“I can never forget what you have done for me, Christine,” he thought to himself. He smiled at David the driver as soon as he parked at his office building and walked towards his office. He knew deep down in his soul, Christine would always need a favor from him and he would always be obliged to do whatever she wanted.
*****
Lohan sat in his driveway and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel; he contemplated going into his house but was scared. He took out a brown envelope that had been handed to him that morning and took out the contents of it. In his hands were photos of his wife with another man at dinner. There was a copy of her emails and text messages underneath that and more photos at different locations looking cozy. It was not the first time Gina had cheated on him in their marriage, but there was something different about the man in question. From the look on Gina’s face this man made her happy and he was afraid she might go the extra mile and actually walk out of their marriage.
He looked at the house again and couldn’t tell if his bedroom light was on. The private investigator he’d hired had told him they planned on having a date in his house that night. After looking at the house enough times, he finally got the resolve to step out of the car. He headed over to the house and decided to use the back door to enter.
He approached it cautiously and paused at the doorknob. He took a few more seconds to contemplate what he was about to do and slowly turned it. There was total darkness in the house and he switched on the kitchen lights. He then took off his shoes and felt the cold floor draw warmth from his feet. He paused for a minute to listen to any noises and could make out a few people giggling in the bedroom. His curiosity got the better of him and he started walking towards it, his imagination running wild. The giggles grew louder as he approached the bedroom and he did not bother to knock on the bedroom door before storming in.
“Gina, I demand an explanation!” he said and looked around the bedroom in search of his wife.
The scene in front of him was not what he expected. Gina was present in the room and so was the man in the picture but they were not doing anything. They were seated on the corner of the room, relaxed in their chairs. They both clutched wine glasses that were half-full with what Lohan assumed was red wine. In front of them were two completely nude women lying on the floor.
“What the hell is going on here?” Lohan asked after looking at his wife and back at the naked ladies lying on the floor.
“Edward, you are home early. I thought you would be at the strip club,” Gina said and looked slightly unsettled but nevertheless kept her cool.
“Well I’m not, I am here,” he said. “So I ask again, what the hell is going on here?”
Gina looked at her husband before looking at the man who sat next to her dreamily. She then looked at the naked girls whose gazes were fixed on Lohan and they sat doing nothing.
“Well,” Gina started but was interrupted by Lohan who was shaking with rage.
“Is this the new man you are having an affair with?” he asked and pointed at the man who had not said a word all along but went on staring at Lohan.
“No, he is not.”
“Then what the hell is he doing here and why are there naked girls on my bedroom floor”
“Well, if you would stop asking so many questions so dramatically, I would give you the answers you want.”
Lohan tried to keep his calm and went on to stare at the scene in front of him. He was disturbed by Gina’s stillness and could only imagine the kind of explanation she was about to give him.
“This here is a good friend of mine but at the moment I will not let you know his name.”
“Why the hell not?” Lohan barked at Gina.
“Because honey, you are a police officer.”
Lohan ran his hand through his hair and again tried to remain calm. He fed Gina an expectant look and tried to keep his patience in check.
“As I was saying, honey, before you interrupted me,” Gina went on, “this man here is, for now let’s call him Mr. X.”
She paused and waited for Lohan to react and ask a question but went on when he didn’t.
“Mr. X and I have been good friends for a while now and I explained to him how bored I have been,” Gina said. “He decided to help me out and offer me some sort of entertainment.”
Lohan soaked in the words and tried to make sense of it. Gina had now gone to a whole other level of insanity. He went on to look at both of them and at the naked girls who were still on the floor. They smiled up at him and gave him a slight wave and one of them winked at him.
“So you two are not…” Lohan probed on. “You know?”
“Dating?” Gina asked shocked. “No honey, we are not.”
“This is interesting,” Lohan said and paced around the room a few times before looking up at Gina. “So how long has this been going on?”
“Why don’t you ask that P.I. you sent my way?” Gina answered and Lohan was a bit taken back by her comment. “Come on, honey, did you think I wouldn't know about him? I am the queen of schemers.”
Lohan could not really decide whether to own up to what Gina had just accused him of or to completely deny it.
“Just answer me, Gina, how long has this been going on?”
“About five months now.”
“Couldn’t you get a different venue for this?” he asked before looking at the two girls who kept on smiling at him without blinking. “You know I am a police officer and cannot entertain such behavior in my home.”
“Maybe that was the whole point.”
“Excuse me?” Lohan asked, confused.
“Come on honey think about it,” Gina said and cautiously got to her feet. She started walking towards Lohan with calculated steps and a Cheshire smile spread across her face. “I wouldn’t want you to turn me in if you ever found out it would incriminate you in any way.”
“That is very sneaky of you, Gina.”
“Don’t I know it?” she answered and went on to walk towards him. “The way I see it, you have got two choices here.”
“Which are?”
“You either walk out and head over to your second home which is the strip club and search for solace in the thighs of your regular stripper, Ginger…” Gina said and paused slightly for dramatic effect and walked over to a table right behind Lohan. She poured him some wine and turned her attention to him. “…Or you can choose to indulge.”
Lohan looked at Gina in disbelief for the hundredth time that day before looking again at the scene before him. He looked at the man who was still perched in his seat and had not said a single word the entire time.
“You know what, Gina?” he said and took a few steps back. “I am glad you have found something that entertains you. You know where to find me if you need me!”
He started walking out of the room but was stopped dead in his tracks by Gina’s next words.
“Going over to see Ginger?”
“Yes, and her friend Pepper too,” he answered. “I will be back in about three hours and would like to walk into a totally different scene – one that includes a good home-cooked meal and a glass of red wine.”
He gave them all a final look to engrave the memory in his brain before taking a few more steps and walking out the bedroom door. He used the same back door he had walked in with and went straight for his car. The cold night air bit hard into his skin as a jumble of emotions raced through him. He got in the driver’s seat and looked at his apartment again. He relaxed in his seat and let out a slight heave of relief before bursting into uncontrollable laughter. He did not know why he all of a sudden found his situation funny but tears of joy rolled down his chubby cheeks. He glanced at his wristwatch and took out his cell phone. He had to make a reservation for Ginger; he did not want to walk in to her on a busy night and have to queue like everyone else.
He pulled out of the driveway and slowly began driving towards the main road. He let out a chuckle one or two more times as he thought of his eventful night.
He finally realized why he was happy as he kept driving around: he was relieved. He was actually happy that Gina’s new hobby did not involve sleeping with another man. He hoped she was happy with whatever she was doing but above all, he was happy now that he had something to use against her.
*****
Tracy got out of work earlier than usual that night. She had a plan that needed to be executed and knew it needed her to be on time. She took a cab to her destination as she went through her carefully thought-out plan. She gave the taxi driver the address and took in the beautiful scenery. Her surroundings that day were different; the landscape and architecture of the place was different and so were the people walking around the neighborhood. She looked at the subtle suburban neighborhood and thought back to the days when she had wanted those things for herself.
Tracy let her mind race back to her eventful and less-than-fortunate life; she shut her eyes momentarily and thought of the missed opportunities and the regrets of most of her decisions.
Tracy had only been 17 years of age when she decided to take up modeling as her career. Back then she was still very close with her sister Rita; they only had each other to count on and cherished their friendship. It was Rita who persuaded her to try out her luck with modeling.
“Am I pretty enough?” she remembered asking Rita once she had kept the suggestion on the table.
“Are you kidding me, Tracy?Look at yourself in the mirror,” she said. “You could give Naomi Campbell a run for her money.”
“But I wouldn’t know where to start.”
“You leave that to me, I will figure it out for you,” Rita had said.
True to her word, Rita came through for her – she walked over to her the next day and handed Tracy a contract with one of the biggest modeling agencies in the city. Tracy took the contract and made a clean sweep through it before looking up at Rita in confusion.
“It says here that I need to register with $5,000 before becoming a model.”
“Yes, it does,” Rita answered.
“Where the hell will I get that kind of money?” Tracy asked, shocked. “Do you know how many extra shifts I would have to pick up down at the diner if I wanted to save this much money?”
“I will take care of it.”
“Are you sure?”
“Trust me, Tracy.”
Tracy knew better than to ask Rita so many questions especially when she had already made up her mind. She decided not question Rita’s way of doing things and before she knew it was booking her first model jobs and making money she never thought she would. Life for them soon became different with Tracy taking care of most of their bills and supporting Rita any way she could. It was not until Tracy met Ryan at one of her runway shows that everything changed. For the first time in her life, Tracy knew how it felt to love a man and get the same kind of affection in return.
“We’re here, ma’am,” the cab driver announced and Tracy became alert. She smiled warmly and paid the driver his dues before stepping out of the car. She looked up at the apartment she’d asked to be dropped at and let out a cheeky smile. There were no lights on at that time which was good news for her; she had done her homework well. She walked towards the back door of the house. The door was locked as suspected but that was not about to distract her on her mission. She took out a few pins from her back pocket and picked the lock ever so skillfully. She then walked in and headed straight to the living room, loving how beautiful the place looked even in the dark. She had not bothered to switch on the lights and decided to get comfortable in one of the chairs.
A vehicle pulled up outside the apartment and she knew he was home. She looked at the wall clock that was strategically hung right in front of her and realized it was only 9:45 in the evening. She relaxed more in the seat she had chosen and waited for him to come in. She heard him fumble with his keys at the front of the door and eventually let himself in oblivious of his uninvited night guest. He switched on the lights and the blood on his face drained and left him paper-white.
“Miss Evans!”
“Dr. Mathews.”
“How did you get in here?”
“I have a genie in a bottle who granted me a wish,” Tracy answered.
Dr. Mathews took a moment to relax before walking over to where she was and taking a seat opposite her. He looked at her and let out a wide smile before relaxing in his seat.
“You have made quite an entrance.”
“Thank you.”
“That was not a compliment – I could have you arrested for trespassing.”
“But you wouldn’t,” Tracy answered.
“Do you wanna bet on that?”
Tracy took a minute to consider Dr. Mathews’ flat threat and crossed one leg over the other.
“I know you won’t.”
Dr, Mathews threw his head back and let out a hearty laugh before getting to his feet and walked over to the liquor cabinet.
“I need a drink,” he announced. “Do you want one too?”
“Yes, please.”
He poured out two glasses of scotch and walked over to where Tracy was and handed her a glass.
“Thank you, Dr. Mathews.”
“Please call me Peter,” he corrected. “And before we waste any more time, Miss Evans, I have had a long day and would really appreciate it if you get right to the point.”
“Please call me Tracy,” she answered. “I am here to know more about my sister.”
“I already told you when you came over earlier with your police friend that I cannot reveal such information unless the court orders me to.”
“Yes but the court does not know what I know about you.”
“Which is?”
“The fact that you were screwing one of your patients.”
“How did you know that?” Peter asked shocked and took a sip from his glass.
“Other than you having all the features of Rita’s type, she kept a few souvenirs to use as leverage to manipulate you in future.”
“What do you mean by‘type’? You had better start making sense, Tracy,” Peter said. “Souvenirs?”
“Rita always knew how to land the gullible and needy ones,” Tracy started but was interrupted by Peter.
“You mean like Ryan?”
“Exactly. Like Ryan.”
Dr. Mathews let out a sarcastic chuckle before taking another sip from his glass. He looked straight at Tracy before carefully choosing the right words.
“Funny, don’t you think?”
“What is funny?”
“It all boils down to one thing at the end of the day – most feuds, disputes and, God forbid, even wars all have the same underlying cliché story.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I am talking about love, infatuation, vengeance,” Peter started before sipping from his glass again and moving closer to her. “I know why you want to know about Rita.”
“Why?”
“You want to win your beloved Ryan back.”
Tracy felt like she had been stabbed by a sharp sword in her heart a thousand times. She sipped from her glass and gave Peter a murderous look.
“How do you know about that?”
“Child please, you forget I was your sister’s therapist? I know everything.”
“Everything.”
“Oh yes, everything.” He downed the contents of his glass in one swift motion before moving closer to her and went on to say, “I know how you were the first to fall in love with Ryan, how you were once a successful model but threw your career away because of a man.”
“I did not throw it away for a man.”
“What would you call wasting away on drugs and alcohol, after your beloved boyfriend had dumped you for your sister?”
Tracy let out an ear-splitting scream and let her body slump down on the floor. The memories Peter was making her deal with brought too much pain to her and she could feel tears of regret and despair rush down her cheeks. She wished he would stop talking but he did not; inste
ad he moved closer to where she was and went on to pierce her with his words.
“I know how much he meant to you, I know how much you wanted to have kids with him and get married to him. You wanted the perfect life with him but your sister got it instead and you can say she actually ruined your life.”
“She did and I hate her for it.”
Tracy sat on the floor and went on to let out soft sobs before looking up at Peter and hating the smug look on his face. She got to her feet and resumed her seat before wiping her tears with the back of her hand.
“I can see why you have stayed in your profession for all these years,” Tracy said. “And here I thought it was all owed to that heifer of an old woman you call a mistress.”
Peter looked at her stunned and had nothing else to say to her. He thought he had broken her and did not expect her to be talking so casually and calmly to him.
“Christine is it?” she went on to say. “I know you are surprised, doc, but I didn’t break so easily.Granted you may have hit a nerve or two but that was just on the surface.”
“My God, I can see the resemblance already,” Peter remarked and got to his feet again. He walked to the liquor cabinet and turned his attention to Tracy. “You want another one?”
“Yes, please.”
Peter poured a drink for them both. He then walked over to where she was and handed her the glass of scotch before making his way back to where he’d been sitting.
“So let’s stop playing games with each other,” Dr. Mathews said and settled well in his seat. “Why don’t you tell me what you want from me?”
“I want money.”
“Excuse me?”
“Rita and I opened a joint bank account when we were still on talking terms and thick as thieves,” she started to explain. “We saved a good amount from my modeling money and we never bothered to withdraw any.”
Mystery: Missing Rita: (Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Suspense Thriller Mystery) Page 9