by Ann Mullen
Athena came running down the porch steps to greet me. Her hair was all fluffed up and her tail was wagging. What a great dog! She was always there when I needed a warm greeting, or a loving lick. She never asked for anything, except affection and food. How could you not love her?
Then I noticed Claire’s new, gray-blue Mercedes SUV. What’s she doing here? Knowing Claire doesn’t like to travel at night, I assumed she wouldn’t be here until Saturday morning.
Sucking in my breath, I went inside. The house was quiet as a tomb. Nobody was home. What was happening? I walked to the utility room, then out the back door, heading for the garage. My car was still sitting there, but the minivan was gone. Maybe they went out to eat, I told myself. They probably went to the Burger King in Ruckersville. No way... Claire wouldn’t eat anywhere unless it was a nice restaurant where she’d be pampered and cleaned up after.
Why had they left Athena outside to run loose? Did they forget her?
I didn’t know what was going on, so I assumed everything was okay and went inside. I left Athena on the porch as I took a shower. After the shower, I checked on her. She was asleep on the porch, so I grabbed a Coke, went upstairs, and became deeply immersed in Helen Carrolton’s life. Thirty minutes later, I heard car doors slam, and Athena’s outrageous bark. I got up and went to the window to have a look. Mom and Claire got out of the van, while Athena ran around in circles. Dad crawled out of a little black, Toyota pickup truck. Where did he get that?
I ran downstairs and out into the front yard to greet them. After giving Claire a big hug and kiss, I watched Dad as he walked around the truck.
“Hey, what’s going on here? Whose truck?” I asked.
Mom was the first to answer. “Your dad and I decided we needed another car. You should never be in the mountains without a backup. That’s what Cole told us. He said the winters can get real bad. What would we do if one of us got stuck? Of course, I told him we always go places together. He said it didn’t matter. You just never know what can happen. We need to be prepared, so we took his advice.”
“I think he’s right. It sounds like the smart thing to do.” I was just talking out of my head. My real thoughts were about Claire. Why was she here without the kids and where was Carl?
We all stood there for a minute, looking at each other.
“All right, what’s the deal?” I finally asked, aiming my question at Claire. “Where’s Carl and the kids?”
As usual, Mom was the one with all the answers. “Claire’s here by herself. She needed some time alone to relax.”
“Bull!” I growled. “Claire doesn’t breathe without the kids or Carl.”
“Come inside,” Claire said as she guided me. “We need to have a talk. The news might be a little disturbing, so I think we should be sitting down.”
“You forgot to put Athena inside when you left.” I looked at Mom.
“I know, honey. We were all the way to Charlottesville when I thought about it. Dad said she’d be fine. It won’t happen again.”
For Mom to forget to take care of Athena, something big must be happening. I dreaded the thought.
Mom fixed dinner, while Claire and I sat on the couch, discussing her husband’s infidelities. Dad was outside, tinkering with his new/used Toyota pickup. Athena lay in the yard, soaking in the last rays of the day’s sun.
“I did what you said, Jesse,” Claire admitted. “I looked for clues. I tried not to jump to conclusions. Once I calmed down, I started looking for things. I found receipts for a diamond bracelet and a pair of pieced earrings. I also found receipts for dinners and hotel rooms at the Regency. He wasn’t even smart enough to hide them. It’s over between us.”
“What do you propose we do about the situation?” I said in jest, knowing she wasn’t going to do anything, but cry and whine, and eventually go back to her husband.
“I’m going to divorce him,” she announced. “As far as I’m concerned, he’s the one who screwed up. Let him pay the price. He betrayed me.”
Mom and I looked at each other, stunned.
Screwed up—is that what she said? I knew trouble was surely in the air, if Claire had used the S word. She never cursed, (unlike me) and this was tantamount to using extreme vulgarity as far as she was concerned—just as bad as using the F word, which no one in their right mind would ever do in front of our mother—ever.
“Don’t you think you should reconsider?” Mom said, totally ignoring Claire’s remark. “It could be a mistake.”
“I don’t think so! Get over it, Mom. He’s a jerk,” she spat. “It’s time I got myself together and dumped him. Like you always said... enough is enough. I’ve reached the end of my rope.”
My sister had grown up right before my very eyes. Not only could she recognize a no-win situation, but she also became stronger in the process. I was glad to hear it. I loved my sister, and I knew what it meant to have someone you love let you down.
“What about the kids?” I asked.
“They’re at home with Carl. I packed a few things and told him to enjoy it while it lasted. Right now, he’s got his head so far up his butt that he doesn’t know what time of day it is. I told him to pack his stuff while I was gone, and be ready to move out when I got back.”
“Is everything out in the open?”
“Yes, we had a nice long talk. I yelled and cried, while he begged and lied. He denied everything. He’s a man. When confronted, most men will always lie. He must think I’m pretty stupid.”
“Have you seen a lawyer?” I hugged her.
“Yes, I went to one before I confronted him. I wanted to know what to do.”
I pointed to her stomach and asked, “What about this baby?”
“I guess Carl will have to support it, too. He’s the father, and I’m not getting rid of it.”
“Did he suggest you get rid of the baby?” I asked, shocked at the idea of terminating a pregnancy. Under certain circumstances, I might have felt differently, but I’ve never been put in the position of having to choose.
“He said I might be more appealing, if I wasn’t pregnant all the time.” She began to sob.
“What a rat!” I yelled. “Why do men say such horrible things? Do you still love him?”
“Yes,” she whimpered.
“This isn’t going to be easy, Claire, but we’ll be here for you. You can count on us, right Mom?”
Mom came over to the couch and said, “Don’t worry, honey. We’ll be with you every step of the way, no matter what you decide to do. Why don’t I go home with you? Your dad won’t mind.”
Claire started crying again. Next thing I knew, we were all crying when Dad walked in.
Our emotional behavior must have upset Athena. She started howling, whimpering, and rubbing her nose on us. It was her behavior that caused us to start laughing. One minute we were crying, and the next we were laughing. Poor girl, she probably thought we were nuts.
After dinner, I retreated to my room. I wanted Mom and Claire to have a chance to talk alone, and I needed a break from all the emotion. I hated to see Claire go through this, but it was a part of life. I also knew a man would dump on you, and you’d just have to get past it. I’ve been there a few times myself.
Chapter 11
I poured over the case of Helen Carrolton. I couldn’t understand why Billy wanted me to spend so much time going over the same information we had already burned our brains out over. What was I going to find that the two of us had missed?
I followed her trip from the time she left home until the young man working at the gas station on Rt. 15 last saw her. The police report filed with the Charlottesville Police Department that we now had a copy of, along with other info I didn’t think we were supposed to be privy to, stated she left her house between two and three o’clock on December 26th. It was assumed she took I-64 to the I-295 Richmond by-pass, and picked up I-64 again, because she exited at Zion Crossroads. Taking a right at the crossroads onto Rt. 15, she stopped at the Piney Mountain Gr
ill, two miles down the road.
Piney Mountain Grill, situated between a mini-mart gas station and a used car lot, was owned and operated by a man named Bubba Johnson. One of his waitresses, Rose Hudgins, age 22, reported serving someone fitting Helen’s description. When shown a picture of Helen Carrolton, she positively identified her. She confirmed seeing the woman leave in a small, red automobile. She said she remembered her because they had a conversation about ex-boyfriends. Rose said it had been a slow day, so she had plenty of time to talk. According to her statement, Helen Carrolton had just had a nasty breakup with her boyfriend. He drank too much and had a violent temper. She told police the girl in question stated that her ex-boyfriend was jealous and possessive. Helen feared he might become dangerous. He had hit her several times in the past. She was scared of him.
I found it odd that there was very little information on Rose Hudgins in the report. I guess once Bubba Johnson confirmed that Rose had talked to Helen only briefly, the police didn’t need to dig any deeper. Maybe that’s why they’re cops, and I’m not.
Five miles down the road was the Stoney Point Gas station. The attendant on duty, Tom Dorey, couldn’t positively identify Helen. He recalled a red Geo driven by a cute, young blonde. He also reported seeing a male in the passenger seat. She got ten dollars worth of gas and left.
Again, there was no personal information on Tom Dorey in the file.
I couldn’t figure it out. The three people who had last seen Helen alive, had nothing in their file, except a short statement confirming they had seen her. Where did she pick up the male passenger? In a stretch of five minutes, Helen Carrolton had obviously picked up her killer. Oops, did I just think, ‘her killer’? All of a sudden, I had a very bad feeling. I sensed doom. I knew she was dead, and I couldn’t shake the feeling. I almost felt sick to my stomach. I tried to put the bad thoughts out of my head as I continued reading the statements from Helen’s parents and her ex-boyfriend. The statements were a biography of Helen. It contained general information concerning their life, and what they were doing at the time of her disappearance. The ex-boyfriend, Sean Allen, was employed by T.W. Moving and Storage in Grafton. He was on an airplane with his parents on their way to visit his grandparents. They took a flight out of Newport News International Airport on December 26th, at 6:15 a.m. His alibi had been confirmed. He was off the hook.
The rest of the file contained useless data from the Virginia State Police and various local police departments. It basically stated that after a thorough investigation... Helen Carrolton was missing.
Did it seem like there was something missing, other than Helen Carrolton? I had a stack of paperwork, and none of it was worth a dime. I got more out of the newspaper clippings than I did out of the police reports, and that wasn’t much. Was this all there was, or was this all that Billy could get? I needed to know.
I reached over to pick up the telephone to call Billy, when it rang.
“Hello,” I said.
“Hello, Jesse?”
I recognized the voice immediately. It was Carl. He was not one of my favorite people. I was about ready to chop up his body, and feed his parts to the wildlife roaming the woods around my new home. Yes, I could do that. I would cut him into little pieces, and feed him one chunk at a time to the animals. I may get lucky. A bear might come along at just the right time, and eat him for dinner. Even though the idea of a bear gnawing Carl to the bone was extremely tantalizing, I had to remember the fact that he was my sister’s husband—rat that he is.
“Yes, Carl. What can I do for you?”
“I need to talk to Claire. Is she there?” he whined.
I wanted to slap him. Where did he think she’d be? I was losing my patience. The emotions I’d been through for the last several days had begun to form a knot in the pit my stomach the size of a grapefruit.
“Carl, you’re such an idiot. Have you lost your mind?” I sneered. “Don’t you have enough sense to separate your real life from your fantasy life?”
“I know I messed up...”
Before he could go on, I growled, “Save it, Carl. I don’t even want to go there with you. You’re such a low-life. If you’re going to play around, don’t get caught!”
“I’m...” he tried to say.
“Shut up. I don’t want to hear it. I’ll put Claire on the phone,” I said. “Just remember, Carl, you have me in on it now. When it comes to my sister, you’re just a fly on the wall, and I’m the fly swatter.”
I went to the hall and yelled downstairs for Claire to pick up the phone. The minute she picked up, I hung up. I didn’t want to listen to Carl whine, cry, and sing the blues. My call to Billy was going to have to wait, or maybe not. I remembered Billy’s phone in the truck. I grabbed the card with all his numbers on it, and went outside.
The sun was just beginning to set as I sat in his truck, waiting for him to answer his phone.
“Hello,” he said, out of breath. “This had better be good. You got me out of the shower.”
“I’m sorry, Billy. I’ll call you back later,” I apologized.
“Jesse! No, forget it. It’s okay. Actually, I was drying off,” he said. “What can I do for you?”
“I was going over the file, and there seems to be something missing. I know we worked on this all week, and it didn’t come to me until now, but I was wondering if there was anymore information about Rose Hudgins or Tom Dorey’s personal life. What about the grill owner, Bubba Johnson?”
“You have all there is. Besides, what good is that going to do us? They’re minor players in the scenario.”
“They might be minor,” I added, “but they’re the last three people to see her alive. I think there’s more to it. Don’t you think it would be worth it to check these people out more closely? What could it hurt?”
“You might be right. We’ll pay them a visit on Monday. What are you doing? Other than going over the file, are you busy?”
“I was just studying this file, why?”
“I got a call from my brother just before I got in the shower. He wants me to check out this car he has for you. I was just thinking about giving you a call. Do you want to go with me?”
“Robert’s looking for a car for me?”
“No, silly,” he laughed. “Daniel’s the one who has the car lot. I told you about him.”
“How many brothers do you have?”
“I have three brothers and two sisters,” he boasted.
Giggling, I said, “Now I know why they’re called tribes. Are all Indian families this large?”
“Yes, they are,” Billy replied and then changed the subject. “How about it? Do you want to go? It would save me from having to take you to look at it later.”
“Sure. Give me an hour to change clothes and get there.”
After meeting up with Billy, he took me to Redman’s Auto Center. It was a huge car lot filled with an array of new automobiles. I wondered what Billy must have been thinking. I couldn’t afford a new car.
“Does Daniel own this car lot?”
“He sure does,” he answered as we pulled up to the front entrance. “Daniel owns a car lot; Robert owns a restaurant; Jonathan’s a bounty hunter; Elizabeth’s a financial advisor; and Jenny’s a lawyer.”
“What, no doctors in your family?” I snickered.
“My father is a doctor, but he’s retired.”
“What does your mother do?”
“She’s the grease that keeps the gears lubed.”
Daniel came out to greet us. He was a younger version of Billy. He was handsome, dark skinned, had long black hair, and was tall, with a muscular build. I soon discovered he was a smooth talker with charm and wit. He quickly changed my mind about sleazy car salesmen.
“What a pretty young lady you are, Jesse,” Daniel said. “My brother was right. But you’re awful small and not much for child-bearing.”
They both laughed.
Did he just insult me or was he making a joke?
“Don
’t listen to him, Jesse. He’s always looking for wife material. He’s been married three times, and has five children. He wants his own personal tribe,” Billy said as he slapped Daniel on the back.
We followed Daniel until we came to a red Jeep. He handed me the keys and said, “Here she is. It’s a 1997 Jeep Grand Cherokee, with all the bells and whistles. It has power windows and door locks, a separate jack for a car phone, and it’s equipped with a Lo Jack tracking system. If you like it, all we have to do is sign some papers and it’s yours. Why don’t you take it for a test drive?”
“What’s the price?” I asked, knowing full well whatever it was, I couldn’t afford it.
Daniel stared at Billy and asked, “Didn’t you discuss the details of this deal with her?”
“I didn’t have time. She called shortly after you did, and we came straight here. The matter didn’t come up until now.”
Daniel opened the car door and said, “Take it for a test drive. Billy can discuss the details with you, while you’re driving. I’ll go get the paperwork started.”
I loved the Jeep the minute I sat down. It still had the smell of a new car, and the leather seats were wonderfully comfortable. I was impressed with the compass overhead.
“What’s this deal that Daniel keeps talking about, Billy? Why all the secrecy? Is something illegal going down?”
“Ah, you break my heart, `ge ya,” he cried as he placed his hand over his heart. “You know I’m not into that kind of stuff.” He smiled. “I told you I would take care of you, didn’t I?”
Before I had a chance to say anything, he went on, “The agency is going to purchase this car as a tax write-off. That is, if you decide you want it. It’ll be licensed and insured through the agency. When you get it paid for, I’ll give you the title. Then you’re on your own.”
He waited for me to respond, but I was too flabbergasted.
Why was he doing this for me? He hardly knew me. We’ve only been together for a little over a week, and already he’s bought me clothes, let me use his new truck, and now he’s going to buy me a car.