First published on Sunday, April 12, 2009

He lifted her skirt.

"Oh my pretty girl." he whispered.
"You wore the garter belt I like so much."

He almost regretted killing her quite yet.

~

Married five years. They both wanted children.
Or, so he thought.

Her first mistake was leaving the birth control pills in her lingerie drawer. With a bracelet he'd never seen before.
People get careless when their deceit goes on too long.

That was six months ago and he'd been collecting evidence and plotting ever since. His original plan did not include killing.
He wanted to catch her in the act, beat the shit out of whichever prick was there and, spend some months making her life miserable.

In the end, though, the idea of long, drawn out drama was not appealing. Better to end it quickly and move on.

When his job necessitated traveling, he called her every morning and she called him every evening.
Turned out that schedule left her evenings free for other things.

When he saw this week's schedule had him working two separate projects, he decided it would be the best scenario for covering his tracks. He wasn't due to come home for two more days. That would explain why the vase of roses was still on the dresser with a card that said, "Can't wait to see you tomorrow. Love, Joe."
The dead, naked guy beside her on the bed was Sam.

Sam's neck was twisted in a most unnatural angle. As was hers.
No blood. No mess.
He reached up to close her eyes and pull her skirt down a bit.
He couldn't help but leave her, his wife, with a tiny bit of dignity.

Living in a heavily treed area with distant neighbors made it easy to hide his car and walk unnoticed to the house. With several hours of moonless dark still in the evening, he'd have no trouble going back the way he came. He'd be back at the hotel in plenty of time to make his morning call to her. And leave a loving message.

Perhaps Joe, the bouquet-guy, would be the one to find this scene. If not, he'd make another call tomorrow night, leave another message and then call her sister to ask if she'd seen his wife.
Either way, he would be the broken-hearted, grieving husband however he got the tragic news.

He walked to the bedroom doorway and looked back to say,
"It was fun while it lasted, wasn't it?"

Continue reading →