Chapter 58

 

Ava

 

 

“WHAT?” I REPEATED, still trying to digest what she’d told me. I looked at Joey again and a knot formed in my throat as a flurry of emotions rushed through me. “Joey is my nephew?”

“It looks that way. I think it’s why Andrew took off,” Penny said dully. “It happened right after I told him I was pregnant.”

“He wouldn’t skip out on his unborn child,” I said, trying to reassure her. “I don’t know what kind of relationship you had, but Andrew wouldn’t do that. We think that…” I looked at Joey and lowered my voice. “We think that a man named Blade might have made him disappear. Do you know who he is?”

“That’s Felix. Everyone called him Blade because of his extensive knife collection,” she replied.

“Yeah, we knew he was big on knives,” Jayce said sarcastically.

She went on. “We’ve been renting from him. Of course, I haven’t heard anything from the man in over a year. Seriously, though? You think Felix did something to Andrew?”

I looked at Jayce. “Could you tell her what we know? I’ll keep Joey occupied.”

“Sure,” he replied.

I walked over to the little boy and asked if I could blow some bubbles.

“Okay,” he said, handing me the small bottle. Looking down into his face, I could definitely see some kind of resemblance to my brother. Especially in the eyes and eyebrows.

I blew some of the bubbles out and watched as he went after them, laughing and giggling. He seemed like such a happy kid, which I hoped meant that Penny was a good mother.

“So, Felix died last year?” I heard Penny say. “I guess that explains why he stopped cashing the rent checks.”

“Who pays the utility bills?” Jayce asked.

“I’m responsible for that. It’s fine, though, because rent was reasonably low. Only five-hundred dollars a month, to be exact. Andrew and Blade were friends, though. Why would he kill him?”

“Who got killed, Mommy?” Joey asked.

“Nobody, baby,” she replied and pointed to a large, yellow dump truck in the grass. “Why don’t you play with that for a while?”

“No. I’m hungry,” Joey said. “I want some ice cream.”

“Lunch first… and then we’ll talk about it.” She turned back to us. “Look, why don’t you two come in? I’ll make him a sandwich and then we can talk some more,” Penny said.

Jayce nodded. “Sounds good.”

 

WHEN JOEY WAS seated in the kitchen with his peanut-butter and jelly sandwich, we went into the living room, for privacy.

“You know, we were going to get married,” Penny said sadly. “We talked about it a few times.”

“When was the last time you saw him?” I asked.

She sighed. “When he left with Felix. They went to Vegas for some kind of convention.”

“Convention? For what?” I asked.

“Old cars. That’s what they told me, at least. Andrew was into classic vehicles and had been talking about buying a GTO and restoring it,” she replied.

“So, he never came back from Vegas?” Jayce asked.

“Nope.”

“But Felix did? Was he alone?” Jayce asked.

“Yes. He told me Andrew had met some woman. Apparently, she was some showgirl. A real knockout, I guess. Anyway…” her eyes filled with tears, “they supposedly ran off together.”

“And you believed him?” I said, the hair standing up on the back of my neck. I wasn’t psychic, but I suddenly had a vision of Blade killing my brother and dropping his body off in the desert.

She shrugged. “I had no reason not to. Felix had always been really nice to me. I used to think that he wanted to be more than friends, if given the chance.”

Jayce and I looked at each, an unspoken message passing between us.

If Blade wanted Penny, he probably wouldn’t have thought twice about killing Andrew.

“Did Blade and Andrew look alike?” Ava asked.

“Yes. Especially after Andrew stayed away,” she said, a troubled look appearing on her face. “Felix dyed his hair and started wearing it the same way as Andrew. I thought it was kind of weird, honestly. I guess deep down, I wondered if he did it because of me.”

“To make you like him more?” I asked.

She nodded.

“Did you ever try calling Andrew when he didn’t come home from Vegas?” I asked.

“Yes. Of course. He never answered my calls or texts,” she replied. “Felix told me he’d spoken to Andrew a few times afterward, though. Apparently, he told Blade that he wanted ‘space’.”

“But, Andrew knew about the baby, right?” I said.

She nodded. “You probably think I’m a naïve idiot,” she said, sniffling and wiping the tears under her eyes with the back of her hand. “Maybe I was. It’s just that I trusted Felix. He didn’t seem like the kind of guy who’d kill anyone.”

“When was the last time you spoke to him?”

“Felix? Last year. During the spring. He’d told me that he had some business to attend to in Minnesota and would be gone for a while. I guess that’s why I didn’t realize he’d actually ‘disappeared’.”

“Where did Felix live?” Jayce asked.

“Right next to us,” she said. “He owns the entire building.”

Jayce and I looked at each other again and then back to her.

“Do you have a key to his place?” he asked.

“No,” she replied. “We weren’t that good of friends.”

“It’s fine. I’ll get us in there,” Jayce said, looking at me.

 

SURE ENOUGH, JAYCE’S skills weren’t just limited to the bedroom. He managed to pick the lock and we soon found ourselves in the living room, which consisted only of an oversized brown sofa, a matching chair, and a large, flat-screen television on the wall. Other than that, the place was void of pictures, plants, and anything else that might have made it homey.

“Oh, my God, what’s that smell?” I gasped, my stomach heaving. The rancid smell was worse than a hot garbage dumpster that hadn’t been emptied in months.

“Fuck. I think I know. Stay here while I search the place,” Jayce said, covering his mouth and nose.

I opened the door to let some fresh air in, thankful that it was still daylight, since the power had been shut off.  

Jayce appeared in the living room again, a grim expression on his face.

“Did you find anything?” I asked.

He nodded and from the look in his eyes, I knew it was bad.

“What is it?” I asked, my heart leaping into my throat.

“I think I found him. Andrew,” he said in a shaky voice.

“What?” I whispered in horror. “Where?”

“I don’t think you should see ‘where’. We need to call the police.”

Tears filled my eyes. “You’re saying that you actually found my brother’s body?”

“I think so. It was…” He paused.

“Tell me,” I said, openly sobbing now.

He walked over and put his arms around me. “I found someone stuffed in the freezer,” he said in a regrettable voice.

My stomach heaved again as I realized what the horrible, horrible smell was in the apartment. I pushed him away right before I turned my head and threw up breakfast.