Sue (11 page)

“I’m not.” Her heart slammed in her
chest. “How long ago was this? Is he here now?”

“Nah.
I
ain’t
seen him since before I left Missouri.
I don’t know where he is. He talked about heading north.” He took another drink
of his coffee, pulled a crumpled pack of cigarettes from his shirt pocket, and
looked around for an ashtray. “
S’pose
they don’t
allow smoking in here.” With a sad look, he replaced the pack and leaned
against the back of the seat.

“This Ian, what was his last name?”

“Don’t know.
Never
got that tight with him.
He just said to call him Ian.”

“Well, what agency did you work
for?”

“No agency. We’d just hang around
the loading docks, waiting for truckers who needed help.”

“Maybe you just got the wrong
number when you called me.”

“Don’t think so. He told me your
name.”

“Then why did you hang up after I
answered?”

He shrugged, looking almost boyish
for a second. “Hell, I don’t know. Guess I got a bit bashful.
Wasn’t sure what to say once I had you on the line.
Besides,
you sounded
kinda
stressed out.”

“Oh god.
I
can’t believe this.”

“He an old
boyfriend of yours?
You guys have a bad break-up or something?”

Sue was flooded with anger. “What
he is...” she paused, then glared defiantly at the man. “He’s a serial killer.”

Taken by surprise, Harry laughed.
When Sue didn’t laugh with him, his mirth died out quickly. Sue smacked the
tabletop lightly with a clenched fist. “If you think I’m just yanking your
chain, think again. The man you know as Ian kills women. He killed one in Four
Falls, Missouri. Look it up if
you don’t believe me.”

“Whoa, now.
I don’t know about any of that.” Harry cleared his throat and played with the
spoon next to his coffee. He looked uncomfortable, as if he wanted to escape
this awkward meeting. “You know, this isn’t turning out like I thought it
would.”

“Same here.”
Sue dug in her purse, tossed some bills on the table, and rose to leave. She
waved the waitress over. “Can I get my ticket?”

“Mine, too.” Harry smiled sweetly
at Sue. “Ian said you like to pay for things and I don’t have much money.”

“In your dreams,” Sue growled. She
grabbed her ticket and looked Harry dead in the eye. “Lose my number. Okay?”

“No problem.” Their eyes locked for
a few seconds; his slid away first. He turned his face toward the window as if
ashamed to meet her gaze.

On trembling legs, she stopped at
the counter, paid, and left the diner. Back in her car, she stared through the
glass at Harry as he sat in the booth drinking his coffee. Disappointment and
relief warred within her.

Finally, Sue pulled onto the road
for home, fighting an urge to cry.
So, he’s calling himself Ian now.
And still messing with my life.

Chapter 16

Everywhere Sue went she was reminded
of the approaching holiday. The receptionist’s desk at Dr. Camden’s office held
a tiny tree bedecked with blinking lights. Storefronts sported trees of every
size and shape; she even saw one that hung from the ceiling. And road crews had
already hung giant snowflakes and candles from every other light pole in the
downtown district.

Sue, however, wasn’t in a festive
mood and had declined the offer of helping with the outside Christmas
decorations at home. She’d sat moodily in her room as her mom and dad hauled
out the nativity set and erected it in the front yard. Four-foot-tall candles
stood at each side of the front door and lights were strung over the porch.
Soon, she heard her parents dragging the tree and decorations from the attic.
Not long after there was a tap at her bedroom door.

“Susie,” her mom called softly.

“Come in,” Sue responded.

“Honey, won’t you please come help
decorate the tree? We’ve always done it as a family.”

Sue wanted to scream. She wanted to
shriek that she was already sick of the holiday hoopla that there was nothing
to rejoice unless a broken heart was worthy of celebration. Instead she pasted
a smile on her face and followed her mom downstairs.

Holiday
music issued from her mother’s old cassette player, filling the house with
Christmas classics by Bing Crosby, Burl Ives, and
Eartha
Kitt
. Elvis Presley’s “Blue Christmas” nearly pulled
Sue under, but she held her emotions in check for the sake of her folks. They
strung lights, hung bulbs and sentimental ornaments from the branches, and then
lightly draped the tree in glistening silver tinsel. Standing back, they
surveyed the finished project and Sue had to admit she’d enjoyed herself. There
was comfort in the old traditions. “It’s beautiful.”

“As always,” her dad agreed.

“Okay, anyone up for hot
chocolate?” Her mom was already heading for the kitchen.

Since this was traditional also,
Sue concurred. They shared their drinks in front of the tree. She looked from
her mom to her dad thoughtfully.
Is this what real love looks like? Is it
this calm, this unremarkable?

Eventually she returned upstairs.
In the shower she let tears of frustration course down her face. She’d had such
a different plan for this Christmas. She’d secretly dreamed that she and Zeke
would have found a house by this time, maybe have been married, and would be
surprising each other with inexpensive gifts. Instead she was
back
home, healing from wounds inflicted by the man she had
loved.
Still loved.
And hated.
Life was so unfair. Feeling defeated, she pulled out her journal and filled
several pages, surprised at how much she’d grown to enjoy this activity.

Chapter 17

Melvin showed up wearing a sweater
with Rudolph on the front. He was there to take Sue to her therapist
appointment and then they were going to the shooting range. When he saw Sue
looking with disdain at the sweater he smiled mischievously. “Check this out,
Sue.” He did something that made Rudolph’s nose light up.

Shrugging, Sue slipped past him and
headed toward his car. The smell of wood smoke lingered in the crisp air.

“Wait up.” Melvin zipped his coat
as he joined her. “I love this time of year, don’t you?”

“Do I look like I love it?” She
pulled her collar up against the cold, yanked the car door open, and got
inside.

“I guess a snowball fight is out of
the question then?” He slid behind the wheel and started the engine.

Sue huffed and looked away as he
pulled into the street.

Once on the road, Sue broke
the silence. “
How’s your girlfriend feel
about you
working so much?”

Melvin gave a short laugh. “I
don’t have a girlfriend anymore. I did, but it’s over.”

“What happened?” She was half
surprised he’d ever had one, to tell the truth. She’d only been making
conversation.

“We dated pretty much all
through the last year of high school. Then she went off to Berkeley
and met someone else.”

“I’m sorry.” Sue wished she
hadn’t broached the subject.

Melvin’s face was impassive as
he pulled up to a stoplight. “It was rough at first, but I guess it just wasn’t
meant to be.”

“Yeah, I’ve had a few of
those.” Sue stared out the window and thought of the disappointing crushes
she’d had before Zeke.

“Well, it’s for the best. I
don’t have a lot of time for a relationship right now, what with work and
school.”

“My fault?”

He turned the car into the
parking lot of Dr. Camden’s office, turned off the ignition, and looked at Sue.
“No. It’s not your fault. If I wasn’t going around with you, Will would have me
on other work.”

Sue had no reply; she felt
foolish for making it all about her and wondered if he thought she was self-centered.
If so, he didn’t show it.

Melvin walked her into the
building, grabbed a magazine from the table, and dropped into a chair to wait.

Her appointment went well and she
actually got out a little early, exiting with a much lighter spirit. Entering
the lobby, she gestured for Melvin to follow her. “Okay, bud. You ready for a
whoopin
’?”

“
Whoopin
’?
By whom, pray tell?” Melvin looked all around. “Surely you don’t mean by you.
Ohh
, you make me laugh.” He hooted and slapped his leg in
mirth.

“I don’t know,” Sue countered. “I’m
getting pretty good. You want to make a wager?”

“Five bucks.”
Melvin held out a hand.

“Five bucks?
Not in this life. I have to buy a gun, you know.
How about
fifty bucks?”

Melvin gulped. Sue had shot well
the last time they’d come. Then he manned up. “Fifty bucks it is.” They shook
hands and got in the car.

Several rounds later, the two were
pretty much even and called it a draw. Sue cleaned her rental while Melvin
attended to his own pistol. As they walked across the parking lot Sue said,
“I’m taking my test on Thursday.”

“Driving test?
Eye
test?
Typing test?”

“Yes, all three
of those.
Either that or I’m going to take my permit-to-carry test!”

“
Ohh
,
that test
.”

“Anyway, Thursday is the last day
anyone can test this year. Then they’ll be closed until after the holidays.”

“When do you want me to pick you
up?”

They settled on a time and Sue
asked him if he could take her to a local sporting goods store afterward,
providing she passed.

“You’re not buying from Burns?”

“Jason’s prices are pretty high.
I’ve looked online and I can get a much better deal somewhere else.”

“I guess that’s probably true.
Burns has to keep his prices up there in order to make a profit.”

They pulled up in front of Sue’s
house and she stepped from the vehicle. Melvin piled out and walked with her to
the door, snow crunching underfoot.

“You don’t have to come up every
time you bring me home,” Sue protested.

“Ah, but I do. I’m here to protect
and protect I will.” With a mock bow, he turned and darted back to his car,
almost slipped on a patch of icy driveway but caught himself. He shot her an
embarrassed
grin.

She shook her head and went inside.

Sue woke excited Thursday. She
poked around online, searching for ideas on what to buy her mom and dad for
Christmas. She decided to see if Melvin had time to take her shopping after
they bought her gun, assuming she passed the test. Nervous now, Sue studied
until he picked her up.

She’d filled out an application for
the background check a month earlier and, much to her surprise, passed. Today
she would take the written exam and the shooting test.

Melvin pulled up as near to the
Highway Patrol office as possible. “Go get
em
,
slugger,” he said as she climbed out.

Sue, nearly sick
with nerves, barely smiled in return.

An hour later she emerged with a
hangdog expression. She climbed into the car and stared morosely out the
passenger window.

Melvin started the car and drove in
silence for a minute. Finally, he asked, “You didn’t make it?”

“What?” Sue turned to him sad-eyed.
Then a teasing smile radiated across her face. “Of course I made it. I passed
with flying colors.” She pulled her permit from her bag and waved it under his
nose. “Let’s go shopping.”

Melvin was game to take Sue to the
mall to shop for Christmas. “Maybe we’d better go to the sporting goods store
last.”

“Why?”

“I don’t like the idea of a gun
sitting around in the car.
Especially with the ammo in the
same bag.”

“You take yours along with you.”

Melvin smiled wryly. “I only carry
it to the range. But someday I’m hoping Will and Roxie will let me go on a
stakeout. I’ll need it then.”

“Oh,” Sue said. “Okay. I’ve gone
this long; I can wait another couple of hours.”

The two wandered through the mall,
looking in shop windows, and venturing into this store or that. “What did you
tell your mom and dad you wanted for Christmas this year?” Melvin asked.

“I didn’t. Every year I tell them
exactly what I want and every year they buy me anything but. So this year I
left it to them.” They were passing a jewelry counter and Sue stopped. Pointing
at a small silver chain with a teardrop gem of her birthstone she said, “See
this? This is something I’d put on my list.” She looked around and found a
chunky chain from which hung a garish rhinestone-encrusted faux ruby. “But this
is what I’d get. And the crazy thing is
,
the
birthstone is actually cheaper.”

They walked on. Sue led the way
through a department store. She bought her mom a pair of warm house slippers
and a blouse. She chose a flannel shirt for her dad and then stood fingering a
selection of socks.

Glancing over she saw Melvin
holding up a pair of gaudy black socks with several large dancing penguins on
each. “What are you doing with those?”

“I was thinking of buying them.”

“For who?”
Sue asked, wrinkling her nose.

Melvin blushed slightly. “Well, I
sort of have a sock collection. I even have a pair with pink flamingos.”

Reaching out, Sue snatched them
from him.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“These would be perfect for my Aunt
Murielle,” Sue announced.

“But,” Melvin stuttered. “That’s
the only pair. And besides, they’re men’s socks.”

“Aunt Murielle is really
masculine,” Sue said earnestly. “And I’m getting these for her. You’ll have to
choose something else. Sorry!”