by Davis, SJ
Alex sat outside the cell in a chair provided by the officer on duty. Jake lay across his bunk, his skin putty-gray under the fluorescent lights. He’d lost weight, and the standard issue grey-striped uniform he was clothed in hung loose on his gaunt frame. His shaggy blond hair reached past his shoulders, lank and dirty. Deep circles ringed his eyes. To Alex, he looked the epitome of the murderer he was accused of being.
“I wanted to make sure you’re alright,” he said. “I have to get back to Connecticut this afternoon, but I was worried about you.”
“What’s to worry about?” Jake gestured at the nine by nine cell. “It’s not like I can get into any trouble in here and they feed me three squares a day.”
Alex smiled. Jake still had a sense of humor…barely. “We had the service for Lena this morning,” he said.
“I know. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there.”
“It was nice. Reverend Hearst read the eulogy. A couple of people had stories to tell.”
“That’s good.” Jake closed his eyes and swiped away a stray tear. “Lena was a sweetheart. A lot of people loved her.”
Alex nodded. “What the hell’s going on here, Jake? Please help me understand it.”
Jake shook his head. “There’s only one thing I know for sure…I didn’t kill Annie Janson. So it stands to reason that since I didn’t kill her, Lena didn’t help me get rid of her body. The whole thing’s crazy…the murder, her suicide…it doesn’t make sense.”
Alex stood and paced the length of Jake’s cell. “I want to believe you, buddy, but there’s so much evidence against you. Her, as well.”
“Evidence? They’ve got those bags and my saw. They’ve got my relationship with Annie. Other than that, they’ve got nothing.”
“Wrong. They’ve also got her head and a note of apology written in my wife’s hand. Look, Jake, I’ve known you for almost ten years. If you’d asked me a month ago, I’d have sworn on a stack of bibles that you’d never hurt Annie, but now? I just don’t know.”
“Then what the fuck are you doing here, Alex?” Jake approached the bars and slammed his fist against them. “If you don’t believe me, get the hell out of here and leave me alone. I don’t need doubt, I need support.”
Alex shook his head and smoothed his hair back into place. “I think what you really need is honesty, don’t you? I may not be saying what you want to hear, Jake, but at least I’m being truthful. I don’t care what your mother’s telling you, or your lawyer, or the one friend you’ve got left in this town. The plain truth of the matter is that each and every person out there thinks you did it, and if your lawyer somehow manages to come up with evidence to the contrary, my wife’s a shoe-in for second choice. Of course, she can’t defend herself,” he added. “She’s dead.”
Jake collapsed onto his cot, his head in his hands. “That’s ridiculous. Lena couldn’t hurt a fly and you know it.”
“Is it?” Alex said. “If you didn’t kill her, is it really that far-fetched to make the jump to Lena? Think about it, Jake…it’s the only other explanation that makes sense.”
“Makes sense?” Jake sighed. “That is absolutely the single-most stupid idea that anyone’s had yet. Get out of here, Alex. Go home. This isn’t one of your murder mysteries. You know Lena better than anyone else. You know she couldn’t have killed Annie.” He lay down, turning onto his side. “Dude, I can’t believe you even said that.”
Alex was quiet for a moment. “Could someone be trying to frame you?” he asked.
Jake laughed. “Finally! What a brilliant idea! I’ve been trying to tell the cops that since day one, but do you think they’ll listen to me? Obviously, we’re being framed… I just can’t understand why.”
“Have you gotten into any fights lately?” Alex asked.
“Not since I beat the crap out of Freddy Lundstedt two years ago.”
“Maybe he wanted to get even with you,” Alex suggested.
“Naw. He slashed my tires and keyed my truck. We’re friends now.”
“Maybe it’s another guy. Lena told me Annie was seeing someone new last spring.”
“That’s what she told the cops too, but no one listened. I think she just made the whole thing up to force me out.”
“How about sex offenders? Are there any registered here in Greenville?”
Jake rolled his eyes. “This is Maine, not utopia, Alex. Of course we have sex offenders… but everyone in town knows who they are and where they live. It’s public knowledge. I rather doubt Annie was shacking up with one of them.”
“What do you know about that guy across the pond?”
“Odin?” Jake shrugged. “You’re really grasping at straws now. He’s a rich Norwegian artist. Dude’s as close to royalty as you get. Very refined. Except for his crappy taste in music, he’s apparently the world’s most perfect man.”
“Lena told you about him?”
“A little.”
“When did she start seeing him?”
“Socially? After she moved up there, I guess. They got to be friends.”
Alex gave a sigh of exasperation. “You know what I mean Jake. They were more than just friends. Lena told me all about it.”
“Oh.” Jake tapped his fingers against the mattress and smiled briefly. “You want to know when she started sleeping with him. Let me see if I can remember. Oh yeah, I’ve got it! It was a few days after she caught you boning your editor! Can you imagine that?” He rolled his eyes and frowned. “Stupid move, Alex. You should have known she’d find out.”
“First of all, it was my agent, not my editor,” Alex said. “Secondly, I never thought she’d show up in Stamford at seven in the morning without calling first.” His eyes narrowed. “You didn’t tell her, did you?”
“No, Alex. I didn’t tell her, but I probably should have. By stupid, that’s not what I meant. What I meant was that you never should have cheated on her in the first place. Lena’s great. Was great. When things started going wrong, you should have worked to fix them instead of running off with the first bitch to spread her legs.”
“I tried for a while but it got to be too hard,” Alex said, shaking his head. “You, of all people should know how that is…you and Annie had the rockiest relationship I’ve ever seen.”
“That doesn’t mean I didn’t love her,” Jake said. “I would have done anything for her if she’d only let me.” He cocked his head. “So how about you and this other woman…is she worth it? Do you love her?”
“Amanda?” Alex smiled ruefully. “That’s already over. As it turns out, she was just looking for a quick affair and a free trip to Alaska.”
“What a waste.”
The look on Jake’s face revealed his disgust. “You had it all, Alex, and you blew it. You want to know what the worst thing is? It’s that Lena was in love with that guy. Odin. He made her happy. You should have seen them together! She finally had someone who thought about her needs for a change.” He shook his head. “That’s why this suicide thing just doesn’t make sense. Lena was never a quitter before. I can’t understand why she’d throw in the towel now, without a fight.”
“Unless she did it.”
Jake closed his eyes and turned away. “Go home, Alex. I didn’t kill anyone and neither did Lena. The fact that you can even say those words tells me you don’t understand your wife one bit. My guess is you never did.”
Alex turned away. At the door he turned back. “If you decide you want to talk to someone, Jake, I’m here. You can trust me to make sure your point of view’s depicted as accurately as possible if you tell me how it all went down.”
Jake’s eyes opened. He sat up and swung his legs to the floor. “I don’t believe it,” he said. “Tell me I’m wrong, Alex…tell me you’re not writing a book about this.”
Alex smiled and ran his hands through his thick black hair. “What can I say, buddy? It’s a no-brainer. Deceit, murder, sex, and suicide…the story’s a surefire bestseller and I have the inside track on it. I’d be crazy
to pass it up.”
“Crazy,” Jake repeated, shaking his head. “Get out of here, Alex. Go home to Connecticut and write your fucking bestseller. Bone your agent and your editor. Hell, take on all your Seasons groupies for all I care. Just promise me one thing…”
“What’s that?” Alex said.
“Don’t come to visit me again. Ever.”
Chapter 44.
The God took a last poke at Morgan in the hot tub before he left the house. He preferred women, but, anatomically aside, the two cross-dressers were decidedly feminine, with their long dark hair, thick eyelashes, and sensuous mouths. They were also experts on male anatomy. Jordan could suck a cock harder than a Hoover vacuum, and Morgan...He shook his head. Perhaps he’d been wrong to restrict himself to goddesses. He’d study the possibilities when he got home.
Maeve lay where she’d fallen, under John’s leg. She’d lasted until dawn before succumbing to exhaustion. The God studied her in the watery morning light. In sleep, her face looked pure and innocent, but looks could be deceiving. He wondered how deep her deviance went. What would she think if he told her about his imprisoned goddesses? Would it turn her on? It was a tantalizing possibility.
John stirred. His eyes opened and he raised a hand. “I thought you were a little old at first, but you did all right, man. Welcome to the group. We’ll have to take a vote on it, but I can tell you right now you’ve passed the test. Carla likes you. Marianne, too.”
“Thank you,” The God said. “I enjoyed myself.”
“We meet once a month. Morgan and Jordan are hosting next time. I’ll tell Maria to bring you along.”
The God nodded. It was worth keeping Maeve on the outside for another month just to relive the experience. He said goodbye and let himself out the front door, met by cold air and a brisk northwest wind. Fallen leaves swirled around him in the brilliant sunshine as he made his way to his truck. Sitting in the front seat, he closed his eyes and waited for the engine to warm up. Before he could pull away, Maeve appeared at the window. He rolled it down and she leaned in to kiss his cheek.
“Congratulations,” she said. “You passed the test.”
He smiled. “That’s good.”
“Come back after you’ve gotten some rest. It starts again at four.”
He nodded. “I’ll be here.”
She turned back to the house, leaving behind the scent of stale booze, sex, and cigarettes. The God watched her until the front door closed. Thoughtfully, he drove back through town, past the gas station and the Grocery Barn, past Reny’s and the Dollar General.
On the outskirts of Dexter, he turned into a convenience store and bought a cup of coffee and a box of doughnuts. The clerk was a young man about Maeve’s age. The God asked him if they’d gone to school together and he nodded.
“She was in my class. Least-wise except for the couple of years she was with that foster family over to Skowhegan.”
“Foster family?”
“You know…a few years back. When her daddy went to jail and her ma had that breakdown.”
The God shook his head. “I didn’t know her back then. What happened?”
“Well…like I said, her daddy got busted dealing coke and her momma couldn’t cope. Maeve was left all alone at their place on Tanner Mill Road until one of our teachers caught wind of it and called DSS. They stepped in and placed her with a foster family, a minister and his wife. They were supposed to be nice folks.”
“They weren’t, I take it.”
The clerk shook his head. “Horrible the things they done to her, just horrible. My ma cried when she heard about it on TV.”
“She was abused?”
“They all were,” the young man said. “All six kids in their care.”
“What happened to the foster parents?” The God asked. “Are they in jail?”
The clerk bagged the doughnuts and gave him his change. “You bet they are. The minister got 25 years to life and his wife got fifteen years without parole. It’s amazing that Maeve turned out so good after all she went through down there.”
“Amazing,” The God agreed.
Back at Blackwater Pond, he opened the bunkhouse door and tossed the doughnuts inside. After that, he retrieved a bucket of fresh water and retreated without a word to his captives. He was exhausted but the need to paint was strong. He lit the stove, brewed a pot of coffee and climbed the stairs to his studio.
The sketch progressed quickly. It was a woodland scene. His seven conquests of the night were scattered across it, in the guise of gods and goddesses. The Goddess Maeve was the central focus of the portrait. As she had the day before, she orchestrated the orgy before her.
Working intensely, he filled in the details of the others in the painting: Morgan and Jordan with their sensuous mouths, pale Marianne, and exotic Carla.
Putting aside the canvas, he took the stairs two at a time and headed for the bunkhouse, entering the tiny building without warning. Aurora gaped at him from her bed. Closing the door behind him, he fell on her. She submitted without protest and his erection faded. Pulling away he turned to Lena. She succumbed with the same lack of fight. Frustrated, he swore and stalked across the room. Back inside the cabin, he took the matter into his own efficient hands. Afterwards, completely exhausted, he slept.
At three o’clock, he submerged in the pond and returned to Tanner Mill Road, primed for the second session of Maeve’s surprise.
Chapter 45.
“When do you think he’ll be back? It’s after nine, already.” Lena sat on Aurora’s bed and ran the brush through her tangled hair. She worked a stubborn knot, pulling it free strand by strand.
“There’s no saying,” Aurora said. “When he’s on the hunt, schedules fly out the window.”
“I hope she slept with him last night. He was too tired to want us after the last time.”
Aurora shrugged. “It could go either way. Sometimes sex keys him up, especially if it’s gentle loving sex.” She laughed softly. “After a couple of nights with you, he came back over here and almost killed me.”
“Maeve doesn’t strike me as the gentle loving type,” Lena said. “Unless he’s managed to charm her the way he charmed us.”
“Hopefully, you’re right and she’ll wear him out.”
Lena sighed. “Hopefully, he’ll bring us food when he comes home. I’m starving. All we’ve had to eat is those doughnuts he gave us yesterday.”
Aurora reached beneath her mattress and brought out two pieces of bread. “I’ve been saving these for an emergency,” she said, handing one to Lena. “Sorry it’s stale.”
They broke off pieces and chewed them slowly. Outside, the wind howled. Aurora shivered. “It’s October now. He’ll need to find a place to keep us indoors soon or we’ll freeze to death.”
“He said his lease runs through December.”
Aurora shook her head. “We’ll need to get inside well before then.”
“Maybe he’ll move us into the cottage and we can get away.”
“Maybe.”
“You don’t sound too hopeful.”
“I was in a modern house all last winter,” Aurora said. “I was more secure there than I am here. What I’m really curious about is where he’s heading after this.”
“What do you mean?” Lena asked. “Why would he go anywhere?”
“He’s been in this area too long, already. Sooner or later, someone will come looking for you, don’t you think?”
“After that note he had me write, I wouldn’t count on it.” Lena finished the bread and felt her stomach settle. Lately, she’d been nauseous much of her waking hours, a condition she attributed to hunger.
“You said no one would believe the suicide angle,” Aurora said.
“I didn’t think they would, but he told us the cops are gone now.” Lena shook her head. “Maybe he’s right and they think Jake and I did it. If that’s the case, why would he bother to leave? It’s gone so nicely for him here, hasn’t it? He’s got all the pr
ivacy that he could want and no shortage of eligible women. Why go anywhere?”
“If any more women disappear in this area, someone’s bound to put it together. The longer he stays in one place, the more people he interacts with. He needs to fly under the radar if he wants to keep from getting caught, and to do that, he’ll have to move on.”
Lena contemplated her words in silence. “Tell me about the others,” she said finally. “You promised you would.”
Aurora shook her head. “I can’t.”
Frustrated, Lena threw the brush on the bed and rose to pace the tiny space of their cell. “Damn it, Aurora! How much time do you think we’ve got before he kills one of us? He’s got another goddess-in-training down in Dexter right now! He can’t keep us all! Please. I need to know what happened. Annie was my best friend.”
Aurora sighed. “I know. She told me. She told Ares, too. That’s what sparked his interest in you…that and your name. Did you think it was a coincidence that he rented this place at the same time you put in an offer on the camp across the pond?”
“I thought so at the time. Obviously, it wasn’t.”
“No.”
“Tell me,” Lena said again.
“You have no idea how hard this is for me.”
“You need to get it out and I need to know. Tell me. Please.”
The red-haired woman rolled onto her side, facing the wall. “Annie was my best friend, too,” she said. “I didn’t know her for a lifetime like you did, but in a way I probably knew her better. When Ares brought her to join me, I’d been with him for exactly one year and five days. It was April 22nd.”
“That’s only five days after I put in the offer on my camp.”
“Yes,” Aurora said. She sat on Lena’s bed and worried the metal cufflink on her wrist. “She lived with us for six and a half weeks. During that time, she made his life as difficult as possible. I’d always known him as Ares Andrews, but she knew him as Thor. Thor Anderson.”