I was an hour away from Epworth, cruising on the highway when the alert beep on my phone went off. I felt a cold chill come over me. I had alert beams on the perimeter of my property, entry points that I myself would use to gain entry. It monitored routes people like me would use to gain access when you didn’t want to use the front door.I opened the app on my phone and watched as five men in masks breached my property line. I switched to another angle, but it was clear. It was only the five of them. I was an hour away and Charlotte would probably be asleep. I phoned the landline anyway and to my relief she answered after four rings.“Hello?” She answered questioningly.“Charlotte, there are five men on the perimeter of the property. You have about six minutes before they breach the house–” She interrupted me as I tried to give her instructions.“What? Why?” Her voice was shaking with fear.“Go down to the basement. The code on the door to the left of the stairs is three one four one
“You shot me,” I said and she let the gun fall to the floor. Her hand clasped over her mouth and she rushed forward to me. I was leaning against the wall as I tried to apply pressure to the bullet wound and to staunch the bleeding a bit.“I’m so sorry. I thought it was them,” she said worriedly.“Bathroom,” I said as she tried to help me. I slid down against the wall and she started to cry.“Don’t die, please don’t die,” she said and I laughed suddenly.“I’m not going to die. Get the first aid kit in the bathroom,” I said. She ran up the stairs and I sighed. She returned a few minutes later, stopping short when she saw Andrew Douglas lying on the floor with his eyes open, his head surrounded by a pool of his own blood and brain matter.I took the first aid kit from her and opened it. I took out the tweezers and the small bottle of antiseptic liquid. I poured the liquid over the wound and gritted my teeth as it burned. I clenched my eyes closed until the burning subsided. I placed my f
“I heard you won the team challenge. Again,” Jack said and smiled.I smiled back at him. “I usually do.”“Arrogant as always. Did you talk to Nataly this time?” His gaze was searching my face, looking for some clue.“No,” I said, wishing he hadn’t brought her up.Jack shook his head and scratched at the stubble on his chin. “You have to talk to her at some point and I don’t mean work.”“No, I don’t. I have nothing to say to her.” I looked him in the eye and changed the subject. “How are June and the kids?”“June’s great, the kids are terrorists,” he said and I laughed. “I worry about you, Jericho.”“I’m fine.” Jack nodded and then made his way to the barn where his men would dismember the bodies and transport them away. I went into the laundry room and got a bucket and cleaning supplies. I went down to the basement first and started cleaning the floor where I had killed Andrew and the other man, washing away their blood. There could be nothing to see when Charlotte woke up. Three ho
I opened the freezer and took out some fish. I put it in the oven and let it bake while the vegetables steamed. I knocked on Charlotte’s door five minutes before it would be ready. She hadn’t emerged at all and I had no idea what was going through her head.“Charlotte, dinner’s ready.” I went back downstairs when she didn’t answer me. I ate dinner alone and took two more pills. I felt tired after I cleaned the kitchen and I went upstairs to my room after calling the dogs and locking up.The next morning when I woke up, I felt better. I brushed my teeth and got dressed in the bathroom after another shower. Charlotte was in the kitchen when I went downstairs, making coffee. It was half past six and she just looked at me as she handed me the cup. I felt awkward around her and I was sure she did too. Regret, it was written all over her face.“Andrew’s dead so I guess I can go home now,” she said. She was right. She could go home now.“I’ll take you when you’re ready.”With Nataly, things
I called Jack back as I thought of something else. “Where did you leave his SUV?”Jack chuckled. “I parked it at the curb in Garfield Park.”“That’s good. It’ll be there for maybe an hour before it’s stolen,” I said to him. “Thanks, Jack.”“You know I’ve always got your back,” he said and I was about to hang up when he spoke again. “You might want to think about silencing her before she becomes a problem.”“I’m not going to kill her,” I said and he started to laugh.“Do you really like her that much?”“Maybe, but it doesn’t matter. It was over before it even began.”The moment I said it, I knew I shouldn’t have.“Aww, shit, you slept with her, didn’t you?” Of all the people in my life, Jack knew me the best, but even he didn’t know everything.“What difference does that make?” I didn’t like where he was going with this conversation. I wasn’t a kiss and tell kind of guy and discussing this with my brother didn’t sit well with me.“For you it makes all the difference in the world, little
I was nervous about doing this. If she said anything about me, Jack would know and then I would have to silence her. It wasn’t something I wanted to do. I liked her and the realization made me smile and then frown. ‘No,’ I thought to myself. This was dangerous territory.I saw her car turn into her street and then into the driveway. She got out and unlocked the front door and shut it with her foot. I watched the screens on my laptop. I had perfect coverage. She put her handbag down on the couch and kicked off her shoes, leaving them right there on the floor. She went into her bedroom and I heard the bathroom door close.Jack answered on the first ring. “It’s go time.”“Tracking your phone location now…searching for hers…okay, Jericho, what do you want done?”“Phone calls, texts, emails, google, Facebook, Twitter, I need access to everything,” I said. I could hear him typing as I spoke. I had another phone that would basically act as her phone’s clone. I would get every text she got an
“Jericho!” A voice boomed from across the room. I smiled as I watched the big guy smile. Joshua was always happy, always in a good mood and you couldn’t stay mad at the guy even if you tried.Joshua walked toward me and Jack lifted his hand in greeting from his office that overlooked the open plan area. His office was on the next floor and he could literally watch everybody that worked under him. It felt good to be in the middle of the buzz again even though it had only been ten days. The air was filled with electricity as people coordinated drop-offs and exchanges and confirmed that the dead were in fact dead.“Long time no see,” Joshua said. We walked toward the boardroom together and I chuckled at him. I had missed training day because I was in Redondo Beach killing Paul Jameson.“Must be important for us to be summoned in early,” I said and he nodded his head in agreement. We walked into the boardroom and were the last to arrive.“Thank you for finally joining us,” Lynda said.She
“Thanks for meeting me, Blake,” Max said and took a sip of his coffee.“If it’s about tomorrow, the barn’s empty,” I said and he shook his head.“It’s not. I have to ask you some questions.” He was looking uncomfortably at me and I knew.“Ask away, Max.” I was smiling but inside I began to worry. Had I messed up somehow? I looked over at Charlotte and she looked away quickly.“I received a missing person’s report from Nevada. Some ex-cop and a group of his friends went missing. His brother has no clue where he is. His phone’s off and they haven’t heard from him since Saturday night,” Max said.“Nevada?” I asked with a frown. “Why did they send it to you?”“Blake, the guy, Andrew Douglas, he called in your registration number to the Dubuque Police Station to request your address,” Max said in a softer voice as more people entered the diner. “That was around midnight on Wednesday last week. Nobody’s heard from him since Saturday night. His credit card was swiped at a bed and breakfast h
I woke up seven hours later to a quiet house. It was too quiet as I walked down the stairs. There was a note on the kitchen table in Charlotte’s handwriting.“Blake,William and I have gone home. I can’t talk to you right now.”I looked at it and threw it in the dustbin. I started laughing. The one time I had told her the truth, and she didn’t believe me. She had believed every lie I had fed her but it was the truth she was blind to. I couldn’t blame her for leaving, it all looked bad. The photo, the text from Nataly, it all pointed to me doing something that I hadn’t.It hurt though, her leaving and taking the kid with her. It hurt. All the feelings hurt. I felt sad and angry at myself and the house was empty once again. The old Blake would have preferred this, but the real me, I was lost somehow. How ironic life turned out to be.My cup stood exactly where I had left it that morning and I looked at it. I picked it up and threw it against the wall of the laundry room. The dogs jumped
I parked the bike in my apartment building’s parking lot and went upstairs to my apartment. I didn’t even bother to switch the lights on as I took the bloodied clothes off and stepped into the shower. I stood under the scalding water and scrubbed everything off me.I sat down on the edge of my bed and for the first time in my life, I cried. I cried out the guilt of Robert’s suicide because I might as well have killed him myself. I hadn’t felt bad when I killed Lydia, only afterward when Robert found her, did it hit me. His pain had become my pain.Robert Gold had been my friend for ten years and even though most of what he knew about me had been a lie, we’d still been friends. We had spent real time together and I couldn’t be sure that my reaction was due to me never having suffered a personal loss or if I was losing my edge.I got dressed in my riding gear and packed my backpack. I locked up my apartment and drove home to Epworth on the bike. The highway was basically empty but not o
“Where have you been?” Robert asked me.“I just closed another deal in Greece. Work never stops and that’s why I prefer to stay at home,” I said and Robert laughed.“You should get out more often, live a little. Don’t you get bored working all the time?” he asked me.“Unlike you, Robert, I like to work. Before you know it, I’ll be worth more than you are,” I said and he shook his head.“I don’t think I’d ever hear the end of that,” he said almost bitterly and handed me a drink from the bar.“Thanks and cheers,” I said and we clinked our glasses together.“Hey, I want to show you something,” Robert said as I walked with him.We went upstairs and walked down the same hallway I had walked with Lydia earlier. Robert stopped in front of their bedroom door and smiled at me. I hadn’t planned on Lydia’s body being discovered so soon.“I acquired this in London last month. Tell me what you think,” he said and opened the door. Robert switched the lights on and we walked further into the room.
“Hi,” I answered my phone.“You clean up nice, little bro,” Jack said and I smiled. His call was right on schedule.“You would hate it. This really isn’t your scene,” I said and he laughed. I could picture him in his dimly lit office in front of his many computer screens, typing away and listening to radio calls and checking camera feeds.“Yeah, I can only imagine the torture of free booze and uninhibited women everywhere. Horrific,” he said as I scanned the room.I saw Lydia walking towards the bar and she glanced at me. Her smile widened when we made eye contact and I smiled back at her.“Is that why you called me?” I asked him.“No. I just called to say that June’s invited you to the kids birthday party on Sunday,” he said.“I’ll let you know. You do realize that I’m already supposed to be alone with the wife,” I said.“Have fun,” Jack said and smiled.I placed our call on hold and I watched Lydia from across the room. I could wait patiently. The perfect timing was when the laughte
I settled back against the couch in my living room and opened the package from Bo. I took out the two leather casings and I opened one. I looked at the contents and smiled.I thought back to the file Jack had sent me about William’s mother. I had a plan for her as soon as I got back to Iowa. She was never going to be the mother that William deserved and maybe with this, I could make his life a little better.I wiped everything in the leather casing and walked to my bedroom. The tuxedo was in my closet and I put the invitation in my jacket pocket and went to bed.I didn’t sleep well. I had too many conflicting emotions and thoughts that were going through my mind and eventually I fell asleep at five a.m. It was still a restless sleep because conflicting emotions were something new to me.At ten a.m. I was woken up by my ringing phone.“Yeah?” I answered the phone with my eyes still closed.“Where are you?” Jack asked me in a hushed voice.“What time is it?” I asked him.“Ten a.m. littl
Nataly opened the gate and we all drove into the parking area of her building. We made our way over to the elevators and an old lady was looking us up and down.“Hello, Mrs. Duffard,” Nataly said.“Oh, hello dear.” She leaned in closer to Nataly and looked disapprovingly at us. “You shouldn’t hang around with all these men. What will people say?” I started chuckling and Nick jabbed me in the ribs.“These are just friends from work,” Nataly said.“If you say so, dear,” the old woman said and got off on her floor.“Yeah, Nataly. What will people say?” Charlie quipped as the doors closed again.“Oh, shut up,” Nataly said and laughed.It felt like old times, the team working together, laughing, joking and competing together. It almost felt like Nataly was my friend again. We ordered food and settled down in her living room.My phone vibrated in my pocket and I saw it was Max. “Excuse me,” I said and walked toward the back of Nataly’s apartment and answered.“Hi Max, can I call you—”“Blak
A week later, I was busy packing my backpack as Charlotte sat on the bed with her arms crossed over her chest. “Don’t be mad.”“I’m not mad,” she said but the look in her eyes told a different story.“We talked about this. I can’t tell you everything and you accepted that before we started this relationship,” I said.“I know, but I don’t have to like the fact that you’ll be in Chicago with your ex for the whole weekend,” she said.“It’s not that big of a deal. It’s not like we’ll be alone,” I said.“She’s your ex, Blake. I saw the way she was looking at you, she’ll find a way to be alone with you,” she said.I left the backpack on the bed and sat down next to Charlotte. I took her hand in mine and looked her in the eye. “I’m not a cheater, Charlotte. If I wanted Nataly back, I’d be with her. I don’t want her back, I don’t miss her. I’m here with you and that’s where I want to be. She can try to be alone with me, I still have a choice in what happens and I choose you.”“What if you don
I looked at my watch again as we lay in bed. Charlotte was still asleep. It was Saturday morning and almost five a.m. I rolled over and started tapping her on her shoulder with my finger.“Stop it,” she groaned.I chuckled and started tapping her shoulder again. She shifted away from me and I smiled.“What’s wrong with you?” I moved closer to her and kissed her shoulder.“It’s time to get up,” I said.“Why? It’s Saturday,” she complained and pulled the covers over her head.“Because I said so. I’m the boss of this house,” I said and started tapping her shoulder again.“Blake, I’m going to hurt you,” she said with her eyes still closed.“Promise?” I asked and laughed. I shifted on the bed and hovered over her. “Get up!” I fell down on top of her and started tickling her. She was screaming and laughing at the same time and once or twice called me words that should never pass a woman’s lips.I ducked at the door as Charlotte’s shoe flew past my head and went downstairs. She was awake and
At two a.m. I got up and got dressed. I moved quietly so I wouldn’t wake Charlotte or William. I left the house and drove to Peosta. I knew where William lived. I had dropped him off a few times. I slowed down and switched my lights off. I parked the truck a block from his house and walked the rest of the way.The back door wasn’t locked and I walked inside the kitchen. There were dirty dishes in the sink and it smelled musty in there. Empty beer cans littered the table in the living room and I could smell the stale cigarette stench.William’s bedroom had a mattress on the floor with one blanket. The more I went through the house, the angrier I became. William had never said how bad it really was. I stood in the doorway of the main bedroom and watched his mother. She was snoring and it smelled like old vomit in the room.I walked back to the kitchen before the urge to smother her with a pillow overtook me. I took my phone out and called Jack.“Do you have any idea what time it is?” he