Rising Darkness (2 page)

“I hear that. It’s a disgrace. These kids today think they know it all, but if they didn’t have some gizmo to know it for them then they would be completely lost,” Skip said. Joe was pretty sure he was still looking at Tracy’s ass. He felt like breaking the guy’s jaw but he thought it was kind of flattering. Go ahead slime and see the caliber of woman you could never have.

Joe desperately needed to excuse himself for some air or at least a bit of decent conversation. He wasn’t sure how many more of these lame functions he could attend, let alone put on. It was such a mistake. Each and every time it felt like it took him days to come back down again after this.

He excused himself politely and walked off to get some more alcohol in him. As he snatched another bottle of beer from the bucket, the sexy female bartender he hired gave him a wink and a sexy smile. He felt himself smiling back, but he tried to ignore it and be discreet.

Joe was used to women flirting with him; it went with the territory of being rich and semi good-looking. He knew that he was no great physical specimen who was going to give Atlas a run for his money any time soon, but he had to admit that he looked pretty good for forty-two. He had managed to keep most of the grey out of his hair and he was still pretty slim and trim. This was probably due to the massive amount of racquetball, tennis, and golf he played—which were all excuses to have casual meetings. And with his busy schedule he hardly had time to eat much. Besides he hated eating a lot because it made him sleepy and he hated to give in
to that when he had so much stuff he wanted to do.

He moved out by the pool area, where a few of the more adventurous and drunk types had begun to do some skinny dipping. It was a nice atmosphere to be around, but he knew that too much temptation was a bad thing. He had never cheated on either of his wives though. Over the years he had become pretty damn good at ignoring the temptation. Joe was a hopeless romantic at heart and when he fell in love he fell hard. He knew that he would never forgive himself if he did something stupid to tarnish himself in the eyes of his amazing wife.

“Hey, there,” a voice stirred him from his brooding.

It was the beautiful Angel herself. Tracy grabbed his beer, took a swig, and placed it back in his hand. Her sweet perfume began to invade his nostrils and he felt himself becoming physically and emotionally aroused. He wanted nothing more than some naked cuddling in the hot tub with his wonderful wife.

“Hey, beautiful. How are you doing? You finish making the rounds?” Joe asked.

“I can’t figure out how you talk to two people at the party you put together,” Tracy replied.

“Well, I guess I’m talked out. I thought I’d have more stamina, but it just ain’t happening tonight.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Maybe you need the right motivation,” Tracy said eye balling the naked women who were now swimming around the pool.

Joe laughed as he followed her gaze. “I think I’ve got all the inspiration I need.”

“Well, you need to learn how to function at these things a little better. I thought you wanted to talk to Richard about the grand opening this weekend? I mean that is mostly what this party is about right?”

“Yea, but he has been swarmed by hangers on all evening. I guess they figure since he is opening the brand new and the coolest place that he must have all of the best cars in the universe. They are all models that hit the floor tomorrow or something. It’s sad, but I can’t get close to him.”

Tracy leaned into him and held him tightly. She felt so soft and smooth against him and he was honestly not sure what he would ever do without her. She was his Angel; she was his rock.

“Maybe you just have to use that charm of yours and steal him away from the crowd. That’s what I had to do with you that time,” Tracy said.

Joe laughed. She was remarking about the time that Joe had gotten so drunk at his own party that he forgot he was married and he was regaling everyone about his drunken days as a carefree bachelor. When he thought about those times sober he wanted to hurl. It was disgusting the things he had allowed himself to get into and the people he had hung out with, but when you were young and lucky enough to have all the money in the world then you were obligated to act like a complete retard.

Joe moved his carcass away from the outside shenanigans and eventually found Richard being swarmed by a trio of drunk and beautiful girls. Joe had no idea who these women were or how they were invited to the party. He was pretty sure that several of the bachelors who happened to come to his party just called up the women they were seeing and had them call all of their hot girlfriends to show up. He was tempted to put a tighter lid on that, but not when so many guys had that much fun at it.

After talking with Richard for several minutes about the plans for the opening month of the new car lot he was satisfied that everything was going to go off without a hitch. Joe instantly felt better and less sleepy. He must have been totally worried about all of this. It took his wife to know what he needed. He had to shake his head. Sometimes the woman was just too amazing.

Joe sat down and had another beer as he watched the party continue on, never knowing when it would stop.

Joe’s house was dead quiet when he entered it at a little past six p.m. He had still not gotten used to the fact that his girls were no longer there watching TV or yapping on the phone or just bitching at each other about the stupidest things he had ever heard. He felt a twinge of sadness and nostalgia every time he walked through the front doors. The house didn’t even smell the same. He was used to all of the fruity lotions and body sprays the girls were constantly smothering themselves in. He missed all of those little annoying things.

He walked into the kitchen and sat his briefcase down on the table. He was hoping that dinner would be ready, but then he forgot that Marisha, the maid, was on vacation for two weeks. He believed that she had gone home to visit family. He wondered if Tracy would do some cooking—she usually cooked something ridiculously healthy and bland—or if they would just eat out as he hoped they would. Although ordering a pizza was a great option that was always denied him by his former supermodel wife who did not eat junk of any sort.

Speaking of Tracy, where was she? She was usually hanging out in either her office, in which case he would have heard her yapping on the phone to someone that she was chewing out for not doing their job right, or she would have been doing something active. He had not seen her on the tennis court and he did not hear her in the gym. She always blasted nineties pop music when she worked out. Joe had become much more familiar with early Britney Spears than he had ever wanted to.

“Tracy? You home?”

It was possible that she had asked one of the drivers to take her into town. She usually drove herself when she went into town, but Joe did not see any of the cars missing out front. Unless she had one of her friends pick her up and the two went on a spa day or something. That was something that Tracy did a few times a month, but she always sent him a text with dinner instructions and to let him know where she was going to be.

It was weird. For some reason Joe was starting to get a strange vibe. The butterflies began to twist and turn in his stomach. He had to find out what was going on here. He tried to calm his nerves as he began to jog up the stairs. It was remotely possible that she’d had another migraine and retreated to the comfort of the bed. This happened rarely, but when it did the pain rendered her completely bedfast. She had to lie perfectly still in a pitch black room with no sound whatsoever and sleep. This usually lasted about four hours and she was often fine when she woke up again. Joe hoped that was all that was wrong, but he had that horrible feeling in his stomach again.

“Tracy? Are you here sweetie?”

As he opened the door to the bedroom he didn’t see what was right in front of him. His eyes would not take it in and tell him what he was seeing. It just appeared to be his ordinary bedroom, with a blurry bit of red everywhere. It took a few seconds for his eyes and the reality of what was happening to sink in.

Tracy’s lifeless body was laid sprawled out on the bed.

There was so much blood…

So much blood…

All became dark.

****

“And you were gone how long?”

The question was starting to sound very repetitive. Joe had been sitting in his living room drinking some hot tea and trying to get his body temperature back to normal after having the shock of his life. It was warm outside but it felt completely freezing inside. He did not know what to make of it. His body would not stop shivering.

“I was gone since this morning at eight o’clock. It was just a typical workday, really,” Joe replied. He found that his voice was very monotone and it did not sound anything like him. He had to struggle to keep one word in front of the other.

“And when did you have this party? Last night?”

“Two nights ago. Why are you asking something like that for?” Joe asked.

“Well, it’s possible that someone at the party was scoping out your place and figuring out the best way to get in here to attack your wife.”

“Why would anyone want to hurt her? Everybody loved her.”

“Well, apparently everybody didn’t love her. You have no idea who might have held a grudge against her? Anyone at all?”

Detective Roy Andrews was staring Joe right in the eyes with every question as if he was asking him to lie to him so he could rip him a new gizzard. The guy had the most intimidating stare that Joe had ever seen; and he was pretty sure that Roy was not even aware that he was doing it. Joe liked to think that he had his own strong poker face due to his experiences in the business world, but he did not trust anyone who wanted to lock you up under any segment of the government that tried to take away some of your basic rights.

“No. If I had any idea I would certainly tell you.”

“It might not be so obvious. I need you to search your mind and your subconscious to pick up some details that you might not even know you have.”

“How do I do that?”

“You close your eyes and just try to replay the scene over and over again in your mind. It takes a bit of practice, but it has been proven to be very effective in recalling traumatic experiences.”

Joe sighed. “I don’t have time for any mumbo jumbo. I want to find out who killed my wife!”

He was aware that he was screaming now, which was the exact opposite of how to act cool and collected. He hated to stand out, but if he started acting that way he was going to stand out like a sore thumb. He had to breathe and just regroup. He just had to get a hold of himself.

“Mr. Payton, we are just trying to gather the facts. This will be crucial in helping us find out who murdered your wife. Even though some of the things we are asking you to recall may seem arbitrary under the circumstances, we often find that the clues needed to solve a crime are usually found in the most minute and mundane things. So, please calm yourself down and bear with us.”

Detective Andrews voice was very calm and steady, but not in a rehearsed way. It was as if he should have become a hypnotherapist instead of a cop. There was something in his voice that was hypnotic and otherworldly. It made you want to just fall asleep and let him probe around inside your brain for a bit.

Joe felt like he needed a strong drink. His heart was still flying in his chest and every time he tried to put his mind on something that might be useful in helping them solve this crime he immediately felt the emotion rolling through his body at the realization that his beloved Tracy was dead. She wasn’t just dead; she had been savagely brutalized. He had never seen anything like that since…He didn’t want to remember Tori.

But given the circumstances it was not possible to forget. He had found his first wife Tori dead in a similar fashion, but that had eventually been ruled a suicide. Although, at first the community and even members of his own family had believed him to be the murderer. As if he ever could have hurt his sweet wife. He had loved Tori deeply. She was a wonderful woman, who understood him like no one ever had up to that point and she was an excellent mother.

He had come home from work and had found her floating in the pool. Her lifeless body had been there for a few hours at that point. Her skin had started to turn wrinkled and a bit grey, as if it was falling off of the bone. It was the most disgusting thing he had ever seen, until now. The pain was the same. It was sharp and stabbing in his chest but the rest of his body felt numb. It hurt to breathe because the pressure amplified the sharp stabbing that throbbed in his rapid flying heart.

He felt nauseous as if he might barf at any moment. He wondered if he should just go ahead and let it fly; that would erase him as a suspect, right? He doubted even that would do the trick. He was both appalled and confused by the hint that he had killed his wife. He had been when he discovered Tori and he was now with Tracy’s murder. None of it made any sense. How could two of his wives die under mysterious circumstances?

Tori’s death had eventually been ruled as a suicide or even an accidental drowning by the medical examiner. He had found a bunch of sleeping pills in her system, enough to OD on. And then she had decided to go for a swim. Tory was a wonderful swimmer and she spent at least an hour a day in the pool, which was why he had thought to look for her there first. But nothing could have prepared him for what he had found.

Now he was in the same boat, but this time it was obvious that Tracy had not killed herself or died accidentally. She had been savagely murdered. The idea that the amount of blood that was splattered everywhere was inside the human body was mind boggling to Joe.

“I’m sorry, I’m just very upset. And answering any questions right now is just too much, but I know it has to be done. So please continue,” Joe said. He didn’t want to get a reputation as being uncooperative. That was not going to help his case at all, if he was eventually charged or investigated for this crime.