by Smith, C. P.
“I’m not picky, something with chocolate in it.” Mandy moved to make the coffee, so I turned to Barry and smiled. Barry took a drink of his coffee studying me, so I searched for something to say.
“I heard there was another killing.”
“Not at liberty to talk about the case, Jennifer.” I nodded in return, understanding more than what was spoken. Damn.
“Sorry, of course. Are you working tonight?”
“Yup, just getting coffee for the road,” He replied while picking up his cup and keys and then turning to leave.
“Well, stay safe.” I mumbled as he moved away from me.
Barry stopped, looking back at me, saluted and then kept moving towards the door. When he reached it, he turned back and warned me once again about Jack.
“Jennifer, remember what I said… Jack isn’t the type to settle down, just be careful.” I had no response to that. He was probably right, and I probably did need to keep my distance, someone just needed to inform Jack of that.
I watched Barry walk out the door, and then turned around to find Mandy with a cup of coffee in her hand, and a smile on her face.
“You’re like the shiny new toy.”
“What’s like a shiny new toy?”
“You are… All the men want you; all the woman want to be friends with you and all the old men want to protect you.”
“Great, so what you’re saying is once the shine has worn off I’m screwed?”
“Ha, yeah, probably, just like the rest of us. You’ll be a mere mortal once again and totally screwed over by men.”
“Bitter much, Mandy?”
“Hell yeah, men have been nothing but trouble for me.”
“I’m so out of my league with these men asking me out. My only experience with dating was my husband twenty years ago.”
“Heard the Sheriff curled your toes today outside of Mike’s,” She laughed and then wiggled her eyebrows.
“Pfft, he curled my toes, my hair, and left me in a puddle.”
“That good, Huh?”
“Unfortunately, yes, that man throws me off balance. I wasn’t looking for a relationship, and he just keeps moving forward no matter how hard I dig in. The minute he touches me I lose control. I only met him yesterday, and he’s kissed me three times, off the chart hot kisses mind you, but still, who moves that fast?”
“I don’t know Jennifer, there’s a lot of women in this town who would like to have your problem. If Jack Gunnison were pursuing me, I’d walk slow.”
“Mandy, if I can’t think straight around him then he holds all the cards. I don’t remember it being like this with my husband; this can’t be normal behavior? The attraction is off the charts, sure, but it would be with someone like Jack, it’s just, he’s so damn bossy; he orders me around like he expects me to obey?”
“Jack’s used to being in charge, he’s an alpha male or more like the alpha male. You’ll just have to put your foot down,” She advised like the answer to my problem was that simple. But somehow I didn’t think putting my foot down would even register on his alpha index. Deciding I needed to focus on something other than that bullheaded man, or I’d be stewing over him all night, I moved to the other topic I wanted to discuss.
“Hey Mandy, you’ve heard about these killings, right?”
“Yeah, heard he got a local woman today. I didn’t know her, but I’m starting to freak out over this. I’ve even got my brother coming to pick me up after work.”
“Well I’m working on the story with help from Ben and Gerry, and we made up a list today of possible suspects. You seem to know everyone around here; could you take a look at the list and see if anything pops?”
“Sure, I know every creep in this county, in fact, I’m pretty sure I’ve dated them all. I’m due a break, grab your coffee and I’ll meet you out front on the deck.”
Moving outside to the deck, I grabbed a table off to the side and away from other customers. Mandy joined me a few minutes later, and I handed her the list when she sat down. As she started reading the list, she laughed.
“Ha, you have the Sheriff and his Deputies on here?” She continued reading and then stopped. “Jesus, you have my brother on here too? What the hell Jennifer is there any man who isn’t on here?”
“That’s the problem; the list is too long, and we need to narrow it down. Serial killers age range is so broad, we had to list practically every man who wasn’t in diapers or using a walker.”
“Well, I can tell you based on today’s murder these two are innocent, they work with me and were on duty. Father Jenson is off the hook too, he was busy at the church with the women’s auxiliary, and my mother was there. Give me a pen, I’ll circle the ones I saw today; I was out running errands and went to several businesses.”
Mandy made my long list shorter by twelve men, but the list was still lengthy. Since the bodies keep showing up in Gunnison or Crested Butte, something told me the killer was local, so I asked her to circle the men who lived the closest to Gunnison. Mandy was still looking over the list when she tapped the paper with her pen.
“Hey, this guy, he’s always given me the chills when he comes in, he constantly stares at my boobs.” Thinking her boobs were one of her best features, and probably the first thing men noticed about her, I didn’t think that was proof but I’d never met this Chad Brown, so what did I know?
“He also lives in a cabin off route 135, maybe two miles from where they found the last woman.” That got my attention. I put a star next to his name and wondered if I should call Jack and tell him, when Mandy’s boss stepped outside.
“Mandy, it’s slow tonight, why don’t you head home.”
“Killer,” Mandy replied and then turned to me, “Give me one second Jennifer, I’m gonna call my brother to come get me.”
“I can give you ride it’s not out of my way.”
“That would be great thanks, are you ready to leave now, I can call my brother from the road if you are?”
“Whenever you are is fine with me.”
Mandy stood, so I followed suit, and after she retrieved her jacket and purse, we jumped in my Jeep and headed out 135 towards her home. We’d been shooting the breeze, making plans to see the new movie that was coming out, when she shouted and pointed.
“Hey, that’s Chad’s place up ahead, you wanna drive past and look around, see if he has any dead bodies buried in his backyard?” Thinking that sounded like a terrible idea and also thinking that sounded like an awesome idea, I battled myself for an answer.
“Shit, I don’t know, what if he catches us?”
“There’s two of us, he can’t get us both.” I glanced at her and wondered if she might just be a little crazy. For someone who was scared of this killer, she didn’t seem to mind jumping into a possible dangerous situation. Didn’t she realize if he had a gun he could shoot both of us, and then bury us in his backyard, and no-one would be the wiser… Then again, I’m a little crazy too, so why not?
“I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this, but ok, let’s do it.”
“It will be fine, he’ll never know we were there.”
The phrase, “Famous Last Words” ran through my head as I pulled off the road and turned off my lights. There were no lights on in his small A-frame. No cars or trucks in the drive either. It appeared he was out, and I didn’t know if that made me feel better or not. Pulling past his cabin and parking up the hill, we got out of my Jeep and crept down the road, heading to the side of the cabin. There were two windows and without lights on. I didn’t know what we thought we could see, but I cupped my hands around my eyes and tried to look inside. Light shined in the room, and I thought the light came on, so I jumped back and looked at Mandy. She had a flashlight in her hand.
“You always carry a flashlight?”
“A girl can never be too prepared, I’ve got everything in this bag; flashlight, tools, extra batteries, even some rope.” Rope?
“You scare me a little just so you know.”
“I get tha
t a lot.”
“You look like a pixie, but you’re really more like gremlin.”
Mandy smiled and winked at me, then pointed the flashlight in the room, as we tried to look around. It was a bedroom; the bed was unmade, there were clothes all over the floor and dishes stacked on the nightstand and dresser.
“The guy is a pig, no wonder he isn’t married,” Mandy mumbled. I moved to the next window and tugged her arm as I passed so she’d bring the flashlight. It was the living room, and it was just as messy as the bedroom. I was just about to tell her we were wasting our time when an SUV pulled down the road from the highway and then pulled into the driveway. Shit. We moved back down the side of the cabin and plastered ourselves to the side. My heart was racing as we heard the door to the SUV slam shut, and then heard stomping on the steps heading to the front door. Holding my breath, afraid he would hear me panting, we heard the door open, and I was just about to let out my breath, when my cell phone rang out loud with my stupid, stupid ring tone. John Denver’s “Rocky Mountain High” set on loud, broke the quiet of the night, and I scrambled to pull it from my pocket…. Shit, shit, shit, please God, let him be deaf. I hit reject on my phone and looked at Mandy whose eyes were huge. I was so busy messing with my phone; I never heard if the front door closed. Using my eyes to indicate we should get the hell out of there, Mandy nodded in agreement, so I held up my hand and counted down, one…two…three, and we took off running…. only to be stopped by the sound of a shotgun firing.
“Stay right where you are, put your hands up and walk back towards me,” said a very pissed off man. We both put our hands in the air, as my phone started ringing… Again, John’s golden voice mocked me in the night.
“Keep moving, get your ass’ up here and sit down while I call the Sheriff.”
“I’d rather you shot me now than deal with the Sheriff,” for some reason came from my mouth. I may not know Jack well, but I’m pretty sure the lecture I was going to get, on top of being arrested, would be worse than when I told my parents I was pregnant at eighteen. Mandy chuckled, so I shoved my shoulder into hers, as we walked toward the cabin.
“What the fuck,” said the man, as we made our way up the steps.
“Hey, Chad,” Mandy replied, and he narrowed his eyes at her.
For the third time my phone started ringing, so without thinking or looking to see who was calling, I answered it.
“Hello?”
“Jenn? Where the fuck are you? You were supposed to call when you made it home,” yelled a pissed off Jack. Oh, dear lord.
“Get your fucking hands in the air,” barked Chad. So, of course I listened to the man with a gun and threw my hands up. Without. Hanging. Up. I could hear shouting from the phone when Mandy stepped up and said.
“Chad, we can explain…. where were you today around three?”
“I was in Denver on business; my grandmother died, and I met with her attorney, why?” He replied sarcastically. Mandy’s hands were on her hips, giving him attitude like he wasn’t standing there with a loaded gun.
“There was a murder today and if you were there, then there's no harm, no foul.”
I looked back and forth between them, wondering, not for the first time, why me? Arms raised; I could still hear Jack shouting comments. Pretty sure there was a “Christ.” “Fuck.” “Sonofabitch.” And my personal favorite… “Pain in my fucking ass.” Needless to say, even if Mandy talked us out of this, I was screwed.
“Whoa, wait, you’re here ‘cause you think I killed someone?”
“Well, you're on our list, and we have a lot of people to check out.” That comment got a, “Jesus fucking Christ,” response from the phone, and Chad turned to me.
“Who the fuck are you?”
“I’m Jennifer, nice to meet you, and sorry for thinking you could be a killer. We don’t really think you did it; we're just checking out everyone age 20-55.”
“I don’t give a fuck, so sit your ass down while I call the Sheriff.” I heard a barked laugh on the phone and decided I’d end this torture; I handed over my phone to Chad and said.
“Here you talk to him, tell him I’m not a pain in the ass, I’m stubborn, and not to bother coming by tonight ‘cause I’ll be busy packing for Breckenridge.” Chad took the phone from me with a confused look, put it to his ear, said “Hello,” and then winced.
“Sheriff…yes, sir…yes, sir…no, sir…uh, yeah, I’ll tell her.” Chad then hung up….
“Well, what’d he say?” I asked. Not that I really wanted to know, I was pretty sure I could guess, but curiosity killed the cat, and all.
“He said to get Mandy’s ass home, get your ass home, and if you went anywhere near Breckenridge he’d have you hauled in for whatever charges he could think of.”
I looked at Mandy, then grabbed my phone from Chad, and without another word, headed to my Jeep. I swear Kansas looks better and better every day!!!
Chapter Nine
I’m mocking you
“That sonofabitch, he’s waiting for her. The anger rises up my throat and almost chokes me. I know he can’t see me, but he turned his head and looked right at me, like he senses me. I watched that smug bastard as his eyes scanned, searching for what he couldn’t see… That’s right, Sheriff, I’m here, I can see you, I’m watching you…can you feel it? How much time you have left to live? Not tonight, but soon, very soon, one way or another you will die…then MY Jennifer will be free of you.”
Denver, I bet I could find a job in Denver. I’ve decided Breckenridge isn’t big enough to hide in; I need a big city to avoid the long arm of the law, or in this case one lawman in particular. I could buy a cabin closer in and drive to work like all the other mountain dwellers. I turned onto Old Saw Mill Road and as the lights of my cabin came into view, so did the truck of the Gunnison County Sheriff. Dammit, caught before my escape. I pulled in next to his truck, as Jack leaned with his arms crossed over his chest, glaring at me. I smiled weakly at him, and he just shook his head slowly at me. I knew I should be contrite, but I felt my survival instincts kick in, and I squared my shoulders for the confrontation that was coming. Jack shoved off his truck and headed to my door to open it, so I grabbed my bag and turned as the door threw open.
“I should tan your hide.” Was the first thing out of his mouth and being the idiot I was, evidence to this fact after agreeing to look for dead bodies in the first damn place, my temper flared.
“Oh yeah? Well you can try but I’ll warn you now, I took self-defense classes back home and my instructor said I had a mean aim…. between the legs.” Jack didn’t even react to my threat, just leaned in and barked out his reply.
“Woman, you had a gun pointed at you tonight, you were trespassing and let’s not forget conducting an investigation into a killer, which I might add, you’re on the victims list. You were reckless; you disobeyed me, and you put Mandy in danger.”
“I am not reckless, we wouldn’t even have been caught if you hadn’t called my phone.” Jack’s head snapped back, and he looked at me like I grew two heads. So, I took this opportunity to move past him and ran up the steps, unlocked my front door, pushed it open, and flipped on the living room lights, as Jack slammed the door behind me.
“I’m not done talking about this, Jenn.”
“Fine, tell me how stupid I was, tell me how you’re gonna arrest me if I leave the county, threaten me with interfering in an investigation and then leave. I’ve had a weird twenty-four hours, Jack, and I just want something to eat and go to bed.”
“How come I get the feeling anything I say is gonna go in one ear and out the other?”
“Perceptive man,” I shouted.
“Christ, you’re a pain in my ass,” he shouted back.
“Well there’s the door, Jack, don’t let me keep you.” I turned towards the kitchen and grabbed the kettle, filling it with water. I heard the door behind me open and then slam, and just like that I deflated. Shit. Lowering my head and taking a deep breath, I knew it was
for the best that the man would chew me up. I had no business starting something with him. He was too bossy, full of himself, beautiful, interesting, and altogether out of my league. But that didn’t stop me from wishing it could be different. With all my mouthing off about not wanting him to pursue me, saying he was moving too fast, the truth hit me hard…I may not like it, but I clearly wanted it. “Shit.” Sighing, I turned to the stove and gasped when I looked up and saw Jack leaning one shoulder against the front door watching me.
“You got a temper on you, Babe.” I could feel the blood rise up my face, so I ducked my head and continued on to the stove.
“You gonna tell me why you put yourself and Mandy at risk?”
“It just sort of happened, Jack. Mandy was going over my suspect list and when I gave her a ride home we were passing Chad’s cabin and it just, ya know, happened.”
Jack shook his head again and stared at me for a moment, then he looked back at my windows and moved towards them. He checked the latches on each window and then moved to the bathroom. I stayed in the kitchen, got a mug down and a packet of hot cocoa mix, trying to stay busy and not watch Jack move around my house. Having Jack in the cabin, taking care of me, I realized how long it had been since I had anyone in my life on a daily basis. With Bailey at school and Doug gone, I went to work and came home. Other than Ben, who stopped by frequently to check in on me, I hadn’t had anyone to my house since I got here. And all those plans I had for hiking and riding the river with Gerry had never happened either. I may have moved myself to my dream, but it occurred to me I wasn’t exactly living that dream. Jack being here reminded me of what it was like to come home from work and have someone waiting for me, and it was painful to remember.
“Windows are secure, the locks are solid. Noticed your front door has double locks and a barrel bolt, use them all.” That caught my attention, and I looked to the door. When I left this evening, I had a single lock and no barrel bolt. Looking around, I saw an envelope with my name written on it. “Jenny,” in Ben’s hen scratching lay on the table by the front door. I walked over and opened it and saw a short note with keys. “Jenny, keep them locked, Ben.” I smiled. Having a father figure looking out for me this far from home, warmed my heart, but just intensified the feelings I was already having. I felt a tear fall down my cheek, and I wiped it away, but there were more replacing it. I don’t even know why I was crying? Loneliness? Knowing someone cared and was looking out for me? I was about to turn around and move back to the kitchen when I heard Jack move in my direction.