by R. B. Conroy
Joyce carefully handed the tray of food to Sally and eased the auto away from the drive-thru trying to contain her total amazement at what she had just witnessed. She pulled around to the far side of the building, darted into an empty parking spot and braked to a stop. Free now to express themselves, the shocked ladies erupted.
“Was that her? Was that really her?” Sally wailed. A nervous, smile spread across her face.
“I can’t believe it, but yes, it was her. She looks so plain and so much older, but it was her. She has a small scar to the left of her nostril from some kind of accident when she was a kid or something. It was her all right!”
Sally’s head kept moving back and forth as she fought to contain her laughter. “I can’t believe it. The great Cathy Roberts, full of deep wrinkles and working at a MacDonald’s in Ocala. My goodness, she looked a hundred years old. Who would have guessed it?”
“She was always such a classy looking lady and a fabulous dresser. I always felt so frumpy and under-dressed around her. Oh, wow, that poor thing! What happened! Do you know?”
Sally’s eyes went to the ceiling, her head rolled side to side. “Kind of, but it will take a while to tell you the whole story. Are you sure you want me to start?”
“My goodness, yes, I have to know.” Joyce reached in the MacDonald’s sack and handed Sally her Egg McMuffin. “We can eat our breakfast and talk. We’ve got all day.”
40
Sally meticulously unwrapped a corner of her still warm egg sandwich and took a bite. She chewed it gone and took a sip of her very hot coffee. “Well, of course you remember the murder of that Eric Lowe fellow and all that?”
“Oh, yes, that was awful. Wasn’t he Cathy’s doubles partner in tennis or something?”
Sally eyes narrowed. “Or something is right!”
“Oh, really!”
“Before I go on, Joyce, you must keep everything I’m going to tell you to yourself. Ed confided in Dave and Dave told me not to tell anybody. I wouldn’t tell you this if you if we hadn’t seen her and you weren’t my best friend. You have to keep this to yourself.” Sally gave Joyce a firm glare.
“Scouts honor, honey, I won’t tell a soul.” Joyce bit off a big hunk of her sandwich and chewed it aggressively, all the while looking at Sally with great anticipation.
“I didn’t realize it at the time, but Dave said that Cathy and Eric were a lot more than just doubles partners. They were having an affair.”
Joyce gagged on her food, and began coughing. “Oh, my goodness!” Red faced, she continued to cough.
Sally leaned over and patted her on the back. “You okay?”
“Yeah, it just went down the wrong pipe. I’m okay. Go ahead, please, go ahead.” Joyce stopped coughing and gulped down some coffee. “Did Ed know about this?”
“No, it all kind of unraveled after Eric Lowe’s death. It started at the funeral.”
“The funeral?”
“Yes.”
“Oh my, what happened at the funeral?”
Sally took a sip of coffee and continued. “Ed thought all along that Cathy was just a little bit too upset over this guy’s death. He said she was acting like a family member had died or something. Then, when we were at the funeral, she really lost it.”
Joyce looked a little bewildered, “That’s surprising! She was always such a cool cucumber.”
“She sure was around us, but not at the funeral. She was wailing and sobbing so loudly that everyone in the room turned and looked at us. We were sitting right next to them.”
“You’re kidding?”
“I wish I was. It was disheartening for Ed. It became obvious to him that they had been a lot more than just a tennis partners. All of his worst suspicions had been validated.”
“Poor guy.”
“I know, and that’s not all.”
“There’s more? My goodness, what else could there be?”
Sally shook her head. “You’re not going to believe this. But right about the same time as Eric’s death, Ed’s old bank suffered some big losses and all the stock Ed owned dropped down to nothing. He told Dave that they were almost totally broke when he filed for divorce from Cathy.”
“They were broke? The Roberts? I can’t believe it!”
“Me either. Ed told Dave that by the time he paid the attorney’s fees and all of the other expenses surrounding the divorce, he was about thirty thousand in debt. Cathy was livid when the settlement was announced and she got nothing. Ed said they had to take her kicking and screaming from the attorney’s office.”
Joyce covered her mouth and giggled, “Oh my, that explains her working at MacDonald’s and all.”
Sally shook her head, “It’s probably the only job she could get. I don’t think she realized how dependent she was on Ed.”
“Yes, she was quite the diva when old Ed was around to pick up the tab.”
“Right on, Joyce. She played the rich girl gig to the hilt.”
“Have you talked to her since the divorce?”
“I tried to keep in touch with her after the divorce, but I think she was too embarrassed to talk to me. She never returned any of my calls. I went on-line and found her address. She lives in a worn-out little mobile home in Wildwood. I stopped by one day to see her, but she wasn’t home. I left a note on her door, but she never got back with me. I knew she was looking for a job, but with no special skills and no work experience, that was a tough hill to climb. ”
Joyce smiled, “I guess she found one.”
“I guess so.”
“Wow! What a story!”
“There’s more!”
Joyce stopped chewing and stared in amazement at her friend. “More?” I think I’m going to faint, but go ahead, girl, please go ahead.
“One day Ed said he got a phone call from a guy he and Dave had played golf with not too long ago. Some guy named Vinnie.”
Eyes still wide, Joyce egged her on, “Uh…huh, pray tell, what did this Vinnie fellow have to say?”
Sally’s lowered her sandwich to her lap, stared blankly out the window for a moment, took a deep breath and continued. She told Joyce about all of the clandestine meetings that Cathy and Eric had at a house in Duval.
“My goodness, that Cathy is a tramp,” Joyce railed.
“There’s more.”
“More?”
“Yes.” Sally explained to her about the day Vinnie ran into a biker guy dressed like a Villager near the mail depot by Ed and Cathy’s house in Bridgeport. He told her that Vinnie suspected that biker guy might have a gun in his fanny pack, but he didn’t have the authority to search him.
“Wow! That’s unbelievable! Do you think Cathy hired him to jump Ed at the mail depot or something? I can’t imagine.”
Yes, he told Ed that he believes that he saved Ed’s life that day. He said he was almost certain that Cathy had hired biker boy to murder Ed, but he said it would be impossible to prove anything at this point. Besides, the guy went to jail for the murder of Eric Lowe and then committed suicide while in prison. So I guess in a weird sort of way, justice was served.”
Joyce reached for the ignition key, “Wow, what an unbelievable story! I’m exhausted just listening to it.” She started the engine and prepared to leave. “I hear Ed’s got a lady friend now. What’s that all about?”
“Oh yes, Barbara is just wonderful. She’s the kind of woman Ed deserves. They met at the pool at Bridgeport. They dated for a several months and they just got married.”
“You’re kidding?”
“Nope, the wedding was last week. It was very small, just a few close friends.”
“Huh…married. Ya don’t say. Good for him. What village do they live in?”
“They are living in her five bedroom, four bath home in the Village of Harmeswood. They are planning to spend this summer at her vacation home in Hawaii.”
“Sounds like she’s got a little do-re-mi.”
Sally grinned at her curious friend, “Her husband died a few y
ears ago. He started a software company in Pittsburgh after college and sold it a few years before his death for over two hundred mil. They had no children, so she got it all.”
“Oh, I’m so happy for Ed!”
“So am I.”
“Finish your breakfast, girl. We’ve got some serious shopping to do,” Joyce ordered.
Sally dropped the rest of her sandwich into the crinkled bag, “I’m done, let’s get going.”
Joyce quickly backed around and exited the parking lot. A short time later they left the exit ramp and melted into the heavy traffic on Interstate 75 north to Ocala.
* * * * * *
“Roberts, drop off the drive-thru and go clean some tables. The restaurant area is a disaster!”
“Yes sir, Mr. Coleman.”
Cathy left the drive-thru area, grabbed a damp sponge and a clean towel and headed for the eating area. Her hands were still shaking from the visit by Sally and her friend at the drive-thru. Her worst nightmare had come true-her former best friend had seen her working at her menial, low-end job. She felt hugely humiliated and embarrassed. When she hired on, she told the manger that she preferred to work on the food-prep line, out of sight of the customers, but one of the young gals had called in with a sick baby that morning and she was moved to the drive-thru just minutes before the horrid rendezvous. Nothing in her life had prepared her for how sick she felt right now, she literally wanted to die.
On the way to the tables, she glanced out the window at the parking lot and saw the car Sally and Joyce had driven up in. A sense of panic rushed through her. She stopped and ducked behind a row of plants. The car slowly backed up and started to pull out of the parking lot. She felt warm, beads of perspiration spread across her face. She watched as the car pulled away with the two smiling women inside. She dabbed her forehead dry with her towel. An ugly expression spread over her face as she stood with sponge and towel in hand, watching her former friends pull away. They must have parked there and eaten their breakfast. I’ll bet they were just having a good old time at my expense. I’ll bet they couldn’t stop laughing at poor old Cathy. She stood and glared as the car left the lot, her eyes were black with rage. “I hope you rotten bitches burn in hell!” she mumbled.
About the Author
In his fifth novel, R B Conroy uses the setting of his winter home in central Florida to create yet another murder-mystery thriller. The Villages, Florida, a diverse and exciting com-munity, provides the back-drop for this spine tingling tale of greed, deception, and murder. As this book goes to print, Conroy is hard at work on the outline for his next exciting novel.
R B Conroy’s other novels are:
Devil Rising
Return of the Gun
In My Father’s Image
Deadly Game
They are available in both
print and e-book editions from:
Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble
and many other fine retailers worldwide