By the time he’d finished the story about
how Marie and Jill had mistakenly fallen into his clutches, Angela’s eyes were
misty. Those poor women, they did
absolutely nothing yet they ended up hacked to bits because he was overwhelmed
by his own guilt and rage, Angela thought. He knew it was wrong but he thinks it was worse that he went against
his own rules— the freak! Her heart ached for the torture they’d endured
but also feared for her own safety. He was staring at her like a starving man
at a buffet. She’d seen his victims in the morgue. Everyone knew he was eating
select cuts from his captives. To her surprise, he rose and headed for the
door.
“You look tired … you should get
some sleep. Tomorrow will be a big day for both of us and I want you to get
your beauty rest. Good night.”
Before
Angela could say a word, the lights clicked off and she with swallowed up in
complete darkness. The door closed but she had no way of knowing if he had left
or if he was plotting to end her life right then. A moment later she heard his
footfalls heading upstairs. Alone in the dark, her tears flowed freely until
her body succumbed to the exhaustion and slept.
vvvv
Seth
felt the weight of another body pressing down on his chest. A sleepy smile
tugged at his lips; believing Melanie was feeling frisky the rest of his body
responded. That is, until a stinging slap connected with his cheek. Shocked,
his eyes snapped open but it wasn’t Mel straddling his chest. Kim hovered over
him with a butcher knife pressed to his throat. One hand held the knife in
place while the other rose as she placed her index finger to her lips.
“Shhh,” she hissed.
Without
moving his head, he looked to his left but Melanie was gone. Oh God, what did she do to Mel? Seth’s
heart hammered out a quick staccato beat. Before he could attempt to ask, his
wife’s head appeared just behind Kim’s.
“See, I told you he was a dedicated
husband … never suspected me for a second. He probably didn’t suspect you
either, Kim.”
Melanie
and Kim’s laughter mingled like a sitcom laugh-track making Seth’s head spin. He
squeezed his eyes closed in a childlike attempt to shut out the unpleasantness.
“I sure hope I wasn’t a suspect,” a
deeper voice uttered.
Against
his will, Seth’s one eye opened just a slit to see who else was there to
torment him. To mock him, Bill winked
before speaking again.
“I know who you wanted to pin this
one on … somebody’s jealous ole Dick is puttin’ the moves on his wife, huh?
Can’t say I blame you.”
“Well, I can!” Agent Dictator
bellowed. “What on Earth have you ever done to deserve a woman like Melanie?
You ignore her and spend all your time at the morgue. I’d keep her safe and
spend every spare minute with her, unlike you. Even your dog likes me better
because I give him delicious little treats.”
What the hell? Why are all these people in
my bedroom? Who let them in? Seth’s
inner voice screamed in protest. Knife at his throat or not, he was going to
set the record straight but just then, Seth’s least favorite FBI agent leaned
over and kissed Melanie’s cheek, making her giggle like a lovesick teenager. For
good measure, Kim pressed harder on the blade over Seth’s throat so that he
wouldn’t move.
“Don’t do anything stupid, Seth. I
like you but I can’t have you ruining our plan,” Kim ordered.
“How could you do this?” Seth
moaned. “What about Angela? She was your partner.”
“What do you mean … was?” Angela
entered the room and knelt down beside the bed. “I’m perfectly fine but I’m
afraid you’re in trouble. He wants to punish you.”
Seth’s
stomach heaved as he started to hyperventilate.
“Why would anyone want to kill me?”
He whimpered.
“Because you still haven’t finished
your damn novel,” his agent Ethan’s voice growled in Seth’s ear. “It’s time to
go. Did you hear me? I said it’s time for me to go.”
Seth
woke with a start. Sweat poured down his neck as his chest heaved.
“Sorry to wake you, babe.” Mel cooed
before placing a kiss on his cheek. “It’s time for me to go … to work. I was
thinking about picking up Chinese takeout for dinner. Is that okay?”
Still
unable to speak, Seth nodded. His eyes darted around the room scanning for
would be killers. Mel blew him a kiss before leaving. Malachi jumped onto the bed and gave his
startled human a kiss. It was that moment of normalcy that calmed his jagged
nerves. Seth let out a sigh of relief as he eased back onto his pillow. From
his nightstand, the vibrating rumble of his cell phone broke the calm. He
rolled over to look at the screen:
Missed
Message: 1
Kim
Miller: I need to see you but not alone. Meet me at the coffee shop.
No comments:
Post a Comment