by Tim Kizer
As he pulled his Land Cruiser out of the parking lot, Frank asked Tony in a casual tone, “How about my place? I have a well-stocked bar cabinet. Do you drink gin?”
“Your place?” Tony turned his face to Frank. “Why not? You have a beautiful home, Frank. I’ve kept forgetting to tell you that.”
“Thank you, Tony. So do you drink gin? Or how about tequila?”
“Sure. I’m not very picky about alcohol, to tell you the truth, Frank. I’ll drink whatever you have, don’t worry about it.”
Frank reached into his inner jacket pocket and switched on the GPS jammer. He had turned off his car navigation system earlier back in the parking lot of the night club: if Tony was actually wearing a tracking device, the last thing Frank wanted him to see was a lost satellite signal message on the GPS screen.
“You make a great guest.”
“I’m just going with the flow. I’m easily entertained, you know. That’s probably because I’m not in a hurry all the time.”
“What time do you usually go to bed on Friday nights? Do you feel like having an all-nighter?”
“I love all-nighters. And I like people who love all-nighters. I think we’re going to become very good friends.”
“Yes, we should hang out more often.” Frank nodded.
“By the way, Kelly and I talked about you just a couple days before we bumped into each other at the Mantra Lounge two weeks ago. Isn’t it an interesting coincidence?”
“I guess it is. I think night clubs are fun. I used to go there more often when I was younger.”
“You sound like you’re fifty, Frank. You’re still young. And you like having fun, which is a great quality.”
When they were two miles away from Frank’s house, Tony said, “There is a fun question I love to ask my new friends. If you had three wishes, what would they be?”
Frank fell to thinking for a few moments. “I would say good brains, immortality, and a billion dollars. How does that sound to you?” He turned his smiling face to Tony. At that moment he was dying to stab Tony in the heart with the stake. He felt psyched and full of superhuman strength.
“Those are very good choices. Especially the good brains part.”
As they waited for the garage door to open, Tony said with a mischievous smile, “I think I could help you with immortality. I won’t be able to help you with your other two wishes, though.”
Frank pulled into the garage, pressed the button to close the door. He felt surprisingly calm now as he had begun to suspect that luck was on his and Alex’s side.
“You got a nice truck there,” remarked Tony. If he hadn’t been preoccupied with his thoughts, he would have probably asked what that big tarp-covered thing in the bed of the truck was. And if he had X-ray vision, he would have uncovered Alex hiding behind the truck in a crouching position.
As soon as Tony stepped out of the Land Cruiser, Alex sneaked into the space between the cars, unseen by the vampire, whose eyes were fixed on the door connecting the garage to the house. In the two seconds that Tony had taken to finally notice him, Alex straightened himself up and threw the loop of the five-foot animal catcher he was clutching in his hands over the vampire’s head. Then he tightened the loop and yanked the catcher back with all the strength he had. While Tony fell to the floor, Frank leapt to the tool cabinet, grabbed the stake, and jumped upon the vampire, who was now lying on the floor, his hands pulling at the snare. There was an expression of curious bewilderment on Tony’s face for a few seconds as he looked at the stake in Frank’s hand.
“What are you doing?” muttered Tony.
A minute-long fight ensued, during which Alex struggled to hold Tony’s arms down to the floor, and Frank kept stabbing at the wiggling vampire’s chest with the stake, trying to penetrate it—a job that turned as difficult as he had expected. Oddly, there was little noise on Tony’s part. It seemed as if he realized that screaming would not help him out from under Frank, who sat atop him, between his crotch and knees.
When the spike finally pierced his rib cage, Tony managed to free his head out of the loop, pushed Frank off, and began to rise to his feet, with the stake sticking out of his body like a giant skewer.
“The safe, the safe,” hissed Alex, embracing Tony from behind.
Frank tore the tarp off the safe, which was ready for business as Alex had opened its door prior to his and Tony’s arrival, and grabbed Tony by the ankles. It felt as if he were inside some violent video game; his mind had trouble accepting as reality the visual provided by his eyes. He could hear nothing but ringing in his ears. Hot streams of perspiration were flowing down his face, stinging his eyes; he started feeling the wetness of his sweat-soaked shirt.
In one synchronic movement, they lifted the twitching vampire up to the shoulder level and shoved him into the safe. Fortunately, Tony had been maintaining a good diet and weighed no more than one hundred and sixty pounds. As Frank relaxed his hold on Tony, letting him drop, the vampire’s prosthesis snapped out of its place but remained inside the leg of his jeans.
“The door! I’ll get the door!” Growling with anger and impatience, Frank jerked the stake out of Tony’s chest, dropped it on the floor, ran around the truck, and thrust the door shut just when the vampire shrieked and began to raise his head. Turning the lock knob, Frank thought that Tony was lucky his fingers had been out of the way of the door: this one-hundred-and-fifty-pound piece of metal would have sliced them off without as much as a hiccup.
Then Frank went inside the house to take care of Kelly. He left his jacket in the Land Cruiser since it was splattered with Tony’s blood. Besides, he was very hot at that moment.
Climbing up the stairs, Frank glanced at his watch and was surprised by how little time it had taken them to kill Tony. It felt almost anticlimactic. When he reached the second floor, he saw Kelly walking down the hallway. She had a bathrobe on and was apparently headed for the bathroom.
“Oh, you’re still up,” Frank said in calm voice, his heart pounding so hard he could hear it.
“Yes. Actually, I just woke up. I fell asleep like half an hour after you and Tony left. And I’m about to take a shower, as you can see.”
“I had a good time with Tony.”
“Oh, I’m glad you did, honey. Tony is a great guy. I knew you’d like him.”
“We talked quite a bit. He asked me if I wanted to join your team.”
It took Kelly a few seconds to reply: “What was your answer, honey?” She was looking into his eyes with curiosity,
“I said yes.”
Kelly cracked a wide smile and ran her palm over Frank’s cheek. “I’ll be back in fifteen minutes. Don’t fall asleep.”
Then he murdered her. Just like in that dream from his coma, he had tried to strangle Kelly before pushing her into the tub and stabbing her to death. When Alex showed up, with trash can liners in his hands, Frank was standing in the middle of the bathroom, inventorying all the blood stains and spatters that he would have to take care of later. To completely destroy all traces of splattered blood, he was planning to use hair bleach, which was capable of erasing hemoglobin, a metalloprotein crucial for detecting blood. Preparing for the worst, Frank had purchased twenty pounds of powder bleach, which were stored at Alex’s apartment at the moment.
“I’ll be back,” he said to Alex and ran out of the room. He quickly found Kelly’s cell-phone, checked if there had been any calls or messages to, or from, other ghouls—thankfully there had been none—switched the phone off, and returned to the bathroom.
Kelly’s cell played a significant role in the cover-up of the murders of Kelly and Tony. After they got rid of the bodies, Alex drove to downtown Buffalo and sent Josephine the following message from Kelly’s cell: ‘I lost Tony. Can’t talk right now.’ Then he removed the battery and the SIM card, making sure that the downtown was the last verified location of Kelly’s phone.
Then he threw a plastic sheet on the area of the floor where they were going to place the body; th
e sheet was an effective and cheap way to minimize the time he would have to spend on cleanup. Two very important tasks awaited them: pulling the teeth and packing the corpse up in the trash can liners.
“Remember, Frank, she killed your daughter,” said Alex when he noticed a momentary hesitation on Frank’s face.
“I know.”
When the body was on the floor, Frank stabbed it one last time—in in the heart—just to be sure. After that, he took pliers and began extracting Kelly’s teeth. Alex, meanwhile, was washing the blood off the walls and the tub with a wet towel. Frank had stopped after pulling the fifth tooth. He figured that, even if the police found and identified the body, there was no evidence on it that pointed to him as a killer. Besides, they had no time to waste: what if Josephine decided to pay a visit to Frank’s house to find out why Kelly and Tony were being late from the nightclub?
By the way, it appeared that Josephine had been kept in the dark about Frank hanging out with Tony at the clubs: Kelly had always gone alone to pick up Tony from Josephine’s house. However, this might have been just a case of wishful thinking on his part.
When Kelly’s corpse was packed up in plastic, they left the house to get rid of the bodies.
3.
As they checked into the motel in Pittsburgh, Frank asked himself if he would have the courage and the strength to slaughter the ghouls when the time came to make the move. Yes, he obviously had what it took to kill; otherwise Kelly and Tony would be still alive. The question was: could he do it without Alex?
Could you do it with Alex, buddy? Did you two plan to go on a killing spree after bumping off Kelly and Tony?
As a matter of fact, they had contemplated doing exactly that. He and Alex had hoped that Kelly’s cell would help them lure the rest of the ghouls to a deserted location conducive to mass murder. They had intended to put those Glock pistols to a very good use.
Where is Kelly’s cell-phone now? Probably the same place the guns are.
Come to think of it, killing the ghouls could turn out easier than it looked. With any luck, he might even be able to murder the whole gang in one day. They didn’t have bodyguards and they did their own shopping, which meant that getting to the ghouls was basically just a matter of patience. The best strategy here would probably be to pick them off one at a time, but if the opportunity presented itself to kill them all at once, he would certainly grab it.
It sounds quite doable, doesn’t it, buddy?
It did seem quite doable. There was nothing difficult about pulling the trigger; the trick was to not miss. He could sneak into Josephine’s house at night and shoot Ron and Josephine in their sleep. He could use a pillow to muffle the gunshots, just like they did in movies. It might take him some time to track down Albert if this fucker hadn’t returned to his old place. And he already knew where Graham lived. All in all, it was a viable option, and he had to consider it seriously.
Yes, just shoot the entire gang dead. After all, there were only four of them.
Had he thought about taking the hand-to-hand combat route? This idea had crossed his mind, but he rejected it since he didn’t feel strong enough to follow in Rambo’s footsteps.
Slaughter them all. Perhaps there was no other way out for him, if you were realistic about it.
Then Marilyn called her mother and found out about Albert’s visit.
“Albert wants you to know that Jimmy is a nice boy,” Marilyn told Frank. “And that Jimmy is having a good time with them.”
Jimmy is having a good time with them.
It didn’t take a rocket scientist to understand the hint right away.
“His note said that you shouldn't make Andrew nervous and that everything is in your hands,” Marilyn went on. “Those are the exact words. They want you to come back to Buffalo within the next two days. The earlier, the better. They’re saying that you brother doesn't need to know anything. And who is Jimmy?”
Leaving Marilyn’s question without an answer, Frank went on Skype and called Andrew. They had a five minute casual chat, in the middle of which he in passing asked his brother how his sons were doing.
“They’re doing fine. Tommy’s playing Halo and Jimmy’s sleeping over at his friend’s place,” said Andrew.
You shouldn't make Andrew nervous, buddy. That’s what Albert told you. Nobody has died yet.
He did not make his brother nervous.
“How's your memory?” asked Andrew at the end of the call. “Is it coming back?”
“Right on schedule.”
After hanging up, Frank asked himself if he should have told his brother that Jimmy had been kidnapped.
Well, what would Andrew do if he knew about the kidnapping? Call the cops, right? What would Josephine do once she found out the police had gotten involved? Probably, have Jimmy killed.
There’s your answer, partner. Panicking Andrew is not a good idea at the moment. You know how to solve this problem. Like Albert said, everything is in your hands, buddy.
4.
“I was wondering what Kelly’s father’s dick would have tasted like if we’d fried it?” said Graham.
“Probably like pork,” said Josephine. “I read somewhere that human meat tastes like pork.”
“We should have fried that dirtbag’s dick and fed it to him.”
Albert giggled and patted Graham on the back. “You're hilarious, Graham. Making a dude eat his own dick—that’s funny shit.”
“Yes, it’s kind of funny,” agreed Josephine.
“I wish I’d sawed his legs off,” said Albert.
“Well, he died too fast,” said Josephine. “That creep just didn’t want us to have any fun.”
“Speaking of fun.” Graham got up from the armchair, sat next to Josephine, and slid his right thumb under the waistband of his underpants. “Do you want to have a threesome?” He cracked a wide smile. “You, Albert, and me?”
“Great idea!” Albert exchanged glances with Graham and began to unbutton his jeans.
“Okay.” Josephine nodded.
She was about to pull down her panties when the cell-phone rang. She motioned Albert to answer the phone, and he immediately grabbed it. Josephine leaned back on the couch and fixed her eyes on Albert.
“Hello.” A moment later Albert pressed the speaker button and announced, “It’s Frank.” He high-fived Josephine and then Graham.
“Hey, Frank, it’s Josephine. We’re listening to you very carefully.” Josephine took the phone from Albert. “You have something important to tell us, don’t you?”
A short silence followed before they heard Frank’s voice, “Is Jimmy with you?”
“Yes, he is.” A few seconds later Josephine added, “I hope you’re not asking this just out of curiosity.”
“You must let him go.”
“Sure, Frank. But you have to do something for us first. Where are you now?”
“What do you want me to do?”
“You have to come back to Buffalo by tomorrow midnight. There’s one thing we need to discuss with you in person. I’m sure you know what it is.”
“First you must let Jimmy go. Then I'll come to you. That's what you want, isn’t it?”
“Yes, you’re right; we want you to come back to Buffalo. And if you’re thinking about going to the police, you’d better think again. The police are not your friends in this situation. They’ll fuck you over, Frank. We have Marilyn on tape telling that you murdered Kelly. And I bet there are traces of Kelly’s blood somewhere in your house, waiting for the cops to find them. You do realize the jury nowadays doesn’t need a lot of evidence to convict a cheating husband, right? They don’t even need a body. So, my advice to you, Frank, is to keep your mouth shut.”
“I understand that. You let Jimmy go, and I’ll come back to Buffalo.”
“He’s so fucking arrogant,” said Albert.
“Josephine, tell him who sets the rules here.” Graham clenched his fist.
Josephine nodded. “Frank, if you’re afr
aid that we'll kill you, please calm down. We only want you to show us where you buried Kelly's body. You buried it, didn't you?”
“You have to let Jimmy go first. I don't really trust you, Josephine.”
“Why should we trust you? You’ve already proved yourself to be a liar. Please come back to Buffalo and show us where Kelly's body is. Did you bury it, Frank?”
“You’re going to kill Jimmy as soon as I show up. Let him go first.”
“We’re not going to kill him. He’s having a good time right now. There’s no reason for us to kill him. He’s not a loose end that needs to be taken care of, okay? Did you call your brother yet? Did you ask him about Jimmy?”
“Yes.”
“Then you must know that, as far as his parents are concerned, Jimmy is having fun with his friends. So, let’s stop wasting each other’s time, Frank. Hop on the plane and get back to Buffalo. What city are you in?”
“He’s an idiot.” Albert started pacing around the room. “He just doesn’t get it.”
“Did you bury the body?” Josephine went on. “Do you remember where you buried it?”
“First let Jimmy go.”
Josephine exchanged glances with Graham and Albert.
“Yes, he’s an idiot,” said Graham.
“Okay, Frank. We’ll let him go in two hours.” Josephine gestured to Graham and Albert to keep silent. “Ron will send you an email as soon as your nephew’s on his way home. If you don’t meet us before tomorrow midnight, an irreversible thing will happen to the boy. And this will be all your fault.”
“Don’t even think about going to cops,” said Graham. “Listen to Josephine. The police aren’t going to help you. They’ll put you in jail for life for Kelly’s murder, okay? They’ll turn your case into a national story. Do you want to become the most famous killer of the year, you moron?”