The Wife of a Lesser Man (LA Cops Series Book 1) (9 page)

Her gasp was audible as he walked right to the passenger side door on her left.  If he turned around, he would look directly at her.  The door opened and suddenly she heard a ‘thud.’  She blindly felt for the power window button in the centre console as she said “shit!”  As the window rolled down, he turned around and smiled sheepishly.

“Oh Jesus ma’am!  I’m so sorry!”  he said. 

She smiled and said casually, “That’s okay, I thought I parked a little close.” 

“It doesn’t appear to have left a mark.  Do you want to see for yourself?” he offered, embarrassed.

If it did, you can father my children and consider us even
she thought to herself but didn’t say it aloud.

He shifted and made enough room so she could open the door.  Sarah opened the door and squeezed out slowly, grinning.

“Um, yeah, I guess I did park a little close.”  She half laughed as she closed the door behind her and looked at her mirror.  There wasn’t a mark on it.

“Ah, you’re right, there’s nothing there.  No harm done.”  She smiled and looked at him.

“I’m terribly sorry about that.  I had forgotten my padlock in the passenger seat. I was just getting it before heading to yoga class.” 

Her face lit up.  “Oh, yoga?  Yeah, I’m just waiting for my friend.  We’re going to yoga too.”  She felt like a moron.  She might as well have drooled.

He grinned and a small dimple appeared in his left cheek.  “Well, I guess I’ll see you in there then.”  Then he held out his left hand, which bore no ring and she took note, and offered to shake her hand.  “I’m Michael.” 

The warmth and softness of his hand made her knees weak.  “I’m Sarah.”  She returned, giving his hand a gentle pump.

“Sorry we met under these circumstances.”

Sarah waved. “Ah, that’s okay.  You can bang me…er…my car any day.” 

…

Shelley put her bag down and unzipped the side pocket.  There were no messages on her cell phone.  She quickly typed in, ‘Where the hell are you?  I’m in the change room.  Class is starting in five minutes!’

As she waited she began to dress for yoga.  Ten seconds later her phone vibrated and whined as it had earlier.  She looked at the screen, which read ‘I’m here!  I’ve been waiting!  I’ll meet you in class.’  Shelley sighed and shook her head. 

She saw Sarah standing outside the class and the look on her face prompted Shelley to ask, “What is going on?”  Her face bore a smirk and it looked as though she was trying to hold back laughter.  Sarah grabbed Shelley by the arm and took her inside the classroom, holding her close enough to smell the Caesar salad she’d had for dinner.

“Oh my god!”  she squeaked. 

“What?  What?  Tell me!”   Shelley begged.

“I was waiting in the parking lot and this
gorgeous
guy gives me a door ding…and his name is Michael
and
he’s coming to yoga!” 

Shelley rolled her eyes.  “Oh dear god woman!  I thought there was something wrong!” 

“No, no.  All is great!”  Sarah squeaked and squeezed Shelley’s arm.

The yoga instructor entered the square shaped room.  Both girls had their outfits on as did everyone else.  Some people who didn’t have lockers were placing their bags in the corner of the room that had a sign saying ‘Please place belongings here.’  And an arrow pointing down.  Shelley pointed to the sign and Sarah responded by picking up her bag and walking it over.  When she put it down she noticed everyone was already laying out their yoga mats and assembling around the instructor.

“Come on, come on!”  Shelley coaxed, motioning Sarah to hurry up and grab a spot beside her.

Shelley had already grabbed two mats from the bin by the door and placed them side by side at the back of the class.  There were about fifty yoga enthusiasts present, and as hard as Sarah tried, she couldn’t find Michael.  Once the class began, Sarah finally caught sight of him during a warm up pose.  She couldn’t bend down far enough to touch the floor and the instructor said to remain standing if that was the case.  Sarah and about ten other people followed suit, and Michael was one of them.  He was in front, only a few rows from the instructor, she saw him clear as day and nudged Shelley, who was bent over fully. 

As Shelley remained bent over she hissed, “This is
not
the time!”

There was a break about thirty minutes into the class, nearly half way through.  During this time the girls stayed in the class while others took a washroom break or went to refill their water bottles.  Michael caught sight of Sarah and came over.

“Hey again.  How are you enjoying the class so far?”  he asked.  His hair was damp again and there was a triangle of sweat from his neck to his chest under his t-shirt.

“It’s great so far. This is my friend Shelley.”  he offered Shelley a hand shake and she shifted her water bottle to her left hand to oblige.

Sarah and Michael remained talking flirtatiously for the next few minutes while Shelley stood, awkwardly peeling the label off her water bottle.  She kept checking to see when the yoga instructor would return, counting the minutes. 

A few latecomers were arriving and Shelley was relieved that something else grabbed her attention.  She watched as some filed in just as they did a half hour before.  One man entered and smiled at Shelley.  She smiled back casually and took another sip of water.  He walked by her and she noticed he had an interesting tattoo on his upper right arm.  It was small yet subtle.  She recognized the zodiac sign straight away since she’d seen it many times on her mother’s horoscope reference material.  He was a Leo.  The lion tattoo was only about three inches in diameter but the detail was astounding.  It seemed as though you could see every hair on the lion’s body.  She couldn’t help but stare as he walked by. 

He took his place slightly to the left of her in the row ahead.  The yoga instructor returned and class resumed.  Michael bid Sarah adieu and promised they would talk after class.

“Do you want to have his children yet?”  Shelley snickered as he walked away.

“We’ll see.  I think I’m going to ask him out.  Do you think I should or should I wait and let him ask me?” 

“I bet he’s gay.  A good looking drink of water like that and still single?  Gay.” Sarah rolled her eyes.

“Oh stop being jealous.  I’ll tell you all the details, don’t worry.”

“Jealous?  Why would I be jealous?” 

“I don’t know.  After being married for as long as you have I just figured.”  Sarah shrugged.  “Why?  Does Mark still ride you like a pony in bed like he used to?”  She laughed, arranging her arms in front of her, mirroring Shelley’s pose.

Shelley hesitated.  Her lack of response spoke volumes and Sarah looked over at her, bent down to see her face and Shelley looked at Sarah from the corner of her eye.

“He’s fine,” she said. 

“Really?  I saw you checking out that other guy over there.”  Sarah said, motioning her chin over towards the tattoo guy.

Shelley’s head quickly turned to Sarah’s and she gave her a look as though she’d just been insulted.  “So now I’m not allowed to look?”  She said under her breath.  “For the record.  I was looking at his tattoo.”   Her head returned to the centre and they both squatted down along with all the others.

Sarah didn’t press.  It wasn’t often that Shelley spoke in that tone. 

At the end of class, Michael stopped and cordially said goodbye to both girls.  Shelley was quiet while they showered and got dressed. 

“You wanna go for a drink?”  Sarah offered, sensing Shelley needed to talk.

Shelley nodded and headed for the door, which Sarah took as assent.  She took a deep breath.  She knew there was definitely something bothering her dear friend.

…

“You want the good news or bad first?”  Lisa asked.

“Surprise me.”  Mark looked up from his computer screen in frustration.  It had frozen for the third time in ten minutes.

“We got a DNA sample from the vacuum cleaner bag.”  Lisa said matter of factly.  “But there was no match in the system.”

It was almost 7pm and Mark had waited all afternoon hoping that the lab would produce something to help solve the case.  There was no word from any other leads, including Karen Reed’s best friend who was supposed to have made contact by now.

Mark stretched his arms over his head and ran his fingers through his hair in exhaustion.  He took a deep breath and clasped his hands under his chin.  Finally after a long pause he said to Lisa, “Why don’t you head home?  It’s been a long day.” 

She raised her chin, “You should do the same.”

“I think I might try the friend again.  What was her name?” he asked, scratching his forearm.

“Monica Sutherland.”  Lisa’s eyes scanned upward at the clock on the wall above Mark’s head.  “It’s after the dinner hour.  You might have some luck if she’s home.”

“Give me the number.”  He stifled a yawn.

Thirty seconds later, she returned from her desk.  Mark rose from his chair to meet her halfway.  “You don’t have to call her,” Lisa said, 

“She’s here.  She just
walked
in.”  Lisa’s brows were raised in surprise.  Mark peered over the filing cabinets and saw Monica standing by Lisa’s desk.

“Send her in,” he said, straightening his tie.

Monica wore a well-tailored pants suit, definitely custom fit but not from any fancy label.  Her brown hair was well groomed and tucked back in a clip on either side of her face.  She wore just enough mascara and lipstick to highlight her light features.  She had recently whitened her teeth.  Mark offered her a handshake and noticed she wore no expensive jewellery.  Her handshake was firm.

Mark motioned her to the guest chair in front of him.  “Please have a seat.”  She placed her handbag in the chair next to her.

He fidgeted with a pencil on his desk while she retrieved a business card out of her purse and handed it to him.  The pencil was only about three inches long and had chew marks all over it. 

“I apologize for not calling sooner.  I just got back from my mother’s place on Sunday and then immediately came down with the flu….or food poisoning.  You never know with my mother’s cooking,”   she said with a gentle giggle.

“I would have called first to make an appointment but my schedule is very much in disarray.  I’m a realtor.”  She said, pointing at her business card.  “I just showed a house two blocks from here and thought I would take my chances dropping in.”

“No problem.  What can you tell me about your relationship with Ms. Reed?”  Mark asked, placing the card upright on his keyboard.

Monica spoke like she was being interviewed by a client.  “Well, we met while she was working as a waitress at TGI Friday’s.  I think we were around twenty one or twenty two….I was the hostess.  She was going through for her degree in University and I was working on my real estate license.  We did a lot of things together and we even lived together for a while until she met up with Eddie, her husband.  He died in a car accident a while back….but I’m sure you already know that.”  Monica paused.

“Yes, we do.”

“She had a tough life, you know?  Really sweet girl though, considering.”

“Tell me about her family.” 

“Um, she grew up with her mom and dad and her sister.  Karen moved when she went to University and that’s when her sister starting getting into drugs.  It’s kind of ironic really. Karen moved out of a small town, and her sister started living the life that her mother suspected Karen would live, seeing as she lived in the entertainment district.”

“So where’s her sister now?” 

Monica sighed.  “I have no idea.  After Karen married her sister became kind of a drifter.  She went away to New York for a while and got a job there but Karen only heard from her maybe once or twice a year.”

“When was the last time you spoke to Karen?”  Mark asked, sensing he’d beaten around the bush long enough and she was providing information they already had.

Monica paused, “I…I think it was a couple of months ago.  We used to talk almost every day after Eddie died.  It was really hard on her“ She looked off to the side and swallowed.  Her eyebrows furrowed and her face became flush.  Mark could see the tears forming in her eyes.  She looked down and waved her head from side to side, “I’m sorry,” she whispered, dabbing the corners of her eyes with her thumbs.

Mark sat upright and passed her the box of tissues on his desk.

“That’s alright. I know it’s hard.  Take your time, there’s no rush.”  She reached for a tissue and held it in her hand.

“I’m just so angry,” Monica said, her voice was rational and even.

“She didn’t deserve this. She was a good person.  Just through grieving and she had so much going for her.“

“Nobody deserves this type of treatment, Ms. Sutherland,” Mark said in the same comforting tone.  “What happened to Karen was terrible and we are going to do everything we can to find the person who did it.  But we do need your help.”

Monica looked up at Mark.  Her mouth was half open and tears were streaming down her face. “I’ll do anything.  She was my best friend and I know that poor woman suffered…I she suffered more than
anyone
else.”  When she said ‘anyone’, her hand struck the desk for emphasis.  “Do you know that Eddie was her first love?”  She looked directly at Mark like he was to answer her; her head cocked to the side.  “She married her first love and they were so happy together, so
incredibly
happy.  And then he died.  How
cruel
is that?”