Chapter 41

“Hey, Chuck, come here a minute!”

“What the fuck do you want now, Arnie?” Chuck complained to his twin brother, swigging on his breakfast beer. “You’re not honestly going to watch all those New Year’s Day parades, are you?”

“Yes, I am; I like the colours that go into making them, especially the Rose Parade; it’s so beautiful. Then we can watch all the bowl games.”

“So what do you want this time?” He crushed his empty can and, tossing it, hit the wastebasket dead center. “Two points!”

“You’ll have a different tone towards me after you see this!” He said, rewinding the DVR. “I recorded this and just began to watch it. Remember that Dan guy from Miami, who wrote that book about our ten missing girls and their murders?”

“Yeah, you don’t have to fucking remind me again about Dan Davenport and his fucking book! And it was made into a fucking movie too! ‘The Retrospective Murders,’ what the fucking hell kind of title is that?! I hate that fucker!”

“I liked what the Miami Police named us, The Anniversary Killers,’” Arnie boasted.

“That asshole Davenport is getting fucking rich at our expense!” Chuck continued. “The last time we were in Miami, I knew I should have killed that fucking bastard when I had the chance. And now, no thanks to him, I’ve heard from our contacts in Miami that the Cold Case Squad of the Homicide Division might be reopening the ten case files on our girls! If I can get my hands on that fucker, Dan Davenport, I’ll fucking kill him for sure!” He promised.

“You just might get your wish. Guess who just got married and is now living right here in Tampa?”

“You’ve got to be fuck’n shit’n me!” Chuck eagerly sat beside his brother in the small apartment living room.

“Watch this. I recorded it last night!” Arnie grinned, touching the play button.

“And now we end our newscast on a lighter note with our number one local news story of last year. WZAX TV’s very own Claudia Lockhart was married here in Tampa on Christmas Eve to noted mystery murder author, Dan Davenport. He has written many successful novels, such as ‘Killer Twice Removed,’ ‘Desert Secrets,’ and ‘The Retrospective Murders.’ The later two have been made into movies, from which a portion of the book and movie revenue from ‘The Retrospective Murders’ has donated close to one million dollars towards women’s sexual assault victim groups.”

“Mr. Davenport, with the help of our station manager, Contessa Mendez, arranged for Claudia to do an interview with Santa Claus as part of her ‘Your Community Matters’ segment. She had no idea that Dan was able to simulate his flight from Toronto to Tampa being cancelled due to freezing rain. He would have been stranded in Toronto for Christmas day. In actuality, he was only a few city blocks away from her, disguised as Santa, when Claudia was to interview him. This, in fact, was to be his marriage proposal to her. We have the exclusive video for you to watch again.”

Chuck and Arnie watch the replay of Dan’s proposal to Claudia.

“But why all the secrecy?” They heard her ask.

Dan stepped back a pace and bent down on his right knee. He reached into his right pocket, producing a little box. He opened it, revealing a large, three-carat diamond ring. “Because, Claudia, my love, the biggest gift you could ever give me for Christmas is if you would allow me to become your husband. Claudia Marie Lockhart. Will you marry me?” He looked up into her beautiful eyes.