The Killing Rileys- First Love, First Kills

  The Killing Rileys

  David Matheny

  COPYRIGHT

  First published in the U.S.A. in June 2018

  Copyright © David Matheny

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be circulated in writing of any publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  This is a work of fiction. Although a fictional story, it is based on factual events. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This book has been produced for the Amazon Kindle and is distributed by Amazon Direct Publishing

  The Killing Rileys

  The handsome thirty-year-old man sat with three women a little older than him at the table of honor. He scanned the crowd in the reception room. Over a hundred. A hundred and eleven people to be precise. Not a large gathering, but it was a gathering of the largest economic minds in the nation. He thought of the few who didn't attend out of ego that would've amended that to the entire world. He never dwelled on thoughts like that. Never dwelled on accomplishments. But, tonight was different. Two of the three women at his table had pulled him aside and told him he was allowed to be proud of himself tonight. He never went wrong taking their advice before, so tonight would be no exception. He was proud.

  The learned older man at the podium got through the technical part of the speech and made it personal as he pointed at the handsome man sitting at the table with the supportive women. "That's the man behind the numbers. The man who forecast the looming economic storm and implemented a workout for financial institutions—" The intellectual tried to pull off a charming brow flash only a charming man could. "That worked out for the middle class and gave those less fortunate than that a path to fortune." The distinguished man looked unusual with an emotional look. "The quiet, humble, reserved, but funny as hell man who helmed the ship and steered our great country away from financial ruin to an up and running economy that's humming along nicely—" His excited pride switched his emotion as he gave a respectful pause. "Kevin Riley."

  Kevin felt the hand squeeze and quick kiss from the woman sitting next to him and pretended that affection came from the women at the table who didn't sit as close but felt so much closer. He got up and walked the short distance to the podium. He thought about how his sisters told him to call that squeezer and kisser his 'woman' and that put a grin on his face. That was purely for show. To show affection where there was none. They did a lot of things like that for show. To show their mother and stepfather they were truly into the relationships they were purportedly into. To show the public what the public wanted to see. He didn't like that. He liked the truth. The kind of truth that came from facts. He went along to get along, but if there was any fact that bothered him, it was the fact he couldn't be truthful about the people he truly loved. He stepped out of those thoughts as he took the few steps onto the stage. He was about to be awarded for his grasp and manipulation of facts that had brought about a true recovery for people who truly needed one.

  It took a while for the crowd of economists to simmer down.

  Kevin used that time to raise the microphone to the right level. He looked out on the crowd. He remembered the speech he laboriously prepared out of his usual anxiety. He ignored his speech and spoke from the heart. "The award. The praise. The call from our President earlier." He turned and nodded at the man who introduced him. "The kind words said." He turned back to the crowd. "It's all overwhelming ... And all undeserved."

  Once again, the normally reserved crowd was unusually rowdy.

  Kevin put up his palms to acknowledge the mass disagreement. "Alright, I'll take a little credit." He shook his head like even that was too much to take credit for. "People have asked me ... Many times. How did I stay cool, calm, and collected when the markets were melting down?"

  That question silenced the audience. They were all like him as far as financial acumen, but his pressure under one of the worst financial fires was what singled him out. Made him rise above the crowd and rise to the occasion.

  "It all goes back to one summer." Kevin looked at the table he came from. "The summer my father died. The summer my family went through the stages of grief as we traveled from the brink of financial ruin to solvency, normalcy, and eventually, self-sufficiency." He held his tears in when he saw them flowing freely on the faces of the woman he called his 'woman' and his sisters who sat with her. "The summer I learned to be a man from the lessons I learned from a few strong young women."

  ****

  Around fourteen-years earlier, sixteen-year-old Kevin stood at the door of their home talking to an older boy with long hair. The older boy took a twenty-dollar bill out of his pocket and handed it to Kevin. He looked past Kevin, as his sisters approached. "Kaley ... Kami—"

  Kevin noticed the difference in the way he said that. His older smart sister, Kaley, got no emotion or emphasis. But, the young man said the name of his other older sister, Kami, with so much emotion and emphasis in it, it was possible for someone like him to catch. He wasn't good at catching any emotions from people. That's why it felt good to catch that.

  "What the hell's going on Skip?" Kaley had her hands on her hips to match her sternness.

  Kevin turned and saw how that matched what his mother did when she was stern. He wished he could see her like that again. Like her old self. His mother hadn't been like her old self for months. The months his father was sick before he passed away. He rarely saw his mother give him the stern look. It was usually for one of his sisters. It didn't matter. He missed that look. He missed more than that look. He missed her. He thought of how strange it was to miss someone who was still around. She was around, but she wasn't really around. That thought was too overwhelming, so he let it go and watched the interaction.

  Skip had a palm up. "Nothing shady, smart lady." He patted Kevin on the shoulder.

  Kevin recoiled and tried to step away subtly. He didn't like people touching him. He was very touchy about that.

  Skip reached and took the video game from Kevin's hand. "I just paid your brother a cool twenty to crack the code on this bad-ass game."

  Kami stepped forward and snatched the game out of Skip's hand to look it over closer.

  Kevin was tuned into that. He knew Skip was a tough kid at school. One of the kids who gave him a tough time until he found out he was Kami's brother. He knew Skip wouldn't take any boy or girl snatching something from him like that. That's why it was so interesting to watch how he was with his pretty sister.

  Kami held the game up. "He told you how to win on this?"

  Kevin stepped forward and spoke in a rapid flat tone. "Once you climb the hill of conquest, you swim the pool of peril and shoot three arrows into the satyr—"

  Kami put her hand to Kevin's mouth gently. "I know you cracked the code brother—" She nodded her head at Skip. "But that's worth more than a twenty."

  Kaley stepped in. "At least a hundred."

  Skip's usual anger reddened his face, but that softened when Kami looked right at him. He reached into both pockets and pulled out everything he had. "Thirty-six dollars."

  "There are thirty-six sub-levels to the last plateau," Kevin said flatly.

  "It's a deal." Kami snatched the money away and handed the
game to Skip. She saw one more thing would make him a happy customer. "Pleasure doing business with you, Skip."

  Kevin was learning so much from watching. As bad as he was at spotting emotions, he saw the mix of shy awkwardness that was one emotion he knew well. It was just so odd on one of the most popular boys in their high school.

  "Uuh ... You too." Skip savored as much of a look as he could get of Kami as she closed the door.

  After the door closed, Kevin saw his sisters counting the money again.

  Kami held up the money. "Food."

  Kaley took the money and shook her head. "Bills."

  Kevin looked puzzled. "Food? Bills?"

  Both sisters looked at each other.

  "He'll find out sooner or later Kami." Kaley looked at Kevin sadly.

  "He's dealing with enough already, Kaley." Kami looked even sadder as the more beautiful of the sisters, who was the more emotional of the two.

  "It's already sooner." Kaley breathed out a sigh of resolution.

  Kami brought herself out of the sadness with a positive thought. "We could let him figure out the finances."

  "Or, the lack thereof," Kaley said.

  "Seven." Kevin leaned toward Kaley. "Thereof is a lawyer word. It really is. The seventh you said today."

  Kaley laughed more with the release of tension. "Like Uncle Frank said, 'I have to talk the talk' if I want to be a lawyer." She got on one side of him.

  Kami got on the other side and begin walking him toward the kitchen table where a laptop computer sat surrounded by stacks of receipts and bills. "Would our favorite numbers man like to work some magic with numbers?"

  "Magic," Kaley muttered under her breath.

  Kevin ignored that as he looked at Kami with wide-open eyes. "Yes!"

  ****

  The three siblings sat in the ornate law office in front of the desk the kind, but concerned man sat behind. The man leaned forward and looked at Kevin. "Before we get into how bleak the numbers are, I can't believe your grasp of finances, Kevin."

  "Once people get to know him, Uncle Frank—" Kaley said.

  "They're blown away by how smart he is," Kami finished.

  Kevin looked down. He was used to his family talking about him like he wasn't there. It bothered him when other people did that, but not his family. He knew they cared.

  "We all know that, but his interaction." Frank took an observant and concerned look at Kevin. "He looks like he's regressed."

  Kevin saw his sister's eyes on him, and knew they were depending on him. "The funeral got me down. Working with the figures got me up." He got his reward in the subtle smiles his sisters gave him. He was proud he read those nonverbal signals too.

  "I have a nasty divorce case." Uncle Frank stroked his strong chin. "I could put our family financial wiz on it. See if he can't find the hidden assets."

  "Would you pay him?" Kaley asked.

  Frank nodded. "Sure, and I'll give him an advance." He pulled out his checkbook from a drawer.

  Kami put up a palm. "When Mom comes around, she'll know you gave us a check."

  Frank shook his head. "Damn that family pride. Your Aunt Jenny's the same way about charity."

  "No charity, but how about advances on our birthdays?" Kaley said.

  "Cash only," Kami said.

  Frank leaned back in his chair and rubbed his face as he sighed. "That's not enough to make a difference."

  Kaley leaned forward. "All we need to do is get us through the summer. Mom's a good money maker. When she gets back to feeling good—"

  "Alright, let's say she rebounds in three months." Frank didn't look like he believed that. "She maxed everything out to cover Jeff's funeral." He looked at the numbers he wrote on a yellow legal pad. "The house payment. Car payment. Minimum payments on the cards. Food, utilities, for three months."

  "Eleven-thousand, six-hundred, and thirty-nine," Kevin said flatly as he picked at a thread on his shirt.

  "You've got the pageant costs Kami." Frank looked at Kaley. "Your scholarship covers a lot, but—"

  "I'll wait a year. Knock some classes out at the community college." Kaley said that stoically, but her gulp after it betrayed the emotion.

  Uncle Frank shook his head. "I should cover it. Cover it all." He sighed a particularly sad sigh he didn't bother to conceal.

  Kevin saw his sisters looking at each other. He knew they fought sometimes, but he knew how close they were when they did what they were doing now. They were carrying on a conversation without words. He wished he could understand someone that well just for once in his life.

  Kaley pulled in a breath before she spoke. "It's more than just pride, Uncle Frank."

  "Aunt Jenny and Mom are like me and Kaley." Kami looked at Kaley and spoke honestly. "I'm the mess up of the two." She looked back at Frank. "Like Mom and Aunt Jenny. I love Kaley, but I wouldn't want her having something like that on me."

  Kaley patted Kami for the honest admission as she looked at Frank. "And I love Aunt Jenny, but you know she'd be going on and on just on how much the house payment is."

  "I know." Frank sat back and thought for a while before he sat up and looked like he'd made a decision. "We'll revisit this in a month. On my end, I'll get the bankruptcy filing ready to go—"

  "That would kill her," Kami said.

  "I hope we don't have to go there, but—" It looked like it was killing the kind man to have to mention that. He sighed another sad sigh. "My business is in a slump now. Otherwise, I'd just pay the house off. Pay everything off." That sounded like an apology.

  Kevin leaned forward. "One listing. Holden Hills. Covers it all." He knew that was an understatement and quickly revised it. "For over ten times the time you said." He knew he could get that more precise, but he knew it didn't matter. He made the point..

  "She has a listing there?" Frank asked.

  "Her first big listing," Kami said.

  "How's she going to sell it?" Frank gulped before he put more on that. "In the shape she's in."

  "Traffic's high for open houses on the weekends. This is a busy looking and selling time." Kevin thought more on what he read and overheard. "People looking and buying so they're moving in before school starts." He cocked his head. "Mom did well getting it listed at one-hundred and seventeen percent of the projected sales price." He leaned in to clarify that. "Just going by the price per square foot. Not counting variables like custom home buyer subjectivity." He screwed his handsome young face up into a peculiar look that was one of his thinking looks. "And she has three listings for smaller homes. One sale could buy us time. Two almost gets us through."

  The other three all looked at him with admiration and amazement for a few moments.

  Kami was the first to speak, "I'm good in open houses with Mom. She says I'm her little saleswoman."

  Frank had a bit of a smirk as he seemed to see a bit of hope in the hopeless situation. "Kaley could rattle off the amenities. Kevin has the numbers."

  "And I'm the closer," Kami said.

  "I think I'm a better arguer, so I should be the closer," Kaley said a bit competitively.

  Frank reached in his desk drawer and pulled out a lockbox. He opened the box and counted out several hundred-dollar bills.

  Kevin leaned forward. "If you give me a hundred advance for my job, Uncle Frank, another three-hundred covers our birthday advances—"

  Frank looked at the two young women. "And that's only because my wife's a little cheap with birthdays."

  Both girls shook their heads to disagree, but it wasn't completely convincing.

  "That's enough to make a partial payment on the electricity and buy a week's worth of groceries," Kevin said.

  Kami hugged Kevin from the side. "You already figured out how much it cost to get the healthy food we need and the comfort food we need more."

  Kaley hugged Kevin from the other side. "He knows it down to the daily requirements and the calorie count."

  "If any other group of teenagers told me they could pull
this off, I'd tell them they were crazy." Frank gave Kevin a smile that was slight, so he wouldn't feel like he had to smile back.

  "Any other teenagers don't have what we have." Kami gave Kevin a sweet kiss on the cheek that was light and quick enough to not disturb him.

  "A secret weapon." Kaley gave a tender touch on the back that said the same thing in her own way.

  ****

  The next weekend, a wealthy couple smiled at the Riley kids before they left the open house in the very nice home in the exclusive Holden Hills subdivision. "They weren't interested," Kami said as she shook her head.

  "That's alright." Kaley adjusted the black professional suit she wore to look her part. "It's a numbers game."

  Kami smoothed a wrinkle out of the nice dress she wore.

  Both sisters stepped to Kevin to straighten out his sports jacket and adjust his tie to be ready for the next prospective buyers viewing the open house.

  "Remember, Dad always said we're 'the winning Rileys' my fellow Rileys." Kaley smoothed out a crease in Kevin's jacket, but it was like she was using that as an excuse to give a calming touch to her unusual brother.

  Kami saw that and did the same thing to his sleeve. "And Mom says, were 'the loving Rileys' and—" She froze.

  Kevin knew something was going on by the looks his sisters gave each other, but he knew he wouldn't stand a chance of knowing what it was. He let his mind run and the only thing he could think of was the difference in past and present tense when they mentioned his Dad and Mom. That was all he had, so he acted on that with some humor. "Winning and loving Rileys. I'll be loving it if we be winning this sale."

  The attempt to lighten things up by the odd handsome young man was successful when his sisters laughed heartily.

  "Incoming." Kami stepped back from Kevin.

  Kaley turned him around to face the entrance.

  An attractive wealthy middle-aged couple walked in, with a teenager behind them whose cuteness was concealed by the dark clothes, dark makeup, and dark hair she wore.