Prey of Desire Read online

  Morris Munger Road ran west of downtown Stillwater toward the University campus. It cut through several blocks of two- and three-story homes built along brick-paved streets. These had once been the residences of Stillwater’s exclusive, upper class.

  Today, the neighborhood was student housing featuring front porches littered with bikes and old furniture, rap music blaring from open dormer windows, and humming window-unit air conditioners. Most of these old houses were in desperate need of a fresh coat of paint, a handyman, and some yard work. Those in best condition proudly displayed Greek letters beneath the eaves and college flags strung along upper-story banister railings.

  Two boys hung over the railing of one of the dormitory homes and waved at Kim as she walked Zeus along the sidewalks toward winding paths cutting across the campus. Zeus saw the boys and tugged on his leash to cross the street toward them, but Kim tugged back, leading him toward the University.

  The campus was a ten-acre forested park with twisting sidewalks that meandered past a 100-year old brick library and a state-of-art sports facility with sprawling athletic fields. The faculty parking lot ran behind the sports center, and Kim found a city bus stop and pay phone. There, she dialed Mallory.

  “I need you to pick up Zeus and take him back to your place.”

  “Sure,” Mallory’s voice crackled through the receiver on the sticky handset of the campus pay phone. “I'll be right there.”

  And all Kim could do now was wait.

  It was the first day back after winter break and the start of a new semester, which meant the campus was more crowded and chaotic than usual. And Kimberly bringing her Doberman only added to the commotion. Everyone wanted to pet him and Zeus adored the attention.

  Setting her books down beside her on the park bench, Kim waited in the university parking lot for Mallory to arrive. When her white Mazda Miata pulled up to the curb, Zeus barked and jumped. Holding the leash, she got up from the park bench and made her way to Mallory's car. Zeus greeted her as she opened the driver's side door.

  “Thanks for taking him this afternoon.” Kim pet Zeus on the head as he licked her cheek. “With the landlord fixing the sink and this crazy animal acting like –”

  “I know. I know. What would you do without me?” Mallory grabbed her keys and tossed them into her purse. Leaning down, she greeted Zeus and patted him on top the head. Finally turning back to Kim, she said, “I’ve only got a moment. I have to be back at my place by one. If KYGL calls and I don’t answer with the phrase that pays, I could lose ten thousand dollars!”

  “Well, thank you. I owe you one.”

  Mallory grinned. “Yes, you do.”

  Kim paused, reading the expression on Mallory's face. “You already have something in mind, don’t you?”

  “Have dinner with Addison and me tonight” Mallory’s face lit up and she gushed. “We're going to celebrate his 50th birthday with dinner and a movie.”

  “I can't believe you're dating a man old enough to be your father.”

  “Oh, hush. He’s hip,” Mallory tempted, leaning against her car. “We're going to see that new Julia Roberts movie.”

  “Are you kidding? With everything going on?” Kim asked. She realized that she had left her text books and notebook on the park bench. She looked back. A boy was sitting on the bench now. He was thin, with black, wispy hair that fell down over his eyes. She stared at him, judging whether or not to walk back and collect her things. He looked up and their eyes met. She looked away, turning back toward Mallory. “So have they found anything new in the Congressman’s murder? I didn’t get a chance to read the paper.”

  “I’ve been ignoring the whole sordid affair ever since the police questioned me last week. The whole thing’s just too horrible for words.” Mallory’s green eyes enlarged and her lips drew close together. She took hold of Zeus’ leash, then changed the subject. “So come with us tonight. It’s a birthday party and…” she paused for dramatic effect. “I invited the doctor.”

  “You mean the shrink with the obsessive personality who stood me up on New Year’s.” Kim turned away. She looked back at the park bench; the boy was gone. Her books were still there. Everything appeared to be okay. After a moment, she muttered, “No thank you.”

  “Addison explained what happened. The Doctor got tied up with a patient who was having some kind of panic attack over that whole Y2K computer scare,” Mallory insisted. “Addison says that the Doctor feels just horrible for standing you up that night, and on New Year’s Eve of all nights.”

  Kim hesitated, thinking about it for a moment. She searched the crowd of students for the boy from the park bench. Giving up, she looked back at Mallory. “How does Addison even know this man anyway?”

  “Dr. Whitman’s practice is in the same building as Addison’s insurance agency,” Mallory explained. “And he says that he told Dr. Whitman all about you.”

  “I don’t want to meet him. I’d just prefer to get that whole night as far behind me as possible. I mean with the murder and…”

  “But he’s sorry and he’s so cute. You two would be perfect for each other.” Mallory waited for a response, then added, “He’s a doctor.”

  “He’s a shrink.”

  “He makes good money.” She paused, then continued slowly. “They’re going to meet us at Greico’s Italian Fine Cuisine at eight o’clock.”

  “I have bad memories of that place.”

  “Because Ross took you there?”

  “No, this has nothing to do with Ross,” Kim lied. “I’m just busy. The new semester is starting and I have to visit my Grandfather… and Melrose Place is on tonight.”

  “You’re hoping he’s going to call you or come by or…”

  “This isn’t about Ross,” Kim insisted. “And even if I did have the time, I wouldn’t go out with the shrink again. I don’t give second chances.”

  “He deserves a second chance.”

  “No,” Kim said. She opened the door to Mallory's Mazda and snapped her finger. Zeus jumped inside the little sports car as she continued. “I'm going to be late for class.”

  With that, she turned her back on Mallory and walked away, returning to the park bench. She collected her books. Everything looked to be in order.

  “Fine. You win,” Mallory called after her. “Go back inside and sulk. But let me ask you one thing…” she paused, as if waiting for Kim to say something.

  “Yes…?” Kim stopped walking but she didn't turn around.

  Mallory squinted and she clasped her hands together over her heart. “What’d you think of The Gunz? Isn’t he to die for?”

  Kim glanced over her shoulder and shot her a wicked smile. She saw Zeus in the front seat of the white Mazda behind her. “Get home so you can answer if KYGL calls you. I hope you win ten thousand dollars.”

  Turning her head, she walked to the University building, smiling.

  * * * * * * *

  From the anonymity of the crowded campus, he watched Kimberly talk to the red-headed girl and the Doberman beside the white Mazda Miata. When she turned, collected her books on the park bench and headed toward the University building, she walked right past him. She didn't even notice him. She never noticed him.

  His eyes followed her. She pushed through the entrance doors and disappeared inside. Sighing, he swiped the lock of hair falling down over his eyes and flipped it behind his left ear, then followed her inside.

  5

  Twenty Love Poems

  & a Song of Despair

  Kim sat in an auditorium-style classroom along with roughly eighty other students. She’d had this professor last semester for literature, and knew what to expect. Trying to stay focused, she listened to his droning, monotone lecture.

  “Cyrano de Bergerac is a play written in verse, in rhyming couplets of twelve syllables per line,” he was saying in front of the chalkboard, gesturing with his arms.

  She made notes in her spiral notebook, but her thoughts dwelled on Ross. She had so many questio
ns, and once again she could feel him watching. Feel his eyes burning holes in the back of her head. Self-consciously, Kim looked up and behind her.

  There was a classroom of students around her, but she made eye contact with a boy in the back. It was the student from the park bench, the one with the black, wavy hair that fell into his eyes. He was glaring at her; his eyes bore into her and it gave her chills. The Professor cleared his throat and Kim looked away. She focused on her literature text book and pulled out her binder. She listened as the Professor continued.

  “The play is responsible for introducing the word ‘panache’ into the English language,” he was saying. “Cyrano is, in fact, famed for his panache, and the play ends with him saying those words just before his death.”

  Flipping open the binder, Kim found a small book inside. “Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair” by Pablo Neruda. She opened the poetry book. The inside front cover was inscribed: “For my Darling Bonnie. You will always be my angel. Love Daddy.” An envelope fell out of the book and landed near her ankles. She picked it up and tore it open. An index card slipped out. It too was handwritten in red ink.

  “Greico’s Italian Restaurant. I’ll be waiting.”

  Kim looked around. No one was paying attention. The boy in the back was writing, taking notes. The Professor droned on.

  She thought of Addison’s 50th birthday celebration there, and wondered if Mallory had slipped the invitation in her book. But that would’ve been impossible. And Mallory was well aware of her history with Greico’s. And with Ross. That was their place.

  “Ross.” Kim nodded to herself and flipped through the poetry book, then tucked the note back inside and closed the binder.

  After class, Kim walked to the nursing home approximately six blocks from the University. She entered the building, and an orderly looked up and smiled at her.

  “Hi, Miss Bradford,” the large woman in aqua-colored scrubs said to her as she wheeled an elderly woman in a wheelchair toward the cafeteria.

  “Hi Nurse Carla,” Kim returned. “How’s he doing?”

  “Real good today. He’s in his room.” Carla paused a moment, fidgeting with the elderly woman in the wheel chair. Once settled, she looked back up at Kim and gave her an exhausted smile. “Child, your grandaddy ate all his peas and carrots, and had a solid bowel movement.”

  “Thanks for watching out for him,” Kim said. “I really appreciate all the extra attention you give him.”

  Nurse Carla smiled and Kim walked past her down the wing. She found the door to her grandfather’s room slightly open. Inside, a thin, graying man was sitting in a green fabric recliner, staring out the window.

  “Grampa,” Kim said, entering the room. “How are you doing today?”

  He didn’t answer. He stared out the window. She set her books on a tray beside the bed and stepped toward him. Kneeling beside the chair, she took his hand.

  “Grampa,” she said, leaning over and hugging him. Then, she asked again, “How are you doing today? You flirting with the nurses again?”

  He didn’t respond. He didn’t blink. She wasn’t even sure that he was aware that she was there. Still, Kim smiled and lifted a finger to move a strand of hair out of his eyes.

  “What’cha looking at?” she asked him, glancing out the window.

  A blue jay squawked in a magnolia tree. Mad about something, it took off and soared into the sky. Beyond that, two young boys were running in the courtyard. They were yelling and laughing. Kim wondered if they were someone’s grandchildren, or maybe great grandchildren, then looked back at her grandfather. “Where’s your glasses,” she asked him.

  Standing, she walked across the room and found a pair of black-framed bifocals on the nightstand. She returned to him and slipped them on his face. He turned his head slightly, as if suddenly spying something out the window he hadn’t noticed before.

  “Now isn’t that better?” Kim asked, laughing a little. She walked over to the tray beside the bed and picked up her books. She found the poetry book.

  “Ross gave me a book today,” she continued, picking it up in one hand and grabbing a fold-out chair from the corner. She took it and unfolded it beside him. “You remember Ross don’t you?”

  Saying nothing, he seemed focused on the children running in the courtyard. Kim watched him a moment, then sat down beside him. “Well, as I told you before, Ross and I have been going through this rough patch but I think we’re getting past it now. Life doesn’t get any easier. That’s what you always say, right?”

  He didn’t respond. After a moment, she held up the poetry book then opened it on her lap.

  “Ross gave me a book today,” she said, turning to the first page. “It’s called ‘Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair.’ Isn’t that romantic?”

  Page by page, she read each poem to him. She found one poem of particular interest: “If You Forget Me.” Those were the words written on the note she’d received at the New Year’s Eve Party. This was the proof: the note and the poetry book were from Ross.

  And, he was waiting for her at their restaurant. Sighing, she turned the page.

  “Did you ever write Nanna poems when you were young and courting?” she asked him. She watched him a moment, waiting for a response.

  There was a yellowing photo of her grand- mother in a frame on the nightstand. “Nanna was so beautiful when she was young. She was quite the catch. And I’m sure you were handsome and dashing too. Just like Ross…” Her words trailed off.

  As if suddenly noticing someone was beside him, he turned his head, appraising her. “Do you know my daughter?” he asked her in a gravely, tired voice.

  Kim smiled. “Of course I do. That’s my mother. I’m your granddaughter.”

  “You look like her,” he said “She’s about your age, my daughter.”

  Kim paused a moment, studying him. Then she returned her focus to the book. When she finished reading it to him, she started over and read each poem again.

  * * * * * * *

  It was dark by the time she walked through downtown, past the University. If it hadn’t been so late, she would’ve walked along Morris Munger Road again, pausing at the curve, searching the ground around the old real estate sign and empty fruit stand.

  But Kim decided to take the shorter, direct route home as the night was chilly and a little spooky.

  Barely twenty minutes later, she made her way into the gated townhome complex. The invitation in red ink was safely tucked away inside the poetry book, alongside her textbooks. She smiled, thinking about the lovely gift. It was so romantic.

  She picked up Zeus at Mallory’s and they spoke briefly. The radio station hadn’t called her, it turned out. Kim decided not to say anything to Mallory about the invitation. At least not yet. Finally, she and Zeus entered her own townhome next door.

  “You’re getting me into a lot of trouble,” she said. Zeus looked up at her, curious.

  The landlord was gone. The sink appeared to be fixed, again, and she tested the garbage disposal. Satisfied, Kim rinsed her hands as Zeus sat on the floor. He never took his eyes off her.

  “I can’t afford another place right now, so if you get us evicted then we’re just going to have to live in a cardboard box under a bridge,” she said, watching his large brown eyes follow her out the kitchen and into the living room. Then, as she moved toward the phone, she hesitated and pulled out the poetry book and removed the invitation.

  “Greico’s Italian Restaurant. I will be waiting.”

  She found the Yellow Pages phone book and flipped through it. Finding the number for Greico’s Italian Fine Cuisine, she dialed the number.

  “Pleasant evening. Thank you for calling Greico’s Italian Fine Cuisine. What can I do for you this evening?” came the voice over the phone.

  “My name is Kimberly Bradford…” She absent mindedly looped a finger between the black spirals of the twisted phone cord. “I need to confirm reservations for, um, Ross McGuire.”

  �
�Yes, of course. For what evening Miss Bradford.”

  “I’m not sure. Possibly tonight.”

  “One moment, Miss Bradford…” Kim could hear the rattling of paper and a moment later the voice returned. “I’m sorry ma’am. I show no reservations in that name. However…”

  “Yes?”

  “Reservations have been made in your name for eight o'clock Friday evening.”

  An overwhelming giddy feeling rippled through Kim’s body and she hung up the phone. She returned to the kitchen and sat down at the table, her dog lying at her feet.

  Zeus whimpered and looked away. She smiled fondly at him then unfolded the newspaper she had started to read this morning, glancing at the bold headline describing the Congressman’s murder. The ringing phone broke her concentration. Sighing, she looked at Zeus.

  The phone rang again.

  Huffing, Zeus leapt up to his feet and trotted out the room.

  “I know! I know. It’s not your fault.” Returning to the living room, she reached for the receiver. “Hello?”

  There was no answer. Only breathing.

  “Is someone there?”

  A quiet, masculine voice rippled across the line. He read the poem to her, “If You Forget Me.” Static crackled again, then the line went silent.

  “Ross…?”

  He didn’t answer.

  “Ross,” she whispered again. She picked up the poetry book. Flipping through the pages, she found the poem he just recited. “If You Forget Me,” Kim continued. “That’s Pablo Neruda. Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair.”

  Static crackled again.

  “Did you give me that book?” she asked.

  The line clicked and a dial tone blared through the receiver. He was gone.

  Five weeks and fifteen hours. She wanted to scream. Kim hung up the receiver, took a deep breath, calmed herself. She picked it back up. Dialed caller return. Waited.