They stopped on a side street before getting onto Highway 16. Augie got out of the car and popped the trunk. Ray and Ashley climbed out, too.
“Holy shit!” Ray’s exclamation after looking in Augie’s trunk made Augie chuckle. Augie unfolded a heavy blanket, revealing an assortment of firearms. Augie said, “Ashley, do you trust me?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I trust you, so you’re the driver. Get in the car. When we get there, you pull in, stop, then let us out. Leave five minutes after that, or the second you see us drop. You don’t get out of the car and you don’t stay longer even if we don’t come back. Understand?”
She nodded, then got into the driver’s seat.
“Ray, you ever shot a gun before?” Augie said.
“No.”
“Okay. I’ll take the .45.”
Augie picked up a pistol, checked it, and tucked it behind him in his waistband.
“Ray, you take the shotgun. Simplest thing in the world. Pump it. Shoot. Repeat. Don’t shoot unless she’s right in front of you.” Augie handed him the shotgun. “One other thing. You shoot to defend yourself and Ashley. Don’t fire for any other reason. I’m the shooter on this.”
“Okay.” Ray took the gun and sat back down in the backseat of the car behind Ashley. Augie slipped into the passenger seat and they headed out.
As they crossed the bridge, Ray felt increasingly nervous. This was some serious shit. How the hell his life turned to this, he wasn’t sure. He could remember all the events and decisions leading up to here, but when he added them up, he couldn’t figure out how someone who worked at a flower shop was in the back seat of a car with a shotgun in his hands.
Ashley used her phone to return to the place she’d last seen Gretchen. Ray wasn’t sure where they were.
“It’s this one,” Ashley said, turning into the driveway. Ray pumped the shotgun. Ray could see someone in the driveway. It was Gretchen. She was putting something in the trunk of her car.
“Change in plans,” Ashley said, hitting the gas and accelerating towards Gretchen.
Ray held the shotgun tighter, bracing for impact. Gretchen turned around as the Town Car hit her, pinning her between the two vehicles. Ray hadn’t meant to pull the trigger. It was the impact that did it. The shotgun blast hit Ashley in the back of the head. Ashley’s body slumped forward in the seat.
Ray couldn’t hear. Ashley’s head was a mass of blood, flesh, and hair. Augie appeared to be unconscious. Ray dropped the shotgun and jumped out of the car. Gretchen was hunched over the hood of the Town Car. She wasn’t moving. Ray stumbled forward. He was having trouble comprehending what was happening. He looked back at the car, at what was left of Ashley in the driver’s seat. He couldn’t understand it. Ashley looked like a grotesque life-sized doll dressed in Ashley’s clothes. Something clicked in Ray’s head.
He went around to the passenger side of the car, opened the door, and leaned inside. He unclipped Augie’s seatbelt and as he did so, he felt a surprisingly strong hand grab his wrist. Augie stared at him, suddenly awake. He looked at Ray, then looked where Ashley had been alive moments earlier. Neither of them said a word. Augie let go of Ray’s hand and got out of the car.
Ray sat on the front steps of the house. He thought about anything but the contents of the driveway. His hearing was back. Apparently they were in a rural enough area that no one called the authorities. The house was locked up tight. Ray was about to toss a rock through a window and break in so they could get cleaned up, but Augie advised against it. The place might have an alarm.
Instead, Augie stripped and sprayed himself down with a garden hose before opening the trunk of his wrecked Town Car and pulling out a backpack. Augie reached in the backpack and pulled out a new set of clothes.
“These things have been in my car for years. Good thing I keep in shape or they wouldn’t fit,” Augie said.
Ray said nothing.
Augie got dressed.
“Ray, you see a gas can around here anywhere?”
Augie walked towards the back yard, came back a few moments later. Ray hadn’t moved.
“Ray.”
Augie got in Ray’s face.
“Ray, this is a fucked situation. And we have a limited amount of time to un-fuck it. The best we can do is burn the crime scene and get the hell out of here. You can be in shock later. Right now, I need your help. If we can’t find a gas can, we can take the hose and syphon gas out of the car. Because if we stay here and do nothing we go to prison for a long time. Ashley’s dead and we can do not one thing about it. These next few minutes will determine who we’re going to be the rest of our lives.”
Ray didn’t move. Ashley? Dead. Brandon? Dead. Gretchen? Dead The Doyles? Dead. All because of a stupid idea he had while he was bored at work.
“One more lie, Augie.”
“What?”
“I’m going to tell one more lie.”
“And what’s that?”
“You were never here.”
“I’m staying. I’m calling Detective Pandy and I’m staying. You go.”
Augie was silent and still for a moment. He nodded slowly then stuffed his bloody clothing in his backpack and walked away.
The police arrived withing fifteen minutes or Ray’s call, but it was well into the night by the time Detective Pandy joined Ray in an interrogation room. This time, he was cuffed to the table.
“Wow. You sure know how to make a mess, Ray.”
“Thanks.”
“So you’re not lying anymore. Is that right?”
“Right.”
“Who killed Brandon Petrov?”
“Gretchen. I don’t know her last name. I don’t even know if that’s her name. But I know she’s responsible for at least three murders.”
“So you say. Got any proof?”
“No. I’m just trying to do that right thing.”
“For a change?” Pandy offered.
“What about Augustus Johnson?”
“What about him?”
“It’s his car we found in the driveway. A car full of guns registered to him.”
“I think Ashley must have borrowed it.”
“C’mon, Ray. I thought you were done lying. Ashley’s driving. You’re in the backseat with the shotgun that kills her. Augie was in the passenger seat. Just admit it.”
“Look, I’ll tell you everything I know. Everything. But absolutely none of it has anything to do with Augie. I can promise you that.”
“I’ll see what I can do for you, Ray. We’re just getting started. Do you want something to drink?”
“No. I’m good.”
“I’m gonna grab a coffee. Back in a jiffy.”
The next time Detective Pandy came through the door it was with a short, crisp woman with blonde hair so light it almost matched her skin. Detective Pandy had a key for the handcuffs in her hand. Her demeanor had changed. She wasn’t having fun anymore.
“Mr. Winslow, you are free to go,” Pandy said.
“What?” Ray said, rubbing his wrist.
“Don’t think you’re clear of this mess, Ray. We haven’t charged you yet and if it were up to me we’d hold you, but your lawyer here must know the right people,” Pandy said with disdain.
“My-”
The blonde woman interrupted, “Hello, Mr. Winslow. Good to finally see you in person. I’m Miss Rink. I’ll be representing you.”
Ray began to speak. Miss Rink held up a finger.
“I’ll be seeing you again soon, Ray,” Pandy said.
A while later in the elevator, Miss Rink let him know that he would not be receiving a bill for her services and that they would meet later in the week to discuss the case. Miss Rink handed him her card and told him that his ride was in the parking lot.
As Ray walked out of Tacoma Police Headquarters, he saw an unexpected face in the parking lot: Nicolas. Part of Ray wanted to go back inside.
“I can walk to my place from here,” Ray said.
“Nonsense,” Nicolas said. “We have things to talk about. Get in the car.”
Ray thought about running, but realized there was little point in that. The last few days had exhausted his adrenaline levels. And if he was honest, he was ready to take whatever Nicolas or anyone else wanted to do to him. Ray climbed into Nicolas’ car.
After a minute or so of silence, Ray said, “How did you know where I was?”
“Augie said you had been arrested,” Nicolas said.
“Oh.”
“Do you remember when I had you and Brandon over, and I told you if you have any contact with Gretchen you should contact me?”
Ray nodded.
“You didn’t. And now Ashley is dead, Gretchen is dead, and my only son is dead. All because you and Brandon didn’t do what I asked you to do.”
“Mr. Petrov, if there were anything I could do to fix this, I’d do it.”
“But you can’t, Ray. Not even God can change the past. My son and his girlfriend are dead forever and it’s at least partially your fault. If killing you could change that, this conversation wouldn’t be happening.”
Nicolas pulled up to Ray’s place. Ray got out of the car. So did Nicolas.
“Ray…” Ray turned around in time to catch Nicolas’ fist square in his face.
Ray was on the ground. He readied himself for another hit, or maybe Nicolas’ boot, but neither hit came. He looked around and saw Nicolas standing over him.
“Nicolas, I…” He wanted to say something, anything, to stop Nicolas from hitting him again. But whatever cleverness or energy he had was all used up. He couldn’t do this.
“We aren’t done talking, Ray. We still need to talk about Laura.”
Ray pushed himself back up to his feet, certain he’d be knocked off of them again. Nicolas motioned toward Ray’s front door. Ray walked in, holding his face. Ray sat down on his couch. Nicolas continued standing.
“You’ve spent a lot of time with my wife, working together, talking, kissing, screwing.”
“Nicolas…Mr. Petrov, I-”
“Do not bother denying anything. I’m sure you think you’re very clever but Laura and I have been married a long time. Tell me did you ever bother to learn why she walks with a cane?”
“What? What’s-” Nicolas held up a finger.
“Her leg. Do you know how she hurt it?”
“No,” Ray admitted.
“It was her stepfather. She was seventeen. He broke her leg with a shovel.”
Nicolas sat on Ray’s coffee table. He was only about a foot away from Ray.
“At the time, we were just good friends. She had to have surgery on her leg. She didn’t tell anyone about her stepfather, except me. She told others she was attacked by a stranger. She even let him wheel her out to the car when it came time for her to leave the hospital.”
“Nicolas, what does this-”
“You fucked my wife. You are going to sit here and listen to everything I have to say because right now, the only thing stopping me from painting the walls of this tiny apartment with your blood is that I feel this may be a misunderstanding.”
Ray opened his mouth, but said nothing when Nicolas held a hand up before continuing.
“Laura and I got together shortly after her injury. When things are going poorly, she seeks a romantic distraction. Laura is a good wife. And I try to be a good husband. But you, you’re not good for her. You’re just part of an old habit.”
Ray stood up. Maybe Nicolas was right, maybe not, but he’d heard enough. Nicolas stood up also.
“You can say whatever you like, Nicolas. You can punch me, call me names, whatever. But I’m in love with her.”
Ray was sick of lying and figured if he was going to get his ass kicked, at least it’d be over the truth.
“You stupid child,” Nicolas said. “I bet you believe that. Love isn’t silly glances, flirtations, or getting your dick wet. Any moron can do that. What you two have is not special. You’re just a distraction.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ray said.
“You think my wife has betrayed me. You think you know her better than I do. But here is what I know, boy. I love her better than you do. My love isn’t contingent on her actions. She sleeps with me. I love her. She sleeps with you. I love her. She sleeps with someone else. I love her. And she is still my wife.”
“If you’re so cool with it, why did you punch me?”
“Because I wanted to.”
“Okay,” Ray said. He walked away toward the kitchen.
“Okay what?”
“I’ll stay away from her.”
“Good.”
“Can I say goodbye?”
“No. You do not get to say goodbye. You deal with your shit and do what my lawyer tells you to do.”
“Your lawyer?” Ray said.
“Why do you think you are out of jail? You’re my son’s best friend.”
“That I understand,” Ray said, “But I’m also-”
“The man sleeping with my wife,” Nicolas finished. “I know, but I have priorities. I believe this will settle them both. I’ll try to save you from prison and you will stay away from my wife.”
Ray didn’t say anything. He tried to find a compelling argument but didn’t have one.
“Okay,” Ray said, defeated.
Laura walked through the open front doorway and said, “Sounds like you boys have my life all figured out for me.”
“I took a walk and ended up here,” Laura said. “I guess my ears were burning.”
Nicolas approached her, his hand outstretched.
“Laura.”
Laura brushed his hand away.
“It was a deer,” Laura said, “We hit a deer. My stepdad and I were driving out past Enumclaw to get a Christmas tree when we hit it. The deer lay in the road bleeding and still kicking its legs. My stepdad grabbed a shovel. He was going to kill the deer, but I jumped in the way. It was an accident.”
“You never told me,” Nicolas said.
“Not all of my stories are yours,” Laura said. “Nick, I love your simplistic approach to things, but you can’t distill my motivations down to something that happened one night when I was a teenager. You can’t ignore the years that came before or after.
“One more thing. Who I have sex with and why isn’t something either of you get to decide for me. I’m very capable of making my own decisions. But you are right about one thing, Nick.”
“What’s that?” Nick asked.
“Ray,” Laura said, “I didn’t mean to use you, but if I’m honest I think we used each other. I’m sorry I wasn’t a better boss. And I know this sucks, but you’re fired.”
Ray wanted to say something else, but said, “Goodbye, Laura.”
Ray saw Laura standing with Nicolas. They looked good together. He didn’t like admitting it, even to himself, but it was true. And Ray was done telling lies.
THE END
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Afterthoughts
And that as they say, is it. A Better Lie is over. Throughout this experiment in storytelling I have been honored by the fact that there were very few unsubscribes during the run of A Better Lie.
It took forever to get to this ending, but it’s the ending that A Better Lie needed.
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Yes, A Better Lie is done. Year One is over. But Year Two is just beginning. I hope you’ll stay tuned for what I’ve got planned.
For the rest of March, A Shot of Jack Top Shelf is taking a break.
But I hope, you’ll all join us for Bad Pennies, my second serial crime novel.
Bad Pennies is not a sequel to A Better Lie, but it does connect to the story in an oblique way.
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NEXT: BAD PENNIES