Killing Kirshner (A Psychological Suspense Thriller)

by Mason Black

  Jack rubbed the stubble of hair on his face, deep in thought. “There is no way out. We are screwed. The question is, are we just going to sit back and let this piece of shit who has loved making our lives miserable destroy us or are we going to stop him?”

  “What are you suggesting?” Abrams whispered.

  “We have all been thinking it. Hell, we have been planning this since we started the asshole’s class,” Jack mumbled.

  “That was just talk, man. We were all just blowing off some steam. None of us really meant what we said,” Sean stated.

  Abrams spoke up. “I meant it. I hate him. After what he did to us in the classroom, and what he is about to do to our lives. If he was in front of me right now, I would wrap my hands around his neck and …”

  “Abrams, enough! We are not going down that road,” Amanda interrupted.

  “Well, what else are we supposed to do? You don’t have to be a part of it, Amanda.”

  “Abrams, listen to what you are saying. Despite his flaws, he is a human being,” Amanda whispered.

  Abrams sighed. “You’re right, sorry. I’m just so emotional. You have no idea the sacrifice I made by quitting my job so I could go back to school; it has been really hard on my family.”

  Amanda touched his hand and gave him a smile. “Let’s go back to my room and we can talk about this. I’ll make everyone dinner and we can clear our heads a little. There has got to be something we can do.”

  Will remained silent as the five of them stood up and headed out the door. He folded the newspaper and tucked it under his arm. The answer to their problems had been staring him in the face for the past few minutes. A strange smile came over his face. “It’s a perfect plan,” he thought. “Perfect.”

  Chapter 37

  Amanda whipped together some pesto pasta and a nice Cesar salad. Although it was probably not enough to feed her four hungry boys, it would do for the time being. It was not long before Amanda had to boil up some more pasta to satisfy them.

  Sean contributed some garlic bread from his dorm room. He ripped it into pieces with his hands, handing a piece to everyone. Sean shoved the bread into his mouth and took a large bite, “I thought you were going to lose it back there,” Sean said, gesturing to Abrams.

  “Sorry about that; I lost it like you said. I just don’t know what the hell I’m going to do – not only am I not going to be a lawyer, now I have to pay for a semester at law school with money I don’t have.”

  “Oh, shit, I didn’t even think about that. If we get thrown out, then the money we borrowed will be due. Isn’t that how it works?” Sean asked.

  “I think we have about three months to repay the balance of the law loan,” Abrams responded.

  “Fuck, I am screwed too. I don’t have $25,000,” Sean yelled.

  Amanda’s face turned pale white. Jack, Abrams and Sean stopped eating and watched Amanda slowly fall apart. She ran into her bedroom, sobbing and slamming the door shut. Will did not move from the table. In fact, he barely noticed her running out of the room. They all looked at him, waiting for some reaction.

  “Aren’t you going to see if she’s alright?” Jack asked.

  “Oh, yeah, I guess I should,” Will said.

  Will lightly tapped on her door and asked if he could come in. She did not answer. He walked in and found her on the bed, hiding under the sheets.

  Jack passed a napkin to Sean. “What the hell are we going to do?” Sean asked.

  “I was serious back there. I’m not going to let that bastard ruin us. We have all worked too hard to get here,” Abrams whispered.

  “Are we talking about actually killing a man? Do you really think we could do something like that?” Sean asked.

  “I think I might be able to,” Jack mumbled.

  “Well, Amanda won’t have it,” Sean responded.

  “Like I said before, she doesn’t have to be involved,” Abrams pointed out.

  “No, if we do this, we do it together. It’s just like we have done everything. It has to be unanimous,” Jack insisted.

  “Well, then, it’s never going to happen, man; she won’t be a part of this,” Sean argued.

  Chapter 38

  Amanda stayed in her bedroom talking with her mother on the phone, who had called while Will was trying to console her. She talked with her mother at least once a day, assuring her that everything was fine and she was doing well. The only class she was worried about was Criminal Law because of the reputation of the professor.

  Bobbi told Amanda that her law practice still was not doing well. Bobbi had recently taken on a very controversial client, and it hurt her business. The people in Charleston were very unforgiving, and Bobbi could barely find a few clients to represent. Bobbi felt extremely guilty that she could not pay for Amanda’s law school, but Amanda never gave her any grief about it. She filled out the loan applications and sent them off without even telling her mother. Amanda explained to her mother that she never expected her to pay for her law school. Of course, this was very far from the truth because Bobbi always paid for everything for Amanda. They only had each other. Amanda’s father was murdered when she was only ten years old. So, it had always just been her and her mother.

  They hung up the phone and Amanda decided she would join her friends in the living room.

  Chapter 39

  “We’ve decided that we only do this if it is unanimous,” Abrams began.

  “You are still talking about this,” Amanda interrupted.

  “Amanda, we have to discuss all our options. That is why we are here now – to discuss every option we have to deal with Kirshner. Then, we will all vote on which option to take. Does that sound fair?”

  “Fine, but we still think y’all are nuts,” Amanda remarked, gesturing to Will.

  “I’m not sure they’re nuts. Let’s just discuss everything like Abrams said,” Will responded.

  “Alright, other than making him disappear forever, does anybody else have any ideas?” Jack said.

  “What if we get something on him – like something to blackmail him,” Sean suggested.

  “That’s actually not a bad idea,” Jack said.

  “Well, in order for that to work, we need to find out a deep, dark secret in the next two days before he goes to the dean. How in the hell are we going to do that?” Abrams asked.

  “What if we break into his house – look through all his shit and see what we come up with?” Sean argued.

  “That sounds like a real long shot. If we are going to do something, we need to be sure it is going to work – a full-proof plan. Hoping that he has some deep, dark secret that we’ll be able to figure out before Monday is very risky,” Jack said.

  “Well, certainly killing him is a hell of a lot riskier. You know how hard it is to kill somebody and get away with it?” Sean argued.

  “It happens all the time,” Abrams mumbled.

  “What if I told you I had a full-proof plan to get rid of him and no one would ever know it was us,” Will finally spoke. “Hell, no one would even suspect it was us.”

  The room was silent. Will pulled the Miami Herald out of his book bag and held it up for the group to see. In large black letters, the Miami Herald’s lead story was displayed: “The Miami Mangler Strikes Again.”

  “So what! We pray that the Mangler kills him?” Sean laughed.

  “No, we make it look like the Mangler killed him,” Will said.

  “We stage the scene; we do it just like the Mangler has done it every time. It’s brilliant, Will,” Abrams cheered.

  “Not only that, but we’ve got inside information that has not been released. Right, Jack?” Will asked.

  “Yeah, that we do; my cousin is a cop for Miami Dade and he told me all the details. This is stuff that has not been released to the press yet, only the police know about this,” Jack revealed.

  “So, we make it look like the Mangler did it. Their investigation will be completely focused on catching the Mangler and not us. As long as
we are super careful, there will be nothing tying us to it. It really is an awesome plan, but the Mangler is into some gruesome shit. I don’t think I could do that kind of stuff to another person,” Sean said.

  “I’ve been hunting deer my whole life. I’ve gutted deer, skinned them, removed their limbs, you name it I’ve done it – I know how to do that stuff. I think I might be able to do it,” Jack reluctantly said.

  Amanda stood up. “I just can’t, guys. I just can’t. I mean, what are we even talking about? We’re not murderers. I don’t want to go to hell. I’m Christian and so are you, Sean. I will not do it. It’s either the blackmail thing or nothing.” She ran back to her bedroom.

  “Christ, Will, go talk to her. You got to convince her,” Abrams pleaded.

  Will sprung up from the couch and walked down the hallway to Amanda’s bedroom. Amanda was sitting on her bed, talking on the phone and clutching a pillow; she was crying and obviously upset. Will waited at her door until she hung up the phone.

  “Are you okay? Is everything alright with your mom?” Will asked.

  “I don’t want to talk about it right now,” she said, wiping the tears from her eyes.

  Will sat quietly next to her on the bed for a few minutes. “Amanda, I don’t know what else we can do. How we can save our careers from this guy. This is the only way,” Will argued.

  Amanda turned around sobbing. “Let’s do it. I’m in.” Amanda got up and ran past Will to the living room. “Do you hear that, Abrams? I’m in. Let’s get rid of him once and for all.”

  Chapter 40

  Jack sat down at Amanda’s kitchen table and began making a list of items they would need. Will pulled Amanda back into the hallway. “What the hell just changed your mind so quickly?”

  “I told my mom that Kirshner knew her when he used to live in Charleston; I asked her how she knew him and she finally told me the truth. Will, Kirshner is the lawyer that defended the man that killed my father. He didn’t just get him off; he completely destroyed my father’s reputation. It was like they were killing him over and over again. Kirshner made the jury believe my father was a drug-dealing cheat who abandoned his kids for whores. He put my mother through hell all over again. It wasn’t bad enough that she lost the only man she ever loved; now she was having to defend these ridiculous accusations Kirshner was making.” Amanda began to cry again. “It was like my father was on trial, and none of it was true. And Kirshner’s strategy worked, he got away with murdering my father. I can’t begin to tell you how that destroyed our lives. Now, he is trying to destroy my life and my friends, and I will not let him get away with it again. So, I’m in this with y’all. I’ll do whatever it takes to end this.”

  Jack came into the hallway. “I need you guys in here. We need to figure out who is getting what. I made up a list.”

  They went back into the living room where the Sean and Abrams sat. “Okay, we need to split up and hit a few different stores for supplies; we got Home Depot and Lowes right across the street from each other. We can also get the stuff we need at Wal-Mart. So, based on what I know about the Mangler, we will need an axe, some rope, latex gloves, a few plastic drop clothes, an electric saw, and the Taser gun that I will have to pick up at an Army Navy store. I think there is one near the Wal-Mart.”

  He handed a list to Will and Amanda, and another to Sean and Abrams. There was a moment of silence as they realized this was actually going to happen. Jack quickly broke the silence by adding, “Remember, cash only and avoid security cameras, just in case.”

  ~~~

  Four hours later, Jack gripped the steering wheel tightly as he occasionally checked in his rearview mirror. The group of five remained silent as they headed toward Kirshner’s house. Two large black bags sat in the back of the Escalade filled with the supplies they would need to pull off the perfect murder.

  Abrams sat in the front seat gazing out the window; he turned around to look at Amanda, Will and Sean. Abrams finally could not take the unbearable silence anymore, and hit the power button on the radio.

  He went through the stations looking for something good to listen to when he came across a news station. “This breaking story … reports have been leaked from the Miami/Dade police that the Miami Mangler may have been arrested earlier this evening. Early reports are telling us that a man walked into a police station in south Miami and confessed to being the Mangler. The Mangler has terrorized Miami now for eighteen months. Up to this point, it appeared that the police had very little evidence to go on. This is a major turn in the case. Police are currently trying to verify the validity of the man’s claim. Obviously, all in the city of Miami pray that the Mangler’s reign of terror is over. News 10 will keep you updated as we get more information.”

  “God dammit!” Abrams shouted.

  “What the hell are we going to do now?” Jack yelled.

  “Nothing, the plan is shot to hell now. Let’s just go back home,” Will responded.

  “This has to be divine intervention or something. What are the chances of this happening on the very night we were planning on …” Sean said.

  “I highly doubt it was divine, just more bad luck. Let’s just go home,” Jack interrupted.

  Jack got off at the next exit and hopped back onto I-95 heading back to the dorms. Abrams was enraged. The perfect plan was ruined, and now they all might be thrown out of school.

  “What the fuck are we going to do now?” Abrams shouted.

  Chapter 41

  It was Monday morning and Kirshner’s Criminal Law class was assembled in the lecture hall. The board was completely wiped clean and the podium was bare. The second hand on the clock moved over the “12.” Professor Kirshner was officially late for the first time in his career.

  The students chatted as they waited for their hated professor to show up. The unofficial rule in law school was if the professor did not show up after 15 minutes, the students could leave. Ten minutes had passed and still no Kirshner.

  “Wonder if the old bastard croaked,” Dina Ehrenzweig mumbled in the back of the room.

  A few chuckles resonated through the classroom. “Oh, please let that be true,” another student blurted out.

  Will grabbed Amanda’s hand and looked deep into her eyes. Abrams sat back in his chair glancing at Jack and Sean. The room suddenly became silent. Todd Garner finally spoke up. “Maybe somebody should go to the dean’s office and tell them Professor Kirshner didn’t show.”

  “I’m out of here,” Dina Ehrenzweig said as she grabbed her books and walked out of the classroom. This started a chain reaction of students leaving the room. Todd remained in the classroom, as the last student headed out the door.

  Todd sat for a few more minutes and decided he would tell the dean’s office that Kirshner did not show up.

  Chapter 42

  Shazhad Ahmed arose to the sound of rap music blasting through his apartment wall – it was only 5:22 a.m. This was not the way he envisioned waking up for his first day at his new job as a homicide detective. Shazhad and his wife, Aamilah, had moved to Miami only two weeks earlier.

  They both had grown up in New York City where other Muslims lived in masses, but Wichita, Kansas probably had only two – them. They only lasted nine months in Wichita and had experienced a lot of racism during their short stint. The worst was when they were walking down the street together after having lunch and a man driving a pickup truck screamed, “Fucking towel-head terrorists!” Shazhad caught up to the man, who was stopped at a red light, and yanked him out of his car, pulled out his police badge and shoved it into the man’s face. He dragged the man into the alley, but Aamilah pulled Shazhad back and begged him to just walk away, which he did a few seconds later.

  It was only a few days later that Shazhad put in for a transfer to the Miami/Dade Police Department. They both realized that in the climate after September 11, it was not safe to be living in the Deep South. When Shazhad saw Miami had a detective position opened, he took full advantage of his outstandi
ng reputation in New York and had his previous captain call Captain Alvarez in Miami. Within a few weeks, he had the position.

  But Shazhad not only wanted to be in a friendlier environment for him and his wife, he wanted to be near the Miami Mangler. He had been keeping close track of the Mangler in the newspaper and on the internet. He hoped that once he got to Miami, he could join the team in charge of finding the culprit. Unfortunately, the news reported that a man walked into the police station and confessed to be the Mangler.

  Several minutes passed by, as Shazhad watched the ceiling. He could see the walls of his bedroom shaking. Shazhad yanked the sheets off, and threw on a robe; he marched down the hallway and banged on his noisy neighbor’s door. A short, black man answered the door.

  “What the fuck do you want, Habib?”

  “It’s six in the morning; turn off your music or I will do it for you,” Shazhad yelled.

  “Get the fuck out of my house, bitch!” the angered neighbor shouted back.

  Shazhad threw the man against the wall and slugged him in the gut. The man collapsed to the floor, as Shazhad walked back into the bedroom where the music was coming from. He yanked the stereo cord from the wall, and opened the window next to the bed. He looked out the window and made sure there was no one below, then flung the stereo out the window. It crashed onto the ground breaking into pieces.

  “Are you fucking crazy, man?” the neighbor yelled, standing in the bedroom doorway.

  “Yeah, I am fucking crazy,” he shouted as he walked past him.

  “Next time, it’s not just going to be your stereo,” he warned.

  “I’m calling the cops you mother …”

  “I am the cops.”

  Chapter 43

  Detective Harry Pitman hung up the phone with Pete Chambers and looked across the room.

  “Pitman, quit daydreaming and get your ass over here,” Captain Alvarez shouted. “We got a missing law professor and I need you on this ASAP.”

  “We’re using homicide detectives now to find missing people?” Pitman quickly asked.