Majoring in Murder

Chapter 12

It was Wednesday, a week since the meeting with Carlo, and there had been no further word from him or any of his associates. During that time, it felt good to return to my mundane life, even if it meant that I had to drink to help myself sleep. With the exception of liquor to help me nod off, I slipped back into the groove of normalcy that I had taken for granted before I found myself in Carlo's grip. It was only wishful thinking, however, to hope I had dropped off their radar.

One afternoon about two weeks later, I decided to visit the gym to ride a stationary bike and then cool down by swimming some laps in the pool. I put on my swim shorts and tossed my iPod and a towel into my gym bag. It was gorgeous outside, sunny, not too humid, exceptional weather for a spring day in Georgia. I took advantage of it by walking slowly beneath expansive oak trees that shaded the street under their interlocking branches.

I had only made it a block from my dorm when a voice called my name. A brown Lincoln Continental sat parked by the curb ahead of me. As I approached, I recognized the car from a meeting a couple of weeks back. Leo had scooted into the passenger's seat. He leaned out of the window as I neared. "Long time, no see," he said.

"Hey, Leo, what's new?"

"Same old, same old." He extended his arm, an envelope in his hand. "Got another job for ya."

I took the envelope, unzipped my bag, and stuffed it inside.

"Here," Leo said, handing me a phone. "You'll need this, too."

I took the phone and, as with the envelope, shoved it in my bag. I thanked him and he responded with: "Don't get none on ya."

The car's engine revved as it pulled away from the curb and drove away.

I didn't feel much like going to the gym after receiving that envelope. I had been enjoying the peaceful day up to that point, but getting that communiqué dried up any motivation I had to do anything. I turned around and went back to my room instead.

I was relieved to see that Daniel was lying on his bed. Earphones connected to his iPod plugged his ears and his eyes were closed. Clearly, he was asleep. I closed the door and locked it, then went over to my bed and pulled out the envelope. I tore open the flap and removed the paper within. Unlike the first envelope, there was only a single printed page, folded twice. I unfolded it, studied the black-and-white photo in the upper left-hand corner, and read the name to the right of the picture: Lou Harben.

The name seemed fitting for the face in the picture. The man was chubby with saggy jowls that reminded me of a basset hound. Unlike Hector's sketchy appearance, the man in this photo looked respectable. The photo was cropped but most likely a publicity photo because Lou appeared to be shaking the hand of someone not in the photo. I squinted at the reproduced picture as I held it closer. Lou was wearing a suit and tie. A slicked down comb-over failed to conceal his shiny scalp, but what little hair he had was neatly groomed.

I checked the name again and said it aloud. "Lou Harben." For some reason, the name rang a bell with me, albeit only vaguely. Staring at the photo, I wondered if the guy was a politician or a public figure. His picture had that air about it.

This time, the paper listed two addresses instead of one, as well as the type of car the man drove: a black Jaguar. I turned on my laptop and searched for the first address; it was a residence in a posh subdivision in Marietta. When I searched for the second, I learned it was the Marietta Country Club's address. It was a reasonable assumption that this Lou-guy divided his time between the country club and home.

I printed maps of both locations, wrote the addresses on the top of each printed page with a marker, and decided to go visit them during the weekend when I was home. My mom told me she didn't expect me home last weekend when I failed to show up on Friday, and I didn't want them getting suspicious because of my changing schedule. I thought it best to continue a normal routine so I didn't send up any red flags. Besides, having a routine would help me with an alibi if I needed one later.