CHAPTER 12
Mrs. H didn't know why, but suddenly she didn't trust Rick. For whatever reason, she felt found out, as if he knew who she was.
She noticed a prickle of pain and looked down at her hand. Relaxing her fingers she saw where her nail had cut into her palm.
"Impossible," she said out loud, but she couldn't erase the possibility that he knew.
Then the phone rang. For a moment frozen, she waited until the third
ring to pick up.
"Yes?"
"Mrs. H? Hi, this is Jeremy!"
Taking a breath, Mrs. H forced a smile and said, "Yes, Jeremy, how are you?"
"I'm great, Mrs. H! Only this guy's been asking me weird questions about you. I just wanted to check that everything was all right."
"What kind of questions, dear?" she asked, her nervousness louder in her ears.
"I don't know. Things like if FlyRize is a cover up for some kind of illegal activity. If I was a real actor."
"This man you're talking about, did he identify himself as Rick James?"
"Yeah, yeah, I think so. Why? Do you know him?"
"Unfortunately," she said, pausing, "Yes, I do. I'm so sorry that he's bothered you. He's actually my brother, and I'm afraid he's mentally ill. I don't know how he got a hold of your contact information, unless he went through my things again. But it sounds like he's off his meds. I'll have a word with the doctor to see what's going on. Please let me know if he approaches you again. Thank you for bringing this situation to my attention, Jeremy."
"Oh, sure, Mrs. H! I hope everything's okay with your brother. Anyway, I have to leave for work now. Later!"
When the call died, she grit her teeth. Then, closing her eyes, she rubbed her temple. Feeling nauseous, she curled up on the couch, wrapped her arms around her shoulders and fell asleep.
"What more do you expect me to do?" Detective Morganson asked, glaring,
"From everything we've gathered, this is an open and shut case."
"The man murdered my family!" Helena screamed, standing up, one hand pressed tight against her arm.
Twisting his lips to one side and expelling air, Detective Morganson said, "I'm sorry, ma'am, but there's nothing more we can do. It's time that you move on with your life."
"Fuck you!" she raged, the tears falling fast on her face.
He looked at her wearily. Then she left his office, slamming his door behind her.
Her hands shaking, she put her head against the steering wheel. A few minutes later she heard tapping on her window. Looking up, she saw an officer standing there. Rolling down her window, she waited for him to speak.
"Ma'am, are you okay?"
Wiping her eyes, she said, "Yes, I'm just having a bad day. I'll be on my way now."
She drove off thinking how easy it was for him to kill her family and get away with it. That's when the idea came to her: What if I kill him?
Stopping her car, she asked out loud, uncertain, "What if I kill him?"
Many thoughts pushed through her head then. She sat there, blinking and thinking. Tapping her fingers on the steering wheel, she had an elbow to the door and her head on that hand, her fingers pressing in and out.
"That would be the easiest way to do it," she said as if answering a question, smiling for the first time since her family died.
Suddenly the street turned into a giant monster. She screamed as she was swallowed up.
Just before the monster's teeth crushed her, she opened her eyes, feeling clammy. Sitting up, she put her face to her hands and started crying.
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