“Look, have you sat down and had a real good talk with Ava yet about this? It would probably help.”
“I haven’t seen her since the story broke on the news yesterday.”
“You owe her that much, Tori. Let her give her side of the story. She claims Riley's got a huge ego. He's getting even with her.”
“That's a crock. Why are you defending her?”
“I don’t care about her. It’s you. I don’t want you to get crazy and go do something to the woman, especially if she’s innocent. Get all the facts before you risk putting yourself behind bars."
“Simone, I’ll tell you,” Tori had to gulp and take a deep breath. She fought to keep her composure. “If that woman did this to Susy, I swear … I swear to you . . . “
Tori clenched a fist and raised it up beside her face. She knew that face was turning a deep pale.
“God help her. God, somebody, anybody . . . She’s gonna need it.”
Tori saw the instant worry quickly spread itself across her friend’s face. She couldn’t have cared in the least. She dropped the fist to her side, but also clenched one at the other side. She felt as though she could breathe fire. Angrily, she stormed out of the kitchen.
Henry Edwards’ world had fallen apart. He just wanted to go somewhere and hide from the world. He just didn’t feel like dealing with it. He didn’t feel like dealing with anything. He didn’t know when he’d have the strength to return to work. He thought that perhaps he might never, though financially, that wasn’t possible.
He sat at his kitchen table alone. He sipped on a tall glass of beer. He felt that the beer helped ease the pain. In reality, it didn’t. The easing was only in his head. His daughter was dead. Or at least, that was what he believed. Her surgery had been successful, though still, because of the loss of oxygen to the brain, the doctors were not confident about her recovery.
Henry felt it was only a matter of time before he’d get a call from the hospital, with a doctor informing him of the inevitable. He was sure there was no way Susy could survive all the damage.
I treated her alright, Henry thought. It was probably the twentieth time that thought had gone through his head in the last hour. I was a good father to her. She knew I loved her. I know she did. And she loved me. Henry took a long drink from his beer.
. . . All that stuff with Ava. I handled it alright. In the end, Ava loved her. She proved it. It was God. He let Ava see the errors of her ways before Susy died. That way, Ava wouldn’t have to spend the rest of her life in guilt . . . She loved Susy so much.
Henry had thought about Ava a lot over the past two days. Ever since the news report of Joe
Riley accusing Ava of hiring him to kill Susy had hit the airwaves, Ava had been stuck in his head – when Susy wasn’t. It was so ridiculous, that accusation by Riley. Henry had no doubts at all in his mind about Ava’s innocence. So what, if her change towards Susy had been sudden and had happened just a little before the attack. She hadn’t been trying to throw people off track. It was ludicrous to even consider such a thought. Ava wasn’t that kind of a conniving person. She wouldn’t premeditate another person’s murder like that, especially not a child’s.
Joe Riley was one sick non-human being. Henry was positive of it. Why, the animal had even accused the woman of having an affair with him. He’d told of how hot their sex had been, about how Ava had gotten oral with him. Henry took another long drink from the beer.
Ava was a religious, God-fearing woman. She was a minister, for God’s sake, he mentally bellyached. How could such trash like Joe Riley be allowed to defame a good woman like Ava. It just wasn’t fair. Henry would break the man in half if he could get his hands on him.
Ava was the sweetest, most beautiful woman alive. He had nothing to worry about. Ava hadn’t cheated on him. However, even more than that, she would never have had Susy killed. Only a disgusting swine would do such a thing – a swine who wasn’t deserving of life. He knew that Ava definitely did not fall into that category. And with that thought, Henry took the longest drink yet. He finished off the glass. However, he had plans for many more.
Joe Riley sat in his hospital bed, staring out into space. The police officer assigned to watch him had just fallen asleep in the chair adjacent to the bed. Joe didn’t even notice him. He was too caught up in his own miserable world.
There had been a few complications with Joe’s stab wound, and as a result, he had been allowed to stay in the hospital a while longer. However, he would be leaving and heading to jail by no later than tomorrow afternoon.
Joe had a right to be extremely depressed, and he was indeed just that. He had gotten out of bed and limped into the bathroom a few minutes ago, and he had seen himself in the mirror. He looked like a zombie. His face was pale, his eyes were dark. His skin seemed to sag. His face resembled that of an old hound dog. In just two days, he looked as though he had aged at least a year.
Oh how he hated that Ava Edwards for getting him into this mess – as he tried to deny his own willingness. Idiotically, he had once told Ava, of a woman who had broken his heart. It was the only woman he had ever romantically loved. After she had dumped him, he had gone to her boss and told of a past indiscretion – she had stolen money from the company. The lady had been fired. She had lost everything. Devastated, she had killed herself.
Joe still felt guilty about that to this day. But what was more important, was that Ava had gone to the media with the story. It was being researched. He knew the former boss would confirm what Joe had done; and the boss had also known that Joe and the woman had once been an item.
"He has incredible problems with women, when they reject him," Ava had told local news channels. "She had rejected his advances, and still hadn't fired him. This was how he repaid her."
He wanted to strangle that bitch. It looked as though, she was going to win everything. She had ruined his life. At best, he would spend the remainder of the best years of his life in prison. He had nowhere to turn. He had no idea of what to do.
What hurt him most of all, however, was the fact that his brother had turned his back on him. Joe simply couldn’t understand how Robbie could do something like that. The only reason he could figure was that Robbie planned to blackmail Ava with the disk. Joe knew that Robbie was no simpleton, but he had no idea that Robbie could be so ruthless. It was hard for him to believe. There must have been something, or someone behind Robbie, which caused him to act this way, he thought. Whatever the reason, he knew that he himself – was screwed. He wouldn’t even be able to have the satisfaction of knowing that he had brought down Ava with him.
Joe weakly reached over to the table beside the bed. He couldn’t take all of that lonely mind torture anymore. He had to have something to help distract that mind. He picked up the remote from the table and he flicked on the television that hung from the ceiling.
Joe instantly hated what he saw. The noon news was on, and whom other’s face loomed large on the screen but that of Ava Edwards. The woman was in tears.
“I just don’t understand this,” said Ava, who stood outside her house on the front lawn. She was surrounded by reporters.
“I was good to Joe Riley. He was an ex-con, and I took him into my church and gave him a job. I gave him a second chance. And this is how he repays me, by trying to rob me. And by trying to murder my daughter, whom I adore. He makes things even worse by telling all these vicious lies on me.”
Joe squirmed with anger.
“There’s no telling where he would be right now, if not for me. I’m not trying to boast, because I do everything for the Lord, not myself. But I did such good by this man. I made such sacrifices for him, as I do for all the people I take into my church who deserve second chances.”
Joe could feel his fingers trying to curl. If only he could get those fingers around Ava’s neck right now. He would make sure he succeeded in his murder attempt this time. There would be no doubt.
“I guess as the Lord says, we all have to go throug
h trials and tribulations. But I’m willing to go through them as long as the Lord wants me to. And I’ll never stop helping the disadvantaged or underprivileged. I’ll suffer all I have to in order to do the Lord’s work.”
Ava had to bow her head. More tears ran from her eyes. She covered her eyes with her left hand. A couple of reporters actually patted her on the back.
“It’ll be all right, Princess,” said another female reporter.
“Why would Riley want to do something like this to you?” another reporter asked.
“It'll come out," Ava squeaked out, her head still bowed. "He can't be rejected by women. But God bless him. I pray for everyone’s soul, even those who injure me.”
Joe was about to burst with anger. He wanted to break that woman’s body so badly – and that would have only been for starters. Joe could take no more. He used the remote to flick the television off. He dropped the remote on the bed. He threw both hands to his head.
He had to do it. He had to find some kind of way to get this woman. He had to prove to Del Toray just what kind of a phony she was indeed. He knew that he was the scum of the earth, but Ava Edwards was the slime beneath that scum. But how was he to convince everyone of just how dangerous and sick this woman really was? He had to find a way. He just had to figure something out.
Suddenly, a light flashed on in Joe’s head. His eyes brightened. Ava’s stepdaughter. The private detective. The one whom Ava had said hated her guts. What was that name? Tori, he believed it was. Ava had mentioned it with scorn more than once.
He had to talk to this Tori. He had to get her into this hospital room, or into the jailhouse when he was transferred there. He was sure that she hated every part of his being, but he had to convince her to believe him. Maybe she would be able to do something to bring down that evil woman. If her hatred of Ava was truly as strong as what Ava had said, then there would be no better person to go after her.
Yes, that was his only hope. He had to talk to Tori Edwards. He had to convince her to force Robbie to give her that disk. But would she do it? Would she actually come face to face with the man who tried to brutally murder her baby sister?
Joe brought his hands up to his chin. He clenched them together. He was solemn for a few seconds. Then, he looked up to the ceiling; he almost didn’t know where to start. He hadn’t done this in years. Awkwardly, he got the words out.
“If you’re there . . . If you really are there, please. Please let this happen. Please let this woman come see me . . . I’m begging you. I’m begging you with everything I got.”
Joe stared at the ceiling as if his eyes could burn clean through it. He grimaced as he stared. Beads of sweat began popping up on his temples. It was like he was trying to force this event to happen, make it into being.
Chapter Twenty
Tori sat in the hallway of Riverside Memorial Hospital. She was solemn. Her legs were crossed. Things were quiet currently. Occasionally, a nurse would go walking past her down the hallway, but activity at the hospital presently was very little.
Tori couldn’t believe she was here. When she had gotten the call from the police, telling her that Joe Riley wanted to talk to her, she had been staggered. That dirty bastard, she had thought. What in the world would he have to say to her? Why in the world would he even think she would want to talk to scum like him? The dirty dog had tried to murder her sister. A ten-year-old child, and he had slit her wrists and suffocated her. It was a miracle the child was still alive. And that bastard wanted to talk to her? How could she look into his eyes and keep from gouging them out? How could she be in his presence and keep from choking him to death?
Tori had sat there for fifteen minutes. She looked down to the very end of the hallway. The last room before reaching the corridor was Joe Riley’s. The animal was actually behind that door, she thought scornfully. It was taking a lot for her to get up the nerve to see this man. But somehow, despite all her contempt for him, she felt it was a necessary evil. Whatever he had to say must have something to do with his accusations against Ava. If he could prove to her, or at least convince her that what he said about Ava was true, then she had to listen to him. She needed to know if Ava tried to murder her sister, because if she did, the maggot would have to pay. And she would pay. The world would never have seen such repayment.
Therefore, as much as she detested the idea, she had to force herself to meet with this man. She just hoped it wasn’t for nothing. She hoped that one way or another she would have her answer in regards to Ava. For Ava’s sake, oh how she hoped the bastard was lying.
Tori stood. With purse in one hand, she put her other hand to her chest and took a deep breath. After several seconds, she dropped her hand. Down the hallway, she slowly walked.
Ava was alone in her small office. She sat behind her desk, reflective. No one else was in the church except her. The door to her office was open. Currently, Ava felt cautiously optimistic about things. So far, nobody appeared to be buying Joe’s story about her plotting Susy’s murder. She wasn’t real sure about Tori, but she looked to be the only one who was even close to having doubts. Henry didn’t believe it. Her friends and neighbors didn’t believe it. Jimmy didn’t care one way or the other.
What impressed Ava the most, however, was that the general public didn’t believe it. And not only did they not believe Joe, they appeared to be sympathizing with her. More and more people, when being questioned on television, were stating emphatically that Ava Edwards was innocent. The thought brought a smile to Ava’s face. People are such suckers, she pondered comically. Her pleading on television and in the newspaper was working. She then wondered if maybe she couldn’t find a way to use the sympathy to her advantage. A television station had informed her of a collection fund they were starting, in order to help with Susy’s medical, or perhaps burial expenses. Ava wondered if she couldn’t get another collection started to help her fledgling ministry. Or at the very least, she could use the added publicity to attract more members to her congregation. More members meant more money. Yes, she figured, there were definitely some possibilities there.
Ava concluded that she had daydreamed enough. She decided to do some work. She had told Henry that she had to go into work for a couple hours in order to take care of some emergency business. She had told him she would return home shortly. However, the truth of the matter was that she had needed to get away from the pathetic sap. She had gotten sick and tired of hearing him moan and groan about his daughter. She needed a break from it. She planned to stay away much longer that two hours. Besides, she knew he had Jimmy to keep him company. Her son was so distressed over his sister’s attack that he couldn’t attend school right now. He had told her so.
Yeah, sure, Ava thought facetiously. She knew better. Still, it did look better for him to be out a few days. It was only natural. Plus, Jimmy’s reaction could have a direct affect on perceptions of her. They both had to look like they were seriously hurting over Susy, especially with the accusations Joe Riley had leveled.
Ava had her finances folder in front of her. She was about to open it and begin verifying last month’s receipts, when she heard a knock at the door. It startled her. She looked up. Ava was shocked at who stood there. At first, she didn’t even know how to respond.
“ . . . How’d you get in?” she asked. “And what are you doing here?”
“I . . . I gotta talk to you.” Robbie Riley stood in the doorway. He held a small plastic bag with something in it in his right hand.
“I have nothing to say to you,” Ava replied tersely. “And did you break in here?”
“The front door of the church won’t locked. You can check for yourself.”
Ava stared at him. She did have trouble at times with that door, thinking she had locked it, when she hadn’t. He probably wasn’t lying. Still, she had no need to talk to him.
“I want you out of here right now. Go visit your disgusting, murderous brother.”
“Ain’t no need to play innocent with me, Av
a. You just as disgusting as he is.”
“If you don’t leave right now, I’m calling the police. And I have something else too.”
Ava opened the top drawer of her desk. She took out a black revolver. She put it on the desk in front of her. Robbie wasn’t fazed much by what she did.
“Joe won’t lyin’,” he said. “I know all about it.”
“Your brother’s an idiot. And he can’t prove a damn thing, because it’s not true.”
“There is a tape, Ava. I did film yall together. I just didn’t back Joe up on it.”
Ava didn’t say a word. She sat there, all of a sudden, stupefied. She really didn’t know what to make of Robbie’s statement just yet. However, he had definitely gotten her attention. She saw a little smirk come onto his face. He then came on into the office and closed the door. He walked to the desk and plopped down in the chair in front of it. He put the plastic bag in his lap.
“You’re lying,” Ava tested. “You’re a lying dog.”
“Why I gotta lie ‘bout somethin’ like that?”
“You don’t have a tape, Riley.”
“Yeah, I do.”
He picked up the bag and threw it on her desk.
“It’s in there. Go ahead. Take it out. You got a DVD player around here somewhere? Go play it. I got another copy, so you can have that one.”
Ava looked at the bag. There was a video disk partially protruding from it. Ava felt the pain begin to gradually move through her body.
“You mean to tell me,” she said drearily, “that you really were in the bedroom filming me that day?”
“Sure was.” He nodded at the disk. “That’s the proof.”
Ava didn’t know what to do. She looked at the disk. Then, she looked at Robbie. Back to the disk, back to Robbie. She saw confidence growing by the second in Robbie.
“I’m . . . I’m gonna play this,” Ava said. “First chance alone I get.”
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