Crash & Burn (12 page)

A
LL
RIGHT
.
LET
'
S
figure this out.”

Eleven
A.M.
, the morning raw and gray, Kevin and Wyatt returned to the scene of the accident. The Audi Q5 had finally been removed. It had taken tow ropes, a pulley system and a great deal of swearing on the part of the state police, but they'd gotten the job done.

Now just the tangle of matted bushes, snapped twigs and dislodged boulders remained to show the vehicle's careening path down the ravine. And of course, the tracks embedded in the mud next to the road. This is where Kevin and Wyatt now stood. Looking down to where it had gone, preparing to head back from whence it had come.

“We know Nicky's credit card was used to purchase the bottle of scotch ten miles from here, around ten
P.M.
Wednesday night.”

“True,” Kevin agreed.

“But we have no eyewitness accounts that place her at the store.”

“Clerk claims it was too busy to remember one woman in particular.”

“And their security system turned out to be compromised.”

“When you rerecord over and over again on ancient discs, errors are bound to happen.”

“Meaning we know her or someone affiliated with her got the scotch.”

“E.g., the husband,” Kevin filled in.

“Just don't love that man,” Wyatt said. “Three concussions seems less like accidents and more like a pattern to me. But the
question remains, if the scotch was purchased around ten, then what?”

“He took the bottle home, liquored up his wife,” Kevin offered.

“Once she appears drunk enough . . . which turns out to be a lower threshold than the legal system dictates, but again, given her multiple concussions . . .”

“He probably assumed she was legally intoxicated.”

“He loads her into her car,” Wyatt continued.

“Drives her out to the middle of nowhere.”

“Or maybe to exactly somewhere,” Wyatt corrects. “To a spot with the proper grade of descent, ending in a sharp enough angle to the left, while being isolated enough from passing traffic; he can get out of the car, place his wife in the driver's seat, then bump the gear into neutral and let gravity take over. Not just any stretch of road would do the trick. This would take some scoping out, preplanning.”

He and Kevin had now hoofed it to the top of the hill. From here, the forty-degree grade looked startlingly steep, especially given the yellow caution sign at the bottom, alerting motorists to the upcoming turn. Accidents on this stretch of road on a rainy night probably happened regularly enough. Meaning with just a little extra effort . . .

“I think he'd have to push the car,” Kevin said. “To get the kind of acceleration it would require to fly off the edge . . .”

Wyatt gazed down, conceded his detective's point. “So Thomas positions his wife behind the wheel, puts on her seat belt then
knocks the car into neutral. He'd have to move quick: No doubt the Audi is already starting to roll forward as he slams the door. Then he takes three quick steps back, adds his weight to the forward momentum.”

The two detectives pantomimed the deed. “Could definitely be done,” Kevin said.

“We should try to print the exterior rear of the vehicle,” Wyatt added, studying his open hands, poised instinctively to push.

“Plus the husband's clothes, jacket,” Kevin said. “This time of year, cars aren't very clean, especially in a storm. Might have gotten debris, mud, all over him.”

“How do you know the car will roll down in a straight line?” Wyatt asked. He studied the hill again, the way the road appeared to travel straight at first glance, except, upon further inspection, had a slight bend to the left, let alone a sloping grade to the right for runoff.

“Could try to tie something to the wheel to keep it straight,” Kevin said.

“We didn't recover anything at the scene. Rope, scarf. As our dog handler pointed out, there weren't any personal items in the car at all.”

“Maybe she held it.”

“Nicky?”

Kevin shrugged. “She's half-drunk but the effects are magnified by the head injuries, someone sticks her behind the wheel of the car. Her husband says, hold the wheel . . . It's not like she knows what's going on. I could see her reflexively following orders. Of course, then the road turns and she doesn't.”

“She might take her hands off, hold them in the air.”

According to Nicky's medical records, she hadn't sustained any damage to her thumbs, suggesting she hadn't been holding on to
the steering wheel when the airbag had deployed. Some drivers instinctively gripped tighter, as if that would save them. Others let go, a subconscious free fall. There was probably some Freudian interpretation in there somewhere; Wyatt only knew what he'd seen time and time again in auto accidents; a certain percentage of drivers let go, and a certain percentage of drivers didn't.

“All right,” he picked back up. “It's dark, it's raining, the road's deserted, Nicky's incapacitated with scotch and an already twice-concussed brain. In this scenario, Thomas would have to physically move her from the passenger's seat to the driver's seat.”

Kevin shrugged. “Husband looks to be a strong guy. And his wife isn't that big. Might not be the most graceful maneuver in the world, but I bet he could handle it. My question is, if Thomas Frank wants his wife dead, why fasten her seat belt? Odds are better if it's off.”

“Force of habit? Doesn't want the accident to appear too suspicious?”

“Woman's got a fifth of scotch in the car. A drunk driver without a seat belt? Nothing suspicious there.”

Wyatt shrugged. “I don't know. Clearly the guy isn't a master criminal. I mean, if our theory is correct, this is the third accident he's staged for his wife.”

“Assuming he was behind her first two falls.”

“Assuming he was behind her first two falls,” Wyatt agreed.

“We got a lot of assumptions here.”

“Which is why we're walking through it. To see if some of these assumptions can lead us to some evidence. For example, now we know we should print the rear bumper to see if Thomas Frank's fingerprints or, better yet, palm print is on it. While we're at it, we should examine the seat-belt clasp and gear shift as well.”

“None of which proves anything. A husband's fingerprints in his wife's car.”

“Gives us grounds for a warrant to test his clothes. That might be more interesting.”

“Assuming he hasn't washed them yet.”

Wyatt rolled his eyes. “Every now and then we do get lucky. What are the odds of reconstructing the Glenlivet bottle? Testing for prints on that?”

Kevin gave him a look. “Now who's been watching too much TV?”

“Fine, then. What do you think happened here?”

“How'd he get home?” Kevin asked.

“I don't . . .” Wyatt stopped, drew up short, seeing Kevin's point.

“In this scenario,” his detective continued, “the husband drives his wife out here in the middle of a storm. Then puts her behind the steering wheel and shoves her down the hill. At which point, he does what? Walks thirty miles home in the rain?”

“Or flags down a ride,” Wyatt murmured.

“Which gives us a potential witness. Assuming, of course, a driver is going to stop and pick up a stranger on a dark and stormy night.”

“Someone would,” Wyatt said, because it was New Hampshire and people did still hitchhike. In fact, many of the locals hitchhiked, as good cars were expensive and not everyone had the kind of job where they could afford to buy their own set of wheels.

“But something like that would stand out,” Wyatt continued, musing out loud. “Be a major weakness in the plan. I mean, all we have to do is hold a press conference. Anyone pick up a guy in this area, around this time, on this night? If it was Thomas, how could he explain away being at the site of his own wife's accident? I don't think he'd leave something like that to chance.”

“So maybe he left a car parked nearby,” Kevin said. “His ride home.”

“Where?” Wyatt asked. “Closest gas station is a few miles back,
and even then, same problem. How does he get home after parking that car? One way or another, someone would have to give him a ride from here to his house. Either sometime during the day on Wednesday, or later, during a severe rainstorm.”

“Phone a friend,” Kevin suggested. “Claim to have a flat, need a lift.”

“He says he doesn't have any friends.”

“That's one way to keep us from questioning them.”

Wyatt frowned. “I don't like it,” he said bluntly. “As accidents go, staged or otherwise, this leaves too much to chance. What if the Audi veers off the road before it gathers enough speed? Why put on the seat belt if the whole point is to kill the wife? And what does the suspect do, after pushing his own ride down the hill? Walk home in the pouring rain?”

“He would have to have access to another vehicle,” Kevin agreed. “An accomplice.”

“Which brings us to an important question: Why would a controlling husband suddenly seek to harm his wife?”

“She met someone new, was threatening to leave him.”

“Or . . . ,” Wyatt prodded.

Kevin got it. “
He
met someone. Wanted to leave his wife, but not halve his assets.”

“Meaning maybe we're not looking for a male friend. We're looking for a woman. Who could've parked somewhere on the top of the hill. Headlights out, no one would notice the vehicle—and wait for her lover boy to get the job done.”

Neither of the detectives commented on what kind of woman would do that for a man; frankly they'd seen it too many times before.

“We should return to the gas station,” Wyatt said after another moment. “Pull their video footage from the last week. Study it for
any vehicles that pass by multiple times in a short span of time. Say, because they're scoping out the road—”

“Or it's part of their regular commute.”

“Which will be easy enough to rule out during the follow-up interviews. We can also revisit the night in question. See if anyone was hanging out between four and six
A.M.
Particularly a female, in a nondescript sedan, waiting for a call from her lover.”

Kevin nodded. Not a fun plan; reviewing hours of grainy security video was much more difficult than a person might think. But it was a doable plan, and frankly, they needed traction.

“Still think the husband did it,” Kevin said as they climbed back into their vehicle. “But I don't think we'll find him on tape. Guy's a pretty cool customer. Feels like the push down the basement stairs, the shove out the front door, were warm-up acts. Now he's getting serious about things.”

“Then she shouldn't have been wearing a seat belt,” Wyatt muttered.

Kevin didn't answer. They drove in silence to the gas station, got back to work.

I
FLOAT
ALONE
in the darkness. Shades drawn. Yellow quilt pulled up high. Door of the bedroom shut tight. I think my head is on fire, but as long as I keep my eyes closed, I can manage the pain. I like the darkness. It is cool, comforting.

I finger the quilt and think again of the woman who made it. I miss her, have always missed her. Funny, because you'd think the passing of years would make it easier, dull the ache. But if anything, I feel her absence more acutely now.

I don't like to dwell on it, so I call up Vero instead.

Snapshots. Three years old. Six years old. Ten, twelve, fourteen. They blur through my mind, refusing to focus. When I try to slow the parade, I get only her skeleton, asking,
“Why me, why me, why me?”

A noise. Footsteps, moving downstairs. Thomas, I think, prowling the house. I wonder what he's been doing since the police left. Tending to household chores, cleaning up evidence? The police questions bother me. Just how likely is it for one woman to suffer three accidents in only six months? A woman without family or friends. A woman who, by all appearances, is solely dependent upon her husband. Though he tells me that's my fault, my rules of engagement.

Is it? I honestly don't know. Something about it sounds right, but why would I insist on such a thing? And what kind of man would truly leave everything, do anything, for a girl he's barely met?

I feel there's more here I should know, except the harder I try, the
more the details slip away. I don't find my memories welcoming. They don't invite me closer. Instead, they whisper restlessly,
Beware, beware, beware.

I understand that muscle memory is easier for me. Rote actions, things I do, versus things I think. By those terms, shouldn't I be able to recall putting on a coat, grabbing car keys, before my late-night drive? Or what about climbing into the car or backing out of the driveway? I try, but my mind remains blank. I see only darkness, nothing else.

Which makes me think the police might be right—I'd already been drinking that night.

I consider scotch. Eighteen-year-old Glenlivet. Best of the best. I picture a crystal tumbler filled with liquid gold, feel the smooth taste warming my tongue. On cue, saliva glands water. There's no doubt about it; I could use a drink.

Then something comes to me. An old memory.

Do you know the best place for a wife to hide something from her husband? Not her jewelry box; too obvious. Certainly not under the shared marital mattress. Or in a medicine cabinet, or in a cookie jar or stashed behind the turkey in the freezer.

No, there's one place no self-respecting husband would ever search: his wife's box of tampons, tucked beneath the bathroom sink.

More footsteps below. In my mind's eye, I can follow Thomas's progress to the rear of the house. A faint screech. The back door opening. A slight bang; back door falling shut. He's left the house, headed toward his work shed. I know this without thinking.

The temptation is immediate and overwhelming.

I push back the butter-yellow quilt, rise to standing. Then—there's no other word for it—I sneak across the hall to the guest bath.

A single sink, undermounted in earth-tone granite, topping a
hickory cabinet. Next to it is the toilet, then to the far right the bathtub. My bathroom. I used it to shower without thinking first thing this morning. Moving on memory again; reach for the plate, don't stop to think where the plate is. And sure enough, the top drawer had held my toothbrush, hairbrush, a quilted paisley bag filled with makeup.

Now I open the lower cabinet to discover a collection of bathroom cleaners, a blow dryer and, yes, a box of tampons.

I pull them out. The box rattles slightly; the tinkle of glass. And I know what I'll find inside. As I remove the token six tampons lining the top. As I expose the collection of tiny scotch-filled bottles beneath. It turns out, I have my own hidden collection of nip-size Glenlivet.

The police have it wrong; my husband didn't have to liquor me up Wednesday night, then pour me into my vehicle.

Apparently, I'm already that kind of drinker.

I'm already that kind of wife.

Now I consider the tiny bottles. Six in total. Enough for a bad afternoon or stressful night. I wonder, is it Thomas who drives me to drink? Is it Vero? Or am I my own worst enemy?

There is no muscle memory to call upon for these answers. Only a feeling that if I was smart enough to know why I did what I did, then I'd be smart enough not to do it.

I place the tampons back in the box. I place the box back in the cabinet. I don't destroy the bottles or empty out the alcohol. I'm not that strong. But a new thought has come to me, and it's compelling enough to allow me to walk away.

I know where a wife hides things from her husband. But where does a husband hide his secrets from his wife?

Now, while Thomas is in the work shed. I have to search. It's desperately important.

I creep back into the hall, ears attuned for any sound from downstairs. But the house is settled, silent. I am alone. For now.

I start in the master bedroom, with its massive four-poster bed and oversize dark-wood furniture. His domain, not mine, and when hiding secrets, the first instinct is always to keep them close. I smooth a hand under the pile of pillows, then beneath the edge of the heavy, king-size mattress. I check under the bed but find nothing but dust bunnies, dirty carpet.

Next I hit the nightstand. I can tell which side of the bed belongs to Thomas, as it's more rumpled, and sure enough the nightstand yields a pair of reading glasses, a small roll of antacids, and a collection of magazines:
Guns & Ammo, Entertainment Weekly, National Geographic.
To judge by the diversity, my husband is a regular Renaissance man.

But there is nothing sinister here; at least not his own collection of alcohol.

The bureau boasts a reading lamp, a framed picture of the two of us, and a leather box containing a vintage watch, thick gold chain and simple gold band. His wedding ring, I know without thinking. He doesn't wear it anymore because his job involves tools. But he'd wanted a ring so I'd walked to the neighborhood pawnshop, picking out the cheapest band, which was already the most two poor kids could afford. He'd smiled when I slid it onto his finger. No, he'd beamed, his entire face lighting up.

Now I am yours,
he'd said, and I remember my heart pounding in my chest, instinctively scared by that level of responsibility.

The ring has an inscription inside, a date: October 3, 1993. We'd been together barely a month. What were we thinking? From first date to forever in four weeks or less?

And did the fact that we were still together twenty-two years later mean we were a success? Or that simply after so many years, we didn't know any better? Couldn't dream any bigger?

It occurs to me that given the dates, I have been with this one man for more than half of my life.

As I search his bedroom for signs of deception.

The dresser yields nothing, so I move on to the walk-in closet, pausing from time to time to listen for footsteps. But the house remains still. Thomas's job requires concentration, a focused unit of time to create an item from beginning to end. Maybe he'll be out there the rest of the day, or even into the evening. He works a lot, I know without thinking. I spend much of my time alone. But it's never bothered me. I prefer it that way.

The walk-in closet is surprisingly large and features a fancy organization system. Also cherrywood, with shelves and racks and built-in drawers, like something you'd see in a home magazine. Thomas installed it. One of his weekend-warrior projects. He did it to make me happy.

Because at least in the beginning, I'd lived in this room, too.

Sure enough, some of the clothes in the closet are mine. Dresses, nice slacks, fancier shirts. Not my everyday wardrobe; that I discovered in the guest room closet. But the overflow, clothes I don't need to access regularly, has remained here. A sign we were working things out? Or I was just too lazy to move all of my belongings?

Thomas has rows of cargo pants, stacks of well-worn jeans, an impressive collection of long-sleeved flannel shirts. An overwhelmingly casual assortment of clothes, as befitting a man who spends his day in a work shed. I find three suits, one gray, one black, one navy blue. For funerals and weddings, I think, except if we have no friends, no families, what are we ever invited to?

I start with the drawers, searching each one. I discover socks, underwear, workout clothes, T-shirts, pajamas, pants and nothing else. Next I work my way through the small pile of shoes, mostly sneakers, hiking boots, the obligatory dress shoes, one in black, one in high-gloss brown, to go with the suits.

I try to think of the male equivalent of tampons, but I come up empty. Yet I don't stop looking. He has secrets. I know it. Because twenty-two years later, those secrets have started catching up with us. Even before we moved here. Even before my “accidents.” Things have been strained between us.

Then, patting down the dark-gray suit jacket, I feel it. Something thin and flat in the lapel. I stop, search more slowly. Then pull an old, tattered envelope from the inside jacket pocket.

Just as I hear the creak of a board on the stairs.

I freeze, feeling like the proverbial kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar. There is no place for me to run. If he's already up the stairs, he has a clear view of the doorway, would spot me the moment I exit his bedroom. There's only one thing to do, then.

I don't leave the room. Instead, I jam the envelope into the back waistband of my yoga pants. Then I limp hastily across the room, breathing already ragged, and throw myself faceup onto the bed.

A second later, Thomas's voice comes from the hall. “Nicky? Nicky? You all right?”

I don't answer. Don't trust myself to speak without sounding guilty or flustered. But a moment later, I don't have to. Thomas looms in the doorway, his gaze finding me lying coffin straight on my side of the bed.

He doesn't say anything right away. Just makes his approach, eyes upon my face.

“I'm testing it out,” I offer.

“And?”

“It feels familiar.”

“It should. You used to sleep there.” He doesn't come directly to me, but instead loops around the bed. I feel a faint pressure on the mattress as he takes his position. In contrast to my rigidity, he tucks his hands behind his head, crosses his legs at his ankles. I turn my head to study him. It's his bed, his room; he looks as if he belongs here.

“Why did I move out?”

He rolls onto his side.

“Come here,” he says.

I don't immediately move.

“More testing,” he says, and gestures to the space beside him. I know what he wants; I just can't do it. Then I don't have to. He comes to me, closing the space between us. Until the heat of his body is pressed next to mine. I can smell sawdust, sweat, the residual soap from his morning shower. I hold my breath, not sure what to expect, not sure what I want to happen next.

He reaches out and feathers back my long hair. The pad of his thumb is rough. I feel it trace gently around the first line of stitches, then the second, the third. I flinch, but not because he's hurting me.

“Do you wonder if we have sex?” he asks. “Two decades later, does our marriage still involve intimacy?”

I can't speak. I'm too aware of him, touch, sound, smell. I understand immediately, instinctively, that none of this is new or unfamiliar. I like his touch. Crave it, even. The feel of his body over mine. The intense look on his face as he first thrusts into me. The sound of his heart, pounding wildly in my ear.

“You still want me,” he continues. “I still want you. Sometimes, I think it's the only way we still connect. In here, lights out, we find each other again. And I know you need me, want me, love me, even if you remain too quiet the rest of the day.”

“Why did I move out?” I whisper. His fingers are still dancing
across my face, working the edge of my hairline. Is he trying to distract me? Do I care?

“You have night terrors. Always have. But lately, after your fall down the basement steps, they've become worse. You wake up screaming, nearly out of your mind, sweat pouring down your face. If I try to touch you in any way, reach out, offer a soothing hand, you get worse.”

“I hit you.”

“Sometimes.”

“I smashed your head with a lamp.”

“That hurt.”

“Then I cried. Because I didn't mean it, I really didn't, and you had blood pouring down your face.”

“You thought it was best if you slept alone.”

“So I couldn't hurt you.”

“You think leaving our bed didn't hurt me?”

My gaze falls. I can't look at him and the vulnerability on his face. I find myself touching his chest, my palm flat, my fingers splayed. I can feel his heartbeat. It's surprisingly steady, given how fast I know my own is racing.

“Do you love me?” I hear myself ask.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

He smiles; I can feel the movement of his lips against my hair. I inhale again, the scent of his skin.

“In the beginning,” he murmurs, “you were so sad. It was like a tangible presence, all around you. And I thought . . . I wanted to see you smile for real. I wanted to be the man who made you happy.”

“Is that love?” I asked him. “Or is that a hero complex?”

“I don't know anymore,” he tells me, and I know he's being honest. “Maybe it's something in between. But when I finally did get you to smile, it all seemed worth it. And I just wanted to do it again
and again. I figure there are worse ways to spend a life than making the woman I love happy.”

“But I'm not happy.”

“You were. At least, in the beginning. When we first left New Orleans, we went to Austin. You loved the warm weather, the great music, the dogs frolicking in Zilker Park. But then you got restless. More bad days, fewer good days, so we tried San Francisco. Then Phoenix. And Boulder, and Seattle, and Portland, and Chicago, and Knoxville and Raleigh and Fort Lauderdale and, and, and . . . You would be happy. Then you would be sad. So we would move again. Because to this day, all I want is to make you smile.”