Forgetting Jane (16 page)

He collapsed on top of her, but Jane didn’t mind his weight. The way he stayed inside, connected to her, made her feel…whole.

Laughter bubbled up from her. She couldn’t help but laugh at how wonderful her body felt especially under him, connected to him. Jane wanted to stay that way forever.

The scent of their love play filled the air. She kissed his shoulder, tasting the saltiness on his skin. He was as intoxicating as the strong whisky. Jane was drunk from him loving her.

As though he read her thoughts, Eli slipped out of Jane and lay next to her. She frowned at him but changed it to a smile once his arms wrapped around her and pulled her in. His arms were the one place she was safe.

“Why are you laughing?” Eli asked, nipping at her earlobe, stroking her arm.

“I don’t know. Happy?”

“I’m glad,” he said back in a lazy whisper.

She wished they could leave, forget this place, forget what had happened and start fresh. “If you had a chance to escape this place, where would you go?”

“Half Moon Bay, California. I have a place right off the beach.”

Jane turned around and faced him. “Why aren’t you there now?”

“It’s complicated, but one day I will be back there.” Eli caressed her cheek.

“So a beach house?” She asked, stroking his nipple. “I would have never guessed.”

He grabbed her hand and kissed her fingers. “It’s not a beach house. It’s more like a large shack. I fell in love with the dump the moment I laid eyes on it. There’s a small rotted porch I used to sit on and watched the sunset. Now, I rent it out to a buddy of mine who is enjoying the scenery.”

“Sounds beautiful.” Jane choked up. She turned her back on him. No crying. Self-pity wasn’t going to ruin this moment.

But who was she? Where did she come from? Could she be a part of what Eli hoped for himself? Jane knew the answer to all her questions.

“Are you okay?” he whispered, and leaned in and kissed her.

She closed her eyes and tried to absorb the serenity around her. “Just tired. Tell me more about Half Moon. Is Charlie’s Bar still there?”             

Eli cocked his head up and turned her on her back. “How do you know about Charlie’s Bar? Have you been there?”

“I don’t—I think I’ve been there.” She closed her eyes and envisioned the place. “The entire bar looks like it was made out of driftwood. By the entrance, there’s a picture of Charlie in a speedo and a couple of women in tiny bathing suits posing on the beach.

“There’s an outdoor area he had opened to attract more business, but wasn’t finished with it.” Jane opened her eyes, excitement burst out of her as she continued to describe the bar Eli frequented. “I think I was there the first day he opened it. He had a huge party.”

“Jane, Charlie opened up that outdoor area five years ago. Do you think we could have met then?” he asked, his mouth slightly opened, his eyes glossed with surprise.

“I don’t know, but I wish I could remember.” Jane smiled.

“Me too.”

“Elias?”

“Jane?”

“Make love to me again,” Jane purred.

Eli said nothing, but did as she asked. He loved her just as she asked. All night.             

Spent mind and body, Jane fell asleep content in Eli’s arms.

T
he hospital ran quiet at night. The third shift hospital staff members hunkered down in their normal positions. They were told not to leave unless for rounds and patient needs.

He walked in through the bright main lobby without much notice—just like any normal day—or night. There wasn’t anyone except for a nurse sitting at the main desk filing her nails. Lucky for him, her focus was down on her fingers. The gritty sound made him remember how he was taught to sharpen his blades.

The way his mother used to exhale a blissful hiss when he glided the honed blade along her skin. Only five years old then, but she taught him how to hold the handle in such a way that he’d cut with a surgeon’s precision. He gave her such pleasure until she up and died on him.

Tonight was the night he’d take Jane back. It had been a week since he last saw her. The need to be with her wore him down. He made sure his special room was ready for her, checking off the list in his head and checked his pocket for the plastic bag filled with a chloroformed towel.

Hardly anyone saw him as he made his way toward the elevator. As the doors opened, he changed his mind and decided to take the back stairs instead. Avoiding the security cameras at the end of the hall, he took the two flights of stairs up like he had all the time in the world. He didn’t want to exert too much energy. He had to save his strength for Jane.

He nudged open the heavy metal door as quietly as possible and stepped just outside the psych wing. As he peeked around the corner, he saw the night security guard. The electronic doors behind him were still opened. He must have just made his rounds.

With the ring of keys strung on his belt, the tall man could be heard through the halls. As the guard disappeared around the corner, this was his one chance to get past the door before it closed.

He had one chance. When the double doors started to close, he slid past the entrance and hid in the alcove near the empty nurses’ desk.

The hallway was dark except for the emergency exit sign lit up at the far corner.

A janitor mopping the linoleum floor at the far end finished cleaning the floors and headed toward the exit. He ducked back in the alcove until the cleaner was gone.

As he stepped out of the shadows, the redheaded nurse—who had helped Jane before—strolled back to the desk. Cherry. What a bad girl. All that make-up slathered on her face assured him that she earned the title
naughty
. He became bone hard as his studied the woman. She could be dessert, but he wasn’t prepared for one more.
Maybe next time.

The nurse grabbed a bag from behind the desk and headed for the exit. How odd. There was no one to watch over the patients. He was fine with that; less hassle moving Jane out of there.

Once she left, he started at the closest rooms, searching each one with speed. Looking for Jane was turning into a tedious task. Every room he stepped into was either empty or occupied by a crazy patient.

The last room was directly in front of the nurses’ station. Jane had to be in there. He slipped into the room next to it, which was occupied by a sleeping, tied down old man. Poor bastard. Arms wrapped in bandages. If he’d had time, he’d show the old fool how to cut with precision, but there was no time for that.

He made sure he was alone in the wing, and walked into Jane’s room.

He giggled with excitement as he looked at his sleeping Jane. She was covered up pretty well. He wondered if she was strapped down. Wouldn’t that be his luck? How perfect. Pulling back the blanket and found the bed empty.

No Jane.
Damn!
“Where are you?” he hissed out between clenched teeth before he knocked off all the pillows, and ripped the sheets off the bed. He wanted to shout out her real name, but instead he bit down on his tongue.

He had to think. Tapping his right temple with his finger as he walked out into the hallway, the truth came to him quick.

Jane wasn’t there. He checked every room on this wing. Jane was nowhere.

That sneaky bastard. He never thought Eli had it in him to use deceit. The only question was…where was Jane? Where was she hidden?

Sounds from the entrance caught his attention. The nurse. Maybe his night wasn’t for nothing. He stepped into the room next door. The clapping sound of her heels got closer, louder. He looked over at the sleeping patient

He grabbed the remote, pressed the nurse button to get her attention and waited behind the door. The moment the redhead entered the room, he reached out for her mouth and used his left arm as leverage around her throat. With a quick shift of his body and hands, he broke the nurse’s neck. She crumpled to the floor, dead.
What a waste of a good nurse, too.

He let out a hard breath.
Pity
. He killed her too fast. There was no enjoyment out of this one. But she was no Jane.

After he shook off the disappointment, he placed the nurse’s body in the bathroom and walked out of the room. He used the redhead’s security card and swiped out of the wing, then wiped it down with his shirt and threw it in the trash can.

Closer to the exit, his rage spun high. He spat out the blood that swirled in his mouth. It left a red-pink stain on the cement. He didn’t worry about that DNA. No one was going to think anything about it.

He got into his car and pounded on the steering wheel. “Jane, where are you? Where did that son-of-a-bitch hide you?”

After a few more whacks at the steering wheel, he stopped and started laughing.

Oh, what a wonderful game this was turning out to be. Unbeknownst to the chief, he had added a level of excitement to this party. With Jane hidden, it made him want her more than life itself.

What a better way to finish this. He’d find her, enjoy her and then the chief would be blamed for Jane’s murder. Giddy as a school girl, he was satisfied with his new woven plan.

The moment he turned the key, the radio sang out his favorite song. He blasted it as he made his way home. He sang out the words as the electric guitar hissed in unison with the bass and drums.
Run for the hills, run for your lives,
reverberated off the closed windows.

As he turned down Route 41, a truck lay in a ditch with the back end sticking up. A woman on the side of the road tried to flag him down. He didn’t need much encouragement. She was in a shag miniskirt dress and platform sandals.
Ooh, another naughty.

He pulled over and slid down the passenger side window. The painted brunette had a cigarette in her mouth, and was puffing like a dragon in the cold. She leaned into the opening and gave him a wicked smile. Oh yes, she was a bad one.

She was nothing much. Her slim build could easily be handled. Though the slut wasn’t Jane, she would do until then. It wasn’t anything that he hadn’t played with before. His blood raged, and he needed it quenched.

“Is everything all right?” The smell of alcohol permeated off her like heavy perfume.

“Yeah, man. Our car fell into the damn ditch and we can’t get the fucking thing back up. Do you have a cell I can use to call for a tow?” She was shaking and was rubbing at her bare arms from the cold.

He looked around when she said “our” but didn’t see anyone else. She was too drunk. “Sorry no, but the tow place is about a mile down. Do you want a lift there?” He wasn’t lying about the mile, but it wasn’t the towing place. It was his place.

“You’re not some fucking weirdo, are you? I won’t fuck you or anything for the ride.”             

He laughed. “No. I won’t touch you.”
This one definitely needs to learn a lesson.

“Um.” She looked back toward the ditched Dodge, then back at him. She shivered. “Okay. A mile—Yeah. It’s fucking cold.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He was polite, which always hooked the stupid ones. He unlocked the door and she got in. “Were you with someone else? You did say ‘our.’” He wanted to cover his tracks. He didn’t want her to be missed, not yet anyway.

“Yeah, my boyfriend—that fucking bastard left me to freeze my ass off.”

“Where did he go?”

“He hoofed it to get help, but I think he went the other way.”

“How long ago? We could go pick him up.” He tried to make easy conversation so she would let her guard down. He knew she had something in her spangled purse. She kept her hand inside but wasn’t showing what it was.

“Who the fuck knows. The bastard can go freeze his balls off for all I care. He has my keys. Let him walk, he fucking deserves it— But you know what I’m really pissed about?”

He leaned forward on purpose and turned up the heat. “What?”

She jumped at his nearness, but quickly relaxed when his hand went down and the heat blasted. “I don’t normally take rides from strangers.”

“Smart. Now why are you mad?”

“Oh yeah. I’m fucking pissed because he took the fucking bottle of jack and left me nothing. Jimmy, you’re an asshole!” she yelled out.

“Jimmy?” He leaned in again and raised the heat a bit more. She didn’t flinch that time.

“Yeah. Do you know him? He says he used to live around here but I think he’s a fucking liar.”

His brow pinched together. “What’s his last name?”

She eyed him for a moment before she spoke. “Macvoy. Micaboy. Beats the fuck out of me how to say it.”

“McAvoy? James McAvoy?”

“Fuck yeah, that’s it. Do you know him?”

“Oh yes,” he said coolly. His adrenaline fueled his mind. James sure liked his women young and this one was primed for play. “What’s your name, sweetheart?”

She looked at him and tightened her hands on whatever was in her purse.

“I’m James,” he lied with confidence, extending his hand out to her.              

“James? Just like Jimmy. Sorry for you. My name is… Nadia.” She didn’t take his hand.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Nadia.” He smiled and retracted his hand.

He saw her shoulders relax more as she looked out the window.

“I thought you said the tow place was a mile down,” she said shaking.

The opportunity came quick when she looked at him. He cocked his arm back and gave her a sharp jab to the face. His fist landed perfectly across her temples. She was unconscious.

“Almost,” he said with a light laugh.

Someone upstairs must have listened to his prayers, because this night was getting better and better with every turn of the road.

The wheels in his head spun faster as his plan’s radius enlarged. Why not blame James McAvoy for Jane’s death too. With her murder tied to the deadbeat daddy and his no-good son, his activities stayed safe.             

He looked over and saw the brunette twitching. She wasn’t fully out, so he gripped the steering wheel with his left hand and swung with his right to her face.

Oh, what a wonderful night this had turned out to be.