Claudia Must Die (3 page)

Chapter Four

Parker returned from her run and went into the bathroom to take some Advil for her sore knee. She lathered her left knee with white muscle cream and hobbled to her fridge for a gin and tonic. After grabbing an ice pack, she headed toward the back deck.

When she opened the door to the deck, she nearly had a heart attack. Ida’s cousin sat in one of the deck chairs, a gun on the table to his right.

“Jesus! You scared the crap out of me.”

He shrugged.

It had been two days since…‌the incident. Parker still could not comprehend or accept what had happened. She disappeared into the safety of her routine. When she thought about Ida, Parker felt herself on the brink of insanity. She wanted to keep her emotions under control—if she didn’t, Parker feared she’d end up like her mother. Routine was her only saving grace.

Gathering her composure, she sat down on the other chair and placed a towel and an ice pack on her knee.

“What happened to you?” Francis gestured to her knee.

“Oh, nothing. Running makes my knee sore, that’s all.”

“Ida said that about you.”

“That I have a bad knee?” His comment puzzled Parker. She didn’t know that Ida had ever talked about her, let alone about something so trivial.

The burly Irishman chuckled at her naivety. “No. She said that once you started something, you didn’t give up.”

“Oh.” The student thought for a moment and glanced at the gun on the table. “I have to be honest, she didn’t mention you at all.” Parker waved to the gun.

He laughed again, a mirthless chuckle. “No, I imagine she didn’t talk about me much.” Francis stared off in the distance, and then he leaned forward and looked Parker in the eyes. “You see, I came over here to kill you.”

The student didn’t blink. “What changed your mind?”

“How do you know I changed it?”

“I guess I don’t. But it seems odd that you haven’t shot me yet.” Parker adjusted the ice pack and grimaced slightly.

“I now know what Ida meant about you.”

“Really.” Not a trace of curiosity flickered through Parker’s empty eyes.

“She said you were the only person in a long time who impressed her. Once you put your mind to something, you wouldn’t back down. Fearless. There were other aspects Ida appreciated, but that you were fearless mattered the most to her.”

“Is that why you changed your mind?”

Francis shook his head. The waning sunlight danced on his close-cropped orange-tinted hair. “She changed my mind.” The cousin pulled a picture out of his back pocket and handed it over.

Parker stared at the woman, only then noticing how alike they looked. “I’ve seen her before. I think she lives in this neighborhood.” Parker closed her eyes to think. “Yes, she runs the same time I do, every evening.”

“I found her in your apartment.”

“What?” Parker was starting to lose her composure. She pretended that her ice pack needed adjusting once again, to occupy her mind. She wanted to stay lost in details, not people.

“When I picked the lock to the front door, I saw her in the kitchen. She bolted before I could stop her. Up close, I can tell you two apart.” He paused. “It’s a good thing, or you’d be dead.”

Parker considered his words. Would being dead be such a bad thing? Everyone was gone. Now, she was sitting on her deck with a man she barely knew, talking about how he wanted to kill her. Really, what was there to live for? Without Ida, life seemed pointless. Torture, really.

“Who is she?”

“She’s the one they are after. I think your doppelgänger set you up to get killed, but they shot the wrong person.” He tapped Claudia’s picture, lost in thought. “There’s a man, a real bad man, in Colorado who wants her dead. I don’t know too much about it yet, but I think this woman wants you dead so she can take over your life. And it wouldn’t have been too hard for her to do.”

“What do you mean?”

“I know that you’re an orphan. The only person you cared about was my cousin. And now she’s gone. Ida told me you keep to yourself all of the time. Plus, you aren’t trying to run away from me or anyone. You seem resigned to your fate, no matter what.” He stated the facts bluntly.

“How bad is this man?”

“The worst of the worst.”

Parker wanted to kill him, and the woman, to feel her fingers squeeze the life out of them. She swallowed some gin to bury the passion.
Focus on the routine.
“Who is this woman to him?” she asked.

“She’s his wife. She took off with a lot of his money. He’s been trying to track her down for over a year.”

“How did you find this out?”

Francis glanced at his feet, and then at his gun. “I have my connections. I sniffed around to find out who hired them. When I found out about the wife, I thought she was you, and that my cousin was dead because of you.”

“Well, she is dead because of me.”

“So it seems. But you can’t go on thinking that. Those thoughts will drive you crazy. You can’t help how you look. Did you ever have any family in Colorado?”

“Not that I know of. I was born in California. I never knew my father. In fact, I only knew my mother and her parents.” Parker paused, and then added as an afterthought, “They’re all dead now.”

Francis nodded, not knowing what to say. There was no emotion in Parker’s voice, but the words cut to the quick. He sighed. “I don’t know how this woman found you, but she is trying to get you killed.” He leveled his gaze on the student, trying to get a feel for how the news affected her. There was an air of sadness about the girl that bothered him.

Parker raised her arms above her head, massaging the back of her neck, and sighed. “Do you have any suggestions? I don’t think I can find this guy and explain that it was a big misunderstanding.”

“I would love to see you try, though.” He smiled ruefully. “Don’t worry about it. My cousin loved you, which means you have me now. I’ll track these people down. Besides, the killers are probably hiding from this guy since they screwed up big time. He isn’t the type of guy most people want to mess with, let alone fuck up a job for.” Francis knew he would relish taking out the assassins and the man. Any man who sent two killers after a woman deserved to be executed.

“They fucked up the job?” Parker had a hard time grasping this statement. She worked with numbers, not people. And killing people—a job?

“They screwed up by killing my cousin. Let’s just say that, in this part of the world, I’m known and respected.”

The student stared at the apartment buildings across the way. Did the woman live there? Was she watching them right now? “Hey, I’m going to order some pizza. Do you want any?” Parker said out of the blue.

“Thanks, kid. Next time. I have a business meeting.” He got up to leave, but then paused. “You’re going to be okay. I promise.”

After he left, Parker ordered a pizza.

She looked down at the table and saw that the gun was still there. Parker stared at it until the pizza arrived.

***

A couple of nights later, when Parker returned from her run and wandered out on her deck, gin and tonic in hand, she found Francis sitting there with a German Shepherd.

“Hello,” she said.

The dog sat to attention. The cousin patted his head. “Easy, Fritz, it’s okay.”

The dog, Fritz, relaxed and settled back down, resting his head on his front paws.

Parker took a seat, her eyes on another gun placed on the table. How many guns did she need? She had hidden the first gun in her underwear drawer, next to her grandfather’s antique watch.

“Don’t worry, I’m keeping this one.” The cousin motioned to the gun. “I always keep it next to me whenever I can. Obviously, I can’t in public, but I don’t think you’ll turn me in.” He winked. It wasn’t a natural gesture for him; Parker wondered whether he had something in his eye.

“How long have you had the dog?” She couldn’t think of anything else to say, but felt compelled to speak to him.

“You mean how long have you had your dog? Fritz was Ida’s dog. I watched him occasionally, when she was with you or on business trips. A couple of years ago, I got her this dog for protection.” Francis patted the dog’s head affectionately. “Fritz is a sweetheart to those he’s supposed to be nice to, but he can be a killer if need be. You’ll love him. Now you won’t have to run alone, and you won’t have to deal with any more unexpected visitors.” Francis folded his hands in his lap methodically, waiting for a reaction.

Parker was speechless; did that mean Francis wouldn’t be coming over anymore?

His cell phone rang. Brusquely, the Irishman said, “I’ll be right there.” He rose and strode from the deck, tucking his gun into his belt, near the small of his back.

Baffled, Parker sipped her drink and stared at Fritz. She had never owned a pet—not even a fish. To be honest, dogs scared her—even Yorkies—and Fritz was massive. His face looked sweet, though, as he watched her take another swig of her drink.

Francis reappeared on the deck, carrying a large paper bag. “Hopefully you like Chinese.” He set the bag down on the table and began to pull out several containers. There were egg rolls, crab cheese wontons, scallion pancakes, ribs, sesame chicken, orange beef, and white and fried rice. “I wasn’t sure what you liked, but I promised last time to buy you dinner.” He handed her a paper plate. “You can’t always have rice and peppers.”

How does he know about the rice and peppers?
wondered Parker, before she piled food on her plate.

They sat and ate in silence. Then Francis remembered that the Sox were playing. Soon, they were listening to the Red Sox game on the radio. He drank several beers while Parker devoured quite a few gin and tonics. Not once did they speak, not even when David Ortiz hit a grand slam and the announcers on the radio went wild. Francis smiled. Parker tried not to think of Ida, a loyal Sox fan.

After Ida’s cousin left, Parker watched her new dog. She called his name, and he immediately got up and came to her.

“Good dog.” She patted his head, fearful.

Now she had a gun and an attack dog. Parker stared at the empty deck chair, her thoughts on Ida. How many nights had Ida occupied that seat instead of Francis?

“Come, Fritz, let’s go to bed.”

In the bedroom she found a leash, dog food, a water bowl, and a large dog bed. Everything had been set up.

Parker took Fritz out front to pee, and then they both crashed on their own beds.

Chapter Five

What in the fuck is going on? First, a random woman shows up at Parker’s apartment and gets herself killed. Then Parker has Chinese food on her deck with the dude who came over when the wrong woman got popped. And now she’s out first thing this morning walking a German Shepherd—a large, intimidating German Shepherd.

Claudia stood across the street and stared hard at Parker. Could she still convince her husband that the student was her, go on with her plan and take over Parker’s life? Hadn’t she suffered enough? Hadn’t she been hunted enough? If she didn’t succeed, she could never go home. Never see her mom. Her friends. She could never be herself until Dennis thought she was dead. This boring-ass student had been her salvation. And she had grown used to the idea of becoming boring-ass Parker. Claudia regretted that the wrong person had been killed, yet she still wanted her freedom. Besides, canceling the plan wouldn’t bring the woman back, would it? It was best to move forward or it was all for naught. The student was to blame. Parker had ruined everything; she was supposed to be predictable. Now there was a bodyguard
and
an attack dog. Who in the fuck was this Parker Mapes? What was next? Would the student start packing heat?

Rage flowed through Claudia’s veins. She wanted to kill the student, but it had to be Dennis who killed Parker. Would Dennis fall for the switch again?

Goddammit!

It took all of her control to not run across the street, chop the student’s head off with an ax, and send it to Dennis in a box.

Claudia left Parker and her fucking attack dog and stormed back to her apartment. She paced the room for hours, all the while cursing and crying.

***

Neither Francis nor Parker had many friends. The cousin’s work precluded close friends. He realized at a young age that having acquaintances never worked out for him, either. Francis had enough problems of his own. Powerful men didn’t have friends; they only had people who wanted something from them.

Francis had never married, nor did he ever plan to. He just didn’t like that many people, and to have someone always waiting for him didn’t sit well. No thanks. Most of the time, he hung out by himself, listening to sports. His mother had never owned a TV, so Francis didn’t either. If there wasn’t a game on, he would read the paper or a book—classics mostly. None of his associates knew that about him; actually, no one knew except his cousin, Ida. Every Christmas, she had bought him some special edition of Dickens, or something along those lines.

Parker never worried about people wanting things from her. She had no living family to make demands on her time. There were no invitations to birthday parties, no holiday dinners, no backyard barbeques. After losing everyone close to her, the student blocked out everyone. She only wanted to be left alone. Getting close to people risked being hurt again.

Then she met Ida. It was a chance meeting. Both of them had been caught in a torrential downpour and had ducked into a coffee shop to dry off and warm up. The cashier had mistaken them for a couple and had put both orders on the same ticket. After Ida had paid for her drink, Parker felt obligated to accept the invitation to join her.

Something odd happened. There were no awkward moments. Normally, Parker struggled with idle chitchat and came across as socially awkward—that was one of the reasons she liked living on the East Coast. People didn’t stop to chat. No one had time to talk, and they didn’t care about others. In fact, most would go out of their way to avoid human contact, even eye contact.

This woman was not like that. Ida was personable and easy to talk to. An hour went by, and then another. When the rain stopped, they went to dinner.