Curiosity Kills
By the time Nick got to the park, Ariana was already sitting on the bench checking her watch as she nervously shook her leg. He was out of breath and was afraid that she would hear him gasping for air so he made sure to stay a little farther back until he was able to get himself under control. He couldn’t believe that he was actually right, and that she did indeed show up to the same place as yesterday.
He found himself wondering how often this occurred and for how long. Had she always cheated on Howie and if so, why would she ever agree to marry Him? Or maybe this was a brand new fling of hers. Were there others before this Jack guy?
He had wished he brought his camera… maybe tomorrow. Although it was stupid to think he could keep skipping school without being caught. What if he was caught? He was almost certain that his dad would send him away to military school or something. But worse yet, what if she caught him, or that Jack guy? What would they do?
Jack was obviously late because by the time he came, Ariana’s greeting to him was very cold. She didn’t even get up off the bench. It was obvious to Nick, that Jack was disappointed by that. He was waiting for a hug or a kiss or any sign of affection.
“I couldn’t get away.”
“You could have called.”
“Oh really? The FBI? How do you think that would have gone over?”
Nick could barely make out what was being said so he slowly moved his way a little closer, now taking his place behind his all too familiar tree but making sure he did it quietly enough to avoid detection. He was able to see Jack’s hand clearly sitting on Ariana’s leg and once again he cursed himself for not having a camera with him, although they would hear the click of the picture being taken. Maybe he should tell AJ about this and the two of them could show up together. Or maybe Kevin…but they all had so much going on right now, he kind of felt like this wasn’t the time.
Maybe he could trick Howie into showing up at the park at around this same time tomorrow. This way he could see with his own eyes, what Nick was witnessing now. All of the possibilities seemed endless but they all led to one thing and that was letting someone in on his secret.
“I thought you were standing me up.”
“Would I do that baby?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Why are you being paranoid?”
Ariana pushed Jack’s hand off of her thigh, “I have my reasons. This is risky coming out here in public, what if someone sees us together?”
“Soon that won’t matter.”
That got her attention as she drew her one leg under the other to sit facing her boyfriend, “How so?” She asked curiously.
Nick also wanted to know the answer to that question so he dared to take one step closer when he heard their normal speaking voices hushed to a whisper.
Jack looked around then moved in very close to his lover’s ear and whispered into it, “I think that kid is going to kill off our little problem.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I told him that your husband killed his sister. That got him good and mad.”
Her reaction was mixed, on the one hand she felt relieved but on the other, annoyed that he had made such a huge decision without consulting her. If something went wrong, only one little thing was all it took, they would easily be able to link her to the murder. She worked very hard to try to frame Howie for the poisoning, which would be a much better out than actually killing him. Let him rot in jail.
“I’m not sure I like that idea very much.” She said, once again pulling away from Jack. That was all Nick was able to make out of their little conversation. They were speaking too quietly and he was too afraid to get any closer.
“And why is that?” Now it was his turn to sound cold.
Nick wished he knew what they were talking about. That part he heard nice and clear, but their dialogue in general kept moving up and down in volume.
“I thought you were supposed to take care of the boy…I can’t believe you actually paid him!”
“Honey, he is about to give us an out…and get another pain in the ass out of our way.”
“You mean the ONLY pain in the ass…so far you have failed that mission.”
Jack’s calm demeanor went out the window as he stood up, “I’m leaving.”
“You should blame it on Richardson.”
Nick heard his last name loud and clear and let out a little gasp which was luckily undetected.
“It’s too late.”
“Say you made a mistake. Blame Richardson…”
“I gotta go.”
“Fine.” She said as she crossed her legs in front of her. Jack seemed like he was going to say something, but stopped himself and turned his back towards her and walked away.
Nick actually thought, in a moment of insanity, that maybe he should just come right out of hiding and confront her on everything that just happened. Ask her flat out, why his brother’s name was brought up and tell her that if she didn’t tell Howie about her little affair, he would. Luckily, his common sense got the better of him and instead he just chose to sit quietly and wait until she was gone.
Or maybe he should follow her…that thought crossed his mind as well, just as she was standing up to leave. Only given seconds to make up his mind, Nick chose to follow her from a safe distance, to see where she would end up next.
“Hey Patty, isn’t that your boyfriend?” She turned her head in the direction her friend was pointing, and sure enough there standing by the basketball court just outside the gate stood Charlie.
“Yeah…wonder why he’s not in school.”
“I don’t know but you better hurry before the bell rings and lunch is over.” Krissy giggled as she pushed her friend closer to the gate.
When Charlie saw her coming he ran his hand through his greasy hair. He felt like he hadn’t taken a shower in decades. He was still carrying all the money he got from Jack on him. He had no idea what to do with it all and he knew that going home wasn’t an option. Especially since his mom wasn’t to be trusted.
“What are you doing here in the middle of the day?”
“I just needed to see you.”
“Are you okay? You look like you haven’t slept.”
“Patty, I…”
The bell in the distance made the girl look anxious. “I have to go, I can’t be late.”
“Come away with me.”
“What?”
“You heard me, come on Patty…right now.”
She laughed, “You can’t be serious…I have school Charlie. In fact I’m about to be late for a History test.”
“Screw History.”
She wasn’t sure what to make of her boyfriend at the moment, he almost seemed like he was crazed. His eyes were red, he looked like crap and he seemed like he wasn’t all there. But that wasn’t what she was really concerned about. She was more concerned about what she thought she saw sticking out slightly from inside his jeans.
“Are you carrying a gun?”
When Patty asked that, Charlie quickly covered it up with his shirt. “I need you right now baby…please.”
The late bell rang as if on cue and she found herself torn. She wasn’t one to skip school; in fact she was always on time for everything. She was certain that if she didn’t show up in class, her mom would be called. “I can’t…but right after school…I promise.”
“You know what? Fuck off then…” He sounded vicious and once again, scared the young teenager with the amount of hatred in his voice. Normally she would have never stood for someone being so rude to her, but this time she just let it slide. He had a gun…why would he have a gun?
Maybe she should go with him before he did something stupid, unless he had already done something stupid. “I’ll go with you if you tell me why you have a gun.”
“I found out who shot my sister.”
“So you think revenge is a good idea? Why don’t you just call the police?”
Charlie drew his face as close to the gate as possible, “Because it is the police.” He growled.
“Charlie, don’t do anything stupid please!”
“I won’t if you come with me…Patty; you’re the only person who can calm me down.”
He didn’t want to shoot anybody but he was so furious that if she didn’t stop him, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t pull the trigger once he found this Howie guy.
Patty looked back at the school and bit her bottom lip as she walked through the gate, taking her boyfriend’s hand and running before anyone spotted her.
Once safely out of sight, he pulled her close and kissed her lips, “Thank you.”
“Let’s go somewhere quiet and talk…maybe to that place you brought me to, remember? The place you said would change our lives forever.”
Charlie rubbed at his face and let out a sigh, ‘well at least she doesn’t know about the explosion, or at least didn’t make the connection’ he thought to himself.
“Let’s go somewhere else.”
“Where?”
“The cemetery.”
She nodded and grabbed his hand as they walked towards the graveyard.
Nick carefully followed behind Ariana as she walked down the block, stopping briefly in front of the window of a fashion boutique. He made sure he ducked out of sight when she stopped. He also made a mental note to himself that she was walking in the opposite direction of the building she worked in.
“Her lunch break can’t be that long.” He said under his breath as he looked down at his own watch to see it was already almost 2 o’clock. He’d have to start making his way back to school soon, especially if AJ was going to be there to pick him up again.
He hadn’t realized how long he had been trailing Howie’s wife as she traveled down the different streets, using her phone almost the entire time. She seemed to be in a good mood and at one point was even singing to herself. It was her next stop that threw Nick for a loop and that was a place called Madame Devouge’s Curiosity Shop.
She was in there for a very long time before coming out with a small brown bag in her hand. He decided that instead of following her any further, he’d go into this place and see what was being sold. He was always afraid of this place as a kid, probably because it had shrunken heads lining the shop’s window and AJ would sometimes tell him if he ever walked into this place, the store clerks would eat him.
He did venture in there though and was met with the sweet smell of incense the second the bell rang to greet him. “Is there something I can do for you son?” A Jamaican woman asked from the counter.
“Uh…no, I’m just looking.”
“People do not come into this shop to just look around.” She said, amused as she watched the teenager make his way through the shop. Staring at the voodoo dolls and various other trinkets found in the store.
“Is this all you sell here?”
“Why do you want to know?”
“Because well…my aunt likes to shop at this place, in fact she was just in here. I wanted to buy her something from here.”
“Your aunt?”
Nick felt his adrenaline pumping as he lied to the woman. What if she happened to know Ariana really well? What if she went back and told her about her nephew?
“Yes, the lady who was just in here. I was about to come in but decided to wait until she left. I want to surprise her.”
“That lady is all about the herbs. She always buys fresh roots and flowers and different herbs.”
“Like herbs you get at a grocery store?”
The lady let out a hardy laugh, “You are a cute little boy…no, these herbs you cannot get in a grocery store sweet thing.”
“Can you point me to some of them?” She moved from behind the counter and motioned for Nick to follow her.
They walked to the back of the store and behind a curtain where there were shelves and shelves of small bottles of dead looking leaves with names on them. “She just bought herself a bottle of this…” the woman said, handing Nick a creepy looking bottle full of fern shaped leaves.
“Aconite?” The lady nodded.
“How much is it? Can I buy a bottle?”
“Oh baby, I think it’s probably out of your price range.” She turned the bottle around as she said that, so the price was visible and sure enough when Nick saw the almost $50 price tag, he actually groaned.
“What would someone do with this Aconite stuff?” He asked innocently enough.
“Honey…sometimes it’s best to not ask such questions. No good can come of it…shouldn’t you be in school young man?”
He placed the bottle back on the shelf and thanked the woman for her help, after that he ran back towards the school. When he got home, he’d have to look up Aconite on the internet.
Kevin decided to make it an early day and leave at around 3. After he got back from the meeting with the insurance companies, he found himself with a huge headache. Howie urged him to go home as did Rob, who also recommended he take the next day off. “You look like hell Richardson and I’d rather have you stay home then coming in and not being all here. You’re under a lot of stress right now. Take a day and relax.”
He didn’t want to, because he knew if he did, all he’d manage to do would be dwell on all that had happened, but after thinking about it for a little bit, he decided to not go in and have himself a three day weekend. Howie was also taking tomorrow off but for different reasons. Rob thought it was a good idea to have him stay home while they did the bulk of the investigation regarding him as a prime suspect.
“Hey D. Remember when you mentioned Nicky going camping with you and Ariana?”
Howie looked up from his paperwork and nodded, “Why?”
“Maybe we can do that this weekend. I’d go along too. It would be good to get away and I think we all need it. Plus my dad’s house will be so crowded it would probably help.”
“That’s a good idea. I’ll talk to Riri about it and give you a call.”
“Okay…how are you holding up?”
“I’m a suspect and it sucks but, I know I didn’t do anything wrong so it’s all good.” Kevin smiled at his friend. He always admired how easy it was for him to look on the bright side of things.
“I guess I’ll see you later, I just want to go home and be with the family.”
Howie nodded once more, “Tell them I said hello.”
“Will do.”
He walked out the door and headed home.
“Why did you want to come here?” Patty asked after sitting in complete silence for most of the time they were among the dead. He was scaring her, he seemed so far away.
“I want to have a decent funeral for my sister, and now I finally can.”
They were both sitting on a statue located right in the center of the graveyard. “I’m really sorry about Nadia, Charlie.”
“I want to kill the son of a bitch who did this to her. But, I don’t know if I can.” He sounded so sad.
“I think that’s a good thing Charlie. I’d hate to think you’d be so willing to take someone’s life, even someone who killed Nadia.”
“I have a feeling I’m in over my head and I don’t know what to do about it.” He finally whispered.
“What are you talking about? You aren’t making any sense. Just tell me what’s going on.”
“They’re all missing Patty…all of them.”
“Who?”
“Chris, Gary, Mike…”
“Where are they?”
“Gone, they all helped me do something and now they are all missing.”
“What did they help you do? Charlie you’re scaring me.”
He looked up at her now and had tears in his eyes, “I did it for us…” He said, opening the satchel full of money.
“Oh my God…” Patty replied not being able to do anything but gawk at the mound of cash in front of her.
Nick sat quietly at his computer, Googling the word Aconite to try to find out what it was, so when Kevin knocked on his door he almost fell off his chair. Of course, his older brother only allowed one knock and then let himself in, but luckily Nick had clicked off of the page before Kevin saw anything.
“Homework?”
“Kind of.”
“I was wondering if you wanted to go camping this weekend. Dad even said you could take tomorrow off.”
“Really? Just you and I?”
“No, actually it would also be Howie and his wife. I thought it would be a good time to get away.”
Normally he would have rolled his eyes and said no, but the opportunity seemed to suddenly jump out at him and he was going to take it. “Okay…sure.”
“Wow, I thought I’d have to do some convincing. I know you aren’t an Ariana fan.”
“I think I need to get to know her better. Maybe I’m not giving her the benefit of the doubt.”
“Nickolas, I’m impressed…well I’ll let you get back to your work. See ya at dinner.”
“Hey Kevin.”
“Yeah?”
“Has Howie been blamed for anything?” That question totally caught the agent off guard.
“Why do you ask?”
“I’m just curious.”
“Nothing that you have to worry about.”
“So he has been blamed for something then?”
“Yes he has.”
“He didn’t do it.”
Kevin smiled, “I know that buddy…but, how do you know that?”
“Kevin, is there anyway you can be blamed for it?”
“Nick, why do you keep talking in riddles? Did you overhear a conversation dad and I were having?” Nick nodded hoping that by doing so, he’d get more information out of Kevin.
“Aw buddy…don’t worry. It’s just something that happened during a murder investigation. We always get questioned and cleared when a suspect dies in custody.”
“Murder?” Once again he felt his adrenaline begin to pump. This was more serious than he thought. Could Ariana actually be a murderer?
Kevin nodded regretting that he told Nick too much, “Don’t worry about it, okay?”
Nick nodded, but he was worrying about it. He was about to go camping with a possible murderer. To make matters worse after going back onto the site he closed when Kevin walked in, he found out that Aconite was a deadly poison.
“Jesus…” He said a he stared at the information before him.
There wasn’t anything more to say after that, so he printed the page and put it in his backpack.
