Scott Wittenburg - The May Day Murders

“Then you know how absolutely marvelous it is!”

Ann began fidgeting with the swimsuit, still in the box. “I’d love to, Jerry, but it’s getting late. I told Amy that I’d be home by ten o’clock and she may need me to pick her up at her friend’s house if she doesn’t decide to spend the night there.”

Jerry glanced at the wall clock and said, “It’s only seven now. We can hit the tub and have plenty of time to get you home by ten.”

Ann thought it over a moment. “All right, you win.”

She took out the swimsuit and looked it over. “It’s lovely, Jerry. I hope it fits. Where can I change?”

Jerry smiled broadly. “Up in the bedroom if you’d like. You won’t regret this-I promise! I’ll just change down here and get the tub ready in the meantime.”

Ann couldn’t help but smile to herself at Jerry’s boyish enthusiasm. He was acting like a little kid who had just gotten that baseball glove he’d wanted so much for his birthday.

“Okay, I’ll be back in a few minutes,” she said, getting up from the table.

Once inside Jerry’s bedroom, Ann took the swimsuit into the master bath and began removing her clothes. She didn’t know if it was the two glasses of wine or her not wanting to disappoint Jerry that prompted her to agree to this rather odd idea. But the more she though about it, the more she realized that she was actually looking forward to it. It was all quite harmless, really, and besides, she had always been crazy about hot tubs. In fact, she and Sam had owned one and she used to literally spend hours soaking in it whenever she felt tense or just plain wanted to relax and read a good book. Ann suddenly realized just how much she had missed it in all this time since they had sold the house.

Ann laid her clothes in a neat pile on the floor and slipped into the suit. It fit perfectly. As she looked in the mirror at her lily-white skin, she suddenly wished she had known she was going to be wearing a bathing suit in October and she would have paid a visit to the tanning salon. Oh well, she thought. At least the suit did her body justice in the way it clung perfectly. She marveled at Jerry’s taste in choosing the suit. Not only was she fond of lavender, her favorite color, but the suit fit as if it had been custom tailored for her.

Ann straightened up her hair a little and started to leave but stopped herself, realizing that she was going to feel a bit odd going back downstairs to face Jerry practically naked. She grabbed a bath towel off the rack and draped it over her shoulders.

On the way out of the bedroom, something caught her eye and Ann froze in her tracks. There was a small portion of clothing sticking out from between the sliding closet doors that looked familiar. She went over, slid open the door and saw the sleeve of the very same jacket Jerry had worn the night before. It was hanging up along with an entire wardrobe of clothing; a wardrobe that seemed just a little too extensive to be stowed away at one’s weekend retreat. She quickly rifled though the clothes and recognized two of the shirts she’d seen Jerry wear since she’d first met him. Something now puzzled her: why had he spent last night here instead of at his home in Dublin? The jacket all but proved that he had.

She slid the door closed. Either Jerry was merely leading her to believe that he spent little time in this fully stocked, fully furnished country hideaway or he was flat out lying to her. This place not only had that same lived in feeling that any other full time residence emanated but no one in this right mind would store their entire wardrobe at a location that was over an hour and a half drive from where they lived and worked.

Did Jerry Rankin even own a home in Dublin?

She had never once driven by to see his house in all this time – she had never felt any reason to…

A thought suddenly occurred to her and she began feeling foolish. She had phoned Jerry twice and both times he had answered the phone. The number she’d dialed had been the local number he had listed on his business card. Placing a call out here in God’s country would most certainly have been a long distance call, if he even had a phone here. Ann couldn’t recall seeing a phone during her grand tour.

A cellphone… That would explain some of this She shrugged. Why was she suddenly being so suspicious of Jerry Rankin? This is ridiculous! she thought. And what difference did it make if he had spent the night here last night? It wasn’t any of her business, anyway.

Ann turned and left the bedroom. When she reached the first floor, she saw Jerry out in the solarium kneeling down and fiddling with the controls for the hot tub. He was wearing a pair of jockey-style bathing trunks. She slid the door open and stepped out into the solarium.

Jerry glanced over at her expectantly. “How do you like the suit? Let me see it!”

Ann smiled bashfully before removing the bath towel from her shoulders.

“It looks wonderful!” Jerry exclaimed, eying her from head to toe. “Lord, Ann, you sure have one gorgeous body!”

Ann wasn’t sure why she blushed, but she did.

“Thanks,” she replied.

She suddenly felt stark naked as she noticed Jerry’s eyes scrutinizing her body-something he did without reserve or hesitation. Ann felt the impulse to cover herself up but managed to stifle it. Jerry shut the door panel and walked over to her. When she saw how tanned and muscular Jerry looked in his brief bathing suit, Ann began feeling a little less self conscious about her own near nakedness but at the same time wished to Christ her skin wasn’t so damn bone-white.

Jerry reached down and skimmed his hand over the water.

“Ah, just right! I brought out our wine as well-just in case we get thirsty.”

Ann glanced over at the wine bottle and decided that a little more wine might get her a little more in the mood for this.

“It’s a little chilly in here,” she declared, pouring herself a glass.

Jerry followed suit. “Normally it isn’t this cool in here during the day. But once that sun goes down, it does get a bit nippy this time of year. The water is good and warm, though!”

Ann smiled, took a sip and looked around. It was dark as pitch outside now but the solarium was bathed in a warm glow from the tiny track lights mounted strategically along the perimeter of the structure. There was a cozy, almost surreal atmosphere created by the dim lights, the potted tropical plants and the steady low hum of the motor as it churned the chlorinated water around in the tub. She took another sip and soon felt her longing to soak in the hot tub return.

She set her glass down resolutely and eyed Jerry. “Let’s go in!”

Jerry nodded and made a gesture for Ann to get in first, which she did. The water was just right as she waded over to one of the seats and eased herself down into the hot, swirling water.

“It feels wonderful!” she gushed.

Jerry plopped down beside her. “Absolute heaven!”

“This was a great idea, Jerry,” Ann declared, leaning her head back and staring up at the night sky through the glass ceiling.

“I had a feeling you would approve.”

Ann closed her eyes, feeling the warm pulsating jets of water rushing against her body. She had always enjoyed long baths for as long as she could remember-so soothing and relaxing at times that she would sometimes actually allow herself to drift off to sleep. She recalled a particular evening while she was in high school that she had actually fallen asleep for a full hour before a noise outside the bathroom window had suddenly awoken her. She had been grateful for the “wake-up call” because she’d had a final to take the following morning and hadn’t yet begun studying for it.

She heard Jerry stand up and opened her eyes. “I’m getting my wine-would you like yours?”