The Shadowed Past

Frank walked in the door, past their lonely fern, and immediately second-guessed all the funeral arrangements he’d just made. He was physically and emotionally exhausted, torn between calling it a night or downing a 5- hour Energy to get some work done. The last thing he needed was his wife starting in on him before he barely cleared the front door.

“When were you going to tell me?”

Frank sighed and ran his fingers through his thick, brown locks. Cindy had that look and this felt like the worst possible time to have this argument.

“Cindy–”

“Seriously? You took Gene’s offer?” she barked.

He sat down at the second-hand oak table and pushed the neighboring chair out as an invitation to sit. Cindy stayed standing and started in again.

“You told me you took the other offer.” she said, slamming a fist onto the table. “You knew how much I didn’t want you to work for Gene. The man’s rotten!” Her cheeks were nearly as auburn as her hair. “How many times do I have to tell you that?”

At least every couple of days, Frank thought, but he kept that to himself.

“Cindy.” He was careful to use his most non-combative tone. He put his hand over her fist and began, “I was wrong to tell you I took the other offer. I did it because I knew how you’d react.” He shrugged his shoulders and looked at the floor.

“Yeah? And how’s that?”

“Exactly how you’re reacting now. I’m sorry I kept it from you. I promise I was going to tell you. I was just waiting for the right moment.”

“We’re gonna come back to you keeping this from me later. What’s more pressing is Gene. You think he’s a great guy? You think he’s so charming and courteous? That’s exactly how he gets you. The longer I dated the guy, the more controlling he became, and the more I felt like he was hiding his real life. I wouldn’t be surprised to find out he has a whole other family in another state that nobody knows exists.” She clenched her jaw and spoke through gritted teeth. “I don’t know why you’re defending him. We’re stuck in our second round of quarantine because of a virus you were exposed to at work and he still refuses to pay for any of your forced time off. This whole time, I thought it was the other company, but it was Gene!”

“It’s just… our dads were close friends. Gene got me out of some money trouble back in the day. And after I took the job, he pulled me aside when he found out you and I were married.”

“You never told me that. What did the slimeball have to say?” Her nose wrinkled and her eyebrows narrowed.

“He said he didn’t want your history with him to complicate my life working there. He offered to move me to another division if I wanted. He literally said ‘I didn’t treat Cindy well when we were together and she’s bound to bring up plenty of my past sins. I want you to know I’ve changed a lot since then, and I hope you won’t hold my previous flaws against me.’ That couldn’t have been easy, Cindy. He didn’t have to do that.”

She stared past Frank at the chipped backsplash, afraid that locking eyes would make her cry. “Gene probably didn’t want any of it getting around the company. Please, just quit this job and let’s start over somewhere else. Trust me, he finds things to hold over you and once he’s got his hooks in you, I swear, the only way to escape it is to kill the guy!”

Frank’s frown disappeared and his eyebrows raised in concern. “Sweetheart, it seems to me that the man is different than the guy he used to be. I thought you two must’ve had an awful breakup and your opinion was permanently biased. But this doesn’t seem like something you’d exaggerate—”

Cindy cut him off. “He isn’t just someone I used to date. He’s someone… from my former life. I don’t want to give you all the ugly details. You need to know I’m not being a biased ex-girlfriend. Gene was part of that brutal world I barely escaped.”

It was Frank’s turn to feel enraged. “Why didn’t you tell me that from the start?” he yelled, flinging his hands above his head. “You didn’t think I’d like to know I was digging up those demons?”

Just then, his phone howled. She’d always hated that ringtone. Her only solace was Frank only used it for his boss.

He answered the Facetime call, with Cindy just out of the camera’s view.

“Frank, it’s been a while since we’ve spoken. How are you holding up?”

“Gene, I’m… surviving.” He let out a sigh of frustration. “How are you?”

Gene’s eyes darted around the screen like he was searching for something behind Frank. “Listen,” his urgency let out a hint of his New York accent that he normally hides so well. “I was sorry to hear about your dad. I know you two were close. And I know we haven’t been treating you the best at work lately.” A half smile ran up the left side of his face. “I’d also be lying if I said this didn’t have a little to do with what I feel I owe Cindy.”

“What are you talking about, Gene? What does work have to do with Cindy?”

“I’ll cut to the chase. The company has recently come into a large sum of money thanks to a couple of new accounts. I feel bad about your dad, and how you’ve been treated. I wanted to let you know that I’ve got a $20,000 bonus with your name on it.”

Frank’s chest fluttered and he smiled so big he felt himself getting light-headed. Until Cindy started yelling.

“Don’t take a dime from that creep! I don’t know what you’re up to Gene, but we don’t want anything to do with it.”

“Oh, hi Cindy. I should’ve figured you’d be listening in. No need to get worked up. The funds are already in your account. Cindy, he set up direct deposit for paychecks a few months ago. The funds should have hit within the last hour or so.”

Three aggressive knocks thudded against the small apartment door.

“They’re early.” Gene said, sounding pleasantly surprised.

Frank stood to get the door and Cindy snatched the phone from his hand before he left the table.

“What do you mean ‘they’re early’?” Cindy asked, stepping into the frame, allowing her face to fill the screen. Her voice was softer but her eyes were daggers.

“I had this whole speech prepared, explaining that I had to get creative because we both hold leverage over the other that prevents us from going to the Feds. I wanted to explain the beauty of how masterfully I put them onto Frank’s trail.”

Frank opened the door to find two men in suits, one of them holding a detective’s badge. “What can I do for you, officers?”

“I guess you’ll have to piece the shocking details together on your own,” Gene continued. “Once you’ve got the whole picture, remember that I have the power to make this go away if you give me what I want.”

Cindy was constructing a terrifying threat but before she could get any of it out, Gene hung up.

She threw the phone in the direction of the kitchen and went to Frank’s side at the door.

“Sir, do you recognize this?” the mustached detective asked, holding up a small black notebook.

“No,” Frank said. “Should I?”

“I would think so, we found it in your office. This contains an accounting of 23 transactions totaling 1.2 million dollars of embezzled funds.”

Cindy’s mind had already cycled through dozens of possible solutions to what she knew was coming, but only one was truly feasible.

“Funds, Frank, that were embezzled from your place of employment. Funds we’ve been unable to trace until this most recent deposit. $20,000 that hit your account—” he glanced at his watch and looked up. “97 minutes ago.”

Panic immersed Frank’s voice like a tidal wave. “That was a bonus. I just got the news from my boss, Gene, minutes ago.”

“Mr. Gene Goldsen,” said the clean-shaven officer. “Yes, we’ve spoken with him about you. We’ve been investigating the embezzlement for months. Some of his comments are why we were able to get a warrant to monitor all your accounts. Tell me, why would you be getting a $20,000 bonus when you’re a part-time employee who has only worked two of the last five weeks?”

“That’s not fair,” Frank protested. “I’ve been in quarantine.”

Cindy’s mind continued to race, but every theory fell flat before she finished working it out. She had hidden cash, passports, and guns. But none of that would do them any good if Frank was locked up.

“I want a lawyer,” Frank said, trying to sound firm.

“I thought you’d say that,” the officer said. “Tell your lawyer to meet you at the precinct. You’re under arrest.” The officer with the mustache grabbed Frank by the arm and slammed him into the thin door, cracking its weak frame. He jerked Frank’s arms behind his back and snapped cuffs on him as the other officer read him his rights.

They lead him away from the apartment with Frank yelling out a list of people for Cindy to call to get things straightened out.

Cindy shouted a single word at the top of her lungs:

“Stop!”

Everyone froze.

Cindy threw her arms around Frank in an embrace and whispered quickly into his ear. Her voice was shaking but laser-focused. She’d accepted the only solution that had a chance of success. Gene had forced her into this when he escalated things.

“Frank, they’re going to book you. Paperwork will take 3-4 hours. By then, I’ll have made arrangements to get you out on bail. You’ll be forbidden from leaving the city, but you won’t be trapped behind bars. The trial won’t take place for 50-60 days. That gives us two months to resolve all this. I told you there was only one way to escape once Gene gets his hooks in.”

Frank’s mind started searching through the memory of their conversation. It was only minutes ago but it felt like years. Her words came back to the front of his mind like a ton of bricks: ‘the only way to escape it is to kill the guy!’ His brown eyes bulged and his heart sped up even more than when he was slapped in handcuffs. “Cindy, what are you saying? That can’t be the solution.”

“That’s enough ma’am.” The officer said, tugging her away from Frank.

“There’s a lot I haven’t shared with you, Frank. But I will. And you’ll understand this is the only way to fix what he’s thrown you into.”

His eyes darted back and forth, his mind spinning a million miles a minute. He looked into her solemn blue eyes once more and slowly began to nod.

Cindy was shocked by his level of devotion to her. He couldn’t have understood all the implications. But he trusted her to take him as deep down the rabbit hole as they needed to go.

Together, they were going to kidnap and torture Gene Goldsen into making this go away. If that didn’t work, they’d flee the country… after they disposed of the body in a way no one could ever connect it back to them.