Rising Darkness

by T. S. Worthington

  “Well, maybe on this one you just snapped. Any particular reason you have not talked to him at all about any of this? He wasn’t even aware you had hired a private investigator or that you had this evidence on him. You would think that is the sort of thing a wife might mention to her husband after she catches him in the act of infidelity.”

  “Our marriage is a bit strained. I have been working my way up to talking to him about this. I was debating on whether to file for divorce once and for all or if I want to give him one more chance. I know he is using again; when he is not using then he is the most trustworthy man I know. But when he is on that drug it’s like sex becomes a drug and one woman won’t begin to satisfy him.”

  “Well, if either of you had anything to do with Tracy’s murder then I will find it out. It’s really just a matter of time.”

  With that he was out the door. He had upset her quite a bit and he could see that she was almost on the verge of tears when he walked out the door. Alex had never considered himself sadistic, but when it came to suspects who might have murdered a great lady like Tracy then it all came out of him a bit.

  He stepped off the elevator to the parking garage at the third floor and walked towards his car. It had taken forever to find a space earlier, but now that the day was basically over and people were leaving half the parking lot was empty.

  Alex was looking forward to going home and having a few cold ones in his Jacuzzi. He felt that he was off to a good start with the investigation. Both Robin and his wife had made valid points about the cops not investigating this sort of thing, but Alex knew that they had pretty much targeted Joe for the murder. He was the easiest target, he was rich and quasi-famous, and the people wanted him to fry for it. That was often all it took with a case like this.

  It was up to him to dig up some new and compelling evidence before the wheels were set too far in motion to prosecute Joe and send him to prison. He did not have a lot of time. He could see this moving to trial within a month.

  He pressed his key fob and heard his car unlock down at the bottom of the parking garage. He hated parking garages with a passion. It was just the clumsiest way that he could see to house a bunch of cars. It usually took him forever to find his car and when he did find it then it was always a huge let down to see how far from the door he had really parked.

  He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he almost did not hear the engine roaring behind him. The keys in his hand jingled softly, echoing off the loud echoes that were rampant in the parking garage, but he could see no one else on his level.

  Alex stopped a moment and looked around. For some strange reason he had the feeling that he was being watched. He glanced around and saw no one. It was a thing that he’d always had every time he was in a parking garage. He felt like he was just on display and that there was someone behind every car or behind every huge concrete post that held the next level overhead above him.

  He was almost halfway to his car when he heard the tires squealing behind him as the gas was hit. Alex whirled around just in time to see a car barreling towards him at full blast speed. He was not sure how he found the superhuman agility to leap out of the way, just narrowly missing being hit by the roaring automobile. He landed hard on the concrete, busting his shoulder so hard that he thought it may have been out of socket for a few seconds as he tried to regain his feet.

  The car slammed on the brakes and turned around. It was going to try to get him again. Alex saw now that the car that had just tried to run him over was a van. It was painted totally white. It had no windows except for on the front of the car. He had no idea who or how many people might have been in that van. Whoever it was wanted him dead. There was no doubt about that.

  He wasn’t sure if he could make it to his car in time before the van got to him. It was a long run, but it was about equal distance to the door. There was nowhere for him to run and hide. He had to think of something and he had to think fast.

  The van floored the accelerator and came rushing towards him again. Alex knew that if he ran it would just run him down. He couldn’t outrun the van, even in the parking garage. There were not a lot of places to hide. He was just going to have to trick the driver and out maneuver it until he could get in his car and get out of here, or the security guards saw what was happening and came to assist. He was not sure which would be quicker.

  He waited until the van was almost on him and then he dove again to the side, careful not to land this time on his hurting shoulder. He hit the hard pavement and continued to roll until he was on his feet again. This time he was not waiting to see where the van was. Alex saw the break he had been given and he was going to take it. He ran towards the end of the parking lot.

  In seconds he was inside of his car. He felt secure for a second, but he knew that the van was going to come after him again. He felt a little safer in the car, but he knew that the van could still crush him in there if it really wanted.

  Glancing in his rearview he saw nothing. The van was gone. It had vanished. Had it decided that he was too safe in the car? Did the driver figure that they were out of time here and that security would be all over in a few minutes? He wasn’t sure what to think. Alex just sat there for several seconds trying to catch his breath.

  The threat was gone for the moment. Was it Robin? Jess? Had Jess called in a favor that quickly to teach him a lesson? Was that even possible before he had got out of the building?

  It had to be Robin. He was scared that Alex was getting to close to putting the cuffs on his wife. He might be without his meal ticket if he let that happen. What if it was neither one of them? Could there be someone who was following him? Was there someone else they had not even thought of?

  He had to know.

  ****

  “So, there is nothing on the security footage? No license plate on this car? You didn’t find any tire tracks there at all? That thing was burning rubber, Max.”

  Alex sat back down frustrated. He was in the office of Max Caulson, the chief of police. He had decided to stir things up a bit by going to the law enforcement professionals that he hated. He figured that maybe if they caught a whiff of what he was on the verge of uncovering it might get them to reconsider their position and he might even get a bit of help before he ended up getting himself killed.

  “No, Alex. There is no evidence there except for the video footage. We will put out an APB and have everyone keep their eyes peeled, but it’s not exactly a unique looking van. There has to be a million of these around. And you want to know the secret to an all-white van? You can paint it anything you want. That van could be completely tie dyed by now or it could have every single color of the rainbow painted all over it. Who knows? We can’t go by that.”

  “I realize all of this,” Alex said. He was getting pissed at being given the runaround and he was getting pissed at the contempt that he was picking up in the chief’s voice. “But I was almost murdered here and I get the suspicion that you couldn’t care less.”

  “Alex, we have the footage and we have the van description out. That is all we have to go on. We don’t have any reason or any evidence to back up your claim that Robin or Jess Lydell had anything to do with this.”

  “Did you check her phone records? See who she called? Did you check his? Does Robin have an alibi since the time I left him?”

  The chief sighed deeply as if he was getting so sick and tired of talking to Alex. It was evident that the chief and everybody else on the force had made up their mind on who they wanted for this thing and it was Joe Payden. Anything else that Alex was dropping into their world was just going to mess that up and they could not allow that.

  “I know why you are going to all of this trouble. You are trying to save your buddy. But I hate to tell you the man is guilty as sin. We all know it and the evidence is going to convince the jury to send him away for a long time.”

  “Wow, can’t believe you just came right out and admitted it. I’m not going to let thi
s go. I know my friend is innocent and I will get to the bottom of this.”

  Alex stormed out of the office and into the warm spring night. He was just reminded of exactly why he did not practice criminal law. It was worse than corporate law with all of the unscrupulousness that went on with it. Only in criminal law someone lost their entire life and not just their money. The entire justice system was a sham and Alex was wondering what it said about him to have practiced it for fifteen years. He was getting closer to hanging up his hat on it every single day.

  He was still not remotely convinced that Robin and Jess were innocent, not by a long shot. He was going to put the screws to the both of them.

  Chapter 7: Cat and Mouse

  Joe listened as Alex finished telling him the whole story. It was like something out of a horror film or something. Someone had tried to kill his best friend. And if they had succeeded Joe would have felt partly responsible. Alex was trying to help save his life after all, but things were getting too dangerous. When was enough going to be enough? Maybe there really was no way to beat this thing, but just hope that he got a good jury who was unbiased against him and that he could have a fair trial. The jury had to see past all of the circumstantial evidence that the state had collected against him.

  Joe looked around, thankful that his girls were not awake yet. That was a trait that all the women in his family seemed to share—they were all deep sleepers and hardly anything could disturb them before they caught at least nine hours. It was ridiculous. He himself could not remember when he had slept longer than six hours in a night. He had too much energy and he had too many things that he wanted to accomplish every day. There were not enough hours and if his body would function on less sleep he would gladly let it.

  “I want you to call this thing off,” Joe said. He had reached a decision.

  “What? What are you talking about?” Alex asked.

  “It’s getting too dangerous. If there is someone now after you then they know you are investigating this and that you must be getting close. Something you did scared them enough to try to get you out of the picture.”

  “Ok, that is what I want. I want to flush these assholes out of hiding. Eventually they will give themselves away. That is the idea,” Alex said.

  “I know, but it’s getting too dangerous. I can’t’ let you continue to put your life on the line for me,” Joe said.

  “Joe, you are my best friend. I would do this in a heartbeat no matter what. I am not going to let you rot in jail the rest of your life for a crime that I know you did not commit.”

  Joe smiled weakly. He was touched by Alex’s loyalty. The man was a great friend and Joe considered him to be the brother he had never had.

  “I know how you feel. I appreciate it, but I can’t let you continue to risk your life to save mine. If something happens to you then I would never be able to live with myself.”

  “Joe, I am doing this with or without your blessing. I’m not going to just let it lie. You will lose this case if it goes to trial. You know that right?”

  “I do, yes.”

  Joe sat back down on the couch and tried to relax.

  “So, you really think that Robin Lydell attacked you in the parking garage?”

  “If not him then it was someone who works for Jess Lydell,” Alex said.

  “Ok, so we need to tail them both?”

  “I was thinking of that, but I’m sure they will pick up on it. They have the resources available to stay a few steps ahead of us at all times,” Alex said.

  Just then Alex’s phone rang. He saw that it was the PI Dyer calling him.

  “Speak of the devil,” Alex said as he answered the phone. Joe was looking forward to the updates to find out what new info Dyer had uncovered.

  “What? What is it?” Joe asked. He could see the color fading from Alex’s face. His skin was ashen now. Alex looked as if he might puke all over the floor. There was something bad happening on that phone call and all Joe could do was wait until Alex regained his bearings enough to tell him what was wrong.

  Alex disconnected the call a few minutes later and he looked right at Joe. He looked like he was about to pass out and Joe felt the sickness echoing inside of his own body right then.

  “What? What happened?” Joe asked.

  “Jess and Robin Lydell are both dead,” Alex said.

  “What? How?”

  “Someone stabbed them both to death in different rooms of their home.”

  “Jesus, when?”

  “Just a bit ago. The maid found them when she came back from doing some shopping. She was gone only an hour. Whoever did it knew their schedule very well and waited for the perfect time to strike.”

  “This is getting serious. Why would someone kill them?” Joe asked.

  “Maybe I was getting too close and they thought that the Lydell’s were loose ends,” Alex said. His voice was echoing in the air as a stiff monotone. It was unnatural for him. Joe felt the fear trembling through him and it echoed his own concern.

  “Like I said, man. This is getting too hot. You got to let this go, or any one of us might be next.”

  “This is like some sort of a weird nightmare. It really is like a dream I can’t wake up from. I have to be thinking that I got those people killed. I jumped to conclusions and I somehow put them on the killer’s radar. This is all my fault,” Alex began.

  “You had no way of knowing this was going to happen. You can’t blame yourself that way, man.”

  Alex looked at him with emptiness in his eyes. He had lost it a little bit, and Joe knew it. He didn’t know what he could do for his friend, but just try to keep him level.

  “Wait, you said that Jess swore that Robin was using again right? Maybe this thing is drug related after all?” Joe asked.

  “What do you mean? Tracy never took any drugs; you said so yourself.”

  “That doesn’t mean she wasn’t dating a drug dealer and it doesn’t mean that she wasn’t in the wrong place at the wrong time. She might have been a message or she might have seen something that she was not supposed to see,” Joe said. The thoughts that were swirling around in his head about his wife were sickening. He wished to hell he had never even thought of these things but it was tough to take that sort of thing out of him. He had a naturally inquisitive mind.

  “Who the hell was Tracy? It seems like she might have had a double life that no one knew about,” Alex asked.

  Joe looked at him knowingly. There were a bunch of things in his head that were starting to break open about Tracy.

  He had to find out more.

  ****

  An hour later Joe was holed up in the bedroom he had shared with Tracy for so many years. He had known his wife was a private person and he had always been ok with that sine he himself was a private person. She had some of her own friends and they went off on the town a few times a month and he didn’t really know them or where she was going. He had been so wrapped up in his work and the fact that he trusted his wife probably more than he should have.

  Now it was time to play catch up and find out what she was really doing. Joe started by going through all of her social media and emails. He knew that she kept her passwords for all of her stuff written down on a special program on her laptop. He opened the laptop and typed in the code he had seen her type in thousands of times. She was not paranoid about him looking at her laptop because she had it set up that she had to enter all of the passwords to any of her social media or email every time it happened.

  He spent the better part of an hour going through her emails and pretty much any online presence she had at all before he found anything that might have been useful. She was friends on Facebook with someone named Heather Myers. Heather was not someone that Joe was familiar with. He would have remembered her because she was so strikingly beautiful. She had an element of danger about her and that combined with her raw sex appeal was a lethal combination.

  Heather’s husband wa
s a man named John. He was a diesel mechanic and Heather it looked like was a hanger on. She was the type of woman, judging by her profile that would find wealthy people and pretend to be one of them just so she could hang on and live the lifestyle for a bit.

  The reason this friendship stuck out at Joe was because there were several lengthy conversations on the Facebook messenger between her and Tracy. He was wondering why they just did not text, but he found his answer in the first few Facebook messages. It stated that Heather’s husband did not let her have friends outside of the ones that he knew and approved of. It seems that Heather had found herself married at eighteen to a man who was almost thirty and was a bit of an abusive drunk.

  Tracy it seems was sort of mentoring Heather on how to be a proper upper crust society lady. But it must have been happening at parties that Joe was never invited to or simply declined, which was most parties. He hated to mingle and he always felt guilty when he wasn’t working.

  As he read through the exchanges between Heather and Tracy Joe became increasingly concerned. Heather’s messages and concerns about her husband were becoming more and more afraid. She claimed that he had hired someone to follow her around night and day to check on her whereabouts and to constantly report back to him about everything. She was starting to feel a bit like a prisoner in her own home and she was afraid to go anywhere or ever to so much as exchange a hello to anybody. He would find out about it and berate her incessantly.

  Joe wondered if John was capable of murder. He sounded like the kind of man that was capable of just about anything. Joe had never dealt with someone who was this paranoid and scatterbrained before and it was frankly a little bit scary. People like that were not in possession of their full mental faculties.

  He decided that he was going to have a little chat with John, but first he needed to find out a bit more. There was a lot more reading to go through. As he continued reading Heather’s messages to Tracy he started to get the picture that John’s behavior had become increasingly violent and that he was physically abusive to his wife. She had even considered leaving him, but she was terrified that he would track her down and that he would kill her.