Mystery: Missing Rita: (Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Suspense Thriller Mystery) (14 page)

“So where are we heading?”

“Crime scene,” Lohan answered. “Where Rita Sutter was supposedly murdered.”

Sam felt excitement sear through him and threw Lohan a side glance. He wished he was always this focused on a case and secretly compared him to the previous days.

“What did you get from Rita’s sister?”

“You are going to love this,” Sam answered. “She was lovers with Ryan first.”

“Ryan Sutter? Rita’s husband?”

“Oh, yes.”

“So Rita was a husband snatcher?”

“You could say that,” Sam nodded.

“Don’t you think that makes her an automatic suspect; there is motive enough to investigate her.”

“I think so,” Sam cleared his throat. “But I think there is something else she is after and Rita’s death must have inconvenienced her.”

“Keep an eye on her,” Lohan said and turned all his attention on the road ahead. He looked outside his window and loved how carefree the children were playing on the playground; he envied how their lives were trouble-free and wished his was the same way.

“So did you do it?”

“Do what?” Lohan was interrupted from his daydream.

“Did you sort out your issues with Gina?”

“There was nothing to sort. I actually wish I could have left things to be the way they were,” Lohan answered bitterly.

“Why would you say that?”

“Because things have now escalated from bad to worse,” Lohan vented. “Gina is an evil woman.”

The silence that befell that car thereafter was awkward and Sam wished he had not brought up the topic at all. He wanted to completely change the topic but his gut told him not to.

“How did it get to that?” Sam probed on. “What would you say is the reason for Gina being the way she is today?”

“I cheated on her.”

Sam did not expect Lohan to be bluntly honest with him and this answer sent him into a worry roller coaster. He did not know what to say next and thanked his lucky stars when Lohan went on to explain his story.

“It was a long time ago,” he shrugged it off so easily with his hand and had a nostalgic look on his face. “I had gone for a bachelor party, had too much to drink and slept with one of the strippers.”

“How did she find out?”

“I told her.”

“Why the hell did you do that?” Sam asked with a shocked look on his face. “I have always known you to be smart.”

“I have no idea why I told her, I felt guilty I guess,” he answered. “But she has used that as an excuse to cheat on me with every other man in her act of vengeance.”

“Have you cheated again since?”

“Of course and this time was wise enough not to tell her.”

“Any advice for the single men out there?” Sam asked sarcastically.

“Marriage is a sacred institution. Please get married, it is a thrilling experience,” Lohan answered unexpectedly as he let out a wide grin.

They were now approaching the neighborhood and Lohan got lost in his own world again. He went on to stare at the kids in the neighborhood and let out a slight resigned sigh. Sam knew where the crime was located and he drove towards it slowly. He parked right in front of it and looked at Lohan who was still daydreaming.

“We are here,” he announced.

“Let’s go,” Lohan said and stepped out of the car slowly and walked towards the crime scene. The yellow tape the police had kept around the house was still visible and the place looked deserted.

“We only have about a week more to make this our crime scene before the realtors are on our case,” Lohan said and got under the tape. He walked slowly to the house with Sam right behind him and stopped right at the front porch.

“Sam.”

“Yes.”

“Did we put surveillance in place?” Lohan asked.

“We did, buy only for the night time. Why?”

Lohan lowered his voice and pointed towards the house. He placed a finger on his front lips as a way of asking him to keep mum. He then moved closer to him and whispered to him softly:

“There is someone in there.”

Sam knew the drill he nodded slightly and slowly started heading to the back of the house. He heard Lohan call out from the front of the door and he stood silently waiting for his cue.

“Open the door! Police!” Lohan shouted.

There was no noise coming from the inside and Sam heard Lohan open the door himself. It was not locked due to the fact that it was already a police crime scene. Sam could then hear slight movements coming from inside the house and he instinctively took out his gun. His senses were more alert when he heard someone head for the back door and he stretched his foot to make him trip.

The door swung open and out walked out a hooded man in a hurry. He did not see Sam’s outstretched leg and this act reminded him a lot of the Tom and Jerry cartoon. The man landed on his knees after tripping over Sam’s leg, this was something he had not anticipated. Sam pinned him down on the ground before he could think of his next move. He then moved closer to him and from behind pulled back the hood from his head. He could only see a mass of dirty blonde hair and immediately turned him to the front.

“Dr. Mathews,” Sam exclaimed as soon as he recognized the familiar face.

“Small world, ain’t it?” he answered and let out a wicked grin.

Sam then got him to his feet with one hand pinned on his back and pushed him to the wall. He heard his partner walk out the back door and let out a smile when he saw Sam had caught the culprit.

“Do you know the guy?” he asked as he moved closer to them.

Sam had now cuffed him and was reciting to Dr. Mathews his Miranda rights. He then looked at Lohan and nodded in his direction.

“This,” he answered, “was the late Rita Sutter’s therapist.”

“What the hell was he looking for in her apartment?”

“I would also like to find that out,” Sam answered and started pushing him towards the police vehicle that was only a few feet from them.

“This should be interesting.”

“What are you charging me for?” Dr. Mathews asked as he was being directed to the back of the police car.

“Trespassing on a police crime scene,” Lohan answered. “You might want to call your lawyer once we get to the station.”

Sam took the driver’s seat and stole a glance in Lohan’s direction. They had made great progress on the case and he couldn’t wait to start questioning Dr. Mathews.

******

Tracy sat in her apartment and stared at her bedroom ceiling. It was her day off and she only had her night job to attend to later. Her thoughts raced back to the lovemaking session she had shared with Ryan and tingly sensations ran up her spine. She tried to push it out of her mind but could not and chose to sit up on her bed. She pulled out a wooden box from under her bed and flung it open. She then emptied all the contents on the bed before spreading them evenly.

There were photos of her back in the day when she had started modeling, a few news paper clippings and magazines in her rise to stardom and other magazine posts that glorified in her shame once her modeling career started taking a different turn. There were pictures of her checking into rehab and that was the last time the press ever reported about her.

A different photo however stood out from the pile. It was of her and Rita standing side by side with their arms around each other. They looked happy and as far as Tracy could recall they were happy. They had not had the best upbringing and being close to each other was the only normal thing in their lives. She picked up the photo and took another look at Rita, she was younger and thinner in the photo and she could remember how much she loved to laugh back then.

For the first time since Tracy had heard the news about her sister’s death, a sense of loss began settling on her. She was not moaning for Rita the sister who stole her man and got married to him, she was not moaning the sister who was mean to everyone and had a raging vendetta with everyone. She moaned her loving big sister who would go above and beyond to make ends meet for her. She moaned the sister who would shield her from her mother’s drunken blows and sometimes would get the courage to fire back a few insults to her mother.

A tear escaped her left eye and she immediately wiped it with the back of her hand. Being weak was something Tracy deeply loathed and the thought of moaning for Rita made her pull herself together. She placed the photo back on the bed and was just about to return the rest in the wooden box but was distracted by the ringing of her doorbell. She threw a glance at her wrist watch and wondered who it could be. She never had any visitors and had not ordered any pizza on that day. The doorbell rung again and she slowly got to her feet, she walked over to it and swung it open without looking through the peep hole.

“Hello,” a young man stood on the other side of the door and let out a bright smile.

“I am not interested in whatever you are selling,” Tracy answered and started shutting the door.

“Tracy Evans,” the man caught his attention just before the door shut. “They told me you would be this rude.”

“Who the hell are you?”

“Jack Adams.”

“And you are here because?”

“May I come in?”

“No.”

Jack paced around Tracy’s front door for a few seconds which gave time for Tracy to look him up even closer. He had on a navy blue designer suit and the shoes were designer too. He looked wealthy and she especially wondered how much the wrist watch on his hand had cost him.

“Miss Evans,” he started. “I am not here to waste your time I have better things to do than to park my Rolls Royce at this part of the town. Whatever I have to tell you will interest you and you had best let me in.”

Tracy was slightly turned on by the way he took charge and reluctantly moved back to let him in. He strolled into the house and from the look on his face was much impressed with how neat it was.

“What do you want?”

“You are not even going to offer me anything? I know I would modestly refuse but that is what normal people do.”

“Mr. Adams, I have better things to do with my time.”

“Okay okay,” he answered. “I have proof that your sister has been found.”

“You mean the body that is good news.”

“No, I do not mean the body,” he answered. “I mean I have found her.”

“But she is dead.”

“No, she is not.”

“I think you should get out of my house, this is a very sick joke,” Tracy answered and could feel anger boiling up inside her.

“I know she is alive because I was with her, I helped stage the whole death and now know where she is.”

“But her body disappeared from the morgue.”

“That was not her.”

“Whose was it?” Tracy asked confused.

“That was her twin sister June,” Jack answered.

Tracy let her weight slump down on the ground before letting out fits of giggles. She looked up at the man and thought of him as crazy.

“The plot thickens,” she let out before looking up at him again and letting out a slight chuckle.

“I knew you would not believe me,” he said calmly.

“So how did you know Rita again?”

“She was,” he answered. “I am sorry, it’s my girlfriend.”

“Okay,” Tracy said after looking at the stranger for quite some time. She led him to the living room sofa and sat opposite him before crossing her arms across her chest and saying, “please start from the beginning.”

“Like I said, Rita is still alive. She faked her own death.”

“Why on earth would she do that?” Tracy asked but was lost in her own world for a minute before saying, “this is Rita we are talking about after all, so what you are trying to tell me is that Rita is alive?”

“Yes, she is.”

“Where is she?”

“In hiding.”

“Where?”

“I can’t tell you that for now.”

“If what you are saying is true,” Tracy said and moved closer to Jack, “that means you are only here because she screwed you over on a deal.”

Jack shifted slightly in his seat before letting out a wicked grin. He nodded slightly in Tracy’s direction and said, “it seems like you know your sister all too well.”

“All too well.”

They stared at each other for sometime before Tracy looked her guest straight in the eye. As much as he was the bearer of disturbing news, she kept her calm and wished she could see right through him.

“So you are either here to try and make a counter offer with me or to get yourself leverage if anything happens to you.”

“She did say you are smart, you know.”

“It runs in the family.”

“I am beginning to see that,” Jack nodded.

“So tell me about this twin sister of hers that died,” Tracy asked curiously.

“Rita said that your mother told her she had a twin sister before she died.”

“But we never communicated with that woman, I didn’t even know she is dead,” Tracy interrupted but remembered she had also not talked to Rita for the longest time either and she wouldn’t know of any communication between the two. “Go on.”

“After the revelation she tracked her down and saw she was the exact replica of her. She however never made any contact with her until about a year ago, that was when she found out she had a breast cancer which she died of.”

“Did she know Rita would use her body to her advantage?” Tracy asked. “I am sorry that kind of sounded sexual.”

“Yes it did,” Jack answered before letting out a naughty grin and going on. “They agreed on a certain amount.”

“Okay, so my question is this,” Tracy asked before settling well in her seat. “Why?”

“Life insurance.”

Tracy let out a wider grin and looked at Jack in the eye; it was all starting to make sense to her. She moved even closer to Jack with the grin still on her face and shook her head slightly.

“How did you pull it off with June, I am sure the family must have been looking for her after her death,” Tracy asked.

“That is why the body went missing from the morgue,” Jack explained. “After she died we had to delay the news to the family and took her back by stealing the body from the morgue.”

“You had all this planned out,” Tracy pointed out. “So why now? Why are you backing out of the deal now?”