The Murdered Wife

"Wow, that's quite a story, and it also raises some interesting questions. What if the motive for Kelly's murder was not money but jealousy? I don't need to tell you how many husbands have killed their wives for that reason."

"But that can't be right, Sis. He didn't find out about her cheating until today."

"We don't know that, BeeGee. All we know for sure is that he found out today who she was cheating with. What if he somehow learned she was unfaithful before today? What if he was the one who lured her out to that farmhouse and shot her for cheating on him?"

"I don't know, Sis. He wasn't acting that way when I talked to him this afternoon."

"Exactly, BeeGee, he was acting. That's what I've been trying to warn you about: guys like him can be very convincing."

"I hear what you're saying, but I still don't think you're right."

"Well while you're thinking about that, let me give you something else to think about. I've been doing a little investigating from up here, and I've found out that being faithful wasn't the only thing Kelly lied about."

"What are you talking about, Jill?"

"It turns out that Kelly Russell's history is a little more complicated than what Barry told you. In fact I'd guess it's probably a little more involved than he knows. I did a trace on her, and here's what I found out. it turns out that she came from a poor family that lived in Florala, Alabama, which is a little town right on the border between Alabama and Florida. She went to Florala High School where she was a Wildcats cheerleader. She also started going steady with Johnny Rayburn."

"After graduation she and Johnny wound up attending Jefferson Davis Community College up the road in Brewton, Alabama. Eventually the two of them got married."

"Really?" Bridget asked. "I'm pretty sure Barry doesn't know about that."

"Wait, there's more. Apparently, she ditched Rayburn after only a year or two of marriage and headed for Atlanta. She must have been a real looker even back then because she met her next husband while she was working as a bartender at Coyote Ugly. He was a contractor riding the construction boom in Atlanta. Anyway, they got married in short order, but after only a couple of years of marriage, he died suddenly of a heart attack. After that, she moved up to Richmond, and, of course, that's where she met Barry."

"Wow, she was a busy girl!"

"There's one more thing, BeeGee. The Atlanta police told me that the contractor's family never liked Kelly, and they didn't believe he had any heart problems. They've been pestering the police and the courts to reopen the investigation into his death."

"Hmm. All that is interesting information, Sis, and it will help flesh out my book. But I'm not sure how it fits into the immediate situation. Do you think that somebody in the contractor's family could be the murderer?"

"I don't know, BeeGee, I'm just trying to help you gather enough clues that you can piece this thing together. But one thing is certain: don't let down your guard around Barry Russell. Now he's got two possible motives for murdering his wife, and that's two more than anyone else we know. So no matter how charming he may be or how good he is in bed, please be wary of him. Promise me."

"Well, you don't have to worry about me for a while. I've got interviews lined up for the next two days with several other people who knew both Barry and Kelly, so I won't even see the guy any time soon."

Even though she was busy over the next two days, Bridget couldn't stop thinking about Barry. The confrontation he'd had with Kelly's lover had disturbed her, and she'd taken her sister's warnings to heart. Yet she couldn't suppress the feelings that had been stirred in her after the night they'd spent together. A part of her desperately wanted to reconnect and try to understand what was really happening, so she was disappointed when he didn't even call.

So on the third day she was excited when she checked her phone and found that she'd missed a call from him. But as she listened to his long message, her excitement turned to concern.

"Bridget, I just had a call from the same person who told me about Kelly cheating on me. I think it was a guy, but the voice was muffled, just like last time. Anyway, today he told me he has information on who killed Kelly. He wants to meet me at Palmer's barn this afternoon at 5:00 o'clock. I'm supposed to come alone or I'll never find out what really happened. I know it's chancy, but I'm going to do it. If I find out the truth, you'll be able to finish your book. And if I don't come back, at least you'll be able to tell the police where to look for me," the message concluded.

Bridget was in a quandary. Like Barry she was anxious to get more information about who killed Kelly Russell, and it was obvious that whoever made those phone calls knew a lot about Barry's late wife, maybe enough to solve the riddle. At the same time, she was terribly afraid for Barry. Venturing alone back to the same place where his wife had been murdered seemed terribly risky to Bridget.

She desperately wanted to get Jill's advice, but when she tried to call her sister at the police station, she was told that Jill was out on a case. When she tried Jill's cell phone, it immediately went to voice mail. Hearing her sister's recorded voice seemed to make up Bridget's mind, and she left a long message explaining what had happened and what she planned to do.

When she finished, she immediately tried to dial Barry only to discover that her phone's battery had died. She gave a curse in frustration and tossed the dead instrument into her bag. "If I can get out to that farm early, I can be in position to see who comes to meet Barry," she thought. "I'll have to worry about recharging the phone later."

It was only a few minutes later that Jill returned to the police station. "Hey," the sergeant on duty yelled at her, "you got a call from your sister while you were out." Jill quickly turned on her cell phone, and after it had connected to the network, the message light came on.

When she heard Bridget's message, Jill felt a cold chill run down her back. Desperately she pushed the speed-dial for her sister, only to get her voice mail. "Bridget, it's me. DO NOT GO out to that barn -- do you hear me? It's a trap. There was no mystery phone call -- Barry just made that up to lure you out there. He's going to kill you just like he killed his wife! Call me back as soon as you get this message, but whatever you do, DON'T GO OUT THERE!"

As soon as she finished, she called the Richmond police and asked for the detective handling the Russell case. Told that he wasn't available, she asked for the sergeant on duty and tried to explain her fears. It was obvious to Jill that the sergeant didn't understand the urgency of the situation, but he promised to have a patrol car drive out to the farm. Finally Jill hung up the phone, frustrated that the officer hadn't seemed to grasp what was happening. "Oh, God, what do I do now?" she moaned.

There was almost no traffic on Anderson Highway once she got past 288, and Bridget felt confident that she could make it out to the Palmer farm in plenty of time to find a hiding place from which to observe Barry's rendezvous with the mysterious caller. But her confidence was shattered when the loud "pop" and mushy handling of the steering wheel told her she had a flat tire.

"This is unreal," she protested as she pulled her rental car over to the shoulder of the highway. "This is the same thing that happened to Barry when Kelly was killed!"

She got out of the car and walked around to stare helplessly at the right front wheel. She'd never changed a flat tire in her life.

Barry cautiously nudged the barn door open using the barrel of his father's old 30-30 Winchester. Barry hadn't fired the gun since his father had taken him hunting years ago, but he didn't want to walk into the barn unarmed.

The darkness of the interior was broken only by a few shafts of light where the corrugated tin roof had been pierced and torn. As far as Barry could see, the old structure was empty. "Good," he thought, "I got here first."

He spotted some old bales of hay off to one side, and settled himself behind them. He'd have a clear view of the door if anyone walked in.

Bridget left the flat tire by the side of the road and tossed the jack back into the trunk, not bothering to secure it. She got behind the wheel and quickly pulled back onto the highway, hoping that she'd installed the spare correctly. "Just let me get to that barn in time," she cast a silent prayer.

Barry's eyes had adjusted to the gloom, and in the quiet his ears picked up all the creaks and groans the old barn made every time a gust of wind hit it. As a result, he heard the soft footstep on the floor behind him, but before he could spin around a blow to the back of his head sent him tumbling into darkness.

It was the pain in his head that awakened him, but when he lifted his head off the ground, his stomach lurched and he vomited to one side. "Definitely a concussion," he thought detachedly. Then the pain in his head resumed, and when he tried to touch it he discovered that his hands and feet were bound. His fingers recorded the texture of dusty leather, and he decided he must have been tied up with the old reins he'd spotted hanging from the wall of the barn.

A part of his brain marveled that he was able to think so rationally, given how badly his head hurt. Then his ears picked up a new sound, and he lifted his head carefully and gazed at the barn door. As he watched, it opened slowly and a shadowy figure entered.

"Well, well," said a masculine voice, "it looks like you were a good boy and didn't bring anybody with you."

Barry struggled to sit up and finally succeeded, but only at the price of another spasm of pain from the back of his head. He gasped, but when the spasm passed he was able to focus again on the figure who had spoken. It was a man, but Barry felt certain he had never seen him before in his life.

"Who are you?" he groaned through his pain.

"Oh that's right, we haven't been introduced," the figure said mockingly. "You don't know me: I'm Kelly's husband."

Barry gaped at the man in confusion. "But I'm her husband," he said stupidly.

"Naw," the man said, "you were just her latest victim."

Barry wondered if the blow to his head had done more damage than he had thought. "You mean you're the guy she was married to in Atlanta?" he tried again.

"No, no, no," the man said angrily, "I'm Johnny Rayburn, her real husband." Seeing the blank look on Barry's face, the man began to pace back and forth in front of him. "Kelly was my high school sweetheart down in Florala, and we got married while we were at Jeff Davis. But the economy turned to shit and I couldn't find a decent job."

"See, Kelly always had a taste for nice things, things I couldn't buy her. So after a while she just took off, looking for somethin' better, I guess. It took me a while, but I finally tracked her down in Hotlanta, where she was working at some titty bar. She told me she was glad to see me, but by then she'd found some rich builder who could afford to buy her all the nice things she wanted. She told me she had a plan so we could be together again, but I had to lay low till she could get him to marry her."

"He did marry her, of course, 'cause nobody could ever resist Kelly. Then, after a while she called me to help her with her little plan. So one night she gave him some real good lovin', and later, when he was lying in the bed all fucked out and drowsy, I sneaked in the room and jumped on his chest."

Rayburn gave a gleeful laugh. "He couldn't even get his arms out from under the covers. You shoulda seen his face before I shoved that pillow into it!"

"After I finished and got out of there, Kelly was cool as ice. She laid back down and slept beside his body the rest of the night so it would look like she woke up the next morning and found him dead in his sleep." He shook his head. "I don't know if I could have done that, but it didn't bother her none."

Then Rayburn scowled. "But I guess that fat bastard had the last laugh on her, because afterwards she found out he was up to his eyeballs in debt, and Kelly didn't get hardly anything out of him. So she told me she'd have to find herself another rich sucker before her and me could get back together. Since things were getting a little hot in Atlanta, she decided to move again."

Even in his pain, Barry couldn't help spitting out, "And that's when she moved to Richmond and found me."

Rayburn laughed derisively. "Yeah, Barry Russell, the big money man. But you were another disappointment. When your business started going down the toilet, she decided not to wait to find her next prospect."

"I guess that's where Bill McAvoy came in," Barry said bitterly.

"Right on, smart boy. Except she had to get rid of you first, which was when she called me."

"But wait," Barry protested, "why bother killing me? She could have just divorced me and moved right into McAvoy's bed."

Rayburn looked at Barry as though he was an idiot. "Well she had to get at least something for her trouble, didn't she? And since you had that damned prenup agreement, the only way to get any money out of you was for you to die."

Barry was still confused. "But it was Kelly who got killed, not me!"

A look of anger and despair twisted Rayburn's face. "She had it all set up. I was hidin' here in the barn and you were supposed to come in and get shot by an unknown gunman. But you didn't show. And suddenly she came busting through that door to see what had happened and I shot her by accident. It was all your damned fault!"

The man began to wave the gun in Barry's face, and Barry groped desperately for some way to distract or at least delay him. Try as he might, in his weakened state he was having no luck getting his hands free.

"You don't have to do this, Johnny. There's nothing to be gained by killing me now. Just leave me here and get away while you can," Barry pleaded.

The man began to pace back and forth again in agitation. "No, I have to finish it. She loved me. I got to do what she told me!"

But just as he began to raise his gun again, a voice outside began yelling, "Barry, Barry, are you in there? Are you okay?"

Before Barry could warn her, Bridget burst into the barn, only to stop short in dread when she saw Johnny Rayburn level his gun at her. "So you did bring a friend along after all," he chortled. "And a pretty one, too. I guess I got two of you to take care of now."

He gave Bridget a long look and smiled wolfishly. "But first I'm going to have a little fun with you. It's been a long time since I've had a woman."

"No!" Bridget screamed, and tears began to run down her face. "Stay away from me!"

Rayburn ignored her. Tucking his pistol into his belt behind his back, he began to advance on the woman in front of him.

Barry suddenly remembered what had happened to Bridget's mother and felt sick at heart. "She must be about to lose her mind with fear," he thought.

"Get away from her," he yelled helplessly, but Rayburn ignored him. Then, as Barry watched the scene in horror, he realized that something looked odd about Bridget's expression. "That's not fear," he thought, "that's rage!"

As Rayburn reached for her, he crowed, "I'm going to enjoy this."

In a loud voice, Bridget screamed out, "Not this time!" And to Rayburn's and Barry's amazement, she reached behind her, yanked out a snub-nosed .38 and pulled the trigger. The bullet fired at such close range caught Rayburn in his midsection and doubled him over. He stumbled backward, fell flat on his back and lay moaning on the straw-covered dirt.

Bridget stared at the writhing figure for a moment, then ran to Barry and knelt beside him, crying as she hugged and kissed him. "Are you alright, Barry?" she asked frantically.

"My head hurts like hell," he told her, "but I think I'll be okay. Thank God you're alright! Can you help me get my hands free?"

As she tugged at his bonds, they heard another voice yelling, "Bridget, Bridget!" They looked up to see a woman holding her pistol in the two-handed Weaver position come through the barn door. "Jill!" Bridget screamed, and the two sisters ran to each other and embraced, crying in their relief.

When they had calmed down somewhat, Bridget asked, "How did you get here?"

Jill held her tightly. "When I got your voice mail, I drove down from D.C. in a police cruiser with the siren on the whole way. I told you I'd never let anything happen to you."

As Bridget hugged her in gratitude, Jill looked suspiciously over at Barry and Rayburn on the floor of the barn. "What did Barry do to you, and who's that other guy?"

"Oh, God, I forgot about Barry!" Bridget cried. Tugging on her sister's arm, she pulled her toward him. "Help me untie him."

As the two women struggled with the old leather reins, Barry saw motion from the body lying on the barn floor, and he cried out, "That's Johnny Rayburn over there. He has a gun in his pants!"

Jill quickly moved to the prone figure and rolled him over to find the pistol still stuffed in his waistband. She grabbed it and tucked it in her belt. As she did so, Rayburn gave a terrible cry. Jill rolled him back over and checked his wound. Then she grabbed her phone and called 9-1-1, ordering an ambulance and the police.

When she returned to Barry's side, he told her, "I think if you run a ballistics check on the pistol you just took, you'll find it matches the one that killed Kelly."

Jill looked at Barry and then at Bridget. "So her first husband was the one behind all this?"

Barry nodded. "And from what he said, I don't think the two of them were ever legally divorced."

He glanced over at Rayburn and noticed how pale he had grown. "How's he doing?" he asked Jill.

In a quiet voice she said, "He's bleeding heavily. There's not much I can do for a bullet wound in the stomach. I don't think he'll last till the EMT gets here."

Bridget gave a little whimper at that, and Jill reached over to hug her. "It's alright, BeeGee. You did what you had to do. I'm proud of you."

Barry gave Bridget a puzzled look. "I didn't know you even had a gun. Where did that come from?"

Bridget gave an embarrassed shrug. "Jill gave it to me years ago. After what happened to Momma, I've always hated guns, but Jill insisted I keep it with me for protection. I've had it in my purse all these years, but this is the first time I've ever fired it."

Just then Johnny Rayburn groaned again. The three of them moved over to kneel beside him, and Rayburn opened his eyes. Seeing Barry, he spoke in a gasping voice. "I lied to you, man. It wasn't an accident. When she came in the barn and saw you weren't here, she got angry. I begged her to forget the plan and go away with me. That's when she told me she didn't love me and that she would never take me back. Then she laughed at me, and . . . I shot her."

Barry, Bridget and Jill exchanged glances. Rayburn's voice was noticeably weaker. Barry glanced down and saw that the effort to talk had forced more blood out of the wound in the man's stomach.

Then, to their amazement, Rayburn began to laugh. "You can't get away from me now, Kelly. This time I know where you've gone, and you better get ready, 'cause I'm goin' there too." He laughed once more and then his head dropped back to the dirt and his eyes fixed on the ceiling. Jill reached over and felt for his carotid artery; then she shook her head and closed the dead man's eyelids.