A Retirement Plan

I answered the phone and my little sister was frantic. "Bill you have to come over right away. You were so right and I was so wrong. He's gone to the NASCAR race with his buddies an hour ago and he left his phone. You gotta come over now, please?"

"OK, I'm on my way and I'll be there in about 10 minutes. You'll be OK till there?" I've never heard Barb as upset as now.

My little sister Barb married that jerk Martin. I warned her. I told her that so soon after John, her husband of 32 years died, it'd be a mistake. I told her. But at 55 she's an adult. And she was lonely, very lonely and still grieving. She couldn't have kids and she and John never had any money to think of, but they were happy together. The mobile home was paid off and the trailer park was mainly older retired folks. This is what southern Florida is all about. It was a quiet park with none of the 'Trailer Trash'. They wanted to live a quiet life and found a good place to do it cheaply.

Her husband John died about a year ago. The cancer took him away in 2 months and 5 months later she was swept off her feet. I told her it was too soon. Later as I saw more of Martin and asked around, I found out he was not who he said he was, not what he appeared. I tried to tell her that Martin was not honest, not a good man. She told me to fuck off and we hadn't talked in months. Now she's frantic.

She's looking at me as I pull into the parking spot of her mobile home. Rushing to the car crying, we hug then go inside. "Dave, I'm so sorry. You were so right. He's bad. He's planning to kill me. Look at his texts with his ex-wife." She passed the phone to me and I started reading.

Since he met Barb, he's said all the right words to her. He soon had her lock, stock and barrel. He told everybody that his ex was mean and manipulative. He would have nothing to do with his ex. Problem is that he and his ex sometimes met in a bar I deliver to. The bartender at that dive kept me informed. Looking at the texts now, their plan all along was to find somebody gullible to marry, take out a large insurance policy, and get them drunk then killed in a 'robbery'. They even referred to Barb as their retirement plan. Last week Barb and Martin each took out $200,000 term policies on each other. She didn't look closely at the time, she thought it was a $20,000 policy for burial and a little more. And if it couldn't get any worse, both he and his ex were fucking anybody they wanted to, bareback.

Martin left this morning to see the NASCAR race and left his phone on the charger. When Barb heard the sound for a text, she glanced at it. The number was unfamiliar and she thought it was somebody from the NASCAR group. It wasn't. Then she looked back in the text history for that number. That's when she called me and then looked up the policy paperwork.

Barb was still crying and shaking when I held her in my arms. "Don't worry now little sister. Ain't nothing gonna happen to you now."

"How could somebody do this? Why? Is money that important? What am I going to do now? Call the police?" I held her in my arms and began to think. We sat there for another 10 minutes until she calmed down a bit. Then she asked if I'd like lunch. By the time lunch was over, we both were much more calm. If this happened to anybody else, I'd have the police over in a minute. Nobody does this to my family, not to my grieving little sister. They crossed the line.

"Barb, I have an idea. I don't want you to do anything. I don't want you to know anything either. They were planning on doing this next Saturday. You have a week of vacation and our Aunt in Miami been wanting to see you. Put his phone back in the charger and send him a text. Tell him that you'll be with her until Saturday and then you'll meet him for dinner at Larry's crab shack. I know the owner there, he's the bartender. After dinner, you can come home with him. I'll have people looking out for you and you'll be safe the entire time. Remember the sign they used in the Sting with Redford and Newman? Eye contact, a finger alongside your nose and a slight nod?" She smiled at that, she loved that movie. "That'll be the sign that my people are there. When you return to your trailer on Saturday, look for a newspaper in a red plastic bag on the stairs and the door to the shed closed. Martin never closes that door. If you don't see even one of these things, get the hell out. Come to my place, Jan will be home. OK?"

Barb reset the phone's screen, put the phone back on the charger, wiped her prints off and sent Martin the text. I was going to buy a prepaid temp phone from Wal-Mart and had everybody use that number. I asked Barb to do the same in Miami, also using cash but don't use her employee discount. We didn't want an electronic or a paper trail. We needed to keep in contact. She also had to make an appointment with a doctor for tests. Who knows what she got from that man.

I had her leave first and then figured out exactly what I was going to need and need to do. It took me two hours to search the trailer completely. What an asshole he is. I've never hurt a soul in my life, but that was going to change for those two. The trailer park is down the road from a river. It's in an orange grove area, nothing around for miles. That's why the rent was so cheap. The road has a sharp bend less than a quarter mile from the entrance and Barb's parking space is a straight shot out. The road to town is not lit at night and follows the river by 5'-6' for a couple of miles.

The week went by quickly for me, but Barb was a case of nerves. We talked every day. I kept reassuring her that she'd be covered. She got results back on the medical tests. Thankfully, what she got can be cleared up, even though the meds are expensive for her.

I spent the week planing and getting everyone on board. Didn't tell them more than they had to know for their own part. Saying that I'm protecting my little sister and sometimes mentioning Martin got me instant cooperation. Some good people owe me favors. Some bad people owe me too. Never called one in before from that batch. Being a liquor truck driver for years, I've made a lot of friends and good contacts. I've looked away sometimes, and that was noticed in a good way. Never looked away when somebody good was the target, but everybody knew that. These are contacts that nobody knows of.

Saturday at nightfall Barb showed up at the Crab shack. Her waitress smiled at her, touched the side of her nose and nodded. Martin arrived 20 minutes later. Her drinks at the Crab shack were fruity but with very little alcohol. Martin's drinks were stock or strong. During the dinner, the waitress called and told me what was going on. Barb and Martin were both nervous and each ordered three drinks. I'm sure Martin thought that it was all going to plan.

While they were out to dinner and under darkness, I snuck into her trailer with my key. I replaced her stock margarita mix with a non-alcoholic one, and her vodka with very a dilute mixture. He was going to spike her drink with more alcohol to get her plastered. That'd make it easier for his ex to come in and shoot her. Martin drank Tequila Sunrises so I added Everclear to his tequila.

I also removed all firearms, ammunition and put the knives in a back drawer.

I found out a couple of days ago that the trailer next to Barb's was being painted. The owners were away until the fumes were gone. The management left the windows and doors ajar to vent the place out. You can do that in the middle of nowhere. I got a call that Barb and Martin were leaving, then I got another saying that they were being tailed.

Martin was feeling no pain but drove his car home anyway. Barb and I spoke on the phone on the drive home. She was worried and I told her that everything was good. She arrived first and parked so he had to be the first to leave. He was parked in the right place for a quick getaway.

The other part of the plan had been in motion all afternoon. Martin's ex was being kept busy at her normal bar all afternoon and evening. There were two people there keeping her busy, keeping tabs on her. They reported to me every so often. She was easily plied with free drinks as the hours went on. For some reason, the clock in the bar stopped working. After it got dark, she dropped her purse and started laughing when her keys fell out, then her phone, then her pistol. Their text messages said that she bought it at a gun show. Just a couple of more bucks for no id and a couple more and the serial number no longer existed. All for a gun she never officially bought. Everything is for sale, always has been. It just depends on easy you let it happen.

I saw Martin and Barb enter the trailer. Then I snuck around his car with several pieces of ice. Pulling open the hood, I iced several parts of his brakes and steering asssembly. Things were not going to work very well after that. A large chunk under the brake pedal and in linkage made sure that the brakes would never work. Made sure that his beater's steering was not going to work either. Blocks of ice were also going to limit his ability to turn the wheel. This is Florida, there would soon be no evidence of tampering.

I got back to the neighboring trailer and waited. Now I was worried and kept looking into their trailer. The curtains to the kitchen area were strategically open. The two of them continued to sit at the table and drink, laughing and talking. They both looked pretty wasted. There was no way my little sister was going to get hurt. All I was going to have to do is show up armed, grab his phone, get him scared for his life and let him drive away as fast as possible. The liquor, ice and the road should handle everything.

My contact called and told me that when the ex heard the sound of a text, she read it and smiled, then got up to leave. The bar patrons saw that she was not steady on her feet, her stilettos probably didn't help. Stilettos to a murder? Keeping her at he bar was a good thing. My contacts would be tailing her. They were not going to let her be the 'robber' and retire on easy street. They were not going to let her get to Barb's trailer. They've done this before. Tapping her rear quarter panel would put her car into a spin. If we're lucky, that car would go into the river. There were several miles of dark country roads next to the river on the drive to the trailer.

About 10 minutes later, they called again. Something had happened in the parking lot. There may have been a gunshot, but the car did crash and she hadn't left her car. Police were called and a crowd gathered around the wreck.

I waited another hour. What if he was now going to follow through with their plan alone? What if he was going to do it himself? He wasn't searched, he could have a piece on him. Suddenly, I saw him race out of the house alone and speed away in his car.

Barb came out of the house as we both watched him speed down the road with his lights off. He finally turned his lights on in time to miss the turn and hit the water. "What happened in there Barb? Why'd he run away?"

"Dave, he was pretty plastered, and I was acting very plastered. After a while, I realized that he didn't have it together. I could have knocked him over. Then there was a phone call. I think that it was the police. He got white as a sheet and said that he'd be right over. I stated asking him about it and he just told me to shut the fuck up and he ran out. I saw you at the door so I wasn't worried about anything."

"Barb, the car sank like a rock. I'm sure that the police will be here in, what 20 minutes? 30 minutes? I saw some of the lights in the trailer park turn on. So I suppose we should call too."

It took 45 minutes for a cop to arrive. They fished out the car the next day. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The papers reported that his blood alcohol was .18, way over the legal limit.

A second alcohol related death was also reported in the paper. That story reported that his ex shot herself in her groin while backing up in the parking lot. It appeared that her gun fell to her feet and the trigger was pushed when she hit it with her stiletto high heel. The shot caused her to jam the gas, and she slammed into a concrete post backwards. She wasn't wearing a seat belt when she hit it at 40 mph. She bled to death in a minute or two, only being in a hospital operating room would have saved her. That happened an hour before Martin died in the river. The police did notified him of her accident right before he drove off.

Later that night after a few phone calls, we assembled all the news. Both of them were gone, gone forever. Barb was relieved that it was all over. She didn't fear for her life now, no one to get her. She finally realized that her grief is what drove her. It almost drove her to her death.

The problem was that it wasn't over. Two weeks later she received a check from her term life company for $200,000 for the accidental death of her husband Martin. This was more money than she ever had in her life. She had lived hand to mouth most of her because she had to. Now, she could breathe the first time. She would still be careful, but she was not looking at poverty.

About a month later, Barb was notified that $150,000 from a different insurance company would be paid to Martin's estate. Martin and his ex still had term policies on each other. Since she died first, Martin would receive the $150,000. Since he died second, Barb would receive all his assets after probate.

Barb got a retirement plan.