by R. B. Conroy
He breathed a huge sigh of relief as he drove along the boulevard toward home, knowing that his own nimble thinking had probably saved him from a criminal investigation and possible prison time. The one thing he wasn’t looking forward to was telling Cathy Roberts that her forty grand was gone, her husband was still alive and she’d have to find someone else to do her dirty work. “The bitch will be furious,” a sly grin broke out on his clean-shaven face.
31
Cathy had told Dirk that Ed always sat for a while and drank his coffee after mailing the letters, so he quickly called Cathy on his way home to inform her of his botched attempt to kill her husband. Dirk felt certain now that there would be no investigation of him. He was slightly disappointed, but pretty much okay with the way things had turned out, even though the hundred grand would have come in plenty handy. His sister was in the process of paying off all of her debts and he had dodged a bullet. But as he expected, Cathy had a whole different view of things.
“What!” she screamed.
“You heard me. There was nothing I could do about it.”
“This is unbelievable! I should have known that you would fuck things up!”
“Hey, lady, a woman like you shouldn’t use such language. It’s not becoming of you.” Dirk chided the angry diva.
“Why, you low life creep, I don’t know how I ever got entangled with someone like you! I must have been crazy.”
“Oh, you’re not crazy, lady. You knew exactly what you were doing. You thought I was desperate and you were using me just like you use everyone in your stinkin’ life. You were gonna use me up and spit me out. I thought I was a mean, conniving bastard until I met you.”
Cathy was quiet for a second and then replied, “I want my money back and right now!”
“Not possible.”
“Not possible?”
“I gave it away. That money is long gone and you will never see it again.”
“You’re lying! You still have that money and I want it now!”
“Like I say. lady, I don’t have it, but you can get an attorney and sue me if you like. You could tell the judge how I screwed you out of the money you gave me to kill your husband.” Dirk roared with laughter.
”I want my money!”
“I gotta go, lady. Don’t ever call me again!” Dirk snapped the cover shut on his cell phone and gunned it down Buena Vista. A few minutes later his cell began ringing; he lifted it from his pocket, pushed the off button and watched the screen go dark.
* * * * * *
Dirk stopped at home for a quick change of clothes and then hurried to the shop. Daisy and Reg were already there. He gave Daisy a quick “mornin’” and headed for the shop area before she had a chance to comment on his clean shaven mug.
Reg’s face suddenly appeared from behind the seat on a large Harley. “Wow, what happened to your face?”
“Nothin’.”
“You havin’ girl troubles again?”
“Yeah, kind of. But they’re over now. Let’s get to work.”
“Let’s?” Reg tossed him an incredulous glare.
Dirk smirked at his good friend and grabbed a wrench off of a nearby work bench. “When does Teddy need this thing?”
“Tomorrow. He’s going to a big rally in Miami. I’ve been here since six working on this thing.”
“We’d better get on it then.”
Reg looked down and shook his head. “Yeah, WE’D better.”
32
Cathy paced back and forth in their expansive living room, running her well-manicured fingers through her hair. The house was quiet. Ed had returned home from the mail run and then left to meet his golf buddies for breakfast. Her mind was racing and her anger was growing. She was enraged by Dirk’s phone call; she fantasized strangling him by the neck until his face turned blue. She had hoped that it all would be over by now. Instead, her hired killer was now out of the picture and she was back to ground zero.
She took a deep breath and dropped down on the edge of their large sofa. She looked past the kitchen into the family room at the clock above the leather sofa. It read 8:22 a.m. Eric should be getting home now from his morning workout. She lifted her cell off the sofa where she had thrown it after her shocking call from Dirk. She punched in Eric’s number and waited, tapping her fingers nervously on the table. After just one ring, he answered.
“Morning love. Any news?”
“Yes, plenty.”
There was a brief pause, “Is he…uh, gone?”
“He’s out golfing.”
“Golfing? I thought you said that this Dirk fellow was going to take him out early this morning at the mail depot.”
Cathy stood up and began pacing again. “I thought he would, but that didn’t happen.”
“Maybe he’s got another plan in mind.”
“There won’t be another plan.”
“What?”
“Your heard me.”
“What happened?”
“Our biker friend told me that he was waiting in the bushes taking dead aim on Ed when a Community Watch Officer arrived on the scene. He had passed the officer earlier at the Palmer parking lot on his bicycle, but thought he had left the area. So to save his own pathetic ass, he crawled out of his place of ambush, walked around the back of the building and told the officer and Ed that he had just stopped to relieve himself. They both bought the story and he went merrily his way. And guess what!”
“What.”
“The creep said that after his face to face with the Community Watch officer, there’s no way he could ever shoot Ed.”
“Hmm… well maybe it’s all for the best, my dear.”
Cathy strolled over and lifted the curtain back and looked out the window at her side yard. “Nothing has changed, love, we just have to figure out another way.”
She could hear Eric laughing on the other end, “Another way? It’s over baby, it’s over! This guy you hired knows everything about your plan to kill your husband. If you tried anything now, he could blackmail you for the rest of your life. There’s no way, unless you plan on killing both him and Ed.”
“He couldn’t tell anyone. He would be implicating himself.”
“I don’t think so. If they put the heat on him, he would ask for immunity from prosecution in return for his testimony. Something tells me that this Dirk fellow knows more about the law than either one of us will ever know.”
Cathy was silent.
“You really don’t, do you?”
“Don’t what?”
“Plan on killing both of them.”
“I think we have to.”
“Damn, I need a drink.” Cathy could hear a cabinet door opening and bottles rattling. A few seconds later she heard a gulping sound and a loud bang on the countertop. “You’re forgetting one thing, my dear!”
“What’s that?”
“For some reason, you decided to include me in this whole ugly affair, so if the cops come looking, I could go to jail too. It was chancy enough trying to take out Ed, but attempting to kill two men would be lunacy!”
Cathy continued to stare out the window, “I disagree and I know just the man who could do it.”
“There’s no one who could pull that off.”
“Yes, there is and he’s on the other end of my phone line.”
“What! No-o-o way! We’ve had a few good times, lady, but I’m not going to kill someone for you or anyone else. You need to calm down and get ahold of yourself.”
Cathy dropped the curtain, lifted her head and stared at the ceiling for a moment. She was offended by his trivialization of their relationship. Eric was the only person in her entire life that she had ever felt close to. For the first time in her life she felt that she might be in love. His comment about “a few good times” hurt. She took a deep breath and then came back hard at him. “When I first met you, Eric, you were just some tennis playing ex-con who had come to The Villages to find some rich lady to bed down with, someone who could take care of
you and give you everything you ever wanted. Unfortunately, you found me. You’re into this thing up to your eyeballs, my friend. I have a wonderful future planned for myself and I don’t need you ruining it for me.”
“It’s all about you, Cathy. Everything is always all about you. Well, I may be an ex-con, but I’m not stupid. I only went along with your crazy plan because it seemed fool-proof. But there’s no way in hell that I’m going to kill anybody for you or anyone else. If you don’t back off on this thing, I’m out of here, my dear!”
The heartless Cathy was stunned by his response. For one of the few times in her life, she had been rebuffed. She was confused, angry, and once again hurt by his threat to walk away.
“You’re not thinking straight my love. I can give you everything you’ve ever wanted-an expensive home, a fine automobile, and all the lavish trips that you could ever dream of. My plan can work, darling. You can make it work, I know you can.”
“You’re hopeless, Cathy, and this conversation is over. Call me when you’re thinking straight.”
Cathy walked over and leaned against the end of the sofa. She spoke calmly, “Nobody tells me no. I always get my way, always!”
Eric, apparently taken aback by the threatening tone in Cathy’s voice, was silent for a moment. When he finally spoke, his tone was less aggressive. “We’re both a little out of sorts right now. Why don’t we both just step back and let our emotions settle down.” Deep down Eric was turned on by her threatening tone. He loved aggressive, edgy women. That’s what had attracted him to Cathy in the first place. He went on, “Maybe we can meet in the morning at the Smith’s place and smooth things over.” He chuckled uneasily.
Cathy dropped the phone to her side and stared across the room. He was refusing to do what she asked and she didn’t like it. She inhaled deeply. She wanted to turn her phone off and end the conversation, but she couldn’t. He had tapped in on her weakness once again. Images of their torrid love-making episodes at the Smith house flashed through her mind. Her knees got weak. This man had such a hold on her, and as hard as she tried, she just couldn’t resist him, no matter what the circumstances. For the first time in her life, she wasn’t in control and she knew it. “I have an appointment to get my hair done at eight, it shouldn’t last over an hour.”
“How about nine-thirty?”
A chill ran up Cathy’s spine. Eric’s sudden change in the topic of conversation had thrown her off her game. Her sexual energies were suddenly controlling her thinking. She was having trouble even talking, “Why…uh, that would be fine,” she said softly.
“Great, baby, I’ll see you there.”
A weakened Cathy made one desperate effort to regain control of the situation. She spoke quietly, almost under her breath, “I want to be with you forever, darling, but we still have to get Ed out of my life.”
“Don’t worry about him, baby. Maybe he’ll get hit by a truck or something. Life’s too short. We’ve got a good thing going here. Let’s just enjoy.”
Cathy looked over at the worn and faded arms on Ed’s favorite recliner. Two tooth picks with blood stained tips lay on the table next to the chair. “He’s so gross,” she mumbled.
“What was that?”
“Oh, nothing.”
“I can’t wait to have those sexy long legs wrapped around me.”
Cathy’s face flushed red. He’s such a hunk! “Thank you,” she whimpered. She wanted him in the worst way. Her fantasies were running wild.
“I better run,” Eric said brusquely, “An old friend of mine from my high school days is in town and we’re going to have a few drinks.”
The unexpected revelations about an old friend brought Cathy out of her amorous trance, “Male or female?” she demanded.
“Male, of course.”
“Okay, then you have my permission.”
“Thanks.”
“Bye, Eric.”
“Bye. See you in the morning.”
33
The doorbell chimed. Eric turned off the electric razor, splashed on some Old Spice and hurried to answer the door and greet his high school friend.
“Ricky! Wow! Look at you!” Eric gave his old buddy a high five and a hard hug. “Come in. Please come in.”
Ricky stepped in and surveyed Eric’s place. “Nice digs.”
“Thanks.”
Ricky gave Eric a playful punch on the arm. “Bet you never thought your old friend Ricky would end up on a Harley. Did ya?”
Eric shook his head, “Not really. You were always the goodie-two-shoes in high school. Weren’t you an Eagle Scout or something?”
A big smile broke out on Ricky’s face. “Sure enough was.” He lifted his blue denim vest and showed Eric his Eagle Scout patch, sewed neatly on the left front of his vest, just below the gang symbol for the Devil’s Disciples. “I’m still proud of that,” he said.
Eric glanced out the front window at Ricky’s low-rider motorcycle. “Nice bike.”
“Yea, I just got it a few months ago. This is my first real trip on it. Rides down the road real good.”
“Have a seat so we can get caught up on things a little. It’s been a long time, my friend.” Eric pointed at a large, leather recliner. Ricky looked different as he strolled over to the chair. The clean cut kid he knew as a teenager was now sporting gray, shoulder length hair, pulled back in a ponytail and surrounded by a red bandanna. The wide bandanna also covered much of his tanned, unshaven face. He wore faded blue jeans, checkered with holes of varying sizes and a white tee shirt underneath the aforementioned blue denim vest. His black biker boots were scuffed and faded.
Ricky fell into the large chair. “How long do ya have to be here to get a beer?”
“Coming right up.” Eric hurried to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator and retrieved a couple of Bud Lights. “Do you want a mug?” he shouted.
“Are you kidding?” came the reply.
Eric popped open a couple of cold ones and hurried back to the living room.
Ricky grinned at the sight of the beer. “Thank ya, buddy.”
Eric eased down on the sofa across from Ricky and took a swig.
“This Villages thing is pretty cool,” Ricky mused. “Looks like life’s been pretty good for you since you left Texas.” Ricky held his eyes on Eric longer than expected.
Eric squirmed in his seat, he knew what Ricky’s gaze meant. He was curious as to how an ex-con like Eric ended up living high in Florida. He resented the inquisitive gaze, but because Ricky was an old friend, he gave him a quick explanation. “After my problems over in Texas I decided to go on with my life and make the best of things. So I kept my nose clean, worked hard and now here I am living the good life.”
Ricky looked away from Eric. “Good for you,” he said.
“How about you, Ricky, what have you been doing with yourself? Obviously, you like motorcycles.”
Ricky chuckled nervously, “I guess my life has been kind of the reverse of yours. After graduating from high school with honors, I enrolled in the University of Texas with a major in pre-med. I appeared to have a bright future ahead of me, but when I got to college all I wanted to do was smoke weed and party. I flunked out after first semester of my freshman year and joined the Army. My parents were crushed. They had high hopes for me.”
“How did your time in the military go?”
“Not worth a damn, I was thrown out of the Army for assaulting a superior officer. The SOB was bossing me around one day, so I punched him.”
“I think it’s fair to say that the Army frowns on stuff like that.”
“Think so?” Ricky smiled meekly and went on. “After my dishonorable discharge, I bought me a Harley and joined a local motorcycle gang in Amarillo. I painted houses all day and rode my Harley at night. I’ve been busted twice for possession of dope and served three months in the county jail for the second offense. My father hasn’t spoken to me in over twenty years. Mom still loves me, but she starts crying every time we get together. She still
can’t believe that HER Ricky turned out to be such a loser.”
Eric’s brow furrowed. “How do you feel about your life, are you happy?”
A small grin appeared on Ricky’s wrinkly, stubble covered face. “I’m as happy as the next guy I guess.” Somewhat agitated by reliving his troubled past, Ricky lifted his beer, tossed his head back and inhaled the entire can. He banged the empty can on the table and groused, “How long do…”
Eric interrupted. “I know, I know. I’m on my way. Eric set his beer down and hurried to the kitchen. He returned a short time later and handed Ricky a fresh one. The two old friends continued drinking and reminiscing. The beer flowed freely with the conversation being broken from time to time by serious bouts of laughter as they thought back to those magic childhood days of so many years ago. After an especially loud outburst, Eric fell back against the soft cushion of the sofa, paused and wrapped both hands around his beer. “You never told me what brought you all the way to The Villages from Texas Ricky. That’s a long trip.”
Ricky coughed up a guttural laugh, “Long trip my ass! I’ve ridden clear around this country three times. The trip here was a piece of cake.”
Eric smiled, “You told me on the phone that you have another friend around here?”
“Yeah, I do, a good buddy of mine from Amarillo came here years ago to work at his old friend’s bar. He’s been bugging me to come visit him ever since he left Texas. I was getting bored with the same old, same old, back home and decided to take him up on his offer. I worked overtime on my painting for a couple of weeks and saved up some cash and here I am. I ran into Julie Chambers at the CVS just before I left and she told me that you were living here also.”
Eric lifted his beer and pointed it at his friend, “Glad you found me, my friend. By the way, how is Julie looking these days? We still talk on the phone every once in a while, but I haven’t seen her for over twenty years.