Girl Next Door: The Complete Series

by C. C. Wood

  After I finished the laundry, I decided to call in the pizza and carve the pumpkins while I waited for the food. I called in my order, getting an extra pizza for Troy. He could eat it when he got home or tomorrow. I figured, with the hours he was working, he wouldn’t feel like cooking.

  Knowing it would be at least an hour before the pizza showed up, I spread newspaper on my dining table, grabbed a big knife and a couple of paring knives, and a pumpkin. I decided to do the first pumpkin in a traditional jack o’lantern face. I would do something a little more creative with the second pumpkin.

  After I drew the face I wanted to cut on the outside of the pumpkin, I grabbed my big chef’s knife and got ready to cut the top off. Just as I stuck the knife in, my phone beeped, signaling I had a text message.

  With a sigh, I left the knife in the pumpkin and looked at the screen, half expecting the message to be from Grayson. It wasn’t. It was from Troy.

  I’ll make it home around midnight.

  I tried to ignore the little flip in my tummy when I realized he was calling my side of the duplex home. I liked it way too much.

  Great. I ordered pizza and got an extra one for you. Carving pumpkins now.

  I glanced at the table and laughed when I saw that the knife was sticking up and to the side of the face I had drawn. It looked as though I were trying to murder the jack-o’lantern. Giggling, I took a picture and sent it to Troy.

  Save one for me, was his response. See you around midnight. Don’t wait up.

  I texted my good-bye and settled down to get back to work. It looked like I was only carving one pumpkin this year. Again, I felt that happy little flip in my tummy, this one harder to ignore.

  I cut the top off the pumpkin and started scooping out the seeds. I threw them in a bowl to be washed and dried so I could roast them in the oven with some salt. I really liked knowing that Troy was coming home to me at night. And that he wanted to do a fun thing like decorate for Halloween. I set about cutting out the facial features with a paring knife.

  Just as I finished the face, the doorbell rang. The pizza place had perfect timing. I laid my knife next to the pumpkin and washed my hands quickly in the sink. The doorbell rang again. I guess the delivery guy was in a hurry.

  I hurried to the door, wallet in my hand, and yanked it open. It wasn’t a delivery guy. It was Grayson. I started to slam the door shut in his face, but his foot was in the way. To keep him from trying to come inside, I pulled the door back open and shoved him back. I stepped onto the porch, crossing my arms over my chest from the cold, and glared at him.

  “What in the hell are you doing here, Grayson? I’m pretty sure we both said all we had to say a few days ago.”

  He held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “I know, I know. I’m sorry, but there’s something I need to talk to you about and your boyfriend interrupted before I could tell you last time.

  I waited. When he didn’t continue, I said, “And?”

  I made no effort to be nice. The asshole called me a cunt. He didn’t deserve Polite Amy. Actually, he deserved ‘Kick You in the Nuts’ Amy, but she wouldn’t be making an appearance today because I wanted to get this over with and go back inside.

  “It’s my wife. She’s completely lost it,” he said.

  Well that got my attention. “Your wife?” I screeched. “You’re married?!” I punched him in shoulder. “You asshole! You give me shit for refusing to sleep with you, but you were trying to cheat on your wife with me!” I took another swing at him, but he managed to evade my right hook.

  “Fine. Whatever. The point is she’s gone crazy. She found out about you, and she’s been talking about making you pay.”

  “Making me pay? She should be thinking about punishing your sorry ass. I didn’t even know you were married. I hope she does stop by. I’ll suggest she castrate your sorry ass!”

  The pizza delivery guy pulled up as I finished yelling at Grayson. We both looked over at him as he climbed out of his car. The poor kid seemed intimidated as he came up the front walk.

  “Hi,” he said, his eyes bouncing back and forth between Grayson and me nervously.

  “Hi. Here, keep the change,” I said. I gave him the money, wanting him and Grayson gone.

  The kid’s eyes widened when he realized that I had just given him a ten dollar tip.

  “Thanks!”

  He scurried back to his car and left.

  I turned back to the asshat on my front porch. “Thanks for the head’s up, Grayson. I’ll be sure to let Troy know. Especially since this crazy ass wife of yours has egged my house, left a flaming bag of dog shit on my porch, keyed my car, and destroyed half my wardrobe and most of my bedroom furniture. Now, I never want to see you again.”

  With that, I whirled on my heel, stepped back into my house, and slammed the door behind me. I carried the pizza to the oven and stuck it inside. I set the oven on the lowest setting to keep the pizza warm, and went to grab my phone. Even though Troy was busy, I was sure he would want to know about this latest development.

  My fingers touched my phone, and it immediately started to ring. Damn, this was getting freaky. First the doorbell ringing just as I finished carving pumpkins and now the phone ringing just before I needed it. Feeling creeped out, I answered the phone without looking at the screen to see who was calling.

  “Hello?”

  “I told you to stay away from what belongs to me. Now you have to pay, bitch.”

  Holy shit, it was Grayson’s wife, and she sounded pissed.

  “Look, I didn’t know Grayson was married. If I had I never would have had anything to do with him,” I explained.

  “Doesn’t matter, cunt. Watch your back.”

  There was a click when she hung up in my ear. What was it about people calling me the c-word lately? Maybe she learned that word from Grayson.

  My hands were shaking as I called Troy’s cell. He didn’t answer. I honestly hadn’t expected him to because I knew he was busy. So I left him a message, and I dug in my purse and got the number for the officer who was investigating everything. He answered.

  I was slightly out of breath as I explained what had just happened and repeated what Grayson told me. I also told him about the call from the crazy woman.

  Detective Burns asked me several questions and had me repeat a few things to be certain he had all the facts. Then he asked for Grayson’s number and address. I provided him with the information, and he said he would give me a call the next day with an update.

  After we hung up, I wondered how in the hell Grayson had hidden the fact that he was married. I had only been to his apartment a couple of times since we started dating. I avoided it because he started getting a little pushy about sex after we had dated for a few weeks.

  I felt a little relieved though. Now I knew who had been vandalizing my stuff, and I hoped that Detective Burns could have this straightened out and Grayson’s wife in custody before the end of the week.

  Still feeling shell shocked, I took the pumpkin seeds to the sink and washed them thoroughly. I left them in a colander to drain and pulled my pizza out of the oven. I put a couple of slices on a plate, grabbed a beer out of the fridge, and went into the living room since my dining table was still covered with pumpkin guts.

  I turned on the television, more for company than anything else, and grabbed my Kindle off the coffee table. I had several books on my To-be-read list and had been too busy to read them lately. With everything going on, I needed a peaceful night. Remembering that Detective Burns knew who the culprit was and would soon have her in custody helped me relax. At least I had the comfort of knowing things couldn’t get worse.

  Later I would realize how very wrong I was.

  The sensation of icy cold hands sliding on my skin woke me from a dead sleep. I sat straight up, cracking my forehead against Troy’s chin, and screamed from a mixture of fear and pain.

  “Dammit!” Troy jerked away, cursing and rubbing his jaw.

  I rubbed the top
of my head, glaring at Troy in the dimness of the bedroom.

  “What the hell?” I asked, rubbing my forehead. “Why did you do that?”

  Troy shrugged. “I did it as a joke, but I don’t think I’ll be waking you out of a dead sleep ever again anyway. First you took a swing at me, and then you head butted me.”

  I glanced at the clock and saw it was only eleven. I had done as Troy suggested and gone to bed before he came home. After the stress of the previous week, I was tired and needed the extra sleep. I had only been asleep about an hour and a half.

  “Why did you wake me up?” I asked.

  “I got your message about an hour ago and decided to come home early. I was hoping to catch you before you went to sleep. We need to talk about you, and what you need to do to stay safe.”

  I rubbed my eyes. “Detective Burns planned to track her down tonight and arrest her.”

  Troy shook his head. “Lance said that he couldn’t find her. He called her asshole husband and he didn’t know where she was. The fact that she called you immediately after the dickwad left tells me that she’s probably watching the house. I’ve arranged for a patrol car to do a drive-by every hour or two until she’s caught, but tomorrow is Halloween, and I doubt they’ll be able to come by as often as I’d like.”

  Still rubbing my aching forehead, I sat up and put my back against the headboard. “I’m sorry, Troy. I’m still a little foggy here. What exactly are you saying?” I asked.

  “She’s watching you, Amy. You can’t let your guard down until she is caught. From what Lance Burns learned from her husband, she’s not well. It seems she’s always been a little fragile, but, when she found out he was seeing you, it broke her. According to Grayson, she’s had episodes before and she can be violent, so you need to be extremely careful until Lance tracks her down.”

  “She’s watching me?” I whispered. God, now I felt vulnerable.

  Troy’s hands cupped my shoulders. “Hey, hold on. I just want you to be careful, and I want you to understand that it’s very important you keep an eye on your surroundings.”

  I nodded. “Okay, okay. I won’t freak out. It never crossed my mind when she called me tonight that she might be watching me. I should have realized because she called right after Grayson left.”

  Troy stood and started stripping out of his clothes. When he was down to his black briefs, he climbed into bed next to me and pulled me close. I relaxed against him as he put his arms around me and rubbed my back and shoulders gently.

  “It’ll all work out, Amy. I promise.”

  I didn’t reply because, with his arms around me, I felt safe. So safe that I had fallen back to sleep.

  The next day I felt as though I had eyes on me all day long. While I was at school, I felt much safer. The security at the middle school and high school was almost as good as the airport. It was when I walked to my car in the morning and went about my daily business outside of work that I constantly looked over my shoulder, expecting a crazy woman to jump out and attack me.

  On my lunch break, my phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number but answered it anyway. It was Detective Lance Burns.

  “Ms. Bennett?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “I’m glad I was able to reach you. We have Theresa Garrett in custody.”

  I felt the tension in my muscles begin to leak out.

  “So it’s over?” I asked, relieved.

  “For now. Eventually she will be released on bail, but it probably won’t be until tomorrow. Also, we will arrange for a protection order. If she violates it then they will remand her until the trial.”

  “Great. Thanks, Detective Burns.”

  After I disconnected the phone, I felt a million pounds lighter. I texted Troy, who already knew of course. It seems Detective Burns had called him first.

  “I’m just glad it’s over.”

  “Me, too, babe,” Troy said. “Have fun handing out candy tonight. I’ll be home around nine or ten.” He paused. “Don’t leave the porch light on too late. I want you all to myself when I get home.”

  I shivered. I really liked the sound of that.

  “Okay, babe. I’ll see you later.”

  I went through the rest of my day in a cloud of relief and anticipation. Relief that the whole situation with Theresa Garrett was over and anticipation of Troy coming home. I decided to plan a little surprise.

  Since it was Halloween, I had let all my students skip piano lessons so they could get ready for trick or treating, so I didn’t have any commitments after school. When classes let out, I headed straight to the mall to Fredrick’s of Hollywood. Victoria’s Secret was all about pretty, feminine, and sexy in a classy way. I wanted something really naughty. I knew exactly what I wanted. I found a very sexy and extremely racy black and white lace and satin merry widow with garters and stockings. I had the perfect black stilettos at home. I bought a matching black satin G-string but I didn’t think I would wear it. I wanted to drive Troy crazy in a fun way rather than in anger. Looking at my purchase, I had a feeling I would succeed.

  I hurried home and ate a quick dinner and prepped for the flood of kids that usually came to the door every year. I always loved seeing the kids in their costumes.

  Right on time, at five-thirty, the doorbell rang for the first time. Most of the kids were neighborhood kids, but some of my piano students came by, which was adorable. I took pictures with them and sent them on their way with a reminder to practice.

  My thought that some of the kids in high school knew where I lived was proven correct when a group of them came by and tried to clean me out of candy. I made it clear that only at Halloween was it okay for them to drop by when they felt like it.

  By eight o’clock I was exhausted. I decided to turn off the porch light in a half hour and take a nice hot bath before I slipped into Troy’s surprise. The doorbell rang once again, so I walked over and picked up the candy bowl that was sitting on the small table next to the door.

  I almost screamed when I opened the door. A young woman stood in front of me, dressed all in white, her skin almost as pale as her dress. Her eyes were dark brown and surrounded by dark circles. Long dark hair tangled around her hair and face. She looked like a cross between the ghost from The Grudge and the girl on the tape in The Ring. It was actually a very effective and terrifying look.

  Putting my hand to my pounding heart, I laughed breathlessly. “Oh wow. Your costume is amazing. Definitely creative.”

  I thought that she was a little old to be trick or treating, but to each their own.

  “Where’s your candy bag?” I asked, dipping my hand into the bowl.

  “Right here,” she whispered in a voice that sounded strangely familiar.

  It wasn’t until she raised her hand and pointed a very big gun at me that I realized how I knew her. This was Theresa Garrett, Grayson’s wife, and she was definitely not in jail as I expected her to be.

  I dropped the candy bowl.

  “Get in the house,” she said in a rough whisper. “And don’t say a fucking word.”

  I backed away from the door with my hands up. She followed me inside and shut the door behind her.

  I huddled on my sofa and watched Theresa Garrett pace back and forth across my living room, muttering to herself. Now that I knew who she was, she scared the shit out of me even more than any ghost or ghoul could have.

  I quickly realized that the gun in her hand was a .38 revolver, and I knew enough about weapons to know that it would leave a very nice sized hole in me. One that would hurt like hell and bleed a lot.

  I watched her pace; her dirty, tangled black hair flying behind her as she moved back and forth quickly, turning sharply on her heel each time she ran out of room.

  “I warned you. Warned you that he belonged to me. You shouldn’t see married men. It isn’t right. Women like that should just be shot.”

  The first time she said that during her monologue, I thought she was going to shoot me right then and there. Inst
ead, she paused in her pacing to stare at me for a moment and then went right back to talking to herself.

  Now that she’d said it about twenty times, I was still scared but I didn’t think that she would shoot me just yet. She was waiting for something.

  A knock sounded on my door and we both went still, staring at it. I opened my mouth to tell whoever it was to get lost, but Theresa pointed the gun at me.

  “Not a single fucking word. He’s here. I want him to see what happens when he give in to temptation.”

  I had a sinking feeling that the person on the other side of that door was Grayson Garrett. When she walked over and opened it up, my premonition was correct.

  “Holy shit, Theresa. What the fuck do you think you’re doing? You can’t come in here and terrorize Amy like this,” he said.

  Theresa just pointed the gun in his direction and he shut up immediately.

  “Get in, Gray. I want you to see something.”

  Shit. Shit. SHIT! I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but I couldn’t just sit here on the sofa and let the crazy bitch shoot me. I looked at Grayson hoping he would try to step in, but I was sorely disappointed. He just stared back at me with wide scared eyes. No help there.

  I turned my focus back to Theresa.

  “Theresa, please listen to me…” I started to say.

  She whirled, waving the gun wildly. “Shut up, bitch. I don’t want to hear one thing you have to say. You shouldn’t fuck married men. When you sleep with a married man, you’re a whore. You’re no better than dirt. And you deserve whatever punishment you get from the wives.”

  I shrank back into the sofa when the gun barrel swung in my direction. Shit, she was going to end up shooting me by accident.

  Grayson finally did something. He stepped closer, drawing Theresa’s attention away from me. Of course, he had to open his stupid mouth and make things worse.