Half an hour later, their passion was spent. The lovemaking had been their best ever. And yet, in the silent darkness right then, Jerry thought of Jade as Holly sidled up to him, breathing slowly, content. He felt a pang of guilt for cheating on Jade with Holly, his wife, as bizarre as that seemed. And he felt equally bad for thinking of Jade with Holly lying next to him. Life had suddenly become so goddamned complicated.
Still, he wondered what Jade was doing that night, that moment. He wondered if she had been fucking around while he was away or if she was waiting dutifully, like a soldier’s wife, for him to return to her from battle. He had called her every night. The last two nights, the calls had been late, well past eleven, and she had sounded hurt by his forgetfulness or lack of consideration. He had not called her tonight.
“So now what?” Holly asked out of the darkness. Jerry let the question hang there for a time.
“Now what, what?”
“What happens next?”
“Now, we wait. You keep a low profile for a month until you testify against Jeff,” he said. “Then after that, we decide when it’s best for you to skedaddle out of town.”
“And what about us?” she asked. “Can we, well, keep seeing each other like this?”
“No. I don’t think that would be wise.”
He had not told Holly about Jade. But Jade offered them the perfect solution. If only he could convince her to become the front for both of them. Jerry wondered how Jade would react to that proposition. None too good, he bet. And if she really loved him, she would flatly refuse to do it.
And then Holly, seeming to guess what he was thinking, asked from the darkness, “So who’s been your front with that world?”
He sighed, laughed, then blurted out everything about Jade. Holly just laid there listening and afterward, said nothing for a time. “So let me get this straight,” she finally said. “You’ve been fucking some whore all these months. A fucking whore? What the fuck diseases did I just catch?”
“No diseases,” Jerry said. “I had her checked. She’s perfectly clean.” Then he got pissed. “And look who’s calling who a whore. You’re the biggest whore of all time. A murderous fucking whore.”
She launched a vicious slap but Jerry caught it and squeezed her wrist around.
“You’re hurting me,” she cried as she tried to wrench out of his grasp.
“Calm the fuck down,” he told her. “I . . . love you.”
That stopped her and he let her fall onto her back and snivel for a time before leaning over her and telling her again, as sincerely and softly as he could, “I love you.”
“What about her?” she asked. “That whore?”
“Don’t call her that,” he said. “She’s come a long way from that.” He sighed. “And no,” he said. “I don’t know what it is about her. But she was there for me when I needed someone. When you-”
Holly reached for him.
“I’m sorry, Jerry,” she said. “So sorry. It was Jeff. Goddamn Jeff.”
Jerry held her. The bottom line, he finally decided, was that he loved her. And after another moment, he decided that he loved Jade as well.
“And so,” Jerry said, deciding for both of them, “you become my anonymous soul mate. Come down with me to Florida, and I'll put you up in a house I’ll buy in the name of one of our LLCs. I’ll tell her— Jade— that I bought it as an investment, a just in case place.”
“So, what’s she look like?” Holly asked, whining a little, and maybe worried that Jade was prettier than her.
Jerry laughed as he reached over to the night table for the cell phone. It was in Jade’s name, of course. He quickly found the media app and clicked upon Jade’s photograph. She was standing on the pool deck of their house in Florida in her bikini, her head cocked sideways, flashing a marvelously cocky smile. He loved that picture.
After a moment, he handed the phone over to Holly and watched her look at Jade’s photograph.
“She look familiar?”
Holly’s eyes narrowed into a deep scowl as she examined Jade’s picture.
“She’s your twin,” Jerry said. “Don’t you think?”
Holly looked at Jade’s picture a moment longer, huffed, then handed him back the phone.
“My twin?” she asked. “She’s an ugly skank.”
Jerry laughed. “She looks just like you.”
Chapter Forty
Fox had to sit there until almost eleven-thirty before the new guy left Holly Shaw’s house. For some reason, Fox had started referring to the new guy as “the third man.” Poor, murdered Jerry Shaw was the “first man,” and his murderer, Jeff Flaherty, was the “second man.” Now this mysterious new fellow, contestant number three, became “third man.” So Fox’s current mission in life had become to find out just who this “third man” was.
Fox had a hunch that the third man was no Johnny-come-lately, but had some connection with Holly Shaw that pre-dated her husband’s murder plot. And for some reason, Fox also thought the third man maybe even pre-dated Jeff Flaherty.
After calling Chief Reynolds with the Holly Shaw plea news, he used his laptop to conduct a national DMV search and learned that the Corolla being driven by the third man was registered to The Anonymity Group, LLC, a limited liability company registered a few months back in New Mexico. Because the Anonymity Group had been registered in New Mexico, the identity of the LLC’s owner was secret. The other curious thing was that the car had been registered in New York, with its yellow state plates, and an address for the Anonymity Group in Johnson City, of all places, an old rust belt town bordering Binghamton in south-central New York. Fox had also learned that the Corolla had been insured by a national company and he made a mental note to try and track down how the payments were being made. Even if it was likely done electrically, at least he would find out the location of the LLC’s bank account. And perhaps there’d be four million dollars in it.
Fox was able to get some geek back at Global headquarters to run a quick computer search and report to him that the Anonymity address on the Corolla’s vehicle registration was to a seventy-five-year-old clapboard double owned by one Michael Donovan. He gave Fox a number and Fox called Donovan who, after some hesitation, told him that the names of the current tenants. He had never heard of the Anonymity Group. But that might not mean anything because one of the tenants could have simply used the apartment address for that of Anonymity.
Fox felt frustrated by the lack of a definitive lead from all of this computer and phone play while following the third man back to the cheap motel out by Ralph Wilson Stadium where he was staying. The best and perhaps only way to get to the bottom of the mystery of the third man was to seek it from the horse’s mouth itself.
Fox pulled along the shoulder of the road and watched as Jerry parked in the mostly empty lot which wound around a squat, depressing two-story motel. Fox continued to watch through a set of binoculars as Jerry exited the car and clambered up a narrow stairwell along the side of the building to the second floor. Fox sharpened the focus of the lens until he could make out the room number, “221,” as Jerry fumbled with his key card, opened the door, and stepped inside.
With Jerry inside, Fox pulled into the lot and parked a few spots down from the third man’s Corolla. It was by now a few minutes past midnight. Fox had his plan and took a slow stroll around the motel, up the stairwell to the second floor, and onto the narrow walkway outside the rooms. He stopped in front of #221. The time was now or never to break the case.
He had to bang three times before the guy approached the door and asked who was it, what did he want.
“Name’s Jack Fox,” Fox said. “I’m an investigator with Global Life and Casualty. I was wondering if I could have a couple minutes of your time.”
Jerry started hyperventilating, suddenly scared. But that was the old Jerry Shaw’s way of thinking, and he was the new Jerry Shaw. A superhero. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
“Yeah?” Jerry asked. “Li
ke what kind of things?”
“Well, to start,” Fox said, “Holly Shaw.”
“She’s just an old friend,” Jerry said through the door. “I knew she’s been going through a tough time, with this trial and all. I wanted to give her some friendly advice.”
“And you gave her that advice,” Fox asked, “with a kiss?” Jerry kept quiet for a time, considering his options.
“What’s that got to do with anything?” Jerry finally asked. “The point is, or should be, that she took my advice and did the right thing in court today.”
“But why the kiss?”
“Let’s just say we’re old friends.”
“Why don’t you just let me inside a few minutes so we can talk face-to-face,” said Fox.
“I’m sorry, Mister Fox,” Jerry said, “but I was about to go to sleep.”
“Did she tire you out?”
“What?”
“At the house, did her grieving tire you out,” Fox said. “I saw that you visited her tonight.”
“Good night, Mister Fox,” said Jerry. “And if you refuse to leave, I’ll call down to the desk clerk and have him to call the police to escort you off this property.”
“Look,” Fox said, “just one minute is all I ask.”
Jerry thought a moment, and decided there’d probably be no harm talking with Fox face to face, see what he knew. And anyway, it would be dumb to get the police involved. With a sick grin, he let Fox into his cramped motel room.
Jerry sat on the edge of the lumpy bed while Fox pulled an armless chair away from a small, cheap oak veneer desk. Jerry was wearing sweats and a t-shirt, while Fox looked uncomfortable in jeans that seemed a waist size too small and a light blue dress shirt that was also too tight for his body.
“So how do you know Holly Shaw?” Fox asked, going for the jugular straight off.
“We met in college, years ago,” Jerry said. “We were boyfriend and girlfriend for a short time before she met Jerry Shaw. But it ended almost as soon as it started, and we just became good friends. Anyway, she and I never completely lost touch.” Jerry shrugged. “So when I heard what was happening up here, how she had been arrested and all that, I couldn’t resist coming back here, showing my support.”
“So what happened when you came back up here? I mean, you and Mrs. Shaw seemed pretty friendly in the parking garage yesterday.”
“You followed us?”
“It's my job,” Fox said. “So what did she tell you? In between kisses?”
“Look,” Jerry said, “you got to put me on the stand if you want to know that.”
“The DA just might do that,” Fox said.
“Screw that,” Jerry said. “She didn't say anything.”
“Mind telling me your name?” Fox asked. “Name’s Gordon,” Jerry said. “Alan Gordon.”
It was the first name that popped into Jerry’s head. An old college chum. And funny thing was, Alan Gordon had really been an early boyfriend of Holly, freshman year. It wouldn’t take long for Fox to discover that the real Alan Gordon was an accountant living in Queens.
While Fox sat before him with a serious frown, Jerry decided that was it. He had to stop right there. “Look, Mr. Fox, I think that’s all you need to know.”
Fox shrugged and looked about the room. As he was looking, he asked, “Mind telling me what the Anonymity Group is, Mr. Gordon?”
That question threw Jerry for a loop. This Fox fellow was good.
Jerry tried not to show his concern. “It’s, it’s my company,”
Jerry said. “We sell computer programs. You know, software.”
“I see.” Fox turned and focused upon Jerry.
“Made me a lot of money,” Jerry said. He was still unsure where this was going, but he now knew that he had to end this inquisition soon, and reformulate his plan. “Look, Mister Fox,” he said with a yawn, “I’ve given you your minute. I'm tired.”
Fox nodded and looked around the room. “You said you live where?”
“I didn’t say,” Jerry said. He thought quickly. He knew the Corolla was registered to Anonymity, and the registration’s address was Johnson City, Jade’s old apartment. Jerry felt there could be no harm in telling Fox that.
“Johnson City,” he said.
Fox nodded. He kept a poker face, but Jerry knew he wasn’t buying what Jerry was selling. He kept squinting at Jerry in a funny way and Jerry was growing more than a little frightened that he had pushed his luck. But Fox just kept staring.
“She didn’t tell you anything about the money, then?” Fox asked from out of nowhere. “Mrs. Shaw. The insurance money?”
“Sorry, Mister Fox,” Jerry said. “She didn’t say anything to me about insurance money. How much did you say was missing?”
“Well,” Fox said, seeming almost embarrassed by it, “almost four million dollars.”
Jerry whistled.
“Holy!” he said. “No, she didn’t mention it. Didn’t come up.”
As he sat there, Fox decided that he, and Global, would have been better served had he waited them out. Had he done so, Holly Shaw and Flaherty and perhaps the third man might have led him to the money. Fox stood and a wave of relief coursed through Jerry.
“Well,” Fox said and stuck out a hand, “good night, Mr.
Gordon. It’s been a pleasure.”
“Likewise,” said Jerry, and shook Fox’s hand.
Fox left the motel feeling that he had been a fool or made a fool of or a combination of both. Back at his hotel room, he Googled Alan Gordon and didn’t find much, mostly irrelevant links. The name was just too damned common. He did a Lexis-Nexus, and visited several skip tracing sites the company had on retainer, and found out a lot about several Alan Gordon’s, including a guy living in Queens who had attended the State University of New York at Binghamton during the time in question. He found a number and decided, despite it being almost two in the morning, he’d risk waking the guy up. An answering machine picked up and a metallic voice told him Alan Gordon was unavailable and to leave a message. Fox decided against that and simply hung up. He’d call back later.
Fox nodded off on his chair at the hotel desk peering at his computer screen. He woke up at quarter to three in the morning with a start. An epiphany had hit him, the idea that this Gordon fellow may have been behind the incriminating emails, his way of removing Flaherty from Holly's life with him stepping conveniently into the void. Why not? A man in love would do almost anything for his beloved.
He yawned and decided he needed to get some sleep. He wanted to be up early to call back Alan Gordon. Fox turned out the light over his laptop, closed it and stumbled to bed. But he had a hard time falling asleep. That guy, Alan Gordon, kept bothering him. The story was bogus, he knew. The guy must be someone else. Fox just couldn’t figure out who.
At some point, after tossing and turning a long while, sleep finally came.
Chapter Forty-One
The moment Fox left his motel, Jerry was on the phone with Holly.
“Major change of plans,” he told her after she answered groggily. “We have to leave town tonight. Now. Pronto.” After a pause, added, “So you aren’t gonna have to testify against Jeff after all.”
Holly asked what had happened, and he told her about Fox’s visit.
Jerry knew that they didn’t have much time. Fox’s first order of business, no doubt, would be to check the Alan Gordon story. The proverbial house of cards would start to collapse after that. Hopefully, the search for Alan Gordon wouldn’t start until the morning. By then, he and Holly needed to be long gone. The problem with it was that Holly would never get to testify against Jeff Flaherty once she became a fugitive, and that meant Jeff would likely go free. There would be no ultimate revenge against the one character who really deserved it. Well, so did Holly, but he was in love with her. But what other choice did he have now?
“So where we going?”
“Florida,” he told her.
“But what about your girl?�
�� Holly asked.
“Look, she’s not my girl,” Jerry said, knowing that wasn’t true. She was his girl, but so was Holly. “I’ll put you up in a hotel, down near my house. We’ll figure something out later.”
But he had no idea what he was going to tell Jade. And then the thought came to him— maybe he didn’t have to tell her anything at all.
“What about that guy, Fox?” Holly asked. “What are you going to do about him?”
“Don’t worry about him,” Jerry said. “I don’t think he has any idea who I am, or that we need to run.”
“What do you think Jeff’ll do?” she asked, “if he gets off without my testimony.”
“We’ll be long gone by then,” Jerry said, Bastard might get off, Jerry thought. But Jeff wouldn’t have a clue where to look for them. He’d be broke, tired. It was unlikely that they’d have anything to worry about from him. Still, it troubled Jerry that he’d always have to wonder where he was, whether he was looking. Or whether Holly would be tempted, and give in to the temptation, of contacting Jeff.
But Jerry couldn’t think about all that now. He had to get them moving.
Allowing Holly back into his life had certainly added a stressful factor into the neat little equation for anonymous financial security and freedom he had calculated simply with Jade as the front solely for him.
Jerry looked at the time. It was late, way late, but he still needed to call Jade. She was likely already long past the panic stage.
The phone rang only once before she answered.
“Where the hell were you?” Jade asked. “Fucking that skank?”
“No way,” he told her with a forced laugh. “I was here, sleeping. I fell asleep.”
“When you coming home?” Jade asked after a time, more mellow now. “I saw on the internet that she pled.”
“I’m leaving in the morning,” he told her. “First thing.”
“You still love her, don’t you?”
The Anonymous Man Page 20