Turnabout Is Fair Play

by Bill Willoughby

  I glanced at her, “Yeah, I guess I do. But I don’t think I’m as bad as him. At least I hope not. If you notice me getting that way, unreasonable I mean, will you say something to me?”

  “You’d better believe it big boy!”

  I pulled the Tahoe into my garage and the door closed behind us. We got out and we went inside.

  “What would you like to do?” I asked.

  “Do you want the truth?”

  “Of course I do,” I said.

  “I’d like to take a nap and then go get some dinner later.”

  “That’s fine. You want to sleep on the couch or on my bed? I’ll sit out here and quietly watch TV so I don’t disturb you.”

  She lightly smacked me on the left arm. “I want to take a nap with you, goofus! Give me one of your t-shirts to sleep in, please.”

  We went into my bedroom and I dug out on of my t-shirts and handed it to her.

  “Do you want to change in the bathroom or would you rather me go out into the living room and you can call me when you’re done?”

  Her eyes widened and she sighed, “Are you freaking kidding me? I’m offering to let you see me undress and you’re going to turn me down? What is wrong with you? Huh? Can you tell me that? Or is there something wrong with me? Well?”

  “There’s nothing wrong with you. Or me. Of course I want to see you undress but I was just being a gentleman.”

  “Well, tone down the gentleman stuff a couple of notches and come be my boyfriend. This is supposed to be a special moment. Maybe not the big special moment although if you’re ready I am.”

  She tilted her head to one side. I nodded and began unbuttoning my shirt as she unbuttoned her blouse. We watched one another undress. Then we crawled into bed and she laid her head on my chest and kissed me on the cheek. We were asleep within five minutes and when we awoke it was dark outside.

  She rolled over and lay on top of me and we made out. Then we got up, got dressed and went to Joe & Mimma’s to get a pizza. While we waited we started talking about where we wanted to live. I told her while I loved her house I just didn’t care for Newport News and it would be a pain to get to and from work each day from there.

  “You love York County don’t you?”

  I nodded. “Yes, I do.”

  “Well then let’s live here. Do you want to stay in your condo or look for something else?”

  “What do you think?”

  She smiled, “You know what I’d really like? A place on the water. What do you think of that?”

  “Then that’s what we’ll do. I bet you can find something in the listings at work can’t you?”

  She nodded her head.

  “Well, let’s start there. Can you put our places on the market?”

  “Yes I can. I’ll do that first thing Monday morning.”

  I was glad that was settled. It had been on my mind a lot.

  Chapter 21

  We took off the next Friday and got married. We stayed the night in her house and that special time was as magical as we had both dreamed about. We spent Saturday running errands and getting a joint bank account. We were surprised that we both banked with the same bank. That made it easier to join together. We emptied out our separate accounts and were surprised when they showed us our balance.

  Sunday we began packing up the condo. We decided to hold an estate sale and what I wanted to keep we’d take to her place. We had decided to live there until we either found a place or our houses sold.

  As we went into the spare room our eyes were immediately drawn to Miranda’s picture and urn.

  “So what do you want to do?” Leigh Ann asked. “If you want to keep them I understand but I really don’t think I could have them out in the open. I don’t mean to sound cruel…”

  “No, I completely understand. It wouldn’t be fair to either of us. This marriage is about you and me, not you and me and Miranda. Let me think for a minute.”

  Then it came to me!

  I called Miranda’s parents in West Virginia and told them I had remarried. I asked if they’d like to have Miranda’s ashes with them.

  Miranda’s dad said, “Sure Don, we’d like that. Do I need to come get them or do you want to bring them here? I just can’t have my baby girl shipped through the mail or in the back of a freight truck.”

  “Hold on a minute,” I said.

  I turned to Leigh Ann, “Do you want to go to West Virginia next weekend? They asked if I’d bring Miranda to them. We could go by and see your parents. I haven’t met them yet.”

  “That’s a wonderful idea,” she said.

  So I told Miranda’s dad we’d see them next weekend.

  “That was an easy and brilliant fix to that problem!” Said Leigh Ann. “I have the smartest husband in the world!”

  “I don’t know about that but thank you.”

  I got a call from the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office on Monday asking me to come in the next Monday. He said the trial was set for the next Monday. I told him I’d be there and then called Leigh Ann at work and told her what was going on.

  “I was hoping that we’d have a few days to spend together. We never did take a honeymoon.”

  “I know, baby. As soon as this is all over, we sell the houses and get a place for ourselves we’ll take a week or two. Is that okay?”

  “I guess it’ll have to be.” I could hear the disappointment in her voice.

  I apologized and told her I loved her. That conversation ate at me the rest of the day.

  On the way home I picked up a dozen red roses for her. I took her to Olive Garden for dinner too. I was well rewarded later that night.

  The trip to West Virginia was quick. Miranda’s parents were obviously mentally comparing Leigh Ann to their daughter.

  “Well, that was uncomfortable,” she said as we got into the car. We had decided to take the Corvette instead of the Tahoe. I had a blast driving it.

  Her parents, on the other hand, welcomed me with open arms. Evidently Leigh Ann had told them a lot about me because her father kept asking me questions about my work. I think he watched NCIS too much because he had an impracticable idea of what it was we did. For instance he wanted to know how many people I had shot, “on the job.” It took a lot to not laugh at him!

  I met with the Commonwealth’s Attorney on Monday morning and he had me read over some papers and then asked if that was what I wanted to say. He had written it from notes from our first meeting. I read it over and told him that it sounded right. He then told me to take it with me and commit it to memory. He also told me what to say when I was cross examined so I wouldn’t get tripped up.

  I called Danny and took the rest of the day off. On the way home I called Leigh Ann and asked her if she could get off. She said she’d be tied up all day. I told her I was going to go home then and work on memorizing the stuff the Commonwealth’s Attorney had given me. She said she’d stop by the store and get some steaks for me to grill and whatever else looked good to go with it.

  I fell asleep on the loveseat after reading those papers through two or three times. Leigh Ann came in and started unpacking the groceries when I woke up. I got up and went in to help her after giving her a kiss.

  “So did you get it all memorized?” She asked.

  “Pretty much.” I replied.

  “Do you want me to go over it with you later? I’ve always thought I’d make a pretty good lawyer.”

  “Like your dad thinks he knows how cops and investigators work?” I asked.

  “Yeah. Like that.”

  We both laughed.

  The week went by much too quickly and before I knew it the alarm was going off and it was Monday morning. I was a lot more nervous than I thought I’d be. I had been in court before testifying on cases but this one directly affected me. The others were not my problems.

  We took the Volvo to Norfolk and found a place to park. I showed my badge at check in and the deputy asked if I was carrying. I told him no and he waved me on. Le
igh Ann sat her bag in the basket and it moved through the scanner. I had advised her to take all the metal out of it before we left home.

  The day was long and boring. There was no place close to the courthouse for a good meal so we made do with a hotdog from the vendor outside.

  Thankfully the judge ended court at three. Unfortunately that put us smack dab in the middle of rush hour traffic. We went through the same thing the next day. I thought I was going to get called to the stand that day but when the judge called an end to the day at four I knew that we were in for another day.

  On the third day, at 10:45 I was finally called to the stand. I was asked to identify Garvey after I explained I had seen him at Ward’s Corner. I also told about what I had found at the house in Ghent. I described finding Miranda’s body and what was to follow.

  Garvey glared at me the entire time. It unnerved me some but I tried to not let it trip me up. The defense attorney opted to not cross examine me. I was glad about that.

  After I sat down the judge asked for closing remarks. I had been the last witness. It was finally going to be over. Both attorneys made their remarks and then the judge said something that surprised me.

  “Usually in a case such as this I’d take time to deliberate but since the evidence is so overwhelmingly against Mr. Garvey I’m going to deliver my verdict now. Mr. Garvey, stand up.”

  He and his lawyer stood and he turned and looked at me with as evil a look as I’d ever seen.

  “Mr. Garvey,” began the judge. “You are a drain on society. All of your drug dealing was bad enough. I wonder how many people you have inadvertently killed with that. But to rape and murder this poor woman. A young, vibrant teacher. A positive contributor to society. I can’t help but wonder how many more lives she could have had a positive influence on.

  And you cut that life short. Her husband testified that you had destroyed his life. They never got a chance to have a family, for him to teach his son to ride a bicycle or to walk their daughter down the aisle at her wedding.

  And why did you do that? You couldn’t even give an answer when the prosecutor asked. You were high and brutally raped and murdered a woman…”

  Garvey shouted, “Hey, it wasn’t just me! Where the hell is Resnick? He did this too!”

  The judge banged his gavel.

  “Shut up Mr. Garvey! There will be no more outbursts in my courtroom. Frankly I’m sick of looking at you. Mr. Garvey I find you guilty on all counts. You will be sentenced at a later date but for now you’ll be held in the city jail. I hope you think long and hard about all of this.”

  Garvey took a step forward as two deputies grabbed him and shouted, “Fuck you, man!”

  Then he turned and looked at me and shouted, “You’re a dead man!”

  He tried to move towards me but four deputies grabbed him and dragged him out of the courtroom. He yelled and cursed and fought them but they got him out.

  Leigh Ann had grabbed my arm; I was tense and was breathing fast.

  “Are you okay?” She asked.

  “Yeah.” I choked out. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Once we got outside and were walking to the car we heard Garvey yelling. We turned to look and at the same time he saw us. His hands were handcuffed in front of him.

  “That’s not right,” I thought. “They should be behind him.”

  Just then Garvey raised his arms and slammed them against one of the deputies and in a split second he had grabbed a pistol from the officer’s belt.

  Things began to move in slow motion. I saw as he raised the pistol and point it at us. I pushed Leigh Ann aside just as I felt something hit me.

  It was like somebody punched me and then I heard the crack of the gun.

  I fell to the ground and Leigh Ann began to scream. I felt her hand on my chest as she cried, “Don, Don, don’t leave me! I love you, don’t leave me baby!”

  I looked up at her and reached for her hand. I heard sirens coming. Good, they’d get to me and I’d be fine.

  I turned my head a little and saw Miranda. She held out her hands to me and said, “Come to me, Don. Come home.”