Page 30 of Burn For Me

It had only been a couple of weeks since my mad escape, but I was realizing very quickly that in this new world, I needed to be a lot more careful than I had been. One of the newspapers had caught me in a photograph walking away from Dave’s building. Luckily I had my hood up, and they hadn’t said I was the killer, but that wasn’t the point. It was too close. I had things to do before I died, and I would die before I was locked up again.

Unfortunately, that meant I had to deceive Dora, and the thought didn’t sit well. Everything I needed was online, and a credit card had to be used. I couldn’t very well use one of those with no fixed address, no identification, and a name that I would rather keep off of any computer system.

I tapped on the final item and added it to the cart to have shipped to her farm.

“Here you go, I’m all done, and here is the cash.” I pulled out a wad of bills from my pocket.

“Nope, I don’t want your money.” Dora gave me a firm stare and crossed her slim arms over her chest. She would’ve been a force in her youth. She was still fiery as hell now, so I could only imagine. “I’d rather you do some work for me around here.”

I looked around the small home that was as neat as a pin, and my face must have shown my confusion because she continued. “I mean outside. I have a leak in the roof, my garden fence needs fixing, and my chicken coop has seen better days. Some of these things are just too much for me anymore.”

I pushed the money into my pocket.

“Alright, it’s a deal. Write out a list of what you want done, and I’ll take care of it.”

Her elderly features lit up as she clasped her hands in front of her chest. “Thank you, Derek. I’ll be right back with the list.”

I’d never seen someone so happy to spend time with me other than Asher and Adalyn, but even with them, I wondered if they really wanted to be around me. Asher turned his back on me, and Adalyn and I hadn’t really been given a chance to see how our relationship would grow. The mere thought of her sent a stabbing pain through my chest. If I hadn’t been so quick to escape, then maybe, she’d still be alive.

Shaking off the thought, I turned to stare at the photograph that was above the mantle. It was of much younger Dora and a man with a young girl. This had to be Dora’s family. She never mentioned anyone visiting, so I had to assume if the daughter was alive, she didn’t visit. I guess if someone were desperate enough, that person would pay for the company even if it were with the likes of me.

“Here you go. The first couple of things are for inside the house. The rest are outside.” Dora handed over a piece of paper. My eyes glanced at the list and then up at the wide smile on Dora’s face. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that half of the words were spelled wrong or missing lettings. I knew she had good days and bad, but her personality never let me know which kind of day it was. Her friendly and helpful mood never changed.

“I’ll get right to it,” I said and stuffed the paper into my pocket. As I made my way out to the garage to find the tools needed, I couldn’t stop thinking about my newest purchases.

The fancy surveillance equipment was due to arrive tomorrow, and I was excited to try it. Dr. Wallace was my ultimate target, and Dave’s phone had proved to be another goldmine of information, including access to all of Jim’s social media accounts. People loved to share their lives, and Dr. Wallace was no exception. A smirk played along my lips as I thought about what I was going to do to that man. I wrote down all the needed information and decided it was time to get a burner phone as it wasn’t safe for me to hang onto Dave’s phone any longer.

It was late morning that I found myself under Dora’s sink putting her pipes back together. She’d had a decent-sized clog in the old plumbing, but it was nothing that a little elbow grease and a new piece of pipe couldn’t fix.

“Hey dear, did you want some fresh lemonade,” Dora asked as I wiped my hands on an old rag.

“Thanks,” I said and took the offered glass. I smacked my lips with the sweet and sour taste that hit my tongue.

“No good?”

“It’s perfect actually, best I’ve ever tried.”

“Now you’re just flattering me.” Dora patted my arm as she wandered past me to the fridge. “I was thinking….” She paused and turned to look at me with a brick of butter in her hands. She was in the process of making cookies. The first batch had already come out of the oven, and my mouth sang with the peanut butter goodness. Was she trying to bribe me?

“What is it, Dora?”

The look on her face made me a little concerned that she’d suddenly decided she wanted me to fuck her. I mean, she was still a good-looking woman for almost eighty, but she was more like the grandmother I never had.

She wandered over to the small kitchen table with the yellow sunflower tablecloth on it and picked up her purse. She rummaged around inside and pulled out a handful of plastic cards. The woman didn’t seem to own a wallet, and I had no idea how she managed to find anything in there.

Watching her arm fish around in the bag reminded me of the big claw machine at the mall. The claw hand would reach into the pile of toys and pick out an item at random. I’d never played—only watched because I didn’t have the money, but it was fun to watch others. Sometimes, I’d even pretend that I was one of those kids with the smiling dads that wouldwant me to play the game with him. A normal family event, just once, that’s all I asked for, and never got.

“Here,” she said and held out a platinum credit card.

“What’s this for?” I took the card from her outstretched hand.

“I have a feeling you’re going to need it, and I have enough to keep you busy around here until the day I croak, so you might as well keep it.”

I looked at the card and then up at Dora. “I can’t take your card, Dora. I appreciate it, but….”

She held up her hands.

“No buts. Take the card. I have more than enough money. Unless you plan on purchasing a yacht, I can cover whatever you need.”