CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
Despite how unsettling it was being back here, Jason was hungry.
He headed straight for the kitchen. Without even turning on the light, he opened the refrigerator, there wasn’t much there.
Lauren didn’t like to shop for more than a couple of days’ worth of groceries at a time.
And because of …what happened to her, the fridge hadn’t been re-stocked lately. He might have to order out.
He closed the fridge and turned around. For a second, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. It looked like a figure was standing there in the fading light, right across the center island. Then the figure moved. He screamed.
“Don’t do that, Jason,” the person said, moving out of the shadows.
He recognized her immediately. It was Holly Martens, the beautiful but unstable girl from Santa Barbara who had started planning their future together after just a couple of months of casual hookups.
He’d had no choice but to dump her. Now she was standing in his kitchen.
“What are you doing here, Holly?” he asked.
But he already knew the answer, even before he saw the knife in her hand.
“Payback, lover,” she said sweetly.
He started to back away when she held up something in her other hand.
“Don’t try to run,” she warned. “That will just make me mad. Besides, this thing will stop you in your tracks. Right now, all I want to do is talk, but if you try to leave, that may change.”
“If all you want to do is talk, why are you holding a giant knife?” he asked.
“Let’s call it an insurance policy, my love. Now I’m going to need you to move into the living room so we can chat.”
“Okay,” he said, doing as she instructed.
If following her orders gave him time to figure a way out of this, then he was more than willing to do so. He walked slowly into the living room and sat down on the couch she pointed out to him with her knife hand. He decided to try to take the initiative in the hopes of talking her down.
“I can see why you’re upset,” he said carefully. “I’ve got a lot of explaining to do if I’m going to set this right.”
“Shut up, Jason,” she said sharply. “The days of me swooning as you seduce me with your charm are over. I’m doing the talking now.”
He closed his mouth. It was clear that she needed to say her piece. Part of him hoped that if she got it all out, she might decide that was enough and leave. It was a long shot but he needed some hope to cling to as real fear began to overtake him.
“You made me love you,” she snarled. “You already had four wives strewn all over the state, but you made me think that I was the only one for you. I’m 21 years old.
I’ve only been legally able to drink for five months.
But you’re a legit adult. You should have known better.
And yet you manipulated me so that I’d become part of your harem. ”
Jason had tried to hold his tongue but he couldn’t let that accusation go unanswered.
“Holly, how can you say that? Don’t you remember that I specifically sat you down and said that I was bad at commitment and you deserved better? That’s why I broke things off.”
“Bad at commitment?” she shot back. “You married four women. It seems that you’re too good at commitment. But apparently, I wasn’t worthy of making the team.”
“It wasn’t that,” he pleaded. “I was trying to do the right thing by letting you down easy. You had to know deep down that we could never be together.”
“How was I supposed to know that ‘deep down?’” she spat sarcastically.
“Was it when you said I made you feel young again? Or around the time that you said looking at my naked body was like visiting your own personal museum? Those don’t sound like the words of a guy who thinks we could never be together.
Your life is just one big lie. How does it feel to know that three of your wives are dead because of your choices? ”
A combination of guilt and anger consumed him. He knew he shouldn’t but when he replied, he led with the anger.
“I didn’t kill them. You did!”
It was a mistake. Suddenly Holly’s eyes were blazing and she was gripping the knife tighter.
“Don’t kid yourself. It might as well have been you slitting their throats,” she growled. “You set it all in motion. You started this cycle. But don’t worry. I’m going to end it. Now!”
She pointed the taser at him. Jason flinched. But before she could use it, a familiar male voice barked out.
“Freeze!”