“I’d like to say yes, but you know how the club feels about discussing our personal business.”
“Of course. I wouldn’t dream of crossing any line on that front, but I do feel that it is important for Parker to know that if we proceed with my plan, there’ll be no turning back.”
“What exactly is this plan of yours?”
“Well, if she’s truly concerned about this client of her father’s finding and harming her, then I think we only have one option...and that’s taking the worry off the table.”
“And how the hell do we do that?”
“We kill her,” he answered nonchalantly. “Or more precisely, she kills herself.”
“Excuse me?”
“We set a stage, Menace. Put on a show that will draw the attention of the media and convince these men who are after Parker that she is no longer with us.”
“You can do that?”
“I can, and I will.”
“But I can’t pretend to be dead.” Parker gasped. “I have to testify at Rossi’s appeal hearing. It’s the only way I can make sure he stays behind bars and pays for killing my family.”
“That simply isn’t an option,” Billy replied.
“But it has to be. If I don’t testify, Rossi will get off, and my parents will have died for nothing.”
“Don’t you see, if you even attempt to go to that hearing, these men will kill you. And let’s just say you happen to survive long enough to get on that stand and testify, they’ll still come after you. I’m sorry, but you don’t go against the mafia without paying a price. And in your case, the price will be your life. I can guarantee you that.”
“He’s right.”
“No, I can’t just let this guy get off scot-free.” Anguish crossed Parker’s face as she told him, “I watched him kill my mother. They gave him fifty years to life and he was denied an initial appeal, but after almost a year, his stupid lawyer presented some new evidence for the case and managed to get the appeal he and Rossi were hoping for. Because of this new absurd evidence, there will be a second trial with an entirely different judge. Rossi could actually get off, and I can’t let that happen. I owe it to my family to do whatever I can to keep him behind bars.”
“You gotta know that they wouldn’t want you putting your life in danger to make that happen, Parker.”
“I have to testify, Menace. I just have to.”
“There might be a way.” Billy pursed his lips as he thought for a moment, then after muttering something under his breath, he nodded. “Yeah, it might just work.”
“What?” I pushed.
“She could record her testimony. It could be part of her suicide message to the world, but it would have to be done in just the right way. I’ll look into it and see if it would be admissible in court, but for now, I think it’s best for us to proceed with the plan at hand.”
“And how do we do that?”
“First, I’ll need some information from Parker.” Billy reached into his pocket and pulled out a slip of paper, then offered it to Parker as he said, “It’s vital that you give the exact location for each of these, otherwise, the plan will never work.”
Parker glanced down at the paper, then looked back up at Billy. “You need to know the name of my dentist?”
“And your childhood doctor.”
“But why?”
“That’s one of those things we can’t discuss.” I was relieved Billy didn’t go into detail about his “plan.” Even though she’d figure it out sooner or later, Parker hadn’t considered what it’d take to make it look like she’d committed suicide. He’d need a body. One that looked like her and had the same dental and medical records. That’s where I would come in. I’d hack into the databases for both the dentist and the doctor and swap out records to match the corpse Billy would use to stage the scene. Parker wasn’t ready to hear about all that, and Billy knew it. His eyes skirted over to me. “You and I will discuss that later.”
“Understood.”
“You both need to be prepared to settle in for a while.” Billy stood as he announced, “It will take some time to put all the pieces together, but I feel certain it can be done.”
“Thank you, Billy. I really appreciate you doing this for us.”
“I’m glad I can be of service.” Before heading inside, he said, “I’m going to my office to get started on things. Just let me know if either of you need anything.”
“Will do.”
Once he’d gone back into the house, I thought Parker would start hammering me with questions, but she didn’t. In fact, she didn’t say a word. Instead, she just stared off into the woods with a blank expression on her face. I knew this whole thing had to be hard for her, so I left her to her thoughts and stared out at the woods right along with her. I had no idea how long we’d been sitting there in silence when Parker whispered, “You know, he could be out there right now creeping through those woods, watching and waiting for us.”
“Who? Rossi?”
“No... Bigfoot.”
“Come again?”
“Bigfoot...also commonly referred to as Sasquatch, a giant, hairy creature that lurks in the forests of North America.”
“I know about Bigfoot.” As a kid, I was completely obsessed with all things Bigfoot. I read books about him, watched documentaries, but never once found anyone who thought he was legit. All my friends thought it was just made up bullshit, and for the most part, I felt the same. “You don’t really think he’s out there, do you?”
“It’s doubtful he’s in Billy’s woods, but I believe there’s a possibility that he’s out there somewhere.” She shrugged. “It’s fun to think so anyway.”
Testing to see just how strongly she felt about the matter, I said, “There’s not a lot of evidence that proves he exists.”
“Maybe not, but my father always said the absence of evidence isn’t evidence of absence.” When I didn’t respond, she said, “Just because they haven’t found it, doesn’t mean it isn’t there.”
“I know what you meant, babe.”
“Mm-hmm.” She giggled as she teased. “Sure ya did.”
“I did, smartass.” I gave her a playful nudge with my elbow. “Here you are talking about fucking Bigfoot, and you’re giving me a hard time?”
“You saying you don’t believe in him?”
“Didn’t say that.”
“So, you do?” she asked excitedly. “Did you see that documentary on the History Channel about the FBI investigation they did on him?”
“I might’ve caught a few minutes of it.”
“Okay, okay, okay,” she rambled off like she was about to pop. “What about the one they did on ancient aliens?”
“Ah, hell. You believe in aliens too?”
Her smile faded and was replaced with a look of embarrassment. “I don’t know. I just think the universe is awfully big for us to be the only ones living in it.”
“I’ve always thought the same thing.”