CHAPTER 16
Jeremy rushed into the FlyRize office with a big grin. Winking at Marise, he shrugged his shoulders.
"Sorry, had to cover a shift that ran late," Jeremy said, "Did I miss Mrs. H?"
"No, but she's in a meeting right now. It might be half an hour or more. Are you okay waiting?"
"Yeah, of course. Hey, how's that husband of yours?"
"He's doing great! Right now he's out with the boys camping."
"Sweet. Think I can grab a bite to eat and come back?"
"Sure."
Running to McDonald's just a few blocks up, he ordered a burger and fries and, when his order was ready, took a seat and checked his instructions. They seemed simple enough, he just needed to get the prop knife required for the murder scene. It read:
Main character: John
Motivation: Stab Angie for breaking up with him.
Address: 1234 Hillside
Props: Knife
He tapped his fingers trying to think of a time he felt angry enough to want to kill someone. Giving up he called his best friend.
"Chris, what's up?"
"Nothing more than usual, but all the same. What you want?"
"You ever want to kill a girl?"
"You crazy?" Chris answered, his voice higher pitched.
"Nah, it's for this scene, man. I'm supposed to want to kill a girl, only I can't think of anything that'd make me angry enough. With all your psycho chics, I figured you could fill me in."
"Hah hah. Yeah, I know some girls I could kill, but nothing you'd know."
"Oh, yeah? Like what?"
"Like this one bitch, she scratched up my ride because I didn't call her back or some shit."
"For real?"
"Yeah, yeah. Look, man, I gotta go. Holler at you later."
Looking at his watch, Jeremy gulped the last of his Coke and rushed back. Smiling laconically again, Marise just laughed at him.
"She's waiting for you. Go right in."
"Thanks, babe," he said, winking at her.
"What can I say? I'm in high demand."
Laughing, Mrs. H motioned for him to sit. He sat with an ankle on his thigh, pushing back his hair with his hand.
"So what we need to do today is you get the headgear and the prop knife. I'll walk you through each piece until you're comfortable using them. But if you have questions later, don't hesitate to call me, okay?"
"You know it, Mrs. H!" he said, finally noticing the objects on her desk.
It had felt weird for him to practice stabbing Mrs. H, and he wondered how the other actor felt being on the receiving end. But Mrs. H assured him it wasn't painful: just push in and out, the blood packets would spill and it would look like he'd actually "stabbed" her on film.
Mrs. H then showed him the digital footage of their practice. He jumped the first time he saw himself "stabbing" her, then started getting into it. By the time he stuffed his pack with the headgear and prop knife, he was feeling confident. He knew, too, that "Angie" had just gone through the same prep work.
When he got to his apartment, a man stopped him. Showing Jeremy his card, Jeremy suggested they go to the bar around the corner.
"What's this about, Mr. Rick James?" Jeremy asked, taking a gulp of the malt and whiskey he'd ordered.
"There's been some rumors that FlyRize may not be on the up and up. What do you know about Mrs. H?"
"I don't know much, just that she started FlyRize with a concept that's sick. I'm just glad to be part of this first big project, but she's done a lot of other work and stuff. It's on her website. You should check it out."
"I have. I'm just trying to understand why she pays her actors in cash."
"Because she didn't want us having to hassle with bank holds and shit. Are we done here?"
"Yeah, okay."
Jeremy couldn't shake the blood from his hands. When he arrived to Mrs. H's house, he parked in the garage like she'd instructed.
When he got out of the car, he turned to meet her hitting him on the head with a tire iron. He blacked out immediately.
Mrs. H didn't have time to put on anything more than a wig, moustache and fake bifocals. Quickly stripping Jeremy of his tee shirt and jeans, she put them on, took his keys and unlocked the trunk.
Straining under his weight, she finally got him into the small space. Then she shot him with a tranquilizer to keep him knocked out until she could get him to the river. She waited an hour in case neighbors might've seen him drive in.
Before she let his body float in the water, she drowned him. Jeremy struggled unknowingly, for a moment opening his eyes, but the drugs and the water overcame his resistance.
Removing his clothes and her costume accessories, she burned them and started the ignition until the water swallowed his car. Jogging a distance she finally found the train station and rode into Seattle, where she took a cab to her home.
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