Stalker

by Dave Dykema

  He looked at Melissa, herself guffawing, but not as intensely as he, and saw that she had a twinkle back in her eye. He was so happy to see its return.

  He reached out and touched her cheek. She shivered a little at the coolness of his touch, but let it remain. He cupped her cheek in his hand and drew little circles around her cheekbone with his thumb. She closed her eyes and pressed against his hand. It was warming up since coming inside.

  Dan drew her to him. She tilted her face to meet his and their lips met. It was soft and full at first, but she hungrily opened her mouth wider, inviting him in to explore. He didn’t resist. They kissed like this for what seemed like an eternity, taking pleasure in the moment, enjoying the chance they had.

  When the embrace ended, Dan sat down on the floor on the blankets from last night. He reached out to Melissa who took his hand and knelt down, joining him on the rumpled blankets. The fire was hot on their skin, yet neither moved away from the burning wood.

  Saying nothing, Melissa looked deep into Dan’s eyes and ran a hand slowly across his chest, down his stomach, and ran it over his thigh, the fingers plucking it as if it were a harp. His breathing picked up, and she could see the stirring of desire begin to well up within him.

  He didn’t want to break the mood, but at the same time he needed to know, so he asked, “When do you think Jerry will be back?”

  Nodding, she said, “We’ve got time.”

  She pulled away from him and again locked her eyes with his. She reached down and removed Jerry’s bulky sweatshirt from her body, letting it fall to the floor, unconcerned where it landed. Dan sat, mesmerized. With one hand Melissa reached behind her back and undid the clasp on her bra, while the other hand slowly reached up and looped the straps off her shoulders. The cotton undergarment landed on top of her sweatshirt.

  Dan broke his gaze with her and took in this new sight. Her breasts were full and firm, the nipples erect and calling for his attention. Melissa reached out and put her hand under his chin, raising his eyes so he could see her face again. She smiled, and that pleased Dan. She was naked in front of him, not embarrassed or ashamed, ready to share herself.

  “I wanted to do this last night,” he said.

  “Me too.”

  “But I was too tired…” he whispered.

  “I know.”

  She smiled again and sat unmoving, watching him. He paused for a moment, unsure what to do. Then he realized she was topless while he was still fully clothed. Hurriedly he threw off his borrowed sweatshirt. Melissa giggled at his haste.

  He gestured for her to come forward again and she did so willingly. This time when she was in his arms she could truly feel the heat radiating from him, and didn’t just imagine it. Their skin touched—his tiny locks of hair tickling her smooth bare chest. He could feel the soft points of her nipples trace odd patterns on his skin.

  He couldn’t stand it anymore and bent his head to attend to her breasts. He cupped them in his hand while his tongue danced a circle around one areola, spiraling in tighter and tighter like a figure skater in a pirouette until he found the nipple. He kissed it lightly, playfully, while he felt the weight of her bosom in his hands.

  Melissa’s head swam from this new event. She caressed his shoulders and back, hands flowing over tired muscles, showing ample love and affection. As he continued his treatment, her hands continued down his body until they found the waistband of his jeans. She tucked one finger under the denim and followed the pattern of circumference around to his front, until she hit something hard. His snap. Awkwardly, she fussed with it before getting it to release. She started pulling down the material. Dan raised his bottom off the floor to aid her. As she removed his pants, her arm brushed against his growing member pressing against his shorts along one thigh. She heard him groan his approval.

  “I love you, Melissa. I have since we started working together.”

  “I love you, too,” she said. “I think I always have. When I met you I knew you were the one.”

  “It’s not fair that it’s taken something like what we’ve been through to realize how we feel.”

  “We would have, in time.”

  They kissed again, lightly, briefly.

  “I want you to know I’ll never let anything happen to you…as long as I can help it.”

  She stroked his cheek. “I know.”

  He kissed her again, deeply, passionately, reclining against her, lowering her to the floor. She laid back, her back arching, as he kissed his way down her stomach with soft, gentle touches. This time it was his turn to struggle with a snap, and even though it was a man’s fastener from Jerry’s borrowed pants, he still had difficulty, and his clumsiness made her love and want him more.

  All that was remaining was their underwear, and in due course that too was removed, mingling with the other discarded items. They were both completely naked, baring themselves to the other in total trust and total commitment.

  As he entered her softly and drove himself deeply into her warmth, she rocked her hips to join in his dance. It was a dance that she never wanted to end. For that moment she forgot about Jerry’s eminent return, Reverend Jim Stone, the questions they’d have to eventually answer…all that was wrong with the world. For now, for them, all that existed were each other, two bodies merged as one. As she felt the heat from the fire compete with the heat she felt from Dan between her legs, she realized she was in heaven. This was one paradise she didn’t want to get cast out of.

  Back Road

  *1*

  Jerry worried about his time in the store. He only meant to get a few supplies and jump back into the car. Socializing was not on the menu. Granted, it was only small talk, but enough to perhaps make him recognizable later on if a situation arose. He pictured the police walking into the five and dime, asking the clerk a few questions, flashing an old publicity photo of him, and setting off to find him moments later.

  He cursed himself and hit the steering wheel hard with his fist, looking first in his rearview mirror and then over his shoulder to see if he was being followed. When he looked back out at the road his heart skipped and he had to swerve the car hard to the left to avoid a collision. For a second his tires locked into a skid and he thought the ice was going to carry him straight into the trunk of the car off to the side of the road with its ass end still in the street. But he was able to turn into the skid and stop himself by pumping the brakes.

  For a second he just sat there, staring numbly and reliving his life before a stinging bead of sweat dripped into his eye and reminded him of the urgency to get back into hiding. He turned the key to restart the engine.

  And that’s when he saw her. She came out from around the front of the car, waving her hands and shivering in the cold. Her eyes immediately drew him in: dark, exotic, sexy…

  How can I drive off and leave this woman stranded? he thought. He was raised to open doors for women. That kind of behavior might be passé now—even frowned upon by some—but it’s what he believed.

  She ran up to his window and he couldn’t help himself. He briskly rolled it down and asked, “What’s wrong?”

  She brushed the hair out of her eyes and said, “I’ve got a flat. I was about to start changing it myself but I’m not sure I can operate the jack. It’s kind of tricky.” She saw him squirm in his seat and added, “My husband showed me how it works once, saying someday I’d need to know, but I guess I didn’t pay attention.” She offered an “aw-shucks” smirk. As a final nail in the coffin she said, “The kids will be wondering where I am. I hate to have them worrying about me.”

  This will only take a minute, he thought, and got out of the car. Dan and Melissa will be fine…

  *2*

  “That was wonderful,” Melissa said, beaming from ear to ear. Dan leaned over and softly kissed the tip of her nose.

  The two of them snuggled under the covers by the fire, reduced to crackling embers that popped and hissed. Body heat kept them warm, but Dan knew another log had to be add
ed soon. He stroked her body with caresses to keep her warm. She did the same.

  The cabin seemed so peaceful. Outside, it was quiet. The snow fell gently in front of the window and there wasn’t a sound to be heard save for the fire. The moment they shared felt very private, very privileged. Dan wanted to save that slice of time for his own personal scrapbook in his mind.

  Finally, reluctantly, he got out from the covers and placed another log on the fire. He was very aware of Melissa’s gaze on his naked body, but he didn’t feel ashamed. When he returned to their nest, Melissa raised the covers to let him in, allowing him another glance at her bare flesh. It all seemed so natural and perfect. They nuzzled and hugged for a few minutes.

  After a time, Melissa asked, “Where do you suppose Jerry is?”

  “I don’t know, but I imagine he’ll be coming back soon.”

  “One of us should get up and get in the shower, I suppose,” she said with a frown. Bringing her spinning head back to reality was not what Melissa wanted, but it was what needed to be done.

  Dan didn’t move right away, so she lifted the blankets and rolled out. As she walked the few steps to the bathroom, Dan got out and approached her.

  “I’ve got an idea,” he said.

  “What?”

  “We can save water and time—”

  “—by taking a shower together!” she finished. Reaching down, grasping his penis gently, she led him into the bathroom, like a dog on a leash. “I like your thinking, young man!”

  Smiling, Dan kind of liked his thinking too.

  *3*

  Jerry tightened the last lug nut while the woman stood next to him, fidgeting. She marched in place, hugging herself, trying to keep moving to stay warm. His fingertips were all but useless as he fumbled with the tools, but still he pressed on. He felt good about helping somebody in need.

  The woman was truly thankful for Jerry’s help. His timing couldn’t have been better. Her flat happened just a minute or two before he pulled around the corner and saw her. Her companion had screamed bloody murder at her for what seemed like forever before he excused himself and stepped into the woods to relieve himself, muttering derogatory epitaphs as he went. She hadn’t seen him since. Kim wondered secretly whether this kind of manual labor was below the good Reverend Stone.

  Kim thought about killing Jerry as soon as she recognized him. Instead, she quickly fashioned a fiction of a worried husband and kids to lure him into helping her. She planned on killing him after he was through. Or maybe she would let him finish and drive off, and then simply allow Jerry to lead them to his cabin hideaway. What information they got from a local Realtor was sketchy at best. At a fork in the road a mile or two back Cambridge and the others took the left path, while she and Stone continued to the right. They were lost, but their blood crystals smiled and brought Jerry to them instead.

  “All finished!” Jerry announced, standing and brushing the snow and dirt off his pants.

  “Great. Thank you,” she said, smiling.

  He handed her the lug wrench. She felt its weight in her hand and approved, imagining crushing his skull with it. She scanned the lining of trees for Stone, seeking a clue as to how to proceed. She couldn’t see him.

  “You should be fine now,” Jerry said. “But when you drive home, make sure you watch out for the ice. It’s really slippery in spots. I almost hit you back there.”

  “Sure. Great. I will.”

  As she stood, bobbing her weight from one foot to the other, Jerry got the impression that something was wrong. Her conversation, which earlier flowed freely, was now all staccato bursts of one-syllable words, spaced apart. She seemed awkward, like she was stalling. For a fleeting instant, he wondered if she was trying to start something with him, but he brushed it aside, realizing that she was married. That was probably his own attraction toward her talking, he figured.

  “Are we through here? Do you need anymore help?” he asked, trying now to get away. Dan and Melissa must be wondering what was taking so long.

  “No. I’m fine. Thanks again.”

  “All ri—”

  A guttural primal scream cut Jerry off. Stone charged out of the thick brush, wielding his knife raised high to strike. Jerry froze with alarm from the sound. To his surprise, the woman didn’t seem paralyzed with fear, but more relieved. Her eyes betrayed happiness. Then he felt the blow to his back.

  Fighting for breath, he turned to face his attacker. His punch had knocked the wind out of him. He was wheezing, but otherwise felt fine—until he saw the blood slathered on Stone’s knife. It dawned on him that he wasn’t punched. He was stabbed.

  He reached back and put his hand where the fist struck him. With a sickening awareness, he realized that the knife must have gone in up to its hilt for him to feel the man’s fist. The back of his jacket felt slick, wet. When he looked back at his fingers they were red like he knew they would be.

  Stone raised his knife for another blow. Jerry’s knees buckled, and he stumbled to the ground. His sudden collapse threw Stone’s aim off. The blade sunk into his shoulder instead of his heart. As he fell, the knife slipped out of Stone’s grip from all the blood on the handle. Jerry went facedown into the snow.

  Stone started to move in to retrieve his blade, but Kim restrained him. A car was coming down the road. Urgently, she was moving the two of them to block the view of Jerry’s body from the road when she recognized the other car as Bill Cambridge’s. They waited for him to pull up.

  “What’s going on?” Bill asked, rolling down his window.

  “Long story,” Stone replied. “Suffice it to say this is the road Stevens’s cabin is on.”

  “That’s what we thought. The other one turned into a dead end about three miles into it.”

  Paul Rogers rolled down his window and looked at Jerry’s body. “Who’s that?”

  “That was Jerry Stevens. The first to be struck down, but not the last.” Stone licked Jerry’s blood from his fingers, feeling it refuel him. “Paul, get out of the car. I want you to drive Stevens’s car.”

  Rogers obeyed without question and looked into Jerry’s car.

  “The keys are in the ignition!” he called.

  “Good. Then we don’t have to waste time rummaging over the corpse.”

  “What do we do with him?” Kim asked, pointing at Jerry’s still form.

  “Drag the pariah into the woods. He should remain out of sight long enough for us to finish our business.”

  Rogers and Kim each grabbed an arm and quickly did as Reverend Stone requested. Some trenches were left behind from the dragging, but Jeff Goodall quickly swept at the surrounding snow and passably filled them in. The falling snow would do the rest over time.

  “Paul, I want you to lead,” Stone asked when they returned. “That way they will get the message that their friend is dead when they see his car returning with others.”

  “Are you sure this is the way?”

  “Oh, yes.” Stone walked over to Kim’s car, grabbed the door handle and opened it. “It won’t be long now.”

  Decisions

  *1*

  Melissa put her dirty shoes and socks back on and wandered into the living room. She couldn’t wait for Jerry to pull in with the supplies. Hopefully, he wouldn’t forget the underwear.

  Dan leaned against the windowpane, his breath smoking up the glass. She came up from behind and put her arms around him. He kept gazing out the window, watching the driveway. She didn’t like it.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Don’t you think Jerry should be back by now?” he asked. “We’ve had time to cut firewood, clean and dust, make love—” she kissed his ear when he said that, “—shower and get dressed, and still no Jerry.”

  “You’re worried.”

  “Yes. I’m worried. Stone’s group of psychopaths is much larger than we thought. How many of them do you think are looking for us now?”

  Melissa frowned, and held him tighter. “Don’t talk like that.”
<
br />   “Well, you know they are. Some of them probably have no idea why they’re looking for us, and some of them are completely innocent at this point, but they are looking. Remember what it was like to belong?”

  He felt her shivering against his back. “Yes,” she said. “He can be very persuasive. That’s what makes him so dangerous.”

  He nodded and pounded a fist against the pane. All he saw were flakes of snow drifting down, not the sight of Jerry’s vehicle pulling in that he so desperately wanted to see.

  *2*

  “This might be the right road, but Rogers is as lost as the unconverted,” Stone grumbled as he watched the car in front of him plod down the road. Twice Kim had to quickly brake to avoid hitting Rogers’s car when he slowed and tried to read the addresses on the mailboxes.

  “It can’t be much farther Reverend Stone,” Kim offered, trying to soothe him.

  Ignoring her, Stone reached for one of the walkie-talkies they picked up at a Radio Shack back in town. “Rogers!” he shouted into it. “What the hell’s taking so long?”

  Rogers’s voice came back laced with static. “Half of these mailboxes don’t have any postal addresses on them. Or if they do, they’re so faded I can’t make them out.”

  “But are we close?” Stone demanded to know.

  “The only way to know for sure is to go down these driveways and check the numbers on the cabins.”

  “Then maybe that’s what you should do.”

  “Okay. I’ll go down the next drive we come to.”

  *3*

  Melissa caught Dan looking at the telephone for the second time and asked, “Are you thinking of calling the police?”

  “If I called them they’ll be all over this cabin before I can get the phone back in its cradle. Believe me, a hallway full of dead cops raises plenty of questions that need answering.”