QR Code Killer

by Shanna Hatfield

  “In Portland? You’re talking crazy,” Ty said, stuffing his phone in his pocket and getting out of his truck. Locking the door, he followed his sister across the street and up to the tiny studio apartment she shared with her husband Nate. Ty tried to hide a smile as he watched Beth waddle off the elevator and down the narrow hallway. Eight months pregnant, she was definitely looking the part.

  Opening the apartment door, the smell of baking bread made Ty’s stomach grumble in anticipation. Beth gave him a narrowed glare.

  “Did you eat anything today?” she asked, as Ty helped her take off her jacket and hung it on a peg by the door.

  Hanging his coat next to hers, he nodded his head.

  “What did you eat?” Beth asked, not quite believing his response, knowing he would sometimes only eat one meal a day.

  “Half a granola bar.” Ty said, not making eye contact.

  Beth sighed and turned into the kitchen that was smaller than her former storage closet. Nate lost his job seven months ago and they gave up their former spacious apartment to cut costs.

  She handed Ty a piece of bread slathered with peanut butter and jam before returning to her dinner preparations. Leaning against the wall between the kitchen and the main room of the apartment, Ty ate the sandwich as slow as his starving stomach would allow and watched his sister.

  Waiting eight years to start a family, both Beth and Nate wanted to make sure their careers were stable and they could adequately provide for a child. The week after they found out she was expecting, Nate came home with the news he’d been laid off from his job as a technical engineer.

  Employed as an office manager for a busy dental office, Beth had great benefits and a good salary. Even with her income, they were forced to give up their nice apartment and move into this tiny studio until Nate could find another job.

  After months of Nate’s applications being rejected, they both were worried about what would happen when the baby arrived. Beth originally planned to take three months of maternity leave, but now she was thinking more along the lines of two or three weeks. Nate might have to become a stay-at-home dad if things didn’t turn around soon and none of them could begin to think how they would squeeze a baby into the cramped living space.

  From the entry door, there was the tiny kitchen to the left. A hallway to the right led to the bathroom which was separated from the living and sleeping area by a long double-sided closet that essentially made up a divider wall.

  Ty looked around the open room, taking in the couch and small television, the one end table with a lamp, the small kitchen table surrounded by chairs, and the big king-sized bed that took up the bulk of the floor space. Even if he felt right about intruding into Nate and Beth’s home, which he didn’t, there wasn’t room for him.

  Stepping back into the kitchen, Ty leaned against the counter and watched Beth stir something in a big pot. The mouth-watering aroma of chicken and herbs filled his senses. The last good, hot meal he’d eaten was with Beth and Nate four days ago.

  Getting odd jobs through friends and acquaintances, Ty was mostly paid in cash. He saved what he could, but always bought a few bags of groceries and brought them over to Beth and Nate. In trade, she cooked him a hot meal while he made use of the bathroom, taking a long, hot shower and stretching out on their couch for an hour or two.

  Without a home of his own, he sometimes parked across the street from Beth’s apartment when he wasn’t out job hunting or hanging out at the library researching jobs.

  Since it was February, it was too cold and wet to stay outside much. He would certainly be glad when spring arrived. Winter was definitely not the best time to be homeless.

  “What can I do to help?” Ty asked, washing his hands at the sink, ignoring the pangs of hunger that ripped through his stomach.

  “Set the table?” Beth asked as she peeked into the oven, holding her hand under her rounded belly as she bent over. Before she could stand up, a gasp escaped from her lips and she gripped the counter.

  “You okay, sis?” Ty looked at her in concern as he dried his hands. If she went into premature labor, he was the last person she wanted to be around. He couldn’t stand to see a woman cry, suffer, or be upset.

  “Yeah, the baby is pretty lively today, is all,” she said, grabbing Ty’s hand and holding it on her stomach. He left his palm where she placed it and could feel tiny little kicks against his hand.

  “I tell you, he’s going to be a first-class kicker on the football team,” Ty said, smiling at thoughts of his future nephew.

  “She could also be a ballerina or a soccer player,” Beth said with a twinkle in her brilliant blue eyes, the exact same shade as Ty’s.

  “So have you and Nate finally settled on names?” Ty asked as he gathered up plates and silverware, setting them on the table.

  “We’ve got the list narrowed down to a dozen each.”

  “Wow, that is real progress,” Ty teased, putting the butter dish and napkins on the table.

  He and Beth both looked up as Nate came in the door, tired and dejected. Nate spent his days filling out applications, participating in interviews, and trying to drum up some interest in his resume. The past few months he grew accustomed to hearing he was overqualified, too experienced, or they couldn’t afford someone with his skill set. Those doing the hiring didn’t even give him a chance to say he’d happily take a huge cut in pay just to be employed.

  Hanging up his coat and putting his umbrella next to Beth’s, he gave her a warm hug before extending a hand to Ty.

  “Hey, bro, good to see you,” Nate said, loosening his tie and unbuttoning his shirt.

  “You, too, man,” Ty said. “No luck today?”

  “No. You either?” Nate asked as he carefully brushed off his suit jacket and hung it in the hall closet.

  “Maybe,” Ty said, leaning against the wall between the kitchen and the rest of the open apartment so both Beth and Nate could hear him.

  “What’s ‘maybe’ mean?” Beth asked, sticking her head out of the kitchen to look at Ty. “Care to expound on that?”

  “I fired off an inquiry for a mechanics job in Harney County. The requirements were pretty vague, so I’ll see if I get a response,” Ty said, nonchalantly.

  “Harney County? Isn’t that somewhere in Eastern Oregon, in the middle of no-where?” Beth asked while Nate changed his clothes in the bathroom.

  “Southeast, I think,” Nate said as he reappeared, wearing faded jeans and a sweatshirt. “What would you be doing?”

  “I’m not exactly sure. Do you have yesterday’s classifieds?” Ty asked as Beth brought a basket of hot rolls to the table. The steam escaping from around the edges of the napkin caught Ty’s attention and he shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from snitching one.

  Nate pulled the paper out of his briefcase and gave it to Ty. Snapping it open, Ty scanned down the column of ads, placing his finger on the one listing for a mechanic. “This one,” he said, handing the paper to Nate.

  “That is vague,” Nate said after reading the ad twice. “Based on the qualifications, you shouldn’t have any problem. You’ve been a certified mechanic for what, eight years?”

  “Nine. I got my certification the day I turned twenty. It was quite a celebration,” Ty said with a cocky grin.

  “I remember that,” Beth said, smacking Ty on the arm. “If Mom had known about your little after-party antics, she would have boxed your ears.”

  “Yeah, she would have, but you were always good at keeping me out of too much trouble,” Ty said, waiting for Beth to sit down before he took his seat at the small table. Scrunched into the corner by the kitchen, the table was laughably small when he and Nate, both over six-feet tall, sat around it. They’d gotten into the habit of extending their legs in opposite directions to keep from bumping knees under the table.

  Ty studied his sister and felt love and tenderness tug at his heart. Two years his senior, Beth always mothered and protected him. Their mother, Toni, was wonderful
and loving, but she worked multiple jobs to keep a roof over their head and food on their table.

  From information he and Beth pieced together over the years, their mom fell in love with a no-good loser. He was a good-looking bad-boy type, oozing charm and telling her whatever she wanted to hear. Toni married him, thinking he would settle down and change his ways as they started a family. He played at being a husband, but preferred drinking, gambling and carousing to acting like a grown up. He tried to be a father after Beth was born but when Toni announced she was pregnant with Ty, the jerk disappeared. They never heard from him again.

  Ty thought that might have been part of why Beth waited so long to start her own family. She wanted to make sure Nate was going to stick around, but he was one of the good guys. Ty knew despite their current financial situation, Nate would take good care of Beth and their baby.

  “This job description says you must like animals. Have you ever been around animals?” Nate asked as they enjoyed the delicious chicken soup Beth served for dinner.

  “One of my friends had a dog and Mom let us keep a stray cat for a few weeks once. I liked them both just fine,” Ty said, buttering another warm roll. He’d have to find a way to buy more groceries to pay back for what he was eating tonight, but the food tasted so good.

  Nate nodded his head. They went on to discuss some places they applied for jobs that day. Ty just finished his second bowl of soup when his phone buzzed. Pulling it out of his pocket, he was surprised to see a text message in response to his inquiry about the job.

  Looking up, he smiled.

  “What’s that about?” Beth asked, curious.

  “It’s about that job. They want my full resume and references by tomorrow morning,” Ty said, trying not to get excited. Turning to Nate he grinned. “Can I use your laptop for a few minutes?”

  “Sure, man. Let’s help Beth with the dishes and then you can prepare to dazzle these people with your extensive experience and credentials.”

  Ty laughed and helped himself to another roll.

  After the dishes were done, Beth sat on the couch working on a baby blanket she was trying to crochet, while Nate and Ty sat at the table with the laptop computer. Having gone through the routine multiple times before, Nate created a folder on the computer for Ty so he could easily attach his resume and references to emails. Ty could have done it all from his cell phone, but it was a lot easier to sit at a computer and type out a cover letter.

  When he finished, he asked Beth to read the letter. She suggested a few changes which he made before sending off the information to Lex Ryan of Riley, Oregon.

  “Maybe this will be the one,” Beth said, placing a warm hand on Ty’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

  “I hope so. Although I’m not so sure I want to move too far away from you, especially with the baby coming soon,” Ty said, honestly. He had no idea how far this job would be from Portland, so the three of them pulled up a state map and found Harney County. By zooming in on the map, they finally located the tiny dot that marked Riley. It was really out in the middle of no-where.

  “Good grief, Ty. That looks like a lot of open country. What if you get eaten by a bear?” Beth asked dramatically.

  Ty and Nate both laughed.

  “I don’t think I need to worry about wildlife or bear encounters. I’m not going to the wilds of some third-world country. Besides, let’s see if I even get an interview before we get all hysterical.”

  “Good point,” Nate said, hugging Beth to him. “How about a game of Clue?”

  As Ty sat playing the board game, he realized being destitute really changed your attitude about a lot of things. At 29, he never pictured himself sitting crammed into a corner playing a silly board game with his very pregnant sister and her husband and actually enjoying it.

  One good thing he could say about being broke and without resources was that it made you appreciate the people who loved you.

  <><><>

  Beth talked Ty into spend the night on their couch. It was too short for him to be able to completely stretch out, but better than trying to sleep in his pickup. It was also a lot warmer. Peeking out of the miniscule balcony window the next morning, Ty was shocked to see a frosting of snow covering everything. He smiled to himself, thinking Beth was right once again.

  Taking note that Nate and Beth were still asleep, Ty quietly took his things to the bathroom, enjoyed a hot shower and dressed before bundling into his coat and heading outside. He walked down the street to a bakery and bought them all muffins and hot coffee, returning to the apartment just as Beth came out of the bathroom, dressed for work.

  “Told you it would snow,” Beth said triumphantly as Ty set the muffins and coffee on the table. Taking off his coat, he offered her a grin and helped her get plates and napkins. By then, Nate was up and the three of them ate breakfast before Beth left for work.

  “What are your plans today?” Nate asked as he sat sipping his coffee and eating another muffin.

  “I thought I’d try going to some of the bigger car dealerships again to see if any positions have opened up since the last time I checked,” Ty said, slowly drinking his coffee. It was too early to start going door-to-door and too cold to sit out in his truck for any length of time. “How about you?”

  “I heard a rumor that a new facility was opening in Woodburn. Thought I’d drive down and check it out. If I can get a contact name, maybe I can get my foot in the door before they fill all the positions,” Nate said, finishing his coffee and getting up from the table. He and Ty did the few dishes from breakfast and left them in the drainer to dry.

  Shrugging into his coat, Ty gave Nate a slap on the shoulder as they stood at the door.

  “Thanks for letting me crash here last night. I might have frozen outside,” Ty said, opening the door.

  “Thanks for coming in. You know Beth worries about you. You’re always welcome, bro,” Nate said as Ty waved and walked down the hall.

  Before he had a chance to make the dealership rounds, a friend called and asked Ty if he could come over right away to do some work on a car.

  Ty arrived at Jeff’s house to find his wife’s car dead in the garage. It didn’t take long to determine the problem. Calling Jeff, he offered an estimate on the cost of parts. Jeff gave him the go-ahead so Ty purchased the parts with his credit card and had the car back together and running smoothly by the time Jeff arrived home for lunch. Taking the car for a quick test drive, Jeff stopped by the bank and made a withdrawal, paying Ty for the parts and throwing in a nice chunk of change for his labor.

  Inviting him in for lunch, Ty accepted and they visited for a few minutes before Jeff headed back to work.

  Ty deposited the cash needed to cover the credit card expenses into his bank account then pocketed the rest, planning to buy some groceries for Beth and Nate later that afternoon. He was waiting in line to leave the bank parking lot when his cell phone buzzed with a text message.

  Pulling back into a parking space he read the text from Lex Ryan about the job in Riley. According to the message, Lex was impressed with his experience and references and wanted to conduct an interview. Ty needed to call someone named Swede at four o’clock if he was interested. He would also be receiving a list of questions Lex wanted completed and e-mailed back before four if that was possible.

  Ty quickly changed his plans and drove to the library. Going inside, he sat down at an empty computer station, opened his email account and completed the questionnaire from Lex.

  At first the questions didn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary, but toward the end of the two-page document, a few of them caught him off guard.

  He answered them as best he could, confused and somewhat unsettled by the questions:

  Are you afraid of dogs?

  No

  Do wide open spaces bother you?

  No

  Can you live without access to modern conveniences?

  Yes

  Ty didn’t know how he could have access
to any fewer conveniences than he did living in his pickup, but decided it was best not to offer that opinion.

  Are you willing to relocate to a rural atmosphere?

  Yes

  How bad could it be living in the country? He’d gone for many drives outside of Portland and enjoyed the gentle rolling hills of farmland. It seemed peaceful and nice. He could adjust to that, no problem.

  The final question Ty classified as downright bizarre:

  Will it bother you to live in a house with the rest of the hands without access to a nightlife or eligible young females?

  No

  A guy living in his truck doesn’t have a night life or dating scene and there are no eligible females who want to hang out with a man who is homeless, so it didn’t bother Ty in the least to answer that question honestly.

  The reason behind the question did, however, give him a moment of pause before he hit send.

  He needed this job, though, and if Mr. Ryan had a few quirks, so be it.

  Staying at the library until time for his phone call, Ty found a quiet corner and pulled a small notebook out of his coat pocket. He used it to keep track of all sorts of information and wanted to have it handy in case he needed to take any notes from the call today.

  At two minutes before four, he punched in the number and the phone was answered on the first ring.

  “Rockin’ R Ranch,” said a voice that sounded like it chewed gravel for breakfast.

  “Hi, this is Tyler Lewis. I was asked to call this number at four today and speak with Mr. Swede,” Ty said, trying to use his best professional phone manners.

  “I’m Swede and yer right on time. And it’s jes Swede, no mister needed,” Swede said. “The boss asked me to interview ya since I’m the one ya’ll mostly be workin’ with, so let’s git ‘er done.”