Who is Raphael Garza? Pt. 02

"I was impressed by your performance," I said.

"Thank you, always appreciate positive reviews," he said. "The audience did seem to enjoy the performance."

"Oh, I am sorry," I said. "I wasn't talking about tonight's performance. I was talking about your last role."

"You saw me as Biff Loman in "Death of a Salesman" last December?"

"No. I was talking about your most recent role before tonight," I said, as I closed the door to the dressing room and set the dead bolt lock.

"Why did you lock the door?" Frank asked, beginning to look uncomfortable.

"I don't want our conversation to be interrupted," I said. I pulled the chair out from the other dressing table and spun it around backward and sat straddling it, facing Frank. I had seen cops in movies sitting that way when they questioned suspects, and I thought it might make me look more threatening.

"So, let's talk about your last role."

"I don't know what you are talking about. My last role before tonight was Biff Loman. Are you sure you don't have me confused with someone else?"

"No, it was you."

Frank was beginning to sweat. You must be mistaken because I have no idea what you are talking about."

"I can't believe that you have forgotten already. For the last two months, you have been giving such a great performance as a Spanish cockroach. In that role, you called yourself Raphael Garza."

Frank stiffened in his chair. "Who are you and what do you want?" Frank asked.

"Don't you recognize me?"

"No."

"You have never seen me or a photo of me?"

"No."

"My name is Walt Martin. I'm Kathy's husband."

Frank made a small sound like a frightened animal then he said, "I don't know who you are or what you're talking about."

"Sure you do Frank. How could you forget spending a couple of months seducing my wife? You can't possibly have forgotten about Wednesday night? That was quite a performance."

"I think you should leave now."

"I don't think so. I am not leaving until you answer all of my questions," I said. "Whether you walk out of here or they carry you out depends on how cooperative you are."

"You can't just come in here and threaten me."

"I can't? Are you sure, because I think I just did? Now, why did you go after my wife?"

"I have nothing to say to you, and if you don't let me out of here right now, I will call for help."

"Go ahead and call for help, but if you do, you'll be dead before anyone can get that door opened."

Determined that he would be the next to speak, I just sat and stared at him. It must have been nearly three minutes before he finally broke down.

"I was hired to do it," he said.

"Hired? Someone hired you to seduce my wife?"

"Yes."

Why?"

"I don't know. They never said why they wanted me to do it. I asked, but they said that I didn't need to know that," Frank replied.

"They? There was more than one person involved? Who are they?"

"I don't know that either."

"Bullshit. Someone hires you to seduce a woman, and they don't tell you who they are or why they want you to do it, and you accept the job?"

"I told them I wasn't interested, but then they offered me five thousand dollars for just trying to seduce her and an additional five thousand if I was successful."

"Did they pay?"

"Yes."

"But you don't know their names?"

"They never told me their full names. The guy that did most of the talking said his name was Steve and I think I heard him call the other guy Monty. He only said his name once so I can't be sure if I heard him right."

"What did they look like?"

"Steve was thin and well dressed. He had dark hair and was about five feet five inches tall. He was a little light in his loafers if you know what I mean. The other guy was bigger, maybe six feet tall and 200 pounds. He was bald on top with light brown hair around the sides of his head."

The names and descriptions meant nothing to me. "So this Steve guy was in charge?"

"I don't think so. He did most of the talking, but he kept looking at the other guy as if he wanted to make sure he was saying the right things."

"How did they contact you?"

"They contacted me through my agent and made an appointment to come see me. That was about three months ago. They said that they saw me in a play and thought that I would be right for a job they had."

This whole deal was getting stranger by the minute.

"It took you two months to seduce my wife, weren't your friends getting impatient with how long it was taking you?" I said.

"No. That's the way they wanted me to do it."

"So you scripted this whole seduction scene yourself?"

"No. When they contacted me, Steve told me how they wanted it done. He said we had two months to set it up, but they wanted the final seduction to happen this week."

"Why this week?"

"They didn't say. Steve said the plan was for me to get her into bed this week. He told me not to do anything until they contacted me again. Then, a week later, Steve contacted me. He told me that your wife's mother was in the hospital and that your wife was spending a lot of time there. He told me that I should make contact with her there and play the part of a grief-stricken husband. Steve said that being able to start at the hospital would make my cover story more believable. I did everything exactly the way Steve told me to do. He told me to play the part of a wealthy Spanish businessman who lost his wife in a car accident. He told me when to make contact with your wife and how I was to play it.

"I did everything I was told to do, and it worked out great," Frank said.

"I am not sure you and your friends will think it worked out so great when I get done with all of you. Who was working the camera and who drove the limo?"

"Steve made videos and arranged for the limo and driver."

"Was Monty there?"

"No."

"Did you send me the emails?"

"Emails? What emails? I don't know anything about any emails."

"You knew that they emailed the videos of what you were doing, to me."

"Jesus, they did that? I knew about the cameras, but I didn't know what they were doing with video. I swear I didn't know."

"Bullshit. You knew all right. That first night, after Kathy left the condo, you came over to the camera and said, 'Come back tomorrow evening for part two. Tune in at seven o'clock. I think you will enjoy the show, well at least I will.' And then you laughed."

"I said that for Steve's benefit. I thought it was funny, him being gay and all."

I let that go. "Where's the condo you used last night?"

"It was in City Center."

"Whose condo was it?"

"I don't know. Steve gave me the key and told me where it was."

"Give me the address."

I made Frank write the address down for me.

"Who reserved the hotel room at the Four Seasons for Kathy?"

"I guess Steve did that. He told me to tell Kathy to go to the Four Seasons, and there would be an envelope waiting for her at the front desk. I don't even know what room she was in."

"Did they know that you worked at the Four Seasons as a bellman?"

"I don't think so. I never mentioned it, and they never asked."

"Bit of a mistake on their part, and yours," I said.

"Why?"

"That's how I found you."

I couldn't think of any more questions for him, so I decided to leave. I hated leaving without at least breaking the slimy bastard's nose, but I wasn't sure how well I would fare in a fight without the use of my right hand. I stood up, and so did Frank.

"What are you going to do?" Frank asked.

"I haven't decided what I am going to do to you yet, but I suspect that you will get off easier than the assholes that hired you."

When he saw that I wasn't going to attack him, Frank became a little bolder. He moved closer to me and said, "Don't think I am afraid of you just because I answered your questions. I told you all that because I feel sorry for you."

There was a smug smile on Frank's face that lasted about five seconds. That was how long it took me to step toward him with my left foot and then kick him in the crotch with my right foot. Frank dropped to his knees and then rolled onto his side.

I put my right foot on Frank's neck and pinned his head to the floor and said, "I don't want you telling your friends that we had this conversation. If I find out that you told them, your acting career will come to an abrupt halt. It is very difficult to recite Shakespeare when you don't have a tongue.

"We'll be seeing each other again," I said, and then I unlocked the door and left.

FRIDAY 10:45 PM

When I left the theater, I drove to the address Frank had given me for the Condo. It was a gated community, so I parked on the street and walked back to the security gate. I told the guard that my wife had been at a party in one to the condos Wednesday night and had left a diamond earring there. When I told the guard the address, I could see that he was uncomfortable.

"Sir, that unit is empty," he said.

I could see that he was lying, so I did a little acting of my own.

"I happen to know that that unit was occupied Tuesday and Wednesday night. How much were you paid to let these men use that unit?"

"I don't have to answer your questions."

"No, you don't. But when I come back with the police, you will have to answer their questions," I said.

"Okay. No police. This guy gave me a thousand bucks to let him use the place for two nights."

"Who gave you the money?"

"He said his name was Steven."

"How did they manage to furnish the unit for just two nights?" I said.

"It's a furnished unit used for guests of the condo owners."

"You said the guy's name was Steven; can you describe him?"

"What's this about?"

"I don't think you really want to know that. It would only make more trouble for you."

The guard described Steven the same way that Frank had described Steve.

"If you should hear from Steven again don't tell him that anyone was here asking about that unit."

"No problem."

SATURDAY 1:15 AM

It was after one in the morning when I got back home. Kathy was gone, but she had left me a note on the kitchen table telling me she went to her mother's and asked me to call her. I left the note on the table and went to bed.

I woke up at ten in the morning to the sound of a ringing phone. Caller ID identified the caller as Kathy's mother, but I suspected it was Kathy.

"Where were you all day yesterday?"

"Not that it's any of your business but I was out looking for answers," I said.

"You didn't do anything stupid did you?"

"You're asking me if I did something stupid? I don't think you are qualified to judge my actions."

Kathy was quiet for a moment and then asked, "Did you find Raphael?"

"Yes, but his name isn't Raphael. His real name is Frank Lewis. He is a part-time bellman at the Four Seasons, and he is an actor at the Broad Street Theater in Philly," I said. "His stage name is Franklin Hawthorne."

"What did you do to him?"

"Isn't that sweet, you're worried about the piece of shit that ruined our marriage."

"I am not worried about him; I am worried about you. I don't want you to get into trouble over this."

"Perhaps you should have worried about that a couple of days ago before you decided to go to bed with that worthless asshole."

"I told you why I did it," Kathy said. "I believed him when he told me he was thinking of killing himself."

"Are you trying to fool me, or yourself?"

"What do you mean? I am not trying to fool anyone."

"Given that he was talking about committing suicide you should have contacted the police, or a suicide hotline to get him help, but you decided to have a romantic evening with him instead. You must think you have a magic pussy that can cure depression with one fuck."

"No... No. It wasn't like that. Maybe I should have called someone else, but things happened so suddenly that I couldn't think of any other way to stop him."

"You want to know what I think? Probably not but I am going to tell you anyway. I think you chose to have sex with him because it's what you wanted. Having the excuse of trying to save his life gave you the opportunity to have a little affair with a sexy Spaniard without feeling guilty about what you had done. Tell me this, when you walked into the house yesterday before you realized that I was home, did you feel guilty about what you had done?"

Kathy didn't answer, but I could hear her crying.

"Kathy, I have to go. I'll call you in a few days."

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

I needed to think about what I had learned the previous evening and make decisions about what I was going to do next, but the memory of seeing Kathy with that smarmy fucker would not leave me alone.

Finally, I gave up, went outside and started mowing the lawn, not easy to do with a broken hand. I managed to keep myself busy outside the rest of the day. At six o'clock, I made myself a sandwich and went into the study. I tried to think through everything that had happened in the last five days. The only conclusion that I reached that night was that I was an emotional mess and in a state of mind that made it almost impossible for me to make any sense out of what few facts I knew. I finally just went to bed hoping I would be able to deal with things better in the morning.

SUNDAY JUNE 7th

After eating a small breakfast Sunday morning, I went to the study, determined to come up with a plan of action. I started by making a list of anyone who had any connection to the events of the previous week and what their connection was.

Kathy was at the top of my list. Regardless of what anyone else had done to instigate the events of the prior week, it was Kathy that had played the main role. In spite of Kathy's actions, I saw no indication that she intentionally set to end our marriage.

Raphael Garza: the character played by Frank Lewis in this tragic little soap opera. He managed to get Kathy to believe his bullshit story, but it seemed that his only motivation was the $10,000 Steve and Monty paid him for the seduction.

The Security guard at City Center condos: He took a bribe to allow the plotters to use the guest condo for two nights.

Cam Penney, my boss: He told me about the open seat in the software class starting on Monday and asked if I could attend after he had already enrolled me in the class. I could think of no reason that Cam would want to break up my marriage.

John Odem: the class manager that contacted Cam and told him that he had an open seat in the class. I had never met John Odem before the first day of class. He lived on the west coast, so what possible reason would he have for wanting to ruin my life?

Frank Lewis: the rat bastard, had given me the names Steve and Monty as the individuals that had hired him to seduce Kathy. The security guard at the City Center condos confirmed that this guy Steven or Steve was, if not in charge, at least one of the main conspirators.

After two hours, that was all I had. I sat staring at the list, but nothing jumped out at me. To me, Monty and Steve had to be the keys to solving this mess. If they were the ones running this operation, they had to have had help. They not only knew that I was going to be out of town for a week they also knew I was going to be in California. The fact that they began the streaming video at 7:00 PM, Pacific time on Tuesday, proved that. Starting the video at the 7:00 PM Pacific Time again on Wednesday, meant that they didn't know that I had flown home that morning. From that, I removed Cam and John Odem from my list. They both knew that I had left California before I even arrive back home.

I began to wonder if my going to California was part of Steve and Monty's plan. Had they arranged for me to be out of town for the week so that Raphael could seduce Kathy? I was going to have to find out how I got the seat for the software training class but that would have to wait until I got to work Monday morning.

To be continued.