Page 43 of My Turn
A familiar little chime came from the hallway. I opened the dryer and found the bedding in there, freshly cleaned and devoid of any evidence. Since he’d washed me, I assumed I didn’t have anything to use there either. There was nothing I could show the police except for the marks on my arms. Was that enough for them to believe me? Maybe whatever drug he’d injected me with could be identified too. It was possible they’d think I was just an addict, but it was worth a shot.
My head spun and I had to move back to the bed. I grabbed my phone from the nightstand, unsure of what I should do.
Alana:When will you be home?
Jayce:I’m getting on a plane at 2. Everything ok?
Alana:Yup. I miss you.
Jayce:That’s a high honor. I’ll stop by.
Alana:No. Not today.
He sent me another message, but I ignored it. I couldn’t answer whatever questions he’d have for me. He would see right through me. On top of that, he wanted to know what happened with the probate lawyer. It wasn’t anything interesting, but he’d hound me until I gave him a detailed transcript.
There were too many things happening in my life right now. My mind was becoming a jumbled mess and at the moment, I didn’t know what weighed on me more. Logically, it should be the masked rapist, but everything felt so heavy right now.
I wanted Jayce to come over, but I couldn’t take comfort from him at every turn. It was a fast track to advancing our relationship, which just couldn’t happen. God, I wished he would go out and start a serious relationship so that he’d be off the market and I could find a way to stop thinking about him that way. Jake may be dead, but that didn’t mean I could be with Jayce. Too much tainted water flowed between us.
No, this was something I had to deal with on my own. The last thing I needed was for him to go vigilante on me and try to hunt the guy down. He wouldn’t get hurt because of me. Losing him would completely devastate me beyond repair.
Chapter 17
Jayce
When I got off the plane, I didn’t go directly to Alana’s place. I imagined she was working through some intense emotions and, honestly, I wanted her to feel them. What was the point if I went and made her feel better after I did all of that to start breaking her down? I wanted her to move into a state where she decided to keep it inside and deal with it herself, which I was sure would be her reaction. If she had me there to support her while she was still so raw, she’d probably spill everything and I’d have to play the role she expected by convincing her how fucked up it was.
It may have been fucked up, but she’d be okay. If things went the way I wanted them to, I’d be able to gradually twist the key to her mind until the door flung open and let me inside. Soon, she’d start to question her thoughts and desires.
Even if she decided to go to the police again, they wouldn’t have anything substantial to investigate. She’d realize it was all but hopeless because I wasn’t some amateur who came into this unprepared. Once she accepted that she was at my mercy, her mind would be mine.
Opening my bag of fertilizer, I ran my fingers over the small amount that was left. I credited the perfection of my last batchof wine to this particular substance. It was a shame that it was almost gone, but we’d had a good run.
“One last ride,” I said as I scooped the rest of it out. After I’d spread it through the garden, I stared down at the plants.
The sweet potatoes would be ready for Thanksgiving and I found that fitting. When we talked about what we were thankful for, I might say something about Jake still being with us, watching over us. Sustaining us. Contributing to the healthy growth of the food we ate.
Turning human bodies into fertilizer wasn’t even that difficult of a process. It took my brother only a couple of months to become something more useful than he’d been in life. I had one of the bottles of wine set aside to age and I may never open it since it was the last piece of him that remained.
It wasn’t as if I’d hated the guy. He was my brother and there were many things we’d enjoyed together. I loved him but a lot of the time, I didn’t like him. In the end, he hurt Alana one too many times and he was in my way. Watching him take his last breath while the betrayal burned in his eyes triggered a slew of memories from our past. I never had to fake my grief; I just had to conceal my relief.
I liked to think that he’d be glad I was here to take care of Alana. Despite his myriad of faults, he did love her. Not enough, but I was trying to think of positives while I watered him into the earth.
When I went back inside, I washed my hands, then pulled out my phone and navigated to a news site for Denver. My lips curled upward when I saw one of the top headlines.
Man found dead in Denver hotel suite.
When twenty-nine-year-old Viktor Campe failed to show up for his flight Saturdayafternoon, his coworkers at Elrod Aviation Technologies contacted hotel staff to conduct a wellness check. Campe was discovered deceased on the floor in his bathroom. The exact cause of death is unknown, but a contact within Denver PD speculates that Campe may have died of natural causes. Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.
It was a sink or swim world and when you stuck your nose where it didn’t belong, you should expect to be drowned.
Things were rolling with Alana now. I wouldn’t allow a single thing to get in the way of that, even if I had to kill more people along the way. None of them were as important as my future with her.
I walked down the hall to my bedroom and opened the door to my closet. There was a small box sitting atop a shelf, tucked behind the other shit I had stored up there. I grabbed it and set it on the bed, then flipped the top.
Picking up the plain wedding band, I ran my thumb over the smooth metal. I hated gold, but Jake thought it was classic. Alana wanted it to be buried with him, so he’d been wearing it when they put him in the ground.
I pocketed the ring and stuffed the clothes I wore as Erebus into my backpack. I wasn’t going to fuck with her tonight, but I wanted to see her after she went to sleep. If she happened to wake up, I couldn’t be wearing anything she might recognize as mine.