Disappearance (30 page)

"What I don't like, though, is this Deputy Vogul woman. She's quite a dirty cop, making you do all the risky work while she cleans up the tracks at the end. I would consider finding a different killing partner, Andrew. She's not pulling her weight. You and I would make a pretty good team; I've got a lot of tricks up my sleeve."

I don't hesitate with what I say next. "I'm not a murderer. You're an insane lunatic!"

"Oh sweetie, that hurts my feelings. You know me. I'm not a bad person. I take care of you, don't I? I clean the house, cook you dinner, and make love whenever you want. Yes, I'll admit I have a very strange hobby, but who doesn't? You've been happy with our marriage, haven't you? All I have to do is slip a little something in your drink before bed on the nights I go out. You get a full night's rest and I get to have a little fun. It's a win-win for both of us," she smiles.

"If you're interested to know, we liked to do our killings on the weekends so I could sleep in the next day. To be honest, I don't really know much about the black car man. We had this hobby and we were only together when there was business. We never dealt with personal matters. If you're concerned, I never slept with him or anything. I've always been very faithful to you." She laughs again, "I've just told you I'm a serial killer, I'm sure the least of your concerns is whether I've been cheating on you.

"I know it sounds bad but it's really not that big of a deal. We didn't just kill anyone, Andrew; everything was thoroughly researched. Most of the people we killed did something bad at one point in time -- rapes, cheating, stealing... you know how much I despise thieves. I also convinced the black car man to help me go after some of those hoodlums we ran into last year. You remember them right?" She smiles, "you should have seen the look on their faces!

"Of course, during all that there were one or two innocent ones, and I do feel kinda bad about that. They were at the wrong place at the wrong time, though, and you gotta do what you gotta do.

"Which leads me to you, Andrew. What am I going to do with you?" She points the gun back at me. "You're not going to tell Deputy Vogul or anyone else my little secret, are you?"

Inside I'm thinking of course I'm going to tell her; you're a psychopath! I know I'd be a dead man if I said that, though. "No, of course not. I love you Abby." I say as convincingly as I can.

"Oh, how sweet. I love you, too. I really do, Andrew. I'm so happy I married you. You've always been wonderful to me, but you're a pretty shitty liar."

At this point, I know I'm a dead man. That's why I'm so happy when I see Deputy Vogul burst into the room.

"Hold it right there!" Deputy Vogul says, her gun aimed at Abby.

Abby gives off a smile, a look that's really starting to irritate me. "Well, well. Deputy Vogul, I presume? It's nice to finally meet you."

Deputy Vogul doesn't say anything. How long has she been here? Before anything else is said, I notice I don't feel right. I'm very dizzy.

"Abby, what's happening to me?" I say.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot. Did you enjoy your orange juice?"

I look down at my empty glass, Abby's full glass of orange juice sitting next to it. She drugged me. That little bitch drugged me. The room keeps spinning. My God, this isn't good.

"I knew I'd catch you one day," Deputy Vogul says. "Ten years of searching, but here we are finally face to face."

"Please!" Abby says smugly. "You've never come close to catching us. The only reason you're here this time is because the black car man and I seemed to have gone our separate ways."

I try keeping my eyes open. I want to hear what's said next. The drink Abby made me has some powerful stuff in it, though.

"Oh, enough of this talk," Deputy Vogul says. "I don't care what you have to say. I've waited ten years and I'm not waiting any longer."

Then, in my last moments of consciousness, Abby turns toward Deputy Vogul and points her gun at her. I hear a gun blast, and then everything goes dark.

Epilogue

When I wake up I see trees. I'm lying on the cool ground unsure of where I am. I hear the sound of a shovel sliding into dirt.
Someone's digging a hole
. The sounds stop and I hear panting. Whoever is doing this is trying to catch their breath. When they sigh, I can tell it's a female voice. Who is it, and how did I get here? I try to remember.

I know I woke up, and then went to the kitchen where Abby was. I remember her pulling the gun on me and telling her deepest, dark secrets. What happened after that, though? I'm pretty sure Abby put something in my orange juice. That must be why I don't remember how I got here. Is this really happening? Am I her next victim?

Right when I gather enough energy to roll over and look around, I see Deputy Vogul standing up in front of me.

"Well hey there, Andrew. How are you feeling?" she asks.

"I uhh... not good. I think Abby drugged me."

She laughs, "Yeah, I think she did too. Not sure what she gave you, but I guess it wasn't lethal."

I give off a half-smirk, and then ask, "Where is she? What happened to her?"

Deputy Vogul pauses, thinking how best to spill the news. Evidently she decides on the blunt truth, "She's dead. I'm sorry. I had no other choice. She was about to shoot me, so I pulled the trigger. This must be very hard to hear, Andrew. I heard your conversation. Believe me, I was as shocked as you were. I knew something was wrong with that girl, though, when she told you to kill the man in the black car."

We both remain quiet, letting what happened sink in. I can't believe my Abby, my sweet and wonderful Abby, is a serial killer. How could she be like this for so long without me noticing? To cover up something like this for a decade you would have to be insane -- and a damn good liar.

I start to regain some consciousness, enough for me to look at where we are. The place looks eerily familiar, like I've been here recently. When I sit up, I see the hole Deputy Vogul's been digging. When I look further I see what looks to be the remains of the black car. Now I know exactly where we are, Deputy Vogul's place in the reservoir!

"Hey, what's going on? Why are you digging that hole?" I ask, terrified knowing what the answer may be.

"Andrew, you seem like a smart guy. Do I really have to answer that?"

I look around, hoping to see Abby's body but I don't.

Deputy Vogul continues, "It's not for Abby. It's for you."

She reaches from her side and pulls out a gun, aiming it right at me.

"Deputy Vogul, what are you doing? I thought you were on my side!"

"I was. I really was, Andrew. Things change, though. Circumstances come up and you have to play the cards you're dealt." She walks over to me and sits up against a nearby tree, making sure to keep a safe distance away. "When I shot Abby, I would have been more than happy to say you did it, give you the heroic story you deserve. Problem is, Abby drugged you and I couldn't think of a story where that doesn't fall back on me. The best I could come up with involved Abby drugging you then, in your last desperate attempts to survive, you shot her. I've been in the police force for a long time to know this story is too risky, though. No signs of a struggle, the entry of the bullet -- all of that they'll be able to figure out when they look at her body on your kitchen table. Also, quite frankly, for you to find out you're drugged and shoot her in that short a time invokes skepticism. It all leads dangerously close to my involvement.

"Compare it with this next story, the one the police report is going to say tomorrow. I used your gun to kill Abby, so whenever they find her on your kitchen table the reports will come back making you a very strong suspect -- even more so when you've mysteriously gone missing. This is where the beauty of the story comes in; are you ready for this?" She gives off a short laugh then continues. "I'll volunteer for the case to go looking for you, which I'll get because I'm closely tied with the case already. I'll still have the black car man case but it will be a lower priority, even lower after a couple years when there aren't any more murder victims. During that time, I'll be searching day and night for you. Making up a few leads here and there as I go along. Andrew, you've bought me another five years of detective work trying to find you. Somewhere along the way I might say you've gone to California. I've always wanted to go there. Maybe Hawaii or overseas to Paris, too." she snorts with laughter. "It all works out so perfectly!"

I don't know what to say. I'm almost speechless. "That story's not going to work," I belt out.

Deputy Vogul pauses then asks, "Oh really? Why not?"

I rack my brain, trying to think of a loophole in her plan. What can I say now that doesn't involve my impending death? I know enough psychology to know I need to make up a story that works out well for both of us. With the gun pointed at me I need to say something now, "Why can't you just say I killed her? I found out she was a murderer, so I shot her. We can say I sat around the house for however long I've been unconscious then I'll call the police and confess to the crime."

Deputy Vogul shakes her head, "Doesn't work, Andrew. Before you get locked up they'll run some tests on you and see you were drugged and that you're lying out of your ass. That's all assuming you keep your mouth shut about me, which I highly doubt. Andrew, there may be a good story in there we could have used to keep you alive, but all of that's too late now. No matter what story we come up with, I can't trust you anymore. You're not a good liar and during the interrogations you'll fess up about me." Deputy Vogul gets up, pointing the gun back at me. "I'm sorry for doing this, Andrew."

Right before she's about to pull the trigger, the light bulb goes off. "Wait, why can't you just tell the truth? Abby drugged me and you came in to save the day. You're a hero; I stay alive. We all win."

She smiles, "You know, it took me awhile to run that scenario through my mind. It was the last thing I could think of too. With all these lies I've been telling over the years, the truth can sometimes be the last thing I think of. That story almost works, except why would I use your gun? I would have told the truth if the bullet could be traced to my pistol but any scenario where I get your gun and use it is too far-fetched. Again, they're going to see there wasn't a struggle, start asking me questions, and there's nothing I can say that doesn't make me look like a dirty cop."

This time there's no laughter. Deputy Vogul sheds a tear. "I hate this, Andrew. I really do. It should be me that has to go down, not you. You seem like a good person, but I have to look after myself and there's no way I can do that while you're still alive."

Deputy Vogul takes a couple steps toward me, the gun aimed right at my face. "This story has to end with your disappearance." Then she pulls the trigger and I see no more.

The End.

But wait, there's more...

Afterwards

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