Death and Deceit

by Carol Marlene Smith

  “It was a cooperative effort,” Liz said, smiling at Alan.

  Alan moved towards her and gave her another hug. They then took hands and went up the stairway.

  ****

  Liz crawled in bed and turned on her side. As she drifted off to sleep, she couldn’t help but think of Alan. How he’d taken her hand when they’d climbed the stairs, and they’d sat on the hall chairs for a bit. He told her then how much he enjoyed her company, and how much he had wanted to see her again. He had actually told her that he would like to begin a relationship with her. Not in so many words, but Liz was quick to make him see she understood what he was getting at. She told him though that it would be a little tough considering they were about five hours apart. He had said that was nothing. He said also that he had big plans for the future. She didn’t know what that meant, but she hoped things would work out for them, and that his future would continue to include her.

  She rolled onto her back and stared into the night, lit only by the lofty moon. She could make out the roundness of the ceiling light. Only the muffled whine of the wind blowing through the branches of the willow could be heard. Then she thought of the kiss Alan had placed on her lips just before he’d gone on to his own room. It had just been a brush on the lips, but it was the first kiss he had ever given her, and that to her was special, always to be treasured in her book of memories. Things might just be working out for her, if only Ricardo would survive and Jessie got the charges dropped…and if Kent kept quiet about the e mails and her part in all of this mess. She drifted off to a sweet sleep, after pulling the comforter around her cool shoulders.

  It was an overcast day when they sat around the breakfast table. Liz felt tired even though she had enjoyed a good sleep. When the phone rang, she jumped off her chair and grabbed the receiver.

  “Oh, hi, Sandra...No, I haven’t heard anything about Ricardo. I was just thinking about calling the hospital...You did? Is he...? He is? Thanks for calling, Sandra...Yes, I will...Goodbye.”

  “What was that all about?” Alan asked while munching on a bagel.

  Kent picked his cup off the table and walked it to the sink. He turned and stopped in front of the cupboard to listen to what Liz had to say.

  She was just hanging up the receiver. “Sandra called the hospital this morning. Not much change…he’s still hanging on. Tough guy.”

  “That sounds like a good sign,” Kent said.

  Liz joined Alan at the sink and they did up the dishes. Kent had borrowed some shaving gear from Alan and went upstairs to clean up. After Alan and Liz had cleaned up the kitchen, they had gotten ready themselves. Their first stop would be to the police station.

  At the car, Liz crawled in back with Alan. She wished she had something different to wear. Here she was trying to impress the man of her dreams, and all she had to wear was a pair of old jeans that she’d been sleeping in on the hilltop with Kent. She felt lucky though to have found a sweater of Jessie’s to borrow, as the blouse she had been wearing was in complete shreds. Alan didn’t seem to mind though, if the expression on his face was any indication. It was so apparent it slightly made Liz blush.

  He leaned over and whispered in her ear. “I’d give you a hug if we weren’t all tied up in these seat belts.”

  Liz giggled. “Save it,” she said. “I’ll take a rain check.”

  “Do you think it’s going to rain?” Kent called from the front seat.

  Liz giggled again and looked over at Alan. “Ah...rain? I dunno.”

  “I thought you said something about rain,” Kent continued.

  By now Alan had a silly grin growing on his face. Kent looked in the rear view mirror at them. “What’s going on back there anyway?”

  Alan glanced in the rear view mirror at Kent’s eyes. “Nothing, Kent, just concentrate on your driving. You’ll keep yourself out of trouble that way.”

  “All right, you two, no hanky panky. You can save that for later, we’ve got to get Jessie out of that jail cell and back to the house. Then we can all make hanky panky.”

  Liz and Alan laughed and it was good to bring some relief to a bad situation. As soon as Kent pulled into the police station parking lot, they were out of the car and walking briskly inside.

  “So, what’s the plan, Alan?” Kent asked.

  “I want to talk to Jessie, then maybe Davis and then I’ll make my call.”

  “Where’s your lawyer friend?” Liz asked.

  “He happens to live in town. He was a mentor to me when I was beginning my law studies. We became kinda close and I know he’s good.”

  When they arrived at the secretary’s desk, they were told that Davis was not in, so they went on down to the jail cell to see Jessie. An officer opened the cell door and let Alan go inside. Liz and Kent waited in the corridor.

  Liz watched when Jessie and Alan met in the jail cell. Jessie stood as he approached her, and the two redheads embraced. It was a tender moment. Kent sat with a magazine, but Liz was too nervous to concentrate on anything other than what was going on at hand.

  Alan was not in with Jessie very long; he came back out and said he had a couple of calls to make. As soon as Alan left the cell, Kent jumped up and slid through the doorway before the guard even had a chance to close it.

  Liz continued to wait on the outside. When Alan returned, he walked over to the guard and had a short conversation. The guard walked over and opened the cell door and told Jessie she was free to go.

  Jessie jumped up from the bed where she and Kent had been sitting, and Kent followed her. As they entered the corridor, Jessie walked straight to Liz and embraced her, then she looked at Alan and said, “Thank you.”

  There were no further words as the group quietly left the police station and headed to the car. When they arrived at the car, Jessie turned to Alan. “What does this all mean, Alan? I’m free until when?”

  “Until you have your bail hearing. But in a way you’re lucky. Both Sam, your lawyer, and I know the judge. Sam had a talk with him and you’re free to be with me. You could say we’re in charge of you at least until the bail hearing.”

  “And when will that be?”

  “First of the week, Monday. “You’ll go down and the judge will set your bail. I have to leave, but you’ll be in Sam’s hands.”

  “So, when do I get to meet Sam?”

  “On Monday, I guess.”

  In the car, Liz and Alan once again sat in the back seat. As soon as Kent left the parking lot, Jessie turned to Alan. “I know we’re all tired and you’re probably tired of talking about Ricardo, Alan, but I’d like to know a bit more.”

  “Jessie, for Christ’s sake,” Alan moaned.

  “Please, Alan,” Jessie begged. “Just humour me a little longer. You were Ricardo’s friend. I put two and two together when I remembered you used to call him Diego.”

  “You’ve got a long memory, little sister. All right. Rick and I weren’t close friends. He used to hang out with Marcy sometimes. He started bugging me about you. How he wanted to date you. Personally I thought he was nuts.” He grinned at Jessie.

  Jessie made a face and stuck her tongue out. “Thanks, Bro.”

  “Finally I gave in and set up the blind date. You know the rest.”

  “Did you know that Ricardo married Marcy?” Jessie asked.

  “No, but I’m not surprised.”

  “They’re not together now though,” Jessie added.

  “That doesn’t surprise me either.” He looked wistful. “I wonder where she is now.”

  Liz shivered. Did he still have feelings for that old girlfriend? She tested him out. “Are you going to search for her, Alan?”

  He reached across and took her hands. “I’m over her, long ago.” He smiled at Liz and she believed him.

  When they reached the house, Liz and Alan went into the kitchen to make coffee. Kent walked into the living room and sat down. Jessie had gone straight upstairs and he could hear the shower running.

  He was lying back on the
sofa sort of dozing, when Jessie came downstairs and into the living room. She was wearing a short, yellow skirt and top to match.

  He sat up quickly and Jessie sat on the sofa beside him. Kent reclaimed her by snuggling his arm around her shoulder and drawing her close to him, as if to protect her from all the bad stuff that had been going on.

  “Mmm, you smell good.” He nudged her ear with his tongue, but she didn’t respond as he thought she might. “How are you doing?” he asked, while feeling the tenseness in her shoulders.

  Her eyes flooded with tears. “I’m sorry, Kent. I’m just so worried. What if he dies? I don’t know if I can live knowing I killed someone.”

  Kent kissed her on the forehead and looked into her eyes. “I thought I was going to lose you out there in the woods. I tried to be brave for Liz, but I was desperate and I felt so helpless.”

  “You weren’t helpless.” She looked into his eyes. “That foot work when you knocked the gun away — if Ricardo had reached it… I wonder what he would have done. He didn’t want to hurt me, he kept saying. He said he was in love with me.”

  “And that surprises you? Why wouldn’t he be? I am.”

  Kent’s eyes still held the warmth she had felt when she’d first met him, and it gave her a good feeling. She smiled at him. “I’m so glad you stayed,” she said.

  “I told you before, I wouldn’t be anywhere else. As long as you need me, I’ll be here. And I hope that’s forever.”

  Jessie kissed him. “I love you, Kent. I, too, thought I’d never see you again. And when you got shot at in the motel, I was terrified. That long ride with Ricardo, I worried more about you than my own well being. Without you, Kent, I didn’t care anymore.”

  He thought about how he had almost lost her. It had been an incredible forty-eight hours. The night he had sat helplessly on the hilltop looking down into the valley with despair, unable to reach her but knowing she was in deep trouble, had been so frustrating and he had been incapable of knowing what to do next.

  He had wanted to storm into the cabin and save her from harm, but Ricardo Alvarez had a gun, and he was no doubt an excellent marksman. Kent had his karate, but he was afraid to put Jessie in further jeopardy. After all, a bullet can be more powerful than a chop, even though both could be deadly at the right time and place. But, he had been afraid to challenge Alvarez. Not because of his own life, but because he’d put Jessie in the middle. So he’d waited and let Jessie suffer. It almost turned his stomach to think of Alvarez touching her.

  He pulled back and gazed at her now. She had taken care of Alvarez all by herself. At that moment he couldn’t have been more proud of her. “You're a brave one, Jessica Albright.”

  Jessie sighed. “I gotta tell you, I was not acting brave out there with Ricardo. I still can’t figure out how I managed to shoot that gun.”

  Kent took no notice that Liz and Alan had just entered the room. He leaned closer and kissed Jessie softly on the lips.

  When she noticed Liz and Alan come in, Jessie broke free from Kent’s hold and left the living room. She nervously paced the kitchen floor.

  Kent followed her, as did Liz and Alan. He wondered why she’d left the living room so quickly and confronted her. “Jessie, what’s wrong? Did I say something I shouldn’t have?”

  Jessie had her back to him. “I need to know what’s going on at the hospital.”

  “So, you want to go there now?” Kent asked her.

  She spun round and looked desperately into Kent’s eyes. “I have to. I have to see him for myself. See if he’s okay.”

  “After what he did to you?” Alan asked incredulously.

  “It’s more like what I’ve done to him,” Jessie said weakly.

  “What?” Kent said. “He actually planned to take you out of town. He called the police station and told them he was leaving town, because he needed to help a girl that was in trouble with a stalker.”

  Jessie felt bewildered. She now realized that Ricardo had planned the kidnapping all along. It had not been a spur of the moment thing that happened in her apartment, if he had called the police station earlier, because he never made any calls while in her company.

  “So he planned it.” Jessie stood in a daze.

  Kent reached one arm around her. “Well…do you still want to go to the hospital?”

  She turned and looked up at him. “Of course.”

  “How do you know they’ll let you see him?” Liz asked.

  Jessie turned her eyes on Liz, as if she had to defend herself. “Why wouldn’t they?”

  “They probably won’t,” Kent replied, “since you did shoot him. But we’ll go there anyway, if it’ll make you feel any better. I don’t know why you would want to see him, Jessie. And I don’t know if he would want to see you.”

  Jessie sat on a kitchen chair. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” She looked up at Kent. “But I have to try. If I can just look at him, see that he’s going to be all right. My heart would lighten tenfold.”

  Alan pushed back his chair and carried his cup to the cupboard. He couldn’t see Jessie’s point, but he decided to keep his opinion to himself this time.

  ****

  Arriving at the nurses’ station, Jessie spotted Dr. Farley walking up the hallway in her direction.

  “Doctor, could you give me some news on Ricardo Alvarez, please,” she called to him.

  The doctor stopped in his tracks and gazed at her. “Who are you?”

  “Jessica Albright. My mother died here not long ago,” Jessie said.

  “Oh yes, the cancer patient. I thought I recognized you. I’m sorry, what did you just ask me?” He looked tired as he pushed back a lose strand of thin brown hair that had fallen on his forehead. He adjusted his glasses on his short nose. By then Kent had caught up with Jessie. Liz and Alan remained in the background observing.

  “I’m wondering,” Jessie repeated, “if you can give me some news on Ricardo Alvarez.”

  Dr. Farley paused a minute as if thinking, then replied, “The young man you inquire about is finally conscious.”

  “So...that’s good I guess.” Jessie fumbled for words, wishing the doctor would expand on his statement. But Dr. Farley was apparently a man of few words, or there was something else keeping him from explaining Ricardo’s condition to her.

  He looked at the expression of hope in the young woman’s eyes and wished he hadn’t been silenced by the chief. “Yes,” he finally said, “it’s a good sign, but he’s extremely vulnerable to infections. We’re monitoring him very closely right now.”

  “Could I see him...I mean, just for a minute. I’ll be —”

  “That’s not a good idea, young lady. For one thing, he needs to be kept isolated as much as possible. I just told you about infect —”

  “For another thing,” a voice broke through the air, “you shot him, Ms Albright. Why would you want to see him? And why should we trust you near him?”

  Both Kent and Jessie wheeled around and stared into the screwed-up face of Chief Davis. He seemed to have come out of nowhere, but Liz had seen him coming from one of the rooms just to the right of them.

  It was Kent who answered the chief’s accusing questions to Jessie. “You know it was self defence, Davis. Why are you still harassing her?”

  Davis stepped into the circle of people, and Dr. Farley took leave of the group, silently stealing away to get on with the mountain of duties the hospital had placed on his tired shoulders.

  “The girl’s only out because her brother has connections. No charges have been dropped and other charges haven’t been ruled out yet, so proceedings will take place as usual,” Davis said.

  “So, have you talked to Alvarez? Did you question him as to what happened out there?”

  “That’s none of your business, young man.”

  “I have a citizen’s right to ask.” Kent said.

  “Was that Alvarez’s room you just came from?” Liz put in.

  They all looked at Davis, whose stubborn fa
ce looked inclined not to reply.

  “Well?” Kent asked. “Was it?”

  “You are bold people,” Davis said. “What are you all doing here anyway?”

  “I just wanted to see Ricardo,” Jessie spoke up loud and clear. “I hear that he’s conscious, and I’d like to tell him I’m sorry about the shooting.”

  Davis gave her a doubtful look. “You claim he kidnapped you and tried to rape you — not once, but twice. Now you want me to believe you’re sorry you shot him?”

  “Yes. That’s exactly right.” Jessie’s voice was strong and sincere, but Davis just shook his head and walked away down the corridor and towards the elevator. Then he stopped and turned to face Jessie. “If I hear of any instance of you near Ricardo Alvarez, you’ll be back in that jail cell so fast you won’t even remember that you were out.”

  Kent sighed and placed a hand on Jessie’s shoulder. “We might as well leave, Jess. Nobody’s gonna let you see Alvarez.”

  Jessie looked up into his warm reliable eyes, but said nothing. She walked with him towards the elevator, while Liz and Alan tagged along behind. The foursome reached the outside door just in time to see Davis drive away in his cruiser.

  ****

  The day had grown increasingly dark and a heavy mist now filled the air. A chill had also invaded the month, as can sometimes happen in the latter part of June in Nova Scotia. The weather can go from steaming hot to cool and damp overnight. And like the weather, the earlier revived spirits of the day had dampened for the people in the Cape Cod house.

  Jessie and Liz sat at the kitchen table while Kent made coffee. Alan had gone outside to put the lawnmower away. He had planned to mow the lawn, but the rain was now pouring straight down in sheets. Jessie got up to turn on the kitchen light. The fan whirled lazily, but she shut it off and returned to slump in her chair again. “I just don’t know what to do.” She sighed. “And what did Davis mean about other charges not being ruled out?”

  Kent poured coffee in three blue mugs and brought two to the table. “He’s talking through his hat, Jessie. I wish we could finish up here and go back to Harbourside. We all need to get back to work and put this behind us.”