Alex
“Can you repeat that?” I stare at Maryann as I sit on the edge of my chair. I can’t believe what she has just told me. I shake my head considering how this changes everything for me and Adele.
“Garth is wanted for bank fraud. He embezzled half a million dollars and has been wanted for years,” Maryann tells me again and I just stare at her like she has two heads. Is she for real? She narrows her eyes and stands to pace in front of me. I can tell she is getting annoyed that I hesitate in believing her.
“Garth worked for a bank. He had access to information he should never have had and he took advantage. When you work for a bank, they request you take a week vacation so they can uncover anything you have been doing. Garth was management, so no one ever enforced the one-week rule with him until a new bank president came aboard. He advised the rule was for everyone including Garth. When Garth went on vacation, he went on the run. He knew they would find out he had been stealing for years and they did.” Maryann tells me as she stands in front of me.
“He has been on the run all this time and they never caught him? If this is bank fraud the Feds should be involved. He can’t be that good,” I say to her and she starts to chuckle.
“That is the other thing I need to tell you, Alex. The feds are looking for Garrett Davenport, not Garth Day. His legal name was Garrett until he became Garth. I guess when you have enough money you can make yourself whoever you want to be. He put all the money in my name so it couldn’t be traced back to him, but when I died it went back to my husband, Garth Day,” Maryann continues as this story keeps getting better and better. I need a beer, so I walk around Maryann to head to the kitchen. I can hear her footsteps behind me and I don’t even know if I can listen to more of this. I turn around and notice Maryann’s questioning as I take a sip of my beer.
“Did you marry Garrett or Garth?” I ask her because now I don’t know if I should trust her or not? Would she have married this guy knowing he was using a fake name and was wanted for bank fraud? I am not saying that I am an angel, but damn, I own up to my shit. I have never gone on the run for any of the shit I did. Is it better that people may have been eliminated for being witnesses? I won’t say that, but this guy went on the run and married two women that he abused. Is there any amount of decency in the man?
“I married Garth. I found out about everything else after we got married. I started getting suspicious when we bought our first house. He didn’t want his name anywhere on the deed. He gave me cash and had me go to the bank to make the purchase. Of course, the fact that he could give me cash had me a little suspicious. I was stupid and in love at the time. Garth started becoming abusive with me and forbade me from leaving the house during the day, not that I wanted to go out since I was bruised most of the time. I started snooping through closets and I found newspaper articles from Detroit, Michigan, regarding a former bank manager being wanted for bank fraud. His picture was on the front page, but the name read Garrett Davenport. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. When Garth got home, I met him at the door holding the article. His response was a punch to my gut and several broken ribs later he told me what he had done. Once we were married, he opened a bank account with my name that held that money so he swore if he went down, I would go with him. The money I used to buy the house, it would only point back to me. He told me that he is only listed as a beneficiary on the account. If anything happened to me, the money would go to him. I started to wonder if me being dead was what he was aiming for,” Maryann advises and I start to think about Adele being with this guy.
“How soon after this, did Adele get involved?” I ask her.
“I worked with Adele for years. We were always good friends. When Garth and I got married, she was my maid of honor. She even helped us find our house. Once we got married, Garth suggested I cut off all my friends since they were mostly single. The only friend he said would be a good influence was Adele. It’s funny now that I think about it. The only time I wasn’t covered in bruises is when he knew she would be coming over. Adele and I normally would talk on the phone, but on the occasional weekend, she would visit. Adele still lived in Illinois and Garth and I had moved to Indiana. I swear, Alex, If I had known he was going to move on to her I would have warned her,” Maryann says as her eyes get teary.
“Well, I guess this all makes more sense. We couldn’t find anything on Garth Day, but then again Garth Day most likely won’t leave a paper trail.” I start to question Maryann more, but before I can open my mouth there is a knock at the front door. We look at each other wondering who the hell it could be and I’m hoping it’s not Angie back for round two. I walk to the door, wondering if it could be Angie and her attorney as I shake my head. I pull open the door and it’s Teddy with a somber look on his face.
Teddy is staring at me and Maryann with suspicion and I cross my arms looking back at him. He works for me and I don’t owe him shit. Who I have at my house is none of his business. The three of us are watching each other in a little standoff when I finally decide I have had enough of this shit.
“Is there a reason you’re here Teddy? I’m sure you didn’t stop over just to look at me? As a matter of fact, why aren’t you at the club? It is still open for the night.” I say. He looks Maryann over once more before looking back at me.
“Oliver is running the bar tonight,” Teddy advises and my eyebrows shoot up as I close my eyes.
“Oliver is running the bar? Why the hell would he be behind the bar?” I practically shout. I can’t take time away from the damn club without shit going wrong. Oliver has no business behind the bar. Everything is probably being given out free or half off.
“It was Frank’s idea,” Teddy says and I shake my head with a sigh. “Fine! Why the hell are you here?” I ask and he takes a piece of paper out of his back pocket and hands it to me. I hesitate to take it and look at him as I hold the corner of the note afraid of touching it.
“I had a date tonight and for some unknown reason, she wanted to go to Indiana. We ran into Adele and some guy. I got a bad feeling about him, but Adele didn’t want me to help. When my girl went to the ladies’ room, Adele followed and slipped her this note. She told her it was to get to you,” Teddy tells me and I think I stopped breathing for a few seconds. He saw my Adele.
“How did she look?” I ask him and he shrugs his shoulders.
“She looked ok. She didn’t look happy. She wasn’t like herself at all,” Teddy tells me unhappily and I look down at the note that I am holding and for some reason, I hold it up to my nose. Is it stupid to think that if this was from Adele her scent would linger on it? I close my eyes and inhale as I hold the note and when I open my eyes, both Teddy and Maryann are staring at me. They think I have lost it and I should wonder if I have. I open the note and see Adele’s handwriting.
Evansville, Indiana
Pls, come get me!
I close my eyes as I reread the name of the town and her message that she wants me to find her. I open them and look back at Teddy and thank him for bringing me Adele’s message. He nods and hits me on my shoulder as he nods at Maryann and heads to the door. Once he is just outside the door he turns around to face me.
“Alex, I hope your friend won’t get upset that I brought up Adele?” Teddy tells me and I roll my eyes.
“It’s okay Teddy. She is just a friend,” I tell him as I hold Adele’s note tight in my hand