Blood Red Winter: A Thriller

by J. Conrad

  Aria put her hand on her heart. “Oh my God! That’s awful. I’m so sorry.” For the first time I noticed her faint Texas accent. Somehow I’d never developed one myself, although both my parents had it. “May I ask what happened? Was she sick?”

  I swallowed and clenched my jaw. “We – we don’t know exactly what happened. She… it was unexpected.”

  Aria’s eyes never left mine. “I see. Well, if you ever need someone to talk to, you can talk to me about it.”

  “Okay. Thanks,” I said.

  Her eyes kept probing mine and it irked me. She was looking for something there, and whatever it was, I hoped she didn’t find it.

  “I feel like I’m bothering you,” she said. “I don’t want to keep you.”

  “No, you’re not bothering me. I just don’t want to say the wrong thing, or put you in danger somehow. Just thinking of my talk with Reyes a week ago,” I said.

  Aria sniffed. “Well, Korey’s in custody now, so I’m no longer in danger. There’s nothing he can do. They put him in the slammer and he’ll probably get life. Maybe even the death penalty. What is Reyes afraid of? Did he actually say you’re not supposed to talk to me, because he can’t do that –” Her eyes started to tear up and she cast them down at her mug, taking a drink to steady herself.

  “He didn’t specifically tell me not to talk to you, but that’s the impression he gave me,” I said.

  “Well, it’s strange,” she said. She didn’t succeed in bringing herself under composure the way she’d wanted and I saw that her left cheek was wet.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you,” I said. “I should probably get going.” I started to rise, and Aria grabbed my arm.

  “No,” she said, her big eyes blinking up at me. “I’m the one who’s sorry. Trent, I have no one. I don’t have anyone in the world. The only reason I came here today is because I thought I might run into you, this being Georgetown. Please.” Her arm shook as she gripped mine, the knuckles of her small hand turning white. “Please, just sit down and talk to me. I have no one.”

  I relinquished and she let go of me. She turned and placed her coffee cup on the table next to her, putting her hand over her face so that she could cry into it soundlessly. I supposed the correct protocol in this situation was that I was to place a comforting hand on her shoulder, or extend some similar gesture. Instead I sat there mutely, unwilling to touch her after what Reyes said during my interrogation. I didn’t move and waited until she finished, giving a loud, wet sniff, and wiping her face with her napkin.

  “Do you know how I lived?” she asked. “Besides you finding me. Do you know how I lived as long as I did?”

  I shook my head.

  Aria’s voice was so low I could barely hear. “Korey had a dog.”

  My stomach hit the floor and I felt sick. A kind of sick I couldn’t describe, like being dropped into a barrel of slugs.

  “He hadn’t been feeding us, not really. Maybe a scrap of something here and there. We were tied up in that back room and we were starving to death. But Korey had a dog, and he kept the bag of dog food in that same room. That room where we were. I would scoot over to the bag of dog food and get some. Then I’d take it to my stepmom. She’d have to eat it out of my mouth. I mean, I had to feed her like that. Like a bird feeds her young, because our hands were tied behind our back. I’d do this a few times, scooting back and forth across that nasty floor. Then I’d drag myself over to the bag again and feed myself,” she said.

  I shuddered, letting out a sigh of relief in a long, shaky breath. My extremities suddenly felt cold. I hadn’t noticed the temperature in here, but it felt like a meat locker. I wrapped both hands around my coffee cup to warm them.

  “This whole thing was hard to do, not just because our hands were tied behind our backs, but because the bag was only open partway. I had to shove my face into it. Not my whole face, it wouldn’t fit, but I had to shove my face onto the bag and push it down, so that I could get my mouth to the food. But it kept us alive.

  “Then one day, Korey caught me feeding my stepmom. And he beat us. Beat us bad. After that he raped me – not the first time, and then he beat my stepmom so bad that she went unconscious. She was still breathing. I know since I checked later, because for some reason he never separated us. But she never woke up again, even though she kept breathing for several days. And Korey took the dog food out of the room. So that was the last time I ate before I was found.” She looked up from her coffee cup. “Before you found me.”

  I let out another audible breath. “That’s why you had trouble eating.”

  She nodded, saying softly, “Yeah. And shortly after my stepmom died, Korey stabbed me and chained me to the wall. So I wouldn’t have been able to get to the food even if he’d left it there.”

  I sat there in silent horror. There was nothing I could say. Finally I asked, “I don’t want to pry, but you said you have no one. You have no friends or family?”

  “Please, pry,” Aria said, forcing a smile on a face that had taken on a wan aspect it didn’t have earlier. “No. I mean, I do have friends, up north in Dallas, but no family. No close friends anymore. It’s a long story. My stepmom was the last person I really had, besides...”

  “I see. Dallas? Are you originally from there?” I asked. So she had no friends and no family. Where was she staying? Maybe she was still in protective custody, living with whoever the police had arranged. That probably wouldn’t be needed much longer.

  “No, I was born in Waco actually, but my mom moved to Dallas when I was young and I pretty much grew up there. Then when I was seventeen she died, and I moved here to live with my stepmom, Carol.”

  “Your dad?” I asked.

  “He died too, died of cancer when I was eight,” Aria said.

  I never thought I’d meet anyone whose life was worse than mine. Not knowing what else to say, I just told her I was sorry.

  “It’s all right,” she said. “What can I say, I’m cursed.” She smiled weakly, meeting my eyes again.

  I nodded and stared off in the direction of the window. I could just see the tan bricks of the historic courthouse building from where we were. Aria stared out the window too, but what she was actually looking at, I’ll never know.

  Aria turned her head in my direction. “How’s your injury?”

  “It’s better,” I said. “I can actually sit down now.”

  We laughed and I considered it a much needed reprieve from the taught conversation. I stood up and stretched my arms, forcing my expression to be more relaxed than it really was. The doughnut cushion practically leaped into my hand.

  “It was good to see you,” I said. “I’m going to head out.”

  Aria blinked and she half rose off the couch. Her huge brown eyes flashed with some emotion.

  “Oh,” she said. “All right. You know, I have a phone now, if you ever want to call me. I mean, you can. If you ever want to.”

  Without really meaning to, I glared at her. Where did she think this was possibly going to go? I didn’t mean to be heartless, and I wasn’t. Not really. But it wasn’t my responsibility to care for a violent crime victim, especially at present when I wasn’t working and had a dead fiancée. When is it callousness and when is it reason?

  “Thank you,” I said. “And you still have mine too.”

  Aria forced a smile and her eyes filled up with tears. She turned down the corners of her mouth and looked down at her lap. She knew I didn’t want to get involved with her.

  I added quickly, “It was really nice seeing you. I’m glad we got to talk.”

  She kept her eyes downcast, and I knew I’d blown it, whatever “it” was. Chivalry? Social convention? Common decency? Because I guess that’s what I was supposed to think, it was “common decency” for me to offer her a place to live, keep her safe, and take care of her, probably. Just finding her in the abandoned house had made me a target and got my fiancée murdered. Murdered. And if I didn’t want to end this chain reaction o
f destruction, I was a cold-hearted, unfeeling bastard.

  “Take care,” I said, and without waiting for her response, I turned and walked out the door. I never allowed her to tell me her phone number.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  February 21st

  “Well, it is your responsibility, at least somewhat,” Kyle said over his newspaper.

  The story of the County Road 118 case was turning up a lot now, and we read an article of Nemeth’s apprehension. Korey Nemeth had confessed to the abduction of the two women and planned on pleading guilty to Carol Brandt’s murder. A trial had been scheduled for March 19th. It was doubtful Aria would have to worry about this creep again.

  I shook my head and peered out the window of the grill house at the interstate frontage road. We had met for lunch in Pflugerville, about halfway between Austin and Georgetown. At noon on Tuesday, the restaurant wasn’t packed, but in discussing something like this we sure didn’t shout.

  I said, “I disagree. First of all, I’m living off my savings money until I can go back to work. And secondly, what am I supposed to do? I’m supposed to offer her a place to stay and take care of her?”

  Kyle snorted. “Of course not. But you can be concerned and try to help in other ways.”

  “Like what?” I asked. “All I can think about is...” Elizabeth. I saw her face when I tried to sleep at night. I saw her blank eyes staring up at the stormy sky, her torn cheek yawning open in defeated submission. Elizabeth had been my responsibility and I failed her.

  Kyle nodded. “I know, man. It’s going to take some time. But with Aria, I don’t know. You’re certainly under no obligation, but you might be able to assist in some respect you never thought of. For example, if you know of an arrangement where she could be a live-in housekeeper or nanny, you could show her the ad.”

  “She can find ads herself,” I said. “She doesn’t need me for that. She feels emotional towards me because I found her, but that isn’t a healthy association. It’s a reaction.”

  Kyle chewed his burger thoughtfully, swallowed it and took a drink of his soft drink. “Sure. But she’s in a pretty rough state right now. She’s probably still getting used to the idea that she’s safe now, and is trying to adjust her mind to how she can live again and start over.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Well, if I have some brilliant idea that won’t involve the complete upheaval of my life, okay. Otherwise, I’m steering clear.”

  Kyle looked up from his food, tilting his head and raising his eyebrows slightly. “You said you called the sheriff’s office this time. You reported your conversation with Aria to Detective Menard, like Reyes asked you to?”

  I nodded. “I did. And I made sure to tell him that I didn’t accept her phone number. Talking to her wasn’t my idea.”

  Kyle laughed. “No kidding.”

  I laughed back, but my smile evaporated. “Reyes doesn’t like the idea of us speaking, but I’m not breaking any laws or doing anything wrong. And I plan to keep my distance as much as possible. To tell you the truth, I’m surprised you’re in favor of the idea of me talking with her at all.”

  “Trent, Reyes probably wants to make sure you’re not going to take advantage of her,” Kyle said. “That’s why he jumped your case down at the station.”

  I shook my head, contorting my face in disgust. “Are you kidding me? I would never.”

  “I know that, but the authorities don’t. And some people would,” he said.

  I stared at my plate. “Not someone with any sense of decency. And not someone who just lost their fiancée.”

  We sat in silence for a few seconds. Kyle asked, “Have there been any new leads?”

  “No,” I said. “That’s the biggest part of why I’m a suspect. As you already know, the time of Elizabeth’s death was after Nemeth was arrested.”

  “You’re also a suspect because of other things which you didn’t report,” Kyle said, hardening his brows slightly. “I’m glad you’re reporting now.”

  I nodded.

  “Did you find out anything else about that truck driver? The one who totaled your Silverado?” Kyle asked.

  “No. I gave his info at the sheriff’s office when I was questioned, but otherwise I haven’t checked. Why do you ask?”

  “It was just such an odd thing,” he said.

  I shrugged and picked up my coffee mug. “Yeah.”

  “You’re not drinking anymore?” Kyle asked, noticing that neither of us had a beer, or a pitcher, on the table.

  Well, I guess I wasn’t. The pain killers they gave me at the hospital forced me to stop, and after that I just forgot about it.

  “Nah. I don’t need the expense,” I said.

  Kyle nodded slowly, turning down the corners of his mouth like he might be having some great new revelation about me, but I didn’t ask.

  “Okay buddy, I gotta run,” Kyle said, removing the napkin from his lap. I had offered to pay for lunch. It was the first time we had got together as friends since my fight with Jared at the Salt Lick.

  “Later,” I said. I had to get going too, because this was also the first day I was to return to work at the gas station. My shift was going to be from 2:00 to 8:00 for a few weeks, then I would eventually go back to evenings and some weekend days, like it was before.

  I had also checked in with Tim that morning. We established that I could return to work in a month. By then I would be healed enough for ranch work, and there was no reason I couldn’t resume, discounting further shooters turning up. Tim knew that Nemeth was behind bars, but he didn’t know about Elizabeth.

  Whoever my tormentor was, he had made a point of murdering her after Aria’s abductor had been captured. He may not have realized that his boss was in the slammer while he carried out Nemeth’s dirty work. Or, like Reyes pointed out, the killer may have no connection to Nemeth at all. But I didn’t have any other enemies and only drew a blank.

  At eight o’clock at Texaco, I turned my register over to Matt, a new guy who had started there since my absence. As I walked outside to my pickup, I saw a familiar face under the lights in the parking lot and almost turned back around. It was like a recurring bad dream.

  She stood not far away from a white sedan, smiling bleakly, and giving me a passing wave. I stopped short, staring at the car. No, it didn’t look like the one the shooter used. That one was older, probably a late 90’s model. This one was far newer. I wondered if it was hers.

  Sighing under my breath, I walked over to her. She had her hair down and the wind was blowing it back.

  “I’m stalking you,” she said, laughing weakly. “Just kidding. I filled up at the pump a minute ago and went in to use the restroom. I saw you inside.”

  I pretended to laugh back. I hadn’t seen her come in, and I definitely would have noticed, unless it was when I had gone to the storage area a few times. I wondered if this was another meeting like before, one in which she had determined to run into me, one way or another. “Oh yeah? Have you been job hunting in Georgetown? Any luck?”

  “No luck with jobs yet. I was out applying today, though. Got this far and decided to turn around and head back,” Aria said.

  “Good call,” I said. “This isn’t really Georgetown here, it’s unincorporated Williamson County, and if you keep heading north you’ll wind up in Jarrell. That would be a long commute.” I assumed she was still staying somewhere between Austin and Round Rock.

  She nodded. “For sure. Well, I don’t want to keep you. It’s funny how we keep bumping into each other like this, but I’m sure you have somewhere you need to be.”

  Relief swept over me in a tidal wave and I grinned too readily, but then I remembered what Kyle had said. Kyle was usually right, and if I had listened to him more in the past, my present life might be very different than it was now. I didn’t have to get emotionally involved with Aria, give her money, or do anything else ridiculous, but I could at least not be indifferent.

  “I’m just getting off work, actually,” I said.
“I don’t have anywhere to be.”

  Aria blinked and cocked her head a little, looking up at me. “Oh. Well – well great. Do you want to – do you want to grab a bite somewhere? I can buy.”

  I laughed. “You don’t have to buy, I’ll pay for myself. But sure, we can grab a bite.”

  We took our separate vehicles and met up at an Applebee’s on the Interstate 35 access road in Georgetown. While I cursed under my breath, my stomach dropping the more I thought about this, I had to remind myself that I didn’t have bad intentions and wasn’t doing anything wrong. I was only meeting up with her because it seemed more logical than being cold and distant, even though that’s what I wanted.

  “Thanks for agreeing to meet with me,” Aria said, as we took our seats across from each other in a booth.

  “Sure, no problem,” I said. I kept my expression even, hoping she could see this didn’t commit me to anything, nor did it have some special meaning. Better to launch into conversation. “If I might ask, where were you working before? Is there any chance you could get your old job back?”

  Aria’s eyes grew wider for a moment and she rubbed her hands, as though she was cold. “Um, no, I worked for stepmom. She was a real estate agent.”

  Bells and whistles. Kyle was a real estate agent, and also the person who suggested I try to help out if I could. Making a mental note to ask him if he needed an assistant, I didn’t mention this to Aria yet. I told her I understood and that I’d keep an eye out for anything. We tried to make small talk until our food came, but I knew eventually our banal chatter would solidify into something more substantial.

  “I hope you don’t mind my asking, but how have you been coping with your loss?” Aria asked. “I know it must be hard, because it’s hard for me losing Carol. Are you getting support from friends?”

  I swallowed my food and cleared my throat, hesitating before answering. Well, I couldn’t sleep. Waves of pain swept over me like a freight train throughout the day, giving no sign of letting up. When I was alone I cried, and that helped sometimes, but nothing stopped those unabating currents. I guess I could always go back to drinking, but I was afraid to. The guy who killed her was still at large, and I didn’t need to be drunk if – or when – he came for me too.