Chapter Thirty
It had been a long night. When Scott finally walked out of the house in Walkerton and drove away in his Range Rover, she let out a sigh. Within minutes, she was on the road and driving back to Nashville. Anger simmered in her blood and when she arrived at her condo, she stomped inside and slammed the door.
The need for violence was strong. She glanced around wildly, eyeing the vase on the counter then the figurine on the side table. But instead of grabbing either of them, she simply threw back her head and screamed out the frustration.
The rage was a living and breathing thing, and it curled in her belly like a nest of snakes.
She’d seen a viper at the zoo once on a class field trip and stood transfixed outside the enclosure, too fascinated to tear her eyes away. The snake had slithered toward the glass, the fabulous girth of its body undulating lazily. Then it lifted its head and seemed to stare right at her, right into her, with those golden eyes and strange vertical pupils.
She still remembered the chill of recognition and the way her skin had pebbled all over with goosebumps . I want to hunt too , she’d thought. I want to slide noiselessly through this world then strike my victim when they least expect it.
For just a moment the thought had horrified her, but then she’d caught her reflection in the glass and saw that she was smiling. Her lips had curved into the exact perfect shape as if she’d known all along how to do it but simply forgotten for a time. It transformed her face. Made her look fun and approachable.
Her inability to smile—until this very moment—had been a thorn in her side. She’d understood it made people uneasy when she didn’t return their smile or grin at a joke. Benny, one of the worst of her tormentors at school, sometimes called her Sour-faced Sue or Can’t Grin and Bear It Bertha. Which she didn’t fully understand since her name wasn’t Sue or Bertha.
It made her mad when he called her those stupid names and the other stupid kids joined in. Sometimes they stood around her in a circle chanting at the top of their lungs. Her smile in the reflection of the snake’s enclosure got wider. Not so sour-faced now, am I? she’d thought.
And when she’d gone back to school the next Monday, she’d snuck into the classroom during recess and squeezed a generous portion of red-hot sauce onto his salami sandwich before slapping the top slice of bread back on and rewrapping it.
The whole thing had been so easy she didn’t understand why she hadn’t done something like this before. Upon returning to her desk after the break, she’d had to forcibly bite down on her tongue to stop from smiling.
It had been the most delicious feeling looking at Benny’s stupid face with those big fishy lips and the cowlick above his right eyebrow and knowing he was in for a rude awakening. And when the lunch bell had finally rung, it was all she could do not to stand over his desk and watch.
In fact, she’d made sure to put her head down and keep her gaze focused on her own food. At least until Benny made a sort of gasping sound and a few of the other kids started tittering. Then she’d joined in the laughter and how wonderful that had been.
Especially knowing she was the reason he had snot and tears running down his sweaty red face. Then he’d thrown up all over his desk and she’d wanted to cheer. Instead, she’d stared right back at him when he looked her way, her eyes steady and unblinking just like the viper.
One by one, over the next month or so, she’d paid back every single kid in her class who’d ever laughed at her or made her feel stupid.
It had been a glorious time. She had a purpose. A mission. And it gave her so much pleasure.
It was something she continued to do even to this day. In fact, when that mealy-mouthed bitch with the big earrings had stolen her parking spot outside the grocery store last week, she’d casually walked over and keyed the crap out of the driver’s side door. There are consequences for every action , she’d thought with satisfaction as she walked away.
Now she took a deep breath and blew it out. She was no longer in a rage, but it still wasn’t enough.
Sure, it had been a surprise when the meddling Lambs had called off the watchdog PIs, at least for last night. But she knew it wasn’t over. No way they were done poking around and attempting to stir up trouble.
Thomas and Jennifer thought they were so smart. Thought they could ruin all her careful plans. What she needed was to do something unexpected. Something amazing and awful and so utterly brilliant it would make her cry happy tears.
Well, not actual tears. She didn’t do that, of course. Oh, she could squeeze out whatever was needed to make others believe she was crying, but she didn’t feel them. Not in any emotional sense.
As she calmed, the big picture came back into focus. Of course, she could still sit back and wait it out. Sooner or later, maybe a year from now, it would be safe to get rid of Scott before moving on to Thomas.
But waiting was so boring. It felt like … well, not a failure … but not exactly a victory either. And this was supposed to be her crowning moment.
Not to mention she’d already invested so much into this plan. Time and energy of course, but also her heart and soul. Why should she have to wait?
At least the marriage had gone through. That was definitely one plus in her column. And hadn’t Thomas and Jennifer been shocked at the announcement? It was pleasing to know Scott’s nice juicy bank balance would be coming her way.
And it was all thanks to her quick thinking and her ability to pivot no matter the circumstance. The diversion she’d set up for Mia and Roman had worked to perfection. They’d been so busy putting out fires—literally and figuratively—that she’d been able to push up the wedding with no one noticing until it was too late.
If Scott was essentially off limits for the time being, she’d simply have to strike out in a different direction. Target someone who mattered enough to throw everyone off their stride, especially Mia and Roman. As long as it hit Thomas where it hurt, she could be satisfied with taking a more leisurely route to the final destination.
It was time to tap into that age-old magician’s trick. Right now, everyone was fixated on Scott and worrying he’d be murdered. So, while everyone looked left, she’d step right and do something completely unexpected.
She walked into her bedroom, grabbed the stepstool, and retrieved the acrylic box from the top of her closet. From inside, she pulled out two of her burner phones. The ones she’d already set up for just such an occasion.
That’s what made her so good. So smart. She was always thinking. Always planning. There was no way anyone would ever catch her.
She powered up the phones and thought for a moment. Then she typed out one final text into the chat she’d previously created between the two phones and waited until the satisfying ping sounded on the other. Her lips curved. This was going to be so much fun.
She walked back into the closet and quickly pulled off her wig and changed into dark bulky clothes before slipping on her black platform boots. They added a good three inches to her height. Finally, she took out the shiny black helmet she’d bought on a whim a couple of months ago.
Slipping it over her head, she walked across the room to the mirror and studied her reflection. Really, there was no way anyone could identify her when she was wearing this monstrosity.
“Don’t mess with me because I’ll win every single time,” she said and smiled when she heard how well the mechanism worked to garble her voice.
She sounded like a robot with a cold. It had been worth every penny she’d spent on the thing. Pulling the helmet off again, she brought it to her mouth and kissed it then tucked it under her arm and returned to the box on the bed.
She found the FedEx gift card and supplies and quickly parceled up the first phone. Then she walked briskly out of the condo and took the stairs down to avoid all but the camera at the main door.
Out on the street, her heart beat thickly in anticipation. This was going to be glorious. Fantastic. Amazing.
Really, she should’ve planned it this way all along because then Thomas would pay twice before she killed him. And by the time he’d lost everyone important to him, and he kneeled before her begging for his life, he’d be sorry he’d rejected her.
There were consequences for every action. Thomas was about to finally pay his dues.