I prayed I would hear from her soon as I needed a huge favor. I had to borrow some money since I only had fifty dollars in cash. I had tried ordering another ATM card, but it was conveniently lost in the mail.
David controlled everything. He paid the bills and bought all the groceries. He said he’d take care of me and that I didn’t need any money. I guess he thought I’d never want to leave. And in some sense… strangely, I didn’t want to.
After six months in Costa Rica, I had nothing to go back to… no job, no roommate, and no house. But staying with him had become too risky with unease and unknowns lurking around every corner. Too many things just weren’t adding up.
If David was starting a tea business with Conchita, why did he need me? Did he want me to be some test dummy for his tea recipes? To see if I’d survive the next new and improved brew? Why was everything so secretive?
I couldn't help think there was more to it, that something terrible might have happened at the house. I need to get to the bottom of this, I had said to myself.
“Need to get to the bottom of what?” David asked, his voice coming from behind me.
I couldn't believe he had heard me. I must’ve spoken the words out loud. At that point, I had nothing else to lose. I only wanted the truth. I wanted him to come clean about everything.
“David…” I began, unsure of what to say or ask.
“Val, are you unhappy here?”
“I want to be happy. I just don't understand what's going on.”
“What do you mean?”
“I have a confession,” I said, wringing my hands. “I was in the garden… and I found—”
“I know,” he interrupted.
I was startled by the way he looked at me.
“I saw the footprints, both sets—the paw prints and imprints from your boots. I know you and Max were in the garden.”
“Yeah, he was off the leash and dug something up.”
“The box?”
“One of them but I know there are two.”
“I was going to tell you eventually. Show you where I keep my stash.”
“Stash?”
“Yes, Val, my money,” he said reluctantly.
“Oh.”
“Why the face?”
“I figured… I thought you were keeping something else in those boxes.”
“Like what?”
“Oh, I don’t know… dead bodies maybe.”
“Dead bodies!” His jaw dropped as he threw his head back. “Val, you can’t be serious?”
My silence told him I was.
“First of all, please tell me how a body would even fit into a box that size?”
“I figured maybe you burnt them.”
“Burnt them?” he gasped. “I hope you mean burnt as in cremated.”
“My gosh, David, you put an angel in the middle of the garden. The boxes, the flowers, the statue… it looks like a mini-cemetery out there. What else was I supposed to think?”
“You should've asked instead of thinking and then you would've known.”
“But the boxes, one has an ‘S’ and the other a ‘G.’ Those letters are the initials of your wives… your ex-wives, right?”
“Yes, but they also stand for silver and gold.” He glared at me. “I worry about that mind of yours… always conjuring up things that aren’t real.”
“Then what about the insurance papers in the cardboard box with my name on them.”
“What insurance papers with your name?”
“I saw a folder with my name written on it. Inside were papers, some kind of insurance policy… granted they were written in Spanish, but I know what I saw.” Crossing my arms, I waited for his answer.
“That’s the policy on this house,” he yelled, pointing to the floor, then at me, “not you!” He ran a hand through his hair. “Maybe I scribbled your name on it because I was thinking about you that day when I was on the phone with the insurance company.”
I stood there watching him furiously pace the room. I felt silly, ashamed of myself. I didn’t know how I had gotten things so wrong. But there was still another piece of the puzzle to be solved.
“Seriously, Val, you need to lay off the mystery movies. Clearly, you’ve been watching too many.”
I took a deep breath, gathering my thoughts. “Then what about the letter I found in the box?”
“The letter?” he spun around. “Now there’s a letter? Let me guess, with your name on it or some other secret code.”
“Actually, yes, it’s addressed to D from G. So I imagine it’s to you from your ex.”
He walked over to the sliding glass door, placing his fingers on the handle.
“So you found the letter.” Opening the door, he looked over his shoulder. “You’re quite the sleuth, aren’t you?”
“Did something happen here at the house?”
He looked away and then walked out onto the deck. I followed him.
“The other day,” I said, catching up to him. “The look on your face when Cindy almost fell. I can’t help but feel that something happened here.”
He sat down next to some banana peels near the end of the deck. With his legs dangling, he picked up one of the peels, hurling it in the air. My heart skipped a beat as I watched his body lean over a bit too far. I rushed over to him, grabbing him in fear he would fall.
“It should have been me that day,” he said, placing his hand on my arm. “It was an accident, a horrible accident.” Chewing his lower lip, his eyes welled with tears.
“I’m so sorry.” I let out a breath, crouching down next to him. We sat there for a few moments staring off in the distance and up at the canopy of trees.
“Maybe it was a bad idea for me to come here,” I said.
He sat quietly, swinging his legs, and then picked at another banana peel.
“I think I should leave and give you some space.” I started to stand up.
“But you have nowhere else to go,” he sniffled.
“I guess I can go back to Vegas and stay with Cindy. After all, I did share a house with her.”
“But this is
