The shadows of summer, p.28
The Shadows of Summer, page 28
“Why do you think he wanted to know if you and Kroy were still friends?”
“He probably wanted to make sure Kroy and I weren’t communicating and comparing notes.”
“Makes sense. Lue Ann had harassed Kroy in the past and Gator probably wanted to make sure Kroy wasn’t talking to you about it. And, clearly, you and Kroy weren’t communicating.”
“No. We’d lost contact with one another years ago.”
“How long ago did Gator mention the Meriwether Factory to you?”
“It must’ve been two or three months ago. But I didn’t think anything of it at the time.”
“Right,” Zoey said. “Well, based on what I read in the article about the Meriwether Factory and Kroy’s disappearance . . . and based on what I knew about Gator’s obsession with you and Kroy . . . I started getting worried. But I’ll tell you what really sealed the deal for me. Not too long ago, I started working with Gator and Katrina, teaching them about wholesaling real estate, just the way my parents taught it to me.
“You see, wholesaling is different from normal real estate. You don’t need a license to do it. Just a little money for advertising and a lot of time and effort. Essentially, it works like this: you find motivated sellers, get their homes under contract, and then you sell the contract to a third-party, usually a real estate investor or a house-flipper. That third-party investor then pays you a fee for bringing them the deal.”
“You don’t need a real estate license for that?”
“Nope. Not at all. It’s perfectly legal and anyone can do it, regardless of your past, which is why it was great for my parents when they finally got their crap together. They focused their addictive personalities towards their wholesaling business instead of alcohol and became successful. I couldn’t believe it. Never thought I’d see the day where the word success and my parents belonged in the same sentence . . . or paragraph . . . or chapter. They were making in the high five-figures per month. When I turned eighteen, they taught me the business and, over time, my income actually surpassed theirs.
“Anyway, the point of all this is that Gator and his wife, contrary to what you thought about them, really were struggling financially. Their security company was floundering and they were losing training clients because a lot of folks just learn how to exercise through YouTube. Desperate for money, Gator started selling steroids, something he could have gotten into a ton of trouble for. That’s why I volunteered to teach wholesaling to he and his wife. I wanted to help them make extra money legally. Plus, I thought if I could improve their situation, I wouldn’t feel as guilty about leaving the Pearls behind . . . leaving Gator behind. I was still holding on to guilt about leaving them, even after all those years.
“Gator and his wife were open to the idea of learning about wholesaling and we established a weekly routine. I would go to their apartment every Sunday from four to six and, in return, Gator and Katrina would prepare a nice Sunday dinner for me. It was a system that worked well for us. Things were going just dandy until this past Sunday, a little over two weeks after Kroy went missing. I left my iPad at Gator’s house, which created a domino effect, which led us to where we are today.” She sighed and chuckled.
“I don’t understand.”
“I’ll explain. This past Sunday, we had our normally-scheduled session on wholesaling at Gator’s place. Except, Katrina wasn’t there. I think she was with one of their clients at the gym or something. Or maybe she was with your boss. Hell, I’m not sure. After the wholesaling training, I didn’t eat there because Katrina was gone and she’s the cook and about the only thing Gator can make is buttered toast. And he could probably even screw that up.
“So Gator and I chatted for a bit and I left. Just when I got to my car, I realized that I left my iPad in Gator’s apartment. I was pissed because I had to walk up three flights of stairs to get back to his apartment. I didn’t bother knocking before going in and that turned out to be a fateful decision.
“My iPad was sitting on one of the side tables in the living room, just where I left it. Gator was in one of the back bedrooms talking on the phone. I was heading for the front door when, against my better judgement, I decided to be nosey. He was talking in an angry tone and I believed he was talking about you and Kroy. He said something to the effect of, ‘it’s done . . . he’s done . . . now I need to handle her.’ It sounded like he was arguing with somebody. Don’t know who, though.
“Then he said something along the lines of, ‘I’m moving forward with the plan . . . whether you like it or not.’ That was it. He didn’t say anything too crazy or incriminating. But I knew, in my heart, that he’d done something to Kroy and was planning on doing something to you. I had no proof, but I just knew.”
“You overheard that conversation this past Sunday?”
“Yes.”
“And he said something about moving forward with the plan?”
“Yes.”
“Well that makes sense. That following Monday is when strange things started happening to Jacob and I.”
“Like what?”
“When we left the gym that Monday, there was a man leaning on my husband’s car taunting us, provoking us. In fact, throughout this ordeal, there were multiple strange people threatening us and trying to hurt us. We know they were working with, or for, Gator. We told the investigators about it but, so far, they haven’t established a link between Gator and any accomplices, besides Katrina.”
After the police brought Katrina in for questioning, she confessed to helping Gator. She claimed he forced her to seduce my boss, Peter, and he threatened to kill her and members of her family if she didn’t cooperate. Peter must have a thing for strong women with abnormally large muscles because it worked and he fell for her charms. Gator instructed Katrina to get as much information from Peter as possible about me and my working routine. Peter must have thought Katrina’s questions about me were odd but, apparently, he answered them because that’s how Gator found out about many of my comings and goings, including the Moose Bar event.
Peter never told me about Katrina’s questions because he didn’t want me, or anyone else, to know how close they were. In fact, I suspect that Peter and Katrina were planning to meet when Jacob and I saw him at that french bakery. Peter, a married man, was nervous that we were about to discover their secret. This explained his odd behavior that day. After leaving the bakery, he likely called Katrina and arranged a different rendezvous spot. Despite their strange romance, police said there was no evidence that Peter had any knowledge of Gator’s nefarious plot.
“Aside from Katrina,” I said, “I think he was paying homeless people and drug addicts to help him.”
“Yes,” Zoey said. “I have no doubts that he was collaborating with others, I just don’t know who and how many. But when I heard him talking on the phone after I forgot my iPad, I became obsessed with you and Kroy. Kinda like Gator. But I was obsessed for totally different reasons. I became obsessed with finding out the truth about Kroy’s disappearance and doing whatever I could to protect your safety.
“I felt like it was my moral duty to watch over you, at least until I could find proof that Gator was responsible for Kroy’s disappearance and was plotting to do something depraved to you. So, the next day, I began following Gator. I felt silly doing it and wondered if I was being ridiculous, overly paranoid. But my instincts told me to do it. So I did it.
“On Monday, nothing out of the ordinary happened. He and Katrina went to the gym that morning, like always. I sat in the parking lot and watched the gym for as long as I could but, due to some previously scheduled work obligations, I had to leave. I didn’t start following him again until the next morning, Tuesday. I drove over to his apartment and got there just as he was leaving. He wasn’t with Katrina this time.
“I thought he was gonna head to the gym, as usual, but instead he jumped on the highway and headed towards downtown, which was out of the ordinary. Truthfully, I’m not sure how he didn’t spot me. I drive a Cloud Zephyr for God’s sake; not the most inconspicuous car in the world. In retrospect, it was kinda idiotic of me trying to discreetly follow someone in one of the most indiscreet cars on the road.
“So I kept following him and he ended up in Atlantic Station. But I got caught at a red light and lost track of him before getting to the parking deck. I drove around Atlantic Station aimlessly—looking for Gator, not really sure why he was there in the first place—and I happened to stumble upon you at the Moose Bar event. To say the least, I was shocked to see you. And freaked out. The fact that Gator had driven to a place where you happened to be hosting an event was an extremely weird coincidence. That just added fuel to the fire and I became even more paranoid about Gator and his intentions.”
“That’s why you were acting strange when I met you that day. I get it now. Weren’t you afraid of Gator seeing you?”
“I was. That’s why I didn’t stick around for too long. I chatted with you for a couple of minutes, ate some Moose Bars, and got the hell out of there. Plus, I think I was purely driven by instinct and didn’t put a lot of thought into the consequences of him spotting me. And you know what, Summer, there were several times when Gator and I were in the same place at the same time, including Atlantic Station, but I don’t think he saw me once. Not once. Guess luck was on my side. I don’t think he had any idea I was on to him. If he did, I’m sure he would’ve confronted me. But he didn’t. And when he realized I shot him Wednesday, the look on his face was pure shock.”
“I think he had tunnel vision,” I said. “Every part of him was focused on revenge against me, so he couldn’t see anything else.”
“Well, his tunnel vision allowed me to do what I did without getting caught.”
“And I appreciate everything you did. As I’ve said, we owe our lives to you and your bravery. But I have to ask: If you thought Gator was a threat, why didn’t you let us know?”
“I’ve asked myself that a thousand times since Wednesday. I’ve lived with the guilt of knowing that maybe . . . maybe your father would be alive if I had told you and the authorities about my suspicions of Gator.”
“So why didn’t you?”
In a quivering voice, Zoey said, “I’m sorry, Summer. I’m so sorry. I don’t know how to explain it. You’ve got to understand that I didn’t have any real proof. I had all the circumstantial evidence in the world, but I didn’t have hard proof. And, stupidly, I was hoping I was wrong about my cousin. Gator was like a brother to me and I probably was a bit biased. I bullshitted myself into believing that maybe I was wrong about him.
“You’ve also got to keep in mind that nothing terribly strange happened Monday or Tuesday while I was following him, other than him driving to Atlantic Station. I mean, that was strange, but it wasn’t enough to draw any definite conclusions. The fact is, I didn’t notice anything blatantly malicious until Wednesday and by then it was too late.”
“Why was it too late?”
“Wednesday was a busy day for me, so I didn’t have a lot of time to track Gator. Around two forty-five, after running some errands, I stopped by his apartment to see if I could get eyes on him. I had even rented a car to be more discreet. When I got to his apartment, he was gone. I tried the gym next and got there just in time to see him rushing out in a panic. He jumped in his car and shot out of there. I tried to follow him, but I couldn’t keep up. He was really hauling ass.
“About halfway along the route, I lost him in traffic. But, based on the path he was taking, I knew exactly where he was going. Uncle Frank’s house. It was a route I knew by heart. At that point, my mind started racing. I was curious as to why he’d be going to his father’s house. Gator and Frank had a strained relationship. After the divorce, a big divide had grown between them because Gator felt like my uncle had abandoned them.
“When I got to Frank’s house, once again, Gator was leaving. But something wasn’t right. Gator was pulling his van out of Frank’s garage. Like I told you, Frank and Gator weren’t close, so Gator parking his van in the garage seemed abnormal. I wondered if Gator had parked in the garage to load something into his van without anyone being able to see what he was doing.
“While all of this was going through my head, Gator backed out of the driveway and drove down the road. Even though I was in a rental, I had to duck so he wouldn’t see me. At that point, I had a tough decision to make. Either go inside and check on Frank and his wife, or follow Gator. I chose to follow him and, thankfully, that turned out to be the right decision because I later found out that Frank and Erma had been beaten by Gator, but they were alive and hadn’t suffered any life-threatening injuries.
“From there, I tailed Gator but he just drove around, running normal errands and stuff. He picked up some food for his wife. Stopped by the gym. Got some gas. Bought some lottery tickets. I was about to give up, thinking I was wasting my time. Then, after it got dark, he jumped on 400 South to 285 West, and got off on a street called Hollowell. He drove through a really bad neighborhood and made a bunch of turns and I had no clue where he was going.
“Turns out, he was en route to Garner Homes, an abandoned housing project in northwest Atlanta. I didn’t know anything about Garner Homes until that day. What I’ve learned since then is that it’s one of the final remaining housing projects in Atlanta that haven’t been demolished and it’s scheduled to be torn down in a month. It’s in a very run down, very isolated part of town. The perfect location to conduct some secret evil shit. Garner Homes is huge, with over a thousand abandoned units and not one human being in sight. Residents were forced to move out months ago.
“Since Gator and I were the only cars on the road leading to the housing development, I had to fall back so he wouldn’t see me. I ended up parking the car a few blocks outside of Garner Homes because driving in would have been too obvious.
“At that point, I still didn’t have a shred of concrete proof, but I felt confident that something malicious was going on. The fact that Gator had just randomly driven to a big ass ghost-town in the middle of the ghetto was the last straw. I called the police and told them that I believed my cousin was driving around with a dead body and that he was planning to leave it in an abandoned housing project.
“Of course, I really didn’t know if that was true, but it was possible based on Gator’s behavior. Plus, I had to say something to get the 911 operator’s attention and convince her to send an officer to the scene. Keep in mind, I still wasn’t aware that Gator had assaulted Frank and Erma and that the police were already looking for him. The 911 operator didn’t mention that to me, either—even though I gave her Gator’s real name. Nonetheless, she agreed to send an officer to the scene, so I gave her my location and hung up.
“At first, I was just going to wait in the car until the police arrived. But something was telling me to get out and investigate. I couldn’t help myself. I had to know what Gator was up to. In that moment, I became one of those morons in horror movies who insists on investigating a strange noise when her ass should just stay put.
“Well, I couldn’t stay put, even though I was scared of what I might encounter outside the relative safety of my vehicle. I loaded my gun, got out, and walked to Garner Homes. The apartment complex was surrounded by a barbed wire gate. But there was a section of the gate where the padlock had been cut and I was able to push the gate open and walk in.
“I’ve gotta tell you, that was a terrifying experience. In the middle of the ghetto metropolis that is Garner Homes, surrounded by crumbling, boarded-up, brick buildings and pure darkness. I kept hearing things and seeing things that weren’t really there. Or, I think they weren’t really there. I’m really not sure. It just felt like someone was watching and waiting to leap from the darkness and attack.”
“Trust me,” I said. “I know the feeling.”
“I tried to move quietly,” Zoey said, “but there was so much garbage and crap on the ground and I kept making noise, no matter how hard I tried not to. Even with the gun, I was petrified that Gator would hear me approaching. Making matters worse, I couldn’t see a damn thing, I couldn’t use the flashlight on my phone, and I didn’t know where I was going. I kept wandering down dark alleys in between these massive apartment buildings.
“I imagined Gator attacking me in one of those alleys, disarming me, and beating me to death with his massive gorilla fists. Even thinking about it now makes me shudder. After stumbling around in the dark for quite some time, I finally spotted Gator’s van. Initially, I didn’t know which unit he was in. But then I saw light coming through one of the boarded-up windows on the second floor.
“I went up to that apartment, as slowly and quietly as I could, and there was a big piece of plywood covering the front door. I could hear Gator yelling loudly from outside, which made me think he was distracted. I wanted to make a move while he was distracted, so I pulled the plywood away from the door jamb and slid inside. Ironically, I think it was his yelling that masked the sound of me entering the apartment. From there . . . well, you know the rest.”
“I do,” I said. “I can see it all like it happened yesterday. Or an hour ago.”
“I hope those terrible memories fade from your mind over time and I hope you were able to take something away from everything I just told you.”
“Honestly, what strikes me most about it all is your bravery.”
“Or my stupidity.”
“Stupid? No. Absolutely not. Hold on a second, there’s something I want you to hear.” I pulled the phone away from my ear and used it to look up the definition of stupid on the Merriam-Webster website. I put the phone back to my ear and said, “The definition of stupid is: ‘marked by or resulting from unreasoned thinking or acting.’ There was absolutely nothing unreasoned about anything you did. In fact, you showed an amazing level of intelligence and rational thinking that truly blows me away, Zoey. And I’m not just saying that because you killed the man who was seconds away from killing us—a man who also happened to be a family member you loved. I’m saying it because your actions truly were remarkable.”
