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–Chapter Twenty-Two–
Harper
His wife’s murder made the local news.
The local freaking news. I didn’t understand how we could live on two separate ends of the same town, and I’d never figured it out.
I supposed I had ice-cream to thank for my great triumph.
It took me some time to prepare for what I was going to do next.
By time, I mean I had to haul boxes, stop at a garage sale, a hardware store, and ultimately a pet store. Everything else I needed was ordered online—like the dildos.
I made sure to keep tabs on Jayce the entire time, wondering if he knew it was me who’d killed his wife.
I couldn’t imagine he didn’t.
Then again, the sick fuck probably had his fair share of people who despised him.
When everything was set, I followed him for two solid weeks, day in and day out. I went as far as swapping my ruby red Jeep for a rental car to blend in a little better.
Wherever Jayce went, I went.
His auburn hair looked thicker, and he had a bit of scruff, but otherwise, he looked the same as he always had.
For a man who’d just lost what should have been the love of his life, he didn’t seem too distraught. He was more pissed that he’d been a suspect.
If the cops only knew the half of it.
They wouldn’t hear about it from me, but I had an anonymous letter ready to go that I’d hand typed after I was found.
I felt the other girls, wherever they’d wound up, deserved some form of peace for their families.
If they had any.
There weren’t any missing persons reports filed in our area, which led me to believe Jayce took girls who had nothing and no one, or who weren’t from around here.
That didn’t change anything on my end.
I learned rather quickly he led a ridicuously boring life.
Breakfast with the same group of men on Tuesday.
The pool hall on Thursday.
I’m sure he knew I was following him; I stopped trying to hide it three days in. I wanted him to see me.
I made my appearance on Sunday.
Leaving my rental in front of a shopping complex, I slipped on my signature purple gloves, grabbed my gun, and walked the few blocks to Holy Trinity Church.
I couldn’t understand why, or how this man could be religious in any way. Maybe it was another role he played.
He came out alone, just like he had the week before. I waited until his car was unlocked before coming up behind him.
“Get in,” I demanded, pressing my gun into his back.
“Harper,” he mused, turning his head to the side. “I was wondering when I’d see you again. I know you’ve been following me.”
“That’s nice. Now get the fuck in the car. And please don’t make me ask again,” I added sweetly.
We didn’t have an abundance of time to stand here like this. I cocked the gun to hurry him along, and it worked.
“Okay, okay, calm down. No one needs to get hurt.” He slid into the driver’s seat, and I got in behind it.
“Give me your phone,” I said, keeping the gun trained on the back of his head.
He wordlessly handed it back to me.
“Now pull out of this parking lot and make a right.”
“This is entertaining,” he laughed, doing as I said.
“If you think this is fun, wait until you see what comes next,” I quipped.
That made him shut up for a minute—but only a minute.
“You know, if anything happens to me, I have friends who will come looking.”
“I find it extremely hard to believe that you of all people have friends. Are they as fucked up as you are?”
“Actually, they’re a lot worse,” he chuckled.
Now it was my turn to shut up. How could anyone be worse than J? I made it a top priority to look into these friends of his.
“You know, you look just as pretty as you always did.”
“Shut up, J.”
“Now that Minnie’s gone, we—”
“Shut the fuck up!” I yelled, whacking him on the side of the head.
“Dammit,” he cursed, touching a small gash.
“Don’t say anything else. This isn’t a social call.”
He remained quiet as I instructed him all the way to an old farm road.
Digging into the satchel I had looped across my chest, I retrieved a cool syringe and popped the cap off.
“What are you planning on doing with me way—ah!” He smacked at the back of his neck where I’d just stuck him through the headrest.
“Don’t worry, it’s not life-threatening,” I laughed, instructing him to pull over and cut the engine.
“What did you give me?” he questioned, already slurring his words.
I chose to look out the window at the cornfields instead of responding.
When I looked back in the front seat, J was slouched down.
I couldn’t believe I was this close to him again, and how calm I felt in his presence.
