Deadly Compromises by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview
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Chapter 18
Kelly woke up at 7:15AM on November 15. The sun was just beginning to rise. It had been cold lately and she was hoping for a better morning. She dawdled over her coffee, thinking about Bobby.
Bobby had a similar morning. He couldn’t wait to get to their meeting spot at the river to see if she’d be there. The thought of her changing her mind about the whole thing had been preying on his mind all month. He also wanted to scout for unwanted company. He got there at 8:00AM. It was about 25
degrees. He was glad to see that there weren’t any other cars parked there. He looked around for local hikers, dog walkers, horse riders and weirdo and saw no presences.
Kelly got there at 8:55AM, parked her car and walked a bit.
Many of the trees still had on their fall foliage, so there was still a fair degree of privacy in some spots. She continued walking to the appointed area; some rocky land right on a river bed that could only be accessed by going through some soft, but eight foot tall plants, which turn most walkers back. The other
side of the rocky land led to a heavily wooded area that got very little traffic. Kelly entered and saw him already waiting there. They ran to each other and embraced.
“Warm me up,” he said.
She put her arms around him. “Hey, baby, it’s been a long time.”
He shut his eyes, held her and said; “For me, too. God knows, for me, too. It’s so great to see you. I missed you.”
He paused, both feeling and enjoying the needed warmth of another loving body. After a few seconds he broke the silence and said; “For the first time in a while, I don’t have any business to get out of the way, unless something has gone wrong on your end.”
“No, things seem to be going remarkably well. I think the cops are through with me. I’m back in the house and I’ve sent the papers about the death claim to the insurance company.”
“The insurance company will send out an investigator before they pay. He’ll get copies of all the police papers and tapes, do an interview with you and probably want to look around the house some. A few of them are diligent, but if we get lucky, we’ll get one of the others. The majority of them aren’t too bright or motivated.”
“How do you know?”
Feeling very good, Bobby broke the embrace, did a poor imitation of a pirouette and said; “Never caught me.”
“You fucker, I ought to rape you right here.” She put one arm on his back and the other in a private place. She kissed him on the mouth.
He kissed her back, but then broke away. “Great, baby, but I’m cold here. Can we go back to your house or a hotel?”
Kelly said; “You told me that’s not a good idea.”
“You’re right. Something made me forget,” laughing and smiling. “So what can we do?”
“Right here.”
Bobby shrugged and said; “No, I don’t think that’s possible.”
She surveyed the area and said; “There’s no wind. The sun is reflecting off the water right at us. What if we just...?”
She stuck out her tongue and licked her lips. He extended his lips as far as they could reach and kissed the air between them.
The band played on.
He stood up and they faced each other. It was far from a warm fall morning and the wind decided to join the festivities.
However, they were in a better spot than most as the sun was magnified by the water, which acted as a mirror and radiator.
She said; “See it’s warm already. Don’t let the number on the thermometer fool you. At home I’m warm inside when it’s seventy degrees with the sun out. When the sun isn’t out and it’s 70 degrees, I’m cold. So much for science.”
He smiled and said, “I never analyzed it, but my instincts agree. I feel warmer than I have in a month.” He gently kissed her lips and queried; “What are we going to do the rest of the day?”
“Let’s walk.”
They passed through a small incline that led from the rocky beach into the woods. Not many people walked there. It was at least 500 feet long and required a great deal of ducking and maneuvering to get through. She knew the way though and he followed. She said, “We’ll have to meet only once a month, here for a year.”
“Yeah,” he said, dejectedly, “And it’s not propriety that dictates, it’s making sure we stay out of jail. My being here is actually stupid for you, because the feds may have pictures
of me and how can we be sure no one is watching, or even snapping photos? I hate thinking about this stuff. Why the hell can’t we just stay together?”
She understood what he was feeling and said; “Let’s go somewhere else.”
“No, then they’ll follow you. If you take extended trips from home, someone will make it their business to find out all the details.”
She kept walking silently. He liked walking behind her.
She really filled out her pants. Ducking and occasionally smiling, they exited the woods to a coyote path alongside the river.
She said, “Now, I have to watch it. There’s a turn in here someplace. There are really a few, but sometimes they get overgrown, in which case we might have to double back.”
They were in a scraggly, lightly wooded area. The ground was almost all sand.
She said; “We can still make this a short walk if we just go a little right.”
“I’d rather have a long one.”
They walked silently for a few more minutes.
“Kelly, I just thought of something. If you’re merely seen walking with a guy some otherwise uninvolved people might not like it.”
“Anybody who looks at me with that kind of thing in mind has already seen me with guys. I have a couple of guy friends, some female ones, too.”
She sat on a broken log. “This is the last chance for complete privacy, unless we go back the way we walked out. I’d rather not see the same sights a second time.”
Bobby felt silly and said; “The only sights I saw coming in are the same ones I’m going to see going out.”
Kelly didn’t understand and looked at him quizzically.
He said; “You know. I was behind you and my view was kind of shortsighted.”
She smiled and said; “I’m flattered. With all this beautiful nature around, thanks for picking me.”
“No contest. I can’t wait until we can stop all this nonsense.”
They sat there for a few minutes, watching the birds fly.
She was an experienced bird watcher and pointed out various species. He didn’t know any bird names, except things like
“robin” and “eagle.” But he listened intently.
“Look, there’s a yellow warbler.”
“I missed it. I was watching the ground rather than the sky. Where should I look for birds?”
“Watch the treetops. See that thing that looks like a black spot?” She pointed up at a large branch about fifty feet off the ground. “That’s probably a nest, a hole in the tree.
Let’s wait here some more to see if anyone comes or goes.”
“See,” she said excitedly, as two sky larks flew out of the hole. She was proud of her accurate prediction.
“Yeah.” He sufficed with a fleeting view. But, he was enchanted and excited to see someone who could predict the future and enjoy something so much. He wanted to learn more about birds from her.
She said; “One of the nerdy things I did as a kid was watch birds. I knew everything about them. I also did that with dogs. Pretty bad, huh?”
“No, not at all. If I could do things over again I’d always have had a dog or two. I’d like to learn more about birds from you. Did you always have dogs?”
She wasn’t sure if he meant what he said and responded;
“Off and on, but I always had dog books. Pretty nerdy, huh?”
Bobby thought that she might want some kind of reassurance and honestly replied; “No, I think it’s great to have strong interests, especially in living things. If you want to hear nerdy, I think I can easily outdo you on that one. I used to save stamps and coins.”
Kelly furrowed her brow, grimaced, nodded and said; “That is pretty bad. What made you want to do that?”
Bobby shrugged his shoulders, laughed at himself and retorted; “I’m really not sure. A lot of kids used to do it. I guess I thought it was going to make me rich.”
She got up and started walking back on a different route that was more open to possible observation. She decided to take the small risk as she thought the 25 degree temperature coupled with a steady northern breeze would probably keep everyone indoors. She also found it difficult to break her old custom of always utilizing a different path. As this time they were able
to walk side by side and Bobby’s focus was redirected to her face.
He thought he detected a melancholy in her eyes, as if her upbeat words were belying something inside that was saying;
“Prepare for the next disaster.” Before he could think of anything bright to say, she asked; “Where are we going to live?”
He said; “Any place with you is fine with me.”
“I was thinking of staying in Castillo. I have a few friends here. I really don’t want to leave.”
He didn’t have the same considerations. He said; “I can understand that. Would you want to stay in the same house?”
“I don't know. I’m glad you wouldn’t mind staying here.
That was the main thing. I’ll probably stay in the house a while. On a practical level, who’s going to buy it after what happened there anyway.”
He nodded, but came up with a second thought; “You’ll soon have so much money that you could give it to some charity.”
“Weird feeling I’m not yet accustomed to. I guess that’s a possibility. Or, maybe I’ll give it to my old hippy friends and they can re-establish the commune.”
“On another issue, we’ll have to have some story when we get together, wherever that is. The cops will want to know who I am and that could be tricky, how we met, what we like about each other and other investigative questions. We’ll have to get our stories in sync. Others will require an abbreviated version. It’s probably the simplest to say that I was just passing through, we met and nature took its course.” He regretted what his fretful mind went to, as he was still concerned about the look in her eyes. He hoped he was wrong.
He paused a few seconds. She was silent. He said; “We’ve got a long time to think about it. Today’s been a perfect day and I don’t want to ruin it.”
They slowly walked down a well-travelled path, heading back to their cars. Fortunately, no others were there. When they got to her car, they stopped, facing each other. He took her arm gently, kissed her and told her he loved her. She said; “I love you, too,” but retained her thoughtful, far away, unsmiling look. He was stupidly compelled to add; “Please don’t worry.
Everything will be all right. We’re due for some good luck.”
She looked at him as if he had just committed an act of heresy and bravely said; “Worry about what?” She entered her Mercedes.
He walked to his car and said; “December fifteenth at 9:00
AM?”
She finally smiled at him, perhaps only to show that she could and said; “Unquestioningly right.”
They each uneventfully drove away, she back home and he back to Amarillo. He thought about how she could always make him feel secure and wondered if that was what he was supposed to be doing for her and failing. Maybe things were mutual. He wasn’t sure.
He was so contented; he wondered how anyone could feel this hopeful. He also wondered how he could make a living in Castillo.
He continued thinking about Kelly. There wasn’t anything nerdy about her anymore. She’s had quite a life, at least until five years ago. Her adaptation to “real life” was more successful than his, though far from perfect. She did everything with such ease.
He not only was in love, she was also a kind of hero to him. He knew he’d be doing a lot more thinking about her over the next month. The thoughts were starting to be more visual; pictures and colors rather than words. For now he decided the colors were a light blue and deep red, resulting in purple if mixed. The precise shade was unclear, sometimes deep and sometimes a preferred lighter version. He picked up his stuff in Amarillo and headed back to Jersey City.
She thought about him. He could be sweet, funny, understanding and a worry wart. She actually liked that. Most men she had known seemed to think only of themselves. She wondered how long it would last. She considered her house. The current one wasn’t exactly her taste. It was a bit too ostentatious and meticulously maintained. However, if she cut back on maintenance, it would merely look sloppy. She started to think of a house like George’s, only a little bigger, a little better kept, with more trees, her library and, most importantly, Bobby.
She walked around the house, recalling the years spent there.
She wondered how she survived. Or, did she survive? She recognized that now she was a different person and failed to see any sense of improvement. She took solace in her ability to be tough when necessary and the fact that no one is the same person they were five years prior, unless they spent those years six feet under.
She put on the CD player and fumbled for a good choice in the moment. She danced, as Patti Smith sang “Ain’t It Strange.”