A Dark Mind

by T. R. Ragan

  She pulled out a copy of Simpson’s claim and handed it to him. “Is that your name, address, and signature?”

  He looked the paper over, frowned, and then handed it back to her. “That’s my name and address, but that’s not my signature.”

  “Did you ever apply for a job at Sunset Realty?”

  “Never.” He slapped a hand on the tailgate. “I’ve been running my own construction business for over ten years. Must be another Eli Simpson.”

  “Who happens to live at this very same address?”

  “Are you calling me a liar?”

  “No, I’m simply trying to straighten this all out. I was here a few weeks ago. I saw somebody run out to collect your mail. Can you explain that?”

  He scratched his chin. “You know, under different circumstances, being that you’ve just admitted that you’ve been stalking me and getting into my business, I might feel inclined to call the police instead of answering your questions. But there’s something about you that tells me you’re just trying to do your job.”

  “Well, thank you,” she said. “I think.”

  “The man you saw running to get the mail must have been my dad.”

  “He lives with you?”

  “He does. He’s taking a nap; otherwise I would invite you inside to meet with him.”

  She knew that wasn’t true. She’d seen movement inside the house before he’d showed up, but if she said as much he’d only accuse her of calling him a liar again, which could well be the case.

  Without warning, Eli Simpson flipped open his toolbox and reached inside, his movements hurried.

  Instinctively, she reached under her sweater.

  He pulled out a screwdriver.

  She unsnapped her holster.

  “Whoa there,” he said, putting both hands in the air. “Is that a gun you have under there?”

  She dropped her hand to her side. “Sorry, didn’t mean to frighten you.”

  “I came out here to get a screwdriver to fix the cupboard door in the kitchen, and that’s when I saw you standing at the window, peering inside.”

  “I’m sorry,” she said again. “I thought you were going for the hammer.” Actually, she didn’t know what the hell he’d been going for, but his hurried movements had caught her off guard. One thing for sure, she was on edge.

  His brow furrowed. “And what if I was going for my hammer? You thought I was going to hit you over the head with it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, at least you’re honest. But I’m glad I didn’t bring you inside with me. I don’t think it would have been fair to Dad if I invited an anxious gun-toting private eye into the house.”

  Now he was just being an ass. She wanted to point out that his dad was not asleep, but instead she said, “I guess you’ve heard my name, then?”

  “Yeah, you could say that, but I didn’t want to believe all the gossip.”

  “What? That I’m jumpy and tense and a little quick on the draw?”

  “That about sums it up.”

  She reached into her pocket, pulled out a business card, and handed it to him. “Do you mind giving me a call if your dad knows anything about Sunset Realty?”

  He took the card. “He’s in his seventies, but sure, if he’s applied for a job without telling me or heard anything about Sunset Realty, I’ll give you a call.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Sure.”

  “Sorry about the gun.”

  “Sorry about the screwdriver.”

  His sarcasm was clear, but the man had a sense of humor, and she couldn’t help but smile as she walked off.

  Sacramento

  Tuesday, May 22, 2012

  As Jessica drove down J Street toward Lizzy’s office, the gloomy damp weather matched her mood. The truth was she felt sick to her stomach. About everything: her job, her nonexistent love life, the Povo case, and especially Hayley’s mom.

  She was in no hurry to get to the office and pick up work, because as soon as she did that she would have to drive to Lizzy’s house and talk to Hayley about her visit with her mom. Hayley had called her yesterday, even left a message, which was something she rarely did. Hayley was a girl of few words and knew better than most that life wasn’t fair, but this was ridiculous.

  Jessica exhaled. She was a coward. How could she possibly tell Hayley what had happened? “Hayley, I don’t want you to worry, but Brian is definitely back in your mom’s life. I happened to be hiding in the bathroom when he gave your mom a bloody lip and a black eye, but don’t worry because it could have been much worse.”

  Yeah, that would go over just great. Hayley would go straight to her mom’s house. And then the alarm on her ankle monitor would go off and the police would come and lock her up again. And it would be all Jessica’s fault.

  After Jessica found a parking spot, she climbed out of the car and spotted Lizzy crossing the street. She called out her name.

  Lizzy turned and waited for her to catch up. “Are you just now getting here?”

  “Sorry. I’m a little late getting started today.”

  “That makes two of us.”

  “If you have time, I need to talk to you about a few things.”

  Lizzy nodded as she searched through her purse for her keys. She unlocked the door to the office and then held it open, allowing Jessica to enter first.

  Jessica screamed and jumped away.

  “What is it?”

  “Gross.” Jessica pointed at the insects on the ground. “Are those bugs? I don’t think they’re moving. Are they dead?”

  Lizzy moved closer to get a better look.

  One of the bugs twitched slightly, causing Jessica to jump again.

  Lizzy looked at her. “Stop it. You’re going to give me a heart attack.”

  “I’m sorry, but those things are huge. The antennae are longer than their bodies. What are they doing in here?”

  “I don’t know,” Lizzy said. “Those are the biggest beetles I’ve ever seen.” Lizzy pointed at her. “Stay where you are. I’m going to get the broom and a dustpan and something to put them in.”

  “Good idea. There’s an empty box in the file room.”

  Lizzy disappeared.

  Jessica examined the bugs from where she stood. Lizzy was right. They looked like gigantic beetles. She’d never seen anything so ugly in her life. She scanned the floor, making sure there weren’t any more creepy crawlers exploring the office.

  Getting the monstrous bugs into the box was uneventful. They were dead or at least dying.

  “The poor ugly things,” Jessica said. “What are you going to do with them?”

  “I’m not sure yet.”

  Lizzy set the box on her desk and went to the door. She opened it and checked the lock not once, but twice. She was obviously worried, Jessica thought, but she was trying to act like it was no big deal.

  Jessica had worked with her long enough to know the drill. “You don’t always need to be so calm under fire, you know.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “It’s not good for you to hold all the bad feelings inside you…keep all the dark scary feelings of despair deep in the pit of your stomach. It’s not healthy.”

  Lizzy looked at Jessica and smiled. “I appreciate your concern, Jessica, but those two beetles over there are just a couple of bugs…and they’re dead.”

  Jessica exhaled. “You didn’t even jump or gasp. Nothing. It’s not healthy for a person to never show fear or apprehension.”

  “I jumped when you screamed.”

  “That doesn’t count.”

  “Who told you that anyhow?”

  “Psychology 101. Showing fear is normal.”

  Lizzy shut the door and locked it.

  Now that the bugs were out of the way, Jessica followed Lizzy around the office. There was a small bathroom with a window in the back. Lizzy checked the locks even though there were iron bars on the outside and there was no way anybody could get in through the bathro
om window.

  “I need to take some work over to Hayley,” Jessica said, already bored with the search. “She’s probably wondering what’s taking me so long.”

  “Go ahead and get what you need and go. You don’t need to worry about me.”

  “Well, OK, but there’s something I need to talk to you about.”

  Lizzy stopped what she was doing and turned toward her. “What is it? What happened?”

  “Can we go in the other room? It stinks in here.”

  “Go,” Lizzy said, ushering her out with both hands.

  Jessica eyed the box, making sure the beetles were still inside before she took a seat in the chair facing Lizzy’s desk.

  Lizzy sat, looked at Jessica, and waited.

  Jessica sighed and decided to forget about the Povo case for now. “It’s about Hayley.”

  “OK.”

  “Well, it’s really about Hayley’s mom, which I guess makes this about Hayley.”

  “Spit it out, Jessica.”

  “Last week, Hayley asked me to check on her mom since she hadn’t been answering her phone. She wanted me to knock on the door, and if nobody answered I was to find the key that they kept under a decorative bunny and let myself in.”

  “Please tell me you did not enter the house alone.”

  “This past Saturday, I entered the house alone.”

  “Great.”

  “Yeah, it wasn’t a good idea. I only wanted to make sure her mom wasn’t injured or even dead.”

  “Why didn’t you call the police? Or me? You could have called me.”

  “Hayley asked me not to.”

  Lizzy closed her eyes but kept her composure. “What happened, Jessica? Please don’t make me put my hand down your throat and pull it out of you.”

  Jessica’s eyes widened. “That’s better. Let it all out.”

  Lizzy groaned.

  “OK, OK. The place was a mess. I mean a real disgusting pigsty. It wasn’t easy making my way through the trash and the moldy smell, but when I got to the master bedroom, I noticed that the bed had been slept in. That made me feel better because, first of all, there was no dead body, but, second of all, the attempted bed-making and the makeup on the bathroom counter were enough to convince me that Hayley’s mom was alive and probably out running errands. I should have left right then, but I knew I couldn’t leave until I checked every room.”

  “What did you find?”

  Jessica shrugged. “I never made it that far. Before I made my way out of the bathroom, I heard two people come through the front door. I knew it was Brian because I heard Hayley’s mom say his name. He was angry with her for leaving the door unlocked. I heard him slapping her around. She was crying, but he slammed the door shut and kept on beating on her. It was awful.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I hid in the bathtub. And then I heard Brian marching down the hall to the other room. Hayley’s mom came into the bathroom where I was hiding. I guess she was cleaning up her face when my phone vibrated. It was my brother.”

  Lizzy looked impatient, so she quickly wrapped it all up, telling her how Hayley’s mom found her hiding in the bathtub and told her to be quiet. The story ended with Hayley’s mom leaving with Brian, which allowed Jessica to finally escape unharmed.

  “It’s only been a few days, but I haven’t had the guts to tell Hayley about my visit,” Jessica added. “She left a message on my cell, and I’m sure I’m going to get an earful the moment she sees me. I don’t want to tell her the truth because I’m afraid she’ll do something stupid, something crazy.”

  “We’ll both tell her. Come on. Grab what you need and let’s go.”

  “What about your cockroaches?”

  “They’re beetles. I’ll deal with them later.”

  CHAPTER 17

  I’m glad they caught me, because I’d do it again.

  —Arthur Gary Bishop

  Davis

  Tuesday, May 22, 2012

  Hayley could not contain her frustration. For four days, she’d been free to roam, but whenever Lizzy was gone, Jared would appear. If he wasn’t having alarms installed, he was working from his office upstairs. And now she was being told that Brian was back in her mother’s life and yet Jessica hadn’t had the balls to tell her. “I can’t believe you’re both sitting there telling me that Brian is beating my mom to a pulp and yet you expect me to sit here and do nothing.”

  Lizzy shook her head. “We didn’t say that. The only reason you can’t do anything, Hayley, is because if you do, you’ll end up behind bars again.”

  “But at least I will have tried to help her.”

  Lizzy crossed her arms. “How much help will you be to your mom if you’re in jail?”

  Hayley paced the living room, her body stiff, her expression grim.

  “Go ahead and get angry,” Lizzy said. “I get that. I’m angry, too. I never once saw Brian at your mom’s house. Why he would show up now after all these months makes no sense.”

  “He probably heard that I was out of jail. He’s probably waiting for me to show up at Mom’s house.”

  Jessica shook her head. “I think Lizzy’s right. I think he’s been away.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I don’t, but when they first entered the house, I heard Brian yelling. He said something about the house still looking like shit after all these months. I got the feeling he’s been away.”

  Hayley looked at Lizzy. “Just a big fucking coincidence, I guess.”

  Lizzy sighed. “I called Jared. He and I are going to visit your mom and have a talk with her.”

  “What good will that do?”

  “We can take her to a women’s shelter where she’ll be safe.”

  “She won’t go. She’ll never leave Brian. I should have taken care of him when I had the chance.”

  “Let us talk to your mom,” Lizzy said. “I’ll invite her to dinner so you can see her, too. Just promise me you won’t do anything to jeopardize your freedom before then.”

  “I don’t call this freedom, and I don’t make promises.”

  Davis

  Tuesday, May 22, 2012

  That same night Lizzy lay in bed next to Jared, her body pressed against his left side, her head against his chest. The soft rhythmic beat of his heart soothed her. He was the calm in her life, a stable force in a sea of chaos.

  “You’re tense,” he said as he held her close, his thumb brushing over her arm. “I called a couple of home security businesses to get quotes. I was also considering something more comprehensive.”

  “As in hiring a security guard?”

  He nodded. “Whoever attacked you with a truck had clear intent.”

  “No way. Not yet. Go ahead and set up additional alarms in the house, but no security guard, Jared, I mean it. I’m fine.” Big lie. She’d already been treading on unsteady ground, but nothing had been the same since someone had broken into the house and gone through her journals. But why? And for what? As far as they could tell, the intruder hadn’t taken anything. She’d been worrying more and sleeping less.

  And she knew this wasn’t the last she’d hear of Jared hiring a security guard.

  She had taken the time to have a telephone conversation with her therapist, Linda Gates. She told Linda about the nightmares she’d been having again. For most of her life, she’d spent her nights running from someone—down alleyways and through narrow streets. Recently, she found herself rushing downward into a dark cave, nobody around to hear her screams.

  Jared kissed the top of her head. “Tell me what’s been going on. It seems like forever since we had a moment to catch up with each other.”

  “Yesterday,” Lizzy said, “I visited a flower shop to question the owner about Jennifer Dalton and I learned absolutely nothing. But I did buy a nice flower arrangement for my sister. Today I was caught peering into the front window of a house where I’m working surveillance, and I almost pulled a gun on the owner of the place when he reached too quickly
for a screwdriver in his toolbox.”

  Jared simply brushed her arm with his thumb and listened.

  “I also learned from Jessica that Brian is back in Hayley’s mom’s life.”

  “Does Hayley know?”

  “She does now. Hayley is the one who sent Jessica to her mom’s home with instructions to enter the house if nobody answered the door. Jessica was inside when Hayley’s mom returned with Brian. While hiding in the bathroom, Jessica heard Brian yelling and hitting Hayley’s mom. Jessica didn’t want to tell Hayley because she’s afraid Hayley will go after Brian and end up in jail again.”

  “I can understand her reluctance.”

  “I agree, but if we’re all going to work together, we need to trust one another. We had no choice but to tell Hayley the truth.”

  Jared gave her a squeeze. “Honesty is the best way to go.”

  “I was hoping that you would go with me to visit Hayley’s mom; maybe we could convince her to move into a safe house for a while.”

  “I think that’s a good idea,” he said. “It won’t hurt to try.” He nuzzled her neck.

  She sighed. “I also found two dead beetles in my office.”

  Suddenly tense, Jared sat up. “In your downtown office?”

  She nodded. “The strange thing is that Jennifer Dalton mentioned dead bugs and bumps in the night and—”

  She stopped talking and instead watched Jared run around the room like a crazy man.

  He grabbed his iPhone and after a few minutes handed her the phone and said, “Did the beetles look anything like this?”

  “Exactly like that. I put them in a box. I had planned to return to the office, but after I talked to Hayley, it was late and I decided not to bother.”

  Jared had already pulled on a pair of jeans and was now slipping a clean white T-shirt over his head. He grabbed his phone and punched in a few numbers.

  Lizzy slid off the bed, too, and scrambled for her clothes. “What’s going on? It’s eleven o’clock at night.”

  “We’re going to your office. I’m going to have my team meet us there. Meet me downstairs. I’ll tell you more on the way.”

  Sacramento

  Wednesday, May 23, 2012