Mayhem Takes a Dare: The Second Marisa Adair Mystery Adventure (Marisa Adair Mysteries Book 2) (21 page)

Marisa reflected that when Jake the Snake killed them both, it would make a great jazz song. Or a wonderful country and western song.

* * * * *

Alex’s hands were steady on the wheel. “What’s the difference between Cindy and William?”

Jake the Snake will kill us. Well, first he’ll disembowel us. Maybe use hot tongs on our
— “What, Alex?”

“I heard Cindy talking about her affair with the fourteen-year-old boy and being registered as a sex offender. You and Cindy are obviously on very friendly terms. You didn’t threaten to kill her.”

Marisa rubbed her forehead. “What are you getting at?”

“Both Cindy and William have preyed on children. Why do you feel differently about one than the other?” Alex glanced over at her, then back at the road.

Marisa frowned, trying to clear her mind of the vision of Jake the Snake tying them to the wall, spread-eagled, and burning them with the cigarette that always hung from his mouth. “It’s just different.”

“Different how, Marisa?”

Marisa opened her mouth, and then closed it. She swallowed. “I started to say little girls don’t have options and you wouldn’t understand. But I’m being hypocritical. It’s not different. Children are children, regardless of gender. I’m sorry I tried to draw a line to differentiate between two crimes that are the same degree of wrong.”

Alex turned his head to meet her eyes. In the fleeting glance, Marisa thought she saw compassion. “Sometimes it’s difficult to see all the facets of an issue. And, Marisa, I understand more than you assume I do.”

Marisa felt tears in her throat, choking her.

His head whipped around. He slammed on the brakes, throwing them both against their seat belts. “Hey, that was our turn! You’re supposed to be the navigator, Marisa! Navigate!” He twisted the wheel and threw the car into a sharp U-turn.

“Jesus, Alex!” The tears retreated to their hiding place. “I think I’m more scared of your driving than Jake the Snake!”

Alex squealed into the turn.

“Jake the Snake is a desperate and dangerous man, Alex. There have been rumors about him at the strip club for years. It was common knowledge he abused Sarah and cheated on her. The other rumors were darker. Some said he was a hired killer for anyone with someone they wanted murdered and enough money to pay him. There was also talk he bought and sold drugs to adults and children.”

Alex glanced around. The trailer park was packed with mobile homes as close together as cars in a parking lot. Most of the miniature yards behind the homes held old cars and trucks jacked up on blocks. Dented washers and dryers filled many of the tiny porches. “It appears crime doesn’t pay very well.”

Marisa squinted, looking for numbers on the trailers. Only about one in five had a number. “By process of elimination, I think that’s it.”

Rusted and dented, the single-wide mobile home sat crookedly on the miniscule lot. In the gap between the trailer’s bottom and the ground, the rotted wheels were visible, along with trash and debris. Patches of bare ground alternated with knee-high weeds to form the yard.

As they walked along the planks that formed a makeshift sidewalk, Alex pointed to a circle, within in which lay several depressed petunias. “What the heck is that?”

Marisa smiled slightly. “It’s an old tractor tire, minus the rim, painted white. It’s a sort of homemade flower bed. Don’t you remember, there were a couple of those in my yard when I was a kid. We found some at the town dump and dragged them back home. I dug up wildflowers from the woods and planted them inside the tires.”

As they climbed the peeling wooden steps in front of the door, the steps lurched to the side. The sudden movement threw Marisa heavily against Alex. They teetered until Alex managed to right them both.

Alex knocked hard on the dented door. Rust flew. He inspected his knuckles. “I may need a tetanus shot after this.”

The door creaked slightly open.

Alex and Marisa looked at each other.

“I have a really bad feeling about this, Alex.”

Alex pulled the door open.

The smell of rotting food and garbage took their breath and made them both cough. Clothes, trash bags, papers, and magazines were strewn everywhere. The table in the miniature kitchen was covered with plates of partially eaten food. The sink was piled high with uneven towers of dirty dishes.

Marisa turned to the living room.

When she saw a pair of shoes, she didn’t think anything was strange. Then she noticed the shoes were attached to legs. Marisa gasped, “Oh, my God!”

Jake the Snake was never going to get a chance to try for a spread in
Better Homes and Gardens
. He was sprawled on the couch among the clothes and papers. The right side of his head was a mangled mass of blasted meat and shiny wet blood. His one remaining eye was half open. The fingers of his right hand loosely held a pistol.

Alex turned Marisa away from the body. “It looks like he killed himself.”

Marisa put her hand over her nose. “He was way too fond of his miserable life to ever kill himself.”

“What if he killed Sarah? He felt the police on his trail, and decided to kill himself rather than go to prison.”

Marisa screamed.

Alex pushed her behind him. “What is it?”

Marisa shook him. “Spider! Kill it! Kill it
Now
!”

Alex sagged. “Jesus, Marisa, how can you not scream when you find a dead body, and scream when you see a spider?”

“It’s
huge
!”

“I don’t see anything!”

“My God, it’s the size of your hand! It’s right there on that rifle leaning up against the wall!”

Their eyes met in shock. “Rifle?” they gasped at the same moment.

Alex leaned over the weapon. “I bet Jake the Snake was the sniper. He was trying to kill Sarah at the gym. Then, at the strip club, he succeeded.”

A thump, as if an object had fallen to the floor, came from the back of the trailer.

“What was that?” Marisa listened.

“A cat?” Alex cocked his head.

“I don’t smell cat box. I can’t imagine Jake the Snake keeping a cat box empty and deodorized.”

“Maybe it was the trailer settling,” Alex suggested.

“I think this trailer settled about twenty years ago.” Marisa listened. “I think someone’s here.”

Alex whispered, “You stay here and I’ll check it out. Keep talking like you’re talking to me.”

“I am not staying here with a dead low life sleaze! Not to mention that kitten-sized spider! And what the hell would I say while you check it out?”

Alex threw his hands up in surrender. He quietly tiptoed across the room, following the narrow, meandering path between the piles of clutter.

Marisa followed him so closely through the obstacle course of junk she could smell his soap and feel his body heat. She found herself taking deep breaths of his scent.

Dark paneled walls seemed to absorb what little dim light there was in the narrow hall. A partially open door on the left led to a miniscule bathroom. On the right wall was the back door. At the end of the short hallway, a door was closed.

“He must be in the back bedroom. The door is closed.” Marisa huddled close to Alex as they headed for it. “What if he’s armed?”

Alex paused. “There’s a handgun and rifle in the living room.”

Marisa shrugged. “People in this neck of the woods carry guns like people in our neighborhood tote gadgets like smart phones, notebooks, and laptops.”

Alex walked softly toward the closed door.

Marisa was right behind him as he opened the door.

“Oooommphhhh!” A hard shove in the small of her back pushed her hard into Alex. They fell into the bedroom and landed on the filthy carpet. The trailer shook with pounding footsteps and then door to the outside slammed.

Alex scrambled to his feet. He catapulted out the door.

Marisa leaped to her feet and ran for the door. The peeling wooden steps overturned and threw her to the ground. She scrambled to her feet. She saw Alex disappear around the corner of the trailer. Marisa ran after him.

“Alex! You idiot! You’re going to get your ass killed! And the police will think it’s my fault!”

Marisa cursed her slipping sandals as she struggled to keep Alex in sight as he ran across the vacant field behind the rows of trailers.

She spied a dirt path winding through the tall grass, and she hit it, running full out. Although the path was not in alignment with Alex’s progress, she decided she’d make up the distance in the speed she’d gain on the path rather than the uneven ground and high grass.

She turned her head, trying to keep Alex in her line of sight.

The earth disappeared under her feet.

She hit the ground headlong. The breath was knocked out of her.

When she opened her eyes, her first thought was she was seeing double. Two identical, freckled faces topped by orange hair were directly above her.

“We didn’t catch a tiger. It’s just a dumb girl.” The young voice was thick with disgust.

“Do you think she’s dead?” The second voice was a combination of interest and excitement.

“I’m not dead.” Marisa pulled herself to her feet. “What do you mean, a tiger?”

“Tiger trap.” In tandem, both boys turned and pointed.

The path was marred by a shallow hole. Pulled up weeds and leaves were scattered on it.

Marisa brushed herself off. “I think a tiger trap is supposed to be deeper than that. This hole is only about six inches deep.”

Both boys’ white t-shirts and denim shorts were streaked with dirt. One of the boys shrugged his shoulders. “We dug until we got tired of digging. Then we put the leaves and weeds over the opening to hide it.”

The other boy grinned, showing the gaps of missing teeth. “It might not be very deep, but we managed to catch you!”

The boys laughed so hard, they were bent over double.

Marisa inspected her painfully skinned knees and palms. “I’m glad you two are enjoying this.” A thought occurred to her. “Did you two boys see anybody lurking around here?”

Both boys frowned in puzzlement. “What does lur-king mean?”

One boy brightened. “The King of Lur!”

Marisa kept her face smooth. “Sneaking around, like he didn’t want anyone to see him. Or her.”

The faces cleared. “We were pretty busy digging our tiger trap. Maybe some of the other kids saw something.”

“Marisa!” His face shiny with perspiration and his shirt soaking wet, Alex panted his way over to them. “I thought I was a fast runner, but he got away. I was behind him in the woods, and then I heard a car start up. He parked on the road at the other side of the woods.” Belatedly, he took in her dirty clothes and skinned knees. “What happened to you?”

Both boys jumped up and down. “We caught her in our tiger trap!”

Alex gravely inspected the shallow hole. “Very effective.”

“I asked the boys if they’d seen anything,” Marisa said, “but they were too busy with their trap. They thought the other children may have seen something.”

“What other children?” Alex peered around. The field was empty except for them.

The boys looked at each other, and laughed behind their hands. “We have a special hideout in the jungle. Come with us!” The two boys raced toward the tree line.

“Were you able to get a good look at the killer, Alex?”

He shook his head. “The guy ran like a gazelle. All I could see was the back of him. He was tall and obviously fit. He was wearing navy workout clothes, and he had the hood pulled over his head.”

“Are you sure he was male?”

Alex stopped. “Good point. But I think it was a guy.”

The boys disappeared into the tree line. Marisa and Alex plunged in after them.

The trees were close together. The bushes and small trees were tangled together among the tree trunks, with thorn-covered vines meshing them all together.

“Look!” Alex pointed to a faint path. Just ahead, the boys’ white t-shirts were visible between the trees.

The branches caught at Marisa’s hair, and the thorns scratched her bare legs. She could hear the faint sound of voices.

At a clearing, several children were playing. Marisa paused at the edge of the forest. Alex turned to her, but she motioned him to be still.

Several girls appeared to be arguing over a basketball.

“I had to be the case worker last time. I want the basketball this time.” A girl in a stained oversized t-shirt and shorts thrust out her jaw.

“Let her have the basketball, Jenny.” A girl who appeared to be slightly older than the other girls motioned to the child clutching the basketball to her chest.

“Fine.” Jenny angrily thrust out the ball.

The victor smiled in triumph. She pushed the ball under her shirt. She appeared to have a huge belly. “Now you have to give me food stamps and a check every month.”

The girls were playing pregnant teen and social services caseworker. They were pretending to apply for welfare. Marisa opened her mouth in outrage.