This Guy Kills Me

by Anlyn Hansell

  She was pacing back and forth in the kitchen, thinking of, and then discarding plans. Somehow, she needed those keys. Or maybe not. There were windows. She could simply open one of the windows…and fall three stories to the ground below. DUH. Damn.

  Maybe…

  She turned and jumped when she realized he was standing in the kitchen once again.

  “Agh!”

  “Sorry. Thinking about something?” He took a step toward her, he was smiling. He was so incredibly handsome, she thought idly as he took another step.

  “Um, no…I mean, yes. Yes, I was thinking about…us.”

  “Good. I’m going to take the world’s fastest shower and then maybe we can talk some more, Ok?” He took another step causing her to take one back in response.

  “Sh…Sure.”

  He stopped abruptly, his smile faltering.

  “No funny stuff, Ok?”

  “Nope.”

  “You know I’m doing this to protect you, right?” he added softly.

  “Yup.”

  “How’s the chicken doing?”

  “The who?” she asked absently.

  “The chicken. In the oven? How long?”

  “Oh! Half an hour, I guess.” She gave a tiny shrug.

  “Ok. I’ll be right back.” He fixed her with the most intense stare for a moment. He didn’t step toward her although it really seemed as if he were holding himself back. It was so damn…sexy and yet so…strange? How can your body want someone when your head tells you to stay the hell away? What is that?

  He really appeared as if he wanted to say something else, his mouth sort of opened but then closed as he continued to stare at her hotly.

  “I’m trusting you,” he finally stated.

  “Yup.”

  He shook his head while one side of his mouth curled up.

  “I don’t know that I’ve ever been this freaking scared to take a shower before. You’re doing something to my head, I swear Jane.” He was backing away, a full blown smile on his face, as if he had no qualms about revealing that to her. “Be right back,” she heard as he wandered from the room.

  She stepped out of the kitchen into the living room to watch him as he walked down the hallway and turned right into his bathroom. Her eyes scanned the area, settling on a black bag on the chair. After glancing up, she immediately walked over to it and began rooting through it.

  Nothing. Just some cables, some kind of black box transmitter thingy that she had absolutely no clue about.

  Turning, she wandered around the room, searching for something, anything and finding nothing of use.

  The shower was on, causing her feet to pad quietly down the hall toward his room. The shower curtain was being pushed aside.

  She stopped at the guest bedroom, turning on the light and performing a quick scan of the area. A closet was situated at the far side of the room and she jogged over to it, opening the double doors and peering inside. Some suits were hung up but nothing else. Nothing on the shelves, nothing on the floor except a pair of dress shoes. Closing the door, she ran from that room and into the room across the hall. An office. A large desk sat in the corner, a computer docking station and a couple of large monitors were the only things on the gleaming wood surface. A small black bag sat on the floor next to the desk. Opening the bag, she found a laptop, a power cord, some crazy looking tower-like attachment. She unzipped a side pocket revealing nothing. Suddenly a vision exploded in her brain…a memory. Was this the bag? She flipped the bag over, unzipping the other side pocket, her hand reaching in and grabbing something she already knew was there. A small pill bottle. The same pill bottle she watched him open, grab a small tablet and empty the powder into her glass of wine two months ago at his cabin.

  She pushed down and turned the cap, shaking out one tablet before shaking out another. Ok, one more…no, no…three was too many. I don’t want to kill the dude. She thought as she replaced the cap with suddenly shaky hands. She placed the bottle back in the bag, zipping it up and placing it exactly where she found it before running back to the kitchen.

  She was bouncing from one foot to the other searching for something to put it in. The chicken? Nah…how about…

  “Hello…” A wine rack full of bottles. Reds and whites. White with chicken, right? She grabbed a bottle, placing it on the island. Her eyes scanned the glass-fronted cabinets, alighting on the wine glasses on the top shelf.

  No. Too obvious. He would know something was up if she poured the wine and had it waiting, right? But…she couldn’t open the bottle and dump the powder in the wine bottle. He would suspect something was up if she didn’t drink it too…

  Ok, Ok…the water shut off abruptly down the hall, causing her eyes to widen. Coffee mugs were situated on the first shelf of the same cabinet. White coffee mugs…

  Opening the cabinet, she grabbed two, placing them on the counter before grabbing the pills and pulling the first one apart. The powder fell into the mug along with one side of the cap. Her shaking fingers fished it out clumsily before opening the other pill and dumping the contents.

  “Jane? Everything all right out there?”

  “Yup!” she yelled back nervously. Timing was everything. He had to see her open the wine bottle. She immediately turned and opened a drawer, revealing forks, knives…spoons. Closing that drawer, she opened another revealing various kitchen utensils. Her fingers combed through before her eyes alighted on the corkscrew. Picking it up, she turned and placed it next to the wine bottle before grabbing it up again. Her heart was practically beating out of her chest as she waited. She quickly placed the corkscrew on top of the bottle, twisting it a few turns, waiting for him to show up. As soon as he did, she would pop the cork from the bottle and immediately start pouring. Her hand gripped the bottle as the other sat at the ready as soon as he showed himself. She didn’t have long to wait. She froze as soon as he entered her line of vision. His bottom half was wrapped in a towel, his top half…oh damn…and his hair was wet and…damn.

  Concentrate. She quickly pulled the corkscrew up and out, and immediately grabbed the bottle to begin pouring into the coffee mug on the right. That would be his…Hopefully he didn’t notice the way her hands were shaking.

  “What are you doing?”

  “P…Pouring wine?” She refused to look up, instead, she righted the bottle before dumping some in the left side mug – hers.

  “Stop.”

  Oh shit.

  “Huh?”

  “I have wine glasses.” He was stepping around the island, walking to the cabinet and opening the door. He reached up, revealing some corded muscles in his back (don’t look) before turning with two glasses in his hands.

  “They…ah…I couldn’t reach those,” she stated as he settled them on either side of her on the island, effectively trapping her against it.

  “I’m so proud of you, Jane,” he murmured lightly.

  “Wha…ah…why?” she stammered as his eyes searched hers.

  “You’re still here and…you didn’t try to kill me or…anything.” He slowly leaned in, kissing the side of her mouth as she stood ramrod straight, staring with wide eyes beyond his shoulder. “Let me change, we’ll talk, Ok?”

  “Yup,” she stated as he backed away almost reluctantly, it seemed. She immediately turned and dumped the right hand side coffee mug into the wine glass and placed it on the island before grabbing the left side and doing the same, careful to keep the left one in her hand. She raised it to her lips. She watched as he grabbed the wine glass and took a sip, her pulse kicking up once again. Hopefully it was dissolved. Hopefully it didn’t taste like shit…

  “Good choice, Babe.” He smiled before he placed the glass down and continued toward his room.

  She blew out a sigh of relief.

  *****

  “I must be beat. God, I’m so relaxed. Come here.” He was resting the back of his head on the couch before he held his arm out. It dropped almost as soon as he lifted it. She sat on the other side of
the couch, cradling her glass of wine in her hands as she watched his eyes close then open again. He was having a bit of difficulty focusing on her, she noticed.

  “You’re too far away. Come ‘ere…”

  “I should go check on the chicken,” she muttered, watching him closely before shifting her eyes to his wine glass. There was maybe one more sip left in the glass.

  “You should come check onmyshekkin, whudIjushay?” His eyes fluttered closed once again.

  “Maybe you should just rest. You look really tired.”

  “Jaaaaane? Whudoodo?” she watched his mouth mumble before his head fell to the side.

  *****

  “There,” she stated, viewing her handy work before wiping her brow. He was heavy. It was all she could to turn him and maneuver his hands behind his back to tie them with every household item she could find. Belts, ties, socks, tape, computer cords and pretty much anything else she could find that could be tied in a knot. His arms and his legs. Not that she needed to worry. She slipped him two tablets. He would be out for quite a while and she would be long gone by the time he ever woke up.

  “Keys…” she muttered, giving him one last glance before running into his bedroom. She checked every surface, every drawer, even the shower…nothing. What if he locked them up somewhere? But then he would need a key…so that key should be…somewhere.

  “Ok stop.” She paused back in the middle of his room, her breathing heavy. Where did he go after he locked the deadbolt?

  Bathroom. They almost had to be in there.

  She turned quickly to check the room again. Maybe the linen closet?

  She closed the bathroom door behind her as a distinct tinkle was heard. Her eyes wandered to the side to find a ring of keys hanging on the hook attached to the bathroom door. Car keys, maybe house keys, a couple of keys that looked like lock keys...

  She snatched them up quickly before running from the room in search of her clothes.

  *****

  What if I killed him? He’s out. Really out.

  Maybe two was too much.

  Doubts were swirling around her head as she snagged up her purse and his keys and gave him another quick glance.

  Her body turned toward the door once again before her feet stopped, turned and walked briskly to the couch.

  Her fingers pressed gently on his neck, feeling for a pulse. There it is. A small frown fixed her features as she stared down at him, maybe for the last time? He really believed he loved her. Or maybe he was fixated. Maybe he really needed his meds.

  She blew out a small breath as her hand just sort of lingered there, touching the side of his face gently. I really need to go…

  Both eyes popped open, staring back at her, causing a small scream to erupt from her throat as she jumped back.

  “Wha…how -”

  “You drugged me and…you tied me up? How’d you do that?”

  His arms struggled behind him.

  “You’re not…you’re supposed to…I gave you two, dammit!”

  “Two of what?” he asked as one eyebrow rose before a look of concentration took over. She watched his shoulders move as she took a step back.

  “Two of the same pills you gave me back at the cabin.”

  “What pills?”

  “The ones in your computer bag. I saw you do it. You can’t mess with a psychic,” she stated coolly.

  “Clever. However, you do realize that for years I was taking prescribed medication regularly AND I’ve built up a tolerance to this stuff, so nice try, but…what is that?” she could hear the sound of tape ripping. “You tied me up with tape…and…” he looked down at his bound ankles, “belts? Is that a tie? You can’t tie a knot worth shit, Babe. I just undid one.”

  “Yeah, well there’s other stuff back there.” She took another step back.

  “Where are you gonna go? How do you even plan to go anywhere? Did you even think this through?” he breathed out as he continued to maneuver his arms behind him.

  She quickly pulled out his keys and jiggled them in front of him.

  “I have your keys.”

  “I have multiple cars.” He ceased his struggling and fixed her with a sarcastic grin.

  “But I have your keys,” she shot back, matching his expression.

  “Actually, I have extra keys to all of my vehicles and the motorcycle stashed everywhere in this place. Maybe you should go find them. I’ll wait.”

  Her eyes darted around before they settled back on him.

  “Go ahead. Is that…? Is that a cord? You can’t knot a cord. I just undid that too. In fact, I’m going to be free in about 3 minutes and I am going to catch you approximately two minutes after that so you might as well just save yourself the effort, Jane.”

  She immediately bit her lip and turned to walk around the couch.

  “Just a tip. You should tie people to something… It makes it harder to get loose.”

  “You’re heavy. I couldn’t…Oh, shut up. I need to go.”

  “You go and you’re dead! Where you gonna hide? You don’t have any money,” he stated as he continued to pick apart her crappy knots.

  She whipped out a few bills from her coat pocket and waved them. “I borrowed the cash from your wallet. I’ll be alright for a little while.”

  Damn.

  It didn’t matter. He’d still catch up with her…

  “My cars have voice recognition, by the way. If you don’t say the password within 5 seconds of opening the door, the car will blow up,” he tossed out the lie in the most convincing tone possible.

  That made her stop. Another knot down…

  “What?”

  “Yeah. Mmm hmm. You’re screwed,” he stated simply. Another knot…

  “You’re lying.” She rode in two of his cars. Did he say anything weird when he got in? Think…

  “Jane? I swear woman, you are pissing me off…” he muttered as he continued to struggle. “When I get loose and I catch you? I’m going to strip you bare, turn you over my knee and spank the daylights out of you.”

  “You said you don’t hit women,” she tossed over her shoulder as she walked to the front door.

  “I’ll make a special exception for you. But that’s Ok, Babe. When I’m done, I’m gonna make it all better…aaaannnd, I gave myself a boner…great,” he stated under his breath.

  She gave a slight eye roll before she pulled the keys out. Her fingers were shaking as she tried the first key. No dice. The second key fit. She turned it and a click echoed in the foyer.

  “Jane! I mean it! You leave and you might as well kiss your ass goodbye!”

  “You know what?” She turned, fixing him with a glare. “I don’t care. I’ll take my chances. You already broke my heart.” She pointed to her chest as she took a step toward him. “This right here? You crushed this. What else is left?” The last sentence came out as a half sob. Tears burned the backs of her eyes as one escaped and rolled down her cheek.

  He stopped struggling and fixed her with a serious stare.

  “I know,” he stated softly. “I’m so sorry, Jane. I will spend the rest of my life making that up to you, I promise. Just…come back here. Please?”

  He looked so sincere. Her mind and body struggled and her heart must not be as damaged as she thought because it was actually beating wildly in her chest.

  “I…can’t. Not now, maybe…I just need to think, Joe. I can’t be around you right now.” Tears just kept streaming down her cheeks, one after the other in rapid succession.

  “Please don’t cry, Jane. Just be smart. You know I love you. You know that, right? Come here and let me hold you. I swear, Jane. I won’t ever hurt you again,” he pleaded.

  She took two steps backward before turning and grasping the door handle.

  “Stop! Jane! Don’t…go,” he stated after the door closed with a sickening click.

  He sat still for all of three seconds before his arms and hands worked together, freeing knot after knot. How many damn things did she g
rab anyway? Holy shit…

  She wasn’t going to get very far. As soon as he was free, he would track her down easily. Getting her was simple, keeping her – that was a whole other story. One hand slipped from his constraints then the other as he immediately folded his body to start working on the knots around his ankles.

  I really AM going to spank her. God, that’s hot.

  Stop thinking about that. Concentrate.

  She was probably wandering around the garage trying to figure out which car to take, thinking about the secret password that didn’t exist. A small smile spread on his face as he gave his head a shake and a small snort erupted. She loved him. She had to. She said he had broken her heart which could only mean…

  She loved him.

  One knot down. A shrill bleating sound filled the room and his eyes rose toward the source. Was that her? Calling to gloat, maybe ask him which car was his? She better not take the Town Car. That was his favorite.

  The bleating continued as he pushed himself up and started to hop toward his phone. Apparently he wasn’t as immune to the sedative as he thought he was. His legs felt weakened somewhat, evidenced by that fact that he face-planted on the carpet after three hops.

  Damn you, woman… He dragged his body the rest of the way to the counter, snagging the phone and pulling it down to him before swiping the screen with his thumb.

  It wasn’t Jane.

  It was a man’s voice.

  “Mr. Peters?”

  “Yes,” he forced out.

  “This is Dr. Marchand -”

  “Yes?” His mind started buzzing.

  “I’m so sorry…” he heard before his world crashed in around him once again.

  Chapter 16

  “I already took care of her.”

  “I told you…” The voice grated over the phone.