Be Careful Around Your Friends

It was love at first sight. When Chris looked at that boat, he knew he had to have it. It was a 2010 basic fishing boat but it was a symbol of years of hard work and the relaxation that he could enjoy. Chris loved fishing. He loved being out on the open water, feeling the wind in his hair, the sun on his skin and the light specks of water grazing his cheeks. Fishing was his life. Until he had to face the new set of challenges that came with getting this beautiful piece of metal in his life.

Chris was a simple man. He liked fishing, beer, ladies and his dog named Roo. Thankfully for Chris, Roo liked all of those things, too. So they did everything together. If you saw Chris, you likely saw Roo. Roo was a 75 pound mutt. Black with white on his chest, white in his paws, tall ears and so much love for his owner and their lifestyle. So that is exactly the reason why when Chris saw this white fishing boat, he just knew he and Roo would look dashing in it. Chris reached out to the seller, Randy Owens, Thursday on his lunch break from the car dealership where he was a mechanic. Randy and Chris agreed that Chris could pay and pick up the boat on Friday at 5:30pm after work. Chris couldn’t stop daydreaming about all of his and Roo’s adventures on their new boat the rest of Thursday and Friday.

Friday evening rolled around, Chris usually took his time cleaning up and clocking out but not today. He cleaned up and was clocked out by 5:01pm. He had to drive 23 minutes to get to Randy’s house and there was bound to be traffic. Chris queued up his favorite Pantera album, Cowboys From Hell, and started the trek to Randy.

Exactly 25 minutes later, Chris pulled up to a large, beautiful home with an immaculate green lawn. Chris thought it a bit odd that Randy had such an old, sorta beat up boat and such a nice home with a really nice 2024 F250 out front and what looked to be a 2022-2024 Audi Q4. But he approached the home anyways and parked his own, modest 2008 F150 along the street. As he got out, he saw who he presumed to be Randy standing by the boat, inspecting it. Chris walked up to Randy and said “hey Randy, I’m Chris. How’s it going?” “Oh hey! Going good. Just double checking the boat. How are you?” They exchanged pleasantries and then a beautiful dark haired woman came out of the house with crisp looking Coors lights in hand. She came over and said, “hi, I’m Anne. Would you like a beer?” “Thanks!” Chris responded. “This is my favorite one.” “I know.” Her smile faded as she said this, said goodbye and scampered off. “Odd?” Thought Chris. He and Randy chatted a bit longer then Randy helped him hook up the boat and Chris headed towards home. If only he knew what was to come.

Chris and Roo took the boat out Saturday all day and when he got back home, he noticed a text from Randy. “Hey man, I know this is odd but really liked chatting with ya. If you ever wanted to have a beer, fish or whatever. Let me know!” Chris responded and said “I’m going fishing (with beer and my dog) tomorrow. You wanna go?” They set up plans to head out the next morning with Chris picking up Randy at 6:30am on Sunday.

Chris and Randy spent a full day fishing, drinking, chatting, laughing and petting Roo. By the end of Sunday, they set plans to hang out the next weekend. They continued to hang out every weekend through summer and the fall. Chris got some weird vibes from Randy and his wife, Anne, but he could always explain them away. Until Randy asked him about his job and asked why he didn’t have nicer things. “What do you mean?” Asked Chris. “Well you drive an older truck, have an older boat, older motorcycle, older house.. you own a lot but it’s not fancy.” Randy chimed in. “It doesn’t need to be fancy to work and be what I like.” Chris laughed. Randy replied “well with what you make.. I just figured you could afford it.” This was a red flag for Chris but he just assumed Randy had looked up what a mechanic at Ford makes. And he had been there for 10 years already. Anne would make little comments (like with the beer) eluding that she knew him but she barely spoke to him when they were around each other. It was odd but not criminal. Until one fateful day in Late October.

Chris was in high spirits. He had been dating a beautiful woman for a few months and she got him into Halloween. They were going to take her young son trick or treating the next week and then watch scary movies when he went to his dads after. This weekend, he and Randy were going fishing as usual. When Chris picked Randy up, he seemed … off. Nervous, fidgety.. just not himself. Chris asked what was up and Randy said he and Anne had a fight and he wasn’t sure if she was going to leave. Chris offered to have him stay behind to fix things but Randy insisted on going. So they headed towards the lake. It was a pretty quiet ride. Once they got to the lake, they unloaded the boat and got ready. Chris saw Randy slip something small into his wader pocket but he didn’t see it was something that could be deadly. Before heading out, Chris texted his girlfriend that they were heading out, have a good day, give her son a kiss and he loved them. With an expected time to be back. He still didn’t understand how important all of this would be.

A few hours had gone by. Randy caught 2 fish and Chris caught 5. Randy was definitely off his game. They ate some sandwiches that Anne had made and made small talk. Randy still seemed off but Chris just let it go. Chris turned around to take a fish off the line and that’s when he heard a gun cock. He slowly turned around and saw Randy, standing, shaking and saying “I don’t want to hurt you” and Chris said “but you’re going to?” Randy just nodded. “Why?” Chris said. “Anne and I have been stalking you and found out about the several million dollars you have stowed in the bank. We are house broke and about to go bankrupt. You are our “get out of this” plan.” Chris’s jaw dropped. “But how.. why… when??” “Not important.” Randy said. He pointed the gun at Chris’s chest and pulled the trigger. Chris felt the sharp hit of the bullet and fell back in the water. He watched as the water became clouded with his blood. He saw the gun get dropped into the water, alongside his body. He instantly acted dead and Randy pointed the boat towards the shore. Roo had been with them and he went away with Randy, looking back at Chris and whining.

Chris wasn’t sure how long he was out there. But he knew he didn’t have his phone, his wallet was ruined and he didn’t have a radio or anything.. and he was bleeding out. Remember that text he sent? Well he told his girlfriend they would be back by 3pm that day and it was now 5pm. It wasn’t like Chris to be late and not update her. She tried calling and his phone went straight to voicemail. So she called Randy. He was acting off. He kept saying he didn’t control Chris. She hung up, frustrated. So she called the cops. They got a team together and headed to the lake.

The cops were sure they would find Chris’s dead body floating in the lake. Instead, as they pulled up, they saw Chris trying his hardest to finish swimming across the lake. A few officers immediately jumped out and swam out to help him. They were able to find the gun later and got Chris bandaged up and got his statement. Randy and Anne were arrested later that night. Roo was found at their home and brought to see Chris at the hospital then his girlfriends’ dad watched Roo for Chris.

Chris spent the night in the hospital. Here, he had all the time to wonder how they had found out about his money. Chris felt like he couldn’t trust anyone. He even snapped at his girlfriend. He felt terrible. Chris finally drifted off to sleep around 2am. As he was falling asleep, he suddenly shot awake. He had dated Anne 2 years previously. It was a short fling but she had somehow hacked into his banking info and that among some other wild behaviors, he broke it off. He thought nothing of it at the time and didn’t recognize her. She had dyed and cut her hair and gotten plastic surgery. But the cops had revealed that her real name was Cassey Mirage. That name was familiar to him.

Chris got released the next day and some time later, Randy and “Anne” got charged with attempted murder and as an accessory. They both went to prison. Chris went on to receive counseling, marry his girlfriend and continue to enjoy fishing. Roo continued to be Chris’s fishing buddy and partner in crime. Chris was much more careful about who he called a "friend."