Deception

Deception

Unrecognized at the airport, Colin Montgomery smiles. Just eight months ago his face had been all over the media. He knows his picture will still be on the FBI poster in the local jail. It doesn't matter to him. The face he's wearing now is completely different.
His gray eyes are now green with a slight slant replacing the roundness. The contacts that changed the color of his eyes also eliminates his need for glasses. Straight blond hair is now a dark wavy brown. Shoe lifts add three inches to his five foot nine inch height. Dentures have replaced the teeth that left the bite mark on his last victim. His last victim, the one who survived, is the reason he's back. With a new look and an old M.O., Colin has already planned his next murder spree. His last victim will now be the first victim of his new identity and he feels thrilled with that idea.

Betsey Culliver is finally starting to socialize again. She's gone to the movies alone, gone shopping alone, even dined alone. Nothing remains of her nightmare except the ugly scar where she was bitten on her shoulder. She has accepted that she is lucky to be alive and she has let go of the constant fear that haunted her for nearly a year.
Bruno, Betsey's Rottweiler, is a year old today. Canine muscles ripple through his eighty two pound body as he keeps pace with Betsey's jogging. Bruno never knew of Betsey's nightmares. Her screams were contained to sleep and the tossing and turning always brought Bruno to her side to awaken her. Then she'd comfort the puppy as if he were the frightened one. There hasn't been any nightmares for over a month and Betsey is again sleeping in the dark.
Colin Montgomery drives his new identity through the tree lined streets as children step aboard school buses and into cars for their drives to a smarter future. He passes Mrs. Henderson who'd known both his parents when they were alive. He nods a casual greeting and she nods back.
"Pretentious old hag," whispers Colin as he flashes a smile as phony as his teeth.
Colin cruises by the home of Betsey Culliver. He slows as he watches her pick up the newspaper and unlock her door. As Betsey looks towards the car, Colin speeds away.

Betsey glimpses a brown haired profile in a blue La Nova. She shivers despite the warmth of the day as she enters her house. Betsey has lived here for five months and she still smiles whenever she walks inside. The walls are antiseptic white. Her space is uncluttered with a sofa and two chairs all in white chintz with small pale flowers in yellow, green and pink. The carpet is a stain resistant off-white. There are waist high windows along one wall with curtains matching the carpet. Opposite that wall is a wall of family portraits. A large 10" x 13" portrait of Betsey, her mom and dad and her two younger sisters. There's a picture of her sisters with Bruno the day after Colin Montgomery gave her the puppy.
Colin Montgomery, high school sweetheart turned serial killer. The puppy had been another attempt of Colin's to win Betsey back on the second anniversary of their break-up. Betsey had been glad that Colin had declined to join her sisters in the pictures with Bruno. She'd already tossed enough pictures into the trash.
Betsey shivers and shakes off the memory much the same way Bruno shakes off mud after a walk in the rain. She looks over the rest of her pictures instead. All the happy family times. Her younger sisters are nineteen, six years younger than she is, and three years older than Betsey was when she met Colin.
"That's enough Betsey."
She scolds herself out loud and Bruno looks up from his spot near the sofa.
Betsey goes over and sits on the floor beside him.
"It's okay Bruno. I was about to go through a door I'm supposed to keep closed." Then she smiles.
"Hey, I'm hungry. How about you."
Bruno stands and trots towards the kitchen. The kitchen is butter yellow with white curtains in the window over the sink and the window on the back door. Betsey has cheerful colors throughout her new home. She left all the darkness behind with her nightmares and she constantly reminds herself to keep it that way. She turns on a CD player and music floods her house. She smiles again and starts breakfast.

Colin enters his new apartment. He has also lightened his life with pale grays and whites but the coldness of chrome accents everything from his appliances to the trim of sofas, tables and his bed. He thinks of Betsey, so careless with his love. She'd taken so much from him and denied him so much during their relationship. She'd driven him to distraction with their backseat necking to the point of his seeking satisfaction elsewhere after an entire year of frustration. Then with the little tramp he slept with instead of Betsey, he thought of Betsy and spilled his anxiety seconds after hitting his target. That started the reputation that made him what he is today. The little tramp had nothing to say when he surprised her a month later in her backyard while her parents slept. She'd come outside after he'd gotten her attention with pebbles thrown at her window.
Wait, she had said something.
"Hi Speedy." Then she laughed.
Colin still wonders if his hand would have shot out so fast and grabbed her by the throat if she hadn't uttered those words. Choking the filth out of her mouth had been so easy. All he'd had to do was think of Betsy.

Betsy Culliver had not only survived her attack, she'd identified the man who'd committed six murders in three years and held their small town hostage with fear. As in all the previous murders, except the first one,Colin had worn a mask, gloves and coveralls, protecting any evidence he could have left behind. His mistake with Betsey was his need to gloat. To spew his vengeance and blame her for what he'd become. He wanted her to know in the last minutes of her life what she'd done to him.

Betsey Culliver had been shocked when the voice oozed from behind the mask.
"Hello my Little Chickpea."
"Colin," she'd whispered.
"That's right. It's me. Your patient little fool."
"Those other women?"
Betsey was crying, tears flowing faster than Colin thought possible.
"In honor of you Betsey. All those nights you said we had to wait for marriage to go all the way. To wait until after high school and college and get married. Do you know how much I wanted you? How much I needed you?"
"Colin."
"Shut-up. Just listen." Betsy had been silent. Trembling.

"That humiliation I suffered with Sheila Hanson. Betsey, it was so unnecessary. You should have told me you didn't love me. Had no intentions of marrying me. I could have gotten over your honesty. I could have moved on. Did you think I wouldn't find out about you and Dylan Murdock. Did you really think an entire town would keep your secret?"
"It wasn't a secret Colin. I tried for months to tell you the truth."
"You're a liar Betsey, but that's okay. It doesn't matter anymore. Every time one of those women died it was me trying to exorcise you from my system. It didn't work Betsey. You have to die."
Colin was holding Bruno in his arms, his fingers caressing the puppy's throat. He was standing between Betsey and her bedroom door. Now he walked towards her and sat Bruno on the floor. The puppy looked up at Betsey and Colin lunged. Betsey and Bruno moved in sequence and the three of them stumbled. Betsey was fast but Collin was faster. He moved over Betsey. Covered her mouth. Grabbed her neck. Choked off her scream. Then he did something he'd not done to any other victim. He bit Betsey's shoulder. Her scream muffled in his hand. She tasted her own blood as Colin pressed hard on her mouth. He was unbuckling his pants with one hand and whispering vile unimaginable words of sex and hatred in her ear. This was not going to be an easy death for Betsey and Betsey realized it hadn't been easy for the other victims.

Colin blamed those women's deaths on her to appease his guilt. Now he was about to get away with it again. Betsey's instinct for survival surfaced. Colin had her hands pinned at his crotch and Betsey began a slow massage. In his surprise Colin relaxes his grip around Betsey's neck, and Betsy's massage becomes a vise. Colin screams and Betsey is sure she'll never hear again, but she tightens her hold.
"Stand up," she hisses.
"I can't. Let me go."
Betsey squeezes harder, her fear and hatred making her stronger than she thought possible.
Colin screams louder and together they manage to stand.
Now Betsey starts to scream and Colin hears shouting. Betsey is still squeezing when the Colin's fist knocks her out. She wakes up the next day in the hospital and Colin Montgomery has escaped.
Colin had gone out Betsey's back door as lights came on and neighbor's doors opened. He'd discarded his mask and gloves and joined the crowd gathering outside. As a neighbor ran into Betsey's house, Colin slipped away and was out of the country before his face hit the papers.

"Excuse me miss," says Colin as he and Betsey both stand in the pasta aisle of the supermarket.
Betsey looks at the attractive stranger and wonders where he came from. She hadn't even seen him enter the aisle.
"Yes? Can I help you?"
Betsey notices his green eyes, their slight slant. She looks at his wavy brown hair and then admires the body that makes the suit he's wearing look remarkable.
The stranger chuckles and Betsey likes the mellow sound of it.
"This is embarrassing but my sister suggested I try a pasta that you put in a lasagna without cooking it and I don't have any idea what she meant."
Betsy smiles.
"Well there are several brands that you can use. You just layer your lasagna as usual and the oven and sauce cooks the pasta. See."
Colin stands closer to Betsey and inhales her fragrance as he pretends to read.
'My Little Chickpea,' he thinks, you still smell so good.'
Their shoulders touch and Betsey blushes.

'Look at you. A good looking guy still sends the blood to your head,' he thinks.
"Sorry," says Betsey.
"I'm not," says Colin. "Thank you."
He starts away and looks back with a smile before he goes to the counter.
Betsey also smiles as her mind races.
'This could be it Betsey. The door your therapist said you need to walk through to escape the past, may have just opened.'

Betsey doesn't see the stranger again for six days, but Colin has watched her every night. This encounter, like the last one, is no coincidence.
Betsey is just leaving the coffee shop as Colin enters.
"Hello again," says Betsey.
"Well hello yourself," says Colin flashing his dentures. "Something smells good," he says as he eyes her bag.
Betsey smiles.
"Apple cinnamon muffins. Freshly baked."
Colin arches a brow.
"Maybe I'll try some."

"You really should. By the way, how did the lasagna turn out?"
"You know what, I'm not making that until Sunday."
"Oh really." Betsey smiles again "Well I hope it turns out okay."
"I'm sure it will and thanks again for the help at the store."
"Oh it was no trouble."

Betsey starts away.
"Wait. Maybe you could join my sister and me for dinner Sunday," says Colin.
"Oh no I..."
"Excuse me. I'm sorry. I'm John Evans."
"Betsey Culliver."
They shake hands. Betsey likes his grip. Firm but gentle. His nails clean, manicured.
"Well Betsey, how would you like to join my sister Anne and me for a lasagna that you had a hand in. I promise you, it'll be a dinner you won't forget."
He smiles and Betsey relaxes.
'It's been long enough,' thinks Betsey. Out loud she says,

"I'd enjoy that John. Where and what time."
Betsey has tried on her third outfit in thirty minutes before she settles on an emerald green cashmere scoop neck sweater and a black skirt. She slips on black pumps and gold post earrings. She smiles at her mirror image and blushes.

"Betsey. Welcome," says Colin as he opens wide the door of his apartment.
"Hi John," says Betsey as she takes in the combination living room/dining room.
There are three place settings on Colin's dining room table. There are candles and a bread basket covered with a linen cloth. Betsey smells garlic bread and smiles.
"Can I get you something to drink while we wait for Anne to get here, I have Chardonnay, White Zinfandel, Bordeaux and Merlot."

"Thank you John. I'll have the Merlot."
'You will always be so predictable Betsey. That's why I will succeed in killing you this time. You don't know who I am, but I know exactly who you are. You fooled me once and got away, but never again.'
Out loud Colin says, "One Merlot coming up."
In the kitchen, Colin pulls out his cell phone and dials the number to the apartment. He then goes to his fridge and removes the only bottle of wine in the apartment. The Merlot. He pours some wine into two glasses and as he starts into the dining area he presses 'send' on his cell phone. The house phone rings.
"Hello," says Colin. "Oh Anne hi, where are you? What? For how long? Come on Anne. I've gone to a lot of trouble here. Okay. I understand. I'll tell our guest."
He hangs up the phone and looks at Betsey.
"That was Anne. She can't make it. An emergency with one of her patients."
"Oh, she's a doctor," says Betsey, obviously impressed.

"Yes, and as you can see, it has its downfalls." He sighs. "Look, I'll understand if you want to leave," says Colin.
Betsey hesitates only a second then smiles.
"I'm really hungry John. Of course I'll stay."
'Oh my little Chickpea, you really are predictable.'

Betsey then reaches for one of the glasses of wine.
"No Betsey, take the glass on your right," snaps Colin.
Betsey flinches and snatches her hand away.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you, but that's the Bordeaux. I don't want to tarnish my perfect host image by serving you the wrong wine."
Colin smiles, his charm so practiced that it brightens the room with a deceptive glow.
Betsey also smiles as she sets down the glass that smells to her the same as Merlot. Then she takes the other glass and sighs.
"Well I certainly don't want to be the one who tarnishes this dinner," she says.
"Good," says Colin. Then let's drink to a perfect, untarnished lasagna dinner."

"Sounds like a toast," says Betsey.
They click their glasses and Betsey takes a sip of her wine.
Colin raises his to his lips but doesn't drink.
Then he sits beside Betsey on the sofa.
"Now Betsey. Do you really think that little sip is worthy of a toast towards a perfect evening."
Betsey laughs lightly and takes three swallows of the wine.
"That's much better," says Colin, but because Betsy had her glass raised to her lips, she misses the cold look in Colin's eyes.

Bruno has been anxiously awaiting Betsey's return. Uncharacteristic whimpering and howling from Bruno has had Betsey's closest neighbors peeking out their window off and on for over thirty minutes.
"What the hell is wrong with Bruno," Bill Lang asks his wife Joan.
"I think he's just confused. Betsey has been gone for more than two hours. She's never left him alone this long without calling us to check on him," says Joan.
"Well should we go over there," asks Bill, tapping tobacco from his pipe.
"She didn't leave a key. She must not have expected to be gone so long."
"Well close the window and turn up the T.V. I'm trying to watch this show," says Bill.
Joan Lang smirks teasingly at her husband but does as he asks. She joins him on the sofa and the two of them are soon lost in the comedy.

Bruno stops howling and stretches out in front of the door. In less than ten minutes he's standing again. He emits a low growl as the door knob rattles. A key is inserted and Bruno yelps as Betsey enters. His stump of a tail wiggles his entire backside with the force of its wagging. Betsey eases him back and closes the door before she kneels to his level.
"I'm sorry baby. Did you feel deserted? Shame on me having such a wonderful evening and leaving you alone so long. Come on. I'm going to change and take you for a special run tonight. Then it's a treat for you and a long soak in the tub for me. Oh Bruno, I feel fantastic. She massages his ears and stands before Bruno follows her upstairs.

Colin has loaded the dishwasher and cleared all remains of dinner. Left-overs have been thrown out with all the wine.
"Get rid of the evidence as it appears," says Colin to his empty apartment. "And thank you Anne for not showing up. You're the greatest sister who never existed."

Two weeks later Betsey is still feeling enthusiastic. She feels complete again. She literally has her life back. She thinks of John. His green eyes and soft, almost shy smile. The past two weeks have been like waking from a nightmare. The past two weeks have been like living a life that isn't her own. She sighs, then frowns. The voice. The afraid voice. Betsey had locked that voice away and now it was pushing at the door, but why?
Betsey refuses to enable her fear. She is dating again. She's dating again and enjoying it. Her therapist assures her that the uneasy feeling is just anxiety. Betsey knows Bruno has picked up on her apprehension. She can hear his muffled growl behind the door each time she returns from a date with John, as if he were expecting someone other than Betsey to enter. She'd considered leaving him with the Henderson's when she goes out, but she realizes she still needs the security. Entering the house with Bruno there means no boogie man has slipped in while she was out.

Betsey puts her key into the lock. She can hear Bruno, his growl low and familiar. Colin stands behind her, his smirk hidden.
'Finally,' Colin thinks, 'the scene of the crime. Well the new scene of an old crime. Finally, closure. Goodbye Betsey.'
They enter the subtly lit apartment. Colin notices the difference. The air of confidence in the decor. He stops just inside the door as Bruno's growl penetrates his thoughts.
"Bruno, relax," says Betsey.
Bruno continues to growl.
"I'm sorry John. Bruno never growls at anyone I let into the house."
Colin smiles and thinks, 'He's a stupid dog and I'm going to enjoy killing him after I'm done with you Betsey.'
Aloud he says, "I guess he's just a little protective."
"He is, but still, he hasn't disliked anyone around me since...."
"Colin Montgomery," says Colin.
Betsey is speechless, her eyes wide. Colin pulls out a knife as Bruno barks.
"I swear I'll kill that stupid dog."
"Bruno. No!" "Relax!"
Bruno hesitates, then lies down with a whimper.
"Stupid punk dog. I knew he was useless even as a puppy," says Colin.
He dismisses Bruno and smirks at Betsey.

"Getting rid of you two dumb asses is going to make my day."
Colin never hears Bruno move as the dog rises, creeps towards Colin and jumps. Colin stumbles and falls, sending the knife flying. He yelps as Bruno pins him down.
"Don't move dumb ass," says Betsey.
She stands over Colin, a gun in her hand.
"So now what bitch, you play the hero. Bring down the man the cops have been looking for all this time?"

"I can't believe I've been dating you for almost two weeks. Four times I've gone out with you, and each time Bruno has growled at me when I'd unlock the door coming home. I started getting scared after the second date. I knew you were still out there and that Bruno never liked you. I thought you'd been sneaking around my place while I was out. That's what made me buy the gun."
"But you were still too stupid to figure it all out. Your dog figured it out and he's dumber than a blank sheet of paper. What does that say about you Betsey?"
"Shut-up Colin. I am holding a gun."
"Yeah, and I can't believe you haven't shot yourself in the foot."
Betsey steps back, cocks the gun.
"You've always thought you were so smart Colin."
"Smarter than you, your entire family and every cop in this shitty town."
"But look who's holding a gun, and look who's lying on the floor."
"It still took your dumb-ass dog to put it all together."
"That's true Colin, but I knew who you were when I brought you here."
"No you didn't Betsey. You're too stupid. You always have been. You brought me here because you figured you were going to get laid. You're a whore Betsey, always ready to put it out for a pretty face."
"That's where you're wrong Colin. You've always underestimated me. I'm a lot smarter than you."
Colin laughs, a cold empty laugh.
"You find that amusing?"
"No Betsey. I find that impossible."
"Colin. I didn't bring you here to sleep with you. I brought you here to avenge the women you killed."
"The women you drove me to kill, you mean?"
"Yes Colin, those women. I feel I owe this to them."
Betsey dials 911. Colin hears the dispatcher ask Betsey about her emergency. Betsey stares into Colin's eyes as a nasty smirk twists his lips.
"Hello. This is Betsey Culliver. I live at 232 Alexander Lane, and I've just shot and killed an intruder."
She disconnects the call as Colin's eyes widen. The bullet is lodged in his brain before he can even speak.