The Advocate - 02 - The Advocate's Betrayal (18 page)

“May I help?” Sabre asked.

“No, you just sit there and look beautiful.”

Sabre reached up to her damp head. “Oh, my hair. I must look awful. I’ll go dry it while you warm up the soup.”

“You look perfect to me.” Luke caught her arm as she walked past him, swung her around, and kissed her. “There, now you may go.”

Sabre returned, still wearing her sweats but with her hair dry and fluffed and light make-up applied. The soup was ready, and Luke was looking through Sabre’s four DVDs sitting on the stand by the television. “Is this all you have? They’re all chick flicks. Don’t you have any macho movies? Maybe a little Clint Eastwood? And not
Bridges of Madison County
. That doesn’t count.”

“Most everything is packed, but I just happen to know where there is one.” Sabre walked over to one of the boxes that hadn’t been taped shut yet, rustled through it for a bit, and pulled out a DVD. “Here you go,
Gran Torino
. Have you seen it?”

“No, is it good?”

“You’ll love it.”

They finished their soup, cleaned up, and Luke put the disc in the DVD player. Then he took Sabre’s hand and led her toward the sofa. He sat down but Sabre remained standing, looking around at her boxes.

“Do you need help packing?”

Sabre nodded. “I should finish this.” She shook her head back and forth. “No. I’ve been doing this all week.” She sat down next to Luke just as he started to stand up. “There’s not that much left. I’ll finish it in the morning while you’re loading the truck.”

“Deal.” Luke wrapped his arm around her and started the movie. About halfway through, they took a break and ate their ice cream. They lay back down on the sofa, and before the movie ended Sabre was asleep in his arms.

Sabre woke with a start when her iPhone blurted out Waylon Jennings singing “Bob Wills is Still the King.” JP’s ringtone was his favorite classic country singer, Waylon, while Bob liked Leonard Cohen. Those two close friends didn’t exactly share the same taste in music. Sabre pushed herself up and reached for her phone, knocking it off the coffee table. It had rung four times by the time she was able to answer it. “Hi, JP.”

“Hi. Did I wake you?”

“No…well sort of. I just dozed off. What’s up?”

“I just spoke with one of my buddies in the police department and they have more evidence against Betty.”

“What could they possibly have?” Sabre sat up.

“A neighbor says he was out walking and saw a man and a woman get out of a 2003 gold Honda Accord and enter her trailer the night of the murder…about nine-thirty.”

“That’s a good thing. What does it have to do with Betty?”

“He thought the woman was Betty, but he didn’t see her very well. He got a real good look at the man. He was about six feet tall, short brown hair, clean shaven, around forty- or forty-five years old.”

“So, if he didn’t see the woman very well, then he can’t be sure it was her, right?  Besides, she was at the casino.”

“The woman fit the same general description as Betty, same height, weight, and short, red-spiked hair. The clincher is the witness saw Betty talking to this man earlier that day at the park, around ten in the morning. He was driving a 2003 gold Honda Accord, and he swears it was the same man.”

21

On Saturday morning, Bob arrived at Sabre’s apartment with JP’s truck and trailer. He walked in and looked around at the stacks of boxes. “How did you accumulate so much in such a short time?”

“There’s not really that much.”

“How many of these boxes are shoes?”

Sabre put her head down and spoke just above a whisper. “Only four.”

“You have four boxes full of shoes? It’s only been seven months since your stuff burned. How does someone who hates to shop accumulate so many shoes?” Bob asked.

Luke laughed. “Yeah, that’s a lot of shoes.”

“It’s not that many. They’re still in their original boxes, so they take up a lot more room. Only about six pairs fit in a box.”

“Only six? That’s still twenty-four pairs of shoes.”

“Just load the damn things. I’m going to finish packing.” Sabre chuckled and walked into the kitchen to pack the remainder of the food and dishes. Luke and Bob commenced carrying out furniture and boxes and loading them in the truck.

Sabre put the few remaining clothes from her closet in the back seat of her car and followed Bob and Luke to her home. As she pulled up in front of her newly rebuilt condo, she reflected on a cold, southern California December day a few weeks after the fire. John had taken her by to see the rubble.

Sabre had been out of the hospital for less than a week. Everything around her was black. Her house, her furniture, and all her possessions were reduced to a dark, cold pile of ashes. She stood there shivering and crying, but not ready to leave. John had taken a blanket out of his truck and wrapped it around her. “You need to keep warm. You’re going to catch pneumonia.”

“
Thanks.” Sabre sobbed.

“
I know it doesn’t seem like it now, Sparky, but life will get better.” He put his arm around her shoulder. She felt the strength and love he had for her.

“
You’re strong. You’ll pick up the pieces and move on.”

“
But I’ve lost everything. Every photo of my brother, every memento of my childhood, everything I’ve ever owned…my furniture, my clothes, my shoes….” Sabre sobbed.

“
But think of all the fun you’ll have shopping for new shoes.” He gave her a quick hug. “You know how much you like to buy shoes.”

Sabre mustered up a smile, but it disappeared quickly. “It’s like…like my past has been erased.”

“
I know a thing or two about that. I’ve lost my past on more than one occasion.”

Sabre looked up at him, eyes still full of tears, not quite sure what he meant. “I came to realize material things just aren’t that important. And no matter how many ‘things’ are destroyed, no one can take your memories. Even if some of them fade a little, you’ll remember the love. And you have oh so many people who love you. Betty and I love you like you were ours. You have brought a ray of sunshine into Betty’s life and for that I’ll be forever grateful.”

“
She’s a good lady. She does so many little things for people. You both do. Always helping people in the park fix things, making food when someone is sick, hauling in groceries and cleaning the cat litter box for old ‘Mrs. Pain-in-the-butt’ on the corner.”

John smiled. “She’s not so bad.”

“
Not so bad….She screams at you every time you try to help her.” Sabre spoke in a high pitched, shaky voice mimicking the old lady: “Be careful with that milk. You’re gonna drop the bag. Don’t put it there. Can’t you remember anything, you old fart? Take that cat poop to the dumpster. I don’t want it stinking up my trash can…yadda, yadda, yadda.”

John laughed. “She’s just old and in a lot of pain. She has no one. I don’t let it bother me. Betty taught me that.”

Sabre looked into John’s weather-worn face. “You two are very lucky to have each other.”

“
I’m the lucky one.” He looked into Sabre’s eyes. “Someday you’ll have someone like my Betty. Someone who loves you unconditionally. Someone who sticks by you through all the bad times because the love is so strong it transcends everything else.”

It all seemed unlikely at the moment to Sabre. “I hope so.”

“
You will, Sparky. Just don’t settle for anything less.” He tilted her head up to force her to look in his eyes. “But sometimes you have to open yourself up, be a little vulnerable to find what you’re looking for. And remember to give back just a little bit more than you get. If you both do that, it works. It’s a two-way street, you know.” He kissed her on the forehead.

“What are you waiting for, Sobs?” Bob yelled from the back of the truck. “You need to open up the condo.” He threw his hand in the air. “I don’t want to make a career of this.”

Sabre quickly wiped the tears from her eyes, exited the car, and walked up to her “new” home. She hadn’t seen it since they finished painting and laying the flooring. She dashed in, spun around, waving her hands in the air. “Wow, it’s beautiful.” She walked from one room to another observing the similarities and the differences to what she’d had before. Luke remained downstairs answering a phone call. Bob followed Sabre as she climbed the empty staircase where her collection of stuffed animals used to sit. Sabre’s demeanor changed.

“You okay?” Bob asked.

“Yeah.”

“There are no demons here, you know.”

“I know, but please don’t let anyone buy me stuffed animals. I don’t want them moving around in my house this time.”

Bob chuckled. “Fair enough.”

They walked into the master bedroom. Sabre slipped off her shoes at the doorway. Her feet sunk into the cream-colored carpet. She liked the contrast of the slightly darker cream walls. It was different enough to make a new start, yet familiar enough to feel like home.

Bob glanced around at the empty room. “When’s your furniture going to arrive?”

“It’ll be delivered on Monday. Meanwhile I’ll use an air mattress.”

“You could stay in your apartment until then.”

“No, I’d rather be here. Luke will be here tonight and tomorrow night, and by then I’ll be comfortable again.”

“You sure?”

“I’ll be fine. I’m not going to let a bad memory run me out of my home. And quit acting like my mother.” She pushed Bob lightly on the back. “Go help Luke bring my stuff in. I need to start putting things away.”

It was mid-afternoon by the time everything was unloaded. Sabre directed the men as they came in, although she had each box labeled for each room and its contents. She had the boxes with perishables and items she needed to help her through the first few nights marked with a green marker. The things she needed next were marked in red, and the stuff that could wait indefinitely she had marked in black. By the time the boxes were all in the condo and in their proper rooms, Sabre had all the “green” boxes unloaded and put away.

“I hate to run off, but I need to return JP’s truck,” Bob said as they all walked outside. “I’m having a little barbecue at the house tomorrow around three. You two want to come?”

Sabre looked at Luke. He nodded his head. “We’d love to. I still have a lot of unpacking to do, but I think we’ll be ready for a break. What should we bring?”

“Nothing. We’re all set. There’ll only be a half dozen people there. I want to show off my new deck.”

“See you tomorrow,” Luke said and walked in the house.

Sabre lingered for a moment. “You talked to JP about the new evidence against Betty?” she asked.

“Yes. What do you make of it?”

“I don’t know. It just keeps getting worse. I’m going to run by the hospital and talk to her this afternoon.”

“Good idea,” Bob said as he got in the truck.

After he left, Sabre and Luke tidied up a little before each took a shower. Then Luke settled in with his computer, and Sabre drove to see Betty.

Betty muted the television when Sabre walked in. “I didn’t expect you today. I thought you’d be too busy with the move.”

“It’s coming along, but something came up I need to talk to you about.”

Betty’s face looked strained. Sabre was sorry she had to bring it up. She hated putting more stress on her, but she needed some answers. “What is it?” Betty asked.

“The police have an eye witness that saw a man and someone fitting your description at your trailer about nine-thirty the night of the murder.”

Betty’s eyes widened. “That wasn’t me. I was at the casino. You know that.”

“I wish I’d stayed with you the whole night because the timing just stinks.”

“Honest, Sabre, I wasn’t there,” she pleaded. “The witness is wrong.”

“This same witness says he saw the man earlier that day in Hayden Park talking to you. Were you there that day?”

“Yeah. I go to the park nearly every day around ten o’clock and take my walk.”

“Did you talk to anyone?”

“I said hi to people as they passed.” Betty rubbed her forehead and then her chin, her face wrinkled with thought lines. “I don’t remember talking to anyone.” She nodded her head. “Yeah, there was a man who got out of his car with a map in his hand and asked me for directions to Jamacha Road. He said he was visiting someone in the trailer park. He said the name, but it wasn’t anyone I recognized.”

“Did he say anything else?”

“Not really, not that I can remember. He commented on our nice weather. He said it was so much nicer than Tucson. That’s about it. We didn’t talk very long.”

“What kind of car was he driving?”

“It was a gold color, I think. I didn’t pay any attention to what it was.”

“And you didn’t know this man? Had never seen him before?”

Betty’s voice, somewhere between anger and frustration, said, “No. He was a complete stranger.” Then fear appeared in her voice. “Sabre, this looks real bad, doesn’t it? Why would someone say they saw me that night? And why did that man single me out to ask directions? Do you think I led him to John?”

Betty was either really afraid, or she was doing a great job of covering. “I don’t know. I was hoping you could tell me.”

Sabre and Luke went out to a local café for a bite to eat and then settled in for the evening. Sabre had expected to feel anxiety her first night back in her home, assuming the memories of its burning would be too much for her. Instead, she felt a calm she could only attribute to Luke’s presence. She lay next to him, wrapped in his arms, her head on his chest. She could feel his torso rise and fall with the light sound of his breathing. She felt safe. She was home. She wasn’t alone, and she wasn’t settling. Maybe John was right. Maybe she had found her “Betty.” But was John’s “Betty” the person he believed her to be? Could Betty have murdered him? No, it was all too crazy. She had to let it go and think about Luke; she had to enjoy the moment.

She nudged him. “Hmm…?” he asked.