The Midnight Club

by Love, Michelle

  Finn rolled his eyes at his sister. “You are certifiable, you know that?”

  Molly grinned but then her expression sobered. “Look, I figure if we at least try to be pleasant to Caroline, she might lay off Sarah.”

  Fin shrugged. “Worth a shot.”

  Molly grimaced. “Mike’s idea. Do-gooder.” But she grinned. Finn got up, shaking his head in amusement.

  “So you’ll come?” She called after him.

  “Yeah, yeah what time?”

  “Eight. See you there.”

  Molly watched her brother cross the street to the police station. It has been the first time that she had seen him smile in quite a while. His face was drawn, his pallor pale, clammy. He looked so much older than a few months ago, she realized with a pang. Maybe tonight he’d relax, have some fun. A nub of guilt settled in her chest. She knew why Mike wanted this evening, this get-together – to make peace between them all. She’d happily gone along with it and now she questioned herself. Finn was her family and Caroline made him miserable. Still, if it helped… shrugging, Molly sighed and went back to work.

  The evening sun faded and was about to drop below the horizon. After a light supper, they sat outside, talking, listening to the quiet evening, the faint lapping of water from the beach at the bottom of the garden. Sarah, her feet in Isaac’s lap as he rubbed them, studied him. At work, in his exquisite suits, he looked every inch the powerful billionaire businessman but here, sitting on her porch swing, in his artfully faded t-shirt and his long, long legs in blue jeans, he looked at home. She told him that and he smiled.

  “I feel at home, babe. Anywhere with you would feel like home.”

  She flushed with pleasure, stroked a finger down his cheek. “Maybe we should talk about where we go from here?” she suddenly got nervous but Isaac leaned over to kiss her.

  “Sarah, would you be as kind as to move in with me?” He said in a formal English accent that made her giggle.

  “Sir, I would be delighted,” she replied, waving her hand in a flourish.

  “That’s the worse accent I’ve ever heard,” he teased. She stuck her tongue out at him.

  “So, we’re doing this then?”

  He pulled her onto his lap. “Hell yes, we are. I can’t wait any longer. We just have to work out the logistics but that can wait for later. Right now, I think we should celebrate.” And he swung her up into his arms and went inside.

  He stood back from the tree line as Isaac carried Sarah into the house. He had watched them for the last few minutes, talking, being so easy and relaxed with each other. It made his rage threaten to burst out of him.

  Now, he back-tracked through the wood to his car and drove back across the island. He had somewhere he needed to be.

  The bar was crowded and noisy so Molly bent her head, her mouth next to Mike’s ear.

  “I’m going kill her. I’m going to kill her with extra death. I’m going to hang her entrails from a tree and dress her corpse up like a goat. With sprinkles.”

  Mike snorted with laughter. “Inventive.” He couldn’t blame Molly, he was regretting extending the drinks invitation to Caroline Jewell.

  The evening had begun promising enough. Finn and Molly were a tag-team, busting each other’s chops, making Mike laugh. Soon enough, though, Caroline had tired of them hogging the spotlight and had butted in. Mike felt Molly tense beside him immediately, watched Finn’s shoulders slump. Caroline appeared oblivious, and worse, was fawning over both Finn and himself. Mike was reminded of a faded small-town pageant queen, once glossy and used to male attention. He wasn’t fooled by Caroline any more than Molly or Finn or anyone else was. Caroline was telling about her plans to have a baby.

  Mike caught Molly rolling her eyes at him and he grinned. Finn shifted in his chair.

  “I can see us having a whole bunch of kids,” Caroline was saying.

  “Half human, half spawn of Beelzebub,” Molly muttered under her breath. Mike grinned. Finn was looking at Caroline, a strange expression on his face.

  ““A whole bunch”?”

  Caroline smiled and patted his knee. “Of course. I want at least four.”

  Finn threw back his drink. “You never mentioned four.” His voice was tired, defeated. Caroline’s face fell the tiniest amount, but then a nasty smile started to form around her mouth.

  “Well, I do. I want us to be a family. You know you could be more enthusiastic, I thought we were trying.”

  Finn shrugged but this time Molly couldn’t hold back. She grinned wickedly.

  “You’re always trying, Caroline.”

  Caroline bristled, Finn smirked and Mike put a warning hand on Molly’s knee.

  “I wouldn’t expect you to understand,” Caroline narrowed her eyes at Molly, “but I was born to be a mother.”

  “One word, couple of syllables missing from the end of that,” Molly shot back with a syrupy smile. Mike couldn’t help the bark of laughter that escaped him then and even Finn chuckled.

  Caroline’s face set with spite and she turned back to Finn. “Anyways, my point is, you should be grateful that you’re with someone who can provide you with an heir. A legacy.”

  Molly rolled her eyes then. “Yeah “cos anything getting half its DNA from you…”

  “Molly.” Finn’s warning was soft and low. She grinned, shrugged.

  Caroline’s nose went in the air. “Any DNA from me is surely better than the fetid gene pool that spat out that half-bred bitch.”

  “Shut the fuck up.” Finn stood up suddenly, slamming his chair back. He looked down at his wife, oblivious to the alarmed looks of his sister and her husband. “You don’t say one more word about Sarah, you understand?”

  Caroline laughed. “It’s not my fault you still get a hard-on for that skank.”

  Mike started to stand as Finn stepped towards his wife. “You don’t get to talk about her like that. Ever. Do you understand me? She’s worth a million of you, Caroline. Don’t forget it.” His voice was rigid with anger, with contempt. Caroline made a disgusted noise, pushed her old chair back and stalked out. Finn struggled to get control of his temper. Molly stood and tried to put her hand on his arm but he shook it off. After a moment, he reached into his pockets, pulled a couple of bills out and dropped them on the table.

  “I’m sorry.” He didn’t look at them again before walking out. Mike blew out a long breath and drew Molly in for a hug. He could feel her trembling.

  “I’m sorry…I started that,” she muttered into his shoulder. He tightened his arms around her and stared out of the window, watching as Finn’s car disappeared from view.

  ‘Light the touch paper’, he thought, unease curling his stomach. He looked down at Molly, kissed her gently. “Wanna get out of here?”

  At the small hotel set at the corner of the island’s golf course, he threw down his keys and looked around. Everything he owned was in this room. He smiled, he liked his compact way of living. The apartment on the island was perfect. He’d already figured out he could see into the coffee house from the large picture window; even better, that there was a network of alleyways behind both buildings that would come in handy.

  He grabbed his laptop and fired it up. Soon he had the camera feeds up. Her kitchen. Her living room. Her bathroom. Her bedroom. His anger snarled through him when he saw them, naked, kissing, touching, fucking. He watched as Sarah, on top of Isaac, rode his cock hard, throwing her head back as she came, watched Quinn’s hands on her tits, squeezing, saw him go down on her, watched as Sarah sucked his cock.

  Whore

  But it made him unbearably hard to watch them. Later, he watched them asleep in her bed, Quinn curled around her tiny, beautiful body, her dark hair clouded around that face. God, that face. It haunted him the way her dark lashes swept down onto her cheeks. His eyes moved all over her body, the full, ripe breasts, the softly curved belly, the legs that were longer than her height would suggest. Quinn’s big hand was splayed across her belly and it made the watcher wa
nt to throw up. How would Quinn feel when she was dead? When her blood stained her beautiful skin, when her eyes would close for the last time?

  He lay on the bed and thought about what his next move would be. The rich asshole was definitely a problem but he knew how to deal with that. In that, he had assistance. He grinned to himself. Caroline. Her repugnant vanity and her absolute hatred of Sarah made her so malleable. With only the slightest show of affection on his part, she had bent to his will, given him her trust. Yes, she’d been invaluable over the past year but… his lip curled in distaste and he sat up. When they had broken into Sarah’s home, he had been furious when she had painted that obscene graffiti in the kitchen but later, thinking about it, it had been advantageous – they would know it was Caroline – but Caroline working alone, never suspecting that he was her puppet-master. They would be upset but not scared. Yet. He was free and clear for the moment.

  He began to collect his possessions; his suitcase, his photography equipment. He loaded up his car and went back in for his final bag. Pausing, he unzipped and pulled out the heavy canvas roll and unfurled it. His knives. He pulled out the one he planned to use on Sarah – long and thin. He imagined it slicing into her tender flesh, visualize her terror, her pain as he murdered her. It made him hard just thinking about it and he went into the shower and began to jerk off. Maybe it was time he gave them a taster of what he had planned for her, and at the same time, fuck with Quinn’s head, and destroy Sarah’s peace of mind.

  And he knew just want to do.

  A week later, Sarah didn’t see Isaac when he came into the coffee house, her head was down, concentrating on the account books. He smiled to himself, picked a flower out of the arrangement on one of the tables. She was sitting facing away from him. He touched the flower to her neck, the lightest touch. She didn’t turn, just swatted at herself, distracted. He grinned and ran the bloom down her skin. She turned and smiled delightedly. She moved around the counter into his arms and he kissed her.

  “Hey you, I wasn’t expecting to see you until later. You playing hooky again?”

  “Yep. You’re a terrible influence.” He grinned and bopped her nose with the flower. Your corsage, ma’am.” He stuck the flower in her hair. She laughed.

  “You want coffee?”

  “Always.” He sat down and studied her as she grabbed the coffee pot. He’d been away on a business for the last two days and now he drank in the sight of her. “Is it possible you got more beautiful than ever since I last saw you?”

  She made a face and made him laugh.

  He reached over to take her hand. “I missed you,” he said, grinning at her, “this working thing is really inconvenient. What are you up to later?”

  “I have to drop some paperwork off at George’s place. He still refuses to join the technology age and get a computer so I had to print some stuff off for him. After that, I’m free for whatever you want.” She grinned lasciviously and he smiled.

  An hour later, Isaac nodded and turned the car around, heading out of town. He glanced over at her. “So what do you feel like doing after?”

  “You.”

  “Damn, you keep talking like that, we’re never going to get to George’s place. Hey, not to ruin the moment, but any new letters or anything weird?”

  She shook her head. “Nothing. Maybe Caroline’s finally got the message. Finn must have threatened her with arrest for stealing the crime scene photos to get her to stop. I think she’s done, the stupid idiot.”

  Isaac sighed. “She has definitely lived up my first impression of her.” He looked over at her and smiled. “Remember that? Our first date at George’s restaurant?”

  Her eyes were soft. “Of course, I do. God, was there ever a time when I didn’t know and love you?”

  He pulled her hand up to his mouth and kissed it. “I know what you mean, sweetheart.”

  They drove in silence and a few minutes later Isaac drew the car up to the sidewalk outside George’s house. Sarah started to open the door but Isaac stopped her.

  “Are you mine forever?” He whispered.

  “For all time.” She answered simply and when she looked up at him, he could see the love in her eyes. He smiled.

  “Guess I better go make nice with my future father-in-law.”

  She laughed slightly as she got out of the car. “One thing at a time, buddy. Besides,” she gave him a sly smile, “I need to be wooed first.”

  He laughed out loud. “Wooed?”

  “Hell yes.” She rummaged in her purse for the key and opened the door. As she was stepping into the house, Isaac’s phone buzzed.

  “I’ll be right behind you, darling.”

  The downstairs was in darkness, the drapes pulled. In the hallway, she thought she smelled cooking, or food and wondered if George had prepared something for them.

  “Hey pops,” she called. No answer.

  She went into the kitchen and stopped. The blinds were down and the room in absolute darkness but the smell of… something… was strong in here. She felt her gag reflex kick in. Jesus…Her heart began to thump unpleasantly. She felt her way over to the window, almost slipping in something wet on the floor. She pulled the blinds up, letting the sun stream into the room, and turned.

  Everything in her world stopped. Everything in her world ended.

  Her knees gave way, and every bone in her body went soft. A sound, a scream, a howl ripped its way from the center of her being. Her knees hit the floor, splashing still warm blood over her clothes, her face. She sat there, panting, all human thought gone. Unthinking she crawled through the blood to the front door and somehow managed to get it open. Still on all-fours, she managed to make it to the middle of the front lawn before collapsing. Isaac’s face was a mask of horror as he took in her blood-covered form. She curled into a fetal position, her mind shut down. Catatonic.

  “Christ, Sarah…. what? What happened?” Isaac’s voice, frantic sounded hollow to her, an echo in an empty hall. She didn’t even feel it when Isaac lifted her into his arms and took her to the car.

  Finn came out of the house, his face white, shocked. He pulled Isaac away from the ambulance as he argued with the paramedics. Sarah was refusing to be taken to the hospital and the paramedics were trying to persuade her otherwise.

  “Isaac, let them look after her. You need to see this.”

  He followed Finn into the house, the smell of the blood, of flesh starting to decompose hitting him. He balked at the entrance of the kitchen, and when he did take a step into the room, he clamped a hand over his nose. George was laid out on the kitchen table, his eyes open and staring, his face contorted in unimaginable agony. His torso was split from his throat down to his groin and his organs, his intestines spilled out over his body, his blood covered the floor, congealing, the stench of iron and death. There were stab marks all over his body, his face, and his head.

  Isaac gagged. “Jesus.”

  Finn nodded. “I know. But that’s not what I need you to see. The killer left a message for Sarah.” He nodded to the far wall. From his position, Isaac couldn’t see what he was indicating. He moved into the room a little more, wincing as his shoes squeaked in the blood, looked up at where Finn was pointing and his heart stopped.

  Photographs of Sarah. Hundreds, maybe thousands, layer upon layer of them. In most of them, she wasn’t looking at the camera, some obviously taken from a distance, some from awkward angles. She was smiling in most, oblivious to the camera, or talking to someone else. Photos of Isaac and Sarah together. In one they were holding hands, laughing at one of their silly jokes, aprons on, lording it over the barbecue as if they were cordon bleu chefs. That one was at the house, her house. He tried to figure out the angle the picture was taken from. It wasn’t hard. The photographer must have been in the tree line. Photos where he could see members of his own family in the background.

  Then he saw the photos in the center of the collage and his heart began to thump, a wave of nausea rising in his throat. Sarah. Dead.
Murdered. Stabbed, shot, strangled. They were obviously photo-shopped images of her head on the bodies of murdered women but it didn’t lessen the horror of imagining her like that. It would have been clear what the threat was even without the most damning evidence.

  In George’s blood, smeared in dark gobs across the wall.

  You are next…

  Chapter 2

  Here, Today, Then…

  The smell hit him and he gagged. His stomach constricted with dread. He knew what that smell meant. Taking a deep breath, he went in. The trailer was in darkness, the stench of death overpowering. He heard the buzz of flies, flicked on his torch, hand on his service revolver just in case.

  The woman was slumped naked in a chair at the far end of the trailer. On the floor beside her was a long-handled razor. Her wrists and her throat were hacked to shreds. Her blood sprayed across the table in front of her, the cabinets and the worn banquette. It pooled on the floor.

  “You see anything”?”

  The nosy neighbor who called it in. He ignored him and slowly moved the light around the room. The woman was pretty, Chinese, he thought, her long black hair hung in the blood on the floor, her onyx eyes cloudy and distant. He shook his head. Waste. He took in the mess on the countertops. Behind him the door to bedroom stood ajar. He poked his head in, not wanting to disturb anything. The scene of crime officers would be here soon and he’d have to account for everything he touched. The torch’s beam picked out the bed, the nightstand, condoms and lube. So the neighbor had been right. The dead woman had been a pro. He sighed. To him, it didn’t make a difference what she did.

  Waste.

  He stepped out into the kitchen again and shone his light across the table at the far end. Two plates, half eaten sandwiches, a glass, a bottle of vodka, pills, a sippy cup.