25

Roger arose from bed, groggy from lack of sleep. This was day three, and as much as he hoped otherwise, he knew his partner would remember as well. He had never felt so alone. There had always been a solution, some better than others, but an acceptable way out of all past situations. Until now. Only one scenario showed promise, and with it came the pain of losing a woman he had learned to love.

He turned toward the closet probably for last time. After opening the box and pulling out the thumb drive, he inserted it into the computer. New data needed to be entered. The familiarity of the task steadied him. Two families had vacated their homes in the past week. As he waited, the spread sheet appeared on the screen. Finding what he wanted, he scanned the information and then pulled open the desk drawer, empty except for the city map marked with dots. Glancing at the screen for confirmation, he put an X over another dot. Now more than half the dots had a black X over them.

The call had come at three in the morning. Another house had burned; the fire chief would be in to see him first thing. These meetings were getting harder.

How much longer could he conceal the truth? He pounded a fist into the desk. Why was he keeping this data? What did it matter? Nothing happened as planned. He gripped the sides of his head, the headache already beginning to creep up his shoulders. And it was only 6:00 AM.

Needing coffee, he headed toward the kitchen only to be disturbed by the ring of his cell phone. He looked at the caller ID and allowed the ring to continue to the point of rolling over to voice mail before he answered. “What do you want?”

A chipper voice responded. “Today is the day. It’s day three, and I have a ticket to Jamaica in my hand.”

Roger had never heard her sound this happy, or to be awake, for that matter, this early. Hatred for her sizzled under his skin but he held it in check before it gained control of him. Lillian had helped him realize he had to let go of his anger. But how could he forgive someone who was bent on destroying not only his life but Lillian’s as well? “I can’t do this.” He lowered himself onto a kitchen chair.

“Of course you can. Soon it will all be over, and both of us can start our new lives. Just think, with the money Leo helped you hide in bank accounts, you can go anywhere you want, live like a king. You can leave that dreary little town behind.”

He gritted his teeth. Monstrous thoughts pushed to be released, but none of them mattered. “Lillian doesn’t deserve to die.”

Silence.

He could imagine her face reddening, eyes narrowing until they became angry slits. When she spoke, her words dripped with venom. “I understood my husband well, and I knew what he planned to do as soon as the guilty sentence was read, not that I blame him. His eyes told me. The thought of spending the rest of his life in prison was worse than death.”

“He had to pay for his crime.”

“His crime? Leo took the fall for both of you.”

He pulled the phone from his ear, her rage still banging against his eardrum. The past circled around him like a vicious lion, and he had no way to escape.

“He made sure you were squeaky-clean of the drug trafficking charges. Oh, he could have squealed on you, probably gotten himself less time, but he didn’t. Let me ask you this, goody boy. Who put you through college?”

His arm shook as he tried to suppress the urge to disconnect the call. If he hung up, she would just call again and again, until she had her say. “We both know Leo paid for my education, and then I agreed to work for him.”

“Two for one, I’d say. A free education, and then a guaranteed job. And you married our daughter.”

Anger, no longer to be denied, exploded within him. “Carla was never part of the deal. I loved her. I loved her more than you ever did.”

“Don’t you tell me about love, you ungrateful snit. You dragged her from her home in Cleveland to live in a dump.”

“It was all I could afford on what I could make here. We were happy—or we could have been.”

“You have no idea how miserable she was. You drove her to suicide. She hanged herself because of you.”

Angry lies, a low blow even for her. Carla had died of smoke inhalation. He had the autopsy report…

The woman’s voice blurred. He closed his eyes. He hated his past deeds. He hated them more since listening to Lillian talk of God’s love. But it was too late.

“Didn’t you wonder why Leo was so willing to allow you to marry Carla? She was the light of his eye. His only child. He kept her innocent, out of the family business. But giving her to you would guarantee your cooperation.”

“And I got her away from you as fast as I could.”

“So you could let her die?” The angry words hissed. “Carla is gone, Leo is dead, and Lillian has to pay. Today. Or I go to the police.”

There was no way out; Lillian had to die. But at least he could make it fast, and as painless as possible. His soul was already dammed. One more deed, good or bad, wouldn’t make a difference. If he didn’t kill Lillian, his partner would.

Lillian had promised to fix supper for him today while he was at work. He would pack whatever he intended to keep and stow it in the car. Looking around, nothing except his metal box warranted saving.