by Mary Monroe
“Just keep your cool,” Bo said in a gentle voice. “Vera, I just want to thank you for looking out for me. I wouldn’t be able to take care of this Curtis problem without you coaching me all the way—and getting me that gun. I am even more grateful to you and I just wanted you to know that. Thank you.”
“No problem at all, honey. I’ve had your back since we were kids. I wasn’t going to let you get hurt by another woman again,” I told him. “After this is over, and Curtis is six feet under, we won’t ever mention it again. I think the sooner we put this mess behind us, the faster you and Sarah can work things out and start your family. I still think that a baby will keep us in the loop forever. Especially if something happens to Sarah, too, one of these days. . . .”
We remained silent until I drove into the parking lot at the store. “I’ll find an excuse to come by the office this afternoon. I’ll drop off the clothes you and Cash need to wear tonight. The gun too,” I told Bo.
“Thanks again.” Bo gave me a quick smile and then he squeezed my hand. “Tomorrow everything will all be over. And I’ll have my wife back to myself.”
I nodded. “You sure will,” I agreed.
CHAPTER 64
SARAH
IT WAS TEN MINUTES TO TWO THAT FRIDAY AFTERNOON WHEN I ARRIVED at the hospital. Normally the cold antiseptic smell associated with a hospital, the sight of sick people wandering in and out of the rooms, and a grim-faced priest clutching a Bible bothered me. It all reminded me of death. But none of that bothered me this time. I guess it was because this was going to be my last day on Earth.
I felt numb and detached as I entered Daddy’s room. I ignored Vera, hovering over the bed, looking down at Daddy with a blank expression on her face. As soon as she saw me, she suddenly got as animated as a cartoon character.
“Oh, Sarah! I’m so glad you’re here!” she sniffed. I couldn’t believe she could stand here and say such a thing to me with a straight face.
I continued to ignore Vera. When she attempted to hug me, I brushed past her and went over to the bed and grabbed my father’s clammy hand. “I love you, Daddy and I’m sorry about everything that’s happened,” I said, tears flooding my eyes.
“Everything is going to be all right, Kenneth,” Vera cooed. I hated when she used that fake-ass tone of voice! She had become so shallow I could see through her with my eyes closed. She touched Daddy’s shoulder. “When you come home, we’ll take a nice long vacation. All of us, Cash and Collette included.”
“Uh-huh,” I managed. “We haven’t been to the Caribbean in a while. Maybe we should go there.” I had heard the bitch on the telephone yesterday talking to her travel agent. She had already made plans for a cruise for herself and a person she had only identified as a friend. Who the hell was this mysterious friend? I wondered. She had no reason to refer to my daddy as a friend. Now that I knew she was planning a murder, I figured she was capable of doing just about anything. But since I was not going to be around to deal with her after today, I didn’t care what she was up to. If she was going to have Curtis killed, what would she do to Daddy?
As much as I loved my daddy, there was only so much I could do to protect him. It was too late anyway. I was not going to let Curtis die alone. But Daddy was not stupid and I didn’t think that Vera was stupid enough to do anything to him. I could see her getting away with Curtis’s murder, but I honestly didn’t think she’d get away with killing my daddy. He had too much money and too many friends in high places for that to happen.
The telephone rang and I answered it. It was Daddy’s friend, the private investigator Tim Larkin. “Hi, Tim. I’ll tell my daddy to call you back when my stepmother and I leave,” I said.
“Hmmm. I hope he’s doing better.”
“He’s about the same. I’m sure he’ll be happy to talk to you.”
“That’s fine. Just let him know I’ll call him later so we can discuss that . . . uh . . . issue. He’ll know what it’s about,” Tim said.
“I will, Tim.”
Vera wasted no time getting nosy. Her face looked like it was about to crack. Her lips started to move even before she got the first word out. As soon as I placed the telephone back into its cradle, she said, “I don’t mean to be nosy, but was that Tim Larkin?”
“Uh-huh. Daddy’s investigator friend,” I replied. I noticed how Vera flinched.
“I guess he wants to keep up with what’s going on with Kenneth’s condition.” She was trying to smile, but it didn’t hide the frightened look on her face now. “Is that why he called?”
I hunched my shoulders and shook my head. “He said something about an issue they had already discussed. Why?”
“I’m just curious, that’s all.”
The longer I stayed in the room with Vera, the sicker I felt. It didn’t look like she was leaving any time soon. Since this was the last time I’d see my daddy, I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to leave until I was good and ready.
Vera kept glancing at her watch. About twenty minutes later, she suddenly remembered she had a hair appointment.
“I’ll probably grab a bite to eat after I leave the beauty shop and then I’ll swing back by here before I go home,” she said. “Sarah, I’ll see you at the house around seven or so.”
“I don’t think so. I was planning to go to the movies tonight,” I told her.
“Oh?” She flinched again. “Maybe I’ll go with you.”
“Uh, I’m going with a girl I went to school with.”
“Oh,” she said again. “Well, I’ll see you when I see you, I guess.”
“I guess you will,” I sneered. She gave me a funny look before she left.
“What was that all about?” Daddy asked.
“Nothing.” I sniffed and then rearranged Daddy’s pillows. “Daddy . . . I’ll always be with you. Even when I’m not.”
“You sure are talking out the side of your mouth today. Is there something you want to talk to me about?”
I shook my head. “No, Daddy.” We discussed a few mundane subjects and every time he steered the conversation back to me, I steered it to another mundane subject.
It was after 4:00 p.m. when I gave Daddy one last hug and told him I loved him. I kissed his cheek and told him good-bye; then I cried all the way to the hospital parking lot.
As I was leaving, Vera was returning. She didn’t notice me and I did nothing to get her attention.
When I got home, I went to my room and looked at some pictures of me as a toddler clinging to my mother’s legs, me as a teenager with my grandmother, and me with a bunch of various friends. Then I looked at the pictures I’d taken with Daddy and Bo. I had come such a long way and I didn’t have one single picture of myself with Curtis. But it didn’t matter now. We’d spend eternity together and that would be worth more than a few pictures.
I picked up the beer at the first liquor store I came to and the smothered chicken. I arrived at Curtis’s place a few minutes before eight.
A few minutes after nine, we heard heavy footsteps approaching. I froze, but Curtis didn’t even react. He was used to people running up and down the hallway outside. When somebody banged on his door, he set his beer down on the scarred coffee table and looked at me with an annoyed look on his face.
“Who the hell could that be?” he chuckled. “I hope it ain’t that Donaldson woman begging for another beer.” He attempted to rise and I grabbed his arm. “What’s the matter, baby?”
“Curtis, I love you,” I whispered. “I’ll always love you.”
“I know.”
His door didn’t have a peephole, so Curtis couldn’t see who was outside. “Who is it?” he shouted. Before he could say anything else, somebody kicked the door and it flew open. The two men who stormed into the apartment had on ski masks and dark clothes, but I knew who they were. And as soon as they saw me, it was nothing but chaos.
“SARAH!” Bo yelled. A gun was in his hand and his hand was shaking like a leaf. “OH GOD NO!”
“What the f
uck is this?” Curtis boomed, looking from me to Bo and back. “What’s going on, Sarah?”
I couldn’t say a word and I couldn’t take my eyes off that gun in Bo’s hand.
“Oh shit!” Cash hollered. He lifted his mask and stared at me with his mouth open. “Girl, you in the wrong place!” Then he turned to Bo, who was just standing there looking at me. Bo’s ski mask was still covering his face, but it didn’t hide the tears rolling out of his eyes. He raised the gun and aimed it at my head. “Sarah . . . I’m sorry,” he croaked.
Curtis lunged at Bo. There was a lot of cussing and yelling and all four of us were swinging our arms. The gun went off and Curtis hit the ground. Then it went off again.
I didn’t feel a thing. When I hit the ground, everything went black.
CHAPTER 65
VERA
I HAD TRIED TO REACH BO AND CASH ALL EVENING, BUT NEITHER ONE answered his office telephone or cell phone. I wanted them to know that Sarah had plans to go out so she wouldn’t be my alibi. Under the circumstances, all I could do now was sit back and wait.
I glanced at my watch every few minutes for the next hour. Finally, at exactly 10:45 p.m., Collette flew into my bedroom like a bat out of hell. “Vera, you will not believe what I just heard on the news!” She sprinted over to the bed where I lay with my head propped up on three pillows, waving her arms like she was going crazy. “Somebody shot that Curtis! Shot him in the head!”
It was hard for me to remain calm. But I wanted to leap up off the bed and dance a jig. I was so happy to hear that Bo had done exactly what I told him to do! “Do they know who did it?” I asked, forcing myself to look concerned.
“The news said it looked like a botched home invasion. But I have a feeling it was probably some of those dudes that’s been threatening Curtis!” Collette yelled, still waving her arms. “And the worst thing—”
I interrupted Collette. “The worst thing is crimes like that happen over there all the time. I’m surprised they’d have a TV newsbreak about it, though. Curtis is not anybody important. He is just another lowlife with a lot of enemies.” I shook my head and began to fan my face with my hand. I was so excited my face felt like it was on fire.
“Vera, let me finish!” Collette moved closer to the bed. “There was a woman with him and they shot her too!”
“They shot some woman too? He lives with his mama, so it must have been her!”
“Yeah, they shot a woman, too, but it wasn’t his mama. The news said something about it being the daughter of a prominent businessman. They couldn’t give her name out until her family’s been notified. Lord, I hope it wasn’t Sarah! That girl got on my last nerve, but I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to her. Kenneth will never get over it!”
“Sarah told me she was going to the movies with one of her friends,” I whimpered. My head felt like somebody had stuffed it with rocks. I knew it had to be Sarah that Bo had shot!
“Well, I hope that’s where she went. But I’ve got a bad feeling that . . . that it’s her!”
“I better try to find Bo,” I muttered. I got up and started pacing back and forth like a caged lion.
“Yeah, and I guess I need to locate Cash. I don’t know about you, but I need a highball,” Collette said. She was talking so fast she almost lost her breath. “We both need to calm our nerves until we find out what’s going on. You want me to fix you a drink, too, Vera?”
“God yes! And make mine a very strong double.”
Just as Collette and I made it downstairs to the living room, Bo and Cash entered. I was glad to see that they had changed from their thug outfits back into their regular clothes. I was also glad to see that they looked as normal and calm as usual. “Oh, I’m so glad you both are here!” I yelled, running up to Bo, throwing my arms around his waist. “Collette just heard on the news that Curtis got shot!”
Bo and Cash looked at each other, then back to me. “No shit?” Cash said in a hoarse voice. “I guess those dudes over there meant business. Being a snitch will surely get you killed. Poor Curtis . . .”
“Oh, he’s not dead!” Collette hollered from behind the bar.
“What? Didn’t you tell me the news report said he was shot in the head?” I asked Collette.
“Yeah, I did tell you that. But you didn’t give me time to tell you everything they said on the news. Curtis and the woman with him were shot, but they are both still alive.” Collette trotted from behind the bar without the drinks. “Bo, Sarah’s not home. She is supposed to be at the movies. But the news said the woman who got shot is the daughter of a prominent businessman. Do you think it was her?”
Bo and Cash looked at each other and then at me again. I had never seen either one of them look so frightened before. Now they looked like they had just seen their own ghost. But I was even more frightened than they were. If Bo shot Sarah and she was still alive, she would be able to identify him and Cash!
“Let’s not jump to conclusions! Sarah may have gone to the movies with her friend and then decided to stay out a little later,” I said hopefully. But the look on Bo’s face said it all. He had shot Sarah too. “Uh, Bo, don’t you get too upset. There is no need for us to assume anything until we hear from Sarah!”
“Cash, where have you been all evening? I’ve been trying to get in touch with you for hours,” Collette said.
“We had some real important work to finish up at the store that Kenneth had started,” Cash rasped. “Then me and Bo went by that little Irish pub downtown on Front Street and had a few drinks. Didn’t we, Bo?”
“Yeah,” Bo mumbled. He looked like he wanted to sink into the floor.
“What pub? Harrington’s is the only Irish pub I know of on Front Street,” Collette said.
“Yeah, that’s the one,” Cash said quickly.
A puzzled look appeared on Collette’s face. “Since when did you two start going to a place full of white folks?”
“They make some mean Irish coffee,” Cash said quickly. “The best in town.”
I couldn’t believe Cash could come up with such a flimsy alibi. If they claimed they were in a lily-white bar like Harrington’s, everybody would remember them if they had really been there. Lord, I hoped we wouldn’t need an alibi!
“Bo, will you go into the kitchen and get us all something cold to drink?” I gave him the sternest look I could manage. “I put a few bottles of beer in the refrigerator a few hours ago and they should be nice and cold by now.”
Bo gave me a strange look. Since Collette’s eyes were on Cash, I was able to give Bo the conspiratorial look that told him I needed to talk to him in private. “Yeah, um, I’d love a cold beer,” he stammered with that strange look still on his face. He left the room immediately, headed toward the kitchen.
“Baby, I just told Vera that I never wanted anything bad to happen to Curtis. If he had left Sarah alone, that would have been enough for me,” Collette said, pulling Cash to the couch. He moved like a robot. If she hadn’t grabbed his hand and steered him, I think he would have continued to stand in the same spot with a blank expression on his face the rest of the night.
While Collette was busy paying attention to Cash, I eased out of the room and headed toward the kitchen. Bo was standing in front of the refrigerator with his hand on the door handle, looking like he was about to faint. “You shot Kenneth’s daughter?” I asked in a whisper.
“You told me not to leave any witnesses behind, goddammit!”
“You stupid fool you!” I hissed. “I didn’t tell you to kill my husband’s only child!” I was so distraught I wanted to kill Bo with my bare hands. “What the hell have you gotten yourself into?”
“Correction!” Bo shook a finger in my face. “What the hell have we gotten ourselves into? Your ass is as deep into this mess as mine! Maybe even deeper because this was your idea.”
I wrung my hands and gritted my teeth. “It’s a good thing you wore that mask.” Bo gave me a bug-eyed look and shook his head. “You didn’t wear the mask?”
He shook his head again. “Do you mean to tell me they saw your face?”
“My mask got knocked off during the scuffle. Cash got so confused when he realized Sarah was there, he took off his mask before everything got crazy.”
“The news reported that they’re still alive! Why didn’t you check to make sure they were dead?”
I was sick of Bo shaking his head, but he did it again. “I could hear folks outside in the hallway, so I panicked. We didn’t have time to check their pulses or listen to their hearts. But I aimed for their heads like you told me to. If they didn’t die on the spot, they will die soon if they haven’t croaked already.”
“Shit, shit, shit! Did you make it look like a robbery? Did you take anything?”
“We didn’t have time to look for something to steal. But like we said, with all the enemies after Curtis, the cops will think it was a retaliation thing.”
I held my hand up and snapped my fingers. “We just have to stay cool. And we need to find out if they both died—and if one of them talked before they did.”
“What if one or both of them lives long enough to tell what happened?”
“Don’t say that! Don’t even think it! I . . . I don’t know what we’d do if one of them talks!”
“I feel like horseshit! Damn, damn, damn!” Bo shouted. “I . . . I . . . when I realized Sarah was there and I had to shoot her, too, my mind snapped. I couldn’t even think straight at the time. All I knew was we had to get the hell up out of that place!”
“Oh, this is the worst mess!” I folded my arms and glared at Bo. “If . . . if you shot them in the head in the right spot, they have to be dead and—” Before I could finish my sentence, Collette burst into the kitchen with a wild-eyed look on her face.
“The cops are here!” she announced.
CHAPTER 66
SARAH
WHEN I OPENED MY EYES, A HEAVY-SET ASIAN DOCTOR WITH THICK white hair was looking down at me. Most of my body felt fine, but the left side of my head felt like somebody had bashed it in with a brick.