Ross looked at me propped up against the headboards, and grinned. “What else could we do? You know that old saying, if you can’t beat ‘em join ‘em? At least the entire night wasn’t a complete waste.”
“Speak for yourself.” A pillow sailed through the air but Ross’s reflexes were good–he caught it before it found its mark.
“The next morning we could hear them packing up and when the door to their room opened we raced over to the window to have a look at the lovebirds. Well, we couldn’t believe our eyes. Waddling over to this old Cadillac parked outside their door was this enormous woman. Even though she would have only been about five feet tall she must have weighed at least three hundred pounds. She was dressed in pink frills and flounces with bleached blond hair piled high on her head. She had candy-pink lips and wore enough make-up to cover the entire cast of a blockbuster movie.”
Ross took up the story. “And, following right behind her, sporting a large grin was lover-boy carrying the bags. He was well over six feet tall, thin as a bean pole, bald as a badger and had a red cowboy hat tucked under his arm. He was wearing red Cuban-heel cowboy boots and a green western outfit embroidered with purple and yellow roses that were covered in sparkles and tassels. Neither of them would have been a day under sixty.”
Ross looked at me and grinned. “I know age should never be the criteria for sex but we could hear them talking all lovey-dovey to each other like a couple of teenagers. And the woman kept looking up at the man, smiling coyly, acting all shy and giggly like a love-sick schoolgirl. We couldn’t stop laughing as we watched them climb into the pink Caddy and drive off,” Ross said through tears of laughter with Rosie and me joining in.
Ross stopped and sniffed. “Oh dear,” he said as he wiped the back of his hand across his cheeks. “For the rest of that trip reliving that night was a great source of entertainment for the both of us.”
Rosie passed around the Kleenex and said, “So, what happened when you left the motel? Where did you go?”
“We had planned to drive south along the Adirondack Mountain Range to Pennsylvania and it was by sheer good luck that we were on the right track, albeit by a different route, but when we got directions from the reception office we realized we were near Lake Placid. So we drove to Tupper Lake and followed the road south to Utica. I remember the lonely sound of the Loons in the early morning mist when we passed the lake. I’ve always loved that sound, but sadly now whenever I hear them it conjures up images of a stick insect wearing a red cowboy hat and boots coupling with a fluffy pink meringue.” His description set us off into gales of laughter again.
“What’s all that noise,” Cody asked as he slumped into the room and flopped down on the bed next to his uncle.
“None of your beeswax little man,” Ross said as he playfully ruffled Cody’s hair.
I kicked him in the ribs with my bare foot. “Don’t mess his hair up, Ross, he’s probably just gone to a lot of trouble getting it to look nice.”
“Yeah, right,” Rosie said.
The boys hooted with laughter as they wrestled playfully on the bed, and then tumbled onto the floor.
*****
Suddenly the loud speakers crackled and a disembodied voice advised passengers to return to their vehicles to prepare for docking.
As they made their way towards the SUV, Danny noticed a man and woman mingling with people coming through the doorway into the vehicle storage area… and disappear among the other commuters.
“Danny, Danny!”
“Mmm... What?” he said distractedly as his eyes scanned the deck for that brief flash of red, and a man wearing a black ball cap weaving between motor vehicles.
“Are you all right?”
“Mm...? Oh sorry. I thought I saw the young couple who were in the restaurant last night,” he said as he tried to peer round a particularly large RV parked halfway down the row.
*****
My life is not filled with prescient moments but occasionally I do have them and when I do they are not preceded by flashing red lights or the sound of bells ringing, or the loud crash of cymbals banging together. They sneak up when you least expect it and kick you right in the balls. But…, this was not one of those moments. I knew what my sister was going to say before she’d even opened her mouth.
“I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me who the lady in red is?”
I shrugged.
“Is that an ‘I don’t know who she is’ shrug, or an, ‘I’m not going to tell you’ shrug?”
“Make of it what you will–it’s just a shrug.”
“If you keep reading, am I going to find out who she is?”
“Oh sure… Eventually.”
*****
Danny drove off the ferry and headed for Highway-89.
“Do you want something to eat?” he asked. “We’ve still got a couple of hours on the road and I need to stop for gas.”
“Something light will do.”
They pulled into a roadhouse where eighteen-wheelers were parked by the pumps with engines hammering and airbrakes hissing as tires rolled over the concrete. Danny filled the tank with diesel and headed for the parking lot where big rigs lined the asphalt spewing diesel fumes into the air through stainless steel exhausts that sat atop well equipped cabins, where most long-haul drivers lived.
They found a booth at the back of the diner and placed their order with a waitress with hard eyes that said she had seen it all.
“How far is it to your friend’s place?” Nicola asked.
“Not far, just a couple of hours. We should be in St. Johnsbury, before dark,” Danny said as he looked around the restaurant.
“The restrooms are down there,” Nicola indicated with a nod.
“Thanks,” he said distractedly.
“Danny, is something the matter? You seem to have been preoccupied since we boarded the ferry.”
“Have you noticed any suspicious cars lately?”
“No. Why do you ask?”
“No reason. You haven’t mentioned anything for a while so I was wondering if you still thought there may have been a car following us.”
“To be honest I’d forgotten all about it.”
A waitress came by and splashed water in their glasses, topped up their coffee and moved on to the next table.
* * *
The landscape was a patchwork of pine trees and maples, and oak, and spruce as they passed through small towns and villages that criss-crossed the Winooski River, where houses with ceiling-high windows were built on the wooded banks of the river, and boats moored under the overhang of trees. When he saw a sign by the side of the road, Danny slowed to the thirty mph speed limit, but the only evidence of habitation on the long stretch of road was a poplar-lined drive covered in a smattering of yellow leaves where an old stone bridge spanned a narrow stream. Set well back from the road were a group of faded red barns and outhouses; and a large stone farmhouse surrounded by newly plowed fields. The blackness of the freshly turned earth created long straight furrows on the stark gray landscape where an elderly man crouched inspecting the soil, oblivious to the large black dog that barked at something in the row of tall pines that served as a windbreak along the fence line.
Shafts of fading sunlight filtered through the clouds rimming the edges with pastel shades of purple and pink; and dripped through the trees like warm maple syrup, creating shadows as it settled on the rim of the horizon.
They crossed over a bridge, then crossed back further down the river, the road switching back and forth until finally Danny drove into the Comfort Inn parking lot, and cut the engine.
* * *
“Simmo, old buddy, how are you doing?” he listened to the disembodied voice on the other end of the phone, and laughed. “Yeah, man. It’s me.” Danny grinned as he listened while his friend complained about how long it has been since he had last seen him.
“Yeah, yeah, I know. Time has a way of getting away from us all. What about you, you old goat what have you
been up to? How’s that pretty little wife of yours? Has she decided to trade you in on a younger model yet?” Danny laughed as he listened to the reply.
“My God, Simmo, another kid! You randy old devil how many is that now, five?” Danny roared with laughter.
“Sweet Jesus in heaven–seven!! Good God, man, don’t you think it’s time you gave it a rest. I heard a rumor if you overwork it there’s a chance it might fall off!” As he listened to the retort at the other end he laughed loudly.
“Me? No. I’ve stopped all that carousing around and settled down. I think I’ve found the future mother of my children.” He caught Nicola’s eye as she looked up from the brochure she had been thumbing through, and grinned.
“As soon as I’ve made an honest woman of her, I’ll give you a run for your money then we’ll see who comes up with the first football team.” He ducked as a pillow sailed through the air and hit the wall above his head.
“Listen old friend, I’d better go before a homicide is committed in the hotel we’re staying. I’ll see you around ten-thirty, okay? Yeah, sure I still remember where you live. See you then, buddy.” Danny laughed as he dropped the handset onto the cradle.
“Seven! The last time I saw Simmo he had four. That poor woman must be a saint to put up with him.”
“Well, you can get that idea right out of you head. One or two maybe, but seven! Not a chance!”
“I was thinking maybe an even dozen myself,” Danny said as he gathered Nicola into his arms. “What say we get started?”
* * *
They drove downtown, parked in a side street off Main and walked to the restaurant. The hostess handed them menus as they sat down, and a short time later a young waitress with piercing blue eyes brought glasses of iced water and took their order.
“Are you enjoying the trip so far?” Danny asked Nicola when the waitress had gone.
“Every day is a new adventure. I feel like Alice through the looking glass.”
“I wasn’t sure what to expect when I suggested you come with me. I didn’t know how you would feel about traveling all over the countryside with someone you hadn’t met. And I wasn’t sure if you’d be able to take the time off work. American’s have less vacation time than Australians do.”
“Oh, that wasn’t a problem. I haven’t had a vacation since I moved to San Francisco.” Nicola played with the glass of ice water, running her fingers through the condensation on the outside of the glass.
“I must admit I was a little hesitant at first, but after all those months of phone calls, and you describing the wonderful places we would go to, I started to look forward to the whole experience,” Nicola said as she wiped the condensation from her hands with a napkin. She smiled across the table at Danny. “What about you, Danny, did you have any reservations?”
“Me? No. None at all. The sound of your voice every night on the phone put me completely at ease. And, when we met at the airport I knew I was going to enjoy the trip, even if we only did it as friends.”
Nicola smiled. “And now?”
“And now... I’m having a great time…” His voice trailed to a whisper as he looked into her eyes and lost track of his thoughts.
Nicola noticed Danny hesitate. “Is something wrong?”
“What? Oh, no. Sorry, I was just daydreaming. Nic, don’t pay any attention to what I said to Simmo earlier. I was only kidding.”
“I know. So was I.”
* * *
“Why are we stopping?” she asked as he pulled off the deserted road and cut the engine.
“Something’s wrong with the wheel,” he said as he walked round the front of the vehicle and crouched down to inspect the front passenger side tire and wheel.
She opened the door and came up behind him. The night was cool and the air smelled of rain, ploughed fields–and fertilizer. She shivered and wrapped her arms around her body.
“What’s wrong with it?” she asked as she rubbed her hands up and down her arms in an effort to get warm. She looked around and tried to make out shadowy shapes on the landscape. She didn’t like being stuck in the middle of nowhere where there were no lights. Not even a farmhouse in the distance.
A barn owl swept low overhead in a flash of white and landed in a tree nearby as a golden sliver of moonlight found its way through a chink in the clouds and bathed her companion in soft pale light. A trill ran through her body. With that blond hair and those incredible eyes perhaps being stuck here for the night wouldn’t be such a bad thing.
He looked up and smiled. She was his creature tied to him by his eyes.
“I’m not sure,” he said and gave the wheel another tug. “I think there may be a puncture in the tire.” He stood up and brushed the dirt from his hands, walked round to the back and opened the trunk. Under the carpet lay the spare tire, a jack and an assortment of tools. The tall handsome man reached into the trunk and grabbed what he needed. As he straightened, the moon came out from behind a cloud and turned his companion’s hair a fiery chestnut.
When she looked up, her face was bathed in the soft glow of moonlight that traveled down her throat and across the swell of her breasts. She was so beautiful, his heart caught in his throat.
As he came up behind her, she turned her head and smiled and noticed a glint of metal as moonlight reflected off the object he’d raised above his head.
As if in slow motion, her mind unable to process what it was seeing, she stood transfixed as he brought the metal bar down on her head.
The sickening thud of the impact echoed around them. Then the look of surprise on her face was obliterated as her skull cracked open and her eyes froze in a look of disbelief–and horror.
She collapsed onto the cold hard ground where the blood ran into her eyes and her open mouth, down the side of her face and turned her hair a deep vermillion as it pooled on the grass and soaked into the hard-packed earth around her, and the crimson top she was wearing.
The man leant down and slit her throat with such force, he almost severed her head from her body.
As the young woman lay on the ground with her blood pooling around her, the killer, taking care not to get blood on his sneakers, reached down and grabbed the pendant that lay atop a heart that no longer beat… and brutally ripped it from her neck.
*****
“Wow that was a shock! I certainly wasn’t expecting that to happen.”
“Twists and turns, Hon–twists and turns. Keeping the reader interested is the name of the game.”
“What’s going on?”
“What do you mean, what’s going on? She’s dead. He killed her. Could I have been any plainer than that?” I shut down the laptop and put it to one side. “Come on kiddo, it’s time we hit the road.”
Rosie sighed. “Funny how this seems to be the highlight of our day, Bubbie. Who would have thought it would have come to this?” she said with a slight catch in her voice.
I put my arm around her and gave her gentle a hug, ever mindful of the constant pain that coursed through her body.
“I know babe, but there’s nothing we can do but fight it every step of the way. We’ll get it beat.” I kissed the top of her head, and said, “Come on, let’s go and see our friend, Mr. Takamura, and find out what the girls have been up to.”
We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge with the sun sparkling on the water. The sky was a brilliant shade of blue while the ever-present wind tugged at the hair and clothes of pedestrians. I exited One-Oh-One onto Lombard Street, driving through the busy tourist district lined with motels and restaurants and hawkers on street corners, turned onto Van Ness and headed up the hill.
As I pulled into the hospital parking garage and cut the engine, I looked at my sister sitting quietly beside me and noticed her face was paler than usual, her hands trembling. I wanted to take her in my arms and tell her not to worry. Tell her everything would be all right; but I daren’t give voice to the fear that haunted us all.
I gently placed my hand on hers and forced a smile on
my lips. “You all right, Hon?”
She nodded and did her best to smile. “I’ve just got to get myself psyched up for the next round.”
“Take your time–there’s no hurry,” I said as I unscrewed the cap on a bottle of water and passed it to her. “Whenever you’re ready?”
Rosie took a couple of sips and handed the bottle back, took a deep breath–and let it out slowly. “Okay. Let’s do it,” she said as she opened the door and stepped onto the concrete.
. . .
Whenever my sister walked into a room it was like a ray of sunshine coming in through the door. No one would guess, by looking at her, how bad she was really feeling. Rosie always had a kind word for everyone.
I looked around the room and saw Louanna and Chartreuse sitting next to a middle-aged man who was playing computer games with a younger version of himself, and headed in their direction.
Rosie hissed me a warning as she listened to one of the patients talk about her grandchildren, aged six and four, but I chose to ignore it. It’s not my fault I was born under the sign of the bull–you’d have to take that up with my parents.
“Hi girls, how are you doing? We missed you yesterday. Did they move your time again, Chartreuse?”
Louanna shook her head. But before she had a chance to explain, Chartreuse waded in with the details.
“We’s been busy with du big kids ‘n’ du little ‘ens,” she started to tell me, but Louanna cut her off.
“It was Duella, my youngest’s birthday, so we had a party for her.”
“Oh how wonderful. How old was she, Louanna?”
“Five.” When Louanna held up her hand indicating five fingers like a small child would do I couldn’t help notice the new coat of duco on her nails, but decided not to go there.
“She my baby,” Louanna added, the pride in her voice, unmistakable.
Rosie came up behind me and laid a cautioning hand on my back.
Murder and Mayhem Page 19