by Ragan, T. R.
The binder, Lizzy decided, was impressive. “Looks like you’ve interviewed her friends.”
“And acquaintances,” Andrea said. “Ever heard of Anthony Melbourne?”
Lizzy shook her head.
“Flip over to the last red tab,” Andrea instructed. “He’s a motivational speaker. Some call him a fitness guru. He’s been compared to Jack LaLanne and Tony Little.”
That explained why Lizzy had never heard of Anthony Melbourne. Lizzy wouldn’t know a treadmill if it bit her in the ass. She flipped to the red tab titled Anthony Melbourne.
“In the beginning of his career as a fitness guru he traveled around the world,” Andrea explained, “but now he’s concentrating on his seminars and retreats so he stays close to home. He also runs a very popular gym, which happens to be right here in Sacramento. He’s been on PBS and the Home Shopping Network more than a few times selling his products.”
Lizzy nodded, waited.
“Diane used to talk about this guy as if he was God.”
Andrea’s sarcasm was not lost on Lizzy. The woman was not pleased with Anthony Melbourne.
“My sister thought he was the most caring, sensitive man in the world and she spent a lot of money listening to Melbourne’s...umm—”
“Bullshit?”
“Yes.”
“Are you saying you think this Melbourne guy had something to do with your sister’s disappearance?”
Andrea thought about that for a moment. “Yes, I guess that’s what I’m saying. In my other life before marriage and kids, I was a manager of a large retail outlet. I did the hiring and I interviewed a lot of people. I could tell if they were lying. I’ve always been a big proponent of following my gut. People have instincts for a reason. I don’t trust Melbourne and I didn’t believe him when he told me he hadn’t seen my sister in months.”
Lizzy flipped back to the Police section where Andrea had provided a copy of the full police report. “The police report says that Diane cleaned out her savings a few days before she disappeared and that her I.D., wallet, and personal effects were never found, which would point to someone leaving on their own terms.”
“I understand,” Andrea said. “But hear me out. What if Diane was going somewhere to lose weight? What if she had taken that large sum of money and paid Melbourne in return for some...I don’t know...magical pill or crazy diet program that she thought might work once and for all?”
“Did you insinuate as much to Melbourne when you talked to him?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He laughed. But for a millisecond he looked away. Anthony Melbourne was definitely lying: looking away, stammering, and talking in a defensive tone. You name it, he did it. I’m not saying he killed my sister, although I wouldn’t put it past him. I’m just telling you that my gut tells me he knows something.”
“Did the police talk to Melbourne?”
“Twice. They said Melbourne was more than cooperative, even turned over his records which showed that my sister had purchased his DVD’s, T-shirts, and every book he’s ever put on the market. They also confirmed that Diane attended two of his workshops: one in San Francisco and one right here in Sacramento only a few weeks before she disappeared.”
“What about boyfriends?”
“Diane never had a boyfriend.”
“Never went on a date?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Girlfriends?”
Andrea pointed to the binder. “Under the yellow tab labeled Friends. Her best friend is Lori Mulcher. They met at Chico where they attended college together. After they graduated they both landed jobs at The Helping Hand in Sacramento.”
“So, everything you know about your sister is in this binder?”
“That’s right.”
“You feel one hundred percent certain that there was nothing your sister wouldn’t tell you. For instance, did she have any unusual hobbies?”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Drugs, men, gambling?”
Andrea shook her head. “She would have told me.”
“Or so you think. You have doubts. I can see it in your eyes.”
Andrea looked to her lap and seemed to be thinking hard about something...or maybe about how much she should say.
Lizzy felt like the bad guy, like the Grinch or one of the bratty kids who wouldn’t let the rabbit eat some Trix, and she didn’t like it one bit. She and her therapist had jumped many hurdles over the past fourteen years, but guilt in all forms still hovered over Lizzy like a thick black cloud.
“I did recently learn that there was a man—” Andrea used her chin to gesture toward the binder, “under Miscellaneous—a man named Michael Denton who sometimes visited my sister on the weekends.”
“Why would you hold back that critical piece of information?”
“I wasn’t exactly holding back. I’m telling you now and it’s all in the binder, but it’s embarrassing. He’s not her boyfriend. The police told me that Michael Denton is what’s known as a Feeder.” She sighed. “He likes to feed people, especially fat women. I’ve done some research and there’s something known as feederism where sexual gratification is attained by the mere process of someone gaining weight.” She shook her head.
“And your sister never mentioned Michael in any of your conversations?”
“Never. The police tell me he’s harmless. But my sister is missing. He’s definitely on my radar.”
“Anything else? Did your sister get any new piercings or tattoos recently?”
“No.”
Andrea Kramer was overly confident, Lizzy decided. Nobody could possibly know everything about someone...even a family member. “It looks like you’ve not only done your homework,” Lizzy said, “but you’ve done all of my work, too.”
“Then I haven’t made myself clear. I came here today because I want you to follow Anthony Melbourne.”
Lizzy pulled another pencil from her jar and tapped the rubber end against her desk. “You’re convinced he has something to do with this.”
“I’m convinced he knows something, yes. He’s holding a seminar in San Francisco this weekend.”
Lizzy flipped back to the section of the binder titled Melbourne. “You want me to attend his seminar?”
Andrea nodded. “I also think it would be beneficial for you to take his personal training class.”
Taking this job would be like taking candy from a baby and it just didn’t seem right. Lizzy leaned over the desk and looked Andrea in the eyes, making sure the woman listened closely. “I charge an hourly rate for surveillance and that’s not counting mileage or other investigative procedures which would all be add-ons. Anthony Melbourne travels, which means you would be paying an overnight rate if I stay the night. It could cost you a lot of money. And all because you think Melbourne is acting a little strange? I would love to help you, Andrea, but I don’t think it would be wise of you to hire me.”
Andrea leaned over the other side of the desk, mirroring Lizzy’s every move as she looked back, unblinking, into Lizzy’s eyes.
Lizzy couldn’t help but feel envious of the woman’s big blue eyes, high cheekbones, and perfectly sculpted lips. Some girls had all the luck.
“I’ve been married for fifteen years,” Andrea told her. “We have three children; one is a teenager. I know when they aren’t telling me the truth. I like to think of it as woman’s intuition. Anthony Melbourne is hiding something and I want to know what it is.”
Hard to believe Andrea had been married for fifteen years and had three kids. The woman didn’t look a day over twenty-nine.
“Diane is my only sibling,” Andrea went on. “Despite our nine-year age difference, most people think we’re twins. Well, at least they did before she gained all of that weight. She’s my other half. We finish each other’s sentences more often than not. She loves my children as if they were her own. She still mourns the death of our mother and she blames herself for the accident that
took our mother’s life. I believe Diane’s food obsession can be traced back to that tragic day. It’s true that I knew nothing about this Michael guy until I started investigating, but you must believe me when I tell you that I know Diane better than I know myself. She did not run away. She’s in trouble. When Diane first disappeared, I heard her calling for me. I would wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, thinking she was in the room, but she was never there.”
Lizzy knew all about waking up in a cold sweat. “Are you still having nightmares?”
“About three months after Diane disappeared, I stopped hearing her voice. I still have a hard time sleeping, but no, I no longer feel her breath against my face as she whispers into my ear, trying to tell me something.”
Andrea Kramer appeared credible and her story was certainly compelling. Lizzy had never met Diane Kramer, but she, too, was convinced the young woman was in trouble.
“I need your help, Ms. Gardner.”
“Call me Lizzy.”
“I need your help, Lizzy. I want to know what Anthony Melbourne is up to. If I didn’t have a family to care for, I would follow him myself.”
“What about this Michael guy?”
“If you want to check out Michael Denton for yourself, go ahead, but if you decide to take this case, I want ninety-five percent of your billable hours spent on watching Anthony Melbourne. Money isn’t a problem. If you cannot take this job, I’ll be forced to sign with Jon Peterson.”
Jon Peterson was as sleazy as they come and judging by the coy look in her eye, Andrea Kramer already knew that.
Chapter 4
Some Things Never Change
Hayley Hansen sat on the curb across the street from the house where she and her mom had lived all of Hayley’s life. It was a one story, one garage house, 750 square feet. The outside was a puce color, blotchy and faded.
It wasn’t quite noon, but it was already warm, and she could feel trickles of sweat rolling down her back. Hayley took a long drag off of her cigarette and waited until she could feel the cold against her throat before she blew a smoke ring, a thick, perfectly formed ring, which glided across the street. Full bodied tobacco worked best. Menthol worked well, too.
The smoke ring slowly disappeared, leaving Hayley to think about what she would see when she entered the house. Inside, there was a wall furnace that didn’t work and windows that didn’t open. The carpet had been stained so many times it felt brittle if you walked barefoot across the floor. Every room smelled like old shoes and dirty ashtrays. The garage smelled exactly like the city dump.
If Hayley had another place for her mom to live, she’d burn this place down. But she wasn’t a pyro and her mom didn’t have anywhere else to go, so that was out of the question.
Her mom would never live with her parents. Hayley’s grandparents had moved to Wisconsin years ago, right after her mom threatened to turn her grandfather in for all of the bad things he did when Hayley’s mom was a child. He did bad things to Hayley, too, but Mom was clueless that way and had no idea. Nobody would believe Hayley if she told them about all the sick family members she had. Most families had one or two black sheep, people they didn’t want to talk about, let alone think about. But every member of Hayley’s family was a lost cause.
Back when Mom was sober, Hayley and her mom would dream about the good life, talk about how great everything could be someday. Mom was a good storyteller and Hayley could still remember smelling the ocean and hearing the waves crash against the shore when Mom told her make-believe bedtime stories.
Hayley snubbed out her cigarette and dropped it into the empty film canister she carried around for just that purpose. Jessica, an annoying girl she shared a desk with at work, would be proud since she was all about recycling and saving the earth.
Hayley stood, looked both ways, and then headed across the street. There were no cars in the driveway, so Hayley peeked inside a couple of windows. Nobody appeared to be around.
She tried the front door next. It was unlocked, so she stepped inside. Everything looked and smelled just as she remembered, like one giant armpit after a long, hard run.
“Honey, is that you?”
Excitement coursed through her veins at the sound of her mom’s voice. God, how she’d missed her. She hurried to the hallway and stopped when she saw her mom standing there, the light hitting her face just so. Her mom wore an old nightgown. The hem was ripped and the pink satin looked wrinkled and stained. “Hi, Mom.”
“Hayley.” She raised her arms and Hayley walked right into her open arms and let her head fall softly against her mom’s frail shoulder.
Hayley hadn’t been home since the incident that had left her with four fingers on her right hand. Sadly, her time spent with a serial killer was nothing compared to her time spent right here in this house. Her mother’s boyfriend, Brian, had raped her repeatedly as payment for her mother’s drugs.
Hayley had no intention of ever seeing her mom again, but staying away seemed impossible. She missed her more than she ever imagined. There was no holding back. Built-up tears she didn’t know she had been storing inside came pouring out.
“It’s okay,” her mom said, holding her tighter. “My little girl is home. I love you so much.”
Hayley wasn’t sure how long she and her mom stood in the hallway huddled together like two lost souls, but it was long enough that Hayley’s neck had begun to kink up. When she finally pulled away, she looked at her mom, loving the way her wrinkles made her look cute, not old. Despite the drug and alcohol abuse, her mother was a beautiful woman. Always would be.
She could smell the booze on her mom’s breath and that made her sad. She looked into her mom’s eyes. “I was wondering, Mom, if I set it up...if you would go to NA meetings again. I’ll go with you this time. I think if we’re consistent and do it on a regular basis, you’ll stand a chance. What do you think?”
Her mom smiled and patted her shoulder as if she was talking about going to the moon someday.
“Mom, I’m serious. You’re only in your forties. You have a lot of life ahead of you. Today could be the beginning of something bigger, better, brighter. Don’t you think?”
“You always were a dreamer. Just like your daddy.”
Hayley exhaled a frustrated breath. Mom never talked about her father. She was fucked up, but Hayley refused to let that deter her from her mission...the reason she’d come to see her mom in the first place. She wanted to start over. She wanted them both to start over, together.
The sound of a car drew Hayley’s attention and she ran back to the main living area and looked out the window. It was Brian. Her mom had called out “honey,” Hayley realized, because she thought Brian had arrived. Despite everything that had happened, she was still seeing Brian. And she called him “honey.”
Hayley locked the front door and then passed her mom in the hallway and entered her mom’s bedroom. “Come on, Mom. Let’s get you packed up.” She opened her mom’s drawers, but most of them were filled with rat shit and nothing else.
Her mom stood in the doorway. “Hayley, I can’t go with you.”
“So you won’t go to NA with me either?”
Her mom’s hands were shaking as she rubbed the side of her face. “I can’t do it, Hayley. I’m not strong like you. I’m weak. You know that.”
“Mom. You’re weak because of that hideous man out there. He has you right where he wants you. It’s the drugs and alcohol talking right now. Not you. Drugs make people weak. It’s not your fault.”
Her mom put her hands over her heart. “Hayley, I love Brian. He asked me to marry him.”
“Mom,” Hayley said, her hands grasping her mom’s shoulders. “I don’t know what my dad was like, but this man is a hundred times worse. Brian is the devil. And the devil uses drugs to make people do what he wants them to do. He’s not going to marry you, Mom. I’ve been watching him. I see him going home at night. He doesn’t sleep here, does he?”
Her mom looked worried.
>
“He doesn’t sleep here, Mom, because he’s with a different girl every single night. He’s a child rapist, for God’s sake, but you already know that.”
Her mom’s hand came up fast and swift, slapping Hayley hard across the cheek.
Hayley didn’t feel a thing. “Every girl he brings home is twenty years younger than you,” Hayley went on as if nothing had happened. “I’m not trying to hurt you, Mom. I’m trying to help you. He’s waiting for you to start receiving social security and I’m sure he wants this rat-infested house, too. He doesn’t love you, Mom, but I do.”
There was a knock on the door.
“I better get that.”
“If you let him in this house, you’re never going to see me again.”
Her mother put her hand to Hayley’s forehead and pushed her hair gently out of her eyes and away from her face. She gazed deeply into Hayley’s eyes, looking at her as if she wanted to remember what she looked like, as if this was truly the last time they would look into each other’s eyes.
Hayley didn’t feel any anger toward her mother, just a pitiful feeling of dark despair and disappointment. Some people were more susceptible to wanting to drink and do drugs too much. It had to do with genetics, as well as family history and life situations. She used to feel hurt, anger, and embarrassment, but not any longer. Only the hopelessness lingered.
Another knock on the door, louder this time.
“Don’t make me choose, Hayley.”
Hayley leaned forward and kissed her mom softly on the cheek. “You made your choice a long time ago, Mom.”
Hayley turned about and headed for the back door, determined to escape without running into Brian. She would see him soon enough.
Chapter 5
No Delta Breeze
It was another scorching hot summer day in Sacramento. An hour ago, Lizzy had changed into a pair of khaki shorts and a light-colored cami, but her lack of clothing and the fan above her head didn’t stop sweat from dripping down her back. She wasn’t complaining though. She would take a blistering summer over a mind-numbing winter any day.