Chapter 9

Keith woke up in a sour mood. He still hadn’t gotten over the police finding his grounds and exposing all his girls. That was his spot, he didn’t own the land, he wasn’t that stupid. The owner was about 85 years old and wouldn’t be held responsible for the women found on his property. Keith threw the covers off and stormed to the bathroom. Nancy watched him walk to the bathroom and got up. She pulled on a wrapper and went over to the door.

“Keith, is anything wrong?” Nancy asked tentatively.

“I am just a little frustrated, Nancy,” Keith said as he pulled the razor up his jawline. He could still see the faint red marks the Hammond girl left. Luckily, no one would know the scratches were there unless one knew to look for them.

“Is there anything I can do?” Nancy asked. “Maybe I can get a job, just to help out a little.”

Keith threw the razor in the sink, “get a job? Do you not think I can provide for my family?”

“No,” Nancy said quickly, realizing she made a mistake, “I just wanted to help.”

Keith started to advance towards her and Nancy started to back up, “You want to help?”

Nancy bit her lip and nodded at Keith. He watched her eyes go wide.

“Then be a good wife and get my suit ready,” he grabbed her arm and forced her towards the closet.

Nancy stumbled to the closet and opened the door, she picked out a gray suit with a dark gray shirt and tie. She watched Keith go back in and finish shaving. She wanted to say something, but he was in such a bad mood that she decided to hang his clothes on the appropriate chair and get the kids fed and outside before Keith came down the stairs.

She needed to have a hot breakfast and coffee ready. The kids were acting more rambunctious than normal and Nancy didn’t want them to bear the brunt of Keith’s temper. She didn’t know why he was in a bad mood, she thought everything was going fine. He was in a good mood a few days ago, so much so that he worked really hard to satisfy her almost a week ago. Now, he was in a terrible mood, edgy with a quick temper. It was up to her to make sure the kids were sheltered from his temper and to do everything she could to make him happy again.

Keith came down, tying his tie and smelled breakfast. He had a slight smile, Nancy was a good wife and she made sure his needs were met. It was a shame she couldn’t meet one of them, but then again, if she did, she wouldn’t be his wife. At least, not for long.

Keith sighed as he started to eat breakfast. He wondered where the kids were and heard them playing outside. Another Nancy move, she wanted to give him as much peace as possible, or she wanted to keep the peace as much as possible.

“Breakfast was good,” Keith said as he got up and kissed Nancy on the cheek. “I will be home around 6:30 as usual.”

Nancy nodded. She will have his dinner ready when he comes home. Maybe he will be in a better mood, Nancy thought.

Keith walked to his car, pressed the fob to unlock and start the car and slid into the driver’s seat. He made the short drive to his office. That was a downside to moving to the new house in the Westwood Community in a few months: his commute will be longer.

Keith came into his office to a ringing phone. He heard the secretary answer it and make an appointment for Keith. He wanted to take some time off, but he knew the timing would be suspicious. The secretary flagged him down and handed him a note. Keith took the note from her, read it, ran to his personal office and closed the door.

He returned a call from the police department’s benefits director. He had been trying to get the entire department in his books for three years, now it looks like it was about to pay off.

“I wanted you to come by and give us a quote,” the benefits director said. “If you are reasonable enough, we can talk about working with the entire city.”

Phelps must have felt really bad about not getting that appointment sooner and pushed for this meeting, Keith thought. All about making someone feel important.

“I will be there in about thirty minutes,” Keith pulled out a quote for the department. He had it ready for months. He rechecked the numbers to make sure they were up-to-date and accurate. After making a few tweaks, he printed out the new quote.

Keith wandered into the police station, hopefully, he could use this time to get the information about the Killing Field case. He couldn’t believe his good fortune.

“Hello,” he said to the receptionist, “I am here to meet with your benefits coordinator.”

“Oh, yes,” the receptionist pushed the button. “She will be with you in about ten minutes.”

“So, what is going on?” Keith asked, trying to make small talk.

“There is so much going on,” the receptionist said. “They are looking for that serial killer.”

“How is that going?” Keith asked.

“Well, they are still collecting leads, and we have a federal agent here, and we are taking in every tip we can get our hands on,” she said breathlessly.

Keith just nodded. He noticed William Phelps, the officer who introduced him to the benefits coordinator after a few drinks. He went over to the desk hoping Phelps would notice him before he went in with the benefits coordinator.

“Hey Keith,” Phelps noticed him and walked over jovally. “How are you doing?”

“Good,” Keith said, shaking Phelps's hand, “how are you doing?”

“Good,” Phelps said.

“I wanted to personally thank you for this introduction,” Keith said. “I have a meeting in a few minutes.”

“Yeah, when you said the rates went down, I got with her immediately,” Phelps said. “She was happy to give you a chance if it will save the city money.”

“I will do the best I can,” Keith said. “Working hard on that serial killer case?”

“Naw,” Phelps said. “I am part of the patrol. I am out on the street, getting information and listening to people talk. Sometimes, people mistakenly let something valuable slip and we have to be there to hear it.”

“So, what have you heard?”

“Well, you know those kids found the bodies because the latest victim was her friend right?” Phelps asked.

“Whose friend?” Keith held his breath. Was Phelps really going to be this indiscreet?

“Casey Hammond was Veronica Conway’s friend,” Phelps said. “She was the one who was in here filing the missing person report and she and her brother, Curtis, found the body in the field. But that is on the down low. Lloyd doesn’t want the kids’ names out there.”

“Gotcha,” Keith said. “I won’t tell a soul. I got to meet with the coordinator. Hey, let’s grab a drink later.”

“Sure thing, man,” Phelps nodded and walked out of the station.

What a dumbass, Keith thought, Phelps just practically spilled his guts and now I have the name of the bitch that ruined my fun. Keith wrote her name down on a pad and walked into the benefit coordinator’s office. He really needed this contract. Not because he needed the money, his family was flush for a few more months, even with the new construction. Nancy just didn’t know that. Keith needed this contract to get closer to the department.

He closed the deal and had the paperwork signed by the coordinator. He just needed the city council to approve it, but that shouldn’t take long, the coordinator said. They had a meeting in two weeks, she will bring it up then.

Keith let all this information pass over him. He didn’t care if the meeting was in two months. He wanted to get back to the office and start his research on Veronica Conway. Were she and her brother part of the Lobos gang? What did she look like?

Keith shook hands with the coordinator and saw his way out of the station. He drove back to his office and booted up his computer. Keith ran a search and didn’t find anything on the first page and a news article on the second page, but there was no photo. He then ran the name Conway and Cortez and came up with a Maxwell Conway, attorney and Howard Conway, accountant. He visited the business websites and found that Maxwell has two sons and Howard has two daughters and a son.

So, this Veronica might be Howard Conway’s daughter, which meant she would be considered a high-risk target. Someone was going to miss this brat. Keith sat back. He will have to figure this out, but the best way was to get close to the family. Luckily, his position as an insurance agent allowed him to make cold calls. He picked up the phone and charmed his way into Howard Conway’s office.

“Hello,” Howard Conway looked like your typical accountant. He was dressed in a button up shirt and jacket, but no tie. He had light, wavy blond hair and blue eyes.

“Thank you for seeing me today on short notice,” Keith shook Howard’s hand. “Please call me Keith.”

“Well, call me Howard,” Howard smiled. “My assistant told me that you can provide an insurance quote. We are looking to insure this building and I have another building across the street. Our rates are going up substantially, but my agent can’t give me a good reason why. So we decided to shop around.”

“Well,” Keith started to look through his brochures, “I have several commercial insurance companies who would love to compete for your buildings. Let me show you what we have to offer.”

For the next 30 minutes, Keith gave Howard quotes, showed him the premiums and the benefits of going with his agency. He really needed to make a personal connection fast or he would never get the information he wanted. Keith looked around to see if there was anything he could pick out that would start small talk. He saw a picture of a young boy, about 10, in a type of white space suit with a metal antenna-looking stick.

“Is your son in the young astronauts program?” Keith asked, pointing to the picture.

“Curtis?” Howard looked at the picture. “Oh, no, that is his fencing uniform. This was taken some time ago. He doesn’t look like that anymore. It was before his growth spurt; I think he was about 10 years old here.”

“I have a 10-year-old son,” Keith said. “We are sending him to the Styles Academy. He might like to fence. The wife and I thought about putting him into some type of sport, but haven’t decided on which one.”

Howard nodded in approval, “Curtis went to the Styles Academy until he was 12. The academy made a world of difference. He also studied fencing to help him focus. There is a competition in Austin this weekend if you want to come watch him fight.”

“That sounds great,” Keith said. “I will bring the family and we will all get together afterward. I can’t wait to meet the rest of your lovely family.”

“Great,” Howard stood up to see Keith out. “We will be happy to host you.”

Keith walked out of the office and noticed several other offices, he used the time before his next client to drop by and leave cards. You never know what can come out of just dropping a card off, Keith thought. He did have to pay the Styles Academy tuition. The decision Nancy made to send their son, Christopher, to the school opened many doors. It paid for itself several times over. People opened up when Keith told them he sent his son to the same exclusive school. He would have to remember to give Nancy a present soon. She opened a lot of doors for him, unknowingly of course.

Three days later, he packed up his family to head to the Austin competition. He looked at his own son who was sitting in his booster seat between the girls, the youngest riding in a car seat, and got an idea. The boy could be his ticket to getting closer to the Conways. Fencing starts around his age. Keith smiled to himself and started the car. A little over an hour later, they found the gym hosting the competition and parked in one of the parking spots towards the middle of the parking lot.

He gathered his children and told them to behave, “I need you to stay with me. I don’t need to search in this crowd for you.”

All three of the children nodded their heads, they were excited to be in town and wanted to see the inside of the building. It looked so big to the children. Keith walked in holding his son’s and oldest daughter’s hands while Nancy carried the baby. Keith looked around the gym to see if he could find Howard. He should have called ahead and picked out a meeting place. This place was huge and it seemed like everyone from Texas was here.

“Keith,” Howard saw him walk through the door and waved to him.

Keith saw him and walked over to Howard. He let Nancy take his daughter’s hand while he shook hands with Howard.

“Good to see you,” Keith said.

“You are just in time,” Howard said excitedly, as he led Keith and his family to where his wife was sitting. “Curtis is about to start his first bout.”

Keith saw a tall boy with wavy dark hair and dark eyes put on a mask and entered the strip. He recognized the boy from the picture, but Howard was right, he didn’t look much like the picture anymore. The referee called the “En Garde” and both the fencers went into a fighting stance. Keith watched Curtis, was that Curtis or was the other one Curtis, he was so confused. So he just sat back and hoped the fight turned out well. One of the fighters was graceful, fluid and only his feet moved as he advanced on the other fencer. The other fencer couldn’t match the speed and was quickly disarmed.

Howard stood up and cheered. Keith started to clap as well and he watched the more fluid fighter remove his mask. It was Curtis. How did Howard know that was his son? They watched another bout before Keith was introduced to Curtis and Maddison. Maddison didn’t have a bout that day since she was in another division.

“Veronica is over there,” Howard pointed to a young girl, about 16 years old, with long blond hair, who was getting ready for her own bout. Keith was surprised, he thought only Curtis was a fencer. “She is getting ready for her own fight. She is going to fight that fencer.”

Keith turned to where Howard was pointing and saw a boy about twice Veronica’s size. He sat down next to Nancy who was talking to Judith Conway. He let the women talk and focused on the bout that was about to take place. Curtis had left the stands and walked over to the corner of the arena. He took out his sword and was practicing his thrust and parries. He wasn’t going to watch Veronica’s first match. She was the heavy favorite and should make short work of the challenger.

Keith watched Veronica put her mask on and engaged the challenger’s blade before they stood at opposite ends of the strip. The referee shouted “En Garde” and both started to fight. Veronica’s blade whipped around and got a few beats, the challenger started to retreat and tried to perry a fast thrust, but failed. She disarmed the challenger and he yielded the field.

Keith started to wonder if it was a wise decision to attack Veronica. He would have to make sure he had the advantage and she wasn’t armed. Although, Keith didn’t think they carried those swords around. He sat back and started to think about how to get her out of the way. She deserved the punishment for exposing his girls.

The competition went on for another hour and a half until the last two fighters entered the strip to take the day. If he wasn’t mistaken, they were Curtis and Veronica.

They engaged blades, walked into the strip and got into their En Garde positions. They advanced and retreated, Curtis tried to attack and Veronica parried, then went on her own attack. She pushed him back, but Curtis was faster than he was in the last match. He moved into a lunge and she parried the attack, Curtis recovered from the lunge attack. He then drew her into another attack where she was on the defensive but she didn’t recover fast enough. He disarmed her and took the day.

The crowd erupted. Veronica was the heavy favorite to win the day. She was the favorite to win the whole season. She unmasked and shook hands with the day’s champion. Curtis will need to win a few more bouts against her in order to unseat her. She was going to make sure that didn’t happen.

Veronica went to her dressing room with Curtis following her, “you didn’t throw that, did you?”

“I knew you were going to accuse me of that,” Veronica said. “Watch the tape, you were the better swordsman today. You took the day fair and square. I didn’t help you.”

“I thought you had a lot on your mind with Casey’s death and you finding her body,” Curtis said as he removed his fencing uniform. He pulled on the club's windbreaker and zipped it up, pulled on the pants and tied the strings. Veronica did the same and they walked out together to prepare for the medal ceremony. Curtis took the day and took the top spot. Veronica accepted her silver medal.

They walked over to their parents who gave them both a hug and told them how proud they were. Howard pulled Christopher Ridgewood towards Curtis to introduce them.

“Hey Curtis, this is Christopher Ridgewood,” Howard said. “He is going to the Style’s Academy for boys and wants to talk to you about fencing.”

“Really?” Curtis put down his bag and shook the young boy’s hand. “So, what did you think of the match?”

“You fought a girl,” Christopher said disapprovingly. “You are not supposed to fight girls.” He frowned at Curtis who didn’t quite know how to react.

“Well,” Curtis began. “Veronica is my sister and…”

“That doesn’t make it OK,” Christopher said. “I wouldn’t fight my sisters. I am supposed to protect them.”

“I know, but you play with your sisters right?” Curtis said. “I was playing with my sister.”

Christopher thought about this for a while and that seemed to make it OK. Brothers play with their sisters but brothers have to protect sisters too.

“Besides the fighting with my sister,” Curtis said. “What did you think?”

“It looked fun,” Christopher said. “How hard is it?”

Curtis and Christopher went off and started to talk about the mechanical aspects of fencing. Veronica stayed close to her mother who was still talking to Nancy about raising kids and the academy. Nancy wanted to know where Judith sent her kids now, and Judith was talking about Crenshaw Academy. It was a preparatory school both Curtis and Veronica went to and Maddison would start next year.

Judith introduced Veronica to Nancy and Clarissa who was sleeping in Nancy’s arms. The men were behind them talking about insurance and the women started talking about raising children. Judith really liked Nancy and said they should get together for lunch one day.

“Oh, that would be lovely,” Nancy said. “I will just have to ask Keith. He is accustomed to his schedule and likes things just so. You know how it is.”

No, how is it, Judith thought. “Well, let’s get together soon. Shall we.”

Judith started to look for Curtis and Christopher, she saw the pair practicing the advancing technique and Curtis was correcting Christopher’s form. She turned around and looked for Howard. He was still talking to Keith. Nancy was standing dutifully by waiting for Keith to finish and waiting for Christopher to come back with Curtis.

Veronica watched her brother spar with the young boy when she felt someone was watching her. She had a premonition of the man chasing her into the woods, and she started to look around. She caught the eyes of the man talking to her father. He was the one who chased her. Veronica smiled serenely at him. She needed to make a good first impression without tipping off the fact that she knew who he was. Now, to see if Maddison really could tell when she was having one of her moments.

Maddison looked at Veronica and walked over, “You look a little piqued. What is going on?”

“Do you see who Dad is talking to?” Veronica asked. She tried to show that she was merely curious. “Do you know who he is?”

“Keith Ridgewood,” Maddison said. She kept her voice low and tried to look as if they were having a normal conversation. She raised her voice a little more, “They are talking about insurance. Boring.”

OK, Veronica thought, good play by Maddison. When Maddison whispered it was never good. If she sounded like she was getting bored, that was typical Maddison.

“Typical Maddison,” Judith said. “No respect for adult conversation.” She smiled at Nancy and Keith, “Why don’t we all head out and get something to eat? That way the kids are fed and I don’t have two fainting athletes.”

Keith decided to finally make eye contact with Veronica, he had to figure out what she knew if anything. If she did know something, he had to figure out how she knew and who else knew.

They locked eyes and for the second time that evening, Veronica felt she wasn’t safe. She didn’t want this man’s attention but she knew she earned it the minute she uncovered Casey’s body. Five minutes later she looked at him again to record his face, she knew she needed to run as soon as she saw him again. Not tonight, but the very next time. This man won’t be forgiving.

Keith had to plan carefully. He didn’t think she knew who he was, but he couldn’t be sure. They had a quiet dinner and the party started to break up. Nancy told Keith the kids were getting tired and it was a long day so they had to get home.

“OK, sure honey,” Keith said smoothly. “We will take them home.” He turned to Howard. “I thank you for your time. I hope we meet later next week and work out the details.”

“Of course,” Howard said. “That would be great. Let me have my attorney go over the paperwork, as you know I am an accountant, so I am not worried about the price.”

Keith gave him a slight smile. He moved to take Clarissa who fell asleep again. She missed her nap and it was past her bedtime. In fact, all three kids were exhausted and ready for bed.

The two families said goodbye and Judith suggested that she and Nancy get together real soon. The Conways piled into the car, Curtis started to fall asleep and Veronica was about to doze off when Maddison hit her and asked about Keith.

“What did you see?” Maddison whispered, making sure her parents couldn’t hear her.

“I saw Keith chasing me through the woods,” Veronica whispered back. “He was the one who killed Casey and put her body in that field.”

“Are you sure? I mean he acted real chummy with Dad,” Maddison said.

“That was to get close to me,” Veronica said, “He needed to figure out who I am. Maddison, I am scared.”

“We are here for you, you don’t need to be scared,” Maddison said.

Veronica just nodded and put her head back to fall asleep. She was exhausted from the competition and smiled when she noticed Curtis had his medal in his fist. He was still snoozing when the family pulled into their long driveway.

“All right, Curtis,” Howard said. “Time to get up, get a shower and get into bed. Oh, and try not to sleep all day.”

“I am not bruised,” Curtis said sleepily.

“Who bruised you the last time?” Veronica asked, “I didn’t make that kind of contact.”

“It was during the practice spar, he misstepped and I paid for it,” Curtis said as he pulled himself out of the truck. “I didn’t have that problem today so when you attempted your riposte, I was ready for it.”

Veronica just nodded. Riposte, she thought. She would have to pull a riposte when Keith decided to come after her.

Two days later, Veronica was riding from the women's shelter with a group of friends who all volunteered. This was one time Veronica wished she had a car. The herd was thinning out as all the volunteers were going to their respective neighborhoods and soon she was riding alone. She had a feeling that she was being followed but every time she looked behind her, no one was there. She took a deep breath and started to relax. She looked back again once more as just an assurance that she was well and truly alone then she saw a big maroon colored truck barreling behind her. The truck was coming up too fast and Veronica decided to ditch the bike before getting run over. The truck stopped and Keith got out. He took one look at Veronica and started sprinting to her.

For a few heartbeats, Veronica just stood there and watched him come closer, then she screamed and ran into the field. The police didn’t fill up the pits from digging the victims up and the pits left erie scars in the field. Veronica had to watch where she was going so she wouldn’t trip and fall into one of the ditches. She focused on getting to the large tree that held the deer stand.

She was running right where he wanted her to run, Keith smiled. She was running into the woods just like Casey and just like Casey she was going to die there. He didn’t say anything to her, just kept chasing her. He thought the silence would be more threatening and more intimidating than if he started to yell at her. First, his voice wouldn’t give away his location and second, she would have to look back to see him. She might fall into one of the shallow graves and make Keith’s job easier.

Veronica couldn’t control her breathing, she had trained for endurance, not speed. She knew he was behind her, but she couldn’t risk looking back. She couldn’t risk falling. She tripped over a stone and almost lost her footing but recovered quickly and kept pushing herself forward. She had to keep moving, she felt him at her back, but she still focused on the tree.

Keith reached out to grab her, but he stumbled and tripped, buying Veronica more time. She reached the nailed planks and started climbing them. Keith grabbed her by the ankle, but Veronica kicked out making connection with his jaw.

“Ouch,” Keith rubbed his jaw as he watched her climb up, she wasn’t going anywhere, he thought. “I am going to kill you for that, you little bitch.”

Veronica climbed all the way up to the platform that served as a deer stand. She reached into a hollow point of a branch right above her and pulled out the rapier she had hidden there a few days ago. She unsheathed the sharp sword and stood in her En Garde position.

“It is over Anikin,” Veronica said, pointing the business end of the sword at Keith’s throat. “I have the high ground.”

A confused look crossed Keith as he climbed up to the deer stand. He placed his hand on the plank and Veronica lunged forward and thrusted the blade into his shoulder.