Mixed Messages (A Malone Mystery) (2 page)

Tears formed in the corners of her eyes and she wiped them away with the back of her hand.
She looked
out at the yard
and
saw that
more
leaves had
already
fallen where
she’d
just finished raking. No matter how hard I work, I can’t seem to get ahead, she thought. Like my marriage. No matter how hard I try, things keep getting worse. The scarlet, orange and golden leaves shimmering in the sunlight reminded her of the poem, “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” by Robert Frost. Maybe that’s true, she thought. Maybe those days are gone and I’ll just have to accept it.

She glanced down at her wristwatch and realized that her children would be home from school soon. She rose slowly from the chair and turned to go into the house.

As she opened the front door and stepped inside, she let out a small gasp as she nearly collided with the neighborhood handyman.

“Oh, excuse me, Mrs. Kern,” he said, backing away from her and looking down at the
floor. “Didn’t hear you comin’ in.”

She smiled up at him. “No problem, Charlie. You just startled me.” She pointed to the toolbox he was carrying. “What’s Olivia got you fixing this time?”

“This and that. You know how Mrs. Berger is; she likes everything kept in good workin’ order. There’s always somethin’ needs fixin’ in this old house,” he said, running a bony hand through his sparse graying hair.

“I’m sure that’s true. Well, as much as I hate to, I’d better get inside. It sure is a beautiful
day though.”

“Praise be to God,” he said as he turned and went out the door.

Ann went into her apartment. Charlie is nice enough, she thought, but there’s something about him
… .
As she walked through the living room, she stooped down to pick up a few of her son’s Hotwheels that he’d left scattered on the floor. “One of these days, someone is going to break their neck on one of these,” she mumbled as she went into the kitchen. She set the cars down on the long oak table that took up only a small portion of the large eat-in kitchen and sighed. She walked over to the sink and turned the radio back on.

Chapter 3

BY THE TIME THE KIDS GOT HOME
, Ann was feeling better. She smiled as they charged
through the back door and tossed their backpacks on the kitchen table.

“So, how was your day?” she asked them.

“Fine. Fine,” their voices echoed as they raced through the kitchen and down the hallway to their bedrooms.

“Change your clothes,” Ann hollered after them. She picked up the two backpacks and hung them on the pegged shelf near the door. She hummed a few bars of “The Monster Mash” as she poured milk into two glasses and arranged cookies on a large plate, carrying two smaller plates to the table.

Within five minutes, the kids came back, wearing old jeans and sweatshirts. They sat down at the table and began munching on homemade chocolate chip cookies.

Ann stood back, watching her children. Eight-year-old Danielle had her dark brown hair
and brown eyes while six-year-old Davey looked just like the pictures of his father at that age,
with his pale yellow hair and blue eyes. I love them both so much, she thought, but they’re
opposites in every way. Just like David and me.

“
Oh, Mom, I almost forgot,” Danielle said, as she pushed back her chair and walked over
to the kitchen door. She yanked her backpack down from the hook and unzipped the top compartment, all in one motion. She reached in and pulled out a stack of papers. “Can you read
my report? It’s not due till Friday but I want you to check it for mistakes.”

“Sure. Just
put
it on the counter,” Ann replied. “I’ll read it later.”

“I need you to sign my permission slip too,” Danielle said. “We have to turn them in tomorrow.”

“What’s it for?”

“Our class is going on a field trip next week, on Monday.”

Ann read the details on the slip of paper her daughter handed her. “It says here that you’ll need a packed lunch and five dollars for miscellaneous.”

“Yeah. We’re doing a leaf project. Mrs. Cobb wants us to start collecting some now. I have another paper here somewhere,” she said, rummaging through her backpack and pulling out books, papers and markers in the process. She set them all neatly on the table, finally locating what she was looking for. “This tells how to keep the leaves from getting all dry and yucky. We have to put labels on ‘em and iron ‘em and everything.”

“We’ll work on it this weekend,” Ann said.

“Mrs. Cobb said we’re going on our field trip late this year and she hopes there are still enough leaves for us to be able to identify them.”

Ann laughed. “I can help you with that. I’ve got five bags of leaves out front you can have.”

“Oh, Mom!” Danielle said, rolling her eyes. “They have to be
on
the trees.”

Ann read the instructions. “Looks simple enough. I did this when I was in school. I
remember I had a crush on my sixth grade teacher. Mr. Tarvin had the nicest smile and
… .
”

“Davey! Stop it!” Danielle screamed. “Those are mine!”

Ann watched as Danielle grabbed a red marker from her little brother’s hand and quickly
gathered up the rest of her markers and removed them from the table.

“Look what he did, Mom!”

“Davey, you get in the bathroom right now and wash that off of your arm! You know better than that!” Ann scolded him. “And Dani, you’d better go start your homework. Here,” she said, picking up Danielle’s report from the counter and handing it to her, “please put this on the coffee table so I don’t forget to read it.”

* * * *

An hour later, just as Ann finished setting the table, David walked in the back door. He strolled over to Ann and put his arms around her waist, pulling her toward him.

“Dinner smells good and so do you,” he said, nuzzling the back of her neck. “What are we having?”

“Pork chops, rice and baby limas with applesauce for desert,” she replied.

“Sounds good but I’d rather have some of you,” he said, gently grasping her shoulders
and turning her around to face him. He ran his fingers down her cheek, then tilted her chin up toward him. He put one arm around her, holding her closely against him, and kissed her passionately. He caressed her neck and shoulder, slowly moving his hand down her arm and resting it on her breast, stroking it softly. He brushed a strand of hair out
o
f her eyes and
murmured, “Couldn’t we postpone dinner?”

“David! The kids
!
”

“Come on, Ann, a quickie? You know you want to.”

She kissed him lightly on the cheek.
“We can’t do this now.
It’s time to eat.
Will you please call the kids?”

“Fine. Don’t say I didn’t try,” he said, backing away from her and sitting down at the table. “Dani! Davey! Dinner time!” he yelled.

She giggled. “Thanks. I could’ve done that.”

When dinner was on the table and everyone else was seated, Ann sat down to eat.

“Mommy, I hate lima beans!” Davey whined.

“Just eat a few,” Ann told him, “they’re good for you.”

Davey puckered up his face, held his nose and, with obvious distaste, picked up his fork
and speared one small lima bean, popping it into his mouth. “Yuk!”

“Mom, did you tell Daddy about my field trip?” Danielle asked.

“No. Not yet. Why don’t you tell him?”

Davey started kicking one of the table legs. The constant, repetitive thunks shook the
whole table, rattling the dishes and glasses.

“Cut that out!” David ordered.

“Daddy, our class is going to Mt. Airy Forest next Monday and we’re gonna see all the trees with their leaves changing,” Danielle said.

“Well, that should be fun,” David said, scooping up a forkful of rice mixed with baby
limas.

Ann cleared her throat.
“That reminds me,”
she
said. “Do
… do
you have five dollars? She needs money for the field
trip and I’m flat broke.”

David shot her a look. Then he turned to Danielle and smiled.
“Not a problem
.
”
He
pull
ed
his wallet out and plac
ed
a five dollar bill on the table in front of Danielle. “Have a good time, Honey.”

“Thanks, Daddy.”

* * * *

After dinner, Ann cleared the table while Danielle began washing dishes. David went into the bedroom to get ready to go back out to work. Ann sat down on the sofa in the living room,
with Davey snuggled up against her, and began reading to him from one of his Halloween
storybooks.

“Where’s my blue tie with the stripes?” David asked, peering around the corner from the hallway.

Ann looked up from the book. “The last time I saw it, it was on the chair by the bed.”

David marched down the hallway, mumbling to himself, “Can’t find anything around
here. In my mother’s house
… .
”

Ann sighed and went back to reading aloud the story about a little pumpkin that was
lonely in a patch of other pumpkins. A few minutes later, she heard the back door slam.

“Mommy, where’s Daddy going?” Davey asked.

“To work,” she said. “He’ll be back later.”

“Why does Daddy have to work at night? Nobody else’s Daddy does.”

“Davey, I’m sure lots of other dads work in the evening. Daddy sells insurance and he has to meet with people when they’re home from work. You know that, you silly boy,” she said,
tousling his blonde hair.

Davey giggled and turned the page and, for the next hour, Ann read to him. Danielle
finished the dishes and brought out her newest Nancy Drew mystery to read. Davey sat perfectly
still the whole time Ann read, listening intently. It amazed her that he could be so calm sometimes while most of the time he was the exact opposite. If I asked him to read to me right
now, she thought, he’d squirm and fidget in his seat.

At eight-thirty, Ann told the kids it was time to get ready for bed. After she’d tucked them in and kissed them goodnight, she put on her comfortable flannel pajamas and got into bed.

She picked up
Charley’s Web
by Joy Fielding, one of her favorite authors, from the middle shelf of her night table. Now I get to read
my
book, she thought, as she settled back against her pillows. She was about halfway through the book. Usually, once she started to read, she became so engrossed in the story that all worries and concerns disappeared but, tonight, she couldn’t concentrate. She read a few sentences and then had to read them again because her mind had wandered. Annoyed, she stuck her bookmarker in the book and closed her eyes.

What time will David be home tonight? she wondered. Lately, it wasn’t unusual for him to come home in the wee hours of the morning. She always pretended to be asleep but, as she lay there, eyes closed tightly, trying to breathe normally, she could hear him, bumping into the furniture, knocking things over and muttering profanities. She knew that he was drinking a lot and she’d begun to worry that he was having an affair.
They hadn’t had sex in a long time.
The only times he acted as if he wanted her were when he was drunk or when he knew they couldn’t. Like tonight before dinner, she thought.

I wish things could go back to the way they used to be. We used to talk for hours and he always made me laugh. Now, those times are few and far between. What happened to the David I used to know? she wondered. She set the book on her nightstand and reached up to turn out the lamp.

She heard a noise in the hallway. Is one of the kids up? she wondered. She sat still, cocking her head toward the door. A few seconds passed. She grabbed her bathrobe from the bottom of the bed. The voice of the newscaster on the radio popped into her head. “Another woman was found strangled … .”

She shivered as she quickly donned her robe. As she headed
for the hallway, a terrible thought occurred to her. Oh, my God! Did I remember to lock the back door?

Chapter 4

Tuesday, October 28th

ANN HADN’T SLEPT WELL
. The noise that frightened her the night before turned out to be nothing, but it got her adrenalin pumping; she’d tossed and turned for hours. Today, she was especially glad that she’d arranged to have Nancy, a sixth-grader who lived two houses away, walk the kids to and from school every day.

She began her morning routine. She went through the apartment, straightening up. She picked up the toys that Davey had left scattered all around, carried them into his bedroom and tossed them in the toy box. Then, she made the kids’ beds and washed the breakfast dishes. She wanted to vacuum but knew that would have to wait. As he often did, David had gone back to bed as soon as the kids were out the door. There was no way she wan
t
ed to be blamed for waking him before he was ready to get up. That would give him another reason to start an argument and they had more than their share of those already.