Page 4 of Dying Flame

The thought of someone being hunted down in the woods and killed makes me shudder. I’ve heard a few stories lately of women going missing while camping or hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountain Valley.

I remember going there a few years ago with Devin. It was beautiful—so peaceful and breathtaking. Being brutally murdered there sounds like something out of a horror story. Who could do such a thing? I turn off the radio before I even hear the weather report. I guess maybe a hike this weekend isn’t the best thing to do.

Well, I’ll find something else for us to do together. In the meantime, I think I’ll just make sure the house is clean, and I'll tidy some things up in the garage for Devin. That way he won’t have to do it when he gets back.

Yeah, that’s what I’ll do tonight with some wine and music. It’ll help calm my nerves a bit.

Once I get home, I pop a quick dinner in the oven and open a fresh bottle of Merlot. I know I shouldn’t drink on a work night, but work has been draining, and I need to unwind a bit. A couple of glasses won’t hurt, right?

After I eat, I bring my Bluetooth speaker and wine to the garage and turn on some light classical music to fill the quiet space. I left my car in the driveway, but Devin’s is still here. The garage is generally his area and some room for storage. Last week he did some car maintenance and left the garage a mess. So instead of waiting for him to come back home and clean up, I’ll just do it for him.

I’m on my second glass of wine and feeling a bit buzzed. It helps me forget the rough day and focus on doing something nice for my husband. I like doing little things like this for him to show that I care and am thinking about him.

He is different, though. When we first started dating, he was more attentive, but now I just think he’s overwhelmed and tired with all the traveling he has to do. I just hope things slow down for him soon and we can go back to how things were between us. Some days I feel like he has lost interest in me.

As I sweep the dust and cobwebs in the corners of the garage, I notice Devin’s car is unlocked and there are countless papers, receipts, and plain old junk thrown around the car. Sometimes he takes it with him while he travels; other times, like this, he leaves it at home.

When I open the car door, there’s an odd smell that hits my nose right away. It’s something strange, maybe rotting mixed with chemicals. So strange. It turns my stomach almost instantly, and I want to gag. Maybe he left some food in here, or something spilled and he cleaned it? Whatever it was, I was on a mission to find it, so I went back into the house to grab some cleaning gloves and a garbage bag.

As I rifle through the papers on the floor of the passenger seat, I notice a used Epi-Pen. Devin is deadly allergic to bees, so he must have used it recently and never told me about it. Weird. He never goes anywhere without one. I think I have an extra in the bathroom just in case.

Something tells me to look through the papers and receipts just in case he needs them for work. I don’t want to throw anything out that he might need. Most of the papers were meeting notes, pricing sheets, and lead info, so I put those neatly in a pile and left them on the passenger seat. The receipts were for gas stations, fast food, and grocery runs. Those can be important for expense reports, so I add them to the pile of papers I found.

There was one specifically that caught my eye; the date was recent, but he was supposed to be out of town for work. I remember it clearly because it was the day of my best friend's birthday party. I asked Devin to come with me, but he had a last-minute work trip he had to go to, so I went alone.

The location on this receipt was a local hardware store in town at an odd hour too. Hmm…maybe the store had the date wrong on the receipt. That’s possible, but why would he be buying rope and cleaning chemicals? I do all the cleaning in the house and buy my own stuff.

By this time the awful smell starts to give me a headache, and I put that receipt in the trash bag and continue my search for the smell.

The backseat is mostly clean, so I vacuum the front and back of the car. No spills or damp spots that would cause this horrid stench. It kind of reminded me of when a raccoon was hit and killed on the street right in front of our house. After a few days I eventually went out there and had to dispose of the rotting corpse. The smell lingered in my nose the rest of the day. I’ll never forget it.

Maybe Devin hit something driving one day? I move to the trunk, and as soon as it pops open, that smell hits me in a strong wave. Like it’s been festering in there for a long time. The smell makes my eyes water, but the trunk is clean. There’s absolutely nothing in here; why does it stink so bad?

I take a glove off and put my hand on the carpet, and it’s very slightly damp to the touch. The whole trunk is damp. Maybe that’s what’s causing the smell? Ugh, I’ll have to ask him when he gets back because this is awful! The sound of crackling thunder spooks me, and I slam the trunk shut.

Shit! I left the windows open in my car! I ran through the house and out the front door in the pouring rain. I slip into the car, and the front seat is already soaked. Once I close the window, I sit there for a moment, and an unnerving sensation ripples through my body. Like someone was watching me.

So fucking silly, but it's frightening me, so I run back into the house and lock the door behind me. Between hearing about women going missing and being found brutally murdered, the weird receipt, and Devin’s car smelling like a morgue, I’ve thoroughly freaked myself out.

I’m overthinking things, I'm sure of it! But there was something from that day on that told me to be more aware of my surroundings. To be more careful. I’ll ask Devin about the car when he gets home, but for now I’ll keep the knowledge of that receipt to myself…

“The parade starts at noon, right?” I didn’t hear Devin come outside, and he’s standing right behind me as I stare off into the woods.

“Uh—yeah, shoot, let me make us a quick lunch,” I get up and walk past him without so much as a smile. Everything I do for him is just muscle memory now. I wonder how long it will take me to stop doing that once he’s gone.

SIX

DEVIN

Emily made us some sandwiches on fresh sourdough and pasta salad. Not my favorite; I would have preferred something warm, but I guess this will do. I left her outside on her own this morning after breakfast while I did some work. Luckily the reception here is good, so I have data to do my research.

After all these years with Emily, she’s never thought to go through my laptop. Not that she would be able to access any of my folders with information she knows nothing about. I’ve learned to be careful. Always making sure to not keep anything that could be connected to any of the girls or my work.

I do all of my initial research on different computers and locations and store the important information in my head. Not keeping a paper trail gives anyone even less reason to suspect me. I have monitored police investigations closely on some of the girls found in the last decade, but no leads point to me in any way.

I guess it’s time to switch things up again. I can’t risk getting sloppy and getting caught. Maybe I’ll take some time off to cool things down around here. It’ll be difficult to keep my urges at bay, but it must be done. In the meantime I have plans for my last kill for a while.

I can feel her watching me. She thinks I’m so engrossed in other things that I don’t notice, but I do. I always have. Years ago she stupidly told me she was in the garage cleaning things out for me. It was after one of my ‘trips.’ Some blood pooled onto the carpet of the trunk afterwards. Although I cleaned it up, the chemicals I use can take a little while to neutralize the smell.