Curtains (14 page)

“
It’ll be an
investment.”

Some investment
, he thought. His in-laws wouldn’t treat their investment with
any respect. Besides being a liability with money, they lived like
slobs. Every house they’d rented ended up looking like a war zone.
They never once had a security deposit returned by a
landlord.

“
And how do you suggest we finance
this twilight home for your parents?” he asked.

“
We can use the equity we’ve built
in this home and take out a second mortgage.”

“
A second mortgage! Are you crazy?
We’ve slogged our guts to get rid of that second mortgage and you
want to put us back into that hole? I’m sorry, no.”

“
Richard, my parents will be on
streets unless we come through for them.” Michelle started
sobbing.

Richard plopped down in the chair next to Michelle
and slipped an arm around her shoulders. He squeezed her to him.
“Let me take a look at the situation and work through the
figures.”

Michelle threw her arms around him. “Thank you,
Richard. I love you so much. I knew you’d make it work.”

Richard spent the rest of the evening with a legal
pad and calculator working through the various Ted and Eleanor
rescue packages. Letting them move in was the cheapest option. He
could see it was going to cost them a few hundred a month.
Underwriting their rent was pricey. He was looking at dropping at
least a grand a month to keep them housed. Buying a second home was
the option he liked most, because there was some return on their
sacrifice. But it would stretch their finances to the limit. They
could say goodbye to the Hawaiian vacation they’d promised each
other. In fact, they could kiss goodbye any luxuries for the next
decade. Michelle wandered into the kitchen.

“
Are you coming to bed, babe? It’s
after one.”

Richard checked his watch. He hadn’t realized. He
was tired, but not from the lack of sleep. Michelle sat at the
table next to him and picked up his notes.

“
How’s it look?”

“
Expensive.”

Michelle sighed and ran a hand through her tangled
hair.

“
Sorry.” Richard tried to smile.
Michelle did likewise. “I think we could cobble something
together,” he said.

“
That’s great!”

“
It’ll be tight, though. We’ll no
longer be in the position to reward ourselves--the chance to see
the world, early retirement--kids.” He let that one linger. “It’s
all gone now, if we go through with this.”

She didn’t hesitate. “Okay.” She nodded. “What do we
have to do?”

“
Well, you know how I feel about
them living here.”

“
Let’s not go there.”

“
We could pay their rent for them,
but we’d just be pouring money down the drain. However, we can just
about afford to buy a small house.”

Michelle beamed.

“
It wouldn’t be anything fancy and
probably wouldn’t be in the best neighborhood, but I think we could
do it.”

“
I knew you’d work something
out.”

“
I wouldn’t be too happy. Maui is
out of the question.”

She flung her arms around him and crushed him in her
excitement. “I don’t care.”

“
Well, I hope you don’t care too
much about cable TV, dinners out, going to the movies, name brand
foods or any new clothes.”

“
I don’t.”

“
For all the fuss your parents have
caused, it would be cheaper to have them killed.”

And there it was. He’d said it--admittedly as a
joke. It was an option, though--an option he hadn’t consciously
considered. It was a solution, an answer to his problematical
in-laws. Michelle was too wrapped up in the moment and hadn’t heard
his joke. She cooed sweet nothings into his ear.

By just thinking of having Ted and Eleanor killed,
he was crossing a line, but as much as he hated to admit it, it was
a line he crossed knowingly. His murderous thought seemed extreme.
He couldn’t share it with Michelle--that was for sure. But it would
solve things. If he bankrolled Ted and Eleanor, he incurred their
current debt and at least ten to twenty years of their yet to be
squandered debt. Even long after his in-laws were dead, they would
still be gnawing at his finances. With compound interest, he
wouldn’t be free of their touch for at least forty years. It was
inconceivable. Murderers didn’t serve that kind of time. He
struggled to see the downside, pushing morality aside. He leaned
back in his chair, letting the concept soak in.

“
Come on, let’s go to bed.”
Michelle grabbed his hand and tugged at him. “I want to
celebrate.”

“
In awhile,” he said with a thin
smile. “I want to double-check a couple of things.”

Michelle stood. “Okay, but don’t take too long about
it.”

“
Okay.”

He watched her dance back to bed,
while he contemplated
killing her
parents.

***

A restless night’s sleep hadn’t tempered his
solution--it had reinforced it. He was going to kill his in-laws.
It had been three a.m. before he’d gone to bed. He’d sat in the
kitchen daydreaming, plotting their demise. While in bed, he’d
tossed and turned--excited by the prospect. Stronger than caffeine,
his ingenious idea kept him awake. Even in his unsettled sleep, he
dreamed of murdering his burdensome in-laws. Surprisingly, he’d
risen the following morning in fine fettle. He felt like a million
bucks.

Leaning against the sink, munching on a bowl of
cereal, Richard asked as casually as he could, “When’s your mom and
dad’s eviction date?”

“
Don’t say eviction.”

Hell, what was he meant to call it? Their
involuntary departure due to irreconcilable payment terms? Eviction
wasn’t a pretty word and it wasn’t meant to be. That was the name
of the game. He tried again.

“
Okay, when do they have to move
out?”

“
By the
20
^th
, I
think. Can I tell them the wonderful news?”

“
Hold off for now. I need to get
the mortgage broker to double-check my figures.”

“
Okay.” Michelle smiled. She was so
happy. Oh well, it couldn’t be helped. “Maybe tonight?”

“
Maybe.” He smiled back.

I’ve got until the
20th
, he thought on the commute to
work.
I’ve got two weeks to kill
them
.

Deciding to kill Ted and Eleanor was one thing.
Doing it was another. He had to decide how, when and where.
Inspiration wasn’t on the right wavelength. Nothing coming through
sounded workable. He wandered through his working day as a
passenger, cruising past his responsibilities. At lunch, he made
the obligatory phone call to the mortgage broker and realtor, and
they set them in motion. He went home that evening with his cover
story, but no plan for murder. Inspiration was waiting for him in
the living room.

“
Richard, you don’t know how much
we appreciate what you’re doing,” Ted said.

“
Very generous,” Eleanor
echoed.

“
I couldn’t wait, honey. I had to
tell them. Please don’t be angry.”

“
I’m not angry,” Richard said, his
blood boiling. “There’s nothing to be angry about.”

“
Richard, you’re my son now. What
you’ve done for us elevates you way above in-law
status.”

God forbid me ever being of your
blood, you useless SOB
. Richard shook Ted’s
proffered hand, smiling as broadly as his anger and irritation
allowed. “Thanks, Ted. That means so much coming from
you.”

“
We can go house hunting together,”
Eleanor suggested. “Make it a real family affair.”

Over my dead
body
, Richard thought. “Let’s not get too
ahead of ourselves.”

“
We should celebrate,” Ted
announced. “Go out to dinner. How’s that sound?”

“
Sounds great, dad,” Michelle
said.

“
Great,” Richard agreed.

They went for a steak dinner. Ted
suggested Outback. Richard said Sizzler, because it was nearer--and
cheaper. He knew he would be picking up the tab
--
and he did. Their last meal
together might be on him, but it didn’t have to be an expensive
one.

He was glad to get home after seeing off his
in-laws. The meal together had been good, though. It made his
decision so much easier. Seated face to face with them, he felt no
compunction to hand them a stay of execution, but they’d been a
distraction. He couldn’t think seriously about killing them when
they were jabbering away in front of him. Their inane chatter
prevented him from concentrating. Michelle slipped her arms around
his waist.

“
Thanks,” she said.

“
For what?”

“
You know.” Her face filled with
sadness. “I’m sorry we argued last night.”

He pulled her to him and hugged her tight. “It’s all
right. We’ve got a solution now. Last night is forgotten.”

“C’mon, soldier. We’ve got some unfinished business
in the bedroom. Let’s go.”

***

For Michelle’s benefit, Richard pretended to go to
work. He went through the usual morning routine of his shower,
shave and light breakfast. The moment he hit the road he called the
office requesting a floating holiday. He had to think and he
couldn’t do that with Michelle around or the interruptions at work.
He stopped in at the first Denny’s he came across. Much to the
hostess’ annoyance, he insisted on a booth rather than eating at
the counter. He didn’t want the conversation. He ordered and gazed
out the window at the freeway traffic whipping by below him.

Two restless nights and he still wanted to kill Ted
and Eleanor. He was sold on the concept, but not on his morality.
He told himself that he wasn’t evil. It was self-defense.
Justifiable homicide. His livelihood was under threat and he
couldn’t let that happen. He had to do something about it. Any
notion that he was just another criminal dissolved with his first
cup of Denny’s coffee.

He needed a killer, a hit man, but
where was he going to find one? He didn’t have a clue. Even if he
did find one, how the hell would he know if he’d found a good one?
It wasn’t like he could pick up a copy of this month’s issue
of
Best Buy--the Hired Killer
addition
. No, he couldn’t count on an
assassin. It was a stupid idea. He wasn’t a mobster, for God’s
sake.

He examined his hands, turning them over and
inspecting the calluses on his palms. He was good with his hands.
He always had been. There wasn’t anything he couldn’t turn his
talents to for professional results. He would treat Ted and
Eleanor’s death like any other DIY project. He would kill them
himself.

He warmed to the idea instantly.
What would be a suitable death for Ted and Eleanor? He had to come
up with something that would be befitting of
their lifestyle.
Lifestyle, what a
joke
. Style was one thing absent from their
lives. His waitress brought his breakfast.

He trawled through his cheesy and greasy choice. Ted
& Eleanor’s neighborhood wasn’t the best. It was way better
than it had been the year before they moved in, but it was still
tarnished by its reputation. Drug dealers and felons were still a
common sight. A home invasion wasn’t out of character. He
considered the scenario for a moment and dismissed it just as
quickly. Home invasions were noisy and messy and required planning
and more than one person. It wasn’t going to work.

“
Simple solutions are usually the
best remedy.”

“Huh?”

Richard’s waitress smiled and refilled his coffee
cup. “You seem to be trying to solve a weighty problem. People
always complicate things. Most of time, the simplest solutions are
the best ones.”

Richard managed a smile. “You know what? I think
you’re right.”

“I know I’m right,” she said and moved on to the
next table.

He finished up his meal and paid the check, leaving
an over-generous tip. His coffeepot philosopher had been right.
Simple was best. Getting back into his car, a plan was piecing
itself together.

Richard parked on Hillcrest Drive. The road was
deserted. Not many used the service road to the water plant. He
stared down the hill at the run down development and particularly,
at Ted and Eleanor’s rental home backing onto the hillside.

From his lofty vantage point, there seemed to be no
activity. Eleanor would be at work, but Ted would be there,
pottering around, trying to make one of his damn fool schemes
succeed. Even in Richard’s short marriage to their daughter,
there’d been too many. There was the property speculation deal--buy
cheap properties with no money down and give them a quick makeover
for a quick profit. The upshot had been a string of expensive home
inspections that proved that cheap houses are cheap for a reason.
Not being daft enough to buy a termite-infested shack, Ted had
moved on to want ads, selling junk that no one wanted. Their garage
was still chock full of trash. Buying cars from auctions to sell
had been next. The city had confiscated six jalopies after multiple
complaints from the neighbors. His current fad was telemarketing.
Richard had no idea how that one worked…neither did Ted, in all
honesty.