Page 6 of More than a Memory
“Thank you, Dr. Parker. You are a godsend!” the man praised.
“I told you, call me Sam,” he said smiling as he held out his hand.
“OK Sam!”
They shook hands before Sam jumped back into his truck to head to the next call.
He was both a large and small animal vet but only saw the small animals two days a week at the clinic on his farm. He had renovated an old outbuilding, converting it into a vet clinic, which made that part of his practice more convenient, though he preferred his large animal practice because it was less confining. He hated being boxed-in in an office for ten-hour days, but having it at home eased the feeling of confinement for Sam. He shared emergency rotations with various vets in the area, so he usually only got called out during the midnight hours one or two nights a week, unless another vet was on vacation or sick.
Before pulling out onto the road, he called into the office to check in with his sister, Casey, who worked full-time as his receptionist and general office manager. “Hey, Sis, any more emergency calls? If not, I’m heading over to the Johnstons’ to vaccinate Jeb and Mel,” he informed her.
“Nope all is calm for the moment,” Casey assured him
“Sounds good to me,” Sam replied.
“Do you want to come over for dinner tonight?” Casey asked, always looking out for her younger and overworked single brother. “I have to cook for the three of us anyway.”
“I’ll take a rain check. I have some left over’s from yesterday. Believe it or not, I actually baked myself a chicken and I even made mashed potatoes to last the first few days of the week. Maybe I’ll take you up on it Wednesday or Thursday. My cupboards will be bare by then,” he joked.
Since both their parents had died in a fiery car crash while they were still in high school, they had grown even closer and had an unbreakable bond, equally protective of one another.
“See you back at the office then,” he said.
“Ciao!” Casey replied, disconnecting.
5
It was Friday, and Darcy was staking out a residence where her surveillance of a suspected philanderer, Mr. Kevin Kohl, had led her. Unbeknownst to him, he had been under Darcy’s microscope for almost a week. She finally had gotten lucky that afternoon when she saw him leave work about five minutes after the secretary left at noon. She had caravanned behind them until Mr. Kohl had pulled to the curb and parked in a residential area. Darcy casually passed by, continuing for another couple of blocks. She was able to catch a glimpse of the secretary as she pulled her vehicle into the two-car garage of an extra-large Tudor style home. Bingo, Darcy thought.
“Busted!” Darcy said out loud to Fannie, who was wagging her tail from the back seat.
Darcy drove a little further up the road until she felt less conspicuous and turned her van around to face the house under her scrutiny. She didn’t have to wait long for Mr. Kohl to appear, skulking down the street looking surreptitiously around and standing out like a sore thumb in his jacket and tie. Darcy’s camera was clicking away as she captured his approach on film. When he reached the front door, a tall willowy blonde was waiting for him with the door opened wide. They hungrily embraced and shared a passionate kiss on the threshold before she pulled him into the entry and closed the door. Darcy, catching it all on her camera, just shook her head. How dumb can some people be? Now, it was just a matter of staying alert and being prepared with her camera to capture him exiting and documenting the time of his departure.
The neighborhood was upscale, catering to the six-figure income bracket. Darcy thought all the houses looked the same, but they were extra-large with some individual architectural detail to distinguish one house from the next. The perfectly manicured and chemically treated lawns were almost without question maintained by a lawn service. No one out raking leaves or digging in the dirt in these parts, neither the kids nor parents. The American dream, she thought cynically.
“This is almost too easy, Fannie,” she said. It would be comical if it did not have the potential to wipe out several people’s worlds as they knew them. The quintessential mid-life crisis, fifty-something male bonking his twenty-something secretary. In this case, they were both married, so double the heartache.
Darcy tried not to judge people too harshly because she knew things were often not black and white when it came to matters of the heart. But after seeing the devastation that deception and betrayal brought to the injured parties, she just wished people would fess up and move on before the affair, not after the fact.
As she sat mulling over life choices, a black Mercedes sedan pulled into the driveway, putting Darcy on high alert. Her adrenalin kicked in and she was suddenly wide awake and ready for action. Oh boy, she thought unhappily, game on! She got her camera ready and slipped out of her van, putting Fannie, her decoy pit bull, on a leash. Just out for a neighborly walk, delivering flyers for a local business, yep that’s us. Fannie was excited that it was her turn to assist in the stakeout. She took her job seriously and knew the drill.
“Come on, Fannie, let’s get to work!” Fannie let out an eager bark in response.
They approached the house and walked up the drive just as the male passenger was getting out of the car. “Hello, sir. My name is Darcy and I’m cruising your neighborhood today passing out flyers with coupons attached, hoping to drum up some customers for my sister’s salon, ‘The Diamond,” she said nervously, glancing at the front door. She didn’t want them to get caught in the act because terrible and tragic things could happen in the heat of passion and jealousy. She was hoping that the couple might hear them and make a getaway out the back.
The man pushed past her and strode to the front door, using his key to enter. She heard him call out, “Sally!” then a scream, and suddenly the entry door slammed open and a half-naked body flew out the door and onto the perfectly clipped lawn. Mr. Kohl lay sprawled on the lawn, as Darcy, with some regret, quickly captured photographs of him in his white designer underwear. Next, his clothing was hurled out the door along with the enraged spouse, who joined Mr. Kohl by jumping on top of him and pummeling him with his fists.
“PLEASE Stephen, just leave him alone!” the panicked young woman cried, standing on the front porch wrapped only in a sheet, with her hair tousled and looking like she had just engaged in a wild sexual tryst. Her husband took several more swings at the now-defenseless man on the ground. “Just come inside. Don’t humiliate us any more than has already happened,” Sally begged.
“HUMILIATE? YOU are worried about feeling humiliated? What about my humiliation? What kind of a dumb sap am I? I trusted you. I loved you! How could you do this?”
Just then, he looked up and noticed Darcy snapping away with her camera and said, “Who the hell are YOU? I thought you were passing out advertisements.”
“I’m a private investigator, Darcy Morgan. Sorry to meet you under these circumstances, sir.” Fannie, by this time on high alert, was sitting at attention next to Darcy and ready for action if commanded. She had let out a low growl when Stephen had snarled at Darcy.
Getting up and leaving Kevin Kohl lying there, he stared down at the bleeding man with contempt, “Is this how you entertain all of your clerical help, by taking advantage of them while they work under you collecting a salary?” he hurled scathingly.
Kevin winced as he wiped his bloody nose off on his arm. He remained silent as he rose to his feet and began to slip into his now crumpled dress slacks. He kept his gaze directed at the grass and hurriedly threw on the rest of his clothing, awkwardly slipping on his shiny leather loafers. After he was dressed, he mumbled, “I don’t suppose we could all be civilized here and keep this between us? Why should we get anyone else involved?” he asked audaciously.