The Suicide Killer

by Zach Lamb

  When he stirred awake, the sun slipped below the last blade on his blinds. Light from the ceiling fan attacked his eyes, and he looked out the window expecting to see the sun beating down on his backyard, but only saw a darkening landscape. The alarm clock read 7:30. It was going to be another long night. He ran down the stairs and grabbed a sandwich on his way out the door.

  He hadn’t had the time to process what Mike told him while he was interrogating him, but now sitting in his truck, the implications of what he said poured in on Bobby and threatened to drown him. Mike said he had been the one to call the cops when Emily went missing. If he was telling the truth, then Bobby accused Danielle of something she didn’t do, and she died because he didn’t believe her. He killed her because he thought she took Emily away from him, but it wasn’t her. He closed his eyes, leaned against the headrest and thought back to the day he saw the cops in the woods.

  After he talked to them, he ran the rest of the way to work. He didn’t see anybody at the tree that wasn’t a police officer, but he did remember running past another group of them at the entrance to the park. They gathered around Emily’s car. He squeezed his eyes tighter as he tried to concentrate on the group of people. Faces blurred behind scrunched eyes. There was somebody there who wasn’t in a uniform and didn’t look like a detective. Bobby never saw his face, but he remembered there being another car parked beside Emily’s.

  Bobby’s eyes snapped open. It was a black car that could have been Mike’s. He wasn’t positive, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized it had to be his. So, Mike had been at the park that day, and he was talking to the cops. He was telling the truth.

  It was him, and Danielle died for no reason. She should still be alive, and it was Bobby’s fault that she was dead. If he had listened to her, it wouldn’t have gone that far. He could have explained away his behavior, and they could have worked it out. Why didn’t he believe her? Now, Danielle was lying dead in her apartment waiting for somebody to find her. She didn’t deserve anybody treating her that way. Tears ran down Bobby’s face as he put the car in gear and headed to Danielle’s place.

  He drove slowly into the parking lot. There were no emergency vehicles loading her body up or waiting for him to return. He pulled into another apartment’s empty space so nobody would see him parked in one of her spots. There were no outside lights on, and he moved easily through the complex and up the stairs to Danielle’s apartment door.

  No police tape barred entrance to the apartment, so there was a good chance nobody had done a welfare check on her yet. He remembered leaving the door open when he ran out. Mike must have closed it behind him when he left. Luckily, he didn’t think to lock the door, and Bobby walked in with no issues. The entire apartment smelled like old copper. He could taste it in the air. As he approached the kitchen counter, he hoped Mike hadn’t closed Charlie up in here with Danielle. Seeing what the dog hadn’t eaten for a meal was not how he’d like to remember her. He came around the counter and saw no dog. Only Danielle covered in blood. He dropped to his knees at her side and wept openly. There was no comfort in her lifeless hand as he pulled it to his face and wiped the tears away.

  Her green eyes looked darker than he remembered. They gazed out at him, no longer trusting. Accusing him of killing her and leaving her alone on the dirty floor, waiting for somebody to come and find her. No longer able to hold eye contact, he looked away, ashamed. He ran his hand through her hair and down her face, closing her eyes so she could no longer judge him. Held back tears fell, and he kissed her forehead and gently laid her back on the linoleum floor. On his way over, he zoned out and wasn’t sure what he was going to do once he got to her apartment. Now that he was here, he realized he couldn’t just leave her on the floor to rot like a swatted fly left for the broom and dustpan.

  He paced around the room. Getting her out of the building without being seen wouldn’t be easy. Reverberations of the reciprocating saw lying on his kitchen table buzzed through his head. She didn’t deserve to have her body desecrated like that. She deserved to have a proper burial. A proper, but secret burial. He grabbed the red sheets out of the closet at the end of the hallway and laid them on the kitchen floor. The red ones would help in case somebody saw him loading her up. No way a nosey neighbor would catch him with a giant red stain spreading across white sheets. The king sized sheets swallowed her small frame as he placed her in the middle. He positioned her legs straight, and her hands resting comfortably on her chest, and wrapped the sheets tightly around her body and tucked it under the other side. Bobby picked her up and walked to the front door, taking care not to hit her head on anything as he maneuvered through the apartment. He adjusted her legs and grabbed the knob, and the doorbell rang.

  Bobby panicked and looked through the peephole, expecting to see the police outside, but only saw an older woman with a blonde bob haircut. There wasn’t anywhere in the living room to hide Danielle until he could get rid of the woman. He shuffled down the hallway and put Danielle on the floor between the bed and the wall. The kitchen was still a bloody mess and needed cleaning. He grabbed a towel and mopped up the blood on the floor. It smeared, and he had to grab another towel. The doorbell rang again. Apparently, this woman was not going to give up and leave him alone. He ran to the door and paused to gather himself before opening the door.

  “Danielle, honey, we’re wor—never mind your door is opening. Well, hello,” the woman said, closing her cell phone.

  She walked into the apartment uninvited and took a quick look around. Bright pink and green gym clothes created tracers as she inspected the living room while acting like everything was normal. The woman looked old enough to be Danielle’s mother. That was the last thing he needed right now. If she was her mother, she would want to see her, and would not leave until she saw her daughter.

  “Where has Danielle been hiding you? We didn’t know Dani was seeing anybody.”

  “Hello. She didn’t tell me she had a sister,” Bobby said, extending his hand. “My name is Stephen.”

  The woman laughed like an aging valley girl who had never seen the west coast and placed her hand in his.

  “Oh, heavens, no honey. You are too sweet though. I am her Aunt Susan.”

  “Pleased to meet you. Do you live around here?”

  “No. I live in Atlanta. I’m just passing through on my way to Florida, and her parents asked me to stop by and check on her. They haven’t heard from her in a few days and were starting to worry. But now that I’m here, I can see why it may have slipped her mind to call home,” she said, and rubbed her hand up and down Bobby’s arm.

  “So where is Ms. Danielle at?”

  “She’s running by a friend’s house and then to the grocery store before she comes home.”

  The woman paused. She didn’t seem to care that her inspection would be obvious to anybody.

  “Oh, I could have sworn that I saw her car outside,” Susan said.

  Susan didn’t believe him. She was flirty, but after years of living with that façade, it would be hard to hide. Bobby’s attempt at charm was a good start, but he had to be smart. This woman was air-headed enough to not take no for answer long enough to figure everything out.

  “She took my car. She likes to drive it.”

  “I bet she does. You must have a sports car of some type.”

  “Red Mustang convertible. She likes to drive around with the top off.”

  Bobby was glad he decided to park in another space. It would have been hard to explain why two cars were parked outside and Danielle was not at home.

  “You know what? I have not seen her place since she moved here. I think I’ll take a self-guided tour. She wouldn’t mind.”

  Self-guided? She didn’t want Bobby around to lead her to what he wanted her to see, or not see. Either she was telling the truth and had not seen the place and wanted to waste time until Danielle arrived home or she didn’t believe Bobby and wanted to check the place out for herself. He wasn’t sure whi
ch one it was, but he couldn’t deny her and had to hope she would not find her niece wrapped up in sheets against the wall.

  “Be my guest,” Bobby said, stepping aside with his hands extended like a butler announcing a new arrival.

  Susan walked into the small dining room and wiped her finger across the table, inspecting for dust. She looked at herself in one of the mirrors that lined the back wall of the apartment and flipped her bangs back out of the way. She looked over her shoulder at Bobby and smiled. Was this her being flirty again or checking to see how closely he would follow her? Susan turned and did a quick walkthrough of the living room and down the hall to the bathroom.

  Bobby released an audible sigh when she skipped the kitchen. The woman probably ate out every night and wasn’t interested. Or was it a more calculated search? Paranoia buzzed through his body. It would be so easy to slip up behind her and drag a knife across her throat. It would be easier to kill her than the clean up.

  Susan walked into Danielle’s bedroom and flipped the master bathroom light on. She checked herself in the mirror again and opened cabinets and looked into the shower.

  “This is a nice size shower for an apartment,” she said.

  “Sure is,” was all Bobby could muster.

  Susan walked out of the bathroom, past Bobby, lightly brushing against his shoulder. She walked to the edge of the bed with her back to Bobby. Her foot inches from Danielle’s head. He stalked up behind her, preparing to jump on her if she discovered the body. Sweat ran down Bobby’s face. The thought of potentially having to kill her didn’t bother him, but he didn’t want to have more people snooping around looking for another missing family member when she didn’t arrive in Florida. This situation could spiral out of control and lead back to him. As unlikely as it seemed, somebody could be waiting in the car for her. Though an uncle would want to see his niece as well, and Susan would want to show off any boyfriend she had, especially if he were younger. She turned suddenly and sat down on the bed.

  “Quite comfy,” she said, and ran her hand across the comforter.

  “I wouldn’t know ma’am,” Bobby said.

  Susan was making him feel uncomfortable. It wasn’t the flirting, but was it her plan to make him feel awkward? If so, she was succeeding.

  “You don’t have to be like that with me. I’m no prude.”

  Bobby’s face flushed, and he turned away from her. She stood up and walked into the spare bedroom. Bobby checked on Danielle while Susan quickly explored on her own. He ran his hand across the bed and smoothed out Susan’s indention and bloused the bed skirt out toward the wall to block the view, but not on top of Danielle’s head. Susan was back in the hallway.

  “You know what? I didn’t check out the kitchen,” she called from outside the door.

  When Bobby walked into the dining room, Susan was looking in the pantry. She closed the door and looked closely at the floor beside the sink.

  “What is that?” she asked, scrunching her nose.

  She bent down and wiped the red substance off the floor.

  “Is that blood?”

  Bobby tripped over his feet trying to get into the kitchen.

  “Yes, it is. I was washing the dishes in the sink, and I cut my finger on this knife,” he said, picking the butcher knife out of the sink and holding the blade toward her.

  She jumped at the sudden movement, and let out a nervous laugh.

  “I was cleaning up the blood when you knocked on the door. I guess I missed a spot.”

  “Always nice to have a man who helps around the house, but you should be more careful,” she said, and walked around him.

  She leaned toward the door as she went around him. She was no longer using the flirty tone she had before. In the dining room, she put the counter between Bobby and herself.

  “Well, I should probably be going. It’s getting late, and I have a long drive ahead of me.”

  Did she suspect something? Pros and cons of taking out dear Aunt Susan ran through his head. There were too many. Indecision would not help in this situation.

  “No need to rush off. Danielle should be back soon. I’m sure she would love to see you,” Bobby said, trying not to sound forced.

  “I would love to stay, but if I don’t get there soon, they may send a search party out for me,” she said. “Just tell her to call her parents. And me, we have a lot of things to discuss, like her new beau.”

  Bobby opened the door for her, and she walked out. He started to close the door behind her when she stuck her head back in the opening.

  “Stephen? Where is Charlie?”

  “He went with her. He likes the convertible too.”

  “She took the dog to the grocery store?”

  The look on her face said she didn’t believe him, but would give him the benefit of the doubt if the answer sounded plausible with no hesitation.

  “People take their dogs with them everywhere nowadays.”

  “Yeah, I guess so,” she said. She paused with her hand on the doorframe. “Okay, well I’m going to go now. Tell her I loved her apartment.”

  “Will do. Have a safe trip,” Bobby said, and closed the door before she came back with another question.

  Bobby fell back against the door and blew his hair out of his face. He had no idea where the dog ran off to, but he hoped he didn’t return and meet Susan at her car. There would be no explaining that. The only recourse would be to kill her. That is, if she didn’t call the police before she knocked on the door with the dog in tow.

  The few spots of blood he missed on the floor cleaned up easily. The bleach wasn’t really needed, but he used it anyway. He scrubbed the floor where he remembered the blood being. The goal wasn’t to clean it all up and conceal what happened, but he didn’t want to make it easy for the forensic techs if they ever considered the apartment a crime scene.

  He placed Danielle’s body on the couch, walked out of the apartment, and stood on the landing. Aside from the ticking of a few cooling engines, the parking lot remained quiet and deserted. Would Susan wait in her car to see what he did once she left? He took his time cleaning up inside so Susan would have plenty of time to leave, but he didn’t know what kind of car she drove.

  A gentleman would have walked her to her car. You never knew if a crazy murderer lay in wait for an unsuspecting person to walk by. Knowing what kind of car she drove would be nice, but she struck Bobby as the type to pull into a person’s driveway even if they weren’t home, so the homeowner would have to move their car before she left.

  Danielle’s car sat alone in her parking spots, but he couldn’t be sure. After a few minutes of pacing the breezeway, he walked through the parking lot to check as many cars as he could. A small puddle of water stood in the empty space beside Danielle’s car. Susan probably sat in her car with the air conditioner running, trying to decide if she should trust the man she just met in her niece’s apartment. She left, so she believed him, and headed to Florida expecting a call from Danielle later, or she went to get help. At this point, it didn’t matter anymore. Bobby needed to move hastily to get out of the apartment before somebody else showed up.

  He ran up the stairs and grabbed Danielle, gave one last look around the apartment complex for cameras and nosey neighbors, and went to his waiting Bronco. The lift gate slammed down on its hinges as he fought for the handle while holding Danielle. He gently laid her in the back, made sure she was comfortable, and shut the gate like a glass lid coffin.

  Now that he was out of immediate danger, the tears returned. While cleaning the apartment and figuring out how to get Danielle’s body out, he was able to distance himself from the situation. He tried to see her as any of the other women that had walked into his coffee shop or ended up on the wrong side of his issues with Emily. Trying to read and manipulate her Aunt Susan had been a large distraction as well, but he had to do that for survival. There was no telling if any of it actually worked, but he’d have to be careful because she might not have raised an alarm tonig
ht, but when nobody received a phone call, they would send all sirens for him. Well, sent for Stephen, anyway.

  Rough cotton burned the corners of his eyes as he wiped the tears away. The ten-foot illuminated cross where his emotions last took over, taunted him as he drove past. It did not accept the bloody sacrifice left on the pavement. The quick look he gave the church did not reveal itself as a scene of violence. Maybe the Good Samaritan survived? Bobby beat him severely. He didn’t think the man was breathing when he left, but he didn’t check either.

  Bobby pushed the man from his mind. He had more important things to worry about now. Like deciding where to take Danielle. Of all the places he knew in the Crystal Valley area, there was only one place that made sense to him. It was a place that meant a lot to Bobby. She would be close to him, so he could go and visit her whenever he wanted to, and nobody would interrupt them. There were only two issues he saw with the place. It was the site of where he and Danielle first started having problems with one another and the second was Emily would not be happy sharing their place with the other woman in his life. It was their spot as well, but he wasn’t hearing from her as much anymore. Her essence may have left the area by now.

  Bobby pulled up to the edge of the woods at the bottom of the cul-de-sac and killed the lights and waited, watching and listening for any joggers or neighbors following behind him. The only sounds he heard were the crickets and a lone bullfrog from down in the valley below. Carrying Danielle, he stepped through the wooded threshold.

  He took the same path he took with Mike’s trash bags. That trip, he had been exhausted and just wanted to finish. He bumped and bounced his way down the hill. There were a few extra slams against trees with the bag containing Mike’s head. He wanted to be gentle and delicate on this occasion. He pulled her head to his chest and ducked under branches, never allowing her burial shroud to touch the ground. It was one of the coolest summer nights they had had in a while, but sweat still poured down Bobby’s face. The scent of approaching rain glided on the slight breeze that penetrated the curtained forest. He would have to work fast before the rain came in. That would be a mess he didn’t want to deal with. He picked up the pace but continued with the same reverence as before. At the bottom of the hill, he placed Danielle under the tree where she found him, and ran back up to his house to get a shovel. Encroaching thunder rumbled in the distance.