Page 74 of Watch Me
“Meow.”
“I’ll take that as a yes.” I looked around the tiny, dark kitchen and spotted a bowl on the floor at the end of a counter. The moment I popped the top on the can of food, the cat was athisbowl, waiting. I put the smelly cat food into the bowl, making sure to get it all, and then filled the water dish with fresh water.
I left the beast to eat and returned to Fiona. She was still unconscious, and she looked peaceful. That wasn’t going to last much longer because the moment the first strike of my knife pierced Fiona’s chest, I figured she’d wake up.
I went back into the kitchen and grabbed the ether in case I needed it again. I wasn’t expecting to have to feed a cat, but I couldn’t let the poor thing starve. That would becruel.
Licking my lips, I withdrew the knife from behind my back, and raised it, stopping for a second and then following through, bringing the blade down toward Fiona’s heart. The rush of what I’d done seemed to race through the metal and into my arms just as Fiona gasped, her eyes opening wide and staring back atme.
She started to scream, and I grabbed the ether-soaked rag, placing it over her face and holding her down. Fiona’s arms flailed, her feet kicked, but I held her down, her gray eyes staring at me, silently asking me why.
“Because you were on the list,” Ireplied.
Fiona continued to struggle. Blood coated the rag and knife, and once she was no longer moving, I raised the knife again and struck once more, images of another dark-haired beauty flashing in front of my eyes. I wasn’t sure if I’d pierced Fiona’s heart or not, so I kept stabbing, thoughts of Reagan laughing with Jack clouding my vision as I struck over and over and over.
I brushed loose strands of hair behind my ears as I stood. I hadn’t realized that she’d pulled my hair free from its tie at the back of my head during our struggle. Having her fight me wasn’t what I was used to, but it also made my blood race faster. The adrenaline, the high, wasecstatic.
I heard a meow, and I looked over to see that the cat had finished eating. I wanted to pet it again, but instead, I stripped off my jeans and long-sleeved black shirt, changed my gloves and clothes, and left Fiona’s plaque next to the cat dish on the floor before leaving out the back door.
No one saw me leave out her back gate. No one saw me walk down the dimly lit alley to my car. And no one saw me driveaway.
Fiona Jones - #4
Seeing Reagan laugh and smile while she was with Maddison was heartwarming. I knew that she’d missed her daughter because she had told me on several occasions, and today she looked bright and happy, which was how I assumed I looked the moment I saw my boys after the two-week hiatus.
Reagan cooked us breakfast, and we sat around the table talking about anything and everything until we had to head to my parents for Thanksgiving dinner. Sadly, the boys were with Jessica for the holiday, but I was getting them for Christmas. Reagan and I needed to figure some things out because Maddison was coming to stay with us again the week after Christmas and for New Year’s before going back to Michigan, and I had my boys for four days in a row because Christmas was on a Thursday. We needed a bigger place.
We needed a home that wasours.
Not a place where I’d once killed a guy and that my sister owned, and not a place that Reagan hadn’t even moved all of her belongings into. With everything that was going on, we’d packed up her stuff and put the non-essentials into a storage unit. There was no way in hell she would ever live alone again. I wouldn’t let thathappen.
Life was good despite the open cases I still had haunting me, but the more time that passed, the more I thought it was connected to me and not Reagan, as April had mentioned weeks prior; I just didn’t know how or why. I’d combed through past cases, trying to come up with any sort of connection and had come up withnothing.
After we ate breakfast, the three of us got ready to go to my parents’ place. “How good are you at Uno?” I asked Maddie as we rode the elevator down to thegarage.
She shrugged. “Probably as good as anyone. It’s luck, right?”
I chuckled. “Nope. You have to know when to play a card or hold it for a better time. It’s strategy.”
“So, you’re an Uno pro?”
“I’m not bad,” I admitted. “But it is a family tradition to play after dinner.”
“Ethan’s oldest, Cohen, is apparently a pro,” Reaganstated.
Igrinned.
“Oh yeah?” Maddie asked. “How old is he?”
“Eight,” Ireplied.
“Oh, I get it. We have to let him win.”
“No, he knows how to play,” I corrected. “He keeps us on our toes.”
The elevator stopped on the garage floor. Maddison looked at Reagan. “Then I’m looking forward to a yearly thing.” Reagan pulled her in for a side hug, and we stepped out of the elevator.
I was looking forward to a yearly thingtoo.
