Free A Shadow of Death in The Woods by Albert Sisson

of events. I liked my father-in-law, Bill Simpson, but I could live the rest of my life happily without seeing my mother-in-law again but she was Grandma to the kids and Mom to Kat.
    Laura was the serious one and the one to carry messages. Will was happy-go-lucky and most likely would forget to deliver the message. They were a cute pair.
    Will must have gotten his happy-go-lucky demeanor from his biological father. Kat was a serious, organized woman and would never misplace a message. Laura was a lot like Kat.
    They always wanted to help carry my luggage in the house. I parsed out pieces according to body size so everyone had an appropriately sized load.
    Inside, Kat informed me that we were going to her parents for dinner and that I was to shower and be ready tout de suite. I said, “I’m glad to see you too. How was your trip to your sister’s?” I got a kiss for my smooth manner. She hurried me on.
    I dropped my luggage in our bedroom and stripped off my clothes.
    Did you ever wonder where the tread on your tires go when they wear off? Here is a factoid. Tiny pieces grind off the tires, float in the air over our highways and you breathe them. An interesting, or perhaps horrifying, exercise, after several hours of riding a motorcycle on an Interstate, is to rub your face with a white, damp wash cloth. Take a look at the wash cloth and you will see the black imprint of your hand where it rubbed your face. That is the residue of tires with maybe a dab of motor oil mixed in.
    Remembering that I was supposed to be in a hurry, I jumped in the shower. It felt great to wash off the tires. The warm water cascaded down over my body and suddenly it turned to blood. I felt weak. It couldn’t be blood. I closed my eyes and opened them and I saw clear water. My heart was pounding. What caused this horror?
    I got out of the shower and got dressed. It was going to be a casual dinner. That meant a blazer and slacks would work. It didn’t have to be a dinner jacket or a black tie. But a tie was required.
    I could hear Kat downstairs telling me to hurry or we would be late. I should be moving but I felt dizzy. It was hard to focus. I was having flashbacks to The Woods. I had chills first, thinking about the two men we had killed and second, the worry over getting caught. I was going to have to stop sweating or I would have to change shirts. I started concentrating on my breathing and soon I felt better. I went downstairs and Kat asked what was taking me so long. What could I say? One of the secrets to getting away with murder is to never, ever tell anyone what you did. No one. People who talked went to prison or worse. West Virginia abolished the death penalty in 1965 so it would be prison for me.
    Kat and I never kept secrets from each other. Now I had a doozy of a secret and it had to be forever. It felt terrible but there was no other course. I would never want to burden her with such knowledge. Besides, I didn’t exactly know what her reaction would be.
    I thought about chatting with Bill later. He might ask me about my weekend ride just to be polite. Should I say, “Hey, you’ll never believe what happened. I ran into some people in West Virginia and we killed a couple of guys.” Being a lawyer he is an officer of the court so aside from family issues there would be legal issues unless I hired him. I guess. I was not quite sure how that worked not having been in this situation before. No, I was going to have to avoid telling the truth.
    I had lived my whole life based on the principle of honesty and forthrightness. Being an accountant and a closet scientist reinforced these ideals. My whole being was about finding the truth and reporting it. I was beginning to see what a life changing event had taken place. Not only did I have to live with the thought of robbing two men of their most prized possession, their lives, I also had to live with lies to my family and friends. What a nightmare.
    I heard someone calling my name. I came