*****
Bittersweet
Double Trouble
Hill Creek, Virginia lay snuggled in the foothills of the Appalachians along US Highway 73 in Judd County. Its winding roads traveled through Virginia over into North Carolina and split at the fork toward Tennessee. It was early fall 1983 and the Appalachians were never more beautiful. The gallery of colors accented the skyline as the fall winds blew in rain from the coast. The scent from the rain brought a clean and fresh aroma that created a pleasant feeling as it hovered about. The time had come for the season to change. In the higher elevation of the mountains, you could see the early snows lying in wait for its next moment, which in a few months would be spring and spring would feed off the winter snow.
Life around Hill Creek was good. It was a small city town with a country touch. Homes of all kinds lined the hills and hollows. Businesses were abound, upon every hand, as the town grew daily with leaps and bounds. Tommy Stewart was an only child; he grew up on a small farm in Illinois. Tommy never went to college, but he spent three years in the army. When he got out of the army, he worked at a small business where he lived and that is where he met his wife of five years; they had no children.
Tommy was sitting in his car ready to pull out into traffic when he noticed his wife coming out of a lawyer’s office. He watched as she came out, got into her car and left. It was raining that day so he watched her as she drove by because he wanted to be sure it was her. His wipers moved back and forth as fog began to appear upon his windshield. As he wiped away the fog with his hand, he looked again, it was definitely her. But, she didn’t see him. What would she be doing in a lawyer’s office, he said to himself. He was startled out of his daze by a horn honking from behind him. He could tell the driver of the car behind him was cursing as he motioned for him to get out of the way; he wanted that parking place. Tommy whipped out into the street and as he took off, he shot the other man a bird. On his way home he decided not to mention to his wife that he saw her leaving the lawyer’s office. He wanted to see if she would bring it up. When he got home she was already there. The rain had let up a little but you could still hear the thunder rumbling in the background. When he went in, she was throwing things, cursing and raising hell. When she saw him they immediately started arguing over the same old thing as before.
About a year ago, Tommy had an affair with a woman he met at a bar. Well, she wound up pregnant. When Kimberly found out, she started fussing and hasn’t stopped. She just couldn’t forget it. He kept telling her he was sorry and that it wouldn’t happen again. But, she didn’t trust him. She told him he did it once and he’d do it again. He argued back as he tried to settle the affair once and for all. However, she told him that she had stopped by the lawyer’s office and had some separation papers drawn up.
“What,” he exclaimed.
“Yes, I want a separation,” she yelled. “I’ve got to have some time to myself.”
“But, Kimberly, don’t you think you’re going too far with this,” he questioned. “I made a mistake. Haven’t you ever made a mistake?”
“Yes, I have, a big one; I married you,” she cried.
“Okay! Okay, you want a separation. That’s fine,” he yelled. “I don’t know why you don’t go ahead and file for divorce.”
She stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind her. I need a drink, he said to himself as he left and headed for Wet Your Whistle Bar and Grill. When he got to the bar, he saw a lot of the regulars. He sat down at the bar and ordered a double. The smoke in the bar was heavy and you couldn’t hear the jukebox for everyone talking. As he turned and placed his back to the bar, he tossed back the double whiskey down his throat and asked for another. He kept noticing a good looking girl in a booth at the back of the establishment. She too had noticed him and when she caught him looking she gave him a flirty look. As he turned back toward the bar, he looked back at her once again. This time she took her hand up under the back of her head, lifted up her hair and then let it fall free. He motioned for the bartender, ordered a bottle of whiskey, two glasses and left the bar. He went to the booth where she was sitting and asked her if she would like some company.
“Sure,” she replied.
“Whiskey,” he said.
“That would be fine,” she answered.
“Tommy is my name,” he said as he poured the drink. “And yours,” he asked as he handed her a drink.
“Shantel,” she softly spoke
“I don’t believe I have seen you in here before,” he said after he shot the drink down.
“It’s my first time,” she replied.
“You’re not from here are you,” he questioned.
“No, I’m in town visiting an old friend,” she said.
“Male or female,” he replied.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said, “does it.”
“Oh, no,” he replied.
As they sat and started to get acquainted, Tommy got on the subject of his marriage. He told her his wife had filed for a legal separation. She didn’t seem to be very impressed with his marriage situation at all; she wasn’t married. All she seemed to be interested in was having a good time. When an old song started to play on the jukebox, he asked her if she wanted to dance.
“Sure,” she replied.
They slipped out of the booth and headed to the dance floor. It was a slow song so he held her tight against him as they slowly moved across the floor.
“Not bad,” she whispered in his ear. “You must have danced a lot.”
“Well, some,” he replied as the song ended and a new upbeat one began.
“You want to try it,” she said.
“Why not,” he replied as they broke loose and moved about on the floor.
When the song ended he said, “Let’s sit the next one out. I’m out of breath.”
As the night went on, the more he drank and the more he talked. He talked about getting even with his wife by stalking and scaring her. He also talked about getting his hands on some of her money and that he may even kill her so he could have it all. Then later on, about closing, the bartender came over to the booth and woke him up. He had drunk too much and passed out. When he looked around for Shantel, she was gone. He asked the bartender where she went. The bartender pointed to a napkin on the table with a phone number on it. He grabbed the napkin, got up and left.
Two weeks later, he was at home packing up some of his things to move to a motel when he found a letter stuffed back in a drawer. It was from a lawyer in North Carolina. The way it read, his wife would be coming into a large sum of money. Her daddy’s brother had died from complications of diabetes and cancer. So that’s why she wants the separation. She didn’t want to share her money with me, he said to himself.
The next day, he called Shantel’s number three or four times but she didn’t answer. He figured she had probably left town and gone home. However, one day while he was stopped at a red light, Shantel pulled up beside him and there was another woman with her. Tommy rolled down his window and told her to follow him to the bar where they met. Shantel told him to lead the way. When they arrived at the bar, Shantel introduced him to her fraternal twin sister, Lindsay. Tommy invited them in for a drink. The bar hadn’t been open long and there were only a few people inside. They took a booth in the back and sat down to talk.
“I found out that Kimberly is going to come into a large amount of money. I don’t know exactly how much, but that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I want to get my hands on that money and if you’ll help me I will cut you in too.”
“Are you serious about what you said regarding your wife?” Shantel asked.
“Yes,” he said. “I mean no. Why do you ask? I don’t remember exactly what I said.”
Shantel filled him in on everything he had told her that night at the bar.
“Well,” she said, “we might be interested in helping you, for a small
fee.”
“You might,” he replied with a surprised tone. “How small of a fee are you talking about?”
Lindsey took a pen from her purse and wrote an amount down on a napkin and slid it over to him.
“Not bad,” he responded as he wrote another amount on the same napkin and slid it back to her.
She underlined and circled her original offer and said, “This amount or no deal.”
He thought a minute and shook his head okay. The threesome sat and talked about a plan. He told them he would give them half of the money then and the rest when they finished the deal. After several drinks, the twins left. Their final words were that they would be in touch. As Tommy was about to leave a man walked up to him and asked him if he was Tommy Stewart. He told him yes. The man handed him an envelope and left without saying another word. Tommy opened it up as he walked to his car; it was from her lawyer. He had officially been served his separation papers. He started cursing as he jumped into his car and left.
Within weeks the twins had put the plan in motion. Tommy had paid them half of the money to get the stalking started and he promised them the other half when they were finished.
One day as Kimberly was driving home from town, she met a car driving recklessly; it was speeding and changing lanes back and forth. As she neared the car, she slowed down. She didn’t know what the car was going to do next. As the car approached her, it suddenly swung into her lane causing her to veer off the road into a field. She looked back to see if she knew who it was. She could see two women in the car but she couldn’t make out who they were. She assumed they were just two drunks. When her nerves settled down, she made it back out onto the road and headed home. The more she thought about it the more she realized how strange it was. Nevertheless, she passed it off as nothing. Later that night, she was awakened by a phone call. All they said was that they were sorry they missed her on the road and that was only the beginning of things to come. Before she could say anything, the phone went dead. From then on she received two or three calls every day and night. They never said another word; all they did was breathe heavily into the phone. As time went on, she began to feel like she was being followed. She felt uneasy; everywhere she went, even at home. Tommy is behind this, she said to herself. He has someone watching me, but who. She decided to get a restraining order against him and have her phone number changed to an unlisted number. She was tired of receiving the annoying phone calls and wanted to get a peaceful night’s sleep.
The day she decided to file for a restraining order, it was pouring down rain. A storm had come up unexpectedly. As she was running to her car, she stopped in her tracks; all four of her tires were slashed. As she was headed back into the house, she heard a car horn blow. She turned around; it was a woman she had never seen before.
“I notice you have a flat, four of them. Can I help you?” asked the woman.
“I need a ride into town,” she replied.
“I’m headed that way,” the woman said. “I can drop you off. Get on in out of this rain.”
“Sounds good,” said Kimberly.
Kimberly got into the car and they drove off in the downpour of rain.
“My name is Lindsay,” the woman stated.
“Hi and thanks. I’m Kimberly.”
“Where do you need to go once we get into town?” asked Lindsay.
“The Sheriff’s Office,” replied Kimberly. “I’m going to get a restraining order against my husband.”
“Are you going to tell them about your slashed tires?” asked Lindsay.
“My tires, harassing phone calls, being watched and being run off the road,” cried Kimberly.
“All of that,” replied Lindsay. “Who would do such a thing?”
“My husband,” assured Kimberly.
“He sounds like a creep,” stated Lindsay.
“He is,” agreed Kimberly. “We are separated right now and I have already filed divorce papers.”
By the time they reached the Sheriff’s Office, the rain had eased up. As Kimberly was getting out of the car, Lindsay asked her if she needed a ride home.
Kimberly replied, “Yes, if you don’t mind waiting.”
“We can go by the tire store to get them to tow your car in so you can get some new tires,” suggested Lindsay.
“Hey, that will be great,” responded Kimberly. “You sure you don’t mind. Hey, I know a really good restaurant that’s on the way home. We can stop there and I’ll buy you lunch for helping me out so much,” replied Kimberly.
“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” said Lindsay. “But, it does sound like fun. I’m new in town and I don’t know the best places to eat. I’ll be waiting for you.”
“I shouldn’t be too long,” Kimberly said.
When Kimberly entered the Sheriff’s Office, she told them she wanted to get a restraining order against her husband, Tommy Stewart. She filled out the paperwork and the officer sent her up to the County Clerk’s Office to do some more paperwork. She explained everything to them and filled out some more papers. When she was finished, the clerk told her she had to take the paperwork to the judge and he would determine if it was enough to issue the order. The clerk asked if she could wait a few minutes. Luckily, the judge was in and it didn’t take very long. About an hour later, the clerk called her to the desk and told her the judge had granted for the order to be served. The clerk presented Kimberly copies of the order. Kimberly thanked her for her assistance; she was relieved to get it taken care of. She made her way down to the first floor where she saw Lindsay waiting in the hall. Kimberly smiled and waved her restraining order papers in the air as a victory; Lindsay greeted her with open arms. On the way to the restaurant, they stopped by the tire place. Kimberly told them her situation and they told her they would take care of it. She gave them her address and handed them her keys. She requested to have the same kind of tires she had and she would come back that evening to get her car and pay them.
The man at the tire place said, “Your car will be ready in a couple of hours. We close at 5 o’clock today, so try to be here before then.”
“That will be fine; I’ll be here before 5 o’clock,” she replied.
As Lindsay and Kimberly headed to get a bite to eat, they talked and tried to get to know each other better. While they were at the restaurant, Tommy had contacted Shantel and told her he had to leave town on business and would be back that evening. He wanted to meet her and Lindsay at the Wet Your Whistle Bar and Grill. He wanted an update on their project. He asked her if his money was being well spent. She assured him it was and told him not to worry.
At the restaurant the two girls got to know each other and agreed to have some more outings together. Before they knew it, a few hours had passed. Lindsay took Kimberly to the tire place to get her car, but it wasn’t ready. Lindsey told her she would wait with her but she had a meeting to go to, but she’d see her tomorrow. Kimberly told her that was fine and she would be alright. Kimberly’s car was finally ready about thirty minutes later and she was able to head for home. She figured she could get some rest now since she had her number changed. While Kimberly arrived home, Tommy arrived at the bar. Just as he was about to go in, a deputy served him with the restraining order. He started cursing and questioning the deputy. The deputy just turned and walked away. Tommy’s heart was racing as he opened the envelope. He prayed it wasn’t the divorce papers. He sighed in relief that it was only a restraining order; he had been expecting her to do that. Anyway, he had no reason to see or be around her. He had Shantel and Lindsay for that. Tommy made his way inside and ordered a double whiskey. He looked around for Shantel and Lindsay but he didn’t see them. He figured as much since he had arrived a little early. He knew with his luck they wouldn’t be early. He tossed down double after double. When he looked up, he saw them in the glass mirror behind the bar. He raised his shot of whiskey to make a toast, slowly turned it up and e
ased it down. They joined him at the bar and realized right away that he was pretty buzzed.
“This is going to be good,” Shantel whispered to Lindsay.
“Ladies,” he cried, “welcome to my lair.”
He turned toward them, put one arm around Shantel, the other around Lindsay and escorted them to a back table for a little more privacy. Tommy ordered a bottle of whiskey and some glasses from the bartender. Lindsay poured each of them a drink and they filled each other in on what had been going on. As Shantel was telling him what they had been doing, he reached into his pocket, pulled out the restraining order, slammed it down on the table, drank a glass of whiskey and then turned the glass over.
“Ya’ll are going to have to speed things up. If she dies before the divorce, I get it all. If she doesn’t and the divorce is finalized, I won’t get anything that amounts to much, if anything at all. She has already filed the divorce papers. It’s just a matter of time before they serve me with them. It’s going to take a little longer than I thought to get this matter taken care of. Girls, you told me you could take care of this,” he said.
“We can,” they replied in unison.
“Do it then,” he demanded. “I don’t think I have ever seen two people lollygag around like you have. I should have done it myself. You do want the rest of your money don’t you?”
“Sure we do,” exclaimed Lindsay. “We will take care of it. We are the ones who will be committing murder.”
Shantel butted in, “Yeah, we are the ones sticking our necks out. You have to stay away from her and don’t call her either.”
“Okay, okay,” he replied. “Please try to get it done in the next two weeks. I’m sure I will be served those divorce papers any day now; the judge isn’t going to wait forever, agreed.”
“Agreed,” they replied.
“I’ll drink to that, cheers, cheers. Either one of you girls want to dance.”
“No,” they said. “We’ve got to go.”
“See you later, girls,” he said with slurred speech.
It was midday when Kimberly was in town and ran into Lindsay. Shantel was in the car with Lindsay. Lindsay introduced her to Kimberly and as they sat and talked a few minutes it came out that Shantel needed a place to stay. Kimberly had an upstairs apartment, a little furnished cottage house and she told Shantel she was welcome to stay there.
“That would be great,” replied Shantel. “When can I move in?”
“Today, its empty,” said Kimberly. “Lindsay knows where I live. You can come and look at it now, if you want.”
“That will be great,” said Shantel.
“Let’s go,” replied Lindsay, “we’ll meet you there.”
They took off for Kimberly’s house. On the way there, the twins planned out their next move. They had to act soon. They knew Tommy was right. The judge was not going to wait for the divorce papers forever. It wasn’t long before they arrived at Kimberly’s. She showed Shantel the cottage and she loved it. In fact, she moved in that evening. The three became inseparable. They did everything together, even a little partying.
One night when Kimberly was on her way home, her car stalled; she was all alone. It was pitch black dark. When she got out of the car, she saw some headlights approaching over the hill behind her. Within seconds, the car appeared. She stood beside the road waving her arms above her head to get their attention. The car stopped, flashed its lights on high beam, then low and sat there. Kimberly became afraid so she decided to walk on with hopes that the car would go on around her. She occasionally looked back over her shoulder. It seemed like when she started walking, the car moved slowly toward her. It was so dark that she couldn’t see who was driving or even what kind of car it was. She did notice, however, that whoever was driving lit up a cigarette and turned the lights on bright, nearly blinding her. The car revved its engine, like it was going to take off. As fear ran through her, she took off running and screaming, but the car didn’t move. As she continued to run down the road, she turned around to look back but her feet got tangled up and she fell. Once she gathered herself and looked back down the road, the car was gone. It must have turned off on a side road. Almost as suddenly as the car disappeared, Shantel drove by and saw Kimberly standing beside the road. She stopped to see what was wrong.
“Kimberly, are you alright?” she asked. “What happened?”
Kimberly started telling her what had happened. When she told her about the mysterious car, Shantel told her they needed to get out of there. Shantel helped her into the car and told her she could finish telling her the rest of the story on the way home.
“We’ll check on your car in the morning.”
“I bet you it was Tommy,” she said.
“Well, you don’t know that,” replied Shantel. “It was too dark to see. It might have been some teenagers.”
“I don’t know,” she said as she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath.
It seemed but a matter of minutes and they were home.
“Are you going to call the police?” asked Shantel.
“No, I don’t know, maybe,” she stammered. “I just want to lie down right now.”
“I’ll stay here with you tonight so you won’t have to be alone.”
As Kimberly headed to her room, she walked by the living room window and that’s when they heard a shot. Quickly, they hit the floor and laid there trembling. A bullet came through the window and buried itself into the wall across from the window. Outside they could hear a car as it squealed its tires and sped away. Shantel crawled over to get the phone, all the while telling Kimberly to stay down. She dialed 911 and explained the situation. The police were on their way. While they waited, Shantel comforted Kimberly. Cautiously, Shantel eased up to look around; it appeared to be clear. She could hear the sirens piercing through the darkness.
“They are on their way,” Shantel said to console Kimberly.
When the police arrived, Kimberly told them everything from the time her car stalled to the time the shot came through the window. They asked a lot of questions; one was if she knew anyone who would want to harm her.
She said, “No, unless it was my husband. We are in the process of a divorce. I have a restraining order against him. But, I don’t think he would go that far.”
“Has it been a bitter divorce so far?” he asked.
“No, not too bad,” she replied. “He had an affair with another woman and she got pregnant.”
“Has he left you for her?” questioned the officer.
“No,” she answered.
“Could it be his ex-girlfriend or could she have hired someone to harm you?” he inquired.
“No, maybe, I’m not sure. So much has happened; I just don’t know what to think,” she said as she started to cry.
The officer turned to Shantel and asked, “And who are you?”
“I’m her friend that rents the cottage out back.”
“We will be in touch with you,” he said. “I’ll request to have a patrol car stationed in front of your house until we can find out what is going on. Also, I’ll have your husband brought in for questioning and to see if he has an alibi for his whereabouts tonight.”
“Thank you, officer. I would appreciate that,” Kimberly replied.
“Oh, Miss Shantel, will you be staying with her tonight?” he asked.
“Yes, oh yes,” she said. “I’ll be here; I’m not going anywhere.”
Within hours they had brought Tommy in for questioning. He denied knowing anything at all. After serious questioning and checking his alibi, they released him and told him not to leave town.
Later on that evening, he met with the twins to call off the deal. He had changed his mind and didn’t want to go through with it. But, they didn’t want to. He even promised them the rest of the money if they would drop it and leave town, if it wasn’t too late. They told him they would think about it and let him know.
r /> Tommy, buying some time from the twins, wanted to warn Kimberly about them without exposing himself. Late one night, Tommy snuck around outside of Kimberly’s house trying to find a way to talk with her. But, the officer on patrol saw him and arrested him.
As the officer was putting him into the patrol car he yelled out, “We need to talk, Kimberly. There is something you need to know.”
As they drove off, he looked through the back window and saw Kimberly, Shantel, and Lindsay standing together in the yard. He was charged with a violation of a restraining order and then released on bond. He tried for three days to get in touch with the twins, but he couldn’t reach them. He had their money and he wanted all of it to stop. Finally, he was able to reach Lindsay.
“I’ve got the money,” he said. “Where can we meet?”
She said, “Hold on a minute.”
He could tell she was talking to someone but the voices were muffled and he couldn’t understand what they were saying. Apparently, she had her hand over the phone.
When she came back on the phone she said, “Meet us at Kimberly’s tonight at 8 o’clock.”
“Kimberly’s,” he exclaimed. “Are you crazier than hell? I can’t do that.”
“You can if you don’t want anything to happen to her,” she warned. “Be there or the deal is off, and make sure you bring the money.”
“What about the police,” he asked.
“That’s your problem,” replied Lindsay. “See you at eight.”
Tommy took a deep breath and headed for the bar. He drank and smoked heavily until he left for Kimberly’s at seven o’clock. What have I gotten myself into, he mumbled to himself. What have I done? The doorbell rung at Kimberly’s at about seven forty-five. Lindsay opened the door; it was Tommy, dog drunk and holding a briefcase. She let him in, but before she closed the door she looked around to make sure no one was with him. When he entered the living room, he saw Kimberly sitting on the couch. Shantel stood behind her with a gun pointed at Kimberly’s head. Lindsay then went over and sat down beside Kimberly. No one said a word. He put the briefcase down on the coffee table and opened it. The money was all there. Kimberly and the girls stood up and gave each other a big girl hug. Tommy was stunned by what he was seeing.
“What the hell,” he said.
“Thank you for our money,” they boasted.
“But, wait a minute,” he cried out before he grabbed his chest, doubled over and fell to the floor.
They stood over him a few minutes; then Kimberly called 911. She was crying and all hysterical so Shantel took the phone and explained the situation to the operator. But before help could arrive, he was dead. As Kimberly ran from the house, the patrol car had received the call and was pulling up in the driveway. Lindsay followed behind her trying to comfort her. In no time the ambulance was there. As the paramedics loaded his body into the ambulance, the police took their statements. Kimberly told them that Tommy had come over to try to work things out.
I have a restraining order against him, you know. I was afraid at first to see him, but my two friends, Shantel and Lindsay were with me. He just wanted to talk and try to work things out. But, I told him I didn’t believe that it would ever work out because there was too much excess baggage and that I was sorry. That’s when he grabbed his chest, fell to the floor and died. I guess it was too much for him to deal with.
A few days later, the coroner’s report ruled his death was from natural causes, a heart attack. He had experienced spells of chest pains the last couple of years. But, Tommy had never had a heart attack before. The smoking and drinking brought a lot of the trouble on him. A heart attack was bound to happen sooner or later.
After the funeral, the girls stopped by the cemetery to see Kimberly. Unbeknown to them, Kimberly had taken out a large health insurance policy on Tommy. She figured his excessive drinking and smoking would eventually take a toll on him. The policy she took out would pay a double amount if it was a natural death. She didn’t get an accident policy, although it would have paid a lot more. But if there had been an accident there would have been an investigation and a greater chance of being caught. She took the lesser amount for the sure jackpot.
“I want to thank you girls for all your help. We have all come a long way since high school and college.”
“We were glad to help.”
“The insurance check should be in the mail in a few weeks. Once I get it cashed, we can meet for lunch and I’ll bring each of you your share.”
“If you hadn’t come up with that fake inheritance file, claiming to be coming into a lot of money, I don’t think you could have pulled it off,” said Lindsay.
“Well, it took all three of us to pull the scam. That night on the road, when my car stalled, was scary and so real.”
“It wasn’t me,” Lindsay said.
“Me either,” replied Shantel.
“Then who was it?” Kimberly asked as they all looked at each other puzzled. “Could it have been Tommy?”
“What about the shot?” asked Lindsay?
They looked at one another again and said, “Tommy.”
Everything seemed to be going as planned for the twins until they found out Kimberly had already received the check and left town. She even took the money they got from Tommy. Everything they did was for nothing; they never received a dime.