The Mourning Mail (final release candidate #8)

Chapter 49

My original goal was to get Sheryl to let me in for an interview. Now I wanted her to take me into her confidence. To get there, I would have to reward her for her trust. I needed to be as pleasant as possible without appearing too phony.

"I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you the truth at the salon," I said as I entered, "but I didn't want to upset you there."

"I need that job," Sheryl said. She sat on the edge of the bed and offered me the folding chair. My ribs weren't fond of hard-backed chairs, but I made sure not to grimace as I sat in it.

"My girlfriend moved in with her boyfriend, and she lets me stay here until her lease is up," Sheryl said apologetically. "I'm trying to find a place, but the rents are more than I can afford. Why would Doc try to kill me now?"

"With the police closing in, you're a loose end he can't control. He has nothing on you—you didn't kill anybody or get any money from his wife's inheritance. Maybe he could scare you that you'll go down for desecrating a body. But you're no big-time criminal, and you could make a deal to get out of anything to do with Doc's wife."

"But why now?" Sheryl asked again.

"Did you see the newspaper articles about drugs and a stolen-gun insurance scam at Strike Response? It's a private investigations company...."

"No," Sheryl said, shaking her head.

"That's the company Doc hired to clean up after he had Ainsworth kill his neighbor and after Ricky killed Brian Pierce. The police flipped a contractor at Strike Response. With Doc involved in two known murders, Doc's lawyers can't keep the police from investigating Theresa's death. Once they have Ricky in custody, he'll give them the location of the body. And when they lock you up, Doc will think they have a corroborating witness to put him and Ainsworth away. Doc's got to get rid of you and Ricky before you're arrested."

"Shit," Sheryl said. I heard a hint of despair creeping into her voice.

Maybe it's registering just how much trouble she's in?

"If Doc finds out that I said anything to anyone, he'll kill me just for that," Sheryl said, her eyes now gone wide and her eyebrows high and together in fear.

"Sheryl, I'm afraid you're dead if Doc thinks you might talk. I don't believe it matters to him whether you have yet," I said, leaning forward.

I tried a different tack. My instincts told me Sheryl looked to men to define her, provide for her, and fix things for her. Her life now reflected the failures and betrayals of that belief system. She'd self-identify as a victim, but she'd qualify only because of poor choices she made willingly. More troubling, it didn't seem she'd developed any other skills or tools for dealing with adversity. She'd had no backup plan for when her physical beauty would no longer pay her way. Sheryl's ignorance was no excuse when judging her character, but a reasonable observer has to at least consider it.

"Men see you are attractive, but they can let you down, and Doc is one of those. Look, you have every right to be tired of it - of running, always being afraid, being used, and being lied to about things like getting your teeth fixed."

"He keeps promising, but nothing ever happens...," Sheryl said with a spoiled child's pout.

"Now he sees you as a threat," I said, "and Doc goes after people he doesn't trust. That's why Theresa and Coach Cantor are dead."

"Ainsworth did Mr. Cantor after Doc asked him to," Sheryl said, her expression that of a sixth-grader tattling on someone. "Ainsworth is the one he'll send to kill me. God, I hate that son of a bitch. He is always dissing me behind my back, and once he called me 'trailer trash' right in front of Doc." Her face was red, and her upper lip curled slightly. There was anger in her voice.