What You See

by Ann Mullen

  When I drove down Rt. 33, I saw that police car on the hill again. I’m sure somebody’s really up in arms about it, but it brought a smile to my face. I love tasteful expression. I wonder what Cole thinks about it.

  It was close to eleven o’clock when I got home. I figured Mom and Dad were probably in bed. All the lights were off, except the one on the front porch. The minute I got inside, Athena came barreling out of the downstairs bedroom, barking like crazy.

  “It’s just me, girl,” I said as I patted her head. “I know, I know. I’ve been neglecting you, haven’t I? I’m sorry, I’ve... hey, what are you doing coming out of Mom and Dad’s bedroom?”

  “She’s been sleeping on the floor beside the bed. She’s lonely. Besides, your mom likes having her around,” Dad mumbled, running his hand through his hair as he came out of their bedroom.

  “I’m sorry I woke you.”

  “Would you like a sandwich? Are you hungry?” he asked.

  “That would be great. I forgot all about eating. Billy and I had a strange night. It’s amazing what people will do to each other.”

  Dad went to the kitchen and started taking food out of the refrigerator as I turned on the TV, and then sat down on the couch. I was tired. Just about the time I was dozing off, Dad walked in with a plate of fried chicken and fries. I came to life. I didn’t realize how hungry I was, until I’d finished eating everything on my plate.

  “That hit the spot,” I said, finishing the last bite. Athena stared at my chicken bone. I was about ready to give it to her when Dad looked at me and shook his head.

  “Sorry, girl, but Dad knows more about dogs than I do.”

  I scraped my plate into the trash, put it in the dishwasher, and then headed upstairs for some much needed rest. I said good-night to Dad and blew him a kiss.

  The phone on the dining room wall rang. Dad jumped to answer it, mumbling something about not waking up Mom.

  “Hello… It’s for you, Jesse,” Dad whispered as he stretched out the cord and handed me the phone.

  “Hello,” I said.

  “Jesse, this is Billy. I’m glad you’re still awake.”

  “I just finished eating leftover chicken and was headed for bed. It’s almost midnight. Is everything okay?”

  “No, it’s not. Things couldn’t be much worse. Our Mrs. Miller... that serene, mild-mannered, patrician woman I had the pleasure of working for, turned out to be a murderer.”

  “What are you talking about, Billy?”

  “Look, I’m on my cell phone, ten minutes from your house. We need to talk. Meet me out front in ten minutes.”

  “Ten minutes,” I repeated, and hung up the phone. I turned to Dad and said, “I’m going to meet Billy out front. Something has happened. I don’t know what, but I’ll let you know as soon as I find out. It probably isn’t anything to worry about. Why don’t you go back to bed?”

  Not wanting to question my rationale, Dad kissed me on the cheek and replied, “If you need me, come get me, okay?” He turned to Athena and said, “Come on, girl. Let’s go to bed.”

  It almost brought tears to my eyes to see the love between a man and his dog.

  Chapter 9

  Billy was right. Things weren’t good. According to him, Rebecca Miller called shortly after I left his house. She was frantic and wanted to know everything, so he told her all the details. He had to tell her the truth. He said that when he hung up the phone, she seemed calm and appeared to have taken it pretty well.

  “Then she goes into the bathroom while he’s taking a shower and casually blows his brains all over the shower wall with his .45 caliber, Smith and Wesson. You can bet the cops are going to be all over my butt about this one. She’ll be the victim, and I’ll be the bad guy here.”

  “What are we going to do? We’re in this together.” I looked at him sternly. I wanted him to know that I was loyal, and if he was going down, I was going with him. “She killed her husband after you told her he was having sex with a man. It wasn’t your fault, but she has to lay the blame somewhere. This isn’t good.”

  We sat in his old Mercury, not saying a word, trying to sort out the mess. Billy rolled his window down and lit a cigarette. The air was warm. There was a half-moon high in the sky, casting shadows across the yard.

  I could feel my anxiety rising. That’s when it occurred to me that I hadn’t taken my Zoloft since I’d moved here. If I can make it through this, I guess I don’t need those pills anymore. That was a comforting thought.

  “How did you find out so fast about Mrs. Miller shooting her husband?” I asked as I noticed a light go on in the living room. I hoped we hadn’t disturbed Mom.

  “When you left, I went to the office and started going through all the information we had accumulated. I was in the process of tallying up the bill and calculating man-hours. I was going to take a shower, have a bite to eat, and then watch the other video. Then the phone rang. It was Rebecca Miller.” Billy was obviously distressed. He put out the cigarette and went to wringing his hands. “I never should’ve told her over the phone. I know better.” He leaned over the steering wheel and put his face in his hands.

  “It’s not your fault, Billy. She must’ve just snapped. She probably would’ve anyway, no matter how you told her. It was a no-win situation. Go on, tell me the rest.” I reached over and patted his back.

  “I went up to my apartment, turned on the police scanner and then jumped in the shower. I usually turn on the scanner instead of the television. I was in the kitchen making a sandwich when I heard the report of a shooting at 1569 Barn Yard Road in Greene County. I knew the address sounded familiar, so I ran down to the office and checked the address in her file. Sure enough, it was the same.”

  The front door opened, and Dad walked out of the house.

  “Oh, no,” I murmured, looking at Billy. “Something must be wrong.” Billy and I got out of the car and met Dad in the middle of the yard. “What’s wrong?” I asked him.

  “You just got a call from Cole James. He said he hated to call this late, but he wanted to know if you were home. I told him you were outside talking to Billy Blackhawk. He said to tell you both to stay right where you are. He’s coming over. He said it was a police matter. What’s going on, Jesse?” I knew Dad wasn’t mad. He was worried.

  “Something bad has happened,” Billy jumped in. “One of my clients shot her husband after I gave her the report that her husband was seeing another man. It had nothing to do with Jesse or me, but since we were working for her, I’m sure the police will want to question us both. They probably know everything by now.”

  “Dad, why don’t you go inside? It’s late and you don’t need to get in the middle of this. We’ll take care of everything. I don’t want Mom to wake up and see a police car in the yard at this time of night. If I need your help, believe me, I’ll come get you.”

  “You take care of my girl, you hear?” Dad said to Billy.

  I turned to Billy and asked, “Are we in trouble? I mean, they don’t shoot the messenger, but will they put the messenger in jail?” I was beginning to get scared. I was just as much a part of this as Billy. I have never had any dealings with the law, and I didn’t want to start now. I didn’t want any trouble.

  “If you could only see your face,” Billy replied. “Relax, Jesse. We only worked for her. We didn’t kill her husband, she did.”

  The tables were turned. Earlier I was trying to comfort him, and now he was trying to comfort me.

  “I guess you’re right. All we did was what she paid us to do. I feel bad, but not bad enough to go to jail over it.”

  “Jesse, in my line of work, this is what you’re going to be exposed to. If you don’t think you can handle it, now is the time to get out. I’ll understand. If you decide to stay, you’re going to have to get tough.”

  “I can handle it. Don’t you worry about me. I’m stronger than you think,” I assured him. Who was I trying to convince here? I was scared to death.

  I heard Athena
barking inside the house the minute the police car pulled into the driveway. I was about to go let her out when the door opened and she came running outside. I could see Dad on the porch with his hands in the air, as if to say he was sorry.

  “It’s okay, Dad,” I yelled as he retreated back inside, leaving us to clean up our own mess.

  Athena ran up to the car and barked. Cole got out, reached down, and patted her on the head. He looked straight at Billy.

  “The minute I got to the crime scene, I heard your name mentioned. Why is it you’re always into something?”

  “I thought you were working the fair. What happened? You get fired from community service detail?” Billy asked, sarcastically.

  “You know the fair was cancelled when the storm hit this morning,” he said, and then turned to me. “I came by your house around five to talk to you, but you’d made the unfortunate mistake of being hooked up with this joker. When this is over, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  I was getting mad. Who was he to choose my friends, or stick his nose into my business?

  “I can see you’re angry. I guess that means our date is off for tomorrow.” I know I shouldn’t have been so snotty, but I was not happy either.

  “I didn’t say that,” Cole replied. “I’m trying to tell you if you get involved with this guy, you’re headed for trouble.”

  Billy jumped right in his face. “You’re just jealous.”

  “Wait a minute!” I got in between both of them. “What’s going on here? I thought you two were friends. You sound like a bunch of kids. Am I missing something?”

  Billy backed off. “Yeah, we’re friends all right.”

  I stood there waiting for an explanation.

  Cole stepped closer to me. “Billy is much older than I am, so he’s spent most of his adult life trying to run mine.”

  “Oh, bull. That’s not true and you know it. You just can’t get past the fact that I tried to warn you about that a-tsa-s-gi-li you married,” Billy yelled at him.

  “I didn’t know you were married,” I said, looking at Cole in disbelief.

  “It lasted three months,” he responded. “It was a mistake.”

  “Just long enough for her to get pregnant,” Billy added.

  “It wasn’t my baby,” Cole shouted.

  “The two of you just stop it. Get a grip,” I demanded. “You’ll wake the whole neighborhood.”

  Billy tried to explain. “A few years ago when he was about to marry Rachel, I tried to tell him what she was like. He was in love, and he didn’t want to listen to me. When things went sour, he shifted the blame to me. I tried to warn him, and he got mad. He’s been mad for a long time.”

  “That’s a lie. I didn’t blame you,” Cole said, then hung his head. “Maybe I did blame you just a little.”

  “See, you guys are friends,” I said. “I think you both have some issues to work out. I’ll tell you like my mom tells me, if someone is a true friend, you can always work it out. I think the two of you need to sit down and have a long talk.”

  I noticed they both were hard at work trying to get past this uncomfortable moment, and I sure didn’t want it to drag on any longer. I changed the subject by asking, “What’s going on with this killing? Do you actually think Billy and I had something to do with Rebecca killing her husband? You must be joking.”

  “Do the two of you know something?” He stared at Billy. “How did you learn about this so quickly? She just killed the man a couple of hours ago. The M.E. just arrived on the scene. When I was called to the crime scene, there was a boatload of cops and technicians everywhere. Sheriff Meatball was even there. He filled me in, told me to find you, and then haul your hind parts off to jail. You stepped in it this time, buddy.”

  “Sheriff Meatball? You can’t be serious?” I giggled.

  Billy and Cole turned to each other and started laughing.

  Cole replied, “His name’s Sheriff Josh Mealphall. Billy called him Sheriff Meatball the first time he met the man. Of course, he didn’t do it on purpose, but the sheriff has disliked him ever since.” They were still snickering. “The name just kind of stuck and now everybody in the department calls him Sheriff Meatball. Not to his face, of course.”

  “Of course,” I mimicked.

  “Here’s the deal, Cole,” Billy said. “I heard a report of a shooting on the police scanner, and I knew right away what had happened. I came to tell Jesse, so she wouldn’t hear it on the news. By tomorrow, it’ll be on every channel and in every newspaper. She’s smart. She would’ve put two and two together, and blast me for not telling her.”

  “You’re right about that,” I stated.

  “Tell me what happened,” Cole demanded.

  Billy began explaining everything in great detail. He didn’t leave anything out—even the bit about us pretending to be lovers in the motel parking lot. I was embarrassed. I didn’t want Cole to envision a romantic interlude between the two of us, real or imagined.

  “Enough about our sex life,” I joked, trying to make light of a bad situation. Neither one of them cracked a smile. Both ignored my antics.

  When Billy finished his story, Cole shook his head and said, “I’m telling you, this woman dropped a dime on you, pal. She claims you told her he was having an affair with a man and that he ought to be shot, so she did what you told her to do. She shot him.”

  “No way, she’s crazy. You know me, Cole. You know I have more ethics than to even suggest something like that to a client. She’s distraught. She doesn’t know what she’s saying. She received disturbing news, and then went off the deep end. That’s it in a nutshell.”

  “I need a statement from both of you,” Cole replied. “Off the record, I think she knows exactly what she’s doing.”

  “What do you mean?” I questioned.

  “She’s one smart cookie,” he said and then glanced at Billy. “We’re talking about the insanity defense. Someone made her do it.”

  “This is crazy,” I hissed.

  “It doesn’t matter whether it’s crazy, or not. I still need your statements. Shall we go?” Cole motioned to his car.

  “Wait a minute. I need to tell Dad what’s happening.”

  Billy and I rode in his truck as we followed Cole to the police station. I guess one of the advantages of having friends on the force is that you don’t have to be dragged away in handcuffs... sometimes.

  We gave our statements to the police. By the time the inquisition was over, I felt as if I’d been run over by a train. I was asked questions I couldn’t possibly answer. Did I know anything about the victim’s past indiscretions? Was I aware that the wife had been hospitalized for manic-depression? Had I ever had any social contact with the victim, or his wife? I was asked the same questions over and over, until I was ready to scream. Not only was I given the third degree, but I also had to sit and listen to the graphic details of the crime. It was awful. By the time Billy drove me home around three in the morning, I was a wreck.

  I fell into bed, without bothering to change clothes. After a long and restless night, I awoke Sunday morning with a pounding headache. Athena jumped on the bed, licked my face, and tried to nuzzle my neck. I rubbed her head, which only incited a loud bark.

  I got out of bed and hit the shower. The water was hot and refreshing as I stood and let it run down my body. The previous evening played through my head. What a nightmare! What was going to happen? The police let us go, so they must not think we did anything wrong. Then I thought about Cole. Was he coming over today? Did we still have a date? He implied we did last night. I guess I’ll soon find out. Men—I don’t understand them! I dressed and went downstairs to the kitchen where Mom and Dad were having their morning coffee.

  “Cole called this morning,” Mom said. “He wanted to know if you were all right.”

  “Oh, yeah,” I replied. My head ached and I needed an aspirin if I was going to make it through the day.

  “I haven’t had a chance to talk to your mom about las
t night,” Dad whispered.

  “What are you two conjuring up over there?” Mom asked.

  I got my coffee and sat down. I felt it was my place to tell her about last night. I gathered my nerve and began the task of explaining. She just sat there, taking it all in.

  “Things must not be too bad,” Mom said. “Cole’s coming over at ten and we’re all going out to the breakfast buffet at the fire station in town, unless, of course, you don’t want to go.”

  “He is?” I asked. Maybe things weren’t so bad after all.

  Chapter 10

  Breakfast was pleasant. The food was good, the price was fair, and the company was excellent. I didn’t know what to expect from Cole after the fiasco last night, but he didn’t say a word about it in front of Mom or Dad. Was he waiting until we were alone?

  We rode to breakfast in the minivan. When we got back to the house, Cole and I switched to his Jeep Wrangler. Mom asked me to try to make it home for dinner since our neighbors, Sharon and Joe, were coming to dine with us. She made it a point to invite Cole.

  “I think my mom’s trying to make sure you get a home cooked meal,” I stated as we were pulling out of the driveway. “What with your being single and all.”

  He turned his head and laughed. “I was wondering when you would get around to asking me about Rachel. Listen, I didn’t tell you because I don’t like to talk about her. It was a mistake. I don’t like to even think about her.” He gave me a forlorn look as he shifted gears. “I guess Billy filled you in on the details last night, huh?”

  “Actually, the only thing we talked about was that crazy woman who killed her husband.” I hesitated a moment, then slyly asked, “Can you and I talk about Mrs. Miller, or is that off-limits?”

  “We can talk about certain things concerning the case, but there are privileged areas we can’t go into. You can ask me, but if I say I can’t tell you, you’re going to have to let it go at that. Okay?” he replied, smiling. “What do you want to know?”