Death and Deceit (13 page)

“Get some rest,” Liz called to her, and from the stairway Jessie could hear them talking. They were enjoying each other’s company and she was glad for Alan. It was
nice to have someone when sorrow called. If only she could have leaned on Kent now. But she was alone, like always. When her father had passed, struck down and emaciated from cancer, she had tried to comfort her mother then. Alan had also taken his turn, even though they didn’t comfort one another at the time. Now, both parents were gone.

Jessie stood outside her bedroom wiping tears from her eyes. She still couldn’t
believe her mother’s passing. So young, she thought. Had grief done it to her? Was it worth it to love someone so much? The voice in her head said,
it was the cigarettes.
Jessie shivered.

Monday passed in a blur of visitors with sad condolences and many tears. The house was full of people all day. Sandra had taken over and Jessie was glad for that. After all, Sandra knew most of the people better than she had, except for some of her school friends who still lived in the town. Alan may have called Sandra a busybody, but she’d been a best friend to their mother for many years, and Jessie appreciated her final devotional efforts.

Like the night before, she retired early in preparation for the morning funeral, but
she could hear Liz and Alan down in the living room long after she’d gone to bed. They seemed to talk all night and that was fine, just as long as they weren’t bothering her.

Tuesday dawned wet and cool. A rain spell had set in and sometimes in their area it could last with the fog for a week or more. The whole house was damp and dreary. Jessie walked past Alan’s room on her way downstairs and recalled the scene
where she and Kent had fallen on the bed. She touched her lips with her fingers recalling his kiss, and the words,
you do things to me I never knew existed.

“Hi, Jessie. Anything wrong?” Alan had appeared out of no where and she turned quickly.

“No, nothing, I guess...except this whole thing.” Her eyes misted and he finally
reached for her.

“It’s all right, Jess. We’ll get through this thing. I’d worry about you if you
didn’t have a friend like Liz. I made her promise to watch over you. And I’ll be visiting you more. I’m glad we finally got past that stuff about Marcy. She was kind of a drip, wasn’t she?”

Jessie blinked to clear her eyes. “I’m glad we did it while Mom was here. It bothered her, you know.”

“It bothered me too. Did you think it didn’t?”

Jessie pulled away, smoothing down her hair. “I know it did.” She sighed. “And
you’re right. Liz is a good friend. I’ll be leaning on her a lot. You like her, don’t you?”
Jessie looked in his eyes for a reaction, but Alan still looked sad.

“Liz is nice. She’s helped a lot.” He brushed past Jessie and into his bedroom.
“We’d better get going soon. It’s going to be a wet one today.”

Jessie stood with the small gathering at the cemetery. Pouring rain danced on
her umbrella. Most of the umbrellas were black she noticed and everyone looked depressed. Was it the day? Her mother hadn’t been much of an extrovert, but she had been active in her local community. She couldn’t help but to be with Sandra for a friend. Jessie recalled as a child how Sandra would pound on the door on Saturday morning, always getting her mother involved in one community event after another. It was good for her mother though, especially after her father passed away.

Jessie peered through the driving rain at the gathering of townspeople who had turned out in spite of the weather to say farewell to her mother. She noticed Sandra dabbing at her eyes. What would Sandra do now? Somehow she didn’t look quite so tall and strong today.

The minister hurried through his sermon and soon the mourners were trooping
towards their respective vehicles. Jessie, Liz and Alan returned to the house only long enough for the girls to get changed and pack up Liz’s car. When they said goodbye to
Alan, who was staying awhile to clear up his mother’s affairs, Liz and Jessie both pecked Alan on the cheek. He hugged them both and waved as they drove back to Harbourside.

The rain pounded down until they reached the city limits. Finally a warm breeze
blew billowing clouds away from the hidden blue sky, and an afternoon sun peeked through.

“Going to be a fine evening,” Liz said. “Why don’t you give Kent a call?”

“What?” Jessie took her eyes off the road to stare at Liz in disbelief. “Are you
losing it? Why would I call him? Didn’t you spend all last week convincing me that he was the perpetrator?”

“It was just a thought. And I was probably all wrong.”

Jessie leaned back and closed her eyes. “Well, I’ve heard everything now. Let me get this straight. Did I hear you correctly? You think you were wrong? Explain, please.”

“Yeah, Jessie. I think maybe I was wrong. I was too hasty to judge Kent. I think
you should give him another chance. If the messages keep coming while he’s around, you’ll know it can’t be him. Let him come back and live with you. You’ve always gotten messages at night, haven’t you? If he’s there, it can’t be him.”

Jessie shook her head in frustration as she stared out the side window watching
shadows move across the deep green hills and valleys like a tide rolling in. Her heart felt as heavy as a giant wave. “I can’t believe you’re serious, Liz. I can’t live with a possible stalker. And if I never get another message, I’ll never know for sure, will I?”

Their car rolled downhill into the heart of Harbourside. They climbed up steep
Pine Street and along the Square, leaving behind the old city area and moving into the newer district where both Liz and Jessie had apartments.

“Suit yourself, Jess. Do you want me to stay with you tonight?”

Jessie nodded. Liz was a really good friend, but sometimes she was a little
domineering and a whole lot confusing. Liz threaded through downtown traffic, drove up Willow Street and parked in front of the red brick building. At the entrance a cluster of wild roses in bloom had attracted a swarm of bees. The rain had rinsed everything clean and sparkling. A song sparrow on a nearby fence tossed its distinctive call into the evening sky, and Jessie wished she felt as renewed and carefree as the nature around her.

Jessie found it hard to rise on Wednesday morning. If it hadn’t been for Liz
staying the night, she might have just rolled over and gone back to sleep. Sleep was the only thing she had now that her mother was gone, and Kent was out of her life. But Liz was up and about early. She had even prepared an enticing breakfast omelette to lure Jessie out of the doldrums. Later when Liz offered to drive Jessie to work she decided instead to walk. What was better than a beautiful, sunny morning to lift her spirits?

Harbourside was noted for its lovely green lawns, freshened continually by an ocean mist, and the many colourful flower gardens that dotted the city. The moisture laden climate kept the delicate blossoms in a constant glory of bloom. As she neared her place of employment, seeing the gulls on wing darting over a glittering sea gave her a feeling of renewal. She took a deep breath and entered the building.

At noon, Liz and Jessie met for lunch at their usual place. Half way through their salads, Kent walked in and saw them immediately. Jessie and Liz saw him too. He was with the same tall, long-haired redhead.

“He sure likes redheads,” Liz remarked.

Jessie looked down and continued to eat her lunch. She pretended not to be interested, but inside, her heart had dropped to her stomach. Who was that woman? And how could he forget
her
so quickly? She’d thought they’d meant something to each other. And what about the strange love-hate message? Had it really been from Kent? She shuddered, and the light salad felt heavy in her stomach.

“Uh-oh. He’s coming over,” Liz whispered.

Jessie looked up just in time to see him gaze down at her. There was sincerity in
his blue eyes. “I dropped in to see you at work, Jessie. I heard about your mother’s relapse. How is she doing?”

“She’s passed, Kent,” Liz said quickly.

Kent looked like someone had struck him. “Oh, no. I’m sorry. I...lost my mother
awhile back now, but I still miss her a lot.”

Jessie’s heart softened. She remembered their conversation in the park about his parents. She looked at him now in a new light. She was about to cave in and accept his condolences and perhaps even be civil to him, until she glanced across the room. The long-haired redhead smiled at her, and Jessie’s blood boiled. How dare he flaunt a new girlfriend right in front of her, then expect her to accept it?

“I don’t need your pity, Kent. Why don’t you go back to your girlfriend? Tell
her all the lies you told me. Maybe she’ll believe you.”

“Jessie.” Kent looked bewildered and Liz intervened.

“Jessie’s distraught, Kent. Give her time.”

“I don’t need you to explain my actions, Liz,” Jessie said hotly. She pushed from
the table. “I have a class in ten minutes. I’ve gotta go.”

She walked from the restaurant leaving Liz and Kent staring after her. Her aqua
aerobic class wasn’t for at least an hour, but she could no longer stay in close proximity to Kent Morgan. And the way Liz had smiled and gushed at him was almost unforgivable. Her best friend now siding with Kent. The whole world was a mess.

She strode down the sidewalk in the opposite direction to her work place. The sun bore down warmly on her shoulders and she removed her thin jacket and tied it about her waist. She thought of the small park two blocks over and needed to sit amongst the
flowers.

No flowers.
Her mother had loved flowers. Why hadn’t she wanted them at her
funeral? Jessie suddenly turned and broke into a jog. She couldn’t bear to visit the pretty park. Not when her mother could no long enjoy flowers — could not breathe in the late spring newness in the air — could never again smile at her.

Jessie ran past other walkers and joggers, past sputtering sprinklers with glistening arcs sweeping the smell of water- on- pavement into the air. Her nostrils caught the faint smell of flowers.
No flowers.
She ran in the direction of the club where she could bury her mind in work. A good workout would help her forget the pain and the heartache. But what about tomorrow?

Liz called Jessie Wednesday night and asked if she wanted her to stay over again. Jessie told her she didn’t. She crawled into her bed deciding it was time to do something about the harassment.

At noon on Thursday instead of lunching with Liz, Jessie visited the police station. Adrian Anatolli, a tall policewoman, introduced herself to Jessie. “I’ll take your report, Ms Albright, but there isn’t much we can do without more solid information.”

Jessie looked across the large, wooden desk at the serious-looking officer and swallowed. “I was afraid you’d say that.”

“I’ve had irritating e mail myself. Maybe I can help.”

Jessie turned and looked way up into a pair of brown eyes so dark they appeared
almost black. The officer standing behind her, who had just spoken was a
big
man. And she had thought Kent was big.

The policewoman looked up also. “Harassment is more than irritating, Rick,” Adrian Anatolli said dryly. “There’s nothing we can do though, you know that.”

“Yeah?” he said. “I don’t agree. I want to hone in on e mail disturbances. Maybe
this is a good place to start.”

Officer Anatolli stood up. “Go for it, Rick. But you’ll see from the sparse report,
there’s nothing to go on.”

He gave her a cocky grin and sat in the chair she’d just occupied. He picked up her report. “Maybe you didn’t ask the right questions, Anatolli.”

The policewoman shrugged and walked off.

Jessie felt relieved. Maybe she’d finally found someone to take her seriously. She looked him over while he looked over the report. He had an assured and confident air about him that indicated he was probably unnerved by little. His rugged handsomeness was topped by a thick head of dark, no, jet black hair. Well groomed hair, slicked back. His nose was strong and straight, the classic kind, Jessie decided. A dark shadow over his top lip and along his square jaw-line told her he was probably one of those guys who had to shave twice daily. There was a scar on his right cheek, redder than the other skin. It puckered the flesh around the corner of his mouth making his smile appear
slightly crooked. This both fascinated and attracted her.

“Anatolli’s right,” he said, slapping the report on the desk. “Not much here.” He
leaned back on the chair, which seemed to miniaturize while holding his huge frame. Jessie half expected it to collapse beneath him.

“You from the city?” he asked.

“No. I’m from Wakefield, but I’ve lived here quite a while.”

“I know Wakefield,” he said looking straight into her eyes. “A quaint little part of Nova Scotia. I wonder if the rural folk there still grow their own vegetables and go to church on Sunday.”

“Probably.” Jessie smiled.