenway’s secretary, the fellows out in maintenance, the gardeners, and the kitchen staff. Alex told Frederick that they had ruled out the support staff as it didn’t seem they would have the funds to purchase the gifts. The teachers were at risk of losing their jobs, if found out. So who else at the school had the money and opportunity, except the people he just mentioned in administration.

  Frederick took a deep breath and began to tell them about an incident that had happened at the school just before Alex had started there. Mrs. Greenway’s son, Richard, had worked at the school as the financial manager. He was going to school to become a CPA, his mother’s idea not his. He was a lazy no account according to Frederick. But at the age of thirty-nine, Mrs. Greenway put her foot down, and told him to get his degree or get out. A year after he began working at Taylorwood, Mrs. Greenway started getting complaints from one of the more attractive teachers about Richard bothering her. He had left flowers, gifts, notes on her car and then confronted her after hours when she was alone in her classroom. It finally came to a head when the teacher threatened to resign mid-year. In order to keep her until the end of the year, Mrs. Greenway had to send Richard away. She had a friend out in Hollywood who worked for a studio and found him a job. He was supposedly keeping himself February of this year he came back. Apparently he had lost his job. Frederick paused before continuing.

  “The reason I heard, was he had been stalking a production worker at the studio. So it appears he has returned to his old ways. By the way Alex, you look a lot like the other teacher, the one you replaced. Now the only problem is, we need to prove Richard is up to his old tricks, which will be tough as he swore to his mother that he would never do it again. He told her that the day he came back. I was in Mrs. Cline’s office emptying the trash. They never knew I was there.” Frederick knew it couldn’t be anyone else but Richard Greenway, and he would help Alex prove it. Frederick figured he had spotted Alex back then, but waited until the first of the school year to make himself known and hopefully his mother would have forgotten about his past.

  working out there and was out of trouble. But then in

  “How do I prove it? There was no card with the flowers or the medal. The poem was typed on a computer which means anyone could have typed it.” Alex began to think she would have to wait until he started to bother her again.

  What were the chances that she would replace someone who had been stalked, and now she was being stalked by the same creep.

  “What if we found out where the flowers or medal came from? We could find out who paid for them and then we would have our proof, right?” Cyn knew there weren’t that many florists in the county. Maybe one of the guys out in maintenance saw the delivery truck.

  “Frederick this is fact right, not school gossip? I know you heard what Richard said to Mrs. Greenway, but is everything you told me fact? I know everything points to him but I need it to be absolutely true.” Alex hoped that Frederick didn’t think she was questioning him.

  “I understand you don’t want to accuse someone with hearsay.” Frederick respected Alex for wanting to be absolutely sure before she confronted him.

  Cyn decided to go see if she could find any of the guys and to ask if they remember seeing a delivery truck. It was a long shot but she needed to do something to help. Cyn left the two to talk.

  “Do you know the name of the studio where Richard worked? I have a friend who can possibly get me some facts as to why he was terminated.” Finding proof could be harder than Alex thought.

  Frederick smiled as he recalled what he knew about Richard Greenway. “It was a different kind of a name, a fictitious animal, I think. Let’s see. Griffin, Centaur, Unicorn, Pegasus – that’s it Pegasus Studios.” Frederick was very pleased to have pulled that name out of his memory banks.

  “Pegasus. Great. I can make a call. Also, I want to make a request. Cyn is the best and wants to be a part of ending this drama, but I want to keep her out of trouble. It’s my problem and I don’t want to jeopardize her job, especially now that it involves the boss’s son. Can you keep what I tell you between just the two of us? If she asks you any questions, just tell her you don’t know anything else. Plus one more request and this may sound strange. Can you save Richard’s trash from his office? I notice you line all the waste baskets so could you just keep his separate from the rest? Maybe we’ll get lucky and find something that we can use to lay blame. Possibly he pays his bills from here and will throw away some receipts. I know it’s a long shot, but at least I’ll feel like I’m doing something short of “breaking and entering.” I think that would be a little drastic in this case, as we’re not dealing with national security.” Alex was happy she had a wealth of movies to draw ideas from.

  “As you wish, Alex. I will keep this plan secret from Cyn and saving Richard’s trash will be as easy as pie. Would you like me to go through it first?” This was getting interesting and Frederick felt like a detective from those old gumsho
e books he read in his youth.

  “That would be great. I’m sure you’ll know incriminating evidence when you find it.” The thought of going through this creep’s trash was not very appealing to Alex, to say the least.

  Cyn returned with no news, since none of the maintenance men or gardeners were on the premises. But she had noticed a lot of activity in the main office. Frederick informed them they were moving old records out and putting them in storage. They were also organizing all current and new files, making sure they were complete and up to date with health records, emergency numbers and transcripts, etc. This is when they made good use of all the parents who needed to work off their hours.

  Alex thanked Frederick for his time and valuable information, and she and Cyn headed for the parking lot. Cyn asked what had been discussed while she was seeking out the guys. Alex told her she had just asked Frederick more about the other teacher who quit. He didn’t know where she went after she finished the year, so they wouldn’t be able to contact her for any information that would help nail Richard. She hated to lie to Cyn, but it was for her own good.

  As they drove Alex felt there was a light at the end of the tunnel. With some relief on that front she now needed to turn her attention back on her relationship with Dez and felt like she could use some advice.

  “You know the truth Cyn, this whole drama has made me take a good hard look at my relationship with Dez. Guess what? It hasn’t been so good for me, for some time now. Dez is as happy as anyone could be. She has a wife who takes care of her emotionally, does all the laundry, cleaning, cooking, shopping, and works a full time job plus gives up her whole summer vacation helping her with her practice. Somewhere along the way I lost Alex, the self reliant girl who put herself through college, and turned into a pathetic wimp. I’ve become this other person that’s settled for a relationship that meets none of my needs, because I’m afraid to be alone the rest of my life. Silly, I know, but nonetheless real in my mind. I can’t be mad at Dez because I let this happen. She didn’t make me do any of this. I signed up for it all smiling like the fool I’ve become. I ask you Cyn, at what cost to another person’s happiness can we demand our own? I have sacrificed my happiness to make Dez happy and now it is my turn.” Alex couldn’t believe she just said all that out loud to Cyn when she should have said it to Dez.

  Cyn couldn’t think of a thing to say. There was trouble in paradise, and she saw the pain in Alex’s eyes. “Alex, I don’t know what to say to you right now.”

  “Dear friend, there is nothing you can say. I shouldn’t have expected you to have the answers to my problem. I have to deal with it. I know Dez is aware there’s a problem. I didn’t tell you but she came home last night as I was leaving. She has to know something is wrong. I have never spent the night away from her since we moved in together, except two years ago when I went on vacation by myself. I need to drop you off and go home and face this. I just hope she’s home, as I need to clear the air as soon as possible.” Alex was now energized and anxious to get this problem resolved the sooner the better.

  They drove the rest of the way in silence. When they arrived Alex gave Cyn a hug and told her she would see her tomorrow in the teachers’ lounge for toast and coffee. Cyn hugged Alex tightly and wished her luck with Dez. The rain had stopped, and Alex returned the umbrella to Cyn along with a verbal IOU for the six dollars. Cyn laughed and waved goodbye to her friend.

  As Alex drove home she was crying. Having to discuss ending a relationship that had meant so much to her would be one of the most painful things Alex ever had to do. But thinking about her dream she realized that she was alone in her relationship with Dez. She knew deep down inside that Dez couldn’t change and she wouldn’t ask her to. She remembered something her father had told her about people and she had never forgotten it. “People may tell you they will change, but it’s like asking a leopard to change its spots.” Dez was definitely a leopard, and always would be.

  But was Alex being impulsive? Was their relationship really hopeless, or just going through a rough spot? If this was happening three years ago, she would have thought it was a rough spot. Unfortunately though, the same scenario had played out for the last four years. It appeared to be hopeless. Dez was never going to change and Alex didn’t want to compromise her needs anymore. Both deserved to be happy, but not at Alex’s expense. A clean break would be easiest for her, but since Dez was totally unaware it would be harder on her. She would play it by ear, see how she reacted. If it went well she could take her time moving out. If it didn’t, Cyn may find herself with a temporary house guest.

  Chapter 14

  As she drove up to their place Alex saw Dez’s truck parked in the garage. Her heart began to pound as she was starting to lose her nerve. She had to be strong and stay the course. She wiped her feet and walked through the door. She hit the bathroom and then went looking for Dez. She found her in the office, writing.

  “Hi, are you busy? I need to talk to you.” Alex took a deep breath and was ready for anything.

  “I think we need to talk too. But I would like you to hear me out first. I know I’ve been absent in more ways than one and being alone last night gave me the opportunity to think a lot about our relationship. I haven’t been much of a lover for a very long time now and last night something happened that made me realize it. After dinner at the Jennings’ I was taking a walk with Sally and she kissed me. It caught me totally off guard and I didn’t know what to say. She poured all her feelings out to me. I realized that maybe I had transferred the way you and I used to have fun together to her, and gave her the wrong impression.”

  “I told her about you and that we have been living with each other for five years, and that you taught at Taylorwood and were Megan’s English teacher. She told me she had no idea I was involved with anyone, and I realized I have never told any of my clients that we were lovers, or even a couple. You probably think I’m ashamed of you, and I don’t blame you if you hate me for it. I’ve been so self absorbed. I realized you’ve been here for me and I totally abandoned you, like promising to at least go to bed with you and keep you company until after you fell a sleep. I don’t even think I did that for very long. You put up with this for the last four years and I realized you could have walked out at any time and I wouldn’t have blamed you. I’m so sorry and hope you can forgive me.” Dez was crying as she finished her thought.

  “Thank you, Dez. I’m really glad you told me all that. I don’t need to forgive you because you really didn’t do anything wrong; you were just being yourself. I allowed it all to happen. I didn’t stand up for myself. I was too worried about losing you and being alone that I didn’t see we weren’t really meant for each other. I became someone else to be your lover, and now I finally realize that. I wasn’t doing either of us any favors. The fact that Sally fell for you is understandable. When you turn on that charm of yours it’s hard to resist. It’s just that you get comfortable and you stop trying. The charming person I fell in love with disappeared a long time ago and I didn’t do anything to stop it. I am so sorry Dez that I didn’t discover this sooner. I hate hurting you, but it’s you or me and I want to be happy. I have been unhappy for such a long time now, it just took me this long to figure it out. I’ll make arrangements to move out as it isn’t fair to you to stay any longer and you need to get on with your life. I love you Dez, I’m just not in love with you anymore.” Now it was Alex’s turn to cry.

  “Please don’t move out. I love you being here with me and the kitties. What if I slept down here on my office couch? I know you want to make a clean break, but don’t you want to take your time and find a place at your leisure instead of taking the first thing you find?” Dez wanted her to stay. But it also made sense for her to take her time looking for a place. “I guess you’re right. Moving out after I find a nice place is a better plan. So when I find it, I’m gone. Right?” Alex was going to hold Dez to this deal.

  “Right.” Now if Dez could only change Alex’s mind ab
out moving at all. But don’t push it tonight.

  Alex said good night as she was very tired. The stress and anticipation of this conversation had drained her. She was so looking forward to her bed and pillow. She crawled in, got comfortable, and didn’t move until the alarm went off.

  Alex had a very vivid dream that night, different than her last one. She found herself walking down a path with the sun shining and birds singing. Beau was running along beside her and no one was riding him. Then she felt someone take her hand. It was a woman, but again she had no recognizable face. She pulled Alex into a passionate kiss and then turned her loose and ran off. Alex tried to run after her, but she couldn’t keep up. She reached for Beau but he took off at a gallop in the other direction.

  As Alex slowly opened her eyes, she thought about her dream and what it meant. She knew there was someone out there for her, she just needed to be patient. She needed more time to be able to catch up to her wherever she was. Only time would tell, but the possible promise of a more compatible lover was something Alex should focus on. She’d make sure that this time she did the ground work, so hopefully her next relationship would be the one to last.

  Chapter 15

  When Alex awoke she felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from her. Dez now knew what she was thinking and Richard was soon to find out what she thought about him. Having set the alarm a half hour earlier than usual seemed like a bad idea now, but Alex wanted to get to work early so she and Cyn could have some time alone before the other teachers arrived. A flood of thoughts came to her as she drove to work. Frederick was hopefully going to be able to gather incriminating evidence against Richard Greenway. If this Richard had started in February why had she never met him? Why hadn’t Cyn known of him either? She knew everybody, or at least Alex had thought so. She needed to call her friend Jessie and see if her husband Dawson could call in a favor with one of his old buddies out in Hollywood. Maybe they could get info on Richard’s activities at Pegasus. If she could get enough evidence that spelled out this creep’s inability to stop stalking women, maybe it would be enough to get Mrs. Greenway to send him away for good. Having him at an all girls’ school with his past history was going to get her in big trouble, not only with the parents, but with the local authorities as well.