Lacene Lords

by Fornataro, Nancy

  "I don't know," Spence replied, "could be an earthquake." The house vibrated then shook again strongly, before a peculiar silence descended.

  Without giving Willie the details, Spence told him what happened and helped him sit on the bedside chair.

  Lila, Jake, Mark and Karl met Spence in the hallway.

  "You called Davey?" Jake asked.

  "Yeah. A minute ago."

  Mark said, "Was there an earthquake?"

  "Where's Meg?" Lila asked.

  "Downstairs," Spence said. "I don't know about the earthquake. Let's go down and make sure Meg is okay."

  But, Spence knew she wasn't the slightest bit okay. Meg, in her upset state, had moved and shaken the house and almost collapsed it on them.

  They all sat in the living room waiting for the sheriff. Lila sobbed softly but Meg appeared glassy-eyed, and Spence kept his arm firmly around her shoulders.

  They heard a siren, then a knock on the back door.

  Spence went out to meet Davey, who said, "What's going on?"

  "The killer got Maria. I don't know the why of it. She's over there around forty yards out. Throat slit." His voice broke and he couldn't continue for a moment. "Like my parents."

  "Easy, Spence. Just take it easy and tell me what happened."

  Spence took him through the events then walked him over to where the body lay.

  "What time was this?" Davey began, surveying the whole scene as he put on gloves, took out his camera and notepad.

  "About twenty minutes ago."

  "And Meg just woke up out of the blue?"

  "Yeah."

  Davey sighed, as he stood looking at the body. "Told Pap who got killed. He said Maria was with the family since Karl was born."

  "I think the family is in shock." A coppery smell invaded Spence's awareness then, reminding him of his parent's murder. His insides began twisting and roiling.

  "Called Rushburg homicide. They'll be here in half hour. Gotta wait for the medical examiner too." Davey took pictures at various angles, after he'd set up a portable bright light portable fluorescent fixture.

  Spence thought he wouldn't want to see the scene in daylight. It was bad enough at night. He found himself praying that the sun wouldn't rise.

  Davey bent down on his haunches for a better view. "Looks the same as the other murders," he said to Spence. "And because I know D and D like I do, I have to ask the question of where you were before this occurred."

  "Sleeping with Meg. In the house."

  "Can she verify this for us?"

  The 'us' reference wasn't lost on Spence. "She can't do much of anything right now. She's understandably shook up. Can you wait a few hours to question her?"

  "I'll try to hold off D and D, but you know how they get. Also, this is a fresh one, not old. They'll be on the two of you like stink on shit. Especially because you two found the body. Just like last time."

  Spence nodded and the gloomy thought came to him that he could be charged in this murder too. Sleeping wasn't too much of an alibi. Especially if they thought he and Meg were in cahoots.

  Jake hailed him from a distance.

  "Don't walk in the prints, Jake," Davey yelled. He ran his flashlight around the bushes, Spence thought, to look for the murder weapon. Davey said to Lee Cobb, who'd just arrived on scene, "Tape off this section," he pointed to where Spence and Meg had walked, "and that one there too. Then secure and tape the woman's bedroom in the house."

  Cobb looked half asleep and went on his way, haphazardly hanging crime scene tape on the bushes.

  Jake walked up and when he saw Maria, said, "Jesus God. Oh my Christ." His hand reached for his mouth and Spence thought he'd be sick, but he just looked down for a matter of minutes.

  Davey was still instructing Lee Cobb on the crime scene tape procedure, while Jake said, "What happened Spence?"

  "Don't know. Meg had a premonition after the fact I guess you could say. Maria was dead when we got here."

  Jake nodded.

  "Reminds me of my parent's murder.

  "Yeah," he said slowly, "the same isn't it? Why, son? Why is all this happening when you roll back into town? Doesn't make sense."

  "Does, in a way."

  "How so?"

  "Telling me to back off."

  "Going to do it?"

  "Hell, no."

  The Rushburg detectives and medical examiner showed up twenty minutes later.

  Spence walked back to the house to stay out of their way, and was surprised to find Tammy sitting on the back porch. He sat on the chair beside her.

  "So, Spence," she said in her throaty voice, looking over at him, "you're in trouble again." She wore a cotton mini dress and her feet were in flip flops.

  "What makes you think that? You know something I don't?"

  "Maybe."

  "Let's talk about it."

  "Meet me in the barn. Too many people here."

  Five minutes later, he approached the barn. The damp smell of rotting hay and horse dung hit him as he eased in quietly, still walking on bare feet. Horses made shuffling noises in their stalls.

  Tammy walked out of the shadows. She wore a short leather dress, black hose and leather boots.

  "What are you, a quick change artist?" he asked her irritably.

  She moved towards him, with a big smile. "Yes. This is my favorite man meets woman outfit. Like it?"

  As she stood almost chest to chest with him, he could smell her strong perfume.

  "So," he said, "what have you got?"

  She smiled broadly. "What you need."

  He sighed. "Not in the mood, Tammy. If you have info on the murder, give it to me. Otherwise, leave me alone."

  Her hand ran down his bare chest. "Mmmm, I'll give it to you." But, unexpectedly, her other hand shot out and both hands shoved him onto a stack of loose hay. She lay on top of him, straddling him, holding both his arms above his head. "Remember this?" she whispered.

  She moved hard against him, although he was stronger and quickly had changed places with her. Holding her down on the hay, he said, "What have you got, Tammy?"

  Smiling, she replied breathlessly, "Everything." She rose up to kiss him then, with her tongue exploring his mouth.

  His pent up energy seemed to run out and he relaxed against her. Grabbing his hand with her own, she guided it down to feel her lace panties.

  He tightened his grip on her other wrist and she gasped. "Now you've got it," she whispered.

  He ground against her for seconds, but then stopped quickly.

  "I'm buying into your trap," he said as he rose and brushed himself off, wiping his mouth with an arm, "and I don't want to do that. Leave me alone. Permanently. Don't come around here again."

  Harv came out of the upstairs apartment. "What's going on Spence?" His eyes scanned the barn.

  Spence looked down at her disgustedly. Turning towards the door, he said, "Meet you out front, Harv."

  He let Harv know about the murder and headed back to Jake's house, where Ellison and Smith sat waiting for him on the back porch.

  Spence could tell Smith was irritated just by the look on his tired face.

  Ellison started out. "Kid. Sit down. Take a load off." He gestured to the wicker couch.

  "No thanks. I'll stand."

  Ellison looked at him sharply then gazed behind him for a few seconds. Spence just assumed the man was watching Tammy leave, as he saw her out of the corner of his eye, walking slowly down the driveway.

  "So kid," Ellison continued, shaking his head, "where were you around one-thirty?"

  Spence smiled tightly as he leaned against the porch rail. "If you mean a few hours back, you didn't say what day, I was asleep in Jake's guest bedroom."

  "Alone?"

  "Meg was with me."

  "Meg Cowell?"

  "That's the one."

  Smith interjected, "What time were you in Maria Santillan's room?"

  Pausing, realizing they must have found his fingerprints, he said, "I d
on't remember. It was before I went to bed. Probably around eleven o'clock."

  "And did you go anywhere else at eleven?"

  "Yes. I went to talk to Harv Brewster out in the barn apartment."

  Ellison said, "Feeling mighty chatty for that time of night. Any reason why?"

  Spence crossed his arms. "Not really." Then a smile grazed his lips as he observed the detective. "That's a nice shiner you've got on your eye, detective. What'd you do, run into a door?"

  Scowling, Ellison replied, "None of your fucking business. By the way, kid. Did you know we got a court order today to dig up your parents?"

  Spence felt like he'd been hit with a ten ton truck. Images flooded his mind, blood, gaping wounds, screaming, throwing chairs, standing stiff at the gravesite with tears streaking his face.

  "You bastards," Meg said from the screen door, "you blood-sucking bastards. Leave him alone." She stepped out and ran into Spence's arms.

  "Tell you what, Meg," Smith said, "we'll go see Harv. Make sure old Spence here is telling us the truth."

  The two detectives left the porch and walked towards the barn.

  Meg clung to Spence. "I'm so sorry. What happens now, Spence?"

  He stroked her hair. "They dig them up. And I suppose we'll have to rebury them."

  Meg looked up at him. "Maria's sister Carmen is coming to get...her. When the examiner is done."

  "Where is the burial, do we know yet?"

  "Rushburg," Willie said from the doorway, "I heard grandma talking on the phone."

  Spence's look softened as he watched the boy come out on the porch.

  "Sweetie," Meg said, as she carefully hugged him. Willie's choking sound was all Spence heard for a minute.

  "Why, Mom?" Willie said as he wiped his eyes with one hand.

  "I don't know Willie," she replied, leaning against Spence again. "The detectives are working on it."

  "Yeah," Willie said bitterly, "like they did last time. With Spence's folks. Those dicks are jerk-offs."

  Mark came to the back door and watched Spence. He thought he'd never seen his brother so exhausted. Spence had purple rings under his eyes, along with uncombed hair, a bare chest, bare feet, and the slow reactions of someone sleep deprived.

  The detectives had told him the news about the exhumation of his parents. He tried to put a neutral expression on his face as he went on the porch. "Spence, it will be okay. You and I can have a small service when the detectives...when they're done with Mom and Dad. If it will catch the killer, then we should probably cooperate with them."

  He watched as Spence's eyes filled and threatened to overflow with tears. Knowing how his kid brother felt about showing his emotions, he grabbed his arm and led him from the porch. But it seemed everywhere he looked, there were detectives, crime lab technicians, sheriffs or bright lights.

  He and Spence walked out towards the road, past all the vehicles parked on the dirt. "How long has it been since you've had a good night's sleep?" he asked Spence.

  "Since I first got here. Haven't been sleeping really well. The memories start up. Meg and I sometimes have the same problem with old demons."

  Mark was forever blaming himself for being in England attending college while Spence had to endure finding his parents like they were, murdered. Big Jake had taken on the responsibility for the funeral, bolstering and supporting Spence, and for that reason he would always have a special place in his heart for the man and his family.

  "Listen, Spence," he said, as they stopped by a fence post, "why don't we get a hotel room in Rushburg? It would be away from here, and I'm sure no one would blame you."

  But Spence looked aghast at the idea, and began pacing back and forth. "I couldn't leave Meg, especially now. And the rest of the family needs me."

  "Not if you fall apart, bro. What good will you be to anyone then?"

  Spence sighed deeply and looked up at the night stars. He pointed upward. "That's the only fucking thing I ever liked about Arizona. The goddamn beautiful stars."

  He sobbed then. Mark moved in and held him close as he wondered what lay ahead for them both.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  A few minutes later, Lila almost ran over Spence and Mark in the driveway in her rush to get to the church. She took the rough back roads at ninety miles an hour, not even seeing the coyotes dash across the road or the rabbits flying out of her way.

  She pulled into the church parking lot and skid her car to a stop with dust swirling.

  She entered the unlocked front door, and ran up to the altar without her usual overtures. She thought she just couldn't be bothered with it.

  Standing in front of the cross, trying uselessly to get her temper under control, she finally raised both fists in the air and screamed, "Why have you done this? Why have you deserted me?" And to the candles flickering and the cross she yelled, "You are meaningless! You are shit to me!"

  She sobbed into the empty church, "I hate you all!"

  Father Damien ran in, adjusting his collar. "Lila?" He strode quickly up to her.

  "And you!" she pointed at him, "You are the biggest liar of them all! Telling me Jesus loves me. Telling me God loves me. I hate you! I hate Jesus! I hate God!"

  "Lila," he began, "what on earth-"

  "It's not about earth!" she screamed, with her hands at her sides in fists now, "It's about heaven and hell and purgatory."

  She shook one fist towards the altar, facing it accusingly. "You took my boy," she cried, "and that wasn't bad enough. He was sick and he fought like hell to live. I understood that. But Maria," Lila sobbed, "she was good and fine and had a heart of gold. She was a believer!"

  Father Damien grabbed her arm.

  "Don't touch me!" she screamed, as she twisted her arm free, "You are a liar! You lied to me about everything!"

  Insistently now, he took hold of her arm and guided her to a pew, where he sat beside her.

  She was shuddering, spent from the effort. Her sobs echoed in the empty church, as she slowly gained control of herself. After a few minutes, she stared at the altar, unblinking.

  "Jesus at the cross," Father Damien mused softly, "said 'My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?' Then he breathed his last breath."

  He leaned forward with his hand gesturing toward the cross in the front of the church. "Then he said, after he rose, 'In my name they will cast out demons. He who believes will be saved. Love your enemies. Pray for those who mistreat you. Your sins are forgiven.'"

  "She had no sins, Father. And I can't pray for and love whoever did this thing. Which sins are forgiven? Even murder?" she said bitterly.

  "Especially murder," he whispered.

  She held her head with both hands then lay down on the pew. He lay next to her on the hard surface, and pulled her into a tight embrace.

  *****

  An hour later, Willie watched his Grandpa come onto the back porch, as his phone buzzed in his pocket. It was a text from Susie, 'IWALU, JTLYK I m so sry Will, jst hrd.' He smiled then the smile faded. He put the phone away in his pocket again. What would he ever do without Maria? She was the one person he could really count on. She'd been there when his Mother was in the hospital, and Maria always seemed to know the right thing to say to make him feel better. Tears welled up in his eyes and he brushed them away.

  A light rain began to fall, and he listened to the pat-pat sound as it bounced off the roof.

  His Mother sat on the wicker rocker, just rocking back and forth silently. His Grandpa looked towards the barn and said, "Guess we'll be having another funeral."

  She said nothing, just kept rocking.

  "Where are the dicks?" Grandpa said. Seemed to Willie like he was trying to start a conversation, but she still just rocked.

  "They're out in the barn," she said finally.

  "Don't go south on me now, girl," his Grandpa said slowly, "we don't need it. Let us know if the depression comes again. I know it's a tough time, but we all have to pull together now. Fair?"

  She nodde
d and continued rocking.

  The two detectives approached the porch from the barn. The taller one had straw in his hair and brushed off his pants.

  "I suppose you're behind that bale of hay falling on top of me," Detective Smith said to his Mother.

  Go Ma, Willie thought. Pile the hay on that dip shit.

  "I don't know what you're talking about," she said with a slight smile.

  But her smile faded as the man said, "You won't have that smirk on your face when we find enough evidence to lock you up along with Spence and Mark Moorehouse."

  "I'm not afraid of being locked up, Detective Smith," she replied, "I've been locked up before. It's incompetents like you who really scare me. You let murderers roam free, while you sit out your pension in some office, doing less and less as the years roll by."

  Willie could tell by the shocked look on the man's face that his Mother had nailed it. Go Ma, he thought, peg him on the fucking wall.

  His Grandpa looked mad then and said to the man, "I think you and yours should finish up here and get off my property before I have you escorted off by our own sheriff."

  Detective Ellison said, "We're not finished by a long shot. You haven't heard the last of us. We'll be back."

  And as the two detectives walked away, his Mother said, "Don't you threaten us now, you hear?" Then she laughed. Go Ma, go, Willie thought.

  He pulled out his phone and sent a text to Susie. 'H&K, IWALU 2. JTLYK dicks here, wl kp u posted.'

  *****

  Renee tossed and turned in Lex's bed. They'd had a great dinner at his place, but both drank too much wine and somehow she wasn't too surprised he was asleep now. He'd led her to the bed, made it that far, but after they'd undressed, he just fell asleep.

  But she didn't mind. She actually found it endearing, a flaw in an otherwise perfect man. She looked at him tenderly now.

  Nice bulky arm muscles, flat abs and firm, athletic looking legs. She never really had any idea what great physical shape he was in. He hid it well.

  There was a sliver of illumination trailing in through the blind from an outside light, and it shadowed the handsome angular planes of his face. She ran her hand softly on his black hair, down his cheek, then down his chest.