James Andrus - The Perfect Death

About an hour later he heard the first report of a body being found in the parking garage of Jacksonville Landing. That was the report he had been waiting for. The big news there was not necessarily the body but the fact that the police had shut down the entire parking garage and commercial tenants of Jacksonville Landing were screaming for them to reopen. Bars and restaurants remained open, but empty, on what should be the busiest day of the week.

The only thing he regretted about his busy Friday night was that he was forced to expend the effort to get rid of two bodies but was unable to advance his project in any way. Mary was the one who was a real disappointment. Considering the way she had died, he wouldn’t have been able to capture her last breath anyway.

During his restless fit of sleep he dreamed of plunging the knife over and over again into Cheryl’s heart. In his dream, a little like in real life, she just wouldn’t die. But now, in the light of day, he felt a certain satisfaction and excitement at the thought of eliminating one of the big pains in his ass. But he had his story straight in his head for when cops came to ask when the last time he’d seen her was. He’d even practiced acting surprised, but not too surprised. He knew the cops were pretty sharp when interviewing people so he was prepared not to be shaken.

Right now he was in the northern part of the city, where a row of small cafes offered privacy and intimacy. He even had a small bouquet of flowers in his hand as he slipped into the front courtyard of the modest cafe. He saw her sitting under an umbrella waving to him.

He appreciated the beautiful smile and bright eyes as he said, “Hello, Lexie.”

Tony Mazzetti was afraid he’d missed something by moving at such a fast pace, but the sergeant had only approved a half day for this Sunday and he wanted to use it wisely. In this case she wasn’t being cheap and withholding overtime. She was actually showing some supervisory sense and encouraging him to get some rest and clear his head for the busy week ahead. She even told him she wanted him home and in bed by nine o’clock. Imagine someone imposing a curfew on a thirty-nine-year-old cop. Normally, he’d have balked at an order like that, but she scared the holy shit out of him and he had no doubt she’d kick his ass if he wasn’t in bed by nine. That was truly the mark of an outstanding sergeant.

He’d told Sparky Taylor to spend some time with his kids today and had a hard time telling Patty Levine to take the day off as well. She even told him she wanted to come as his girlfriend, not as another detective on the squad, while he went into the office and organized the most important tasks, then went to the medical examiner’s office to witness the autopsy. Mazzetti really did want Patty to rest, but some part of him didn’t want her in the same room with the cute, female medical examiner who’d asked him about working out earlier in the week. He knew it wasn’t right and it didn’t make him feel good, but it did keep him thinking about the medical examiner’s offer.

It was going to be a hell of a week.

Lauren Stallings loved these Sunday afternoon lunches with her grandfather. Not that she’d ever admit it. She liked playing the role of super-cool teenager. Today was even better because her grandmother sat next to her grandfather at the long table in the Pizza Kitchen on Atlantic Boulevard near the beach. She’d never seen her grandparents together and it felt like a party.

The shocking thing was that her mother had joined them and sat silently at the end of the table with Charlie on one side of her and Grandmother on the other side. Lauren’s father sat next to her and didn’t say much either.

Her grandfather was in the middle of one of his stories about life in the Navy. She studied his face, noting the small blemishes and scars. She knew he was an alcoholic and had spent a long time living in homeless shelters. The issue of alcohol and drug abuse on both her mother’s and father’s sides of the family made her worry about herself and her sister Jeanie. Were they genetically disposed to abuse issues? She missed her sister, especially on days like this when everyone was together. The gathered family made her loss more acute, as if Jeanie had disappeared last week instead of three years ago.

Now she looked at her father and saw the resemblance with her grandfather. Her father looked rugged and put on a tough facade, but he was actually fragile since Jeanie had disappeared. She’d caught him crying more than once and knew he prowled the Internet for any clues about her missing sister. Lauren realized her mother was almost the opposite. She looked frail emotionally, but she had proved to be tough. She’d asked her father to move out because of his obsession with his job and Jeanie. Lauren knew she wasn’t supposed to know any of that, but it was hard to keep secrets in a house. She didn’t think her father was hurting the family, but she wasn’t in her mother’s shoes. Marriage was complicated and she wasn’t sure it was something she wanted to try. Not based on what two decent people like her parents had gone through.

She leaned in close to her father and said, “Why don’t you go sit down near Mom?”

Her father turned and looked at her, a small smile spreading across his face. “I wish she wanted me to, but I like sitting here with you.”

“Will you ever be sitting next to her again?”

“I hope so.”

“Me too.”

Lauren decided to relax and enjoy the time she had with her family. She’d have plenty of time to worry about things later. She always did. This was a special day, she could feel it.

But she still missed Jeanie.

John Stallings felt a deep sense of satisfaction sitting at the table with most of his family. The tension he felt with Maria didn’t interfere with his enjoyment of having his mother, father, and both of his kids devour a gigantic vegetable pizza. He paid special attention to his father since his latest episode. He noticed the old man drank glass after glass of water and seemed to be tuned in at the moment, keeping everyone straight in his mind.

He also appreciated the broad smile on his mother’s face. She had raised him and his sister, Helen, almost as a single mother but didn’t get the credit. Between his long hours in the Navy yard at Mayport and his long nights drinking with his buddies, Stallings’s father had not been the ideal husband. But at this moment his mother didn’t seem to hold any grudges and neither would he.

James Stallings set down his tall glass of water and made some joke that caused Charlie to snort with laughter. Lauren started to cackle as well. She said, “I guess Dad didn’t inherit a sense of humor from you.”

The whole table erupted at that comment. Stallings’s father pounded the tabletop and said, “Your voice is very similar to Jeanie’s.”

That brought an immediate dead silence to their end of the restaurant.

Stallings said, “How do you know what she sounded like?”

“I remember. Even if she only visited me the two times.”

“I never brought her to see you. You and I didn’t speak during her entire life with us.”

“She came on her own. Two different times, about a week apart. Must’ve been a little over two years ago.”

Now everyone was staring at the elder Stallings. The old man seemed confused by the attention. Then he said, “The first time she came she was Jeanie, the second time she came as Kelly.”

“Who?”

“Kelly.”

“Who’s Kelly?”

The old man looked from Stallings to the kids and now seemed confused. “I don’t know anyone named Kelly. Why, is she supposed to meet us?”

Stallings didn’t know what to do. His instinct was to grill the old man, but he didn’t want to do it in front of the kids. But somewhere inside of him, he had the sense that his father was not confused or making up the story. Had he, in fact, had contact with Jeanie? Finally Stallings said, “Why haven’t you ever said anything about seeing Jeanie?”