Chapter Forty-Three
David Ross
David watched Paige as she shut down her computer and prepared to leave for the day. He quickly closed out the picture of his beautiful Paige. He generally spent a good portion of his day, advancing from one photo of her to the next. As soon as she locked the door, he was out the door – no need to stay late anymore as Paige was no longer taking the stairs. Lately he had to hurry to watch her leave. Everything was so messed up. Even his Saturday plans had gone awry when she showed up at work with that attorney. But today he intended to ride the elevator with her and tell her what he saw the previous day.
Yesterday he’d driven by her apartment, highly considering knocking on her door and inviting her to meet his mom. When he cruised through her apartment complex, his eyes bugged out of his head, once again seeing the red sports car pulling in behind him. He drove further down and parked behind a big white van and watched Lisa and the attorney’s girlfriend going into Paige’s building. The girlfriend was carrying something in a plastic bag.
What were those two up to?
Unable to curtail his curiosity, he sneaked in the building behind them and watched from a distance. When he saw them outside Paige’s apartment door, he pulled up the camera on his phone and filmed them. He overheard them worrying about the security system … then poof they were inside. Somehow, they had managed getting a key to his girl’s apartment and he wondered what they were up to.
He’d been thinking about it all night. It couldn’t be anything good. Today, he planned to tell her on the elevator. But then he wisely considered how quickly the ride down to the lobby would pass. He wanted more time with her. So, he came up with a better idea. He’d give her a head start, then he’d drive over to her place, knock on her door and she’d invite him inside. Then he’d tell her what he saw. Paige would be so grateful. She’d see him as taking care of her. A true protector. She might even ask him to stay overnight to make sure she was okay. David liked the sound of that.
When he arrived at her complex, he didn’t spot her car anywhere. She might’ve stopped at a grocery store, or something. He waited … and waited. When it had been too long, he drove over to the attorney’s condominium and looked for her car there. When he didn’t find it, he double backed to the office to see if she might’ve returned to work, possibly after grabbing a bite to eat. She wasn’t there either. Thinking they might have crossed paths, he returned to her apartment. When he still didn’t find her car, he imagined her having dinner with the attorney again. He was so sick of him interfering in their relationship.
David sat in his car for another hour, stewing over the idea his girl was with that man. He did everything to take his mind off the possibility. When he couldn’t stand it any longer, he pulled out his phone and worked up his nerve to call her. When Paige answered, his tongue grew several thick layers and strangled his voice box.
“Hello,” Paige’s angelic timbre answered.
David went completely silent. Not one utterance was forthcoming.
“Hello,” Paige repeated.
Apparently, Paige didn’t have his number listed in her contacts or she would’ve called his name. David’s heart split open, realizing his own girlfriend didn’t have his number. Most assuredly she was with the attorney and David meant nothing to her. What a loser he was.
Then David heard Amy in the background, asking who was on the phone.
“No one,” Paige told her and then she hung up.
David chuckled to himself, realizing Paige was only with her best friend. How silly of him. With disaster averted, David turned his attention back to Paige’s apartment, wondering what Lisa and the attorney’s girlfriend had been doing in Paige’s apartment. He wanted to know.
Almost a year ago, Paige had been in a car accident. When David heard about it, naturally he had rushed to the hospital to make sure she was okay. When he arrived, Paige had been zonked out on pain killers. He took the liberty of making an impression of her housekey. He also found an In Case of Emergency card in her wallet providing, among other information, her security passcode. Later, he had a key made. He wondered if it would work.
Before he chickened out, David found himself inserting the key and turning the knob. He hauled butt over to the security pad and punched in the number. For a split second, his heart jumped into his throat, waiting to see if the code remained the same. When he heard a beep-boop noise and everything went quiet, he breathed in a relieved breath of air.
Before David had a chance to get his bearings, Callie – he knew all about Paige’s cat as she spoke often of her pet – came down the hallway to greet him. It made him feel like he was home.
“Hello, Callie. How was your kitty day?”
He reached down to pet her long, mix-colored fur. The cat took one look at him, bowed up and hissed. Then she bolted for the kitchen, jumped on the counter and climbed on top of the fridge.
David felt hurt, but he brushed it off and instead gazed around the open-concept apartment. David had never been in Paige’s residence before, so he prowled around, looking in her living room, her kitchen, her underwear drawer. He checked out her medicine cabinet, noting she was on the pill. He wondered why since they had never had sex. Then again, maybe she was preparing for the big event with him. He smiled at the thought and felt a stiffening in his pants.
He looked back at her bed, picturing them making love. Then he saw a stuffed bear, front and center on her bed, holding a little Get-Well card. He imagined the attorney gave it to her while she was in the hospital after her fall down the stairs. Paige probably cuddled it every night before she fell into slumber, dreaming – wet dreams – about that asshole attorney.
Pain filled his chest with an ache so intense it felt as if his heart was being ripped apart, one jagged piece at a time. David pushed the hurt aside, letting rage take over. His blood boiled like it never had before. That man needed to be out of his girl’s life. Aggression spilled from his pores. David didn’t remember going to the kitchen, but he saw himself returning with a huge butcher knife … a big one, like from the shower scene in Psycho.
His hand came down again and again and again on the plush little animal. Polyester stuffing flew like a snowstorm over the bed. Many times, David completely missed hitting the bear and instead plunged the knife deep into the mattress. Over and over, the metal object was thrust into the fluffy toy, ripping it to tiny shreds. So many times. More than fifty, if he were counting.
His forehead broke into a dripping sweat as he worked himself into a complete frenzy. But he wouldn’t stop. Couldn’t stop. He kept at it until he was completely exhausted. Then with one last, deep impaling puncture, he drove the thick blade through the glass eye of the bear, through its head, and pinned it to the bed.
He stood back and looked at the mutilated carnage he had left behind. He felt mighty. He felt vindicated. And more than anything, he felt alive. It was a powerful feeling and he relished in the glory of it. He was a new man now. One who could take control and drive his own destiny. He was superbly aware of what needed to happen now.
“Get rid of that asshole attorney,” he urged himself, “and get back your girl.” Disappointment, jealousy and anger were all powerful motivators when it came down to murdering someone. And right now, David possessed them all.
He wiped his brow on his sleeve, tucked his shirt back in and put a smile on his face. He strode down the hallway, said goodbye to the kitty on the fridge, turned on the alarm and locked the door behind him. With a high degree of confidence and a purpose in mind, he headed for his car.
By now he was overly late in getting home to his momma. She’d be worried. He needed to call her.
“Momma, I’ve been over at Paige’s again. I’ll be home soon.”
“David! I thought you were going to bring her home with you. I’m ready to meet this girl.”
“Soon Momma. I just have to take care of one thing first, then I’ll bring her home with me.”
Chapter Fo
rty-Four
The Girlfriend & Lisa Harris
“Hurry up,” Lisa urged. “Carter could be home any minute now. I don’t want him to catch us inside his apartment.”
“Take a chill pill. I’m doing my best here.” Angela was installing cameras in Carter’s living room, study and bedroom. And, of course, one above his security pad.
“Carter is meeting with a landowner tonight. He’s trying to get the guy to sign a lease so our company can drill an oil well on his acreage. I don’t expect him until later. But I’d like to be out of here as soon as possible.”
“Fine, this is the last one. Let’s go.”
Outside the apartment, Lisa checked the security app on her phone to make sure the cameras were working properly. “Oh yeah,” Lisa squeaked when she was able to access the system.
“Mission accomplished,” Angela bragged. “Now let’s get something to eat. With back-to-back clients all day, I skipped lunch and my feet are killing me.”
“Leafy Greens, then,” Lisa replied. “I’m on a diet and they have amazing salads.”
Angela drove them in her red sports car. The place was crowded, causing her to have to park a few rows back. Once inside, they both opted for the daily special, a tomato basil with a Waldorf salad. While they ate, Angela rattled on about a client’s hair she had cut into a pixie, and then about someone whose hair she had dyed pink.
Lisa complained because the detective hadn’t arrested Paige yet, like they had hoped. When she brought up Paige, Angela joined her rant, wanting to get Paige out of Paul’s life.
“What’s the status with Paul?” Lisa asked, once the topic was on the table.
“He won’t take my calls and he hasn’t responded to any of my texts. And I think he’s deleting my emails. He’s pissing me off.” Angela frowned. “I’ve got to figure out a way to get rid of Bimbo without landing myself in jail.”
“It was great though … watching her have a cow about losing all of her data input. I was thinking about going back tonight and deleting it all over again.”
“Oh, it would be fun,” Angela agreed. “But I want to watch Paul tonight. We’ll do it another time.”
“Oh poo,” Lisa said with a frown. “You need to make me a set of keys so I can go in whenever I want to.”
“I suppose I can,” Angela agreed. “But I want to keep a set for myself so I can mess with her too.”
“I wonder if Carter’s home yet,” Lisa pondered as they finished their meal and motioned the waiter for a ticket. “I’m going to look at the video.” She grabbed her phone from her purse and flipped from one camera screen to the next. “Nothing yet.”
“I’ll check on Paul,” Angela said, accessing her own hidden cameras, first looking at Paul’s office, then his condominium. “Same here. He’s not at either place.”
“Don’t forget … check Paige’s cameras,” Lisa reminded her.
“Absolutely,” Angela said. “I’m pulling them up now.” Angela flipped around for a moment. “No one is at home yet.” She paused. “This is weird, there isn’t any activity at her apartment last night.”
“She might have spent the night with Paul,” Lisa suggested.
Angela’s eyes grew to the size of saucers. “She had better not have been at mine and Paul’s house.”
“Well back up the footage and see if you can figure anything out.”
“I am … just hold your horses.” Angela busied herself, searching through the camera system. During this time, the waiter presented the check and they became engrossed in paying the tab.
“Well, did you find anything?” Lisa asked, refocusing Angela’s attention while they gathered their purses and began scooting from the booth, the vinyl making squeaky noises. She stood, glancing down to smooth out her skirt. From the corner of her eye, Lisa spotted Amy returning from the restroom. She recognized her as being Paige’s best friend, having encountered her at the office on several occasions. She darted her eyes toward the booth Amy was aimed for, noticing a blonde-haired girl sitting with her back to where Lisa had been seated. She knew it must be Paige.
“My God. Holy freaking crap,” Angela yelped, looking down at her phone. “You’ve got to see this video.”
“Shh,” Lisa firmly whispered to Angela. “We need to get the heck out of here … Paige is seated directly behind us.” She grabbed Angela by the elbow and steered her out as quickly as she could. She didn’t think Amy saw her, but she wanted to be out of sight as quickly as possible.
They hurried out the front door and across the parking lot to Angela’s car. “My God, Paige was seated right behind us,” Lisa moaned. “Of all the people…”
“Shit, I can’t believe it,” Angela groaned. “But wait until you see what was on one of Paige’s recordings.”
“What? Did Paul sleep with her?” Lisa implored as they ducked into Angela’s car.
“No, but wait until you get a load of this.” Angela reset the video, hit the play button and handed her phone to Lisa.
“Jesus Christ!” Lisa said as the video unfolded before her eyes. “This is crazy shit.”
“You work with that guy, right?” Angela asked.
“Yes, that’s David … David Ross.” Lisa sat silent for a moment. “I can’t believe someone I know possesses that kind of rage.”
Angela watched the video once more and then looked at Lisa. “Yeah, he killed the hell out of that teddy bear. Do you think he’ll do the same to Paige?”
Lisa slowly nodded. “If Paige had been there, I think he would’ve killed her … don’t you?”
“Yes, he most certainly would have,” Angela said with her head bobbing up and down.
“It’s hard to imagine where that amount of violence came from. He’s so quiet at work,” Lisa assessed.
“Isn’t it always the silent ones … the one’s you’d never suspect in a million years?”
“True enough,” Lisa agreed.
“Why do you think he’s so mad at Paige … it must be Paige, right? I mean he was taking it out on the bear, don’t you think?”
“My God, it has to be because he’s hung up on her and he feels threatened by Paul. Paige hasn’t had a boyfriend in … forever. Now she’s seeing Paul. It must be driving David over the edge.” She thought for a moment. “You need to stop trying to get Paul back.”
“No,” Angela whined, sticking out her bottom lip. “I want Paul. I can’t let her take him away from me.”
“Think about it. We need to lay low for a while and let David kill her. He’ll do the dirty work for us.” Lisa smiled, envisioning David getting rid of Paige for them.
“Oh, I see what you’re saying. I don’t like it, but I see,” Angela realized.
“We need to get the hell over to Paige’s apartment and pull the cameras. When Paige finds the mutilated bear, she’s going to call the cops. We can’t risk them finding video of us in there with that balloon. And, if the police get their hands on the video of David and the bear, they’ll haul him in for questioning, possibly even arrest him. Paige will most likely get a restraining order against him. We can’t have that happening. David needs to have unrestrained access to her. For now, we need to keep this video to ourselves.”
“Do you really think he’ll kill Paige for us?” Angela questioned.
“Yes, I do. But until he does, we can’t go back to her apartment or her office. No more balloons. No more deleting her data. We need to wait this out. Let David kill her. Once he does, I’ll get the CFO position and you can get Paul back. We won’t even have to get our hands dirty in the process.”
“I think you have an excellent idea,” Angela agreed. “Let’s take a step back and see what happens. If he fails to make a move within the near future, we can always kill Paige and frame David.”
Chapter Forty-Five
Paul had touched base with me earlier today. He was planning to have dinner with his assistant so they could go over today’s testimony and strategize about tomorrow’s second day of trial. It wa
s fine with me because I wanted to dine out with Amy anyway. I’d been missing my best friend.
She had suggested Leafy Greens, an eatery designed much like a retro dining car with highbacked booths, lots of chrome and a color pallet in streamlined reds and whites. Spotting Amy’s black-rimmed glasses in a sea of patrons, I realized she had arrived before me and was already seated across the room in a high-backed booth. When I tried to slip past the hostess, she announced a table being ready for, “Wilson, party of four.”
When the group blocked my path, I opted to blend in with them to make my way over to Amy. Untangling from the group, I headed in her direction, noting a party of eight, including two children, were seated next to us at two tables pushed together.
“Sorry, they’re on the loud side,” she apologized, noting the displeasure on my face.
“It’s fine. I’ll tune them out.” I eyeballed one of the kids who was purposely dribbling a handful of cheesy macaroni on the floor. “I hope you haven’t been waiting long,” I apologized while scooting my rear across the shiny red vinyl.
“Not at all. I just managed a table.”
After adjusting the folds of my skirt flatly underneath me, I grabbed a menu from behind the napkin holder. “Have you decided what you want yet?”
“The Cobb salad, topped with the roasted chicken breast.”
“Sounds delicious,” I agreed, “but I think I’ll have the shrimp salad with a cup of clam chowder.”
We settled into a conversation about her wild day at school. Amy taught third grade and two boys fell into an argument over which one could spit the farthest. “I had to sit them both in a corner,” she said wrapping up the story. “How was your day?”
Amidst my telling her about my helter-skelter planning for Mr. Harrington’s birthday party, our food arrived. We dug in, complimenting the deliciousness for a few tasty bites before chatting about how much we enjoyed playing cards last night. “I hope Paul’s interested in me,” I admitted, hoping we could become foursomes who enjoyed doing things together. Ever since Amy and Jeff became an item, I had felt a bit left out.
A Deadly Promotion Page 18
