Letter to Belinda (22 page)

No she didn’t.

Did she even look into the bag left on the porch, to see if it was just veggies, before throwing it back into the freezer?

No she didn’t. In fact, she remembered thinking to herself at the time,
that
bag
was
a
little
heavy
for
veggies!
But did she take the time to look and see what was really in the bag?

No, she didn’t! She was in a hurry to get to Marietta, Georgia, to see about her girls! No one was messing with her. She just got in a hurry, and made a stupid mistake! She slammed the freezer door shut, and put her head down on it.
How
could
I
be
so
stupid?
She banged her head on the thin metal lid.
Stupid!
Stupid!
Stupid!
Why
didn’t
I
check
to
be
sure
all
the
body
parts
were
in
the
hole?
Stupid!
Stupid!
I
let
that
phone
call
from
Fay
get
me
upset,
and
I
made
a
major
mistake!
Stupid!
Stupid!
Now
what
am
I
going
to
do?
I’ll
have
to
dispose
of
the
head
in
a
different
place!
She wished Travis was there to give her a little advice. But wasn’t that just like him, to never be around when she really needed him!
He’s
gone
cavorting
off
to
England,
to
promote
his
silly
book,
while
I’m
left
with
a
real
crisis
here!
She took a deep breath and walked out on her deck.

No, she couldn’t blame this on him. It was all her fault. It was her fault for getting involved with a married man,
again!
And this time, with a Federal Judge, no less! It was her fault for giving the old man a Viagra, after he had had too much to drink. It was her fault for letting him hand-cuff her to the headboard. It was her fault for involving Travis. It was her fault for not calling the police right from the start, and taking the responsibility, and embarrassment for the situation. It would have been hushed up, because Leon Rosewood was a well respected Pillar of the Community, and a powerful judge, and he had a lot of powerful friends in various places. Those powerful people would make sure that a revelation this embarrassing would never make the news. It would have been reported that he died of a heart attack in his home, and that would be that! There would be no mention of her, or any of the details. Even the Judge’s wife would probably never know the whole truth. True, Miranda’s ex-husband would probably hear about it, but would he jeopardize his career as a deputy by leaking this sordid affair to the media? Not on his life! He knew what side his bread was buttered on! The only reason she didn’t do as Travis suggested, and just call the police, was because she wanted to protect her petty little reputation, as though she were some big celebrity or something! Who in the world even cared about who she was, or who she was sleeping with? Yes, she would be embarrassed, but then it would have been over, because all those people in high places would want to sweep it under the rug as discretely as possible.

But now, because of her
stupidity
the whole complexion of things had changed, just like Travis had tried to tell her it would. With the Judge
missing
, it would become a whole different story. She could see it all taking place. There will be a nationwide search for the Judge, and it will, of course, be sensationalized by the media. There will be wild speculation that perhaps he was kidnapped, or that he was murdered as payback for one of his rulings in the past. The FBI will be called in to use their most sophisticated techniques to follow every shred of evidence. Since she is his closest neighbor, she will be intensely interrogated. And so will Lennie Kellerman, the retarded man who is the neighborhood’s All Seeing Eye! Most likely, Lennie will inadvertently give the Feds all the tidbits of information they need to look back to her. And under such intense scrutiny, she was sure she would crack, and confess to mutilating and disposing of the body. But that’s not all. With the body destroyed, how could she then prove that she didn’t
murder
the Judge? She probably couldn’t. The entire civilized world would not only hear about the case, but her name would be used as the Jezebel who seduced the good Judge, then murdered him, mutilated him, and disposed of his body!

What a mess she had made!
Stupid,
stupid,
stupid!
Why
do
I
always
make
the
wrong
decisions?
Here she was, set for life, having won the Georgia Lottery, and there was no reason to think anything would go wrong the rest of her life. And then, in less than a year, she had screwed it all up, by doing this! Her daughters would most likely inherit her fortune, because she was probably going to jail.

Or maybe not. She hadn’t been caught yet! She could still dispose of these parts, and everything still work out all right. But where would she put them? She still had plenty of time, because no one even suspected that the Judge was gone yet. That was the good thing about it. She still had time to put things in order.

She returned to the freezer and dumped out the contents of the garbage bag. Then she picked up the frozen head and penis, and put them back into the bag by themselves. As she was tying a knot in the bag, the thought came to mind, that whoever said that ‘two heads were better than one’, had never found themselves in this predicament, with two heads in a bag, in their freezer. She almost laughed at her little pun, though there was certainly nothing funny about it.

Now, what to do with them? There had to be at least a million ways to dispose of them, and she wanted to do it as soon as possible, but for now, she had to play it cool. There was plenty of time, so why not think about it awhile? She left the bag in the freezer, covered with bags of veggies, until the right method came to her.

16
 

A
t 5:30 Sunday evening, Drew and Lois got back to the hotel from their bus tour of London, to find Travis sleeping like a rock, and the alarm clock doing its best to wake him, but not succeeding.

“Oh my gosh! He’s going to be late for that meeting with his publisher! Wake him up, Drew! Shake him!”

“Hey Dad! Wake up!”

“Mruf! What?”

“Get up, Travis! You’re going to be late!”

“What time is it?”

“Five thirty-three!”

Travis jumped up and looked at the alarm clock. “Stupid Alarm clock! It’s been sounding off for thirty minutes, and I couldn’t hear it!”

“Are you late?”

“Not yet, but I have to hustle.” He jumped into his pants, and slipped on his shirt.

“Are you taking your new manuscript with you? They might want to see it too!”

“Yes, Mom, I am planning to take it too. Drew, get it out of my suitcase, while I go to the bathroom. I was planning to take a shower, but I don’t have time.”

Lois sounded just like his mother, when she gave him the direct order. “Go ahead and take a quick one! First impressions are important! If you are a minute late, so what! You don’t want to be stinking up the place! You’re not just representing yourself, you are representing Alabama! What time are they picking you up?”

“Six, in front of the hotel.”

“You’ve got plenty of time! Take a shower!”

There was no arguing with her, so he took a shower, and put on fresh clothes.

“You’re not wearing
that
, are you?”

“What’s wrong with this?”

“Not formal enough! You want to at least
look
business-like, even if you’re not! You look just like a yahoo from Alabama!”

“I can’t do much about that! I didn’t even bring a suit and tie, Mom!”

“Well, you should have!”

“This is just an informal ‘hello’ dinner, to get to know each other. They understand I just got off an international flight! A shirt and pants will do just fine!”

“Okay, it’s your career!”

Drew just grinned at him, as he put on his deodorant, and buttoned his shirt. He’d never heard his Dad being talked to like a kid before, but he knew better than to say anything. At five minutes till six, Travis picked up the bag with his new manuscript, and headed out. Drew and Lois left too, to eat dinner downstairs, with the rest of the group.

Travis felt like a kid waiting on the school bus, as he stopped on the curb. He had no idea who was supposed to pick him up. He had been there less than a minute, when a black taxi pulled up, and the driver asked, “Perchance, are you Travis Lee?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Then I am here to pick you up for your dinner engagement! Hop in, sir, and we will be on our way!”

As he closed the back door, the driver asked, “You’re first time in London, Sir?”

“Yes, it is. Very nice city, and country.”

“We like it, Sir. Your destination is relatively close by, so this will be a short ride.” They went about six blocks down the same main street that his hotel was on, and pulled to the curb in front of a very nice restaurant.

“How much do I owe you?”

“Nothing, Sir. Jester Books has already paid me, even the tip!”

“Then thanks for the ride.”

Travis couldn’t help thinking that Jester Books must be a lot bigger publisher than he thought they were, to invite him to dinner at a place like this. Or perhaps they were just trying to make a good first impression on England’s #1 best-selling author. He wished he
had
dressed a little nicer, especially when he saw that the way the waiter was dressed. It made him look a little shabby, by comparison.

“My name is Travis Lee.”

“Yes, Mr. Lee, we were expecting you! Right this way! The executive dining area is on the third floor.” He led Travis to an escalator which went up to the second floor, then on to a second escalator that took him even higher, to a floor that looked like a giant greenhouse. It was a virtual jungle of tropical trees, plants and vines along the way to a secluded table with a bay window that overlooked the busy street below. Seated there already, was a very gorgeous lady in a red dress, with flaming red hair. She appeared to be in her mid 30’s. She stood up as he approached, revealing a tantalizing body as well.

“Ah yes! Travis Lee, I presume? Writer extraordinaire!”

“Yes Ma’am! Travis Lee, but I don’t know about the ‘writer extraordinaire’ part!”

She extended him a handshake that was rather firm for a lady. “I am Angelina Bagley, coordinator of Author Affairs at Jester Books. Please be seated! And yes, extraordinary is exactly how I would describe a writer who has captured the British Best-seller’s #1 spot!”

“So, Aaron Bagley is your Dad?”

“Yes, but I assure you, that I have
earned
my position here!”
(Ouch!
Travis
detected
a
twinge
of
resentment
in
her
retort,
though
he
had
intended
no
insinuation
that
she
had
not
earned
it.)
“My father founded this company the year I was born!”

“Wow, so Jester Books has been around for quite awhile!”
(Ouch!
Strike
two.
He
could
see
that
she
had
to
force
a
smile
at
his
subtle
insult
at
her
age.)

The waiter interrupted, and salvaged this quickly sinking ship. “Miss Bagley, would you and your guest like drinks before dinner?”

“Yes, we certainly would! I can use a drink! What will you have, Mr. Lee?”
(He
almost
said
‘nothing
for
me’,
which
would
have
further
implied
that
she
was
a
drunk,
and
that
would
have
been
a
quick
strike
three,
so
he
decided
to
order
a
drink.)

“I’ll have a Scotch, straight, two fingers.”

“And for you, Miss Bagley?”

“My usual martini.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

As he left to get their drinks, she leaned over the table toward Travis, as though she had a secret to tell him. In a low voice, and a serious tone, she said, “I have read ‘The Relic’ from cover to cover, and I even went back and re-read a few chapters, which is something that I
never
do, and I want you to know that I think you are a masterful writer!”