Page 81 of Watch Me
When I got to the door, I checked to make sure it was locked before slipping in my key. I had a weird beat to my heart like I could sense everything was about tochange.
When I swung the door open and found the condo dark, the hairs on the back of my neck stood. I glanced up at Pablo. “Maddie said she was going to wait up for me.”
“Let me go in first and check it out.”
I swallowed, my mind already going to the darkest place. “Okay,” I whispered and stepped aside so he could enter. My heart was beating even faster as I waited and waited and waited for what felt like hours but was only mere seconds. Then dread washed over me when Pabloreturned.
“It’s clear, but Maddison’s not here.”
It was the night.
The night Jack would know that he couldn’t play me for a fool. I’d never killed twice in forty-eight hours, but it was part of my plan. It was how I was going to be able to get Reagan alone. While Sergeant Valor was working Fiona’s case, I was getting my revenge on Jack, and Reagan was my pawn.
Since the night I’d seen Reagan and Jack laughing andflirtingat Judy’s, Jack had come to my place almost every night to get laid. That would be no more. I was taking his obsession away from him. I was going to make him beg, to tell me that he was sorry, and then force him to watch as Reagan took her last breath. That would show him what it meant to hurt me, to think I was nothing more than a piece of ass for him. Actions had consequences, and when Jack saw me take Reagan’s life, he’d know not to mess with me.
Not to wrong me.
Not to fuck meover.
Reagan’s murder was going to be different. I had no key to her place any longer because she’d changed her locks, but I didn’t need one. I was going to follow her out the back door after her shift at Judy’s, force my way in to her apartment, and use the ether I still had from Fiona’s murder. Then I’d take Reagan to my place and wait for Jack to make his nightly visit. That’s when the fun wouldbegin.
When I got to Judy’s, though, I saw Reagan with a mini Reagan and my plan changed. Mini Reagan would be easier to kill since I wasn’t using my usual method of incapacitation. I was still going to make Jack watch me, to show him that if he continued to betray me, I’d take Reagan away too. Showeveryonethat this was my game, my rules, and if they thought they were smarter, everyone had another thingcoming.
Since I hadn’t been actively watching Reagan, I hadn’t known a mini Reagan had shown up. When I saw Reagan on campus, I heard her talking to someone that I’d assumed was her daughter because of words and little phrases I heard her say likehoney,college girl, and that she was trying to be acool mom. Little did Reagan know that her actions had consequences. If she didn’t work at Judy’s, she wouldn’t have been flirting with my man, and I wouldn’t be moments away from taking her daughter away fromher.
Oh well. You win some, you losesome.
Mini Reagan walked out into the cold Chicago night. Our eyes met briefly, and she smiled politely. I started to follow her as she walked past me. When we walked next to my parked car, I took the ether and rag out of my coat pocket and soaked the rag with the liquid. As I crept in closer, I slipped the bottle back into my pocket and then made my move. My arms went around her face, her long, dark brown hair fell against my chest, and I held her as she tried to break free until she went limp, the bag she was holding falling to the ground. Luckily for me, since it was freezing out, there wasn’t anyone nearby. I was able to put Mini Reagan’s limp body into the backseat of my car and driveoff.
At a red light, she started to stir. I took the damp rag from my pocket and placed it on her face, covering her nose. I needed her to stay knocked out. I’d learned my lesson with Fiona. Ether only worked for about ten or fifteen minutes after being removed from the face, and I needed at last twenty to get back to myhouse.
After pulling into my driveway, I parked in the garage, got out, and then grabbed the wheelbarrow I had set aside. I dragged Mini Reagan out of the backseat and into it. There was no way that I would be able to carry her all the way down to my basement from my garage. I pushed Mini Reagan out of my garage and into my house, the wheelbarrow barely fitting through the doorway.
Killing my victims in their own homes wasmucheasier. I’d slip in, knock them out, drag them to their couches, kill them, and I was done. Since I was at my place and didn’t want to ruin my flooring or furniture, I did what I’d seen on TV and covered a portion of my basement in heavy plastic that I’d gotten at the same hardware store where I get my wood for my woodworking. Paid with cash, ofcourse.
When I got to my basement door, I took the rag away from Mini Reagan’s face and slid her out of the wheelbarrow. Holding her under her shoulders, I walked down the steps backward as her feet dropped step by step until we were at the bottom. Before tying her to a metal chair covered in plastic, I placed the rag to her nose again for good measure. I wasn’t ready for her to wake up yet because Jack was due to come over at any minute.
After I tied the nylon/polyester blend rope tight around her wrists and ankles, I left Mini Reagan tied up in my basement and went to wait for Jack.
The moment my foot hit the top step, my doorbell rang. My heart started to beat faster, knowing Jack was about to learn who I really was. I wasn’t worried that he’d tell the police. I was too good to be caught, and there was no evidence linking me to the previous murders. There would be no evidence of Mini Reagan’s murder either because when I was done with her, everything would be burned.
Includingher.
I locked the door to the basement and hurried to greet Jack. With a huge smile on my face, I opened the front door to see him standing before me. It was always the same: he’d ring the doorbell, I’d open the door, and he’d push me back against the wall as though we hadn’t seen each other in months. The door would slam shut, our clothes would come off as we made a trail upstairs to my bedroom, and then we’dfuck.
Itwasfucking. There was no love in what we were doing. That didn’t mean I was okay with him flirting with other people.Okay, fine,I loved Jack, which was why I was going to show him what I was truly capable of. That was why I was going to show him my other side. The side that got my blood racing. The side that made me feel alive. The side whereIwas in control.
In the bedroom, I let Jack take the lead. He’d take me from the back, the front, every which way until we were both coming. And then he’d leave. At the office we’d grin at each other, wink, have the occasional brush of hands when no one was looking, and then at night, we’d do it all overagain.
Except everything was going to be different once he knew thetruth.
Jack still pushed me back against the wall when I swung the door open, the door still slammed shut as his mouth met mine, and we still left a trail of clothes up to my bedroom. Jack still fucked me hard, and we both still got off, but before he got out of bed to leave, I stopped him by grabbing hiswrist.
“Is it going to be like this every night?” Iasked.
He raised a dark brow. “What do you mean?”
“You coming over like a thief in the night to fuck me before leaving me alone, my bed smelling of sex—of you.”
