* * *
Sarah pulled her Lexus into a parking spot a few doors down from her son’s house. As she’d driven up, she passed both his car and Andrea’s parked on the opposite side of the street. She knew they’d be headed out in a few minutes. Michael would drive to the hospital where he had his orthopedic practice; Andrea would drive Lindsey to kindergarten before returning to the house to do who knows what she spent her days doing. She’d quit her sales job after she had the baby and showed no signs of returning to it even though Lindsey had started school. Apparently she was content to live off Michael’s salary.
Sarah pulled out her cell phone and whenever someone walked by, she held it to her ear. Talk on a cell and you were invisible to the world. No one would pay her any attention. She watched in her rear view mirror until she saw Michael leave. Then a few minutes later, Andrea, holding Lindsey’s hand, did the same.
Sarah knew the kindergarten was about a ten-minute drive from their home, so she wasn’t surprised when Andrea returned twenty-two minutes later. Sarah watched her enter the house and waited another eight minutes before she left her car and walked up the front steps. With no hesitation, she opened the door without ringing the bell. Closing it quietly behind her, she stood for a moment in the darkened living room. She heard a TV playing in the kitchen.
Her rubber-soled shoes made no sound on the hardwood floor as she walked down the hallway, holding a pillow from the living room sofa. When she got to the kitchen doorway, she peered into the room. A perfect set-up. Andrea at the kitchen table faced away from her, her hands around a mug of coffee, her focus on the Today show.
Sarah pulled a gun out of her coat pocket and tiptoed to where Andrea sat. In one quick motion, she crammed the pillow against Andrea’s head and fired the gun. In that split second, she heard a gasp and felt Andrea try to turn around. Too late. The momentum from the gunshot pushed her body forward. Her shoulder hit the coffee cup and sent it skittering. Her head hit the table with a thud, then rolled slightly to the side and came to rest on a pink floral placemat.
Sarah gazed at her daughter-in-law’s profile and the blood pooling onto the placemat. She shuddered, glad it was over, proud of herself for killing this tramp. Andrea had gotten what she deserved. How dare she keep Michael and Lindsey away from her.
The muffled gunshot had been no louder than a dish dropping to the floor. The sound wouldn’t escape the house. Still, she wasted no time. She pulled Andrea’s wedding ring and watch off her left hand. The arm swung slightly after she finished, then dangled at the side of the chair.
Sarah rifled through Andrea’s purse, yanked out her wallet, and took the cash. The gloves she wore were tight enough that they didn’t impede her progress. With a final glance at the body, she left the kitchen. She moved quickly down the hall and up the stairs to the master bedroom. Pulled out the two nightstand drawers and spilled the contents onto the bed. Pulled a few more dresser drawers open and threw some items onto the floor, found nothing that a thief would be interested in.
Sarah went into the bathroom and opened the cabinet above the sink. The only prescription was birth control pills, the rest over-the-counter medications. She swept the bottles into the sink before turning away. She scrambled down the stairs to the front door, opened it slowly, and glanced down the street. A couple of people walked on the sidewalk, away from her. Sarah left the house and strode to her car, her head down, her black swing coat masking her body, her hat pulled down low with her hair tucked under. Just another anonymous stranger, dressed to ward off the winter chill, moving quickly to get somewhere warm.
When she got to her car, Sarah took a final glance around, relieved to find no one paying attention to her. She drove away, kept to the speed limit, and came to a full stop at each stop sign. A few miles from her home, she stopped at a park with a large pond. She was alone. Early winter was a dead zone. Too cold to play on the brown, brittle grass, not cold enough to play in snow or skate on the still unfrozen pond.
Sarah pulled Andrea’s watch and ring out of her pocket and heaved them into the pond. She watched as they kicked up a splash before they sunk into their watery grave. She stood for a moment and gazed across the water, then mentally ticked through a checklist before she nodded with satisfaction. She’d done it, gotten rid of her horrid daughter-in-law. All she had to do now was to go home and wait for Michael’s phone call. She knew it would come. With Andrea out of his life, he’d come running back to his mother.
Sarah busied herself at home all afternoon. She’d taken a day off from work, nothing unusual. She had six weeks of vacation and often took a Friday off. After she’d straightened her living room and kitchen, she walked upstairs and into Michael’s old room. It would be his again. When he moved out, she’d left everything the way he had it. His baseball bat and glove rested against the wall. His Little League and swimming trophies aligned on the dresser. She had even left those hideous Kiss posters on the walls. But she would replace those with some nice framed art. Nothing from his house, no memories from his time with Andrea.
She went into the next bedroom, already decorated for her granddaughter. Painted a lovely buttercup yellow; the poor girl would never be subjected to that awful bubble gum pink again. Sarah sat in the rocking chair, her eyes closed as she envisioned her new life. The three of them living together. Happy, so very happy.
The doorbell interrupted her reverie. She jumped from the rocker. Michael and Lindsey were here! Her heart raced as she flew down the stairs and yanked the door open.
A burly man in a gray trench coat stood on her porch. “Sarah Edwards?”
“Yes.”
The man held out a police badge. “Detective Simmons. You’re under arrest for the murder of Andrea Edwards.”
Sarah was stunned. How did they know? “What are you talking about? My daughter-in-law is dead?”
“Ma’am, your son saw your car at his house this morning. Poor guy. He thought you were there to reconcile with his wife.”
Sarah’s brain flew through possibilities, excuses. If Michael had seen her... “I did go to talk to her. To try to work things out. She was alive when I left.”
The detective dug a plastic bag from his pocket, held it up. “We found your bracelet in the victim’s bedroom. Your son ID’d it. Must have come off when you were trashing the place. Thought you’d try to make it look like a robbery, right? Like that’s never been done.”
Sarah stared at the bracelet, puzzled. She hadn’t worn it today, hadn’t seen it for months. The last time she remembered wearing it was to Lindsey’s birthday party.
* * *
Michael tucked Lindsey into her bed and kissed her good night. He sat in the rocker, his eyes closed as he envisioned his new life. He couldn’t believe he was finally free of his crazy mother. Living with that nutcase all those years, knowing she’d gotten away with killing his father. Although she’d been right about one thing. Andi had turned into a Class A bitch. He and Lindsey were so much better off now that she was dead.
# # #
www.LindaJohnson.us
Other works by Linda Johnson:
“A Tangled Web” - a novel
Divorce is unpleasant and messy. Murder is simple. Cathy Nelson is a young, successful career woman and mother. When her marriage sours, she turns to a time-honored solution: arsenic. Toni Ambrose is a young, but relentless detective, assigned to the murder case. Her instincts tell her that Cathy is guilty and she defies her superiors to doggedly build a case against this black widow disguised as a grieving wife.
“Trail of Destruction” - a novel
Brad Newcomb believes he is destined to be President of the United States. When he has an affair with a staff member and gets her pregnant, there is nothing he won’t do to fulfill his destiny – including murder. Brad’s brother, Ryan, is a journalist who uncovers the story and is faced with a monumental decision that could determine the fate of the entire country: bury the truth and see a murderer elected president or destr
oy his brother's life.
“The Player” - a short story
Jacob Flynn thinks he’s God’s gift to women. His game is to see how quickly he can meet them, seduce them, and dump them. When things go too far one night with his latest conquest, Melanie, he ends up with a dead body. He manages to evade the police, but he doesn’t count on Melanie’s sister, Lauren, who will stop at nothing to uncover the truth.
“Redemption” - a short story
Ben Hawkins blames his father for a psychologically abusive childhood and for triggering his mother’s suicide. The two men have been estranged for years. But when Ben is falsely accused of murder, he has no other option than to turn to his father, a retired homicide detective, for help. As Ben languishes in jail, the noose growing tighter, his father desperately searches for the real killer. The evidence continues to mount against Ben until the case takes an unexpected turn.
The Switch - a short story
Michael came from old money, but when he married Rita, his parents disapproved and cut him off from the family wealth. With his beautiful wife and their three children, Michael never regrets what he lost -- until Rita is diagnosed with breast cancer and he doesn’t have the health insurance to cover her care.
Michael hatches a desperate plan to fund Rita’s life-saving treatments and exact revenge against his family.
“Winner Takes All” - a short story
Robert Lewiston has fled the country. After executing the largest Ponzi scheme in history, he changed his name, had plastic surgery, and escaped to Rio de Janeiro, where he's living the high life on billions in stolen funds.
John Henderson is an ex-employee of Lewiston's who is helping the FBI track down his former boss. When John discovers information that could lead to Lewiston's whereabouts, he is faced with a crucial decision that could lead to dangerous and unexpected consequences.
“Breaking the Cycle” - a short story
Kate Bynum is a patrol cop working the graveyard shift. She has seen more than her share of domestic violence calls. More often than not, these besieged women are unable to find a way to stop the torment on their own.
When she meets a young woman who is trapped in an abusive marriage by her politically connected and powerful husband, Kate knows she must find a way to help the woman escape and break the vicious cycle of abuse.
Family Sins - A Short Story Page 6