Hotel Homicide

"Megan, make sure to do your Jacuzzi suite stay over first," Carol, the head housekeeper, said, "Miss Thomas said that she'd be out for a few hours this morning."
"Sure, no problem," I told her, as we than went on our way.
I first went to the storage room to grab my cart and supplies before heading down to the suite which was room #301.
As I pushed the cart down the hallway, I said hello to a few people who were staying, and even chatted a few moments with an older couple about the weather.
I knocked on the door first, and than called out, "Housekeeping."
No sound came from the room, so I took my key out of my jeans pocket, and slid it through the lock. It flashed green, so I turned the handle.
"Housekeeping," I called out as I walked into the room.
In the room, all the curtains were drawn, so I first went to open them. Stepping over by the bed, I noticed that there was blood on one of the blankets. As I pulled the blanket off the bed, it was than that I noticed the body.
It was Miss Thomas, Elisabeth, was her first name. She was naked and had been stabbed several times in the chest, and there were bruises on her body; by her neck, breasts, and thighs. Her eyes were open and glazed over, her red hair was sprawled over the pillows in a curly mess, blood matted in it. Her wrists were tied in front of her with a rope.
I screamed, as I took in the scene in front of me, and soon Kari, another housekeeper ran in.
"What's the matter, Megan?" she asked before she got to be by my side, "Oh my god," she whispered when she saw the body.
"We've got to call the cops," I said quietly.
"Let's get out of here first," Kari said, "The killer could still be in here."
The killer. I had never even thought of the fact that whoever had killed Miss Thomas, could most certainly still be in the room, watching my every move.
I shivered at the thought, and hurried out of the room, following Kari to room 307 where she had been cleaning. I picked up the phone and quickly dialed 911.
"Hello, Superior Police Department, Carson speaking," said a male voice through the phone.
"Hi, I'd like to report a murder," I said.
"Yes?" Carson said.
"I'm at Holiday Inn Express on 2nd Street and I just found a dead body," I told him.
"Alright miss, I am sending squads over right away. Which room or where is the body located?" Carson asked.
"The third floor in room 301. The body is on the bed," I told him.
While talking to Carson, I heard the sirens pull up to the hotel, and soon heard officers coming up the stairs.
I hung up with Carson, and went out into the hallway where the officers were standing. They hadn't entered the room yet, but the door leading into the room was open. Strange, I thought, I didn't normally leave doors open to the room, but maybe I did.
"Miss........?" One of the officers said.
I looked at the officer, he was a short man, who was balding, and looked like he had eaten one too many glazed donuts in his day. His name tag said, "Officer Jones."
"Johnson, Megan Johnson," I told him.
"Alright Megan, did you leave the door leading into the room open?" The officer asked me.
"I must have left it open in my hurry to get help," I told him.
"So you were the one to find the body?" he asked.
Before answering, I looked around and noticed that the other officers had gone into the room.
"Yes, I was," I told him sadly.
"Can you please tell me about when you found the body?" Officer Jones asked.
"Sure, um, Carol the head housekeeper told me to do room 301 first because Miss Thomas had called down to the front desk saying that she wanted her room done this morning because she was going to be out. When I knocked on her door, there was no answer, but I had been expecting that since she had said that she was going to be out. When I opened the door, I noticed that the room was very dark, so I went and opened the blinds by the bed, than I noticed that the blanket had blood on it. I went to take it off, and that is when I saw the body," I told him.
"Did you check for a pulse or anything?" Officer Jones asked.
"No, I thought that she already looked dead, and I was just concerned about calling for help," I told him blushing, I had never thought of checking for a pulse, shit, I'd be lucky if I knew where to find a pulse.
"That's fine," Officer Jones said to comfort me when he saw that I was becoming distressed, "Megan, can I get a number where I can contact you if I need more information?"
"Sure, I said writing my number down on the piece of paper that he handed me.
"Thank you for your help, and we'll be in touch if we need anything," he told me.
"Your welcome," I said, and than I left to go downstairs.
A few minutes later, I was kneeling in front of the toilet bowl puking up my breakfast. As I looked at it, I began to wonder, how the hell did this happen?
Soon I was on my way home. Carol had found out what had happened from Kari, and told me that I could go home and even take the next few days off.
I couldn't believe what had happened. I mean, why would anyone do such an awful thing to her?
I pulled into my parking spot at the apartment complex where I lived, and let myself in.
When I got into my apartment, the first thing that I wanted to do was go, crawl in my bed, and sleep the day away, but my answering machine was blinking.
The first two messages were from my mom asking me if I wanted to come to dinner that night, and if I did, could I please pick up some coleslaw. The next two messages were from Kari, wondering if I was doing alright, and the other one was a hang up. Than just as I was getting ready to listen to the fifth one, the phone rang, so I picked it up.
"Hello?" I asked.
"Megan, this is Officer Jones. Megan, we have reason to believe that the killer was in the room during the time, that you were in there, and had seen you," Officer Jones said.
"What do you mean?" I stammered.

"Megan, we talked to Tony, the man who was in charge of the security cameras, and we watched through them. Approximately a minute after you left the room to go get help, a man is seen leaving the room," Officer Jones explained.
"Oh my god, you have got to be kidding," I said shakily.
"No, Megan, I'm not," the officer said.
Suddenly, I could feel the room start to spin, and everything just going black, as I slid to the floor.
"Megan, Megan wake up honey," Through the darkness I could hear my mother calling me.
I blinked my eyes, trying to let everything go back into focus. My mother was kneeling alongside of me, watching me.
"Honey, are you alright?" She asked me, helping me sit up.
"Um, yeah, I think so," I told her.
"Honey, what's the matter?" my mom asked, "I came over because your friend Kari, from work, called and asked me to check on you," she told me.
"This morning, mom, I went into a room to clean it, and I found a dead body lying on the bed," I told her, tears springing to my eyes as I thought of Elisabeth, and the look of terror in her eyes.
"Oh baby," my mom said coming up to me and hugging me as I began to cry.
"It was awful, mom, that poor woman, " I said, as I cried against my mom's shoulder.
"Honey, maybe you should come stay with us for a few days," my mom told me stroking my hair.
"Alright," I told her, sniffling, and wiping my eyes before getting up to go pack some clothes.
Later that evening I sat with my parents watching the news, when all of a sudden I saw a picture of the hotel and Arian O'Neil started talking:
"Today, housekeeper Megan Johnson found the body of Elisabeth Thomas in a hotel room. The police have ruled it to be a homicide, and the police have given us this video tape which shows the killer leaving the hotel room. If anyone has any information regarding the hotel homicide, they are encouraged to call the Superior Police Department at 555-4232."
"Great," I muttered, "Now the killer knows my name."
"It'll be alright, Megan," my dad said, barely glancing up from where he was sitting in his recliner, reading his newspaper.
That night as I lay in my bed, sleep did not come easily. When I did fall asleep it was restless one full of nightmares.
I was running, and someone was chasing me. I was breathing hard and trying to run as fast as I could. I paused for a second, and I could hear the footsteps coming closer. I started running again, but I fell. The person, chasing me caught up to me, and I felt his hands on me, and he rolled me over, that's when I saw the knife. The man's face was blurred as he held the knife to my throat. My heart beat faster, and it felt like it was beating deep in my throat. He than took the knife and sliced.
"Mom!" I screamed as I sat straight up in bed, "Mom!"
"Honey, what's the matter?" my mom came running into my room.
"I had a nightmare. He got me, he was cutting my throat," I cried.
The next afternoon, I decided that I should run home quick, because I had forgotten a few things.
I opened the door to my apartment, and the first thing that I noticed was that I hadn't even need to use my key. I always locked the door.
I glanced around my apartment, and saw easily that someone had been in there. I took a step inside, and looked around. Furniture was scattered every which way, books and DVDs on the floor, some smashed. My cupboards were open, and the dishes that were in there were now dumped all over the ground shattered in thousands of pieces.
I shut the door to have some privacy while I called the police, and that's when I saw it. On my door, held there by a knife was a piece of paper. It appeared to be an obituary. But when I looked more closely, I saw that it was my obituary. The obituary featured my picture, which had been shown on the news last night (Damn the news), and it detailed how I had died. According to it I had been raped by the killer, and than in the midst of it he shot me in the c hest, before he cut me open down the middle. Then he left me to die a slow death all alone.
I shuddered as I read it, and than I quickly lit a match. As I watched it become engulfed with flames, I started to panic. What was I going to do?
I called the police and they came over and investigated; dusting for fingerprints and the whole shebang. Afterwards, I told Officer Jones about the little "note" that the killer left me.
"Did you keep it? Can I see it?" He asked.
"Um, well, I burned it," I told him, my face flaming.
"Megan, there could have been clues or fingerprints on it!" Officer Jones said kind of angrily.
"I'm sorry, I didn't think of that," I told him, "I was just so creeped out by seeing the obituary that I just wanted to destroy it," I told him.
"So what did you do with it?" he asked me.
"I burned it," I told him sadly.
Later that night, when I was at my parents home, Officer Jones called.
"Hello?" I said.
"Hey Megan, its Jones. I have been talking with the Commissioner, and we have decided that you should be put in the Witness Protection," Jones told me.
"What do you mean?" I asked him.
"What I mean is taking up another name, moving to a different city, dying your hair, maybe getting colored contacts, and starting a new life there, a new identity. At least until we find Elisabeth's killer," Jones said.
"You're kidding me, right?" I asked.
"No, Megan, this is all needed for your protection," Officer Jones told me.
"Alright," I told him sighing.
"Good, than come down to the station tomorrow morning around ten o'clock," he told me.
"Alright," I said.
We than exchanged our goodbyes and hung up.
"Who was that, honey?" my mom asked.
"That was Officer Jones," I told her.

"Oh?" What did he want?" She asked.
"He wants me to go into witness protection," I told her.
The next day I met with Officer Jones bright and early, and we decided on a new name for me to use for the time being- Melanie AnneMarie Clarkson. I was going to be moving to Boston, Massachusetts tomorrow where I would be living in an apartment complex that they set me up with and was already paid for. So today, I had to go then get contacts and my hair dyed.
"Hey Megan," Daria, my hairdresser saw me as I walked into the salon, "Just sit down for a few, and I'll be right with you."
"Great, thanks Dar," I said, as I than settled down and looked at a year old copy of People magazine.
As I was reading an article about Prince William of Wales, Daria finally came over.
"So what'll it be Meg?" she asked as I followed her over to her station, and flopped down in the chair.
"I want a layered look this time, and than I want it to be dyed strawberry blonde," I told her, showing her the hairstyle that I wanted that I had picked out in a magazine.
"But Meg, are you sure? You have such a fabulous shade of brown hair already, why do you want to go to blonde?" Daria asked me.
"Dar, please, just do it. I need a change," I told her.
"Alright Meg," Daria sighed, going and grabbing her supplies.
Three hours and a new hair color and contacts later, I looked at myself in the mirror. I didn't even look like me. I had dark blue eyes, and blonde hair. I thought that I looked like one of the cheerleaders that used to be on my squad when I was in high school. Man, I couldn't stand that girl. And now I was becoming her! Ick.......
I silently packed up some clothes, and some of my stuff. I hoped that I wouldn't be in Boston forever. What about my parents? My friends? My fiancé`? He couldn't even come with me because of all the secrecy. I was only to be allowed to make phone calls home once a week and that was to be from the Boston Police Station! That sure is nice!
I picked up a picture of me and him, and looked at it. God I loved that man. I couldn't wait to be married to him. We were going to be getting married in five months; it was going to be wonderful. I should be finishing helping my mom with wedding plans, but instead the plans will have to be discussed over the phone. I was glad that I had already had my dress bought and paid for, at least that was done.
My cell phone rang, and I smiled as I looked at the caller ID, "Hello baby," I said smiling.
"Hey honey," he said, "I just wanted to let you know that by the time you come back, there will be roses waiting for you," he told me.
"For what?" I asked.
"There'll be one for each day that you're away from me," he said, "Since I couldn't send them to you, I figured this way you'd know that I still cared."
The next day I left for Boston. As I hugged my mom and dad goodbye, I cried. I hated having to leave my home. I had called Kari before I left, and she was doing well. She had quit working, as trying to find another job.
I laid my head down on the cushiony seat of the airplane, and closed my eyes.
As I did, someone spoke, “Hi, I’m Jack McCannon,” a male voice said, “First trip?”
I opened them and looked at the man sitting next to me. He was about my age, early twenties with blonde hair, blue eyes, and was wearing a business suit.
“Hello Jack, I’m Me-Melanie Clarkson,” I told him stumbling over my new name, “Yes, this is.”
“Oh really? Have you ever been to Boston before?” He asked me as he placed his briefcase on his lap.
“No, this is my first time. I’m moving there,” I told him, “Are you on a trip for pleasure or business?” I asked him.
“Both,” he said laughing, “I live there. Why did you decide to move to Boston?”
“Whenever I have heard of it, it has always seemed like a nice place to live,” I told him honestly.
“It is, you should like it,” he said.
We exchanged a few more pleasantries, and than he took out his laptop and started doing his work while I lay my head back against the seat and got some sleep.
As the plane landed we started to talk again, “Hey Mel, you should look me up, when you get settled in,” he said, “I could show you around Boston.”
“Sure that’d be great,” I told him.
“Here’s my number,” he said giving me his business card.
“Thanks,” I told him.
I got off the plane and walked towards the rental car area. Officer Jones had told me that a car would be waiting for me. It was one that I could use for the entire time that I have to live in Boston. I gave them my name and waited, waving as Jack walked past me and waved.
The next morning I woke up refreshed and kind of excited. Happier than I had been in days. Today after I finished unpacking all of my clothes (I had to wait for my boxes to arrive), I was going to go exploring and looking for a job. I was excited to see what kind of city that I lived in and I felt so safe being in a city where I felt for sure that Elisabeth’s killer would be unable to find me or hurt me.
Later that afternoon, as I walked into my apartment complex, armed with job applications and groceries I picked up the newspaper to search through the want ads.
“Melanie Clarkson!” A voice called out, and I swung around to see who was saying my name.
“Jack, how’s it going?” I asked him as he came near me and took my bag of groceries from me.
“I’m doing well, how’s the moving in going?” He asked me as he followed me into my apartment.
“As you can see it’s been going good, I just have to wait for the rest of my stuff to arrive,” I told him, “You can place those on the counter,” I said motioning to the bag of groceries, “Thanks.”
“No problem, Melanie,” he said putting them down, “So what are you doing this evening?”
“Filling out job applications,” I told him showing him the large stack that I had collected.
“You’re looking for a job?” He asked, “What can you do?”
“Pretty much anything. My lost job was housekeeping, but I’ve done secretarial, fast food, and cleaning,” I told him.
“Secretarial?” He asked.
“Yup,” I told him.
“I’m a lawyer at McCannon, Banks and Johnson, and we are currently looking for a secretary, why don’t you come in for an interview tomorrow?” He asked me.
“Are you serious?!” I asked.
“Yeah, we’ve been looking for a secretary for awhile now... Why don’t you come in around 10?” He asked me.
“Awesome!” I said, I was sooo happy. I didn’t think that finding a job would be this easy!
“Great, so anyways Melanie, I was wondering if you’d like to go out to dinner and a movie with me tonight?” Jack asked me smiling.
“I would, Jack, but I’m engaged,” I told him sadly.
“Just as friends,” he said, “Not as a date.”
“Alright than,” I said smiling, “Just as friends.”
I had a great time that night with Jack, we just went out for dinner at Applebee’s, and than we went out to the movies. We saw League of Extraordinary Men which was okay. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Jack seemed to really like it. I enjoyed talking with him; he seemed to be really nice and easy to talk to.
The next morning I got directions from the doorman on how to get to the office, and I went to the interview.
It went very well. The interview was with all of the lawyers, although I would primarily be Jack’s secretary. At the end, they told me that I was hired. Jack walked me out to my car, and I hugged him and thanked him for helping me get the job.
At the end of the week, I came home tired from working, and unlocked the door. I went over and checked my answering machine and pressed play while I turned on the TV to watch the news. I went over to listen to the messages, when I heard the lady on the news mention Superior, WI and “hotel homicide”
“Megan, honey. You need to call me. It’s about Kari, she’s been found dead,” the voice of my mom played on my answering machine as the lady on the news started to talk.
“This evening the body of KariAnne Jamieson was found in South Range, WI, a few minutes south of Superior. She appeared to have been attacked because the windows had been busted and her skull was smashed. The body is being sent to autopsy for further investigation. If anyone has any information they are encouraged to contact the Superior Police Department at 555-4232.”
My legs started to go numb as I watched the show, soon they switched the picture of Kari to a picture of me and started talking again, “The killer has also left a note for the housekeeper who found Elisabeth Thomas’s body in the hotel room, it says:
‘Little Miss Megan’s friends are down by one,
Kari got in the way and so I won.
Give yourself up and you shall die.
Stay in hiding and sleep at night,
While during the day your friends will die of fright.’

Earlier that day………
He watched her as she walked out of the mall with a few of her friends. Her hair was blowing in the wind, and she was giggling as she talked with them. Soon she waved goodbye to them, and walked over to her car, a red Pontiac Grand Prix. She got in her car, buckled up, and started to drive away, never noticing the blue Ford Taurus that was following her. She wove in and out of traffic, and he followed close behind, soon she turned off on a road to go out into the country, and he followed. She soon pulled over though, because of car problems. He knew that it would happen soon, for he had tampered with her car while she was in the mall.
He got out of his car from where he had pulled up behind her, and walked towards it. In his hand he held a hatchet. He walked up to her car, where she was starting to dial on her cell phone. Probably to call for help or a tow truck. She glanced up at the shadow that was in her window, and gasped when she saw the hatchet come smashing down on her window. The window shattered when the hatchet hit, and he grabbed her by the hair. Her eyes widened in terror, and she winced in pain, as he brought the butt of the hatchet down upon her head. She fell lifeless against the smashed window frame, and he grabbed a piece of broken glass. He took the glass and dug into her skin with it, making her bleed. He watched her blood trickle out of the cut on her forehead, and work its way down her face. He took his finger and swiped up a bit, and sucked his finger. A fresh kill. He dug the glass into another section of her face, and cut it in deep, making slits and cuts all over. At last, he took the hatchet and slashed it down, hitting her in the chest. He watched as the blood started to come out, and sighed in relief. She was dead.
After staring at his finished conquest, he pulled a note from out of his pocket. He had written a little “note” for his “friend” Megan, the squealer. She’d know that she had better not mess with him. Elisabeth Thomas knew that she shouldn’t, but she did anyways. That’s why she had to die. Dumb bitch, she couldn’t just do what she was told. Megan would know soon enough that it was a dumb idea to get the police involved. By the time that he was done with her, she’d beg for him to kill her. He’d take his own sweet time of course, making sure that by the time he was done, she’d have suffered greatly.
Numb from seeing that Kari was dead on the news, I picked up the phone and slowly dialed the numbers that Officer Jones gave me to contact him. I needed to talk to him, to find out more information, to find out if I was safe being here.
“Hello? Could I speak to Officer Jones please?” I asked as a lady answered the phone.
“Yes, just a minute,” she said. Soon I heard some shuffling, as though the phone was being passed to another person.
“Hello?” he said.
“Hi, Officer Jones, it’s Mel-Megan,” I said.
“Hello, Megan, what’s up?” he asked me.
I couldn’t believe it, what’s up? What the hell?
“I want to know when Kari’s funeral is so I can arrange for a plane ticket home,” I told him.
“That’s not necessary,” Officer Jones told me.
“And why not?” I asked him.
“Because you’re not going,” he said.
“What do you mean I’m not going? Of course I’m going! Kari is my friend! I need to be there!” I exclaimed, I couldn’t believe the nerve of him.
“Megan, think about it! You can’t go, you don’t know if the killer is going to be there, do you? What if he is there, and decides to get rid of you also! You know now that you’re not his favorite person, and he wants to kill you. Do you really think its safe, to be seen here?” He asked me.
“Um, well, I guess not, but I need to go!” I said, as my eyes started to well up with tears.
“Megan, you’re not,” he said.
That night as I talked to my mom, I started to cry. I couldn’t believe the huge mess that I was in. Officer Jones wasn’t even letting me go to the funeral; he said that he’d send me a video of it. A video. Wow, thanks a ton. She was one of my very good friends, and my fault that she died, and he was going to send me a video. Wow, what a nice way to say goodbye to someone. Just pop some popcorn and settle down in my jammies and watch it on the tube.
My mom didn’t have a whole lot to say really, just that she and my dad were going to be going to the funeral, and that my sister, Annie, told her that she and her husband, Michael told her that they were expecting their second child in December. Their first child, a precious four year old girl named McKenna, was all excited about being a big sister. My mom also told me that Annie had said to expect an email from her any day that once she had a chance to sit down she’d email me.
Later that night, I cried myself to sleep again, exhausted over the whole Kari thing. I just wanted to go back to a few weeks ago, when I was just a housekeeper making extra money, and hadn’t found a dead body.

~~~~~

The funeral for KariAnne Jamieson was large. The church was overflowing with people. He stood in the back watching, and waiting for Megan to show up. He watched her parents walk towards the middle of the church and sit down. Her mom sniffling, and holding a handkerchief. The Reverend walked up to the front and started to speak, but he didn’t hear any of it. He just watched.
At the end of the funeral, he stormed out. The dumb bitch hadn’t shown up. He had hoped that she would, but apparently she wasn’t as close to Kari as he thought she was. He’d have to strike a little bit closer to home next time...
The next two weeks went by with no word from the killer. There wasn’t even a phone call, no threatening letters, nothing. And than one day…………
He watched as McKenna played in the yard with a girl and a boy, he figured that they were probably her neighbors.
“Let’s play hide and seek!” the boy said excitedly, “I’ll be the seeker!”
McKenna and her friend, the other girl, ran to go hide, and he stepped out from his spot behind the tree.
He quietly walked over to McKenna’s hiding spot without being heard, and placed his hand over her mouth, and picked her up. Without being seen, he carried her over to his car, with her struggling to get free, and set her in the front seat and strapped her in. He knocked her unconscious quick, so he could leave the area without her shouts bringing attention to the vehicle, and he sped off. He drove over to a nearby field, and looked over at McKenna. She was waking up.
“Why are you taking me, mister?” she asked, “My mommy needs me. She has a baby in her tummy,” McKenna told him.
“Shut up,” he said, slapping her across the face.
McKenna started to cry, big huge tears falling down her cheeks, “You hurted me!” she cried.
He took his gun out of the inside of his jacket and aimed.
“What’s that? Please don’t hurt me no more,” McKenna cried, wiping her tears.
He pulled the trigger, and shot.
The gun misfired. He looked at the end of barrel, and peered in. He than started to take it apart. McKenna, than scrambled out of the car and started running. God damn, bitch, he swore as he tore out of the car and started to run after her. After chasing her for a little while, he noticed a car coming, so he dashed into a bush, and hid. The car stopped and picked up McKenna, and turned around and drove off.
He went to his car and started it; the bitch was going to pay…

I finished typing up the letter that Jack had left for her to do before I went home, and picked up the phone when it started to ring.
“Hello, McCannon, Banks and Johnson. Melanie speaking,” I said into the phone.
“Hi Mel, it’s Jack,” he said.
“Hi Jack, how’s it going?” I said smiling. Jack had become one of my closest friends here in Boston.
“It’s great; I was wondering if you would like to meet me for dinner tonight around 8 o’clock? I’ll pick you up,” he said.
“Sure,” I told him.
“Alright, I’ll see you than,” I told him.
After I hung up with Jack, the phone rang again.
“Jack, I told you I’ll see you later,” I said smiling, he was such a joker.
“Meg, it’s me, your mom,” my mom said into the phone.
“Oh, hi, Mom,” I told her.
“Meg, I just called to tell you about McKenna,” my mom said.
“What about McKenna?” I asked becoming alarmed.
“McKenna was found two miles away from her home, she’s alive, but she claims that a big, bad man took her,” my mom said, “They think that the killer took intending to kill her.”
“Oh my god, mom,” I said, “Is she alright? How’s Annie?”
“Annie’s doing fine and so is McKenna,” my mom told me.

At 8 o’clock I was dressed and ready to go out with Jack. Our friendship had blossomed during the weeks that we worked together, and I really respected him as a friend and a lawyer, he was a great guy, and he knew that we couldn’t be more than just friends.
The doorbell rang, and I checked myself out in the mirror quick before going to answer it.
“Hey,” I said smiling.
“Hey yourself,” he said, “You look beautiful.”
“Thank you!” I said beaming, I was wearing a short black dress that I had kept in my closet intending to wear sometime, but never had a chance.
“How does Italian sound for tonight?” He asked helping me with my coat.
“Sounds wonderful,” I said.
“Great, I know of this great Italian restaurant called “Bellisimos”,” he said, “They have excellent food.”
He held the door for me, and helped me get into the car, and than we drove off. The topics ranged from his latest case, to work, to even Cristian and I.
The phone rang, and I groggily reached over to grab it.
Jack put his hand on top of mine, and whispered, “Just leave it.”
“I can’t do that, Jack, it might be important,” I said, pulling the sheet up closer around my naked body.
“Hello?” I said answering it.
Jack laid back on the bed, watching me on the phone.
“Hey Mel sweetie,” I heard Cristian’s voice on the phone.
“Hey, honey,” I said, putting a finger up to my lips, motioning for Jack to keep quiet.
“How’s it going?” Cristian asked me.
“It’s going good,” I told him, “I’m all moved into my place now, and I found a really good job.”
“That’s great, Meg,” Cristian said, “Hey I have a question?”
“What?” I asked him, wondering what he wanted.
“I was wondering if it would be alright if I came to visit you for few days?” Cristian asked.
“Cris, I really don’t know if they are going to allow it,” I said feeling guilty.
“Alright, if you’re sure, why don’t you call Officer Jones, and find out for positive?” Cristian asked me.
“Sure, I’ll do that, and I’ll call you later okay baby?” I told him.
“Alright, talk to you later than,” Cristian said, “Love ya.”
“Love you too,” I told him before I hung up the phone.
“Jack, we need to talk, last night defiantly should not have happened,” I told him as Jack leaned in for a kiss.
“Later, Mel, we’ll talk later,” he said kissing me, his hands caressing me.
I felt so guilty. I was engaged, and yet, I slept with another man. My freaking coworker. The first friend that I had up here. Cristian trusted me, and I broke that trust. And to make things worse, I didn’t just do it once, and let it stop there. Noooo, Jack had spent every night this past week with me. I was soo confused, and feeling guilty that I just had no idea what to do with myself. I loved Cristian, and I wanted to marry him, but Jack and I, we just had this chemistry together, and I was sooo attracted to him. He had such a great personality, and I really enjoyed being with him. But Cris and I, we have been dating for six years, engaged for one, is it really worth losing all that because of Jack? And because I couldn’t control myself around him?
“Mel? I need the Jennings file asap,” Jack said coming into my office, “Mel?” he asked when he saw that I was daydreaming.
“Um yeah?” I said, shaking my head, “Sorry Jack, I didn’t mean to go off into la la land there, the Jennings file?”
“Yeah, can you get it for me please?” He asked me.
“Yup sure thing, no problem,” I told him going over to the file cabinet.
Handing him the file, I shook my head, it’d be best if I kept my personal problems at home, and not bring them to work, I sighed……….
He watched her. She was sitting at her desk in her office, her one shapely leg crossed over the other. She was wearing a gray short skirt, and a white blouse, with black pumps. Her hair was loose and curly. She was wearing black pumps. She sat at her computer, her fingers flicking across the keyboard, words appearing on the screen. She paused what she was doing when the phone rang. She answered it, her voice clear and concise, as she cradled the phone on her shoulder, as she resumed her typing. She smiled as she talked. Her fingers on her one hand, and smoothed down her blond hair, her long, bright pink fingernails running through it.
A man came into the office, one of the other lawyers he knew this for sure, and started to speak. She hung up the phone, and nodded. She picked up a notepad and a pen, and stood to follow him out of the room. She glanced out the window quickly, almost looking straight at him, before she walked out, the man preceding her.
He couldn’t wait. He would have had his chance to kill her today, but it would have been too easy just to shoot her. He wanted her to suffer. And suffer she would.

My cell phone rang, and I looked at the caller ID, it was Cristian.
“Hey honey,” I said, answering the phone.
“Hey baby,” a strange voice said over the phone.
I gasped, as I clutched the phone.
“Who is this?” I demanded.
“Who do you want it to be?” the voice asked.
“What are you doing on my boyfriend’s phone?” I asked.
“What does it matter to you?” the voice asked me.
“Where is Cristian?” I asked, I hated the mind games.
“Cristian is fine…………. For now,” the voice told me.
“What do you mean, for now?” I asked.
“I mean, that as long as you tell me where you are, your Cristian will not get hurt,” he told me.
“I can’t tell you,” I told him, my heart racing.
“Megan, I’m holding a gun right now to your fiancé’s pretty little head. When the bullet enters his brain, he will die instantly. Do you want his death on your conscience for the rest of your life?” he asked.
“No,” I whispered, tears in my eyes.
“What’s that my sweet?” he asked, “I couldn’t hear you.”
“NO!!!” I shouted, tears welling in my eyes.
“An address, Megan, just give me your address. You know that it’s you that I want, not Cristian,” he told me.
“I’m not giving you my address,” I told him.
“So you want Cristian to die? You don’t care about your fiancé? Perhaps you didn’t love him as much as you claimed you did,” he said.
“I do love him,” I insisted.
“You love him and yet you fucked another man?” he said, “Does Cristian know that?”
“No,” I told him.
“Megan, I swear, if you don’t give me your fucking address, I’m gonna blow your fiancé’s fucking brains out. But it will be your fault, so you’ll be the one who killed him,” he told me angrily.
“Megan, don’t give it to him, I’m not worth it,” I heard Cristian yell in the background.
“No, I can’t give it to you,” I told him.
“Fine, bitch, say bye-bye to your honey,” he told me.
It was quiet for a second, and than I heard a gunshot go off, along with a cry of pain.
“NO!!” I screamed.
“Are you happy now?” he asked.
That night as I lay in Jack’s arms, I sobbed, and he just held me. For the first time in weeks, it wasn’t a night of passion, he just held me while I cried. He didn’t know the whole story, only that my fiancé had died. We didn’t even really talk, he just held me, and that was all that I wanted.
The next morning I dragged myself out of bed around noon. My eyes were puffy and red from crying, my cheeks were tearstained. Jack had given me the next two weeks off, knowing that I’d need some time to grieve. I didn’t want to grieve. I just wanted life back the way it had been before that fateful morning. Before when Cristian was alive.
“Officer Jones, please,” I said into the phone after somebody answered with a brief hello.
I heard a bit of scuffling, and than he answered, “Hello?”
“Officer Jones?” I asked.
“Yes?” he said.
“This is Megan Johnson,” I told him.
“Hello, Megan, how are you doing?” he asked me.
“Doing alright I guess. I mainly just called to let you know that I’m coming home for Cristian’s funeral,” I told him.
“Megan, do I even need to tell you what I think about this?” he asked me.
“Don’t bother. I’m coming up anyways,” I told him.
“Megan, did you even think about the fact that Cristian’s killer will most likely be at that funeral looking for you?” Officer Jones asked me.
“I don’t care anymore, I need to be there,” I insisted.
“Fine Megan, it’s your funeral,” he told me.

That night I met Jack for dinner at Red Lobster. We were seated almost immediately; it was a table for two in the corner by a window. It was a pretty secluded area, which made me happy because I wanted to be alone with him while we talked, where no one else could eavesdrop.
In the morning I would be leaving for Superior, I’d be flying out on a 9:15 am flight. The funeral wasn’t until 2 o’clock so I figured that that would give me plenty of time to ready myself for it.
“Mel, I was thinking,” Jack started, as he picked up his fork and speared a piece of lobster, before sticking it in his mouth.
“Yes, Jack?” I asked.
“I’d like to come with you to the funeral,” he told me.
“Why?” I asked him confused.
“Just to be there, you know, in case you need a shoulder to cry on,” Jack told me watching my face.
“Oh Jack,” I said, “You don’t have to.”
“I know,” he told me, “I want to.”

He watched her as she wiped her eyes. The man standing next to her, silently pulled a handkerchief out of the breast pocket of his suit coat, and handed it to her. She whispered her thanks. She wiped her nose, and sniffled, and continued listening to the pastor. In her hand she held a red rose, one that he supposed she would place on top of the casket later.
The pastor stood in front of the small, somber group of people at the cemetery. The sky was dark and cloudy, and it was misty. The air was muggy and thick. It was warm for the day that was originally supposed to be only 60*.
The pastor motioned to her, and she walked up and silently placed the rose on top of the casket and walked away crying. The guy who was standing along side of her, held her as she began to cry harder. Her wails were heard throughout the cemetery, and he started to walk her over to a secluded area where she could grieve in private. As he watched her, he felt a pang of guilt that quickly passed. She would suffer much more before he was through. She deserved it. He could have disposed of the body if she hadn’t walked in and brought all the cops hot on his trail. The bitch deserved whatever she got.

Jack held me as I cried on his shoulder. We were standing off by some trees, while the rest of the crowd was still by the casket. At last my tears slowed down, and I sniffed.
“I’m sorry Jack,” I told him, as I wiped my eyes, “Oh, I got the shoulder of coat wet.”
“It’s alright, Mel, I’m just glad I was here for you,” he told me, wiping a tear that was threatening to slide down my cheek.
He held me close for a few more minutes while I regained my composure, back by the casket everybody except for the people digging the hole and Cristian’s parents were left. I couldn’t believe it, this was all so surreal.
Jack and I walked back over to Ned and Gloria who were Cristian’s parents.
“Gloria, Ned, I’m very sorry about Cristian,” I told them, as Gloria pulled me into a hug.
“I’m sorry too, Meg, you and Cristian were going to be wonderful couple together, he couldn’t wait to marry you and start having children with you,” Gloria told me.
“Please, keep in touch,” Ned told me, “If you need anything don’t hesitate.”
“I know,” I told him, hugging him also, “Thanks.”
Jack shook Ned and Gloria’s hands, and than we were on our way to the car.
As I walked over to the car, I took one last look over to where Ned and Gloria stood, staring at the casket, and just looked, taking one last glance of what could have been.
During the plane ride home, both of us were kind of quiet. I tried to get some rest, as I hadn’t sleep much at all the night before, and Jack was busy working on his next case.
“Mel, do you want to go out for dinner?” Jack asked as we descended from the plane and started to walk over to the baggage claim.
“Sure, um, that sounds good,” I told him grabbing my black suitcase and he grabbed his navy blue one.
We went over to Jack’s black Grand Prix, and got in; he decided that we should go to Timber Lodge Steakhouse.
When we got in, we didn’t really have to wait because there were only four other couples inside, and one family that were sitting. The waitress, whose name was Haley, brought us into a separate room and seated us, where we could talk in private.
“Mel,” he started after the waitress had brought us our wine, and left, “I’m sorry to be bringing this up after your fiancé just died, but I have a question for you.”
“Yes?” I asked.
“Since, you are no longer engaged; can we be like girlfriend and boyfriend out in the open now? I mean, can we tell people about it? Go steady?” he asked, looking nervous.
“Oh Jack,” I started, “I don’t know if I want to be in a serious relationship right now.” I didn’t really want to have to worry about burying another person that I loved, “I’m sorry.”
“That’s alright, Mel, we can just take things as they have been, and later on, we can think about bringing our relationship to the next level,” he told me, his eyes looking sad.
I felt bad to tell him no, but what choice did I have? With this crazed psycho killer after me, I didn’t want anybody else to get hurt.

He watched them in the restaurant. He was soo close to them that he could smell the shampoo that she used in her hair. He wondered what it would be like, to take her hair, and wrap it around her neck, and see her gasp for her last breath. He had a gun in his coat pocket. He would just love to take it out and shoot her. But he had to wait, wait for the right moment.











Copyright: 2003 V. Johnson