Worse Than Being Alone (19 page)

Still, the need to finish what she started was
Roni’s current mantra. Nothing she had learned so far screamed
stop. On the contrary, all the information added to her suspicions.
There were more relatives of dead husbands to interview as well as
one lone survivor besides Billy. Roni couldn’t wait to hear what he
had to say.

The indoor pool was located on the lower level of
the rehab facility. Roni pulled into a parking place and checked
her watch. Brad should be just about finished with his pool therapy
at this hour. A strong odor of chlorine assaulted Roni as she
walked down the hallway toward the pool. The automatic door swished
open and as usual, the pool deck was crowded. Brad Henry was
already finished with therapy, sitting in a wheelchair and talking
with David Weller and a physical therapist.

“
Well, if it isn’t our very own
rehab Nazi,” David said as Brad laughed.

“
Don’t say that, David,” Brad
said. “That would be insulting to Nazis.”

“
Go ahead and yuk it up you guys,”
Roni said, pretending to be offended. “Be good or I’ll refer you to
a new therapist I found who isn’t nearly as cute as Carla here. She
looks a lot like Sister Jean, a nun I had in grade school. Same
beefy physique, same hairy chin, and same disdain for
slackers.”

“
I think I’ll bow out of this
conversation,” Carla said. “How’s it going, Roni?”

“
Good, how are my boys doing?” she
asked.

“
If I can get them to stop talking
long enough to do their therapy,” Carla said. “They’re doing very
well.”

“
You’re not supposed to rat us
out,” David said.

“
I’m outta here,” Carla said as
she laughed and walked away.

“
So, how’s it really going?” Roni
asked, looking at David first and then at Brad.

“
Really, it’s going well,” Brad
said. “Once I got past my anger that David was an asshole and you
were never going to give me a moments peace until I went to
therapy, things just seemed to fall into place.”

“
Wow,” Roni said. “David, I think
we’ve met our match.”

“
Yeah, but you’ll be rid of him
eventually,” David said. “He’s going to be working for me, so I’ll
still have to put up with him.”

“
Not if he keeps calling you an
asshole,” Roni said.

“
Point taken,” Brad said. “When I
saw how hard David works when he comes in, it kind of shamed me
into getting with the program. Carla said I could come three days a
week after I get discharged, too. I’m not going to lie to you. This
is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I still go to sleep every
night praying I’ll wake up in the morning the way I used to be. At
least I’m starting to see that I’ll still have a life.”

“
Well, keep in mind everyone has
good days and bad days,” Roni said. “You just have more lemons than
most people. I checked on your wheelchair. It’s supposed to be here
next week. I also wanted to schedule a home visit with you and
Jennifer to do some home modifications.”

“
Maybe David could join us?” Brad
asked.

“
Sure, he might have some ideas I
hadn’t thought of,” Roni said.

“
I’d be glad to come,” David said.
“Roni, why don’t you tell the insurance company I’ll do the
modifications at cost. Then we’ll be sure they are done
right.”

“
That sounds good,” Roni said.
“Brad, why don’t you talk to Jennifer and get back to me about a
time that works.”

“
Fine, she’s coming this
afternoon,” Brad said. “I’ll let you know.”

“
Roni, can I talk to you about
something for a minute?” David asked.

“
Sure, why don’t we go out in the
hall?” Roni asked as she walked to and through the automatic door
with David following.

A cool breeze hit them as they
reached the hall and closed the door leading to the
pool.

“
Wow, it’s really kind of stifling
in there,” Roni said.

“
Yeah, it is,” David said. “I was
curious about what you’ve found out about your dad’s
wife.”

“
I’ve visited the relatives of the
first two husbands. No one has anything good to say about her. They
use words like greedy, manipulative.”

“
That’s not good,” David said.
“Has Lionel been helpful?”

“
He’s been great. I’m going to
give him a call to see what he thinks.”

“
What do you think?” he
asked.

“
Every time I talk to someone from
Marian’s past, more red flags pop up. It’s hard to sort out sour
grapes from legitimate negative comments. I mean, maybe they just
didn’t want to accept her.”

“
Like you?” he asked.

“
Just like me, but one big problem
for me is that even her own brother doesn’t seem to trust her. One
thing is for sure. Nothing I’ve heard will cause me to stop
digging. I’m going to interview all of the survivors, including the
other surviving husband.”

Chapter Thirty-Three

Ethan and I ended up staying up talking half the
night after we made it back to my condo. As I was drinking coffee
the next morning, I was feeling much better and less guilty about
our relationship. Ethan was essentially letting me off the hook;
now all I had to do was let go of my guilt.

Until I bolted, I always prided myself on being a
good mother. My escape didn’t fit with my perception of good
mothering, but I suppose all mothers have a secret list of
perceived failures. We all start out swearing we won’t make the
same mistakes our parents made, only to go on to make a totally
different set of them.

One of the biggest things I realized while I was in
Alaska was that I should have taken Ethan and left James when I
first realized he had a drinking problem he had no intention of
addressing. Roni always says better late than never. Forgive me if
I think that seems like a convenient copout. Maybe a better
question would be, how many red flags did I miss when I was going
out with James? Did I see them and dismiss them or just miss them
entirely, or was James so clever he successfully hid them?

I rinsed my mug and put it in the dishwasher as
Harley meowed her way into the kitchen and rubbed up against my
leg. I scratched her head and wrote a note for Ethan, who was still
asleep in the guest room. He didn’t have a class until later so he
was lucky enough to be able to sleep in before heading back to
school. I grabbed my purse and keys and headed to the office.

Cindy was on the phone when I opened the door and
stepped into the office. “Lionel,” Cindy said. “She just walked in.
I’ll put you on hold for a second and she can take your call in her
office.”

“
Good morning, Cindy,” I said.
“I’ll run back and grab the phone.”

I threw my purse on my desk and picked up the phone.
“Hey, Lionel,” I said. “How are you doing?”

“
I’m doing great, Kitty,” he said.
“How about you?”

“
Can’t complain,” I said. “What
can I do for you?”

“
I wanted to see how Roni was
doing with her investigation and how you’re doing with
Ho?”

“
Roni and I have been playing
phone tag,” I said. “We’re supposed to have lunch here at the
office today to catch up. She said something about talking to you
again and actually, I was hoping maybe you could help me with
something. Why don’t you come by the office for lunch and we can
sit down and talk about everything?”

“
Sure, what time?”

“
Does noon work?” I
asked.

“
See you then.”

I spent most of the morning returning phone calls
and completing computer generated reports. By noon, I had cleared
the desk and ordered takeout from a local deli. An Italian salad
with artichoke hearts, pimentos, red onions, iceberg lettuce and an
oil and vinegar dressing accompanied by a variety of meat and
cheese subs arrived promptly at noon. Roni and Lionel came in the
office as Cindy and I were setting out the food.

“
That looks great,” Lionel said as
he took a paper plate and started to help himself.

“
Don’t be shy,” I said as everyone
laughed.

Hunger must have stifled the conversation because
everyone seemed content to eat. Lionel was on his second sub before
anyone spoke.

“
This is really good,” Roni said.
“I’m glad you could come Lionel. I was going to call you but this
is better. I’ve visited relatives of the first two husbands. They
don’t have anything good to say about Marian. Even her own brother
thinks she got pregnant on purpose just to get married and get out
of the house.”

“
So, they all thought she was
manipulative?” Lionel asked.

“
Don’t forget greedy,” Roni said.
“They think she’s all about the money.”

“
Did they seem suspicious about
how their relatives died?” Lionel asked.

“
Not until I brought it up,” Roni
said. “I’ll tell you though, it wasn’t like anyone said Marian just
isn’t capable of that or seemed surprised. I just don’t think they
ever connected the dots that way before.”

“
Still, it’s a big leap from
greedy to murderer,” Lionel said.

“
Yeah, I know,” Roni said. “I’m
kind of having the same problem. Tell me about Black Widows,
Lionel. What does their profile look like?”

“
Well, no one gets suspicious
until the body count rises,” Lionel said. “Typically, they claim
six to eight victims. Black Widows are intelligent, manipulative,
highly organized, and patient. They plan their activities with
great care and in a way that is unsuspected at the time. They seem
to go out of their way to make sure it’s at a time when the victim
feels secure and unthreatened.”

“
Which is why the survivors don’t
connect any dots,” I said.

“
True,” Lionel said. “The motive
is always profit. Poison is usually the weapon of choice. They
usually poison their victims over a long period of time. They play
the role of concerned spouse the whole time they’re continuing
their attack.”

“
That sounds really creepy,” Cindy
said.

“
It is creepy,” Lionel said.
“Look, statistically the odds are against Marian being a Black
Widow, but nothing you’ve found out so far rules her out, either.
Just looking at the data, none of her husbands died within the
first year of the marriage. So, she is patient. It probably takes
her that long to figure out the finances and get wills changed. Do
you know if she got any life insurance payoffs?”

“
She got one from both of the
first two,” Roni said.

“
Well, I think you need to finish
your interviews,” Lionel said. “Do you know if she’s asked your dad
about life insurance?”

“
No, I don’t know,” Roni said. “If
or when I talk to him, I’ll be sure and ask. Look, my dad has
already been in the hospital once. He took some of Marian’s
homeopathic medicines. That fits the poison scenario. So, when do I
go to my dad?”

“
That’s tricky,” I said. “Marian’s
very good at manipulating him.”

“
He might just tell me to back
off,” Roni said. “He did that before they got married when we asked
some questions about Marian’s past. Of course, that was before we
realized she had been married five times.”

“
Why don’t you finish interviewing
the rest of the relatives?” Lionel asked. “The one who didn’t die
should give you the best insight into how she operates. Then we can
talk about the whole picture. In the end, unless you start getting
the idea she isn’t what we think she is, you’re probably going to
have to lay it out for him.”

“
I guess it’s a good thing she’s
patient,” Roni said. “Otherwise, I’d be worried about taking any
more time.”

“
So, Kitty, what did you want me
to help you with?” Lionel asked.

“
Well, I need to do some
surveillance at a bar,” I said. “This lady is dating the bartender
and hangs out there all the time. I’ve been told she drinks quite a
bit and likes to dance. She claims she can’t even do light duty
because she’s having so much low back pain. If she can dance she
can answer the phone at work. I need a video and a pretend
date.”

“
I’ll do it on one condition,”
Lionel said.

“
OK, what’s the condition?” I
asked.

“
Well, I know you also wanted to
talk to me about Ho,” he said. “So, you have to agree to have
dinner with me first.”

“
Oh, I can do that,” I
said.

“
Great, I’ll pick you up at
seven,” Lionel said. “You have a condo upstairs, right?”

“
Yeah, number 210,” I
said.

“
Great, I’ll see you at seven,”
Lionel said as he started for the door. “Let me know when you
finish the interviews, Roni. Bye, everyone.”

“
Thanks a lot Lionel,” Roni said
as he left the outer office.

“
Wow,” Cindy said. “I think he
likes you, Kitty.”

“
No,” I said. “This is just so we
can talk about Ho. He’s not interested in me like that.”

“
Why not?” Roni asked. “This will
be a good change for you. I mean it’s about time you went out with
someone who isn’t just some anonymous pervert you met on the
Net.”