Worse Than Being Alone (33 page)

“
Four of Marian’s husbands are
dead. None of their survivors has anything good to say about
Marian. Her own brother can’t stand her, and hasn’t spoken to her
in 40 years. She has a pattern of behavior. She’s charming in the
beginning and very attentive. After the marriage, she starts
demanding information about finances and the charm offensive is
definitely over. Does any of this sound familiar?”

“
Some of it does,” he
said.

“
Did she try to get you to buy
life insurance?”

“
Yeah, but the premiums were a
joke,” he said.

“
Dad, remember the first time I
met Marian? We were having lunch and Marian said her mother died
when she was 10. Well, it was her father who died when she was
young. Her mother died when she was 24.”

“
How did the other husbands die?”
Billy asked as he picked at his French fries.

“
They all got sick although her
first husband fell down the stairs. She had them all
cremated.”

“
You actually think Marian killed
them?” Billy asked.

“
I think it’s possible. Look,
there’s no way to prove it since there aren’t any bodies. Did you
know she’s been married that many times?”

“
No, I didn’t know that,” Billy
said. “I’m sure Marian would say she was too embarrassed to talk
about it. It sounds like you have a lot of conjecture with no real
proof.”

“
That’s true, Dad. I realize I’m
just kind of dumping this on you all at once. I don’t expect you to
say anything right now. Just promise me you’ll think about it. If
you want, I can put you in touch with some of the people I talked
to. Give you more facts.”

“
There’s no good outcome for
this,” he said. “What do you want me to say? That my marriage isn’t
going that well? OK, it’s true. It’s not going very well. Marian is
kind of a nag. There, are you happy now?”

“
I’m not trying to destroy your
marriage, Dad. I love you. I don’t want you to get
hurt.”

“
You don’t think I’ll get hurt if
I get a divorce?” Billy said. “The bottom line, when you sort it
all out, boils down to whether or not I trust Marian.”

“
Do you?”

“
I’m not sure,” Billy said as he
stood up and threw some bills on the table. “I guess I’ve got some
thinking to do.

Roni walked over to Billy and hugged him, not
wanting to let go.

“
I love you, Roni,” Billy said as
he stroked her cheek. ”I always have.”

“
I love you, too.”

Billy pulled a card out of his wallet and handed it
to Roni. “Just to be on the safe side. If anything happens to me,
call my attorney, Richard Cook. That’s his number there on the
card. One more thing, Roni.”

“
Anything, Dad.”

“
I really, really don’t want to be
cremated,” he said as he laughed and walked away.

Chapter Sixty-Five

Billy Diamond was no longer
laughing by the time he reached his car in the parking lot of Fast
Eddie’s. He unlocked the doors with his fob, climbed inside, and
just sat there shaking. All the nagging doubts that had plagued him
for the last several months morphed into one big WTF moment. He was
supposed to meet Marian at the new house site to check on the
progress, but first he had to digest Roni’s revelations.

He felt claustrophobic as he lowered the windows,
started the engine, and drove out of the parking lot, determined to
take the longest route possible to get to the lot. Billy couldn’t
face Marian until he had digested the information and developed a
strategy. The disaster his marriage had become now seemed crystal
clear like blinding sun after a sudden summer thunderstorm. How
could he have been so stupid?

Marian had descended on his life
like a shining star after years of care giving and then lonely
solitude. She had posed as the bereaved widow looking for a new
start just like him. She never mentioned the four other dead
husbands let alone the fact there was a divorced survivor. So, was
it time for a showdown? Some instinct screamed not yet Billy boy.
Time to gather more information before confronting Marian. At least
he finally understood what was happening.

Billy had no sooner said I do when
Marian said she had a headache or some other ailment when he tried
to initiate sex. The proverbial cow had stopped giving milk,
period. Even worse was the constant nagging about show me the
money. At first, he had attributed it to a new wife just trying to
learn the ropes. Before long, he began to resent the pressure in a
big way. The new house had been Billy’s attempt to placate
Marian.

Nearing the turnoff to the building site, Billy
drove past, still needing time to consider his options before
meeting Marian. Instead of answers, he thought of more and more
questions he should have asked Roni. Once again, he had allowed his
stupid pride to get in the way, just like when Roni tried to talk
to him before the wedding. There really is no fool like an old
fool, Billy thought, as he drove through an unfamiliar
neighborhood. It was too late to worry about Roni thinking he was a
fool; that ship had already sailed, as they say.

Curiosity kept nagging at Billy’s consciousness. He
knew he would need to call Roni and talk about this again. There
was no one he trusted more. Plus, he really wanted to talk to the
surviving husband. For some reason, he felt compelled to swap
stories to see if Marian’s behavior was similar. Billy was having a
hard time reconciling the idea that Marian was capable of
murder.

Time to figure out what to do next. Billy rejected
the concept of confronting Marian. That would result in another
whining fit. The other thing he realized was that he should let
this information percolate for a few days to see if he felt any
different. If he verbalized what he felt at this point, he would
have a hard time walking it back.

That’s the ticket; keep quiet for a few days and see
if his initial repulsion lingered. If it did, then it would be time
to sit down with Richard and figure out an escape route without
losing too much. He needed some legal advice. Marian had parsed the
truth when he had asked her if she had been married before. Her
response had been that she was widow. She had omitted the four
times over and the divorced survivor part. Did that constitute
fraud, and did it even matter?

Billy’s breathing had returned to normal. He
recognized the next street and made a right turn, which would take
him back to the main drag. He was closer to the building site than
he thought. His battle plan in place, Billy took the final turn
that would take him to his destination. Time to put on the mask and
act as if nothing was wrong. He parked beside Marian’s car. She was
sitting in the driver’s seat with a petulant look on her face. They
climbed out of the vehicles simultaneously and walked toward the
foundation.

“
You’re late,” Marian said as she
studied Billy’s face.

“
I’m sorry, there was a big party
ahead of us.”

“
How’s Roni?” she
asked.

“
She’s doing well. She’s really
getting excited about being a grandmother.”

“
I’ll bet,” she said. “Why was she
so anxious to see you?”

“
Oh, I think she just missed
seeing me. It’s been awhile.”

“
I had the impression it was
something specific,” Marian said.

“
I don’t know where you got that
impression. We were just catching up.”

“
Maybe I could come next time,”
she said. “If you’re just catching up.”

“
Sure, that would be fine. Have
you checked out the foundation?”

“
Yes, I walked it when I first got
here,” she said. “I think it looks OK but I’m not a construction
expert.”

“
Well, let’s check it out. I’m
glad we did the deep pour. I realize we’re not going to finish the
basement, but it will help with resale.”

“
Good grief,” she said as they
began to walk around the poured foundation. “Are you already
thinking about resale?”

“
I’m not a young man, Marian. We
have to consider that aspect. They’ve back filled around the
foundation since we were here last.”

“
Is that the wood for the floor
over there?” Marian asked as she pointed to the floor joist and sub
floor tied in bundles lying nearby.

“
Yeah, they should be starting
that next week.”

“
Why do they wait so long?” Marian
asked as they continued to walk around the edge of the steepest
part of the foundation. She had moved to Billy’s side when he
stopped to look at the stacks of lumber.

“
They told me it has something to
do with the concrete…. Oh shit,” Billy said as he tumbled over the
edge.

Intense pain accompanied his sudden landing. Unable
to move, Billy stared up at the cloudless sky, trying to figure out
how he could possibly have fallen. In addition to the pain, he felt
intense regret that Roni would never know how right she was.

Chapter Sixty-Six

EMT Sam Kelly had just taken his
first sip of the chicken noodle soup that had been simmering for
the last four hours when the warning bell signaled an emergency
call. He looked longingly at the bowl, grabbed a piece of bread for
energy, and ran to his rig. Buff, with a blond buzz cut, Sam looked
exactly like the ex-marine most people suspected he was.

His supervisor, Jake Perry, met him in the hallway.
Jake had wavy black hair with impressive blue eyes, and he was
hoping for a career change. That he had recently cut a country
western album with a major recording studio would probably surprise
his co-workers. It would remain his secret for the time being. No
use risking the constant razzing. Jake still lived paycheck to
paycheck but hoped his new album would mean a new career path. Jake
explained the nature of the call as they suited up.

“
Some guy fell into a new
foundation on the bluffs,” Jake said.

“
So, is the pumper coming too, in
case we need a ladder?” Sam asked.

“
Yeah, that’s the plan,” Sam said
as he jumped in the driver’s side, fired up the engine, turned on
the flashers, and pulled out of Firehouse Number Five.

“
The address is 25 Alton Heights
Road,” Jake said from the passenger seat. “Do you know where that
is?”

“
Yeah, I’ve been up there before,”
Sam said as he headed north.

“
I’ll verify on the GPS,” Jake
said as he entered the address.

“
Does that look right?” Jake
asked.

“
Yeah, we’re on the same page,”
Sam said as he continued to the site. He turned left on Alton
Heights Road, and headed up the gradual incline that would take
them to the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River.

“
Wow, it’s a nice view from up
here,” Jake said as they reached the top and continued down the
road.

“
Yeah, I went to a party up here,”
Sam said. “There’s a great view of the river. I think it’s coming
up here on the right.”

“
That’s it, that’s it,” Jake said
as Sam braked and pulled onto the gravel road with the pumper not
far behind.

They spotted two cars that were parked side by side
as they pulled alongside. An older woman appeared, waving her arms
to get their attention. As they climbed out of the cab, she
approached Jake and fell into his arms. He helped her to the ground
as she struggled for breath.

“
We were just walking around the
perimeter,” she said, trying to catch her breath. “I turned around
and he was just gone. I looked down there, and tried calling him,
but he didn’t answer. He’s not moving.”

“
We’ll check it out, Ma’am,” Jake
said as he nodded at Sam, who grabbed his bag and moved toward the
edge of the precipice. He was joined by one of the
firefighters.

“
I’ll get a ladder,” the
firefighter said.

“
I’m afraid he’s dead,” the woman
said as she continued clawing Jake. “I just know he’s dead. Oh my
God.”

“
What’s your name, Ma’am?” Jake
asked as he assessed her condition.

“
Marian Diamond,” she said.
“That’s my husband, Billy, down there. I don’t think he could
survive a fall like that.”

“
We won’t know until we get down
there,” Jake said.

“
He’s not moving,” she said as her
tone took on a wailing quality. “I didn’t think he was breathing
either. Oh my God, I can’t believe it. Billy is gone.”

Sam and the fireman lowered the ladder into the
foundation. With the fireman holding the ladder, Sam began his
descent into the hole.

“
I can’t believe Billy’s gone,”
Marian said. “We’ve only been married a few months. This can’t be
happening.”

“
Marian, you need to calm down,”
Jake said as he checked her pulse. “Sam is going down there. Let’s
wait and see, OK?”

“
I know he’s dead,” Marian said as
she seemed to get more hysterical by the minute. “You can’t survive
a fall like that when you’re 85. What am I going to do?”

“
Marian, would you like me to give
you something to relax a little?” Jake asked.

“
What are you talking about?”
Marian demanded. “I don’t want a damn sedative. Are you kidding me?
My husband’s dead and you want to give me a shot. Listen, I’m going
to tell you, if Billy’s dead, I want him taken to the Burger
Funeral Home. Do you understand?”