The Funeral
Sun to his back, Cody leaned against the tombstone, watching the interment from across the cemetery. A dozen or so people were present, and he easily picked out Sarah. She was stunning, blonde hair reaching the middle of her back. Every blonde looked even better wearing a LBD, she was no different. His wife was a real looker. Cody took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
Hugs, caresses on the shoulder, and more hugs from most of the attendees. Cody blinked back a tear.
Blue jeans and tee shirt, work boots, and a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes, attire no one had ever seen him in, Cody was sure no one recognized him. He drifted farther back as the group left. Once they were all gone, he headed to his beat-up F150.
The door creaked as he opened it and the mirror rattled when he slammed it shut. Cody smiled. He kinda liked riding up high in a pickup. Some kinda different from his low-slung Lotus Evora GT. And the new clothing was comfortable.
Cody parked at his weekly rental apartment and hopped out of the truck. Now he was officially dead and buried, Sarah will get a two-million-dollar insurance payout. And he had 30 million stashed in a Cayman Island bank.
He pulled his new identity papers from under the mattress, plus and second drivers’ license. Tomorrow he’ll drive to Florida and in a few days, he’ll be on a closed-loop Caribbean cruise, except the name on the spare driver’s license won’t get back on the ship from the Cayman Island stop. Twelve months of planning was all coming together.
After gassing up the truck, he went into the convenience store to grab some road trip snacks.
“Cody? Is that you?” A voice asked.
Cody spun around and looked at Annabelle, one of his neighbors. “You must have me mistaken for someone, my name’s not Cody.”
“No, it’s you, Cody. I thought you were dead.”
“Clearly, I’m not dead and not Cody.” He put the snacks down and backed out of the store.
Annabelle followed him out of the store.
“Cody, what’s going on?”
“Ma’am, you have me confused with someone else.” Cody got in his truck and sped away. He checked his rear-view mirror and saw Anabelle on her phone.