Chapter 4

I had played with Vicky and gotten her ready for bed. I lay on the couch and watched TV and fell asleep. I heard someone knocking hard on my door. I was a bit disoriented just waking up but the knocking didn't stop. I got up and answered it.

"Mr. Randy Burke?" the officer asked. There were two officers at the door, both in uniform.

"Yes Sir, I'm Randy Burke. What can I do for you?" I looked at the clock and it was five in the morning.

"May we come in? We have something to talk with you about."

"Of course. What's so important that it couldn't wait till morning?" I asked.

"Are you married to Sheila Burke?"

"Yes! What happened? She must not have come home last night."

"Mr. Burke, I'm so sorry to have to tell you this, but your wife was killed in an accident around three this morning. We need you to come down to the morgue and identify the body. We also need to talk with you."

"What? Accident? Sheila is dead? My God! What happened?"

"Mr. Burke, we can't tell you more till after we talk to you about tonight. I am sorry, but would you please get dressed and come down to the station?"

"I have a six month old daughter sleeping. Can I call her Aunt or Grandmother to come and take care of her?"

"Of course, sir."

I was all shook up. I had no idea what had happened. I called Carol's house and while the phone rang I had wondered if Olivia was ok. After all she was with Sheila.

"Hello," said Carol. "Who's calling at this hour?"

"Carol, it's me, Randy. The police are here and they said Sheila was killed in an accident some time this morning." Before I could say anything else she screamed out. I could hear her crying when Mr. White grabbed the phone.

"Randy, what's going on? Carol just said Sheila was killed. What happened?" He was all worked up also but at least I was able to talk with him.

In the background I could hear Carol crying and then I heard Olivia's voice. Thank God she was all right.

"Mr. White, I don't know anything yet except the police are here and they say she was in some kind of accident. I have to go down to the station and identify her body. Is there anyway someone can come and watch Vicky for me?"

I heard Olivia crying and asked her Dad for the phone. "I can't believe she's dead, Randy. We were together last night. When did this happen?" She was crying while she was talking to me.

"I don't know anything right now. I just need someone to come and take care of Vicky while I go down to the police station. Can you watch her for me?"

"Of course I'll watch her. Give me fifteen minutes. God, I can't believe Sheila's dead." I could hear her crying as she hung up.

I had a Bunn coffee pot and quickly put on a pot of coffee and went and got dressed. I was quiet as possible, cause I didn't want to wake up Vicky.

I asked the one officer if he could tell me anything at all about the accident. He told me that she was a passenger on a motorcycle and the driver of the cycle was killed also.

I was totally lost for words. "Who the hell was the driver of the cycle?" I asked.

"Sorry, we have to notify next of kin before we can release the name. Mr. Burke, do you own a black pick-up truck?"

"Yes, it's an F-150. Sheila drove it last night. Where is it now?" I asked.

"We were about to ask you the same question. Can you tell me what you know about your wife's whereabouts last night and also yours?"

I poured us all a cup of coffee while we waited for Olivia to arrive. I told him about the night before.

"Sheila and her sister were going out to dinner and then to a play downtown. I guess the tickets were hard to get and they were given to Olivia, that's Sheila's sister.

"To the best of my knowledge that's what they did. You can ask Olivia when she gets here. She'll be watching my daughter."

"What made your wife drive your truck if she has her own car? I figure it's her car sitting outside."

"When she got ready to go her car wouldn't start. She had left the door open and the dome light ran the battery down. Instead of jumping it I told her to take the truck and I would charge her battery. As you can see the charger is still attached to the battery. I didn't think to disconnect it, with all that's happened."

About that time Olivia came in crying. She came to me and we hugged. "I don't understand what happened," she said.

The police officer asked her if he could ask her a few questions. "Can you tell me exactly what you and your sister did last night?"

"We went to the Olive Garden and got the large salad and had one glass of wine. That was around eight o'clock, give or take a few minutes. Then I drove us to the playhouse where we stayed until close to twelve thirty."

"So you drove Miss White?" asked the officer.

"Yes, Sheila showed up in Randy's truck. She said her car wouldn't start. She parked the truck at the house and we used my car. When we got home shortly before one she got in the truck and I thought she went home."

"What did you do at that time?"

"I went inside the house. My Mom and Dad were just getting ready for bed. I told them we had a nice time and kissed them goodnight, then went to my room and got ready for bed and watched a little TV till I fell asleep. I awoke this morning with my Mom screaming that Sheila was dead. I couldn't believe it, I still can't." Olivia had tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Miss White, but will you be able to come down to the station later this afternoon and sign a statement?"

"Sure, after I take care of Vicky when she wakes up I'll take her to my house. My parents are all ready on their way to the station to see Sheila. I'll come down after they get home. Sir, what happened?"

"All I can tell you is your sister was a passenger on a motorcycle. They hit a semi-truck head on and both were killed. If it means anything they were killed instantly and she didn't suffer," replied the officer.

I gave Olivia a hug and told her I would talk to her later when I found out more information. I went with the officers to the police station. When we got there Mr. and Mrs. White were already there. They were both crying.

"I don't know what to say to you, Randy," said Mr. White. "You've been a good husband to Sheila. Whatever it's worth, we identified her body so you don't have to remember her that way." He started crying and so did I.

The police talked with the Whites and explained to them that Sheila was a passenger on a motorcycle and both were killed. The accident was still under investigation so there wasn't much more that they could tell them. They did verify what Olivia had said about the time she arrived home.

As I was about to enter an office I notice Sharon come through the main door. She looked as though she had been crying. Seeing her told me one thing. The driver of the cycle was Carlos and she was there to identify the body. I didn't get a chance to talk to her.

An officer had me repeat my story that I told him at the house. He told me he could now tell me that the motorcycle driver was Carlos Chavez. They were trying to piece the accident together.

According to the semi-truck driver, who was uninjured, a black pick-up bumped the rear of the cycle and the driver lost control and the cycle went into the oncoming lane and the driver of the semi said they didn't have a chance. He hit his brakes but by the time the truck stopped he had dragged the cycle a good fifty feet.

He didn't have time to identify the truck that pushed the cycle or who might be driving it. He was busy trying not to hit the cycle. After bumping the cycle the truck fled the scene. He couldn't even say if it was intentional or not. He called 911 and they were at the scene within ten minutes.

"Mr. Burke, were you aware that your wife might be having an affair with Mr. Chavez?"

"No sir, I've known Carlos and his wife Sharon for years. I can't believe Sheila would be having an affair with him. We have a baby that's only six months old. She worked at the hospital as a nurse and everything was going fine."

"There will be an autopsy. We need to know if either Mr. Chavez or your wife had been drinking. We also need to know when they met up and where. Would you have any idea where they might have met or where they might have been going?"

"Carlos always hung out at Butch's Biker Bar. I used to hang out there too but stopped when we started a family."

They asked me a lot more questions and I did my best to answer them. By the time I left the police station it was after nine o'clock. I called the Whites and asked if they could take care of Vicky for a couple of days. I had a number of things to do and the police wanted to see me again on Monday.

Carol told me to take all the time I needed. Vicky was in good hands. I did tell her that Sheila's body was to be autopsied and wouldn't be released till at least Thursday. I would make funeral arrangement for Friday.

I went home and tried to get some rest but it was impossible. I called work and told them my wife died and I would be off at least the whole week. Needless to say the hospital already knew about Sheila. They are the ones that had her body shipped to the morgue. I called some of my family members and let them know and that a funeral would be planned for Friday.

I lay on the couch and finally passed out. At about seven in the evening there was a knock on the door. It was Olivia coming to check up on me. She figured I didn't eat anything and brought me a sub.

She told me she talked with the police again and retold her story. I asked her if everything she said was true and she said the only thing she didn't tell the police was when they got back to her house Sheila said, "I'm going to go and get fucked good and hard. She got in your truck and left."