Sorry I Missed You

Part I

Dean Kuch

Marlise buttoned up her blouse and craned her neck slightly to gaze sternly at the bathroom door. This had been the fourth time over the past six months that she and Ron had gotten together. First, they'd made arrangements to meet at the Marshall Motel out on Route 6, but that became risky. Arleen was a small town, and Marlise knew damned well how much people liked to talk. She and Ron frequently took their lunch breaks together down at the paper mill where they worked; so many might not have found it odd to see them out and about together. However, should someone they knew or a co-worker happen to spot them departing from behind one of the neon green doors of the Marshall Motel together, well...that would certainly be something to talk about.

She simply couldn't risk it.

“Marlee, can't we go to my place once in a while?"Ron whined as he dabbed at his head on a bath towel and sat down upon the rumpled bed next to her.“Your husband never gets home from work until six o'clock, so we'd be back here in plenty of time.”

Marlise had no doubts about that. When someone coined the term “Minute Man” concerning one's sexual escapades in the bedroom, they must surely have had Ron in mind. However, he was tender.  It didn't hurt matters that he was also exceptionally handsome.

“It would be so much easier. I mean; our minds would be more at ease,” Ron continued. We don't have to worry about a jealous husband bursting in on us there.”

Marlise wasn't so sure. She knew firsthand how mean and conniving her husband could be at times, and he was most definitely the jealous type.

She'd been married to the same man for the past twenty years and not once in all of that time had ever considered being with anyone else. That is, until Ron came to work in the plant. He was tall, extremely handsome and muscular, ten years her junior; with wavy black hair neatly and closely cropped. He flirted and showered her with praise and compliments since his first day on the production floor. After a very short time, he'd managed to whittle away at her resolve. Eventually, he actually managed to break her. He got her resolve down to nothing and her panties down to her knees in no time flat.

It had been so long since her husband Sonny kissed her, much less paid her a compliment. It was flattering to know that someone still found her sexy and attractive.

“Ronnie, you'd better go.” Marlise stood and opened the bedroom door motioning for him to leave.

“Okay, okay, I'm going. Can I see you tomorrow?”

Marlise knew Ron hated to take no for an answer. Unfortunately this time, no is what it had to be.

“I can't Ronnie. Sonny is taking me to Chez Philippe in Memphis tomorrow for my birthday. He's made the reservations already. Hell, I've been after him for months to take me there. I can't get out of it; there's no way.”

Ron sighed and looked down at her, pouting. Kissing her on the cheek, he turned and exited the room. Once downstairs, Marlise gave in a bit as she saw the look of disappointment etched upon his face. “We'll see Ronnie. We'll see.”

Ron smirked and climbed on his bicycle he left parked just inside the garage.

Smiling, Marlise asked him playfully, “Don't you ever get tired of having to park so far away and ride that stupid bike back and forth?”

“You're well worth it, babe,” Ron replied, returning her smile with a wink. “ Besides," he added, “We can't be too careful.”

 

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Sonny Blevins was pissed. He hated missing work at all, but he especially hated missing today. The Big Brass at the publishing house where he worked were planning to hand out some special awards, and Sonny knew through the grape vine that he was up for at least a couple of them. Too bad though. He had something far more important to attend to.

After he'd called in sick, he got ready as per his usual routine while Marlise was busy preparing his breakfast downstairs in the kitchen. He showered, put on his best blue, pinstriped suit, and forced his meaty feet inside his shoes.

“Oh shit, the driving gloves,” he grumbled aloud. “I'd best not forget those.”

Sonny fumbled briefly in the top drawer of his dresser and withdrew the new gloves he'd purchased just the day before. Hastily, he pushed them into the inside pocket of his overcoat and headed out the door. Everything had to seem routine today. Marlise must not suspect anything, or it would all be off.

He looked towards the vanity mirror one last time, made a slight adjustment to his tie and headed downstairs to complete his masquerade, smiling and whistling as he descended the steps.

“Ronny, please listen to me.” Marlise hissed the words more than she spoke them; cupping her hand over the receiver of her Blackberry as she spoke.

“I simply don't know if I can make it tonight. Sonny made reservations at Chez Philippe at eight-thirty. I told you so yesterday. If I try to beg out---make some lame excuse— he'll know something is wrong. I've been begging him to go since it opened last year.”

Nothing but silence greeted her on the other end of the line. Finally, a grunt and a brief sigh emanated from Ron's end.

“Please, babe,” Ron pleaded, “I have to see you tonight. There's something I need to tell you, something important I've been dying to ask you since the first day we...well--- you know, got together.”

Marlise didn't like the way he had used that phrase, 'got together'. It made her feel cheap somehow.

“Hell, who knows?" she sighed, “Maybe I am.”

She'd known friends in her past who'd been involved in affairs on their husbands, and generally; she avoided them afterward. She never wanted to fall into that trap. Even so, fall she had, and hard! And the snare seemingly tightened every single day.

She was abruptly snapped out of her reverie as she heard Sonny bounding down the steps, cheerfully whistling the theme song from the Andy Griffith series.

“Okay, alright, I'll find a way,” she told Ron desperately. “I have to go now. I will see you there at seven o'clock. You had better not be late!" she added, and disconnected the call before she got a reply.

Sonny went to the front door and grabbed the morning paper. He returned, walked past Marlise and onto the patio, sitting down at the wrought-iron dining set he bought for his wife several years ago for their fourteenth wedding anniversary.

“ Is everything okay, honey?” He peered over the sports pages at his wife as she brought his morning coffee out to him. “You seem sort of preoccupied with something.” Marlise made a dismissive, swiping gesture with her hand as she sat the steaming aromatic liquid in front of her husband.

“Lise, you aren't coming down with something, are you? You look sort of flushed this morning. I hope this isn't going to put a damper on our plans for dinner tonight. Those reservations were hard to get, ya' know. I did it for you; certainly not for me.”

Marlise smiled slyly and simply waved him off once again. If only he knew, she thought, smiling as he slurped his coffee across from her. She gently patted Sonny's hand as his attention had once again returned to the latest happenings in the world of sports.

“I'll be alright Sonny. I will be just fine.”

Sonny had no sooner walked out the front door when she was back on her cell dialing Ron's number to let him in on the good news.

“ Our reservation is not until eight-thirty, so I should have no problems meeting you at the lake then getting back to town before we have to leave. It's only a forty-five-minute drive from there into the city, so I will have to rush a bit more than I'd like to. I'll just have to get ready before I meet you there. Or, just maybe I can bring an extra change of clothes and get dressed in your car."

Ron thought he detected a playful, alluring tone in her voice.

“Oh-h-h my Marlee,” he whispered. “You are so, so bad.”

 

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Sonny ditched his Chevy Malibu at the park 'n' ride a few miles from their neighborhood, and waited for the bus to take him into the city. He had regularly chastised his wife for making him pay for a P.O. Box in Memphis since they had a mailbox at the end of their driveway.

“I don't always have time to run outside after the mail, Sonny. You work in Memphis, you can just pick it up before you come home”, she'd reasoned. However, he was delighted to have it today. The damned thing was finally going to pay off.

He fumbled the lemon-colored parcel pick-up notice within his hand, smiling as he did so. He tucked it back into his coat pocket and awaited the bus.

The bus arrived right on time, and Sonny climbed aboard, dropping his five quarters in the coin collector as he nodded toward the driver and found a seat. The patronage was light today, and he was happy about that. He couldn't stand being bumped and prodded by people when the bus was near capacity. It always put him in a sullen mood and today; he wanted nothing to spoil his current frame of mind. He was going to give his darling wife a birthday present she would never forget.

Sonny picked up his parcel and spent the afternoon mulling about the city. Before long, the time came for him to take the bus back home and prepare for Marlise's big birthday surprise. He waited at the bus stop for ten minutes, grabbed the appropriate bus, and arrived at the park 'n' ride a little before five-thirty. Putting his package in the passenger seat next to him, Sonny checked his watch once more and started the engine. Soon, everything he had planned would soon come to fruition.  He smiled to himself as he tuned the stereo to his favorite classic-rock station. 'Don't Look Back' by Boston blared from the speakers, and Sonny laughed out loud. “How appropriate,” he said, and headed off for his destination.

The fading sun painted cascading hues of pinks and scarlet across the skyline over the small town of Arleen. Ron parked behind a tactically placed row of spruce pines and a hedgerow thicket upon the peak furthest from the park's entrance. He watched as, one by one, the lights in the valley below began to come on, creating diminutive pinpricks of light against the darkening landscape. The sun had nearly set as Marlise found him at the spot he'd told her to meet him, and she parked her car on the far side of the row of trees and shrubs.

“We don't have a lot of time, Ron, but I am happy to see you.” Marlise slipped into the seat of his red Sebring convertible, and the couple kissed passionately as they embraced.

“I'm happy to see you too, beautiful,” he replied, and his demeanor became suddenly more tense and reserved.

“What is it, Ronnie,” Marlise asked, genuinely concerned about his sudden cold aloofness. “Is it Sonny? What's bothering you?”

Ron inhaled deeply and took her delicate hand in his. “I am in love with you Marlee, and I want to mar---”.

“No, Ronnie, please,” she pleaded, “Please don't do this to me! We both agreed at the very beginning nothing serious or permanent could ever come from this-this...relationship. You are twenty-eight; I am thirty-eight; ten years older, wiser and more battle hardened than you. Right now, sure; we can pull it off pretty well together. But, what happens when I am sixty, and you are only fifty? What happens to us then Ronnie?”

Ron listened intently, taking in the fear and confusion currently registering in those crystal azure eyes as she spelled out her concerns about any permanent future between the two. She spelled it out for him in ebony black and stark white. There would never be anything more between them than what they had now. For him, that just wasn't good enough.

“Then, if this is all we are relegated to; sneaking around to whatever dirt road, park or sleazy motel we can find, I'm afraid it's over between you and me Marlee.” There, he'd said it, put it all on the line and held the carrot out for the rabbit.

“Oh, Ronnie," Marlise sighed heavily, “there never really was a you and me, don't you see? It has always been you, me and— Sonny. We've had our fun together. We've enjoyed each other's company. However, you can't possibly expect me to throw away twenty years of marriage on a whim.”

Ron turned angrily away from Marlise to glare out over the valley. She gently touched his shoulder and eased him back around again to face her.

“Ronnie, maybe this is for the best after all. You haven't wasted too much time or effort in this relationship. You are still young. You are also very kind and extremely good-looking. I'm sure you won't have any problems moving on. We run the risk of getting caught each passing day this continues, and it is beginning to wear on my nerves; the guilt I mean. Besides, I am starting to believe that Sonny suspects something. He hasn't come right out and said it, but he has been acting more distant and withdrawn lately. Even more so than usual.”

Ron gently cupped Marlises' face with his hands as he leaned closer to her. In a soft hushed tone, he finally gave in. “Maybe you're right Marlee,” he whispered. “This has gotten a little crazy. I mean, look where we are now, parked atop a hill, in a park next to the lake at---Oh, let's see...” Ron glanced briefly down at his wristwatch, “...at 7:45 in the evening.”

Marlise nearly jumped out of her seat. “Seven forty-five! Oh my God, Ronnie, I have to go. I hadn't realized it was getting so late.”

Before she could exit the car, Ron coaxed her softly back down into her seat. “One last kiss, Marlee, for old time's sake? I deserve that much at least, don't you think?”

Without uttering a word, Marlise leaned into him, feeling the warmth from his body and taking in his scent. As their lips met and tongues mingled, she thought briefly about blowing off the dinner date with her husband and remaining there with Ron for a while. The thought left her mind as rapidly as it had entered. She couldn't afford to feed Sonny's suspicions any more than she already had. Especially now that she and Ron were calling it quits.

As their kissing lingered, she felt a slight breeze rush through her hair and heard a whining drone whiz past her ear.

“Damn mosquitoes!" she exclaimed, breaking the lip-lock and swiping at the air.

“They're always so bad up here this time of the year."

 

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Sonny made it to the park early and surveyed the surrounding area. Deciding to park his car near the boat docks to avoid detection, he shut off the engine and took a quick look around. He needed to be completely alone and unobserved for this task, and he had to ensure that he was. The place was virtually deserted, save for a lone jogger who plodded along off in the distance. Satisfied no one was watching; he smirked and grabbed the box from the passenger seat. His hands began to tremble in anticipation, and his palms became moist. He hastily tore at the plain brown paper that wrapped the package, and retrieved his pocketknife from his jacket. Slipping the knife beneath the twine, he snapped it in two and opened the box to inspect its contents.

“Oh, this is beautiful...”

Stenciled in block, white letterings atop the wooden box were the words 'M24 Sniper Weapons System.' It's amazing; Sonny mused, what you can purchase off the Internet if you have the right connections...and a large enough bank account.

He flipped two small brass latches that secured the boxes deadly cargo, and opened the lid. He knew he had plenty of time; he'd spotted Ron's convertible pulling in behind a row of trees a couple of hundred yards away. Ron didn't see him of course. In fact, both he and Marlise still expected him to be at work. It was only 5:55 PM, and he rarely arrived home prior to 6:00 in the evening. Neither one of them would expect him to be here waiting at the park for his birthday girl's arrival. “Hell,” Sonny grumbled aloud, “Why should they?”

Sonny scanned the owner's manual and assembly instructions briefly. He wished he'd planned better to allow time to practice with the rifle, get used to its peculiarities. However, it took him a while to secure the weapon. He'd been formally trained in the Army Reserves and qualified as a marksman. Of course, his Army career had ended more than two decades ago, but that didn't matter really. Shooting and becoming proficient at it was akin to riding a bicycle. Once you learned how, you never forgot. He didn't expect this shot to be too difficult. Not at the range he was planning to acquire his targets. After several minutes and a small bit of deliberation, he assembled the rifle. It came in five pieces, with the firing suppressor being most important for his particular application. It took care of most of the muzzle flash and smoke, as well as deadened the sound. The rifle went together so easily, Sonny found himself believing that almost anyone with a basic knowledge of firearms could put one together.

“So easy, a caveman can do it,” Sonny said, and laughed heartily.

He smiled broadly as he felt the heft of the rifle in his grasp, and his teeth glistened ominously in the quickly fading sunlight. He grabbed the box of .30-06 caliber Springfield M72 ammunition, packed within the crate. He opted for these rather than the more widely used 7.62 mm NATO rounds. They had proven to be much more difficult to get unless you were military or wanted to answer a lot of questions. Obviously, questions were one thing he wanted to avoid.

Sonny pushed each round into the clip, then attached the Leupold Mk4 Scope to the tapped out screw openings. With a magnification of 10x40 mm, and the 100 or so yards from Sonny's planned firing position to Ron's convertible, he was fairly confident this whole chore would be over rather quickly. Sure, the cost to do the job and do it right was excessive, to say the least. However, he had his money and Marlise had hers, and she knew better than to question him on financial affairs.

He'd seen to that problem years ago.

He snapped the clip into the rifle, tucked it beneath his overcoat, and made his way swiftly to a row of large spruce pines that bordered the lane where Ron sat waiting patiently for Sonny's wife. Taking a quick look around and seeing no one, Sonny slung the rifle and coat over his shoulder and began to climb. The tree he'd chosen was plush and full, and the large branches made climbing to a lofty height very easy. Once Ron's car was spotted, he draped his coat over a nearby branch, rested the rifle on the skeletal network of branches surrounding him, and peered through the scope. A couple of clicks left; a bit of fine-tuning right, and Ron's head came to life and into view. Within the eyepiece of the scope, Ron's head looked to Sonny to be as big as the side of a barn.

"Yeah, a barn full of brains"; he hissed, "But not for long."

The poor fool, he looks so agitated; Sonny thought as he observed Ron's head bob up and down; from his wristwatch to his rearview; and back to his watch again.

After several minutes, Marlise's car appeared. He observed her closely as she parked and walked over to the now much less agitated Ron, opened the door, and slid in next to him. Sonny took short, even breaths—in, out, in, out; and moistened his lips in anticipation of what he was about to do. He watched as the two engaged in conversation, becoming more animated and heated as they talked. Finally, the couple embraced and began to kiss. It was a kiss that bespoke of longing, lust and want. Unbeknownst to his darling wife, Sonny knew it to be her kiss of death. Hesitating briefly to inhale and exhale one last time, Sonny held his breath... and fired.
 

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