The Ups and Downs of Being Dead (11 page)

In fact, Martin would probably do his best to make sure
Robbie did some time. It could jumpstart the whole drug rehab plan. Robert
smiled.

But suddenly, Morgan wrapped her hand around Robbie’s.
Robert heard the crinkle of plastic, saw Morgan wedge her finger into the
trigger. There was a short struggle as she fought to swing Robbie’s arm toward
the bed. Then a single blast cracked in the quiet night.

Robert gasped in disbelief.

The gunshot woke Amanda with a start. She was faced away
from the door, so when Martin groaned and slumped onto her, she was still
groggy and didn’t understand.

“Martin?” she grumbled, and pushed on his chest to roll him
off. Then she drew a hand away, saw the blood and screamed.

“Jesus Christ!” Robbie shouted.

Amanda jerked her head around and froze. She stared at
Robbie, at the gun, at Morgan, her mouth wide in shock. Martin struggled to
rise, and lurched again toward the drawer. Morgan yanked the gun out of
Robbie’s hand and fired again. Amanda’s piercing scream wailed like a siren.

With quick strides, Morgan crossed the room to the bed.

“Shut up!” She pressed the plastic-covered gun against
Amanda’s temple.

“No!” Robbie shrieked. “What are you doing? You said the gun
wasn’t loaded.”

“Well, it’s a damn good thing it was. Did you see that prick
dive? He was going for a gun.” Morgan yanked open the bedside drawer and then
nodded like she’d known all along. “He’d have shot us both, no questions
asked.”

Robbie began to tremble. “I don’t think…”

“What did you think he was looking for?” Morgan snapped.
“Condoms? He was feeling frisky and wanted to fuck your mother?”

Robert’s thoughts seemed to crackle and spark, as though his
mind could not compute what was happening.

Robbie stood nearby, quaking, blubbering, “Don’t, Morgan.
Don’t.”

Amanda sobbed and Morgan shouted at both of them to shut up.
She pushed Martin’s limp body away, then dragged Amanda out of the bed by her
hair. She was naked, too. Robbie turned away.

“Congratulations, Robbie!” Robert yelled. “You happy now?”

Using the gun, Morgan pointed at a robe tossed on a chair.

“Put that on,” she snarled at Amanda before turning to
Robbie. “Get it together, you dumb shit. You just caught your mom fucking the
dickhead that was going to send you to rehab.”

“I know.” Robbie wailed. Then using the heels of his hands,
he wiped away the tears in his eyes. He turned on Amanda. “How could you? With
Martin of all people? Jesus, Mother.”

Amanda was too afraid to speak. All she could do was clutch
the robe tightly to her waist. Blood from Martin soaked through the silk.

“Your husband’s attorney.” Morgan clicked her tongue.
“That’s like fucking his business partner. Or his brother.”

“Did Dad know you were cheating on him?” Robbie asked. “Is
that why he cut us off?”

“That’s probably why he wants to come back,” Morgan fueled
Robbie’s indignation. “He’s hoping his next wife won’t be a fucking whore.”

Amanda’s tousled hair swung from side to side as she shook
her head, her face contort with anguish. And the longer she remained silent,
the bolder Robbie grew.

“Were you fucking Martin to get more of Dad’s estate?”
Robbie hesitated, as though an idea was fighting its way to the surface. “Wait
a minute. He was going to get the will thrown out, but you weren’t going to
tell me. You were going to keep it all for yourself.”

“You bitch!” Morgan tossed in.

Amanda’s voice was low and raspy. “That’s not true, Robbie.”

“Get over to that safe and open it up,” Robbie yelled.
“Right now.”

Morgan waved the gun for emphasis.

After one last glance back at Martin’s lifeless body on the
bed, Amanda stumbled to the armoire, and the safe. She opened the double doors
of the cabinet with trembling fingers.

Robert remembered when she’d insisted on cutting away the
back of the armoire so the wall safe would open just above a shelf. That way,
Amanda could spread out all her pretty baubles before choosing what she wanted
to wear. She’d had halogen lights added so she could see the stones true colors
before deciding.

For the first time in years, the shelves were cleared. And
when Amanda pulled the handle on the safe, Robert could see all the velvet
trays and flannel drawstring bags tossed haphazardly inside, no doubt at
Martin’s suggestion.

“It’s not what you think,” she told Robbie. “Martin and I
love…”

“Shut the fuck up!” Robbie screamed.

“Stop lying!” Morgan shoved Amanda so hard she tumbled to
the floor. “You better just shut the fuck up before Robbie gets even madder.”

Amanda seemed genuinely startled by Robbie’s behavior. Didn’t
she remember all the times Robbie had lashed out against people he thought had
wronged him? Like the time he turned in a science project that Amanda had done
for him. The teacher gave him a failing grade, said she knew he hadn’t done the
work himself. He got mad and smashed the project right in front of the woman.
But that wasn’t enough for Robbie. The next day, when the teacher got to her
classroom, she’d found all the tropical fish in her aquarium dead. Naturally,
she accused Robbie. And Robert was sure he’d done it. But Amanda refused to
believe her golden boy could do anything like that. Maybe she was finally
getting it now.

A whimper distracted Morgan, and she glanced over at Robbie.
He was quickly losing steam.

“Start filling that bag,” she snapped. “You just became one
rich motherfucker.”

Robbie’s face had a pasty hue; his hand shook as he unzipped
the duffle bag. He pulled the top velvet tray out of the safe that had been
wedged in at an angle.

Nestled on the black fabric was the David Yurman amethyst
necklace Robert had bought Amanda when she accepted his marriage proposal. The
next tray held several Chopard necklaces, another was piled with Unsworth and
Baccarat bracelets.

“Jesus Christ!” Morgan gasped as she watched the jewels
tumble into the bag. “I may have to keep a couple of those.”

She snatched the Damiani coiled bracelet from its tray: ten
diamonds alternating with black pearls to commemorate Robert and Amanda’s first
ten years of marriage. He remembered how Martin had insisted Robert buy her
something special. But her arm was so fat, she had to have the coils reshaped
so the bracelet would fit.

With his teeth, Robbie pulled open a drawstring bag and
nodded for Morgan to open her hand. A cascade of rings flowed into her palm.
Castaways that no longer warranted a slot in a jewelry tray.

Each twinkle of a diamond brought a little more color to
Robbie’s cheeks. And when he flipped open the lid on the Zambian emerald and
diamond necklace, Morgan gasped.

“Dear God!” she chortled at Amanda. “You must have taken it
in the ass for that one!”

Plucking it up gently with his fingers, Robbie gazed at the
necklace. His shoulders tipped and his legs wobbled. He had to take a small
step back to keep from falling. Was some fragment of reality finally sinking in?
That particular necklace was insured by Lloyd’s of London. Even if Amanda
didn’t go after Robbie and Morgan, the insurance company would.

The duffle slipped from Robbie’s hand and fell to the floor.
An instant later, Robbie dropped to his hands and knees and vomited on the
white carpeting.

Was he finally realizing how this was going to end?

“Jesus, Robbie,” Morgan said. “Don’t barf on the goods.”

Squatting down, Morgan jerked the necklace out of Robbie’s
clenched fist and tossed it into the bag.

“Why don’t you take the bag and go start the car,” she said
quietly. “I’ll grab our stuff.”

She helped Robbie to his feet and gave him a nudge toward
the door.

“No!” Robert yelled, running ahead, holding out his arms to
keep Robbie from leaving. “Stay here! You can’t be that much of a coward.”

But Robbie’s eyes had that dull vapid stare of someone who
had shut down. Lowering his head, he trudged out of the room without a
backwards glance.

The moment he was gone, Morgan grabbed Amanda’s arm and
yanked her to her feet.

“Hey!” Morgan yelled, turning toward the door so Robbie
would be sure to hear. “What are you doing?”

Then she pulled Amanda against her, wedged the gun between
them, and shot Amanda in the chest.

Robert cried out in horror. “No!”

Amanda’s body started tumbling backwards, but Morgan grabbed
her by the shoulders and acted as a counter weight, pulling Amanda down on top
of her.

By the time Robbie dashed into the room, Morgan was
struggling to get Amanda’s body off.

“Jesus!” she grunted. “Your mom attacked me! She tried to
get the gun away, and it just went off.”

Morgan rolled slowly to her knees, then looked up at Robbie,
her eyes actually tearing up, her lips in an exaggerated frown. “I’m so sorry,
Robbie. I didn’t mean for this to happen.” She even bowed over Amanda lifeless
body sprawled on the floor and brushed a lock of hair out of her face. “Please
forgive me.”

Furious, Amanda sat up. “What are you talking about? You
shot me!”

She slapped at Morgan’s hands before scrambling to her feet.

“How could you be so stupid?” Amanda shouted as she stomped
toward Robbie. “Didn’t you realize what she was going to do?”

But Robbie stared right through her.

“Why would she try to fight you?” he asked Morgan.

“I guess those diamonds meant more to her than you did.
Maybe she thought if she got the gun, she could get her precious jewels back.”

“Who do you think you are?” Wheeling around, Amanda charged
at Morgan but instead of knocking her down, she passed right through her. The
sensation made her so dizzy, she tottered.

She gripped her head, like she was trying to stop the
spinning. Her eyes roamed from Robbie, to Morgan, and then at her hands.
Shaking her head, she glanced back up and for the first time, Amanda saw
Robert.

Her jaw slowly sank, her eyebrows tightened into a furrow.

“Oh, no,” she whispered, her hands flailing to wave him
away. “You can’t be here.”

“I’m sorry, Amanda.”

“No!” she shouted. She swung an arm to club Morgan, but it
never made contact. She screamed Robbie’s name but he didn’t hear.

With a groan, she faced Robert. “I can’t be dead.”

He shrugged and took a step in her direction to offer some
comfort, but she backed away.

“You bastard!” she said. “This is all your fault!”

“My fault!? You’re the one who let him get away with
murder.” Robert bobbled his head at the obvious pun.

“You think this is funny?” she screeched as she slowly
turned her head to survey the carnage.

Robert wanted to cry. “No, I think this is a tragedy.
Robbie’s whole life has been one big mistake.”

“Hey!” Amanda charged at him. “Someone had to take
responsibility for our children. God knows you were never around to help.”

“Don’t give me that shit. I tried plenty of times to help.
And you always overrode my decisions. Or cut me down. Made me look like an ass
in front of my kids.”

“Oh, please.”

“Nothing I ever did made you happy.”

Amanda’s face scrunched into that familiar smirk she always
used when she wanted to demean him.

“Like the Christmas tree,” he said. “You’d bitch if I didn’t
help. But when I did, you always criticized how I hung the lights, or where I
put the ornaments. Don’t you think I knew that you came along behind me and
changed them all? And it was right in front of Robbie and Rachel.”

“I really don’t think Robbie hated you because you couldn’t
decorate a tree.”

“He hated me because
you
hated me!” Robert jabbed a finger at her. “And in all these years, I’ve never
been able to understand why. You cringed when I tried to touch you. You mocked
me in front of our friends. Hell, you even criticized the way I wore my hair.
You poked fun of the way I flossed my teeth!”

He swept an arm toward Martin’s body on the bed. “How does
lover boy floss his teeth? Do you get all wet watching him flick last night’s
roast beef onto the mirror?”

But she was no longer listening to Robert. Her sorrowful
eyes stared at Martin’s bloody corpse.

“Speaking of which, where is Martin?” Robert looked around
the room. Martin was nowhere to be seen. “Why, that lousy bastard. He took
off.”

Amanda’s voice cracked. “What?”

“He’s gone. He didn’t even stick around to see what happened
to you. Or he decided he didn’t want to spend eternity with you.”

“No.” She slowly shook her head, trying to make some sense
of it. “He wouldn’t leave me.”

“Evidently he would. He’s not here.” Robert couldn’t resist.
“Looks like all he was interested in was a good fuck, huh?”

Her lips pursed into a thin line and she raised her hand to
slap him. Robert waited for more of her venom to come spewing out. But instead
the corners of her mouth curled into sadness. As she slowly lowered her hand,
her image began to fade.

“He loved me,” she whispered, like she was trying to
convince herself. Then her essence thinned to a mere wisp and she just
disappeared.

Robert tried to keep his rage going, but defeating Amanda
had been cruel. Guilt drove him from the bloodied scene. He staggered down the
hallway to Robbie’s room, unsure of what he could do.

Morgan stood in the doorway of Robbie’s bathroom,
towel-drying her hair. She must have taken a shower to wash off Amanda’s blood.
Robbie was back in a fetal position in his chair.

Dropping the towel, she padded over and pulled him gently to
his feet. She pressed her naked body, and that disgusting snake tattoo, against
him.

“Look,” she said as she tightened her grip around his waist.
“What’s done is done. I wish I could take it back, but I can’t. So you need to
get a grip.”