by J. C. Gatlin
“Sorry to disturb you,” he said. He was now wearing khakis and a navy sports jacket. His gray hair looked natural and complimented him better than the odd colored dye. “I felt like we got off to an awkward start at the ball park.”
“You don't need to apologize.” She hesitated at the door. “You look better. Normal.”
Dr. Whitman chuckled and ran a hand through his gray hair. He then held it up to her, revealing his palm. “No more Indian Summer,” he said.
Kim smiled at him and opened the door further.
“I would offer you something to drink, but I'm actually on my way out.”
“I come bearing a gift.” He held up a wrapped package with a bow. She looked at it and then up at his persuasive grin. Hesitantly, she let him inside. Zeus growled and Kim pushed him away.
Dr. Whitman's mouth twitched with amusement as she tried to restrain the dog. With her other hand, she took the package. Looking at it while she struggled to hold Zeus, it was her turn to apologize. “My hands are kind of full.”
He nodded and took the package from her, then ripped away the brightly colored paper. Inside a white box was a simple pink dress with hand-stitched golden glass beads. “It's for standing you up on New Year's Eve. Mallory told me that you ruined a dress that night.”
“Actually the garbage disposal did.” She took the dress and examined it. “But thank you. You don't know how much I appreciate that.”
“Well, it's not as nice as the one you've got on.” He laughed a little, then shot her a fleeting look. “You look simply stunning.”
Zeus growled, threatening him.
“I have a date,” she said and glanced at her watch.
“I guess you gotta be fashionable for war.”
Kim glared at him. “Excuse me?”
“That was just a thinly veiled reference to our upcoming date,” he said, holding up his free hand. “I'm just looking forward to our weekend warrior trip.”
Zeus barked and lunged; Kim held him back.
“That does it!” She took the Doberman by the collar and dragged him across the living room floor.
Pulling him up the spiral staircase by his collar, he huffed and fought her all the way upstairs. Finally, she shoved him into the bathroom and shut the door. Zeus was howling as she turned around.
Dr. Whitman stood directly behind her.
Kim jumped, bumping into him.
“What are you...” she stuttered. “This is my bedroom.”
He stepped toward her, crowding her personal space. She could hear Zeus barking and growling in the bathroom.
“It's alright,” he said to her, his breath hot on her face. “Animals never seem to like me.”
She gently pushed him back, away from her. He took a step backwards, giving her some space.
“I’m sorry.” His voice lowered. “Am I making you uncomfortable?” He handed her the box with the dress in it. She gripped the soft fabric of the dress, letting the box fall to the floor between them. She held the pink dress to her chest, almost as if it was a shield. She suddenly felt very exposed in the thin chiffon.
“You’re in my bedroom,” she said again.
“Kimberly, I just want to be straight with you.” He spoke in an odd, yet gentle tone. “You’re a very attractive woman.”
Kim didn’t want to hear this. She threw the dress down. It landed softly at her feet. Moving past him, she made her way out the loft and down the spiral steps. He came down after her. At the base in the living room, he started to reach for her, then shrank back.
“I don’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable,” he said. “I’ve just been terribly alone lately. And Addison said that you too were recently… lonely.”
“I’m not lonely,” she answered in a rush of words. “I’m meeting my boyfriend tonight. He’s waiting for me.”
“I apologize.” The doctor shook his head. Now he too looked down at his feet and mumbled, “I misunderstood when Addison said….well, it doesn’t really matter.”
Flashing a quick smile, he made his way toward the door. “I’ll just let myself out. I certainly never meant any…”
“Wait.” Kim interrupted him. She suddenly realized something. Something she missed earlier. Something that superseded the awkward moment. “When did you last speak to Addison Gaynor?”
“I don’t know.” He hesitated at the door, as if thinking about the question. “Before the baseball game, I think. We found his wallet.”
“Is he really out of town?”
“Mr. Gaynor?” he asked. “I don't know. I suppose. Do you need him? Is something wrong?”
“No.” Kim wasn't sure what to say. “He said he was going out of town, but I'm not sure if he really left.”
“That's odd. Why would he lie about that?”
“To keep tabs on Mallory,” she said bluntly. “To spy on her.”
“Is he harassing her? Or you?”
“I wouldn't take it that far.”
“Think about it Kimberly,” he said. “This could be serious. Has he ever mentioned having a family out of town?”
“No, not to me at least. Why?”
“He had some problems with a girlfriend, maybe she was his fiancée by that time, I don't know.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean a few years ago he got in trouble with her when she apparently broke off the relationship. She moved out and got her own place, but Addison wouldn't leave her alone. He continuously called her and spied on her and genuinely made her life a living hell.”
“Does Mallory know about this?”
“I don't know.”
“We need to tell her...” Kim glanced at her watch again. “Tomorrow. Like I said, I don't want to be late.”
She grabbed her coat and slipped her arms into it as she led the doctor out of her townhome. After locking the door, she faced him once again. He uncomfortably cleared his throat, as if stalling for time.
“I'm looking forward to this weekend,” he said quietly. “Mallory has told me a lot about you.”
“Look, I'm involved with someone.” Her coolness was evidence that she was done with this conversation and he winced at her words.
“I guess that would be Ross?” he asked.
“Mallory didn't mean to lead you on. Ross and I went through a rough patch, but we're reconciling. I'm meeting him tonight.”
“I didn't know.”
She let out a low sigh. “I think it'd be best if you left and didn't call me again. I don’t mean to be rude. Just honest.”
With that, Kim turned and took a step off the porch. Dr. Whitman reached out and grasped her arm.
“Wait, Kim,” he said. She hesitated and turned to him. He took a breath. “Addison has keys to Mallory's home next door.”
Kim bit her lower lip, waiting. “Yes?”
“Does he have keys to your home too?”
“No,” she said defensively. “Of course not.”
He held her arm, just below the elbow. His grip tightened. She looked down at this hand, then back up to meet his gaze.
“Of course he doesn't,” she said again.
He released his grip and Kim backed away. Turning again, she was in the parking lot headed toward the black iron security gates.
She didn't look back, though she knew the shrink was watching her. She walked faster, rushing.
Tonight, she would take the short, direct route to downtown. She wouldn’t walk along Morris Munger Road or take the time to pause at the bend, to sift through the weeds and discarded trash for the lost engagement ring. Tonight there wasn’t time.
Ross McGuire was waiting.
13
Guess Who’s Coming
To Dinner
Kim arrived at Greico's Italian restaurant promptly at eight, looking hot in chiffon and high heels. Pausing at the hostess station, she was surprised when the maitre d' exclaimed, “We've been expecting you!”
Taking her coat, he lead Kim to a table for two.
“Yo
ur party will be joining you shortly,” he said, watching her. Kim stared at the table; a look of disappointment marred her face. Where was Ross? She turned her head, searching the restaurant. The maitre d' leaned toward her. “Is something wrong, ma'am?”
“No,” she said, smiling graciously at him and sitting in the seat pushed out for her. A hundred memories flashed through her head as she remembered the night she and Ross had first sat at this exact table. It was eerie. “You said my party will be joining me shortly.”
“Yes, ma'am. He asked that you forgive his lateness and said that he was unavoidably detained.”
“He did?” Kim thought about that for a moment. Unavoidably detained, she thought then asked, “Who made the reservations? Was his name Ross McGuire?”
The waiter looked baffled. “I would have to check, ma'am. If you could be so good as to wait.”
Kim agreed and ordered one martini and a Shock Top Belgian White on draft; she knew what Ross drank. Glancing at her watch, then at the crowded tables around her, Kim wondered when he would arrive. And when he did, would he be angry and loud or quiet and pouting? Would he be apologetic and sincere and plead with her not to shove him out of her life?
She imagined him gasping when he laid eyes upon her, falling to one knee, and taking her hand in his. Slipping his other into his dinner jacket, he would remove the lost engagement ring and show it to her. With tear stained eyes, he would place the ring on her finger before reciting another beautiful love poem.
Kim laughed at this. Ross would never wear a dinner jacket.
Flushed, her heart fluttering, she looked at the faces sitting at the bar toward the back of the restaurant. There was no sign of him there.
Or anywhere.
Now she wondered if he was even going to show. Why was he hiding? Why was he doing this? Watching the people around her talk and eat and drink, Kim studied each face, determined to find him. She watched the dark corners of the restaurant, as if he would slip out from the shadows to greet her.
Her drinks arrived, and she waited.
There was a quiet music coming through the intercom system. Kim hadn't really noticed it, until she noticed the song that was playing. The waiter passed by the table again and she flagged him down.
“I was waiting for you to tell me who made these reservations.”
“Why ma'am, I'm sorry.” He looked embarrassed, and handed her an envelope. “He said he was your grandfather.”
“My grandfather?” Kim wasn't expecting that and ripped the envelope open. It was another handwritten note. She read it and shuddered. “For my Darling Bonnie. You will always be my angel. Love, Daddy.”
Kim dropped the note as her stomach turned. She looked back up at the waiter. “He said he was my grandfather? Where is he?”
“It was an older gentleman.” The waiter looked across the crowded room and pointed. “Over there by the bar.”
Grabbing her purse, she scanned the room. Toward the back of the restaurant, there was a young man. A college student. His face partly hidden behind a couple laughing and sipping margaritas. Their eyes locked. His black bangs fell into his face, and he raised a hand to flip a strand of hair out behind his left ear.
“Michael?” It was hard to tell. His face looked blurry in the crowded restaurant's dim light and smoky atmosphere.
“Michael!” she called out.
A waiter balancing drinks moved in front of her and a group of sorority girls chattering and squealing, insisting none of them had too much to drink, surrounded her as they tried to make their way to the door. Kim struggled to push her way through the crowd, struggling to keep her eyes on the blurry face.
Anxiously, she made it to the bar. But her classmate was gone, if he was ever actually there at all. She wasn't sure. The couple sipping margaritas looked up at her.
“Did you see the man sitting behind you?” she asked them.
Their heads turned and they glanced at the empty bar stool. Apologetically, they frowned at her. Frantically searching the crowded restaurant, then sighing, Kim stepped away from the table and made her way toward the entrance. She walked through the dimly lit parking lot, glancing behind her.
There was no one there.
* * * * * * *
Kim came home that night feeling dejected. Again, she read the handwritten note from the restaurant. It definitely was not from her Grampa. Something was terribly, terribly wrong.
Was it Michael all along who was calling her, reading the Pablo Neruda poetry? Did he give her the book? She had seen him that afternoon she needed Mallory to pick-up Zeus at the campus. He was sitting on the bench next to her books, where she left them for a few minutes to meet Mallory at her car. He could have slipped the poetry book among her text books at that time. But why?
Alone, she looked at her dark living room. The shrink had been standing there a few hours ago.
Stepping upstairs to the bedroom loft, she let Zeus out of the bathroom. He greeted her as she moved to the bed and turned down the sheets. She slipped out of the chiffon dress. It dropped to the floor in a heap of fabric around her feet. Kim stepped out of it and left it there on the floor.
Ignoring Zeus, she found the poetry book lying on the night stand. She picked it up and read the inscription. “For my Darling Bonnie. You will always be my angel. Love, Daddy.” Staring at the cursive handwriting, something else caught her eye. She turned her head.
On the night stand, sitting where the book had lain just a moment ago, where Dr. Alec Whitman had been intrusively standing just a few hours ago, was something shiny.
Very small. Very bright.
Kim leaned closer, peering at it. She blinked, not believing what she saw.
The Solitaire diamond ring with the two-tone band lay on top the nightstand. The little diamond actually sparkled, reflecting moonlight shining down from the overhead skylight.
Startled, she stepped back. She didn’t breath. She couldn’t take her eyes off it. Was she really seeing what she thought she was seeing? Was her engagement ring really sitting there? She had to be dreaming.
The phone rang downstairs, bringing her out of the trance.
It rang again.
She bolted down the spiral steps. Zeus followed. Looking behind her toward the recliner and the end table it rested on, she watched the ringing phone, wondering if she really wanted to answer it.
She started to reach for it, then drew back.
It rang again.
She picked up the receiver and slowly brought it to her ear. “Hello…”
Static crackled on the other end, then a man whispered her name. Kim sat up, almost dropping the phone.
Clearly, it wasn’t Ross’ voice. Why had she thought it was all this time? Perhaps she had simply chosen to ignore her better judgment, to fool herself into believing Ross was reaching out to her, like he had done time and time again in the past. But this voice sounded nothing like Ross’ voice.
The caller continued, quietly reading ‘If You Forget Me.’ When he finished, Kim’s eyes dropped to the floor.
“Who is this?” Her voice trembled. He remained on the line, static filling their momentary silence. “Who are you?” she asked again.
There was no answer.
“Did you have my engagement ring?”
Silence.
“How did you get in my house?”
There was a breath of reply, but no words. Static crackled in her ear again, then the voice was an articulate vigor.
“If you forget me
There is something I want you to know.”
The line clicked. The caller was gone. Kim hung up the phone, questioning it all. Questioning herself.
Fear and anger knotted inside her as she picked the phone back up. She wanted to call Mallory, but remembered that she was still out with the baseball player.
Her hands trembling, she dialed 911.
It took 20 minutes for the police officer to knock on her door. Holding Zeus back, she told him what happened.
“So no one broke in,” he confirmed. His voice was deep and comforting, but he made it clear that he was irritated to have to fill out another report.
“No,” Kim replied. “It wasn’t a break in.”
“So nothing was stolen? You checked.”
“Well, no. Nothing is out of place but the engagement ring, you see...”
He cut her off before she could finish. “So you found an engagement ring you lost five weeks ago?”
Frustrated, Kim asked him to listen. She told him about Ross’ disappearance and the mysterious notes, about the phone calls and the dinner engagement at Greico’s Italian Restaurant. And the odd boy with wavy black hair from her literature class who was watching her there and often stared at her in class. Then she told him about Addison spying on her neighbor and possibly having a key to her home, and the shrink with a bad dye job and cases of unstable patients who repeatedly caused him to stand her up over the last couple of weeks.
If the officer wrote any of this down, Kim couldn't tell. His pen didn’t move across his notepad as much as she would’ve liked. Still he offered to check the windows, peek into the small bedroom closet and look under the bed. Zeus followed him around the townhouse with his ears perked up, checking each nook and cranny immediately after the officer.
When he finished, the officer sighed and hesitated at the front door.
“So you found an engagement ring you lost five weeks ago.” His voice was courteous but patronizing. “You should keep your doors locked.”
14
Death Comes Calling
Saturday, January 15, 2000
8:12 AM
“Missy, I wanted you to change the locks the minute Ross ran out of here,” the landlord said later that morning, trying to be heard over Zeus' incessant barking. Kim grabbed him by the collar and held him back.
“I'm serious about that no pets clause,” he said, his face partially hidden beneath his weathered straw hat. He was wearing the same old overalls he always wore, day in and day out. Zeus snapped at him and Kim apologized, gripping her dog.
“Let me just get him out of here,” she said. “I'll take him over to Mallory's.”