This Guy Kills Me

by Anlyn Hansell

  “Look, I have a surprise for you. As soon as the trial’s over? We’re moving.”

  “What? Where?”

  “How do you feel about Hawaii?”

  She looked at him with wide eyes.

  “And girlie?”

  “Girlie, too. I mean, Jane. Could you please stop calling her girlie?” His eyes settled on the figure leaning on his car, her hair whipping in the wind. She was dressed in a stylish black wool coat, lean legs crossed, ending in rather sexy looking black pumps. Her arms were crossed over her chest and whether she was trying or not, she was the most appealing thing he ever set eyes on.

  “I’ll try, but I don’t think she minds.” She blew out an icy breath. “It’s freezing out here, let’s get going.” She started walking to the car. “We really going to Hawaii?” she muttered as they walked.

  “Yup.”

  “You think they have Bingo there?”

  “Sure, why not…?”

  *****

  3 Months Later…

  “I can’t do this.” She stared at herself in the mirror as he walked up and wrapped her in his arms from behind.

  “Yes, you can.” He planted the softest kiss on top of her head as their eyes connected.

  “I’m still pissed at you -”

  “What’s new?” he asked as his lips curved into a grin. “Now, come on. We’re late, they’re probably waiting. No more stalling…”

  She heaved a sigh and allowed him to turn her toward the bedroom door.

  *****

  “That’s a lovely ring.”

  “Thanks,” she stated absently. She watched the light reflect from the diamond as she placed her wine glass back on the white linen table. Her other hand was clasped firmly in Joe’s hand which he was resting on his thigh under the table.

  The worst was over…they hashed out the past, as uncomfortable as it was. Thankfully, Joe was with her. She gazed at the two faces in front of her with a new understanding. The pain was still there, but a small feeling of…contentment seemed to seep in. They loved her. They always did and for once, she believed them. They were so sincere. No tunnel vision…

  “So, how did you two meet?” her father asked as he rested his chin in his hands, his elbows propped on the table.

  “Umm. Well, we ah…we kind of worked together?” she stated after a moment’s hesitation. He drugged me, tied me up and stuffed me in his trunk. You see, he thought I was a drug mule and he was using me to find the drug dealer I worked for…

  “Yeah, we worked together,” Joe added, giving her hand a squeeze. She stabbed me, drugged me, tied me up and shot me…I knew it was love…

  “So, what kind of work are you in?” her Father asked Joe.

  Well, I killed people for a living…

  “Ahh…life insurance,” Joe stated causing a small snort to escape Jane’s nose before she covered it with a slight cough. She grabbed her glass of wine and took a sip.

  “Fantastic. Very lucrative,” her father stated, completely oblivious.

  You have no idea, buddy… Joe’s eyes widened for a brief moment before he took a sip of his own wine.

  “So when is the wedding?” her mother asked.

  “As soon as we get to Hawaii.” Joe answered as he placed the glass back on the table.

  “And when is that?”

  “As soon as the trial is over,” he answered smoothly. They were probably going to see it in the papers anyway, might as well clue them in.

  “What? What trial? Are you…wait, did you do something?” Her father was staring at them; actually both parents seemed a bit shocked.

  “Oh, no! Not us, we’re good – we’re witnesses for the prosecution,” Joe stated with a nonchalant shrug. From the expression on both of their faces, that bit of information didn’t appease either one of them.

  “So, you… wait. What’s going on…?”

  “Can’t really talk about it now. You’ll see it in the papers though. It’s a pretty big deal,” Joe stated before giving a slight squeeze to Jane’s hand and a reassuring smile to her parents. They all sat in silence before her mother finally cleared her throat awkwardly.

  “So, ahh…how long are you going to stay in Hawaii?” her mother finally asked in a small voice.

  “We’re not coming back. We’re moving there,” Joe answered immediately.

  Disappointment seemed to etch both of her parents’ faces.

  “Oh. Well…” her mother stated as her eyes shifted toward the table surface.

  “Which island?” her father asked after a brief moment.

  “The Big Island.”

  “We have a time share in Maui,” her father stated, causing his wife to look up quickly.

  “We do! Can we…could we visit?” she asked as her eyes shifted from Joe to Jane, her gaze lingering on her daughter.

  “I…don’t see why not…” Jane responded so softly, it was almost impossible to hear.

  *****

  8 Months Later

  “I’m so sorry.”

  Amazing what a few months in jail could do to a person.

  Scott looked haggard, older, his shoulders slumped and his head hanging low after the Guilty verdict was handed down. He was being led away by a uniformed officer before he uttered the words again after making brief eye contact with Joe.

  Jane’s eyes wandered from Scott to Joe. He said nothing, his face expressionless; his body relaying no physical signs of the inner turmoil she knew was there.

  Over the past few months, information seemed to flood the court room, all of it culminating with testimony from one particular person.

  The star witness didn’t turn out to be Joe at all. Moll, aka Bill Mulholland met Scott when he started dating one of his dancers and eventually married her. He placed Rick and Scott together on many occasions, very aware of their business relationship. As it turned out, Scott inserted himself into Rick’s father’s very lucrative drug operation, strong arming the teenager with threats of jail time if he didn’t cooperate. It was just too easy. The network was there; Rick was the face of it but he wasn’t pulling the strings. Marcus knew the ring was still operating and he was close to getting Rick but he had to be stopped. Scott vehemently denied killing Marcus during the trial, but it didn’t matter. Whether he did it himself or ordered the hit was inconsequential. The evidence against him was staggering and concrete. He was going to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

  Jane continued to stare up at Joe, his eyes were following the man that betrayed and ultimately killed his father as he exited the room.

  He finally blew out a breath, blinking a few times before turning and focusing his attention solely on her.

  “Let’s go to Hawaii,” he stated with a small smile.

  Epilogue

  1 year, two months later…

  “I now pronounce you man and wife.”

  All eyes centered on the couple under the floral arbor, the clear blue ocean churned beyond them as a slight breeze lifted the small transparent veil from the bride’s face at the perfect time.

  The groom leaned in and planted the softest kiss on her lips as tears filled Jane’s eyes.

  “That’s so sweet,” she whispered as Joe’s hand squeezed hers from the front row.

  Betty and her new husband Sam turned toward the crowd and smiled broadly before stepping down and walking toward the make shift aisle of white folding chairs. Each one was filled with clapping white and gray haired guests as they made their way toward the huge white tent situated near the end.

  “Come on,” Joe said as he pulled Jane to her feet. She dabbed at her eyes with tissue.

  They waited patiently while some of the guests used their walkers and others hobbled down the aisle. They stopped and assisted others from their chairs when necessary until everyone had filtered into the tent.

  Tables were set up, draped in white linens, centerpieces constructed from native flowers peppered throughout the space. It was enchanting. Little white Bingo cards were placed at e
ach setting…silver daubers inscribed with Sam and Betty’s names and their wedding date placed near the wine glasses…

  “This is so strange,” he muttered as he watched the guests take their seats.

  “No, it’s not. They met at Bingo. They should have a Bingo Reception. It’s cute,” Jane stated as she watched Sam assist Betty into a chair at the head table.

  “He’s a trip. Do you know what he said to me when he was getting ready?”

  She looked up at his clean-shaven profile. His very handsome clean shaven profile.

  “What?”

  “He said he was going to, and I quote; he said he was going to ‘hit that’ tonight.” His eyes widened as he continued to stare at the couple in front of them.

  A small giggle erupted from her throat.

  “His words, not mine. That’s disturbing,” Joe added.

  “She probably taught him that.”

  “I hope so. I’d hate to think there were two eighty year olds out there that talk like teenagers.” His eyes shifted down to Jane.

  “Do you think they would miss us if we…left?” he asked with a raised brow.

  “Probably not. This is Bingo we’re talking about here,” she answered honestly.

  “You do realize that we’re empty nesters now.”

  “True,” she stated. Betty had moved into Sam’s assisted living center two days before.

  “So we could probably have sex in every room in the house if we wanted to,” he added.

  “We kind of already have.” Just the thought made her flush. Each time Sam and Betty went out on a ‘date’ Joe spent the time practically chasing her around the house. She let him catch her…

  “We haven’t done it on the kitchen table yet.”

  “Hmmm…yeah, we eat on that,” she stated blandly as her eyes caught Betty’s from across the room and they smiled at each other.

  “Exactly.”

  Her eyes turned to his. He was wiggling his eyebrows at her suggestively.

  He grabbed both of her hands and backed out of the tent.

  “Come with me, Mrs. Peters…”

  Acknowledgements

  This is going to sound strange, but I have to acknowledge a necklace that my Dad wears as the basis for writing this book.

  He’s a retired Detroit cop and I always wanted to write about that, but I wasn’t quite sure how to turn that into a romance novel. I like writing romance, it’s my thing. I also have a thing for hit men, and I’ve wanted to write a heroine that was so awkward that she was endearing. So…this book. I wrote it in a two-month time period because it was just so fun to write. I loved the characters, liked the plot; loved putting these two people in strange situations. I really enjoyed writing the banter between Joe and Jane, and their internal thoughts…hopefully you enjoyed reading it as much as I amused myself writing it.

  I didn’t use a beta reader this time. I certainly am not going to let my Dad read this – in fact I didn’t tell anyone I wrote it. I just wanted to publish it. I do have a reader out there that gives the most honest reviews and I’m hoping she reads this. She really gets me and my sense of humor and I am so glad she found me in a never-ending sea of e-books out on the market. I have also received a few sporadic reviews from some others who really seem to enjoy the stuff that comes from my imagination. I thank you for that. When I write, I tend to write books I want to read and it’s refreshing to know there are others out there just like me.

  So, thanks again to the few and far between that have found me. I can’t tell you how much your reviews mean to me. Even the negative stuff – especially the negative stuff. I eat that stuff up, I really do. I try to improve because of it. If I expect people to shell out hard-earned money to read something I wrote?

  It better be worth it, right?

  About the Author

  Anlyn Hansell is a forty-something wife and mother of one, residing in a small town in Southcentral PA, employed as a Quality Manager for a major manufacturer.

  This makes my ninth novel now, and it’s hard to believe, looking back on it. I can’t believe I even published one, let alone nine. I am addicted to writing and I hope to keep this up for years to come. I find myself inspired constantly by everything surrounding me, people I interact with, situations I find myself in. I find it completely intriguing and somewhat creepy at the same time.

  Here’s a recap of my backlist in case you’d like to check out my other published works:

  Romantic Comedy

  Davis Series:

  The Trouble with Neighbors (Book 1)

  Forget about Texas (Book 2)

  Love, Business and Bad Ethics (Book 3)

  Crazy about Her (Book 4)

  Paranormal/Horror/Comedy/Romance:

  Night Stocker, The Misadventures of Meghan Foster Part One

  Dead End Girl, The Misadventures of Meghan Foster Part Two

  Romantic Suspense:

  There Goes the Neighborhood (Women Gone Wacky, Book 1)

  Don’t Forget to Remember… to Forget (Women Gone Wacky, Book 2)

  This Guy Kills Me

  Absolute Zero

  Absolute Zero Prologue

  Absolute Zero:

  “The lowest possible temperature, at which all molecules have the least possible amount of kinetic energy. At temperatures approaching absolute zero, the physical characteristics of some substances change significantly.”

  In other words:

  The moment I hit rock bottom.

  Again.

  *****

  “We’re really sorry.”

  You’re sorry? What does that mean? Her eyes darted between the faces staring at her from across the wide expanse of the gleaming lacquered conference table. Four sets of eyes fixed on her, a lone figure seated on the opposite side. If the orientation of their seating arrangement was meant to send a subliminal message of intimidation, they chose well. It was all too surreal.

  It made no sense.

  “I didn’t do that,” she muttered for what must have been at least the fifth time during this bizarre conversation. Of course, the tone of her voice each time she said it seemed to grow weaker. Her strong denials were turning to desperate pleas on a voice that was becoming shaky at best, so completely foreign to her as she tried desperately to make sense of what the man seated across from her was saying.

  Hold it together. Don’t lose it…

  The paper in front of Dr. Frenelli caught her attention once again. The signature was clearly hers and yet, she never signed it. Of that, she was positive. And yet, there it was.

  Why is this happening to me?

  “We will not be offering any type of severance,” Frenelli stated, his mouth set in a grim line.

  “And we’d like to keep this quiet for obvious reasons.”

  She shifted her attention to the right of the middle aged doctor and settled her eyes on the handsome face of the man that finally spoke up.

  When she first arrived in the room minutes earlier, her eyes had implored him to look at her, give her some kind of encouragement or sympathy. Maybe some form of emotion, but there was nothing. In fact, he wouldn’t even look at her. This was the first time their eyes actually met and to say they were cold was an understatement. He was gracing her with a frosty stare.

  “I…this is impossible. If you could just…” her lips were moving but her words were stammered. She just couldn’t get her brain and her mouth to work in sync. Clearly she was still in shock.

  “Dr. Bennett, anything you say is pointless. The evidence is clear…” Frenelli added before she interrupted him.

  “Have the handwriting analyzed. Give me a lie detector test. I can prove I had nothing to do with this.” Finally her rational mind was functioning as a surge of anger overtook her. She was clearly being set up by someone.

  “And the phone call? The call was traced back to your phone, Dr. Bennett.”

  “Someone grabbed my phone and made that call. I leave my purse in my desk drawer. Anyone could have gotten t
o it!” She exclaimed before calming her breathing and forcing her body to relax against the chair back. Losing her cool in front of the four men seated before her would be a mistake. Emotion was not a strong personality trait in anyone occupying the room, including her. Emotional outbursts would only be deemed as defensive reactions.

  “Let me spell this out for you. You clearly signed off on the release; you called in the test, sent the sample without the required approval from the FDA. You put this organization’s reputation in jeopardy. We have you on tape, we have the signed release and we have your phone records which coincide with the test order. There’s nothing to argue. You’re fired. You’ll probably want to look into another line of work, because no lab will ever hire you. We’ll make sure of that.” The man seated to the left of Dr. Frenelli spoke up. Some VP of…something. She had never met him before.

  Blacklisted.

  Because of something she knew she didn’t do.

  Why is this happening to me?

  “This conversation is over. Security is waiting for you. You’ll grab your things and leave. You will not speak to anyone about this, if you do, the consequences will be far worse than they are right now. Do you understand?” he asked.

  An unfamiliar burning sensation assaulted the backs of her eyes as the enormity of the situation came bearing down on her. Her career was over. Her gaze wandered from face to face. No emotion, no empathy, just…faces staring passively from across the table.

  She needed to leave, that much was obvious. Her arms lifted and attempted to push back from the table. They were weak, just like the rest of her body. Her eyes rested again on the face of the man she thought she knew so well. The man that knew her. The man that should know she would never do something like this.

  He was looking down. His eyes were firmly attached to the table top once again.

  She pushed back again and stood on shaky legs. Her lips moved yet no sound was forthcoming. What can I say? What can I do? She continued to stare at David’s averted eyes, imploring him to look at her, hoping he would tell her something, anything that would help make sense of this situation. When it became apparent it wouldn’t happen, she swept a glance over the men still seated at the table.