A Love Worth Saving

by David Horne

  “I wanted to tell you, but like I said, I didn’t have your number.”

  “What did you want to tell me?”

  “I got a job selling cars at that other dealership.”

  “That’s great,” Perry said, feeling some recovery came from the demise of the car lot. “But I wanted to talk to you about your sales at the lot.”

  “Yeah?” she said. “They were great sales. I didn’t think I’d get that kind of money. I thought you guys just felt sorry for me.”

  “So, it looks like you sold two cars.”

  “Yeah,” she agreed. “Rick had two people in that night after you left. “They bought both cars, and I didn’t have to make any deals with them.”

  “So, I don’t know if you’ll remember, but it looks like you sold one for $12,300 and another for $15,500.”

  “Yeah? I think that sounds about right. As I said, they didn’t even care about haggling on the price.”

  “Okay,” Perry said. He had some frustration but knew it was better if Alice felt as if she didn’t do anything wrong.

  “I was surprised when they paid in cash for both the cars.”

  “Cash?” It wasn’t something Perry considered. He rarely did bank drops. Any money that came in for the day, usually went through Rick and since the bank was on his way home, he took the drops.

  “Yeah,” she replied. “Is that wrong?”

  “No, not at all,” Perry said quickly. “As long as you filled out the IRS paperwork on the cash sales,” he added.

  “The what?”

  “Alice, I know you, and I went over this. For all cash sales over $10,000, you have to fill out the IRS paperwork. It’s standard in the business.”

  “Oh yeah, I remember. No, I didn’t fill it out.”

  “Why?”

  “Because they came in together,” she answered. “The two guys helped the other pay for the cars. So like, one of the guys paid like $9,000 on one, and the other guy paid the rest.” She chuckled and said, “I thought it was weird, but then I thought it was a way to get around one of them having to fill out the IRS forms.”

  Perry didn’t say anything immediately.

  “Who was with you when you made the sale?” he asked quietly.

  “I think Mark was there. I know Marianne was there because she was happy to see me get the sale. Oh, and Rick was there. He was the one who showed the guys in.”

  “Did Johnnie talk to you about the sales?”

  “No, why?”

  “I was just curious.”

  “Did I do something wrong?”

  “No, Alice. Everything’s fine.” Perry needed to get off the phone. “I need to get going. Thank you for answering the questions.”

  “No problem.” Alice made a sound like someone had poked her. “Hey, did you hear that one of the dealerships burned down?” She was pretty but not very bright, and Perry reminded himself.

  “I did, thank you, Alice. Good luck with the sales position.”

  “Thanks, Mr. Conway.”

  Had Johnnie noticed the cash sales? Perry almost wore a path in the carpet before Gordon got home.

  “What happened?” he asked.

  And Perry explained it. Taking advantage of Alice was easy. It wasn’t that she wasn’t very bright. She was new. A mistake on a cash sale was illegal, but it wasn’t something he’d terminate her for after it was corrected. It was a matter of tracking down the individuals and retro-dating the forms. If they were legitimate people, they’d understand the situation.

  “But you don’t know who these guys were.” Gordon gave Perry a look that suggested more bad news was to come. “We have to tell Macdonald about this. And you need to include the business with the car you saw the night of the break-in.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Lying awake in the night while Gordon slept was something that Perry began to enjoy. Feeling his lover at his side, hearing the rhythmic sounds of his breathing was reassuring in the darkest of times. Out of all that had happened, again, Perry had some demented god to thank for bringing Gordon to him. He’d never have met the man any other way.

  While they decided and made the appointment to see Detective Macdonald in the morning, Perry didn’t want to wait that long before he found out the truth. He slipped from the bed. Quietly dressed, and left the house.

  The drive across town was quicker than usual because in the middle of the night there is never any traffic. It also gave Perry a better view of the wide open and empty streets behind him. Reassuring him that he wasn’t being followed, he made his way to a house that he once lived in before the apartment.

  There was a single light on in Rick’s house. He kept the lamp on in the living room day or night. It was easier to see when he got home, and Rick never bothered to shut it off once he got there.

  Perry knocked on the door and waited. The neighborhood was quiet. He didn’t hear any cars on the streets nearby. The dead of night and everyone was still asleep.

  The porch light came on. Rick opened the door. He wore a t-shirt and pajama pants.

  “What’s going on?” he asked, still caught between waking and sleep, he yawned.

  Perry pushed by him and closed the door.

  “We need to talk, and I wanted to do this face to face.”

  “Okay,” Rick said. He wandered through the foyer and down the little hallway. Rick followed him into the kitchen. “Does this have to do with the insurance? I called them today—”

  “I don’t give a shit about the insurance money, Rick. I want to know what the hell is going on.”

  “How should I know?”

  “I went to the bank. I got the sales sheets. I saw the last two sales Alice made.”

  Rick had a look on his face like he waited for Perry to give him a punch line. “Yeah, and?” he prompted.

  “I know they were cash sales. They were over the cost of the vehicles.”

  “I’m not sure what you mean.”

  “I was talking about the fact we had two cars on the lot that sold for more than $12,000. We didn’t have any inventory that sold two vehicles for more than that. And I know damned well we didn’t have anything that sold in the neighborhood of $15,000.”

  Rick didn’t say anything. He grabbed a beer from the refrigerator. It was then Perry noticed the other empty bottles on the counter. Rick wasn’t a heavy drinker. The beer was his choice in the alcoholic beverages. But the number of empty bottles around the kitchen, and on the dining room table suggested Rick’s new hobby consisted of collecting empty bottles. He was never one to clean up.

  “What’s going on?” Perry asked him. He tried to take a step toward Rick, but the man took a step back. They had no love between them. He was beyond approach, and Perry just wanted some answers.

  “I don’t know what to tell you.” He walked around Perry. He made his way through the dining room and into the living room. The little lamp by the door their only source of light, Rick stood in the center of the room and guzzled the beer.

  Perry heard him lightly belch before he wandered down the hall. Following until he saw Rick turn into the bathroom, Perry stopped. He heard Rick urinating. Perry went back to the living room. On the side table, next to the lamp, there was a set of keys. Perry looked at them. Rick’s keys had a simple collection on them: house, car, office. But there was another set of keys next to the lamp. These were car lot keys.

  He had them in his hand when Rick finished in the bathroom.

  “You broke into my house,” Perry said.

  Rick didn’t answer immediately. Perry dangled the keys in front of him.

  “You broke into my house.” It came out again in a way that allowed the idea to set in Perry’s mind. Rick was still a distance from him. “I trusted you.”

  “I know.”

  “Why?”

  “I didn’t know what you had at your house. I thought you had more inventory sheets.”

  “Please tell me what’s going on.”

  “I don’t know what to say t
o you.”

  Perry took substantial steps toward Rick. “You were supposed to be my partner. What happened to you?”

  Rick’s shoulders slumped. His head bowed. “I’m sorry. It got out of hand.”

  “What, Rick? What got out of hand?”

  “I got approached by some guys.”

  “What’s this about?” Perry shook his head. “You better not tell me this is about money, Rick. People are dead. This can’t be about money.”

  And before Perry could understand what happened, he felt himself lifted off his feet and driven back against the coffee table. The wind knocked out of him. Rick stood over him. Fists balled together. His face had a shadow that couldn’t be reached by the little lamp in the room.

  “I’m not like you,” Rick said. “I’m not that strong.”

  Perry couldn’t speak. The air wouldn’t pull into his lungs. There was something that dug into his back, and he felt something wet spread across his lower back. His brain wasn’t firing correctly. Rick moved away from him. Perry tried to sit up. The searing pain made him tense instead.

  Rick moved fast, slipped on a sweatshirt, a pair of shoes and collected the keys next to the door. He gave one last look at Perry before leaving the house. “I’m sorry.”

  It was quiet. The sound of a sleeping house, in a slumbering neighborhood in the dark, Perry began to breathe again. But still unable to move, he lay there waiting, wondering. Rick left, but there was still too much to understand.

  Then a car pulled up in the driveway. And another car came, a siren screaming its passage. The flicker of the police lights flashed through the living room window. Still unable to move, Perry lay there, waiting.

  The door opened. From his point of view, everyone who entered the house was upside down. That included his lover. Gordon dropped to his knees beside Perry. He didn’t try to move him.

  “Are you okay?” he asked quietly.

  There was enough air to breathe, but not enough to speak. Perry quietly nodded.

  “You really are going to hear it from me when you’re better.”

  More people entered the house. Uniforms swirled around him. Boots trod close to his face. Perry lay there, Gordon shielded him from anyone getting too close or trying to move him. One of the cops called for an ambulance through the radio.

  “He’s gone,” Perry whispered. It didn’t matter. They were searching the house anyway.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  The interrogation room was cramped. It was stale without a lot of air to circulate. Perry saw the vent overhead was neglected. Years of dust and dander dammed up the vent cover. He sat there thinking someone should clean the vents.

  “What are you smiling about?” Gordon asked him.

  It was an absurd thought in the thick of strange occurrences. And not something he could explain to any extent to make it humorous to anyone else.

  Detective Macdonald entered the little room and sat down across from Perry and Gordon. She had a collection of papers in front of her, tucked in a file.

  “So, Rick’s with his lawyer. They’re going over their options. I thought I’d take the time to talk to you.”

  “Just make sure if you charge Perry with something, it’s best to get it out now.”

  Macdonald shook her head. “I really hate lawyers.” It was a statement that wasn’t directed at Perry or Gordon. “Rick’s going to confess. But I wanted to go over a few things with you.”

  “Are you going to charge him?” Gordon had a stern look on his face that suggested if Detective Macdonald wanted to arrest Perry, she’d have to get it over with so they could start the process of getting him out again. There would be no time or room for a statement.

  “We’re not looking to charge your client with anything at this time.”

  “So, anything we talk about now is inadmissible.”

  “Sure, fine, whatever.” She gave Gordon a look that suggested she wanted to slap him and not talk to him.

  “What’s going on?” Perry asked. He felt Gordon’s foot press against his ankle. He knew the routine.

  “Your friend got mixed up in something that got out of hand, and he was in over his head before he knew it.” She pulled photographs from the file. Two men were staring at Perry from booking photos. “Ever see these guys before?”

  “No. I don’t recognize them.”

  “They’ve got ties to a drug cartel. Their main job is to find ways to launder money.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Perry said. “This is ridiculous. Rick would never get involved in that kind of thing.”

  “We’ve had computer forensics pull your sales from the beginning. You’ve been dealing with them since you’ve opened.”

  “I don’t get it.”

  “Mr. Conway, if you’re too blind to see what’s in front of you, how did you ever run a business?” And there it was. A statement that Perry had asked himself repeatedly since it all began.

  “Who was the man in the trunk of the car?”

  “One of the cartel’s competition,” the detective explained. “We’ve had taps on your phones since we connected him to the dealership. While we didn’t have any solid proof you or Mr. McFadden had anything to do with the murder, we had speculation.”

  “What about Johnnie?”

  She shrugged. “We’re still investigating his murder. John Pearson might have known something that got him killed.”

  “I think he knew about the sales and started to put things together. The day they found the body in the trunk, one of our salespeople made two cash sales.”

  Detective Macdonald nodded. “Alice Hartman is being questioned as well. I’m confident she doesn’t know anything.” It came out in a manner that suggested the young woman wasn’t responsible for much rational thought. “Money does a lot of things to people, Mr. Conway.”

  “I just don’t understand.”

  “Maybe that’s a good thing. If you don’t get why someone would murder for money, it means you’re not likely to have the same motivations.”

  Perry waited a moment, absorbing everything. “What happens now?”

  “We’ll come to an agreement with Mr. McFadden’s lawyer. They’ll likely cut a deal.” She stood up. “You might be interested to know that he’s exonerated your involvement in the crimes.”

  “Are you going to charge him with murder?” Perry asked.

  Detective Macdonald left the little room. The door hung open for Perry and Gordon to go. It was a question he’d eventually find the answer, but the homicide detective wasn’t interested in making it easy for Perry.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Time doesn’t always heal wounds; it can thicken the skin to make wounds durable. By the time Gordon and Perry got married, three years had passed since Rick McFadden went to jail for conspiracy to commit murder and money laundering. He didn’t want a trial. He didn’t contact Perry again.

  Gordon and Perry celebrated their life together and put everything behind them. Perry healed, but he had learned to leave his past somewhere it wouldn’t interfere with what he had now. Gordon was like no one he’d ever known. He didn’t compare him to Rick. Perry knew better than to use an example of betrayal and mistrust.

  It was Gordon who convinced Perry to move forward. He had lost his ability to trust in himself. Gordon managed to keep Perry from falling too far into any depression. It wasn’t an act of kindness, or the hard work of someone deeply in love. It came from the knowledge that they still had each other. Above all else, aside from what happened, Perry still had Gordon to hold every night.

  They had a modest wedding. Perry learned he’d spent so much time working, he’d lost sight of what real friends meant until there weren’t very many people to sit on his side during their wedding. Instead of feeling unbalanced, friends and relatives spread out among both parties and never questioned the arrangement.

  ***

  Perry took a surprising offer from one of the brand dealerships. They reached out to him shortly after the co
ntroversy settled. He was the perfect candidate as general manager for the new car dealership. But Gordon reminded Perry there was more to life than selling cars every day.

  It was that philosophy that propelled the dealership to top sales in the region and put Perry as top general manager for the brand. Others congratulated him at conferences. Everyone wanted to know his secret. Perry didn’t consider it a mystery. He had a sales staff that wasn't slave to their jobs. There was enough to go around. Everyone worked together, and customers who walked into the place, always drove away happy.

  It was after lunch on a Tuesday when the courier brought a packet through the dealership for Perry. He had to sign for the package. After the courier left, Perry sat at his desk and made a phone call.

  “You’ll never guess what happened?”

  “You won ‘Best Husband of the Year?’” Gordon asked him.

  “Funny,” he said, “I thought that was you.”

  “Okay, what’s up?”

  “Do you know anyone who’s good with finances?”

  “Do you have to go to court for something?”

  “Funny.” Perry sat back and looked down at the check. It wasn’t something he’d kill for, but it was something that made him feel differently about money. “The settlement check came through.”

  “What are you thinking?” Gordon asked. They talked about the money. The insurance on the business exceeded the cost of the vehicles, the loans on the inventory, and the coverage of the building. By the time everyone got their share of the insurance settlement, Perry had received what was left over.

  “I was thinking I want to go away with you forever.”

  “Did you get enough for us to retire?” It was a joke. It was supposed to elicit a chuckle.

  “If you think 4.5 million is enough to retire on, then yes.”

  “I thought it was only a few hundred thousand.”

  “Rick paid off the premium on the business. He upgraded the policy to its maximum.”

  “They never charged him with arson.”

  “He never admitted to it.”