Chapter 24

958 words

When he got back in the car, Buzz forgot Adam was with him. His mind was churning out ideas and pictures, one after another...Trudy's naked breasts, John's bald head, would Trudy ever give him the time of day again. Did her husband suspect? Did he really give a damn? And he'd completely forgotten their date until that moment when the door opened and he saw her face. No wonder she was pissed. But if she couldn't take the demands of his job, hey, who needed her?

"Dad, there's something I gotta tell you about Mom."

"Huh?" he asked. He barely heard the boy.

"It's Mom, Pop. She was acting funny when I left."

"Funny? What do you mean?"

"She was playing the piano, only weird like."

Buzz shot him a glance. "Adam, I've never known your mother to play the piano. We only got the thing so you could learn."

"Dad, she can play. I didn't think so either. But tonight I heard. And then she got really weird, playing real fast like."

"Son, if you're lying to me, your bum's gonna meet my hand in a good spanking."

"I'm not. It's why I left. I got scared."

"If that's the excuse you're giving me for being out of the house at ten o'clock at night, I'm not buying it."

"I'm not lying," Adam said.

When they got home, Buzz sent Adam to his room. There was no reasoning with the boy. He went to the kitchen to grab a sandwich. Somehow he'd managed to skip dinner tonight. Jeannie wasn't in the kitchen. In fact, Jeannie was nowhere to be seen. He checked the bedroom and she was sound asleep.

He went back to making his sandwich, stacking cheese and lunch meat, lettuce and tomato sky high stuffed between two fat slices of Italian bread. He was about to take the first bite when he paused with the sandwich mid air. He may as well deal with it. Dropping the sandwich, he flipped out his cell phone and pressed speed dial.

It rang and a woman answered. "Hullo." It was Trudy sounding more moody than usual.

"Hey Babe!" He murmured into the phone. "I'm sorry about tonight. I've been working on this really big case, and I lost track of time. The next thing I knew I got a call about the boys. You know the rest."

He had hardly finished when she blurted in. "You son of a bitch! Who do you think you're dealing with? I'm not some bimbo you can stand up. Damn it! I deserve better!"

The line went dead. She'd hung up on him. He stared at the phone, shaking his head before pocketing the device.

"She'll come around," he said, lifting the sandwich for the first glorious bite. He gobbled it up, washing it down with a glass of beer, yawned, stretched, and headed for bed. He'd already forgotten about Trudy. He undressed down to his underwear and crawled into bed, his big frame stressing out the springs and making the old contraption shake. Jeannie shifted to the other side as though he woke her.

He leaned over and put a hand on her shoulder. "Jeannie, do you play the piano?" he asked.

"Of course not, dear! You know that." The words had hardly come out before she was asleep again.
***
Jake Leichenstein, or Jake as his friends called him, rolled over for the umpteenth time. He wondered if that drunk was a cop. It just seemed a little weird the way that guy fell into the middle of his action all of a sudden. And then damn, his gun flew out into full view. That pretty much ruined it for him. He almost had the boys convinced until the drunk came along. He'd have to find some other kids. He craved young flesh and the need wasn't getting any easier with each passing hour.

Damn! He could have kept those boys here for a while, used them to his heart's content. And then when he was finished, he could have stabbed them in their sleep and buried them...like he did those other kids. He would have buried each boy in a separate place though, so no one got suspicious, so no one realized they'd died together. The killing, handling the corpses, putting them in the ground...he relished it almost more than the sex itself. "I love the smell of death in the morning," he joked. Thankfully, he wouldn't have any smart ass mothers to dispose of, like that last time. Just his luck to have a parent come around snooping.

***
Once Gil was certain the boys were safe, he'd set out looking for Jake. There were a string of bars along the highway where he last saw the guy. He stopped in one filthy, smoky dive after another and showed a mug shot, but no one had seen him. He had about given up when at the last bar left to try, a dame knew the guy in the picture.

"He eats here every day for supper. And after, I seen him go across the road there to the Travelers Rest Motel. I think he might take a room by the month there. He goes in and out a lot." The speaker was a waitress, buxom and brainless, cute young thing though. He made a mental note to stop back again and finagle a date if he could. With a nod to her he left to hit the motel desk and ask some questions.

"Yeah, he's in number 7," the desk clerk said.

Gil nodded. He was pleased. He could see the motel room entrance from the highway. No problem. It was a time for a stake out.