Tell No One

by Jeff Vrolyks

  “Yeah, it’s a lot,” she said without interest. She tapped her fingers on the pine of her desk, looked at him, waited for him to met her eyes before saying, “Gary, I was fishing the other day and found a wallet. You know everyone in town, so maybe you’ll know who it belongs to. Michael Reese Gibson.” She held her breath as she waited for a response.

  He looked away in deep thought. “Michael Reese Gibson,” he reflected. “Hmm. It sounds familiar. I don’t believe I know him.”

  “Really?” she said in a high tone. “You know everyone, though.”

  “He’s not from here, I’d bet that much. I’d know him. Sure sounds familiar, though. Maybe I read his name, I can’t recall.”

  “It’s pretty old, the wallet. Maybe he lived here ten years ago or so.”

  “Nah, I don’t think so.”

  “Maybe he was excommunicated and banished, like that John Whitmeier.”

  “No, I’d know about it. Why is it so important to you?”

  “It’s not, I’m just curious.”

  “Any chance of getting Theo to come back? I’d love to talk football with him.”

  “He’s leaving for California tomorrow. So no.”

  The doctor deflated. “He could have won the Heisman, you know. A lot of people think he deserved it. You’re the same age as he, or close enough. Imagine how it would be if you two married. A pro football player here in town.” He reveled at the thought. “I’d guess he’s Mormon, too, being that he has family here.”

  “Not here, Lotton.”

  “Close enough. Is he?”

  “He’s Christian.”

  “He sure likes you, that much was evident. Maybe he’d convert for you.”

  Carmen laughed. “Gary, you’re too much. Let it go, Theo and I aren’t going to marry. Our lives are far too different. I thought you liked Matthew?”

  “Oh, yeah, he’s a good boy,” he said impassively.

  “I’m going home for lunch. There’s pizza in the fridge. I might call Theo, would you like me to tell him that you’re in love with him?”

  He grinned. “It’s infatuation, Georgette. Are you really going to call him?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Wow, you have his personal phone number. If he ever goes to the Super Bowl, you’ll be able to call him before the game and wish him luck. That’s astonishing.”

  “Okay, I’ll let him know you’re in love with him.”

  “Actually, do ask him a question for me. I want to know what it was like when he got sacked by Toby Waters in the Fiesta Bowl. I thought Theo Graham had a concussion with that hit. Boy, he got slaughtered. Didn’t even see it coming. That Toby is a rhino. That had to hurt. I bet Theo saw stars.”

  “I’ll ask him. Yeah, that was a nasty hit. I was worried for him.”

  Doctor Gerhart looked at the clock: thirty past eleven. “You can take off now if you’d like. Take an extra fifteen minutes, and use it to talk football, and I’ll expect you to share everything he says with me when you return.”

  “Alright, Gary.” She stood up. “And to think, you bet against Theo, on Oregon.”

  “Don’t tell him that!” he cried. “That was before I knew he was your friend!”

  “I may have already said something about it. Don’t worry, he likes you. He thought it was really cool that you gave him free medicine.”

  “Eh, it was nothing. A big shot like Theo Graham doesn’t have to worry about fifty bucks worth of medicine.”

  “Yeah he does. He doesn’t get paid to play at Stanford. He’s not rich yet.” She grabbed her purse and slung it over her shoulder.

  “You’re right. Wow, you’re absolutely right. It’s hard to believe a man as famous as he, known around the country, gets paid nothing.”

  “He gets a free education to one of the top schools in the country. That’s probably thirty thousand a year or so.”

  “Peanuts, Georgette, peanuts. He’ll make that the first ten minutes of his first game in the NFL. He’s going to be a Forty Niner, I hear. At least that’s what they’re saying.”

  “He thinks so. He wants to play for them. He’s close with Jim Harbaugh.”

  “My good Lord, close with Jim Harbaugh. That’s incredible, Georgette. Harbaugh is a legend. To think, when Theo was in my office, I could have borrowed his cell phone and probably found Jim Harbaugh’s number and called him, talked about the playbook. It blows my mind.”

  “I’ll be back in thirty minutes, Gary.”

  “No, take the extra fifteen minutes, remember? I’ll see you at twelve-fifteen. It’s okay if you’re late, so long as the time was spent talking football with Theo.”

  She shook her head at him, giggled, and left.

  Home was only three minutes by car. At least it had stopped raining, but the clouds looked like they had more business in store. They were low and deepest gray. She pulled into the Beaumont’s driveway, which was empty at this hour, and drove past the house toward the guest house. She parked and was fishing her cell out of her purse as she walked to her porch. The door wasn’t locked, it was never locked, there was no need for it in Cedar Hills. She found Theo in her contacts list and called him while taking two slices of pizza out of the box and placing them on a cookie-sheet, slid them into the pre-heating oven.

  “Hi, Theo. How are you doing today?”

  “Great. I’ve been looking forward to your call all morning. How are you feeling? Not hung over from the pill, are you?”

  “I don’t know what being hung over feels like. I feel fine though. I’m a little embarrassed about last night.” She poured herself a glass of Coke and meandered to the couch.

  “Please don’t be. I had such a great time. Being embarrassed about it will stain the memory a little.”

  “Okay, then I’m not embarrassed about it. In fact, I loved it. I loved kissing you, and I especially loved being touched that way.”

  “That’s more like it,” he said enthusiastically.

  “When you suggested we go to bed, you didn’t mean it. Did you?”

  “No. I was wondering how far you’d let me go. My dumb way of gauging how intoxicated you were. And you were bombed.”

  “I wouldn’t have let you. You know that, don’t you?”

  “Yeah, I know it. Maybe we’d have gotten close, but I don’t think you have it in you to have casual sex with me.”

  “That’s right, I don’t. I’m glad you understand that. So anyway, I talked to Gary.”

  “What did you learn.”

  “Nothing. He doesn’t now who he is.”

  “Damn. I thought he knew everyone in town?”

  “He does. I guess that means the guy isn’t from here. And since his driver’s license said Helena, that means he was probably visiting here when it happened.”

  “Damnit. That doesn’t help me feel better. This was supposed to make us feel better.”

  “I know. It’s confounding isn’t it? If he was visiting from Helena, what was he doing in the mine? Most people in town don’t even know about that mine, I’d imagine.”

  She looked over to the end-table with the intention of snatching the wallet from it. “Why don’t you see what you can find online about him. If anything.” The wallet wasn’t there. Did she put it somewhere else? No, she didn’t think so.

  “Okay, I’ll dig around and see. Not sure I’ll get internet out here though, but…”

  “Theo,” she interrupted. “why did you take the wallet?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Why did you take it? I don’t mind, but why?”

  “I didn’t. Are you telling me it’s gone?”

  She swallowed. “It’s not here,” she said, almost in a panic. “I must have put it somewhere last night and don’t remember.” That couldn’t have been the case, there were no lapses in her memory. “Theo, I… I didn’t move it, I’m sure of it.”

  “Somebody came into your house and stole it? That makes no sense.”

  Beside her bed was a small computer desk,
where she spent many hundreds of hours doing school work and taking tests over the last several years. The monitor was on screen-saver. All kinds of red flags were popping in her head now. The computer wasn’t on when she had left for work this morning.

  “Theo,” she said in just above a whisper, “somebody was here today. My computer is on.”

  “Your landlord, probably.”

  “He wouldn’t come inside my house without me being here.”

  “Maybe it’s unlikely, but who else could it have been? You weren’t robbed, were you? The computer is there, so I’m guessing not.”

  She scanned the house looking for anything else out of the ordinary. “I wasn’t robbed. I’m going to let you go and call Fred Beaumont, see if he knows anything about this. Hopefully he’ll say he or his wife were here for some reason. To use my computer or something.”

  “Okay. Are you going to call me back?”

  She was at the computer, leaning over the chair, and moved the mouse. The background came up. There were no web-browser pages, or anything suggesting her computer had been used, other than it was powered on.

  “I guess.”

  “Did you get a chance to ask your folks about my dad and I coming over for dinner tonight?”

  “Oh yeah, I forgot,” she said, voice distant. “I’ll call my mom later. I’m sure it won’t be a problem.”

  “Okay. Talk to you in a bit.”

  “Yep. Bye.” She ended the call and immediately phoned Fred Beaumont.

  “Good afternoon, Georgette,” he said affably.

  “Hi, Fred. Did you stop by my place today? Or Linda?”

  “No, why?”

  “Someone was in my house. My computer is on.”

  “Hmm. You most likely left it on. We wouldn’t go inside your place uninvited.”

  “You’re sure Linda didn’t come by? Positive?”

  “I’m positive.”

  “Okay. Thanks. I gotta go. Talk to you later, Fred.”

  It was a horrible feeling, the sanctity of her home being violated. She didn’t believe for a second she left the computer on. Perhaps she’d consider it if the wallet wasn’t missing. She regretted never locking her door. She almost wished something was stolen, because at least it would be a motive. Why would someone use her computer and take a wallet with little cash inside?

  Her eyes fixed on her dresser. The bottom drawer wasn’t closed all the way. Her heart wedged in her throat at the realization of what she kept in that bottom drawer, under her bras and underwear. She rushed to it, opened the drawer in full and dug through her underwear frantically. Her handgun was gone. She felt dizzy. She closed the drawer and stood erect, looked over to the only room in the house, the bathroom. The door was closed. The door was never closed, unless she was using it with company present.

  Carmen snatched her purse off the counter, turned the oven off and left, locking the deadbolt of her door before getting in her car and hauling ass out of there.

  She drove two blocks and pulled over, called Theo.

  “Theo, someone was in my house!”

  Her tone alarmed Theo. “Who? What happened?”

  “I don’t know,” she said, and began crying. “They stole my gun, Theo, they stole my gun!”

  “Oh my… what do you want to do? Call the police?”

  “There are no police in town. State troopers, but they only pass through.” She began sobbing. “I’m scared, Theo.”

  “Don’t be scared. Someone broke in and stole things. It’ll be okay.”

  “I’m freaking out,” she said. Her sobs had already intimated that. “What if he’s in my bathroom? The door was closed. I don’t leave it closed.”

  “Don’t go back there until you get off work. We’ll go in together, okay?”

  She nodded.

  “Okay?” he repeated.

  “Of course I won’t go in there alone. Why would someone take my gun? And the wallet? It makes no sense.”

  “Carmen, what if… last night, when we walked by that tent, what if the man living there followed us? Think about it, it makes sense. We heard a noise in the mine. And now this.”

  “Do you think?” She mulled it over. “But why? Why would he break into my house?”

  “I don’t know.” He covered the speaker and asked his dad for some privacy, said yes, everything is alright. “You don’t lock your door, do you?”

  “No. But I will from now on.”

  “Yes, do. I’m concerned for you. What if he’s psycho?”

  “What if he heard us talking?”

  Theo thought back to their conversations. “Like, heard us talking about… the guy?”

  “Yes.”

  “Oh man. Mother fucker. That could be bad. Don’t take this the wrong way, but it could be catastrophic for me.”

  “I know it could. I don’t know what to do. I could tell the church elders that a man living in a tent broke into my house, but I’m worried that our past will resurface, you know? If they confront him, what might he say? This is such a mess, Theo. I need you right now.”

  “I’m fishing with my dad. I’ll come to the doctor’s as soon as I can, okay?”

  “Please do. I’m scared.”

  It pained Theo to hear her weeping. His father shot him frequent glances, a little concerned at his son’s demeanor since answering the phone.

  “I’ll try to get out of here this hour. I don’t want to alarm my dad. I’ll do what I can. See you soon.”

  “Yes, soon. Bye.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  The doctor frowned at Carmen as she entered, arriving much sooner than he had expected. Her eyes were red and swollen, which meant that she must have had an argument with Theo. She tossed her purse on the desk and sat in her chair. Elbow on the pine, she palmed her forehead.

  “Didn’t go too well, huh?” he said and retook the seat before her.

  She shook her head.

  “I’m sure he didn’t mean it. Don’t let this be the end of your friendship.”

  “Theo will be here in a little while,” she said. He perked up, brow arched. “I need your advice, Gary. You have to give me your word this will stay between us. And Theo. Not another soul.”

  Gary scooted his chair closer to the desk, took her hand in both of his and asked what it was.

  “Someone was in my house. They stole my gun.”

  His eyes goggled. “No, not here in Cedar Hills. Can’t be.”

  “Do you think I’m lying to you?” she said testily.

  “No, I don’t,” he said, registering solicitous.

  “Something else was taken, too.” She took her head out of her palm and studied him, debating herself how much to divulge. “The wallet I found.”

  He frowned. “Are you sure, Georgette?”

  “Yes. I don’t know what to tell you. I’m worried that telling you more will come back to haunt me, and Theo.”

  “Theo? What’s he have to do with this?”

  “That’s the thing, I can’t tell you.” Then she had an idea. She’d tell a version of the truth, based largely on a lie. “Okay, I’ll tell you. I’m serious, Gary, if you tell anyone, I’ll hate you forever.”

  He didn’t think she was using that term lightly; she meant it. He nodded.

  “Theo and I were friends when we were eleven. More than friends, we were each other’s first kiss. And it was more than that, I don’t know how to explain it. There’s an old mine east of Cedar Hills, a silver mine.”

  “There are a few,” he said. “Cedar Hills was a huge mining town in the late nineteenth century.”

  “Theo and I were out exploring, happened by a mine and went inside. There was one of those cart things used for transporting ore, and we got inside it and rode it down the mineshaft. The cart hit a man, who was already dead. We didn’t kill him, he was already dead.”

  “Oh my,” he said.

  “We were scared, and left. We didn’t tell anyone.”

  “Who was the man?”

  �
�Michael Reese Gibson. Theo and I returned to the mine yesterday and found his body, took his wallet so we could ID him. That’s why I asked you about him earlier.”

  “I suppose we should call the state troopers and have the man taken for burial, so that his loved ones could find some closure; I’d imagine he’s been reported missing, if his body was rotting there these ten years. I’d imagine he’s nothing more than a skeleton now.”

  “No, but he is decomposing.”

  “Ten years ago, you say? No, decomposition has been completed, especially in the open environment, exposed to the elements, insects and scavengers.”

  “No, he’s not. I saw him with my own eyes. Decomposing yes, skeleton no. The reason I tell you about the mine is because as we were walking there yesterday, we found a tent with a lantern on inside. Nobody was there, though. It was maybe five minutes from the mine. When we were walking inside, we heard something behind us, like a man had stumbled or kicked a rock. I worry that he was spying on us.”

  “And that could mean negative publicity for poor Theo,” the doctor mused. “A top-rated quarterback finding a man dead and not reporting it.”

  “I don’t know what we said exactly, but it’s not far-reaching to think we may have mentioned encountering him ten years ago. And yes, that’s negative publicity… that’s a crime.”

  “Eh, couldn’t be too bad. It’s not like you killed him. What’s this have to do with your gun? Do you think that man was he who entered your home and stole your gun?”

  “Maybe. And that would explain why he took the wallet. Maybe he wanted to know who the man was. My computer was on, so it points in that direction. I should have checked the browser history on my computer, maybe he searched the dead-man’s name.”

  “Very strange,” he said, and stroked his bare chin. “Wanting to know who the man is, that’s one thing. But to break into your home and steal your gun, that’s an entirely nother basket of peaches. We should call Andrew and—”

  “No-no, Gary, you promised. We aren’t telling anyone.”

  “I did promise, didn’t I. It would be best for you, dear. This man needs to be questioned, his motives learned.”