The pretend coffee was immediately tossed in the trash when I stood up. Motioning to the deputy that I would call him, I excused myself quietly, moving down the hall at a quick pace. I reached the elevator banks and punched “up” and waited impatiently to ride to the fifth floor. Once the doors opened, I made my way to room 537 and walked in.
Nick was an absolute mess. Bandages adorned his head, nose, and neck. His left arm was in a cast, and his eyes were almost completely swollen shut. Purple and black replaced the majority of his fair skin, making him look like some alien from a B movie.
I walked to the edge of the bed, unable to determine if he was awake or not from the door. He turned his head slightly toward the noise of my footfalls and damned if he didn’t try to smile when he recognized me.
Pulling a chair up next to yet another hospital bed, I crouched on the edge, studying his facial expressions intently. Even though they were hooded and engorged with purple flesh, his eyes spoke volumes.
“Looks like that accident really messed you up,” I said, my voice devoid of emotion.
He nodded slightly. “Yes, it did. Not as much as the beating though. Good thing I played dead convincingly, or I could have been buried right next to Olin in the other grave by those masked vigilantes.”
I didn’t trust my voice with anything except for a quiet, “Hmm.”
It was impossible to determine if the gleam in his eye stemmed from the pain medication in his I.V. or from the fact that he knew he just handed me a steaming pile of lies that I chose not to question.
Or that he was staring into the eyes of a sympathizer, one that could keep a secret.
“How is Audra?” he queried, the look of genuine concern passing across his face.
“Serious, but stable,” I replied, unwilling to speak the word unconscious out loud.
He tried to sigh, but it came out more like a grunt. “Maybe she won’t remember any of this either. Sometimes, it’s just best to let the sleeping snakes lie.”
Looking down at him, a vague hint of a smile niggled at the corner of my mouth. I replied, “Nick, I believe you just hit the nail on the head with that bit of introspect.”
He silently nodded, and I turned and walked back to the elevator and left him with his own internal pain. I didn’t know how he did it, nor did I want to. It was enough to know it was done, and once Audra woke up, she could finally have some peace in her life.
I was on Audra’s floor again and made my way down the hall, my thoughts spinning wildly. When I rounded the corner, I came face to face with Nicole.
“Nicole! Should you be out of bed?” I questioned, noticing her appearance. She looked like a dried out prune, no makeup and her hair was plastered to her head like a dirty helmet. She was wearing standard hospital issue scrubs and several bandages on her arms.
“Why, there you are! I’ve been looking all over for you! Did you hear about Olin?” she said, her voice full of excitement.
“I did. Terrible tragedy,” I replied, still walking toward Audra’s room. I stole a quick glance inside the intensive care window and saw the nurse was still working on her, so I slowed my pace a bit.
She snorted. “Terrible tragedy my ass! No one is happier than I am that the bastard is dead. Except maybe poor Audra,” she cooed, turning her face toward her room. “How is the dear? Is she awake yet?”
“No, not yet. The doctors said she lost a lot of blood, but any minute now, she’ll wake up.”
I wasn’t sure if, in my sleep deprived state, I dreamt it or not, but I swore I saw a flash of anger behind her eyes right before the tears came.
“She was so brave. She tried to save me! If only she would have listened and come with me out the window, but, oh, that wouldn’t have made a difference anyway!” she cried. “Oh, God, if only I was stronger! I tried so hard to stop Kevin from shooting her!”
Before I could respond, the door flung open and the nurse came out, searching the corridor frantically until her eyes landed on mine.
“She’s calling for you!” she said, her voice the most beautiful thing I ever heard.
Racing past Nicole, I headed to my love’s side. Her eyes were still closed, but her body was moving slightly, her right hand gripping the sheet. The monitors were beeping frantically, her heart rate soaring. I felt a knot the size of a baseball form in my throat, making speech damn near impossible. I leaned down and whispered, “I’m here, baby. Just rest, sweetie. Shhh. It’s all over now. You’re safe. No one can hurt you, I promise.” My voice caught in a choking spasm.
Her hand squeezed mine with urgency as her lips moved silently, but her eyes were still closed. I put my ear next her lips, trying to make out her feeble words over the infernal beeping of the machines surrounding her.
“Oh my God, is she awake?” Nicole asked, now standing in the doorway.
I waved my other hand up in the air to silence her, cooing quietly into the ear of my love as I gently stroked her knotted hair with my other hand.
“What, baby…what did you say?”
It took almost a full minute for the word to fully form on her parched lips.
“Nicole.”
Before I could fully process what she said, the heart monitor’s alarm blared, and the nurse screamed out the door, “She’s coding! Crash cart!”
Instinctively, I grabbed Nicole by her arm and moved her out of the way from the stampede of help that came barreling through the door. A loud, high-pitched scream drew my attention to the door. Mrs. Tanner rounded the corner, Dr. Tanner right behind her, barking orders to no one in particular. The sheer look of terror on both of their faces made them, for once, look almost like caring human beings. I shoved Nicole out the door and into the hallway, quickly shutting it behind me and stood in front of it.
“Let me see my baby!” Mrs. Tanner screamed, tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Get out of my way, you imbecile!” Dr. Tanner grunted, his eyes wild with fright.
The doctor working inside yelled, “Clear!” We all heard the sound of the shock. Thankfully, my back was to the door, but Mrs. Tanner saw it all, and her face immediately went ash white, her eyes rolling back in her head. While I maneuvered to catch her, Dr. Tanner ignored her and slid past me, barging into Audra’s room.
Lowering Mrs. Tanner’s limp body onto the cool linoleum floor, I yelled, “Nicole, I need a blanket and some water!” When I heard no response, I looked up, thinking maybe she’d snuck back inside the room as well.
She was just standing there, her body trembling and her hands clenched into tight fists at her side. It took me a moment to realize that the look on her face wasn’t just fear.
It was anger.
THE LARGE ROOM WAS cloaked in early morning silence and was darker than the grave. My feet inched across the hardwood, mindful of the oozing blood so I wouldn’t slip and fall or leave any bloodied footprints. The smell of fresh gunpowder lingered in the air, making my nose twitch from the sulfuric fumes. Or maybe it was the infernal hair from that fucking feline that I knew was around somewhere, hopefully suffering a heart attack after the gunfire. That crazy bitch never went anywhere without the furry fleabag.
The path to the bedroom where Audra was sleeping would have taken me several minutes to traverse in the blackness, but since her protectors were down for the count, I felt comfortable turning on my flashlight. Before I took another step, I reached down and jerked the cell phone from Steve’s bleeding hand and disassembled it, then paused before I scattered the pieces throughout the living room. I didn’t want any more noise out of the ordinary to wake Sleeping Beauty before I was ready, so I tossed the mangled mess on the couch without making a peep. You are worried about the clanking of plastic after unloading that hand-cannon? Seriously?
Wicked laughter hung in the back of my throat while I padded softly down the hallway. The irony of my subconscious forcing me to creep around like a ghost after I woke the dead with the .45 moments before didn’t escape me.
I kept my breath stea
dy while I crouched low and hugged the wall, the faint beam from my hand-held light showing me the way. In the back of my mind, I wondered how I was staying so calm, why my hands were steady, and why my heart wasn’t pounding with excitement. I had just killed and was about to kill again, so why wasn’t my body responding with trepidation or fear?
Oh yeah, because I was enjoying the hell out of this.
The bedroom door was ajar and the silvery moon’s tendrils bathed the room in a strange, eerie glow. I stood erect and pushed the door open just enough for me to squeeze through, cringing when the metal hinges creaked in protest. Audra let out a small groan and repositioned herself on the bed but thankfully, didn’t wake up. After turning off the flashlight, I eased across the floor, like a cat stalking its prey. You hate fucking cats yet you just compared yourself to one! Now that is classic!
Her face was a sea of serenity, her breathing rhythmic and slow. Cascading locks of her blonde hair floated around her head, splaying across the silk pillowcase like liquid gold. Her skin, illuminated by the moon’s rays, was almost translucent, her body still recovering from the trauma of taking a bullet. If the bandage on her shoulder and the sling that housed her arm were removed, she really would look like some fairytale princess, awaiting her prince to come and awaken her with a tender kiss.
Too bad her prince was face down in a pool of crimson liquid in the living room.
The calm I felt earlier was replaced with seething rage while I stared at my sleeping nemesis. I felt my limbs begin to wobble just as the poison of hate raced through me. The only other time in my life I felt this much intense fury was when I took the last beating from Frank and retaliated. That was an exhilarating high, but for a significantly different reason. Never in a million years would I have thought it possible that I would experience this much wrath again.
I holstered the gun and reached for the six-inch blade sheathed at my side. Part of me wanted to obliterate that face of hers with a well-placed shot, but that would be too easy, and over too fast. Audra needed to suffer, to be cognizant of who was ending her life. Plus, I wanted to watch and listen to her death throes.
I raised the knife into the air and admired the sleek metal, relishing the way the moonlight danced across it. Leaning over the side of the bed, I let the cold steel trace the outline of her face, moving it slowly and delicately, like the former caresses of her dead lover. No sound passed across her lips as her head moved to the right, exposing the full contour of her neck. The moon, a hapless maiden and a very exposed jugular vein…it was like a scene from some gothic vampire movie, so I couldn’t pass the moment up.
“Wake up, Lucy. I want to drain your blood.”
Audra didn’t flinch, didn’t move a muscle. For some reason, that infuriated me, so I gave her a shot of pain to wake her up. Increasing the pressure on the knife, I slid it down the length of her cheekbone, which was followed by a trail of bright, red blood. Stopping at the midway arc of her neck, I pushed harder, embedding the tip under her skin.
“I said wake up!”
Those blue eyes that I hated more than anything in this world flew open. The horror behind them when she recognized my face was almost a palpable entity. Her weakened body, still trying to overcome the after effects of the bullet I shot into her days ago, tried to move her out of harm’s way. I clamped my right hand down on her shoulder, and she yelped out in anguish.
“That’s right, cry out like the coward you are! Look…look at me!” I screamed while I held her wriggling torso still.
Tears were streaming from her eyes, her reserves depleted. Resignation to her fate overcame her as her eyes lost their fiery glow. No more time to play games. No cavalry coming to the rescue. She knew it was me that was ending her life, and her pain and fear soothed my own need for revenge, filling up the void that she added to almost exactly one year ago. It was time to make this adjusting journal entry, so I raised the heavy blade high above her, enjoying her quaking dread as her eyes followed it.
“Time to pay the Piper, bitch,” I said through clenched teeth, and then I buried the knife to the hilt. I felt her hot blood spurt onto my hand and laughed at the warm, sensual feeling that overcame me, almost as though I just finished climaxing after great sex. I closed my eyes and rode the waves of emotions, remembering all the blood from Frank’s body—which had been a lot—but didn’t compare to the tidal wave spewing from Audra’s chest. I wanted to float away in this sea of blood and despair, but a vague light was flashing behind my eyes. My mind’s eye wasn’t looking at Audra’s bleeding corpse anymore—it was showering me with visions of Frank’s exploding carcass. What the hell?
“Can you hear me?”
The sound of an unfamiliar female voice sent panic throughout my body. My God, isn’t she dead yet? Shot, stabbed, what else would it take for her to fucking die?
“Ms. Simmons, are you all right? You were mumbling something about a piper. Do you need some more pain medication?”
Clearing my throat to give the cobwebs in my head time to scatter, I replied to the overly concerned nurse that was standing next to my hospital bed. “Water please?”
“Of course. You must be thirsty; your sheets and nightgown are soaked! Don’t worry.” she said over her shoulder as she went to fill the water pitcher at the sink. “It’s normal to experience nightmares after suffering such a traumatic event. They will pass soon enough.”
I nodded in response, my fists clenching the sheets with a ferocious grip. It was a nightmare that Audra was still alive. But my little dream was beginning to form into a plan. I just needed to hone it to a fine point and execute it before the bitch decided to wake up.
MONDAY
THE GOLDEN SUN APPEARED over the ice-capped mountain peaks, beaming its heat directly through the windows of the sprawling bedroom. It only took moments for the warm rays to make the down comforter that covered Eric and Elaine’s bed an inviting cocoon, sheltering them from the bone-chilling Montana air. Even though it was Monday morning, with no alarm clock set to wake them up, they slept the slumber of the dead. Even Eric’s normal snoring wasn’t present.
His bride of thirty-five years, Elaine, awoke first to the intense light beckoning to her and slowly rolled over to stare at her sleeping husband. She snuggled closer to his body not only for the body heat exuding from him, but also the mere fact that without her glasses, she couldn’t see more than blurs of color and shapes. A lazy grin graced her face while she enjoyed the quiet serenity of the room, knowing that at any moment, Caitlin and Cara could break the sweet silence with their effervescent enthusiasm of “what are we going to do today, Gran?”
Since the girls were homeschooled, they were basically free to come and go as they pleased on vacations with Eric and her. Their daughter, Mollie, was more than happy to be afforded some joyous bouts of tranquility sans children, so whenever Elaine felt the tension begin to build between her and Eric, she would call Mollie with another “learning experience adventure” for the twins.
This latest excursion found them on the east side Glacier National Park, an entire wing to themselves that included three rooms and a full kitchen at the prestigious Glacier Bay Resort. The brochure that prompted this visit touted numerous perks, but the one that lured Elaine was that the entire back of the suites consisted of floor to ceiling glass. No matter where you were, you were offered a spectacular view of the majestic purple mountains. Elaine had been entranced by the sheer beauty of the locale and awestruck just from the glossy pages. The harmonious communion with nature that beckoned her soul she couldn’t fight, nor the chance to stash her husband away from the lure of outside interests.
The greatest perk, though, was that it was the offseason, and therefore, the lodge was closed to other visitors. Eric, of course, had connections. When Elaine showed him the brochure and expressed a desire to see the national treasure, within two days they were on a private helicopter owned by one of his friends and landing on the snow-covered helipad at Kalispell.
Eric w
as still dead asleep after spending the previous entire day playing outside with the girls. They built snowmen, assembled snow forts, had a hellacious snowball fight, and seemed to stop every five minutes to snap pictures of the breathtaking beauty. Even at ten years old, the twins appreciated the exceptional aura of Glacier and almost seemed to sense the same magical quality that Eric and Elaine felt. Whether it was the cold, crisp mountain air, the pristine wilderness, or simply being retired and not part of the merry-go-round at Winscott, something about Eric was different. He seemed more relaxed and calmer.
Elaine couldn’t be happier than she was right then, hoping that the winter-white tranquility would solidify their crumbling marriage. She had tried just about every other exotic locale to rekindle the damp wick of their love life in her attempts to bring her husband’s focus back upon them and not her. All the other vacation choices were full of hot sun, warm sand, and scantily clad hot bodies, which didn’t help her contain Eric’s wandering eyes, so stowing themselves away under the cloak of winter clothes and heavy snow just might be the ticket.
Elaine decided to let him continue to reenergize before the girls zapped his strength again and snuck out of the warm bed and crept into the kitchen. She peeked in on the tangled mess of sheets and comforters that the girls made in their room and had to cover her mouth to stifle the laughter of their mangled hat hair from yesterday. When they were still, they truly were little cherub-faced angels, blond locks and pink cheeks galore, but once awake and motors running, they were hell on wheels. Elaine shook her head as she padded quietly down the hall into the enormous kitchen, amazed at the amount of patience Eric had with them, especially when their rapid-fire questions came shooting out.
The machine spewed out a single cup of liquid perfection in less than a minute, and Elaine grabbed the remote control and glanced down the hallway to make sure Eric wasn’t up. Satisfied she had few minutes to herself, she connected the missing cable to the back of the television. Although she felt a twinge of guilt by deceiving her granddaughters about the “broken TV,” she felt no remorse for keeping that truth from Eric. She knew that if her marriage was going to survive, Eric needed minimal contact with the outside world, including televisions, Internet, and cell phone usage. Even after he retired months earlier, he couldn’t pull himself away from the news reports, constant emails from Carl and Kevin, and worse, from trying to contact her.
Eviscerating the Snake - The Complete Trilogy Page 39
