Cursed Ch. 03

Instead of waking Tiffany, I dragged my heels. I imagined she would be upset when she found she had been paying Oleksandr for weeks after her loan was paid off. I was afraid she would move out if she were free of debt. I looked down at Tiffany, sleeping on my couch. It had been a long time since I had companionship outside of work. Until Tiffany and Amber, the only thing in my life that brought me happiness was the project I was running at work. God, I was pathetic.

I delayed by closing up the house for the night. I turned off lights and checked locks. I tiptoed into Amber's room and pulled another cover up over her skinny body. I closed the door to her bedroom since I didn't want her to hear the conversation I was about to have with her mother. I brushed my teeth and washed up before going back into the third bedroom. This room had been my younger daughter's bedroom. Now it was my office. I printed out the loan payment receipt and the picture of Oleksandr.

I took the printouts and headed back to the living room. Tiffany was having a bad dream and whimpering in her sleep. That was enough incentive for me to shake her shoulder.

Tiffany sat up and screamed. I was glad I hadn't tried to wipe the tomato sauce from her mouth. She stared at me, blankly for a moment until she recognized me. She put her hands over her eyes and cried. I sat on the arm of the couch and put my hand on her shaking shoulder. She rested her head on my thigh until her sobbing subsided.

Tiffany said, "I'm sorry. I had a bad dream. I guess I'm a bit wound up."

"Sorry, I startled you. I didn't want to wait until morning to give you the good news."

Tiffany looked up at me and said, "I could use some good news."

"We paid a visit to The Helping Hand like I promised. It seems your loan was paid off weeks ago. Oleksandr has been extorting money from you."

"That can't be right. He said I owed thousands."

I handed Tiffany the receipt marked paid in full. She stared at the document and shook her head. She rubbed her finger over the paper as if it was a figment of her imagination.

She looked at me with a puzzled expression, "Who's Oleksandr?"

"Sorry, that is the name of the thug who was robbing you blind. He was a contractor to the loan company. The owner of the Helping Hand has a couple of his men looking for Oleksandr. They aren't very happy. I asked a couple of my friends to look for him as well. I don't care who finds him first. In either case, he's in trouble. If you want, we can go to the police and have them bring him in on criminal charges. It would be useful if you could furnish receipts for your loan payments to Oleksandr."

Tiffany looked alarmed and shook her head vigorously when I mentioned the police.

After a moment, she said, "I'll have to think about the police. He didn't give me any receipts for the last few weeks. I was so upset I never thought to ask. So, I'm not sure I can prove I gave him any money. Saturday night he took two hundred dollars, but I can't prove it. I don't even know how much he took Friday night. Shit, I'm such an idiot."

"I can testify he extorted money from you Friday night. I don't know how much, but it was enough for him to assault both of us. I'm sure that would be enough to interest the police."

Tiffany said, "I'm tired and confused right now. Can I wait until tomorrow to decide on going to the police?"

I had been running on adrenaline earlier, but the two beers at the VFW had left me exhausted. I nodded and said, "Yeah, I could use some sleep too. Who knows? Maybe Georgio's guys will find Oleksandr first. If they do, we may not want to bring in the police."

Tiffany seemed relieved at my suggestion. She got up and said, "Goodnight."

She hesitated for a moment before giving me a hug. I returned the hug. I liked the feeling of her warm, strong body in my arms, and I was impressed by the strength of her arms.

She said, "Thanks for everything. I would have been lost without your help."

We broke the hug, but she leaned in and kissed me on the cheek.

We said goodnight and went to our rooms. I collapsed into my bed. The last thing I remember was trying to get comfortable. My ribs still ached from Oleksandr's blow.

* * *

Tiffany

I was in a daze as I washed up. I was embarrassed that I had had a smear of pasta sauce on my face the whole time I was talking to Steve. It was easier to think about the sauce on my face than the fact that I had killed a man. Oh, I was happy he was dead, very happy. The bastard deserved it for threatening my daughter and every nasty thing he had done to me. But I was still in trouble. Maybe they wouldn't execute me for killing an extortionist who had raped me, but the thought of spending years in jail while Amber grew up alone was cold comfort. If I had only avoided seeing him tonight, Steve would have solved my problem peacefully. All I had needed was to wait one day.

I'd left Oleksandr's body left in a dumpster, and tomorrow with my luck it would be found. If the garbage collectors didn't discover the body, then someone at the landfill would. I'd seen news segments about the unpopular landfill showing bulldozers spreading the day's garbage around. If one of them ripped open the flimsy garbage bag, the bullet-ridden body would be crying murder. I would be a prime suspect.

The bastard had shown me his record book with the time, date, location, and amount of each of my payments. If I had only taken his record book, maybe I could have delayed the police. Normally he showed the book to me and shouted that I was falling behind in my payments. He would claim the amount I owed was growing rapidly. He knew he had me terrorized. The day I shot him, he hadn't even bothered threatening me with the book. I found it hard to believe Steve's claim that my loan had been paid off for weeks. How could I have been so stupid?

I sat on the edge of the bed and watched my beautiful daughter sleeping peacefully. I remembered how happy my life was when I was an innocent child. I had no idea what problems my parents had faced to raise me in a loving home. I laid down next to Amber and pulled her into my arms. Her voice was hoarse as she whispered, "I love you."

"I love you too. Sleep tight."

I felt her forehead and was relieved to find it cool. I prayed she was getting better. She snuggled against me as I fell asleep.