Double Trouble

by Scott Wittenburg

  “I see what you’re getting at. Yeah, go ahead and see what you can find out. And if there’s any chance at all that you can put a rush on it, I’ll make it worth your while.”

  “If there was some way to make a day longer than twenty-four hours I would be a rich man, my friend. But I’ll see what I can do—can’t promise anything, though.”

  “I appreciate it. Can you shoot me a copy of what you just read me?”

  “It’s on the way.”

  “Great, thanks, Charlie.”

  “See you.”

  Shit!

  At least the authorities never saw this. Had they searched Jodi’s hard drive as thoroughly as they should have, Nick would already be in jail. This email correspondence was not only damning to Nick’s claim of innocence but it could be perceived as having an undertone of threat to Jodi’s life.

  Get a life, you say? We’ll see about that. See you in Hell, bitch!

  Nick’s word could just as well as said, I’m going to take your life and join you in Hell after I kill myself, too.

  Jesus, and all of this happened on the night of May 28—just two days before Jodi was murdered. The timeline of the email exchanges couldn’t be any more incriminating.

  Nick was probably sober when he wrote the first one at 8:35 and then had a couple of hours of drinking before receiving Jodi’s reply at 11:05. An hour and a few drinks later, after pondering his ex-wife’s total rejection of him and any future with him, he sent back his scathing response. A day later, he takes off for Milldale, a man on a mission to murder his ex-wife.

  Alan wondered how much more could happen to point to Nick’s guilt? All of these things were piling up. Piling up into a big mass of crap.

  He groaned and recalled Amanda’s call and noticed that she’d left a voicemail. He played it back:

  “Alan, I need to talk to you. Please pick up!” A pause and then, “Call me ASAP. We’ve got a major problem down here.”

  Now what? he thought and returned her call.

  “What’s up?” he said when she answered.

  “Nick’s been missing since yesterday,” she replied.

  “You’re shitting me.”

  “I shit you not. The last time his parents saw him was yesterday evening. He’s not answering his phone and so far not a soul has seen him since.”

  “Man, I can’t believe this! I just got done talking to my computer hacker friend. You aren’t gonna believe what he found on Jodi’s laptop.”

  Alan told her about the email exchange that Jodi had deleted and Charlie had been able to retrieve.

  “Fuck!” she cried. “And now he’s probably blown town! What do you make of this?”

  “Hell, anybody with half a brain is going to think he’s guilty, he’s gotten paranoid that he’s gonna get thrown in jail so now he’s gotten the hell out of Dodge.”

  “And you think that, too?”

  “Gee, at least give me credit for having half a brain! Seriously, it doesn’t look good at all. Between the damning evidence on Jodi’s laptop, the circumstantial evidence that’s already been found and now his sudden disappearance I think he’s already cooked his own goose. And even if he didn’t murder Jodi, no jury is going to believe it. That’s what I think.”

  “Unless we find another suspect,” Amanda said.

  “Unless we find another suspect that can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that he’s the one who robbed and murdered Jodi Wilburn, not Nick Wilburn. That’s not looking too likely so far.”

  “This is so screwed up, Alan. What are we going to do if I can’t find Nick before the sheriff discovers he’s missing?”

  “We can’t let that happen. You need to find him, and I mean real soon.”

  “That’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to ask around town if anybody’s seen him in the last twelve hours. If I don’t have any luck, I’m driving to Richmond.”

  “Don’t waste your time in Milldale. Go to Richmond now. Not only is that the most likely place he would have gone, there’s no problem if he’s still in Milldale. Maybe your uncle could be looking in town in the meantime.”

  “You’re right—why didn’t I think of that?”

  “You’re not looking at this from another perspective, that’s all.”

  “Guess that’s why we make such a good pair, eh?”

  “There you go.”

  “I’m going to call Uncle Ken and get Nick’s home address in Richmond. Then I’m heading there. I’ll call you if I have any luck.”

  “Be sure to. Good luck, kiddo.”

  “Thanks, I’ll need it.”

  Alan felt a huge wave of anxiety as he disconnected. The Wilburn case was swiftly heading even further south. He regretted thinking it, but Amanda may have to start getting used to the idea that her old friend murdered his ex-wife. The evidence is overwhelming and Nick’s quite aware of it. So there’s nothing left for him to do but either turn himself in or run away.

  He’s apparently chosen the latter.

  CHAPTER 18

  At two o’clock Amanda pulled onto the exit ramp for Richmond. Although the town was only a couple of hours west of Columbus it had taken her over three hours to make the trip all the way from Milldale.

  Before leaving she had informed Uncle Ken of Alan’s insistence that she immediately drive to the Indiana border town to search for Nick. Although her uncle had questioned why she wasn’t searching Milldale before embarking on a road trip that might be a red herring, he relented and agreed to continue the search at home in the meantime.

  Now Amanda was beginning to feel that Alan’s advice was sound—Ken had had no luck at all in the past three hours. He hadn’t come across a single person who had seen Nick in the last eighteen hours.

  She entered the city limits and referred to the Jeep’s GPS to find Nick’s home. He lived on North Twentieth Street not far from Glen Miller Park so she proceeded west on Main Street. Minutes later she slowed down as she approached the park and found North Twentieth a couple blocks further.

  Hanging a right hand turn, she crept along, noting that the neighborhood appeared to be pretty worn down. This was evidently not one of the better parts of town. She held her breath as she approached Nick’s house and didn’t see his car parked along the curb. She could only hope it was parked in the driveway. She pulled over and anxiously glanced to her right. There it sat—Nick’s blue RAV4 parked outside his garage. Amanda breathed a sigh of relief.

  She darted up to the front door and rang the doorbell. When there was no answer, she knocked on the door persistently. She then ran around to the rear of the house, went up to the back door and pounded on it, feeling a mounting sense of anger and frustration. Was he ignoring her? He had to be—there was no way he hadn’t heard her. The house wasn’t that big.

  She decided to take a peek in his SUV. The door was unlocked so she opened it and looked around. Besides a cardboard box sitting on the backseat, the car was empty. She dialed his number on her cell and let it ring until the voicemail kicked in. As expected, no reply.

  Suddenly she felt a fit of panic. What if he was in there and had done something foolish? Like killing himself. Without thinking, she ran over and tried opening the back door. It was locked. She picked up an empty flowerpot off the porch and smashed it into the window. Reaching her hand in through the broken glass she unlocked the door and entered.

  She was in the kitchen. There were no lights on and the place looked as though it hadn’t been touched in days. There were no signs of any dishes being used, the stove and coffee maker were cold to the touch.

  Amanda felt her heart pounding hard in her chest as she traversed the kitchen and entered the living room. The place was neat but smelled musty. Had Nick ever thought to open a window to let in some fresh air?

  She had expected to see some sign of Nick’s presence but there was nothing. The place was dead quiet. She entered a small room but there wasn’t a stick of furniture in it—just a bicycle and a few boxes piled up against the wal
l. She went over to the front door and paused before climbing the stairs to the second floor.

  Halfway up she thought she heard a squeaking noise coming from one of the rooms. When she reached the top she approached the bedroom and stuck her head in. A small lamp on the nightstand was turned on and at the foot of the bed sat a travel bag.

  She felt a huge rush of relief and smiled. Nick was okay.

  As Amanda headed toward the end of the hall she heard the sound of running water coming through one of the doors. She went over and knocked on it.

  “Nick, you in there?”

  “Mandy?” she heard him say.

  The door swung open and Nick stood there with a towel wrapped around his waist. His hair was still wet from a shower.

  “I’m so glad to see you!” Amanda cried. “Why did you leave town without telling anybody? And why haven’t you answered your phone?”

  “I couldn’t take it any longer. So I left.”

  “What do you mean, Nick?”

  “I just couldn’t stay there any longer. I heard what’s been going on with the investigation and they are definitely going to nail my ass. It’s useless! Then I started thinking about Jodi and how much I miss her. Jesus, how I miss her! And now she’s gone, and I’m the one everybody in that fucking town thinks killed her!”

  The rage she saw in his eyes startled her. She thought back to the email he had sent Jodi and it dawned on her that maybe Nick wasn’t above being angry enough to become violent.

  But violent enough to murder his ex-wife? She hoped not.

  “Calm down, Nick! First of all, you can’t believe everything you hear in that stupid town. It’s nothing but a big rumor mill and you know it. Second of all, not everybody thinks you did this. I for one, and practically everybody else who knows how much you loved Jodi.”

  “I appreciate that, but the folks that really matter are the ones who are convinced I did it. Like the sheriff and the rest of them. I am so screwed.”

  “They haven’t even charged you with anything—or have you forgotten that? And I happen to know that you’re not their only suspect.”

  His eyes widened. “You’re kidding, right? Seriously?”

  “Seriously.”

  “Who?”

  “Look, why don’t you finish getting dressed and then we’ll talk.”

  He looked down at himself as if noticing for the first time he was dripping wet wearing only a towel.

  “Okay.”

  “I’ll be waiting downstairs.”

  Amanda returned to the kitchen, found a glass in one of the cabinets and filled it with tap water. Half of her was relieved that she’d found Nick. The other half was beginning to have serious doubts about him.

  That frightened her.

  She wasn’t sure what it was that all of a sudden made her feel that way. Part of it no doubt stemmed from hearing about the horrible email he had sent Jodi only a couple of days before she was murdered. Now that it had had time to settle in, she discovered that a side of Nick she had never known existed before. Anger. Anger at the fact that his ex-wife had refused to take him back and that she had told him to leave her alone forever.

  And just a moment ago she had seen what that anger looked like in his eyes. For a split second she had actually thought he might strike something when his anger raged, maybe even her. For that split second she was afraid of him and what he might do.

  She swallowed a gulp of water and tried to rationalize. This was Nick she was talking about. Her childhood friend who had been so funny and kind to everyone he knew. The man who had fallen in love with the love of his life in the seventh grade and whom he had been happily married to all those years.

  And, the man who had once told his wife that she, Amanda Linville, had actually been his first girlfriend. When Summer Moore had told her that, Amanda hadn’t believed it because it didn’t make any sense. She and Nick had always been nothing more than just friends. Never once had he so much as hinted that he ever liked her in a romantic way.

  Yet, for some reason he had told Jodi something different—probably because he wanted to make Jodi jealous. Or so she thought. Had that been the case or was there something else to it? Anything seemed possible now that she had glimpsed the dark side of Nick Wilburn.

  “A cold beer would taste a lot better than that shitty water,” he said as he burst into the kitchen.

  Amanda nearly jumped out of her skin. “Jesus, you scared me Nick!”

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to. Would you like something else to drink?”

  “No, this is fine.”

  “Suit yourself. I’m having an ice cold Bud.”

  He went over to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of beer.

  “So let’s talk,” he said, screwing off the cap. “Who’s the other suspect?”

  Amanda was still trying to collect herself after Nick’s abrupt entry. Why did she think he had done that on purpose?

  “I found out that the sheriff thinks his son could have done it.”

  “You’re shitting me—Mark Foley, you mean?”

  She nodded. “Yes. Apparently Mark has a gambling addiction and his old man thinks he robbed Jodi to pay off some debts.”

  He laughed. “That’s ridiculous! First of all, how would Mark even know Jodi had her entire inheritance locked up in a safe in our house? There’s no way—no one knew that but her and me. Plus, why would he kill Jodi if all he wanted was to rob her? Doesn’t make sense. And his old man actually believes this?”

  “He does. And whether he’s wrong or not, now you know that he’s not putting all of his cards on you. That should make you feel better.”

  “Well it doesn’t, because I think it’s total bullshit. I’m sorry, but he must have made all of this crap up for some reason—who knows what that might be. All I know is that Sheriff Foley is just trying to get you to think things might be looking better for me in this nightmare. Maybe to get you to back off your own investigation. You ever think of that?”

  “No, I haven’t. Because that’s not what all of this is about. I truly believe he’s telling the truth.”

  “And why hasn’t any other soul in town ever said something about this?”

  “Because he’s trying to keep it a secret. He doesn’t want it to get around for obvious reasons.”

  “And why are you the privileged one?”

  “Because Mark told me. The sheriff sure didn’t. ”

  “This is getting crazier by the minute! Why in the hell would Mark of all people admit to you that his dad thinks he murdered my wife? That’s ridiculous!”

  “I honestly don’t know why. All I know is that he told me, and I believe him.”

  Nick took several slugs of Bud, nearly draining it.

  “It’s bullshit.”

  “Whether you want to believe it or not, you need to go back to Milldale, Nick. If the sheriff finds out you left town, he will not hesitate to lock you up. Uncle Ken is absolutely beside himself that you took off. All this will do is make you look even guiltier—and that’s certainly not what you need right now.”

  “Mandy, I appreciate your faith in the system—I really do. But I can tell you right now that I’m the one who’s gonna fry for this. Can’t you see? It’s useless to think that I’m going to somehow be magically pardoned. I don’t give a shit if the sheriff thinks Mark did it or not—there’s no way he’s going to charge his own son with murder. So it comes right back to my ass. I lose, no matter what.”

  Amanda knew there was a good possibility that what Nick was saying was true. She was losing faith in him and everything else at the moment. She had to know if Nick was guilty or not, if for no other reason to restore her faith in mankind.

  “Can I ask you something?” she said.

  “Sure.”

  “Did you ever discuss with Jodi about getting back together?”

  “Are you kidding? Of course I did. All the time. I tried everything I could think of to get her to give me another chance. But she just flat wouldn’
t do it.”

  “Did you ever threaten her?”

  “Threaten her? What do you mean?”

  “Like say something to the effect that if she didn’t take you back, she would regret it.”

  His expression changed dramatically. His indifference suddenly gave way to suspicion. “What are you getting at, Mandy? Why all these questions?”

  “I’m just curious.”

  “Sounds to me like you’re changing your mind. Like you don’t believe I didn’t do this.”

  “That’s not it at all. It’s just that we haven’t really even spoken about this—just the two of us. I’m curious about how your relationship with Jodi was after you guy’s split up. That’s all.”

  “All I can say is that she flat refused to forgive me for going out on her. I mean, she wouldn’t budge an inch. That drove me crazy because I figured that maybe things would cool down after a while and she’d change her mind—take me back. Give me a chance to redeem myself. But she couldn’t see it. She was like a fucking rock.”

  “And how did that make you feel?”

  “Not happy, that’s for sure. I mean, it pissed me off that she was being so fucking close-minded about everything. Like we had never had a great life together up until that time, or that I’d always treated her with respect. So I fuck up and all of that is suddenly water under the bridge. Fucking just like that! Didn’t matter how fucking hard I tried, she was done with me lock, stock and barrel. So yeah, it pissed me off.”

  “Enough to threaten her?”

  “Here we go again. Why do you keep asking me that? You know something I don’t know?”

  She could tell that he suspected something—he just wasn’t sure what it was.

  “These are the kinds of questions they would ask you in court, that’s all. They would try to determine if you had any sort of motive to kill Jodi. I guess you could say I’m playing the devil’s advocate. So what do you say?”

  “I may have threatened her a few times. Nothing serious, like I was going to hurt her or anything like that. More like she would regret her decision—that if she didn’t at least give me one chance she was making a big mistake. You know, shit like that.”