Worse Than Being Alone (24 page)

“
Do I detect a little bitterness?”
Roni asked. “Would you mind talking to me about your marriage to
Marian? Maybe it’ll make me feel a little better about my father’s
situation.”

“
Will you tell me why you’re
worried? We’ll swap tall tales over tea, Roni.”

“
I’m fine with that, Professor,”
Roni said.

“
Call me Forrest. Other than my
second wife, I’ve never told another living soul this story. It’s
too embarrassing. I grew up in Boonesville. It’s a small town about
thirty miles from here. My father owned a feed store; I was an only
child. I was very shy. I came up here to Cape and went to college.
After, I stayed to teach. I met Marian when I was 40.”

“
What year was that, Forrest?”
Roni asked.

“
That would have been 1993. Marian
had been living in Cape about 10 years. At least that’s what she
told me. I was never good with women; too scared and shy. She
seemed like a ray of sunshine. We got married three months later.
Six months after that, Marian begged me to move to California. Said
that was her dream. She insisted we liquidate all my assets. I
cashed out everything except for the house but only because it took
a while to sell it. Then suddenly she tells me she wants a
divorce.”

“
I’m guessing you were shocked,”
Roni prompted when she realized he had stopped talking and was
staring into space, remembering ancient pain.

“
I teach electrical engineering,
Roni. I’m that really smart guy with no common sense at all. To say
I didn’t see it coming would be the understatement of the century.
Marian got a lawyer. Eventually, I did too, but it was too late. We
asked where all the money went; Marian said she went to Vegas and
lost it all. We never did figure out where she hid it. Marian
packed up and moved away before the divorce was even final. She
refused to talk about anything. No reason, no trying to work on
anything, nothing. Her lawyer told mine if I put up a fuss, Marian
was prepared to say I was verbally and physically abusive. This is
a small town. I would have lost the only thing I had left-my
teaching career. I signed the papers and let her go.”

“
That’s a lot to carry around for
30 years,” Roni said.

“
It certainly is, but some good
came out of it eventually. My lawyer, Ruth Daniels, became a good
friend. She talked to Marian a couple of times and really disliked
her. She became my shoulder to cry on and as time went on, it
turned into something much more. We’ve been very happily married
for 25 years.”

“
Wow, that makes me feel better,”
Roni said.

“
Me, too. I felt snake bit when
Marian left. If it hadn’t been for Ruth, I’m convinced I would have
gone back into my shell and ended up alone. She hounded me about
what Marian did and forced me to face it and talk about
it.”

“
She sounds like a force to be
reckoned with,” she said.

“
You have no idea. I’ve learned a
lot from Ruth. She taught me what real love looks like.”

“
So, after all this time,” Roni
said. “How do you feel about Marian and what she did?”

“
You know, I felt like an open
wound for a long time after Marian left, but the reality is, I
married Ruth and all those feelings faded away. I didn’t want to be
a bitter, angry person so I let go of all of it eventually. It’s
funny how things work out sometimes. Now for your predicament. Tell
me what Marian has been up to, and I’ll try to help you sort it
out.”

“
You were Marian’s third husband,”
Roni said. “Did you realize that?”

“
Not while we were married. Marian
played the role of lonely widow. I assumed she meant she had been
married once. Ruth had her investigated so I did find out about
husband number two. At the time, I chalked it up as just another
lie. Your dad is husband number what?”

“
He’s husband number six,” Roni
said. “You’re the only survivor of the other five. She played the
lonely widow card with my dad, too. I don’t know if he realizes how
many husbands she has had.”

“
And you’re trying to check her
out because you’re worried about him?”

“
That sums it up nicely,” she
said. “I said something to him early on and he was really
defensive. At this point, I feel like I have to have some kind of
proof before I talk to him again.”

“
I was number three. You’re
telling me there are two more husbands after me who are
dead?”

“
That’s right,” she said. “I still
have to talk to their survivors. Marian moved to Sikeston after she
left Cape.”

“
How long have Marian and your dad
been married?”

“
Just a couple of months,” she
said.

“
Marian changed almost immediately
after the wedding. It wasn’t like we drifted apart or something
like that. Initially, her goal was all about figuring out the
finances. She kept saying she wanted to know all the details. You
go along because after all, she is your wife. Once she figures that
out, she pounces. At least that was my experience. You need to talk
to your dad. Maybe since it’s been a couple of months, some of this
will sound familiar to him. How did the others die?”

“
Her first husband fell down the
stairs,” she said. “The second husband’s death is listed as
pneumonia, but he died after a short illness according to his son.
I’m not sure about the other two.”

“
Are you thinking she killed four
men?”

“
I think it’s possible,” Roni
said.

“
So, maybe Marian’s a Black
Widow?”

“
That’s a possibility,” she said.
“There’s no way to prove it. All her husbands were cremated. My dad
got sick after drinking one of her concoctions. Did she ever make
anything like that for you?”

“
So, Marian is still into all that
herbal crap? For a while, she insisted I drink this shake she made
every morning and then suddenly, she quit making it. Good Lord, do
you think she poisoned all of us?”

“
I don’t know for sure,” she said.
“All I can say is that’s why I started worrying in the first
place.”

“
Wait till I tell Ruth. She’s
going to say, ‘I told you so’. I wonder why I’m still alive? Maybe
the last thing she ever said to me finally makes sense.”

“
What was that?” she
asked.

“
Forrest, you really are a dear,
and very special to me. I know you’re not going to ever believe me,
but this could have gone a lot worse for you. In another life, we
might have been very happy together.”

Chapter Forty-Two

Meadow was despondent when I visited her later that
afternoon. The dialysis had gone well though Beverly Knull did
require a blood transfusion. The next few days would be critical.
If Beverly’s kidneys started functioning, her labs would start to
improve and her recovery would be back on track. If not, it would
be time to help Meadow and her siblings to prepare for the
worst.

Roni was sitting in a booth with
two huge margaritas when I arrived at the South County Chevys. I
slid into the opposite side of the booth and breathed a sigh of
relief.

“
I am so ready for this
margarita,” I said as I raised my glass, clinked it with hers, and
sipped a huge amount of the golden liquid. Hot chips and fresh
salsa had also been delivered and we dived in as we traded war
stories about our day.

“
How is Beverly Knull?” Roni
asked.

“
Her kidneys are failing and she
had her first dialysis today. I think she probably has
DIC.”

“
How is Meadow taking it?” she
asked.

“
Like the trooper she is. The next
couple of weeks are going to be hell for her.”

“
Then she’ll have to deal with the
next phase, the grief,” Roni said.

“
And there isn’t a damn thing
anybody can do about it.”

“
Our job sucks sometimes,” Roni
said.

“
How was Cape? Did Professor Asman
have anything interesting to say?”

“
He’s a really nice man,” she
said. “I’m sure he didn’t have a clue how lucky he is until I
showed up. His relationship with Marian was like a hit and run.
It’s funny how life turns out sometimes. He was a really shy guy
who met Marian when he was 40 and probably figured she was his only
shot at getting married. Within six months, Marian convinced him to
liquidate all his assets. Then she claimed she lost it all in Vegas
and wanted a divorce.”

“
Ouch, that had to
hurt.”

“
Yeah, he was devastated,” Roni
said as the waiter arrived and took our order for fajita nachos.
“Marian moved away. He got a lawyer and managed to keep his house.
He’s convinced he never would have met his true love if it hadn’t
been for Marian. Turns out, his true love is the lawyer he
hired.”

“
That’s quite a story. If we
actually assume Marian kills her husbands, why is he still alive?
Does he think Marian could be a killer?”

“
He didn’t seem to think it was
that big a stretch,” she said as our entrees arrived along with
more chips and salsa.

Our waiter retreated as Roni continued. “As a
parting shot, Marian told him she was really fond of him and in
another life, they might have been soul mates. I left my notes in
the car but she also said something about ‘you don’t realize it now
but this is ending well for you’ or ‘better than for most’ or
something like that.”

“
Wow, you think she actually cared
for him?”

“
That was my take,” Roni said.
“I’ve got two more dead husbands in Sikeston to look at. Then I’m
going to have to sit down with my dad and lay it all out for
him.”

“
That’s about all you can do. You
can’t just ignore all of this information.”

“
When I started, I really thought
this would all be fairly benign,” she said. “The real problem is
that there’s no silver bullet. There are no bodies to exhume. It
just looks and smells bad.”

“
When are you going to
Sikeston?”

“
Probably early next week,” she
said. “Monday or Tuesday. Does that work?”

“
Yeah, that works. I think another
day or two on Thomas Sloan is all I have in me.”

“
Pete Rizzo will have three or
four false identity and comp fraud allegations,” Roni said. “That
should be enough to get them to prosecute.”

“
I agree. Lionel and I will follow
him tomorrow. So, I want to ask you something.”

“
Shoot,” she said as she popped
another nacho.

“
What do you think of Cindy’s
ability to see auras?”

“
Wow, you two really are bonding,”
she said. “I’m surprised she told you about that.”

“
It was kind of by accident. She
was pumping me for information, and she let it slip that my aura
was off.”

“
How so?” she asked.

“
Something about how mine is
usually red but this morning it was blue. She said that meant I was
more at peace or not as restless as usual.”

“
Or maybe you got laid,” she said
as I tried not to blush. “Oh, my God. You did, didn’t you? How was
it? I’m so excited; I think I’m going to pee my pants. Tell
me.”

“
Calm down. I’m sure your normally
blue aura is red right now. I met Lionel’s twin daughters and yes,
I did get laid. It was great and I’m crazy about his
daughters.”

“
I feel a but coming,” she
said.

“
It seems too good to be true. I
did Internet dating as a lark. To convince myself I wasn’t missing
anything and I was better off alone than with another loser. It was
kind of safe in a way but Lionel isn’t a loser.”

“
So, now you’re scared,” she said.
“Your red aura is in high gear trying to figure out 50 ways to mess
it up.”

“
Something like that. Do you even
believe Cindy can see auras?”

“
I’ve known Cindy since the first
grade,” Roni said. “She has doors she hides her craziness behind.
I’ve been the hall monitor for all of them. I’ve always been the
one she tells about what’s behind the doors. I think it’s always
been her way of figuring out if what she sees, or feels, or hears,
is normal. She doesn’t usually talk about what isn’t normal. I’ll
tell you this. Every time she’s told me she sees black in someone’s
aura, they’ve gone to jail or been violent or just turned out to be
mean. I believe in Cindy’s ability or intuition or whatever you
want to call it.”

“
She said Lionel’s aura is blue so
he’s perfect for me.”

“
Maybe she’s right, Kit,” she
said. “God knows you deserve to be happy after James. Give this a
real shot, OK?”

“
I will. I’ve been thinking the
same thing all day.”

“
Why don’t you and Lionel bring
the girls down Sunday?” she asked. “Harley and I would love to meet
the girls. Harley will want to check Lionel out. He’ll want to make
sure you don’t make another mistake.”

“
Did Cindy ever say anything about
James’s aura?”

“
She said he had the most
relentlessly red one she had ever seen,” Roni said.