VANESSA
The next day, sunset
Spending the night with Arthur was just what I needed. Recuperating much-needed energy, my body felt renewed and ready for the counterattack. Phoenix may have set me up to make the police believe that I killed my husband on purpose, but that doesn’t mean I’m not able to do the same to him.
I hold my pink dress hat tight as the wind almost whisks it away. I’m sitting at a table outside a bar, right across the street. With a steaming cup of tea, and the sun shining brightly against my sunglasses, I watch the scene in front of me unfold.
Phoenix steps out of his apartment building with a horrid look on his face, and he marches toward his car. I check my watch, which signifies it’s been thirty minutes since he arrived. Took him long enough.
My father texted me the address last night, so when I came home this morning, the first thing I did was pay Phoenix a visit. Too bad he wasn’t there. Luckily, he’s here now. Just in time for the show to start.
I wait and drink my tea until he comes back with his car, parks it in front of the door, and goes back inside. I wonder what he’s doing, but I don’t have to wait long for an answer. Within a few minutes, he’s back, this time with a tent bag that is way too large to actually contain a tent … and much heavier too, it seems.
I guess he really doesn’t give a shit who sees him. In broad daylight, he throws the bag into the backseat of his car and jumps behind the wheel.
Taking a last sip, I put down a few bills and leave my seat. Before I get into my car, I walk into an obscure alley away from the crowd and grab my phone. Swallowing and sighing, I try to make myself out of breath before I dial the numbers.
“Hello, is this the police?” I ask, trying to make my voice sound erratic.
“Yes, do you want to report a crime?”
“He’s trying to kill me!” I yell.
“Who is? Where are you, ma’am?”
“Route fifty-five. Please, come quickly!”
“The cars are on their way, ma’am, hold on.”
“Hurry up,” I scream between, “Help!”
“Ma’am, stay on the phone, please. We’re coming to your location as fast as possible.”
“I can’t! He just killed this other girl, and now he’s coming after me.”
“Ma’am, please do not hang up the phone.”
“I can’t …” I make gurgling sounds, choking myself while doing so. Then I turn off the phone and walk away. Putting on my sunglasses, I jump into my car and drive after Phoenix.
I don’t need to see his car to know where he’s going.
It’s where he always goes.
***
PHOENIX
I can’t believe I have to fucking do this again. Burying a corpse isn’t one of my favorite things to do, especially not when it’s my fucking girlfriend. But there’s nothing else to do about it. She’s dead anyway, and I can’t leave her in my apartment. The stench would make people call the police, and I can’t have them on my back right now. Still, it’s sad that she had to die this way. I didn’t mean for it to happen, but I guess there are always unforeseen casualties in this business.
I park my car near the edge of the road and jump out, so I can open the back door and pull out the bag with her corpse in it. It’s quite a strain on the muscles as I pull her out and drag her toward the sand far from the road. It’s taking all my strength to get as far away as possible, but once my energy is spent, I drop the bag and take a few moments to breathe.
Right then, I hear another engine roaring behind me.
I look up and to my side and see a car parked right behind mine.
Well, fuck me.
Visitors? I guess someone’s having a bad day, and it isn’t me. Oh well, one more kill isn’t going to make a difference.
I walk back to the car, leaving the body behind because she’s dead anyway and there’s no one out here to steal her body. I’m far more interested in the person who came to snoop in on my business. I wonder if there is a certain death wish floating around, or if I have an admiring fan. That would be a fun surprise.
Instead, I get a grumpy Vanessa Starr stepping out of her car with her shades tucked into the rim of her dress. Fucking hell, if it weren’t for the fact that she looks like a walking fuck-doll, I would grab my gun and shoot her for even daring to come here. But I’d much rather enjoy her figure for a while; might as well while she’s here anyway. And I know she wants it.
“You again,” I say. “How did you find me?”
With a smug smile, she says, “Easy. This is where we always bury our secrets.”
Goddammit. She’s really getting on my nerves now, bringing that up. “Didn’t you hear me when I told you to fuck off?” I growl.
“Oh, I did, but then again I’ve never been much of a good listener anyway,” she says, wearing that fake smile like she always does.
I want to fuck that pretty little smile off her face.
Narrowing my eyes, I walk toward her as she leans against her car. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
“Following you,” she says.
With furrowed brows, I say, “Playing with the devil will get you killed, Princess.”
I place my hand on the car as she puts her back against it. “I’m not here to play games, Phoenix.”
“Aw, really? Shame, because I was really starting to get into this game of catch.” She tries to push me away, but I don’t back off that easily. “Wow, settle down, girl, you don’t want to enrage the beast.”
“I think I already have, so I don’t care anymore,” she says, and then she slaps me in the face. “That’s for killing my husband.”
I cock my head. “You had to go and do that.” I grind my teeth. “You fucking bitch.”
She spits in my face, so I grab her hands and pin them to the door. “Make one more move and I’ll fuck you up, right here, right now.”
“Let’s go, baby,” she taunts.
I breathe through my nose, attempting to calm myself because I’d rather not kill a beauty like her, but damn … she’s really getting on my nerves now, especially after what she’s done.
“Wanna fuck me, boy?” she says.
“Been there, done that,” I say, smiling at her. “I wasn’t too impressed.”
The look on her face goes from seductive to rage within the snap of a finger. “Fuck you!”
She kicks me in the balls. God-fucking-dammit. That fucking hurts.
She runs past me, so after catching a quick breath, I go after her. It doesn’t take long for me to catch up. I jump on her back, causing her to fall into the sand and roll around.
“Get off me!” she yells.
“That’s the first time I’ve ever heard you beg me to not be on top.”
She tries to slap me again, but I grab her wrists and pin them down. “Not again.”
“Yes, again. Think I’m going to stop? After what you did?”
“Yeah, I thought my knife on your throat was a good warning. Apparently not. Jesus Christ, all you girls are the same.”
“Are what?” she says.
“Pitiful …” I spit.
“Why did you kill him?”
My nose starts to twitch, feeling the urge to kill. “Oh, there are plenty of reasons why I killed that son of a bitch, and now I have plenty of reasons to kill you, too.”
“You fucking murderer!” she yells.
“Oh, that’s precious, coming from a girl like you,” I say, making a face. “Pretentious, fake little princess. Jesus fucking Christ, you really have outdone yourself this time.”
“Shut up, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Except, I do, or did you forget everything?”
She’s quiet for a moment, taking a deep breath. “As if I’m the only fake one here. Phoenix Sullivan? Is that the name you go by now?”
“So, you do remember.” I eye her from top to bottom, getting closer as I smell her intoxicating scent.
“I don’t want to remember.”
Frowning, I stare at her, anger seeping into my pores until I no longer feel anything but hatred for her. Again, she’s proven just how much of a bitch she can be. Just by uttering those words, she’s torn open a long ago closed wound that I’ve been trying to cover up for years.
“You bitch,” I mutter. My hands immediately go for her throat.
I want her gone. I want her dead. I don’t want to think about her anymore. Screw her, screw everything. She has to die. She has to be gone from this world. She has to pay for what she did … everything she and her husband did. It’s all I can think about. Kill … kill … kill!
My fingers wrap so tightly around her neck that I can hear her choke on her own breath. Her fingers pry at mine in a desperate attempt to free her from my grasp, but I hold on mercilessly.
It’s not until the sirens in the distance come that I realize what I’m doing. By the time the police come near, my hands are pulled from her throat, and I hear her raspy breath before I’m taken away.
She’s done it. She’s outwitted me. She knew I’d go for it … and I knew it, too … and yet I did it anyway.
