The Dirty Dozen: Damsel Edition

by Kay Maree

  "Any idea how she got so wet?"

  "If I knew how she got so wet, wouldn't I have some idea why the hell she wasn't still in her bed where she belonged?"

  Jeremy frowned at Jake's use of "her" bed and not "our" bed. "I have to ask Mr. Sutt... Jake. I have to try and figure out what happened here. Have you and Mrs. Sutton had any arguments lately?"

  It suddenly struck Jake where the detective was going with his questioning. His face blanched as glazed eyes stared at the man in horror. "What are you saying?" he asked in a whisper.

  "You're married but you have separate bedrooms. I'm just asking how things were between you and your wife."

  "Things were FINE," Jake spat out, "I have no idea why she was outside; I have no idea why she was so wet, and I have no idea why she was behind the shed."

  Jeremy saw movement on the porch through the kitchen window.

  "I apologize, Jake. Sometimes my job sucks but it has to be done. I'm going to speak to my team while you compose yourself." Detective Thom eased towards the door as Crusader jumped up at Jake's outburst.

  "Thank you, Detective," Jake hissed, "and while you figure out happened, I have to call our daughter. And then maybe I can get to the hospital." He slammed the door hard, narrowly missing the cop's heels.

  Chapter Two

  Sarah

  Sarah Sutton Richards stretched as a buzzing roused her from her sleep. She smiled as she realized she was curled up on Carter's side of the bed, arms wrapped around his pillow. Newlyweds of six months, Carter had been called to London on business and wouldn't be back for two weeks. Her alarm clock read 8:30 a.m. and she hesitated before reaching for her cell phone as it vibrated softly on her night stand.

  If this is work, I'm killing myself for answering. She reached for the phone, surprised to see her father's name lit up on the caller id.

  "Hey Pops. What are you doing up so early?" Her voice crackled with sleep.

  For a moment, there was silence. Then Sarah heard a noise she couldn't identify.

  "Dad?"

  "Sarah..." Jake croaked, "you need to come home."

  Instantly wide awake, Sarah realized her father was crying. "What's wrong?"

  "Just come over, Sarah, please..."

  "Where's mom?"

  "She's... she's... just get here. They think I did it." With that, Jake hung up the phone.

  “Did what?” Sarah stared at the cell in her hand. He hung up on me! Her temper flared when she dialed him back and went to voicemail.

  What the hell? She hit redial again. Voice mail.

  A red flag in the back of her mind stopped her from redialing again and she jumped out of bed. Mom was worried about letting him stay there.

  Throwing on the nearest clothes, Sarah grabbed her car keys and flew out the door.

  Crusader met Sarah at the front door as she flew into the house. Jake was crumpled on the couch, holding the fuzzy blanket that Lucy had used to cover her legs when watching television. Sarah froze at the sight of her father and used the dog to steady herself.

  "What's going on? Why are cops here? Where's mom?"

  "Gone." His eyes were empty and haunted when he finally looked up at her.

  "Gone? Gone WHERE? Her car is out front."

  Fresh tears streamed down Jake's cheeks.

  "Dad," Sarah grabbed him by the shoulders. "Where. Is. Mom.?"

  "Ambulance took her," he whispered.

  Sarah sank to the floor in front of the couch, with Crusader lying down next to her. "Why?"

  "I thought she was dead Sar... she was outside, by the shed - 'Sader was barking..."

  "What was she doing outside?" Sarah tried to understand what her father was saying.

  "I've been asked that a dozen times - I don't know. ‘Sader woke me up."

  Emotion threatened to strangle Sarah as the tears started. "Mom can't be... how can she be... where is she now?" Her voice was choked as she struggled to form a sentence.

  "They're taking… the hospital, the cop..."

  His daughter melted into his arms. "Daddy, we have to get there."

  "I know baby. But the cop said we have to wait." They sat there holding each other, Crusader nuzzling as close as he could. Tears seemed to be about the only thing anyone understood.

  ~*~

  Jeremy

  Hearing their conversation from the door, Detective Thom decided to give Jake and Sarah a few minutes of privacy. With forensics processing the scene in the backyard, he retraced his steps from earlier. He walked around the front of the Sutton home. As he rounded the front of the house, he noticed a new car in the driveway, Sarah's presumably. His gaze traveled around the neighborhood. Hamilton Heights subdivision was a nice area, nothing overly fancy, just decently priced houses. The Sutton house was on the corner of two quiet streets, the houses not too close together.

  The detective made a mental note to ask the paramedics if the side gate had been open or closed when they arrived. He doubted that Jake would have gone and opened it with the state of mind he was in. The entire property was fenced in with chain link fencing, and he briefly wondered if Lucy could have fallen in a pool nearby and then stumbled back into her own yard. He motioned for one of the techs to be sure and fingerprint the gate.

  Jeremy slowly followed the sidewalk down the block. None of the houses nearby had swimming pools. Even though he knew his team would go door to door, he liked to get a feel of the area himself. He glanced at the other houses surrounding the block on opposite sides but couldn't see any pools in the vicinity.

  As he returned to the Sutton home, he noticed the hose reel on the side of the house opposite the gate. As he neared it, he could clearly see it was covered in spider webs, with an accumulation of leaves and grime. It was obvious the hose hadn't been moved in a while. A quick glance across the back lawn revealed no ponds, no bird baths, nothing that could hold water.

  Did he try to drown her in the tub?

  Jeremy mused. He hated this part of his job, where he had to suspect a family member, but in so many assault cases, the guilty party was indeed closest to the victim. It was doubtful that strangers would go sneaking around on the property, especially with the dog around.

  He walked back up to the back door. Why didn’t the dog protect her?

  His knock on the back door was answered by a young woman, eyes red and swollen, sniffling. "Sarah? I'm Detective Thom. I'm extremely sorry for your mom’s… accident."

  Sarah pushed the screen door open. “I just want to go see her.” The ever-present Crusader was at her side, his eyes warning Jeremy not to make any sudden moves.

  "Dad," Sarah called when they entered the kitchen, "cop's here." She sat on a stool, the dog's head resting lightly on her lap.

  "What do you want?" Jake asked angrily as he entered the room.

  "I know you're upset Mr. Sutton, but I'm just doing my job. Maybe you wouldn't harm your wife, but there are too many husbands who will so I have to ask questions."

  "I don't know what happened. I don't know what happened to my wife. You had no right asking me about my marriage..." Jake started.

  "You think my dad had something to do with this?" Sarah interrupted. "What the hell happened? Dad hasn't told me anything! How exactly happened to my mother that we can’t go to the hospital?"

  "We’re still working on that."

  "WHAT happened?" Sarah almost screamed at him. "You must have some idea!"

  "It appears that your mother almost drowned. That's all I know at this point."

  Jeremy watched Sarah, who stared straight at him. What little color had been in her face was gone. Her hand on the dog was visibly shaking. Her breathing was fast and shallow, her eyes were wide open but not seeing the detective or anything within the kitchen.

  "Sarah, are you ok?"

  "Oh my God. She knew."

  Jake turned toward his daughter but before either man could react, her eyes rolled back in her head and she pit
ched sideways off the stool in a dead faint.

  Chapter Three

  Jeremy

  Crusader was between Sarah and the floor, which cushioned her fall slightly. By the time the dog moved, Jake had Sarah's head in his hands. Jeremy called for help on his radio as Jake carried her to the couch.

  "I can't do this again today," he moaned as he laid her down as carefully as he could.

  Jeremy checked her quickly to report that she was breathing and didn't have any visible injuries. He set his radio on the coffee table and looked at Jake.

  "What did she mean 'she knew'?"

  "I have no idea." Jake grabbed a dish towel from the kitchen and soaked it in the sink. He placed it across Sarah's forehead and smoothed her dark hair off her face. He murmured to her softly and after a few minutes, she stirred and opened her eyes.

  "What are you doing?"

  "You passed out, baby. Can you sit up and see if you're hurt anywhere?"

  Sarah sat up and hid her face in her hands. "I'm not hurt. I just can't think of mom..." She quietly sobbed behind her hands.

  "Do you need an ambulance?" Jeremy asked softly.

  "Ambulance? Oh, no. I don't need to go anywhere."

  He cancelled the paramedics before he handed Jake a box of Kleenex. He placed his radio on the coffee table and sat in the armchair across from Sarah.

  Finally, he leaned forward. "Sarah, what did you mean about your mother knowing?"

  "Oh - I just meant, umm" Sarah stumbled with her words, "mom was always, uhh, worried that something bad was going to happen. That's all."

  Before Jeremy could ask anything else, his cell phone rang. Caller ID said Tieg, his hospital liaison and personal friend.

  "Thom. Whatcha got?"

  "Salt water, impatient one. Ms. Lucy seems to have almost drowned in salt water."

  "What? From where?"

  “Well, sir, if I had all the answers, we wouldn't need detectives, now would we? But there's only salt water in her lungs."

  Jeremy ended the call and looked at Jake and Sarah, who were both staring at him.

  "Sorry about that. Can I use your restroom?"

  Jeremy examined the sink and the tub. It was a standard bathtub, didn't look like it had been used for a while. Salt water? Salt leaves a residue so let's see what we do or don’t have.

  From his coat pocket he pulled out swabs normally used for DNA samples. Experience had him carry them everywhere for many different uses. He wiped the first swab around the perimeter of the basin. Snapping the lid shut, he swabbed several different areas of the tub, careful to label each. The third swab he soaked in the toilet bowl. If there was salt in that bathroom anywhere, he had a sample from anything that held water.

  Back in the living room, Jeremy asked if he could just take a look in Lucy's bedroom.

  Jake sighed. "Right down the hall."

  Nothing in the bedroom gave any clues of anything abnormal. The master bath had a step-in shower but not a traditional bathtub. As in the first bathroom, Jeremy took three different swabs and stuck them in his pocket with the others.

  Sarah was in the kitchen when the detective returned. She texted on her cell phone but looked up at him as he approached. Jake was out on the lawn with the dog.

  "I really don't know what happened to her, Detective."

  "You seemed very distraught when I said your mother almost drowned. If you know anything..."

  "I don't," Sarah cut him off, "I’m distraught because my mother is possibly dying, and I have to stay here."

  "Come on - you watch T.V. You know the first thing the cop does is check out the family when there's any suspicion."

  "So now what?" Tears brimmed her eyes.

  "We'll do more tests. The circumstances are very suspicious, Sarah."

  Jake came back through the door. "Are you done inspecting our house yet?"

  "For now. I know its cliché to say I'm not the enemy, but I'm not. The only way to find out what happened to your wife is to investigate."

  "Aunt Tera is coming over, Dad. I texted her but didn’t tell her why."

  "Tera? Now, Sarah?"

  "Yes NOW. I want her here and she needs to know."

  "Who is Tera?" Jeremy asked, trying to direct the question to Sarah.

  "My mom's best friend. She's not really my Aunt but I've always called her my Aunt. They've been friends since before I was born."

  "The honorary title thing; I know how female relationship dynamics work." Jeremy gave a slight smile. "You’re free to go to the emergency room. Someone will direct you from there. I'm going back downtown to see if there's anything I can find out. I'll be in touch."

  As he opened his car door, an attractive brunette screeched her tires as she parked quickly, barely waiting for the car to stop before she was out the door. He sighed as he realized that one more person's day was about to be forever altered when she heard the news.

  He put the keys in the ignition and started to pull away from the curb when he realized his radio still sat on the end table. He could hear voices as he approached the house.

  Tera’s voice rose. "But how is that even possible? She was unhappy but..."

  "What do you mean she was unhappy? Lucy was just fine." Jake snapped.

  "You sonofabitch," Tera hissed. "You weren’t even supposed to be here, but you couldn’t handle taking care of yourself. You would be the one who thought everything was just hunky dory. If you ever opened your eyes to anyone besides yourself, you'd have realized just how unhappy she was."

  "Aunt Tera... don't..."

  "Oh no, I've been quiet for too long and now my best friend might die. I'll be damned if you," she jerked her finger at Jake, "of all people, are going to sit here and tell me how HAPPY she was."

  "It's none of your business! You think you know--" Jake started.

  "Did you try to kill her, Jake, because she dumped your sorry ass?"

  "You bitch!! How could you even say that? "

  "Lucy drowned, Jake - she drowned. Does that even mean anything to you?"

  Sarah jumped up and yelled at both of them. "Enough dammit!! Both of you shut up!"

  Knock! Knock!

  The knock on the door startled all of them. Sarah yanked it open.

  "I forgot my radio." He spoke quietly as he gestured to the coffee table. Sarah walked over and grabbed it.

  "Ma'am," he looked at Tera. "Can I speak with you outside please?" He glanced at Sarah. “It’ll only take a minute and then you can go.”

  Jake rolled his eyes. "Oh great - now you're really going to think I tried to kill Lucy. Happy now?"

  Jeremy could hear her muttering under her breath on the way outside.

  Tera stopped at her car and grabbed her cigarettes. She lit one and took a drag before turning to the detective. "Before you say anything, no, I do not think he tried to kill Lucy."

  Jeremy lit a cigarette of his own. "So, what was that all about?"

  "Jake is a great guy, but he's a loser. I dated his brother for a while - also a loser. I ran screaming from that family, but Lucy, well, she was a little more stubborn and swore she could make it work. She worked alright, two jobs mind you, while Jake played. Lucy raised Sarah; Jake played. Lucy helped Sarah plan her wedding; Jake played. You see a pattern here?"

  "By played, you mean...?"

  "She was his sugar mama, his meal ticket. They got along fine as long as it didn't involve talking about bills or sharing responsibility. He fished, hunted, helped his friends - all good, clean hobbies but nothing that ever helped Lucy. She was just the one that supplied all the money to support his hobbies."

  "Lucy ever talk to him about her concerns?"

  "Concerns? That's a polite way to put it. They had battles about money all the time. Lucy was tired of working six days a week and having nothing to show for it. There were no serious adult conversations because Jake could never BE an adult and discuss the financial family obligations of a husband an
d father."

  "And Lucy was bitter about this?"

  Tera turned to look at Jeremy. "Bitter? No, the bitter wore off years ago. Resentful, definitely. They've been married almost 25 years; did you know that? He's worked maybe two of those years. She was worn out, mentally and physically exhausted. Would you want to grow old with someone that used you until there was nothing left?"

  "No, I don't suppose I would." Jeremy answered. "What were her plans?"

  Tera took a long drag off her cigarette. Tears choked her voice as she struggled to speak. "She had already kicked Jake out and talked to a divorce attorney. But he whined and played on her guilt, so she let him back in. Just to have a roof over his head, not to be together. But she was going to travel. Then move to a beach. She wants to go live on a beach so she can walk in the sand for hours with no one to tell her to hurry up."

  "Tera, what's the deal with drowning? Sarah fainted when I said the word. You seemed pretty accusatory towards Jake about drowning specifically. You didn't really sound surprised about the fact that she almost drowned."

  "I didn't mean that I thought he drowned her. Lucy..." she broke off and seemed to stare at the clouds. "Lucy had this dream that she talked about, a dream about drowning. Almost like a premonition, you know? It’s just weird."

  "One last question. Why don't you and Jake get along?" he finally asked.

  "Because I know the stress he puts on Lucy, and he knows I hold him responsible for being a sorry bastard that never helps her."

  "Lucy confided everything in you?"

  "There's nothing about one another that we didn't know. We were opposites on most things, but we both knew it all about each other."

  "Lucy ever confide in you that she had anyone else in her life, recently or in the past?"

  Tera searched his face and looked deep into his eyes before she said anything.

  "Are you looking for suspects or just asking?"

  "Both."

  "Lucy had a lot of people in her life. If you're asking if she cheated on Jake, then the answer is no, she did not."