Sue

  There were two new reports of missing persons, one a man, which she immediately dismissed, and an older woman in Pennsylvania who was purported to be suffering from Alzheimer’s and presumed to have wandered off. Sue didn’t bother to print that one either. Around noon, she stood and stretched, digging her knuckles into the small of her back to soothe the tension.

  She stepped out onto her porch to check her mail. The first day of June had dawned unseasonably warm and Sue took a moment to breathe in the gentle air before opening her mailbox. Among the bills, coupons, and miscellaneous mail was something from a church. What’s this?

  Sue reentered her apartment, tossed all but the envelope from the church onto the coffee table, and scanned the outside with mild curiosity. It was postmarked in Dulcet, West Virginia four days earlier. Her name and address had been typed, but a lump of ice slid down her back as she noticed it was made out to Susie Q Cox. She pressed the back of her hand to her mouth and looked around, as if someone might be hiding in the corner. I should call the detective. She wavered for a few seconds. No, not this time.

  Quickly grabbing her gloves from her coat in the closet and a plastic bag and knife from the kitchen, she slit the top of the envelope and pulled out a single, folded sheet of glossy paper. It was nothing but an advertisement torn from a dollar store circular. She looked closer at the page and her nerve endings went haywire. On one side were ads for laundry soap and dryer sheets, but on the other were coupons for hair products, dyes to be specific. Sue shivered as she recalled when Zeke had insisted she steal a package of black hair dye for him from a dollar store. She had no doubt he had sent this to her. It couldn’t be any clearer. He was sending her wordless reminders of their time together. Not even a prankster could have randomly chosen this flyer; it had to be Zeke.

  Was Zeke really in Dulcet? She conceded that he could have sent the letter off with a trucker, vacationer, or other traveler to put into the mail for him. He could have done that. But she didn’t think so; it wouldn’t explain the envelope. How Zeke would have gotten one of them was beyond her, but given that their association had ended in a vacant Catholic church, she took it as a clear message. She figured he’d mailed it himself. And if so, he was getting ever closer.

  Hands trembling, she carried the bagged envelope with her. She settled before her computer and pulled up a map of West Virginia. Dulcet was a small town about thirty miles from Abbeville, a hard sixteen hour drive from Sue’s house. Two days on road would bring him to her and the letter was sent four days ago. Zeke could have potentially been here for two days or more. Waiting. Watching.

  Apprehension rippled down her spine as she placed the bag into the drawer next to her expanding file of reports she’d accumulated. Fright sent her to her purse to check her weapon. It was loaded and ready. But was she? She placed the gun on the kitchen peninsula and paced the room several times, eyes darting repeatedly to the weapon. It had made her sick when Zeke killed Brenda, and she’d been heavily drugged at the time. Could she really take a life? Even from someone as wicked as Zeke? She sank onto the couch, heart pounding, as she considered the question. Yes, she decided, she could. If she were in immediate danger. But what if he were unarmed, vulnerable, sorry for what he’d done? His startling blue eyes begging her for mercy? That was a different situation entirely; that would be murder, pure and simple.

  Half of her cried out for vengeance, for the completion of the distasteful but necessary task of removing him from the world. The weaker half, though, longed for him to tell her a story of childhood woe or mental illness that would explain his cruelty. Something that would allow her to forgive him and thereby redeem herself. Crazy logic, but it made sense to her. Standing, she put the gun back in her bag and left it on the counter within easy reach.

  Her brow creased. How would he do it? Would she come home from work one day soon to find him in her apartment? Or would he call her, cajole her, persuade her to meet him somewhere? Would he jump her in a dark parking lot or on the street in front of her parents’ house? Even if she had her gun with her, would she be able to get to it in time? Would she want to, or would her heart convince her to give him a chance? These questions tormented her.

  When Melvin called later, she didn’t tell him about the newest letter despite prodding from her conscience. He sounded so happy, still wrapped in bliss from the previous night. She hesitated only a second or two before asking, “Now that school’s over, can we start checking out some of these old buildings?”

  “I still don’t see what good it will do, but sure.” There was a dubious tone to his words.

  “You don’t sound like you really want to go.”

  “I’ll go anywhere with you, Sue. Ends of the earth, if need be. I certainly don’t want you going alone. Promise me you’d never do that.”

  “I promise.”

  “And mean it.”

  “I do mean it, Melvin. Why don’t you come over and we’ll make plans? I think we can hit several sites in one trip.”

  He sighed. “We probably can. When I get there, we’ll print out a map.”

  “Awesome,” she said enthusiastically. This obviously wasn’t the evening he’d had in mind and she felt a pang of remorse. They’d just crossed a wonderful marker in their relationship and he would naturally want to stay on that course. And here she was inserting Zeke into the mix. Again.

  “I’ll pick up some sub sandwiches on my way. Do you have something to drink?”

  “Yes, we’re covered.”

  “Okay, see you in a little bit.” Sue pulled the file of abandoned buildings from the desk drawer, set it beside the computer, and went to the kitchen to fix their sodas.

  After they’d eaten, they moved to the desk. Sue opened the file and sifted through the stack, finally settling on three derelict structures that were nearby. Melvin sat beside her and skimmed over their selections. Besides the old school near Assaria, which was little over six hours away, she had chosen a depot and an inn.

  “All of these buildings are fantastic.” Sue smiled with encouragement. “The school alone is worth the trip; it’s so big and freaky. And look how cool these others are. I can’t wait to explore that old inn.”

  “You know, we could get in trouble for trespassing,” Melvin said.

  “Not if we don’t get caught.”

  Another deep sigh. “Okay, go to MapQuest and print out the maps.” He leaned back and closed his eyes.

  The light from the lamp glinted off his glasses. Sue stared at him for a moment; a lump rose in her throat. She impulsively stroked his cheek. His eyes opened immediately, locked on hers. Her heart did a small flip. As far as she was concerned, only one thing stood between her and the rest of her life. Zeke.

  Turning back to the computer, Sue said, “Look, Melvin. We’ll be passing right by the White Mountain National Forest. Want to spend some time there?”

  “Sure.” His demeanor lightened. “Both of us should bring cameras. And we’d better leave pretty early. Unless…”

  “Unless, what?”

  “Unless you want to spend the night somewhere. That way we won’t be rushed.” His cheeks turned pink and Sue had to stifle a giggle.

  “That sounds great. Can we go tomorrow?”

  “Not tomorrow. I’m doing a stakeout,” Melvin said proudly.

  Sue raised her eyebrows. “Really? Where?”

  He shook his head and admonished her with a grin. “I can’t tell you. It’s confidential.”

  “Next Saturday then?” She covered her disappointment.

  He thought for a minute. “As far as I know. Unless my work schedule changes. I’ll tell Will we have plans. I’m sure he’ll give me the day off.”

  They spent a few minutes checking out motels in the areas they would be searching. They decided on one and Sue agreed to make a reservation. “We’ll have fun, you know. It’s really scenic along this route.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them. The last thing Melvin needed, especially this early in
their new romance, was the reminder that she had traveled that very same road before with Zeke.

  However, he seemed unfazed. She dropped the subject of their impending trip as they wandered into the living room and settled in to enjoy the rest of the evening. They watched a movie, cuddled, and kissed a lot. Once again, they ended up in bed, marveling at the sensations they managed to coax from each other’s bodies. This time he stayed until the wee hours of the morning, only leaving then out of a sense of propriety. “Don’t want the neighbors to gossip,” he said as he kissed her goodbye.

  “I doubt if they’d even notice,” she replied in a sleepy voice. “I rarely ever see them.”

  Chapter 36

  All that next week Sue rushed home to check her mail, but she received no more strange letters. She squeezed in an extra target practice with Melvin mid-week and worked through her self-defense moves repeatedly. She spent time with Melvin at the gym. Anything to make the days fly until their trip.

  She also rescheduled the appointment with her therapist. With so much emotion boiling near the surface, Sue worried the woman would somehow glean her private intentions. Plus, she wasn’t ready to talk to her about Melvin; the affair was too new, too fragile. Under Dr. Camden’s patient stare, information tended to tumble from Sue’s mouth unfiltered, especially if she was nervous. As what Sue believed to be the inevitable confrontation with Zeke grew closer, she didn’t want to chance spilling anything that might provoke concern.

  Even with her worries over Zeke, Sue found she looked forward to the hours with Melvin. Her long-denied passion awoke with a fury and they made love every night. He wasn’t insatiable like Zeke, though. He seemed content with cuddling and conversation afterwards. Also, unlike Zeke, Melvin didn’t try to pry into painful childhood memories, although he seemed to enjoy hearing her talk about her exploits when growing up.

  Sue didn’t know whether Melvin could tell, but she held back a part of her emotional self. He looked at her with love in his eyes, a love she couldn’t return. Not yet. Inside, she roiled, thrown from one intense state to another. The new romance with Melvin kept her elated; the impending reunion with Zeke left her alternately shaking with fear and resonating with a dreadful, dark excitement.

  On Thursday morning, Melvin called her at work, something he rarely did.

  “Sue, can you come over to Will’s office at lunch? We need to discuss something with you.”

  Her heart began a slow, heavy pounding, like a soft hammer against her chest. “What’s going on? Has something happened?”

  He was strangely reticent. “Just come over, okay?”

  “Okay,” she said hesitantly. “Are you mad at me for something?”

  “What? Of course not.” His tone warmed slightly. “I’ll see you around noon, okay?”

  She didn’t know him well enough to read him, couldn’t guess what was going on. She called her parents’ home on a pretext, just to make sure they were alright. They were. Swiveling in her chair, she gazed out the window with unseeing eyes at cars rolling down the street and through the parking lot. Could they have found out about her internet searches? Probably not. It must be related to Zeke in some way. But, if Zeke had been arrested, the call would have come from Detective Sanders, not Melvin. No other ideas came to mind.

  It was impossible to concentrate the rest of the morning. By the time she pulled up in front of Will’s office, her nerves sizzled and her forehead was damp.

  “Come on back, Sue.” Will gestured toward his office. His smile revealed nothing and failed to alleviate the mounting tension.

  Inside, Melvin waited, an intense look on his face. “Hi, Sue.”

  “Hi.” She lowered herself into one of the chairs in front of the desk and cradled her purse on her lap. Her eyes traveled from Will to Melvin.

  Melvin spoke up. “You’re going to be mad at me, so let’s get that part out of the way right up front.” He rubbed his hands together in a nervous fashion.

  Sue could tell he wanted his inhaler. “Why would I be mad?” she asked.

  “I told Will about the trip we have planned this coming weekend.” The words came out in a rush.

  “You what? Why?” She clutched her purse, knuckles white.

  “Because it came up in conversation,” Will said. “I was sharing some information with him, information that was just confirmed this morning by a law enforcement contact of mine. That old school outside Assaria that was on your itinerary? Well, it burned down recently.”

  Sue calmed a little and relaxed the grip on her bag, still unsure of the point of this conversation. “Burned down? So we can’t go there anyway.”

  “There’s more.” Melvin tipped his head toward Will. “Just listen. Please.”

  Will sat on the corner of his desk, looked Sue in the eye. “They found two bodies in the ashes. A man and a woman. The woman has been identified through dental records to be a young librarian from Merlington, Missouri, named Anna Blythe. She was reported missing months ago. At the time, her family thought she was abducted, taken against her will. But that may not be the case.”

  Sue sat perfectly still, intent on Will’s words, even though she recognized the name.

  “The man hasn’t been identified,” Will’s voice was gentle, “but I have reason to believe the remains are Zeke’s.”

  A wave of dizziness hit Sue and she put her hands to her head. Her purse fell heavily to the floor. “Zeke’s dead?” Her voice trembled. She closed her eyes until her equilibrium returned.

  “That’s good news though, right?” Melvin interjected.

  Sue ignored him and focused on Will. “How do you know it’s Zeke?”

  Will crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back a little bit. “I don’t know for sure. In addition to the bodies, there was a partially burned vehicle found in the rubble. A van.” He reached for a file in the middle of his desk and opened it. “A white 2005 GMC Savana cargo van. Stolen from Wichita, Kansas last November and tagged with a stolen Nevada license plate.”

  Sue sat stunned, disbelieving.

  “A lot of the stuff inside the van survived the fire. There was a mattress in back and a small ice chest between the front bucket seats. Sound familiar?”

  With a shaky breath, Sue nodded. “Did they find a laptop or camera? Anything like that?”

  “No, but there were signs that the couple had been living out of the vehicle. Dirty clothes, empty fast food bags, the like.”

  Sue sniffled. “Still, it doesn’t mean it was Zeke.”

  “You’re right. But they found fingerprints on the steering wheel, Sue, and they match the ones from the crime scenes in Four Falls and from the church and the van left behind it in St. Louis. Although they still don’t know Zeke’s real name, they do know that the same person who killed Brenda was also in this particular van. The DNA profile will take a while longer, but the fingerprint evidence is solid. This is all very preliminary; they’re not finished reconstructing the scene. But it looks like the couple pulled the van into an underground parking area at the school and then went up to the second floor, perhaps to sleep. They set a fire in one of those little charcoal burners, probably for warmth, and it got out of control as they slept. An accelerant was used. They probably died from smoke inhalation before their bodies actually...” He trailed off and shot a look at Melvin, who had paled. Talk of fire always made him anxious. “Anyway, as the place burned, the floors collapsed onto the van parked below, crushing the engine area but leaving the rest of it largely intact. Why the vehicle never exploded, I can’t say. It was damp in the lower part of the building; several inches of water covered the floor, so maybe that played a role. At any rate, the people didn’t make it out alive.”

  Sue’s eyes filled with tears. “The body, did they take actual fingerprints from it?”

  Will cleared his throat. “There wasn’t enough...let’s just say it wasn’t possible.”

  “So, it’s over now. Really over.”

  “It looks that way. You’re
finally safe.” Melvin patted her shoulder awkwardly.

  “All that preparation for nothing,” she mumbled.

  “What?” Will and Melvin sounded in unison.

  Her voice was thick; she refused to meet their eyes. “I just mean, I took self defense training, learned how to shoot, and all that. And it wasn’t even necessary.”

  “Oh,” Will said. “Well, those are good things to know. That kind of instruction is never wasted.”

  Sue bent down and fumbled for her purse, lifted it onto her knees. She rubbed furiously at her eyes, and stood. She turned to Melvin. “I’m not mad at you,” she said. “But I don’t feel well. I’m going home.”

  “Want me to drive you?” Melvin stepped forward.

  “Thank you, but no. I just want to be alone.” She turned and fled before the tide of sorrow washed over her.

  Melvin started to follow, but Will put a hand on his arm. “Let her go, son. She needs a little time.”

  “Someone should be with her,” he protested.

  “I don’t think so. Not yet.” Will’s voice was quiet, but firm. “Take my advice on this. Give her some privacy and call her later on today, after she’s had a chance to absorb all this.”

  Melvin reluctantly agreed. He pulled his inhaler from his pocket and used it for the first time in days.

  In her car, Sue let the tears flow. She rested her forehead on the steering wheel as hoarse sobs tore from her throat. When she’d calmed down, she placed a call to her bosses and told them she was ill and wouldn’t be back that afternoon. She forced herself to control her emotions and updated them on the status of her work projects before hanging up.

  Taking a circuitous route home, she drove slowly past Re-Books, the used bookstore where she’d first laid eyes on Zeke. He’d swept her away with his looks and charm.

  The rude blare of a car horn behind her urged her along. She sped up and headed to the little park where she and Zeke had often met. She steered around the winding road, noting the picnic table where they’d sat, the fountain that hadn’t been turned on yet this season, the stone benches under the budding trees. The day was pleasant and there were flocks of people enjoying the weather so she didn’t stop. Several minutes later, she arrived at her apartment. Tears filled her eyes as she locked her car and shuffled up the walk to the porch. She unlocked the front door, not bothering to check her mail.