Sandtrap

Regardless of what the analyst told her, she refused to play alone yet. She wasn’t sure how much she believed in such people, but Jennifer had assured her that he was highly regarded and that a person of standing should use professional help whenever it was available.

Constance Walters and Kathleen Malone were to meet Veronica for an early round this morning, but they were late. Every time Veronica looked at her golf bag she shuddered. She wondered if that idiot psycho-whatever he was had any idea what he was talking about. The very idea of a round of golf this soon seemed as traumatic as had finding the body the last time she played. But still she waited.

After five holes, Veronica Lynch was starting to settle back into the routine of playing golf. The other members of her threesome had been late, but they were very supportive and generally good company. As an added bonus, neither was as good at the game as Veronica herself was.

By the eighth hole, they each owed her several drinks and were threatening to walk off the course. Constance was remembering why she preferred tennis over golf. Tennis balls were bigger targets and Veronica wasn’t good at hitting them.

Constance and Kathleen had to exchange a smile, though, when Veronica’s drive on the eighth hooked and sailed into the woods. It didn’t look like she’d win this hole, so maybe they could recover some of their losses.

Veronica muttered some very un-ladylike words and phrases under her breath as she walked toward the place where her ball had sailed into the trees. The woods were out of bounds, so she’d have to drop a ball and take the penalty. It had been her lucky ball that she had used, though, so she hoped to find it. She mumbled some more words she wouldn’t want anyone to hear leave her mouth and walked deeper into the trees. The ball was nowhere in sight, and she began to worry about snakes. If that ball had really been so lucky, it wouldn’t have led her into the woods, she fumed.

Just when Veronica decided that it would be cheaper and more prudent to buy a new ‘lucky’ ball than to risk a snakebite to find her old one, something off to the left caught her eye. Advancing cautiously by swinging her driver in front of her through the underbrush, Veronica ventured further away from the fairway, discovering a dirt lane through the woods.

Not curious enough to follow the road, she turned to make her way back to the course. Something she saw out of the corner of her eye shook her to her toes before she even recognized what she had seen. She took another look to be sure she hadn’t seen what she thought she had. She had seen it! It was a man with a pistol in one hand and a hole in his head, which had bled all over his face.

Once again, Veronica screamed. And screamed some more. And, once again, she fainted before anyone else appeared on the scene.