CHAPTER TWO
Lauren Mitchell was quite satisfied with her handiwork.
She was often intimidated by recipes from The New York Times.
But this one, a cheesy, spicy black bean bake, seemed eminently doable.
Her hope was that if this test run went well, she could try it again for her husband when he returned from his business trip tomorrow.
Jason was a big red meat eater and this seemed like a great way to get a protein hit at dinner without some of the health downsides.
The only issue was how long it took. Lauren loved her home in the historic Windsor Square neighborhood of L.A. But the house was over a hundred years old and some of the appliances were a little iffy. As a result, the oven took forever to reach the proper temperature.
She’d gotten so frustrated that she finally decided to have the whole thing replaced.
As a high-end realtor, she was able to get a major discount on the installation from a company she regularly recommended to clients.
But even with the reduced cost, they couldn’t get to her until next week.
So for now, a dish that The Times said should be ready in about fifteen minutes took her nearly an hour to prepare. Nonetheless, the results looked yummy.
She was just about to scoop herself a serving when she heard the front door unlock. Excitement surged through her as she considered the possibility that Jason had surprised her by returning home early.
“Hon?” she called out as she left the kitchen and started down the hallway to the foyer.
But the figure she saw standing there wasn’t Jason.
The excitement was quickly replaced by fear as she stared at the person, dressed all in black, with a black hood covering their entire face except for the eyes and mouth.
Lauren immediately turned and ran. She rushed back down the hall and into the living room, where she intended to open the sliding door and dash into the backyard.
She was just unlocking the latch when she caught movement behind her in the sliding door’s reflection.
She tried to ignore that and just focus on getting outside.
She yanked the door open and was just about to step out onto the wooden deck when she heard a static-y sound. A moment later, she felt a sharp sting and her whole body clenched up, and then went limp. There was nothing she could do as she fell forward onto the deck.