She cleared her throat and made sure she had everyone’s attention before going on.
“This is not a sad day,” she went on. “We are celebrating the life of Rita Sutter, devoted wife, loving mother and a general caregiver to all who came her way.”
Tracy sneered when she heard these words but was however distracted when she saw both Sam and Lohan stride in and take the backseats. She exchanged a look with Sam who smiled back and gave her a slight nod before listening to what the woman at the front was saying.
“Rita left behind a husband and two children who loved her more than life itself.”
“Ex-husband,” Tracy sneered as she went on to listen to the woman. Something caught her attention from the corner of her eye and she saw Jack slowly get to his feet and slowly began to applaud the woman. The whole room looked at him confused, some with disgusted looks while others knew drama was about to unfold.
“Thank you for all those kind words, my dear,” he started. “But we all know Rita was nothing close to what you have cited. The woman was wicked.”
“With all due your respect sir,” the woman interrupted him. “It is common courtesy never to speak ill of the dead.”
“You make a good point, my dear,” Jack replied before slowly moving out of his seat and taking short strides to where she was. “What these people do not know however is that Rita Sutter is still alive.”
The much-expected hush filled the room as people began to engage in mummers and whispers.
Ryan got to his feet almost immediately and looked in Jack’s direction.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” he answered as he moved closer to Ryan. “I am sure Tracy filled you in on that, or were you too busy banging her to understand?”
“Jack, that is enough,” Tracy shouted from her seat as she got up and started walking towards him. He threw a glance over in Sam’s direction as she did this and waited for them to intervene but they did not.
“Look here,” Jack said and walked over to the podium and addressed everyone in the room. “I am a lover of drama just like the next person but I am not here for that.”
“Yeah, right,” Tracy sneered.
“Yes, you are right,” he answered. “I am here for that and so much more – I am here for the truth.”
“And what exactly is the truth?”
“Well, if you would be so kind as to have a seat as I narrate to you what really happened to Rita Sutter…”
Tracy walked back to her seat and gave Ryan a reassuring look; he too got back to his seat and folded his arms across his chest as he fed him an angry look.
“Now that I have gotten everyone’s attention,” he started. “I will borrow the words of the young woman who planned this event. Rita Sutter was not a devoted wife and her being a loving mother is debatable.”
He made sure he maintained eye contact with everyone as he strolled around the room looking at everyone intently.
“She was a wicked woman bereft of any mercy or fiber of love. I do not know how she got to be that way but whatever it was scarred her for life.”
“Rita was an adventurous woman, one who could never be caged. After snatching her younger sister’s boyfriend and making him her husband, Rita got bored. It became a boring lifeless routine for her, same sex position once a week, same work routine and life schedule, and in short it became boring for her. God knows boring never sat well with Rita. She thought it would get better once her husband Ryan got promoted at work. It was different but not better, she would only have sex once a week in the same position, would see him for only two weeks in a month and would have more work on her hands.”
“This really sounds like a eulogy,” Tracy interrupted. “What is the point of all this?”
“Patience, my darling.”
He said and started walking around the room. He could tell he had gotten everyone’s attention and reveled in it.
“Someone introduced Rita Sutter to a different world,” he went on.
“Who was this person?” Tracy asked.
“Would you please let me tell the story the way I want to?”
Tracy decided to remain silent but could tell that Jack loved the attention he was getting all too much. She shifted in her seat and threw a glance in Ryan’s direction. He seemed uncomfortable and she guessed it was because of the presence of his kids.
“Where was I before I was rudely interrupted by people who do not know half the story,” Jack said before throwing Tracy a glare and proceeding with the story.
“Rita got introduced into a world full of passion, romance and excitement. What she did not know, however, was how to put a tight lid on it. She indulged in this world, got soaked in it and soon her boring routine of a life got exciting. But all good things come to an end and maintaining a certain lifestyle requires a certain amount of money.”
“So you are trying to say whoever introduced Rita to this world was rich?” Ryan asked out loud.
“Filthy, stinking rich, sir.”
“Then what happened?”
“Rita became desperate simply because the man in question suddenly became broke and had to give up the lifestyle. However, Rita was a smart girl – I’m sure all of you know that. She had taken a few contacts from this rich fellow when they were wining and dining in these expensive joints and soon enough her lavish lifestyle was back on track. There was a new twist to the story though: this new man was equally rich but not as kind as the previous. He made Rita do things for the money, things you wouldn’t believe and much to his surprise Rita loved it, she loved living a double life and being a perfect mother in the day but a different person at night.”
Jack walked over to where Ryan was seated and stared him straight in the eye.
“There were times I’m sure you noticed the difference in your wife, times when you perhaps came home and found her in bed with another man.”
“What has that got to do with anything? What has that got to do with her still being alive?”
“I am getting to that,” Jack answered and strolled around the room. He went silent for a moment and loved how the whole room followed him with curious glances.
“After indulging in this wretched world that cost her marriage, Rita broke a rule in the game. The most dangerous rule of all: she fell in love. She fell in love with one of the men she wasn’t supposed to love and this became chaotic. She tried to hide it, but sadly one thing about love is that it conquers all.”
“So in short, you’re simply trying to say Rita became an escort for a rich pimp but somehow fell in love with one of the clients?” a random person in the audience asked.
“More or less, yes.”
“You could have just said that from the beginning. Aren’t you dramatic?”
“So is she alive and how did she pull it off?”
These were some of the questions Jack got from her curious audience. He loved the attention and felt like a stage actor playing the lead role.
“Rita eventually got tired of leading this kind of life and decided to devise a plot,” he went on. “A plot where both his family and as one of you put it, his pimp would not find her even if they wanted to. That is why she set about hunting for her twin sister June.”
These words made the whole room buzz with murmurs. Everyone looked at him curiously but he ignored the stares and went on.
“Yes, Rita had a twin sister who went by the name of June Andrews. It was her good that that she had been diagnosed with a terminal illness which only left her with a pile of medical bills to pay. You see Rita was an opportunist, she saw a chance in this and decided to exploit her sister’s illness and approaching death.”
“If what you are saying is true, how did they manage to steal the body from the morgue?” another curious audience member asked.
“Come on now, I have just mentioned that Rita put to bed some of the most influential men in this city; do you think stealing a body in a city morgu
e where the security is not high priority would be hard for her?”
“So where is Rita now?’ Tracy asked. “You seem to know a lot about her, where is she?”
“Believe me or not, Rita is amongst you right now as we speak,” Jack answered.
The chaos in the room rose to a different level which made both Sam and Detective Lohan get to their feet to try and control the situation. They walked over to where Jack was and flashed their badges to the crowd.
“I will need everybody to please remain calm,” Detective Lohan said in an authoritative voice. Luckily for him a good number of people respected the badge and looked at him expectantly. He knew he had to act fast and looked around the room at the scared faces.
“Is it true, officer, is Rita Sutter alive?” a random person in the crowd asked.
“We have reason to believe that.”
“Is she in the room? In here with us?”
“We have reason to believe that as well,” Lohan answered again.
The previous chaos erupted a second time and before they could do or say anything else, the place was filled with uniformed police officers at both ends of the room.
“Please, please, I am going to need the lot of you to remain calm, we are going to take care of this situation,” Lohan said again.
“How on earth are you going to do that?”
“What your very dramatic narrator here did not tell you was that Rita Sutter was allergic to strawberries,” Lohan said and gave a signal to the guard who was standing on the door. He in turn gave way to different men who walked in with cartons of strawberries mounted on their shoulders and placed them at Lohan’s feet.
“So you are going to make each and every one of us eat the strawberries?”
“Not all of you, just a few.”
“That is the most stupid thing I’ve ever heard,” a voice from the crowd said and was followed with cheers that supported her comment.
“Then let me do my job so that you could be on your way,” Lohan said in a stern voice before regarding the crowd and taking a deep breath. The room was now silent as he ran his gaze through them and tried to think of criteria to carry out the exercise.
“This is what will happen,” he started to say. “I will call out random suspects who will come here and sample the strawberries. If you do not react, you walk out and let us carry on the experiment with everyone else.”
“How long is this going to take?” asked a different person in the crowd.
“As long as it takes.”
The room went into murmurs again and before Lohan could make another move he spotted a tall, slender woman rising from the crowd and walking straight to where he was standing.
She had a unique walking style that represented her unique personality and commanded the presence of the room. Everyone else went quiet as they watched her walk to the front and stand in front of everyone.
“Stop the shenanigans already,” she said and pulled off the wig that was securely fixed on her head. With it she pulled off the sunglasses too and gave everyone a blank stare.
“Here I am,” she announced.
Everyone in the room had a different reaction. Tracy ran to the front of the room and stopped in front of her to glare at her sister. Ryan collapsed as his children were beyond horrified. He placed a hand over their mouths.
“Rita Sutter,” Sam was right behind her in a minute. “You are under arrest for fraud.”
Sam went on to read her rights to her but Rita was not shaken, she loved the various dirty looks that were thrown her way as he was handcuffed and escorted outside by the uniformed men.
“You don’t have to all escort me to the station like I’m a terrorist or something,” Rita said sharply but still had a cold, sinister smile playing on her lips.
Tracy was right behind her as she was being escorted and couldn’t believe it. She was silent all along and got into the police car with her. The crowd of people who were left at the memorial had a lot to gossip about and Tracy spotted someone trying to revive Ryan.
“My dear sister, it has been a while,” Rita said and looked in Tracy’s direction. “You could not wait for my memorial to at least pass before you got underneath my man?”
“Now now, Rita, let us not forget, he was my man first.”
“Get over yourself, Tracy, that was decades ago,” Rita replied. “You really do know how to hold a grudge.”
“Let's talk about you and the predicament you have now found yourself in,” Tracy said and settled down in her seat. She loved how Rita had managed to still maintain her youth and how vibrant she looked now.
“What about it?You are facing some serious charges.”
“I know that.”
“Do you plan to fight it?”
“No, Tracy, I plan to go to jail and be raped for the rest of my days.”
Tracy let out a chuckle at the sarcasm and loved how composed Rita was. Her gut told her she was up to something but she could not see how she could possibly escape from a police van handcuffed and on her way to prison.
“I know what you were looking for, Tracy,” she said. “I know you were looking for the account information.”
“I was.”
“You can have it.”
“What do you want in return?” Tracy asked.
“Nothing much. I would like you to deliver a message for me and you can have what you want,” Rita answered.
All along the two police men were listening keenly to their conversation without saying a word. Sam adjusted his rear view mirror to see if they would exchange anything but both ladies did not speak to each other thereafter.
What neither Sam nor Lohan could see was the necklace that Rita handed over to her sister without knowing. She then winked at her before letting out a wide smile.
Lohan was fixated on the fact that they were carrying Tracy in the same van as Rita and spoke about it.
“Miss Evans, you will have to get out of the car.”
“I understand,” Tracy answered without much of an argument. She knew Lohan had given her enough passes already and did not want to get Sam in any trouble.
“You can drop me at that bus stop ahead and I will get a cab to the station later on, after I have changed out of these clothes.”
“I am looking forward to seeing you, little sister,” Rita said.
“I am sure you are,” Tracy said before stepping out of the car. “No-one else will visit you in prison anyway.”
They exchanged one last dirty look before Tracy shut the door behind her and watched as the police car disappeared into the distance. She was just about to hail a taxi to head back to her apartment but a van stopped right in front of her. A young man rolled down the driver’s window and gave her a look.
“Miss Evans.”
“Yes, do I know you?”
“I believe you have something of mine from Rita?” he said. “Hop in.”
Tracy did as he was asked with the necklace still in her hand. She sat in the backseat of the van and wondered who the person was but knew better than to ask questions.
“Let me see it,” the man went on to say. There were two different men in the car too who gave Tracy slight shivers and she did not bother to hesitate. She handed him the necklace and relaxed in her seat. The man parked the van at the side of the road and let out a smile after looking at what he had just been handed.
“They say diamonds are a girl’s best friend,” he said before giving a signal to the men with her in the back seat. He then began slowly driving off. He looked straight ahead as he addressed Tracy.
“The information you want is in the envelope that this nice man will hand over to you,” he said. “We will drop you at the next bus top where there is a ticket to Mexico and a new identity for you. You need to start a new life and with the money saved up, you should be comfortable.”
“What about Rita?”
“Don’t you worry about Rita, she always lands on her feet.”
Tracy did not know what to
say to this but again thought of her life; there was nothing to hold her back and therefore no reason to stay. The prospect of starting over fresh was appealing and she couldn’t deny herself the chance.
“Thank you, Rita,” was all she managed to say as the van kept moving.
*****
Sam kept on driving once they dropped Tracy off and would look in his rear view mirror from time to time. He had a lot of questions for her but the wicked look apparent on her face gave him shivers. They were momentarily stuck in traffic. He threw a glance in Lohan’s direction who seemed calm.
Once traffic cleared, Sam set off again with his mind set on the task ahead. He was however blocked by a van that seemed to have stopped moving right in front of them.
“What is going on there?” he asked as he honked at them impatiently.
“Go check it out,” Lohan advised.
He got out of the driver’s seat and walked over to the van. There was a black man behind the wheel, who seemed to be struggling with starting the van.
“I’m sorry, sir,” he apologized. “My car won’t start, I took it to a different mechanic the other day who swore to me he knew what he was doing.”
The man struggled but only seemed to be making things worse. Smoke started coming out of the bonnet of his car and this made him even more confused.
“Oh, crap!!” he shouted and opened the car door.
Sam could not believe his bad luck. This was the last thing they needed at that particular moment on their way to the police station.
Sam went over to stand and look at the man struggling before a honk from Lohan alerted him that they were wasting time.
Open it, he signaled and walked to the front of the car where the smoke was getting thicker. He looked at it and tried to pull and tug on a few things but that only made the smoke worse. Lohan honked again which made him more uncomfortable and before he knew it Logan was beside him.
“What is going on here?” he asked.
He took one look at the smoke, and looked at Sam and the strange man who was now holding up traffic, before shaking his head.
“Amateurs. Move out of the way, let me show you how to take care of this,” he said.
Mystery: Missing Rita: (Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Suspense Thriller Mystery) Page 15