S. Gorden - The Duce of Pentacles

And then the scene played back again, and again, and again...

Jim finally forgot when he felt his head being eased upon a soft shoulder by gentle hands.

* * * *

_The solitary light eases back the darkness. The hands silently turn over a card._

_A dark-cloaked man stands, head bowed. At his feet, three cups are spilled. Behind him are two cups still standing. In front of the man is a small stream. There is a bridge with a small keep on the other side._

The Five of Cups Shermon packed up his _new_ used car. A quick stop followed at the office of Jack Andrews, the school board's attorney, for his severance check. He thought the term severance was a joke. Why didn't everyone use the term for what it was, blackmail? It was common practice to give a principal or superintendent a large check when they were fired. He never understood why the public never complained about the cost. Shermon knew he had to leave before the police found enough evidence for an indictment on embezzlement. With Kawalski dead, he would skate free on the other charges.

He had very little bargaining pressure with the school board. He had started by asking for one hundred thousand dollars. Andrews countered with twenty-five thousand. Shermon then came back with the statement that both Andrews and the school board should have known about the _loss_ of funds.

After all, they signed all the necessary papers. Andrews then came up with the offer of fifty thousand.

Shermon thought for a while that he might have to settle for that when he remembered that Amy, Kawalski's secretary, had also signed all the paperwork. After reminding Andrews about the readymade scapegoat they had in Amy, he agreed to seventy-five thousand.

Shermon had insisted on a cashier's check for the money. He would drive out of state before cashing the check. He decided on South Dakota. The state had weak banking laws and a couple of the banks there were trying to get into interstate banking. Shermon knew he could use the bank to hide most of the money and keep only enough cash to let him disappear. Maybe, he should use a few thousand to hire a detective to try to find Nicole. She did have most of his savings, besides he wanted to see her one last time. She needed to be punished for running out on him. He knew exactly how he would punish her.

* * * *

Andrews was having a busy day. First that dirty little business with that scum, Shermon, in the morning and then the bulldog of a union lawyer at one o'clock in the afternoon. He relished the idea of screwing her, that uppity little bitch. She would have no idea that with Shermon safely out of state and Kawalski dead, they could ride out any suit brought against the board. To make sure she realized how weak her case had become, he would start by firing Lori Waithe. After all, there had to be something wrong with her character in order for a serial killer to mark her for death.

Andrew thought he was destroying Sandra until an hour into the meeting. That was when Wayne Johnson showed up, apologizing for being late.

"My wife, Vera, still isn't feeling too well after finding that body."

"Wayne, what are you doing here?"

"Didn't Ms. Thomas tell you? Our CPA firm has been retained by both the teacher's union and the State of Minnesota to run a complete audit of the school's finances. Would you believe it, Jack? The Attorney General himself called to make sure we started the audit right away!"

When Andrews looked again at Sandra, he expected to see a smile. Instead, all he saw was a grim face.

"Mr. Andrews, I think you will be busy for some time with Mr. Johnson. Why don't you call me tomorrow? And this time, you and the school board had better be a little more reasonable. After all, I'm just getting started working on this case. I would hate to be forced to stay up here away from my husband and kids for too long. I get a little cranky being away from my family for too extensive a period of time." She then leaned closer whispering, "Don't tell anyone, but my husband says I get down right bitchy if I'm gone for more than two weeks." In even a softer voice she continued, "Tomorrow it will be thirteen days since I've seen my family. Are you at all superstitious?"

This time she smiled and in a louder voice said, "I've got to leave now and call my husband. I usually try to call twice a day. Mr. Johnson, I'll be expecting a preliminary report before the end of the month. When I talked to the Attorney General yesterday, we both thought that would be a reasonable time frame.

"Good day."

* * * *

The two men from the district office pulled in at midmorning. They helped Mrs. Peterson load the back of the van with the family's personal belongings. At noon they were ready to leave for the Arizona retreat. Tom Peterson was still shut up in his back office. Mrs. Peterson knocked on the door.

"Honey? You remember I told you about the church retreat I wanted to go to? Well it is time to leave. The van is out front waiting. We are going to have a great time driving down. Two men from the district fellowship are also going to the retreat. It's going to be like a revival trip. Remember that crusade we went on when you were still in Bible College? Honey? Honey?"

They entered the dark room. One of the men questioned, "Tom? Tom? Your wife said you would lead a few choruses during the drive down. Tom?"

A mumble came from the back of the room. As they came closer they heard, "This little light of mine I'm going to make it shine. This little light of mine I'm going to make it shine... " They gently led him from the room as he continued to sing. They nearly made it to the van before he suddenly screamed, "God will defend the righteous! His damnation will fall on all sinners!" As suddenly as the screaming started he started to softly sing again, "This little light of mine I'm going to make it shine, shine, shine. This little light of mine... "

After they put him in the van, the men consoled Mrs. Peterson, "He'll be all right. We've made arrangements with the local churches along the way. He'll have a nice quiet room on every stop we make on the drive down."

They drove away. Somebody forgot to close the front door on the parsonage. It swung open a crack, an empty house hoping to be filled.

* * * *

It was late but it was also the far north. The sun hangs low over the horizon for hours after it has set for the rest of the lower forty-eight states. The extra daylight gives many northern dwellers a summer insomnia that lasts from late May to early July. Lori and Jim had just finished a supper meeting with their lawyer, Sandra. It was an hour later when Jim started his walk. There would be a couple more hours of bright sunlight followed by an extended period of twilight. Jim had been unable to stay confined indoors and had left Lori at her father's and had gone for a walk alone to think.

He felt cheated. The stories in the movies and books all ended with everything being all right after the bad guys were gone. From their talk with Sandra, Jim realized that both Lori's and his problems had, in many ways, just started. The mechanical action of his legs pumping up and down somehow gave his frustration a temporarily outlet. Sweat dripped into his eyes. He tried to wipe the burning sweat away but only succeeded in smearing his glasses, disrupting his vision further.

Jim pulled his shirt and glasses off. He used the wad of material to mop the sweat from his body. He found the only dry corner of his shirt, spat on his glasses, and patted them half way clean on the cotton material. As he wrapped the shirt around his head to keep the sweat from flowing into his eyes, he saw the truck. He knew immediately it was that pushy woman reporter. He laughed. Finally, something to do. Something he could actually do. There was a small public wooded area just a short ways down the road. He started walking to it.