Chapter 15: Alexa’s Second Visit

Stacy spent the day on Sunday in blissful contentment. Her date with Walt had gone great. She even had a good time dishing the details with her sister. Her mood darkened mid-afternoon when her phone beeped. It was a message from Alexa.

“We need to talk. 12:30?”

Stacy responded with one letter, “y.”

She begged off watching a movie with her sister and Todd. Instead, as the sun dipped behind the horizon, she curled up in her recliner chair with a blanket, a book, a bottle of wine, and an empty wine glass. She drank about half the bottle and read less than two chapters in her novel when she nodded off.

At a quarter after eleven Stacy awoke. She took her phone and checked the time. She turned off the alarm she had set for midnight. With time on her side, Stacy went to the bathroom, stripped out of her clothes, and turned on the shower with mostly cold water. She shivered as the water cascaded down her back, but it accomplished its purpose. Stacy was wide awake and alert when she exited the shower.

Stacy found her favorite threadbare t-shirt and worn sweatpants. She did not bother with a bra, panties, shoes, or socks. Her hair was damp when she returned to the living room and sat cross-legged on her chair at twenty after the hour.

She sat in quiet until she heard the tell-tale soft knocks on the back door. Moments later Alexa entered the room. She was wearing the same dark clothes from the last time she visited.

Alexa handed Stacy a Red Bull and noticed the wine sitting on the end table.

“After dinner I had a drink and read. Well, I had two drinks and tried to read but fell asleep before I could get through two chapters. Got up about forty-five minutes ago, but it worked out. I took a cold shower and am now ready for whatever you’ve got.”

Stacy popped open her drink and took a long slug. She looked expectantly toward Alexa.

Alexa opened her notebook and reviewed her information. She started without preamble.

“Jacob drives a black Nissan Altima. It’s several years old, but he’s souped it up a bit. He drives it like he’s in a GT-R. It’s why he’s getting fairly regular speeding tickets. Nikki is driving a dark blue Buick LeSabre. It’s over ten years old, but I guess when you get out of the pokey you can’t be too choosy on what you drive.”

Alexa paused. When there were no questions from Stacy she continued.

“Nikki is living with Jacob in his trailer home, but they appear to be roommates and not a couple. That’s not to say Nikki may still be spreading her legs to pay for the roof over her head, but Jacob has gone out on at least one date that I’ve seen. My guess is that this living arrangement was the path of least resistance for Nikki. Fuck Jacob a few times a week and she doesn’t have to worry about where she lives or how she’ll pay for it. Frees her up to figure out her job situation and the rest of her life.”

“On the job front, I went to her former real estate firm and said I was moving to town. A friend recommended Nikki to look at houses. They said she had left a few years ago without giving any detail. There is no record of her re-applying for her license, either.”

Stacy said, “OK, so no lead on jobs?”

“Maybe. Jacob’s brother, Danny, is out of prison. He’s not living with Jacob, but he’s around a lot. I’ve seen Nikki leave with Danny a few times. I’m not sure what they’re up to, but given Danny’s past, my guess is they’re not going to job fairs.”

Stacy digested the information she had been given. She then asked, “Any leads on the psychologists at the facility?”

Alexa flipped a page in her notebook. “Yes. I called Julie’s number and asked for a wrong name. She recognized my voice. Before she could say anything I told her to play it like a wrong number, but I really needed one quick chat. We agreed to meet over her lunch break.”

“Julie told me the names of the two docs that gave Nikki her release. Dr. Spatch has a history of shady behavior and believes it would be easy for Nikki to get dirt on him. His bar is pretty low, so a few handjobs may have been enough. Dr. Blasnick is another story. She’s only been there for a couple of years, but her reputation is squeaky clean, and she’s known to call it like she sees it with regard to her assessments of patients.”

“But you didn’t leave it at that, did you?” asked Stacy.

“Of course not. It’s what took the longest to figure out. Dr. Blasnick is married to an engineer. They’re a DINK – dual income no kids. Quite well off, actually. Her husband is tired of the day-to-day numbers game of engineering so he’s been putting out feelers for political office. I’m not talking city board or mayor of a rinky-dink town. He’s well connected and would be looking at a seat in the state senate.”

“The one complication may be the doc’s marriage. She’s been having a long-time affair with a high school sweetheart. From what I could find, it is an open secret in the marriage. Her husband has been known to sleep around, but nothing long term.”

“So? In this age and political climate, an unfaithful spouse is nothing. It probably wouldn’t hurt his chance of office at any level. There got to be something else that would have forced Dr. Blasnick to change her mind on Nikki.”

Alexa continued, “Correct. There’s a deeper secret. It’s just rumor and conjecture, but it hangs together. It turns out the doc has a secret her husband knows nothing about. By the time she was a senior in high school she had her immediate future pretty much figured out. She had aced the SAT and already been accepted into a college with a full scholarship. She was breezing through her classes without any effort. In the spring semester she decided to let herself go, if you will, and live on the wild side.”