Death and Deceit (14 page)

“Such a simple way of life,” he said pulling his eyes off hers and gazing out the station window. “The blessings of a peaceful countryside. Why do we strive for more?”
He looked back at Jessie. “I had grandparents there. Used to spend summers there.”

“Really? “What’s your name?”

“Ricardo Alvarez.”

Jessie hesitated then replied. “I don’t remember you.”

“We didn’t live in town...on the outskirts.” He laughed. “I’m way older than you. I didn’t hang around with babies.”

“You think? How old are you?”

“Twenty-seven.”

“You’re my brother’s age. Well, he’s twenty-six. Did you know him, Alan
Albright?”

“Don’t recall. Does he still live in Wakefield?”

“No, he’s out of province, but he’s home right now. Our...mother just passed away.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. I only spent a few summers there. Guess I never met
your brother. Night life in Wakefield wasn’t too exciting. Squeezing lemon on scallops seemed to be the most daring thing I ever saw anyone do there.”

Jessie laughed then looked at her watch. “I’ve got to get back to work. Do you think you can help me?”

“I’ll look this over and give it some thought. Too bad you didn’t have the messages...for clues that is. For all I know you could be making the whole thing up.”

“I’m definitely not!” Jessie shot back after rising from her chair. “Why would I do that?”

He put his hands up in defence. “Hey, don’t get so angry. I believe you. Give
me a call if it happens again
and
don’t erase it the next time, okay?”

Jessie felt hopeless. She’d thought the policeman was going to help. But he was
only bluffing it seemed. The woman officer had at least been direct and honest. Why
couldn’t men be like that instead of offering false hope?

She’d had a stressful afternoon. Even the psychological benefits usually derived
from her aerobic exercising hadn’t improved her mood or reduced her depression and
anxiety, as it usually did.

Seeing Kent waiting for her outside her apartment building was something she
certainly didn’t need right now. He had been standing with his back to the street and turned around when he heard her approach. “Oh, Jessie. I’m glad you’re finally home. I
have
to talk to you.”

“I don’t want to talk to you, Kent.” She attempted to enter the building, but Kent
reached out and caught her arm.

“Why are you doing this to me, Jessie? What have I done? That woman you saw
me with wasn’t a date. She was consulting me on her business computers.”

“Let go of me,” Jessie yelled. “I don’t care. I don’t trust you.”

“Why?” Kent’s exasperation sounded in his voice. He gripped her arm tightly.

“Let me go I said.” Jessie wrenched her arm away then rubbed it while she stood
facing him. Kent reached out to her again and Jessie backed away.

“I wouldn’t do that, fella.” Ricardo Alvarez seemed to have come from out of nowhere and stood behind Kent with one large hand clamped on Kent’s shoulder. He was a good few inches taller than Kent. Jessie relaxed. Although she felt protected finally by someone, she couldn’t help feeling a tiny bit sorry for Kent.

Kent pulled away from the officer’s hold. He turned to Jessie. “Is this your bodyguard?” His frustration had changed to anger. Before Jessie could respond he stomped off. Officer Alvarez stood with his huge arms folded.

“Thanks,” Jessie mumbled. “But he wouldn’t have hurt me.” Somehow she
instinctively felt it was a true statement.

“Didn’t look so good to me,” Alvarez said, chewing his gum slowly. “That your
boyfriend?”

“Not anymore.”

“Then he could be dangerous. Looks like he can’t let go.”

“He has to. I suspect him.”

“For what?”

“For being the stalker.”

“I see. Maybe we’d better talk about this.” He motioned for her to join him in
the cruiser. Inside he asked, “How about a cappuccino?”

Jessie drew a long sigh. “I don’t know, Mr. Alvarez, I shouldn’t. But I haven’t had supper.”

“Me neither...and it’s Rick, okay?”

Jessie’s instant relief in his company, along with his charming smile, made her feel
safe and comfortable. Suddenly she was hungry. “Okay,” she replied. “But this one’s on me…for saving me out there.”

Ricardo Alvarez drove away. “It’s my job, Ms Albright. “Protecting citizens, and fair young maidens.”

There was something vaguely familiar about him that Jessie couldn’t place. In
some ways he reminded her of her brother. Maybe some of the same expressions that took her back to Wakefield. She shrugged as they drove downtown. It was probably because Rick had spent time there as a child.

He pulled into a diner and escorted her to a booth near the back. The restaurant was almost filled up, but the waitress seemed to know Rick as if he’d dined there a lot.
She found a spot for them even though others were left waiting at the door.

“I’m impressed,” Jessie said smiling.

“You have a super smile, Ms Albright. Use it more.”

Jessie smiled again. “Please, call me Jessie.”

“Not Jessica?”

His smile was intoxicating. His dark brows arched and Jessie was taken in by his chivalry. Like a knight on a grand horse he’d appeared out of no where to save her from Kent.

“Jessie will do. Why were you at my apartment?”

“I had a call to that area,” he said smugly. “I was checking out a lead on drug
dealers.”

“Dealers? In my apartment building?”

“They’re everywhere, Jessie. Yes, even in respectable areas like yours. Watch
out for your neighbours. You can’t be too careful these days.”

Jessie certainly knew that. First she’d put her trust in Gary Burke, then in Kent.
Now here she was trusting Ricardo Alvarez. But he was different. He was a lawman. If you couldn’t trust a police officer, who could you trust?

They ordered from the menu. He chose spaghetti with meat balls while she chose a pasta with a fish sauce. Each drank a cappuccino while waiting for their food.
Suddenly his deep brown eyes shuttered as he studied her. “This old boyfriend of yours, why do you suspect him?”

With the relaxed atmosphere and a good cappuccino, Jessie almost forgot she was there on business. She looked across at the handsome officer and felt like she might be in an adventure movie. But the question he’d just imposed upon her brought her back to reality. The thought of Kent’s deception threw a grey blanket across their festive dinner table. She tensed.

“Just a feeling.”

Rick threw back his head in laughter. “A feeling? You’re basing all this on
woman’s intuition? I’m sorry,” he stopped laughing but looked amazed, “that’s hardly
concrete.”

Jessie was taken aback by his reaction. “I know,” she stammered. “And I might
be wrong. Liz thinks I’m wrong...even though she’s the one who alerted me to suspect
him in the first place.”

“Who’s Liz?”

“She’s my best friend. She knew Kent first. But now she thinks she was too
hasty in accusing him.”

“Have you confronted this...what’s his name?”

“Kent...Kent Morgan. And, no, I haven’t. I’ve been waiting for him to do
something. Looking for a sign or a clue. Liz even suggested I let him move in, and if I still get messages when he’s present, then it can’t be him.”

A smile creased his mouth. “Not a good idea,” he said.

“I didn’t think so either. But she seemed so convinced.” Jessie drummed her
fingers on the table and stopped talking, while the waitress placed their dinners before them. When she left, Jessie continued, “She seems as sure of his innocence now as she was of his guilt last week.”

“I’d say your friend, Liz, is grasping at straws.”

Jessie shrugged and dug into her pasta. Rick also concentrated on the meal and
shortly after he drove her home.

At her apartment door he pulled out a card and passed it to her. “My private number,” he said. “Call me anytime you’re threatened. Anytime, day or night. I live alone.”

Impressed again, Jessie called Liz as soon as she entered her apartment. But when
she told Liz about the policeman watching out for her, Liz objected.

“You shouldn’t have gone to the police, Jessie. That was a stupid thing to do.”

“Yeah? Well I feel better...safer.”

“Did you finger Kent?”

“I told him about Kent, yes.”
Liz let out a long sigh and Jessie had enough. “If you can’t see my side of things anymore, Liz, maybe we’d just better cool it for a while. Gotta go.”

She hung up seething. Later, lying in bed her confusion worsened. Liz’s reactions didn’t make sense. Jessie turned on her bed lamp and called her brother.

“How are things going, Alan? Any luck with the house?”

“Surprisingly, yes. A couple of people are already interested in buying. Are you
available if I come get you some weekend to help me clean out the personal stuff? That
is if a sale goes through.”

“Of course. It has to be done sooner or later anyway. Sale or no sale.”

“Do you think Liz would come to?”

“I don’t know.” She hesitated to fill Alan in on her recent disagreement with Liz.
He didn’t even know about the stalking, and she wasn’t ready to tell him. It was something she intended to handle on her own, or now with the help of Ricardo Alvarez.
“Why? Do you want to see her again?”

“I’d like to. But we live pretty far apart for a relationship at the moment. What did she say about me?”

Jessie laughed and teased him. “She never mentioned you again.”

“Really? I kind of thought she liked me.”

“Oh, Alan, I’m kidding. She does like you. Even in the sadness at home I could
see that. Come and visit me. You have a good excuse then to see her.”

Jessie’s light heart turned heavy when she put down the receiver. The thought of
their childhood home being owned by strangers saddened her. There would be few, if
any reasons then to ever visit Wakefield again.

Because Liz phoned at work and begged her forgiveness, Jessie met her for lunch.
“I talked to Alan last night,” Jessie said.

A wide grin spread over Liz’s face. “Did he ask about me?”

“Yep, he sure did. How much do you like my brother? I mean, could it get
serious?”

Liz smiled again. “It depends on him. He’s kinda far away for me to chase him.”

Jessie laughed. “He’s coming to visit me soon. I’ll call you over.”

Liz looked at Jessie and apologized. “I was out of line last night. Tell me about
this cop. Why is he so interested in you?”

“It’s not me, Liz. It’s the case. He hates e mail intruders. His name is Ricardo Alvarez and he spent summers
in Wakefield. You could say we have something in common.”

Liz sighed. “I feel sorry for Kent.”

“Well, don’t. He showed up at my place last night, and when I tried to go in my
apartment he grabbed me. Good thing Rick showed up.”

“Come on Jessie,” Liz urged, “Kent wouldn’t hurt you.” Then as the realization
of what Jessie had just said set in, Liz’s eyes bugged. “You’re on a first-name basis with this cop?” she asked incredulously.

“We had dinner together,” Jessie replied nonchalantly.

Liz sat back startled. “Whoa. Now I’ve heard everything. He’s a fast mover.”

“It was business, Liz. And we both had to eat.”

“Oh yeah?” Liz sneered a little and that was it for Jessie.

“I’ve had it. You either stop butting in or get on my side. Remember who
accused Kent in the first place.” It was all Jessie could take. Friend or not she had to
duck out. Liz’s attitude lately was too much for her to handle along with the stress of
her mother’s death, and the impending chance that the next time she checked her e mail
another sordid message would appear.

Back at the club, Jessie tried hard to keep her mind on work. With her feet
planted firmly, toes facing forward, she let her arms drop loosely to her sides. She felt
her pulse racing already, and she tried to calm herself with some deep rhythmical breathing. The music began, Donna Summer sang
Bad Girl
, and Jessie, followed by her class, picked up her left foot and leg, raised them high then followed with the right. Up and down, up and down, the class watching, mimicking as she marched forward then back, swaying and moving with the music. Her breathing increased and she realized she
was pushing her class a little harder than usual. Rotating her head from her left to right shoulders, she noticed some of the red-faced ladies looking at her curiously, but no one questioned her speed or fanatic exuberance.