In Our Darkness - 11. Chapter 11: Lemon Pie

6 Years After the Accident

It was September 4th, but Elisabeth was trying her best to ignore that fact. It was the 6th anniversary of their fatal car crash, but this year she decided September 4th would be treated just like any other day and given no special significance. She was tired of the same song and dance every single year, she just wanted her life to go back to normal. But first, she had to get her husband on the same page, which wasn’t going to be easy.

David was as stubborn as he was loyal. Her plan was to simply have a normal day. First, she was going to go to the gym, then she was going to drop off the dry cleaning and go get a manicure. And lastly, she was going to bake him his favorite lemon pie. This would surely make David see that it was just another day, no better or worse than the one before it or after it.

She had just finished making a large breakfast for her and David. Scrambled eggs, bacon, fresh squeezed orange juice, coffee, and a fruit salad. Who can sulk with bacon and orange juice in front of them, she figured. She finished putting everything on the table just as her husband walked out of the bedroom, wearing reading glasses and carrying his open laptop in hand. He was deeply concentrated on something he was reading. She was hoping he was finally getting back into full-time work.

“Breakfast is ready,” she said and smiled at him, but he didn’t acknowledge her. She put some scrambled eggs and bacon on his plate and placed it in front of him. Then she served herself.

Finally, he spoke. “I found this organization, Liz. They seem great, really great. Listen to this, they ‘Help parents whose children’s murders remain unsolved.’ They have amazing ratings, and they’ve had a high rate of success,” but Elisabeth had tuned out as soon as he said the word “organization.” This was his life now, and by default hers. Organizations, spending money on fancy private investigators and lab analysis and every ridiculous pseudo-scientific research he could throw their ever-quickly dwindling savings at. Shattered hopes and piercing pain, time and time again. It was like he wanted to torture them forever. Useless information, every single time. Detective Bryce told them it was of no help, but he just wouldn’t listen. Elisabeth was sick of it.

The old investigation was full of dead ends. Though their family, friends, work partners and almost anyone they’ve ever done business with had been questioned and checked out, the detectives found nothing.

The red-headed detective had located the other women who sold her body by the road in the forest, but she had no new information to provide. She didn’t see anything.

Surprisingly the investigators were able to figure out where the car came from, despite the extensive damage it sustained from the fire. But even that just lead to another dead end.

They traced it back to a junk yard, from where it was stolen a year prior. With no working cameras at the place, they could not locate the thief. And so every new clue was followed by nothing. Until she gave up hope and decided to move on with life.

“I don’t think we could qualify for that,” she said calmly, taking a bite of her bacon.

“Hmm? What do you mean?” David said finally looking up at her from his laptop curiously.

“Technically, he wasn’t a child. And technically, he wasn’t murdered,” she replied, taking another bite. His face hardened with resentment. It was the most prevalent emotion he seemed to feel for her nowadays. Resentment, because she didn’t try as hard as he did. Resentment, because she didn’t show her emotions like he did. Resentment, because she didn’t grieve the way he wanted her too. Resentment, because she just gave up.

“How can you say that?” he asked, his face twisted in outrage.

“Technically, he was still a fetus. And technically, his ‘murder’ was probably caused by a drunk driver, so probably more like involuntary manslaughter, but again…technically, still a fetus so, fetus slaughter?” she mused out loud.

“Technically, you’re a bitch,” he said and got up. He started walking back to the bedroom, but then stopped. “Are you coming with me today?” he asked. She bit her lip.

“David…” she started but couldn’t finish. He shook his head.

“Wow, can’t even be bothered to do that, huh?” he said and walked away. This was how most of their conversations went now. Unfinished thoughts, angry words, and discontent. She didn’t understand his incessant need to keep Andrew’s memory alive. Every single day. As if she could ever really forget. It’s like he wanted both of them to suffer everyday, or thought that being happy meant being disloyal to their son. But she didn’t want to suffer anymore. It was time to get on with things and let go of the perpetual blanket of darkness that covered them both since that night.

Elisabeth wasn’t going to keep going like this. Things were going to change. They had to. She grabbed her purse and headed to the grocery store to get ingredients for her pie. She wouldn’t let him ruin this. She would have a perfectly normal day.

***

David couldn’t understand why his wife showed no enthusiasm for his latest idea. Yes, they’ve been disappointed and burned many times before. But the whole point was to keep trying, to keep going no matter what. To find out what really happened. How could she just stop? How could she go on living, and not knowing? How could she pretend none of it happened. It didn’t make any sense to him.

He accepted that they grieved differently, and in the depths of his mind he always chastised himself for thinking his grieving was superior to hers. Yes, she was colder and didn’t show her emotions on her sleeve, but of course she was suffering too. And anyway, it’s not like this was a competition. But he just couldn’t accept this as their new life. He could not, would not, simply move on. He had to know. However long it took, however much it cost. He needed to know. He needed to see the face of the person that killed his son.

After he showered and put on his slacks and his gray sweater, David drove to the flower store and did the same thing he did every year on September 4th. He picked up a bouquet of white Daisies and drove over to the exact spot where Andrew’s life ended before it even began. He placed the flowers on the grass on the side of the road, and then stood there and waited. He waited every year, hoping the killer would return to the scene of the crime. And in his heart David knew that he would instantly recognize him. He would look into his eyes and he would just know.

David thought about installing cameras on one of the trees nearby, to monitor the people that came by here, but Elisabeth and Kat convinced him that was not a legal or smart idea. Maybe he would do it anyway, he thought to himself. After six years detective Bryce had become Kat to him. She was the only one, besides Jack, still answering his constant phone calls. She was the only one who still took him seriously when he spoke about finding his son’s killer. To his wife, he became a joke a long time ago.

After hours of waiting, he finally decided to go home. Yes, he was going to install a secret camera, and yes he was going to pay the organization he found this morning to look into his son’s case. He didn’t care if that made him gullible or stupid, any information was something, a step toward the right direction.

He changed out of his slacks and stepped into the shower. September 4thcouldn’t be a normal day, why couldn’t Elisabeth understand that? The person that drove into them that day, the person that killed their child, the person that ended the happy-go-lucky life they were living, that person had to pay. He just needed her to understand, to get on board. This would all be easier if she just had his back on this.

He toweled off and put on his pajamas. He walked into the kitchen and saw his favorite lemon pie on the table. Elisabeth was standing nearby.

“Lemon pie, yum. Thanks honey,” he said cutting himself a slice. “Look, I’m sorry about calling you a bitch this morning. I didn’t mean that. I just, I need you to get on board with my ideas. I know they may seem crazy, but I’m doing this for us. If you could support me a little more, it would mean the world to me.”

David took a bite of the lemon pie, and it was every bit as delicious as he thought it would be. Elisabeth stood there like a stone statue.

“I want a divorce,” she finally said, and David cussed out loud. Not because he didn’t see this coming, but because now he would always associate the taste of his favorite dessert with his wife leaving him.

Of course he saw it coming…he saw it hurdling at him from miles away, like a train wreck that he was unable to prevent but had to bear witness to involuntarily.

“That’s ridiculous, we’re not getting a divorce,” he replied, refusing to accept the idea. She stood there, helpless.

“I can’t do this anymore,” she said, finally.

“We’re fine. It’s just…hard. This is hard on a marriage. But we’ll get through it,” he said, reassuring only himself.

“It’s been six years…we’re not fine,” she said in quiet disbelief.

“We just need a little more time, I can feel it, something will come out. Bryce is still working on it. We’ll have a resolution soon. And then, we’ll be better.” She stood there amazed at the words coming out of his mouth. Did he believe his own words? Was he really this far gone? She had to wake him up with another dose of reality.

“I’ve been seeing Tom.” David stared blankly.

“Right, to help with the firm. I know that,” he replied.

“I’ve been seeing Tom, David. I’ve been sleeping with him for 2 months. He thinks you’re driving the firm into the ground. He doesn’t think we’re going to survive much longer. We’re in debt past our necks, David.”

He looked at her with no anger, no confusion, nothing.

“How can you even think about sleeping with someone, Elisabeth?” he finally asked, and his voice sounded curious. She burst out crying.

“I’m a human being, I have needs. I’m sorry that I’m not Saint David. The man who will do anything for his dead child. The man who will put his life on pause forever in pursuit of dust. The man who will destroy his marriage, his friendships, his work, and anything else good in his life to chase an obsession!”

“Well, I’m sorry that I didn’t give up! I’m sorry that I didn’t just continue with my fucking yoga classes and baking like everything was fine! I’m sorry I can’t fake it as well as you,” he yelled back at her, now feeling the anger seep into his veins. She laughed with anger.

“And what are you going to do if you ever find him, huh? No more chasing, no more leads, no more organizations, nothing to live for anymore. How are you going to survive, when this is the only thing you have left, David? You have this idea that life is going to begin again after you find Andrew’s killer. That you will hit the reset button, and things will start up again. That’s not the case. Life is happening right now as we speak. The world is passing you by and you’re at a standstill. You’re wasting away.”

He couldn’t listen to it anymore. Her words stung all over, her contempt for him felt like lava on his skin. They used to love each other so much, now the sight of her face made him angry.

Hours later David made his way into the dimly lit hallway. He was still angry, and he wanted to prove his wife wrong. How dare she try to leave him because he refused to give up hope? He would prove her wrong, he would enlist this group to help, he would find the killer and he would fix their marriage. They would go back to being the happy couple they used to be. They would once again be the beautiful pair who had the world at their feet.

He saw the door and knocked. His all-consuming anger blocked out the obvious warning sings in and around the building. The lack of proper light, the less than savory characters hanging out outside, the bars on the windows, the fact that the building was run down and in the dumps. And lastly the fact that his appointment was for 9:00 pm.

When the door finally opened a bald and nervous looking man peeped his head outside.

“Who are you?” he asked David.

“My name is David, I have an appointment with Jonah.” The bald man stared at him quizzically and then seemed to remember something.

“Oh right, right. Come in.” David followed him into the dingy looking apartment.

What he read about the organization online seemed absolutely great and gave him much hope. They were a group of retired people skilled in different areas such as hacking, detective work, even one ex-FBI agent, all helpful to finding missing people. They had computer hackers that could get into the most obscure camera systems and find out details that even cops didn’t have access too. They had people in the government who could collect useful information about possible suspects. They had a 5-star rating and testimonials from parents who were reunited with their missing children. While David knew a re-unification was impossible, he had the highest hopes that these people could find his son’s killer. That they could bring him to justice.

He didn’t think much of the apartment at first, it almost put him at ease. Clearly these people were not spending their money on a big, expensive office, instead they were choosing to work from a more incognito location. And with their line of work, it made sense. They were doing stuff that could be considered illegal, after all.

The bald man asked him to sit on the dingy stained brown velvet couch and wait.

When he returned he had two other men with him. One, a tall blonde with a somewhat crooked face, wearing a crumpled suit. The other one a buff guy who looked like a bodyguard.

“Mr. Andrews,” said the blonde man with some type of accent, perhaps Russian or Albanian, “I’m Jonah, what a pleasure to meet you.” He held out his hand. David got up and shook it, noticing the man’s eyes lingering on his Audemars Piguet watch.

“Please sit down,” said Jonah. David sat down, slowly feeling more and more uneasy.

“So I understand your situation is that you’d like us to look for the person who caused a very tragic car accident and drove away without helping or calling for help, correct?”

“Yes, the person who killed my son, and almost killed my wife. The police they just…they gave up. They haven’t had any solid leads in 6 years. Just dead end after dead end. And they don’t have the resources or manpower to put into this, it’s not important enough for them. But I don’t want to give up, I can’t. I need to find the person who did this. I will do whatever it takes.”

“Absolutely, I understand. So as you read on our website, we are an organization that specializes in finding people. We often rent our services even to the government, as they cannot hire the type of people that we can hire. This is all off the books of course, you understand. We have the most skilled individuals working here in secret. Hackers, private investigators, government officials, you name it. Don’t let the building fool you, this is all just a cover for our operation.”

“Of course, I understand,” David replied nodding.

“I want to get started as soon as possible, so we can find this person immediately,” Jonah stated.

“Great, great,” David replied in pleasant shock. He also wanted to start this as soon as possible.

“In order to proceed we do need the payment up front, you understand.”

“Right, right of course. I didn’t feel comfortable bringing 50,000 in cash, so I hope a transfer is alright?”

“Yes, that’s perfectly fine,” said Jonah with a crooked smile. David got on his iPhone and with Jonah’s instruction made a transfer of 50,000 dollars, earlier approved by his bank.

“So… how soon can I hope for some information?” David inquired.

“Well as you know these things can take time, but with all our manpower in it, we should have some leads within 3 to 5 days.”

“3 to 5 days? Wow, that’s great, that’s…wow. Really fast. Thank you, I really appreciate you taking this on,” said David as he stood up. He shook the blonde man’s hand and nodded towards the others. They said goodbyes and David started heading towards the door.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him. When he turned around it was the blonde man, with a strange expression on his face. Like he was doing something against his better judgement.

“On second thought, I will need your watch as well,” he said and the smaller nervous bald man behind him groaned.

“No, Jonah, why,” as he put up his hands in the air in exasperation.

“Excuse me?” David asked, taken aback.

“Are you deaf? I said I will need your watch as well,” Jonah replied as the gorilla looking bodyguard got closer.

“What the hell is going on?” Jonah shook his head annoyed.

“Dan, go ahead,” he said to the gorilla man, whose fist swiftly met with David’s jaw before he even saw it coming.

Maybe in his 20s, at the peak of his physicality, David might have had a chance of fighting off a bodyguard. But years of drinking, not working out, not sleeping and stress had done their job. He was absolutely defenseless. The one punch almost knocked him unconscious. Jonah grabbed at his wrist and instinctively David pulled back.

“Difficult one, aren’t you,” Jonah spat at him. The gorilla man punched him again, and this time David crumpled to the floor like a marionette. The man then continued the assault by kicking him in the stomach and ribs. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the kicking stopped. He felt someone touch his wrist and the weight of his expensive watch was gone. Then he was pulled up and thrown out of the building, onto the sidewalk, like a bag of garbage. He laid there, the cold, hard concrete biting into his cheek. Two drug dealers smoking cigarettes stood by and had a full conversation maybe five feet away from him but didn’t help. Then they moved on and he was alone, the pain all over his body. He couldn’t move, his body was frozen to the ground. It was a terrifying experience, and it felt like Déjà vu. As if he was right back there, on that windy forest road, back at the time of the car accident, about to lose everything all over again.

Finally, he felt his body begin to respond again. He moved his fingers a bit and groaned in pain as he tried to lift his head. He struggled to get up, but at last managed to sit. He reached into his pocket and realized that his phone was gone. He got up, his legs almost giving out under him, but he managed to shuffle along the wall of the building to the parking lot, where he found a payphone.

Bloody and messed up, David called the only person in the world that he knew would come.