Pretenses (25 page)

The man grinned. “So glad you could make it.” He had a glazed, almost vacant look in his eyes. “We've got some unfinished business—you and I.”

Somehow I've got to stall him. Make him think about what he's doing
. “What do you want?” the groom asked in a forced calm. He looked completely relaxed, but he was mortified. I've gotta do something before he pulls the trigger.

“Isn't it obvious?” The man asked with a twisted grin. “I want you to watch her die. That's what I want. As you see,” he looked at the slain nanny, “I won't hesitate to kill, Doctor. I've killed eight others. I can still see their faces …” He seemed to be losing his grip on reality, but quickly gathered himself. “I'M NOT CRAZY!” The man shouted, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath, collecting himself again.

“I can't begin to tell you the rage I felt when I saw your wedding plans in The Chronicle,” the man continued. “Here you two were getting married and moving on with your pathetic lives. And here I am with nothin'. No wife, no kids, no partner, nothin'. You two ruined my life. Now, do you really think I'm going to stand by and watch you two have the best of everything? I sat in there and watched you two at that altar, looking into each other eyes, saying your little vows like a '90s version of
Cinderella
. Well, you can forget about this fairy-tale ending happily ever after.”

“You don't want to kill her,” the groom offered calmly, trying to maintain his composure. “I'm the one you wanted to hurt that night, not her. Please, let her and the babies go, and take me.”

“Do you really think I'm going to let her go so you can be Prince Valiant? DO YOU?” the man screamed. “And don't think for a moment you can get into my head and talk your way outta this. I've been planning your deaths for too long to stop now.” He pulled out another 9mm and slid it across the floor. It stopped about eight inches from the groom's feet.

“Pick it up.”

“Let's talk about this,” the groom desperately pleaded with the man.

“That's the gun you took outta my holster that night. And this one, the
one I'm holding to your pretty little wife's head, this is Sykes' gun. This way, it ends the way it was supposed to that night. Sykes would have killed you with this gun, Dr. Chaney,” he told the bride. “As it stands, this same gun is going to kill you.” The man looked at the groom and yelled, “PICK IT UP, WILLY!”

“You expect me to be able to pick the gun up and shoot you before you pull the trigger?”

“That's the deal, Willy. And you got ten seconds to try.”

“What happened? Did your wife leave you while you were in prison?”

“Ten …Nine …”

The groom's mind raced. He was running out of time. The bride's eyes seemed to be pleading with him to go for the gun. He could hear her muffled pleas. The groom was a marksman, but with the stress of the situation he was afraid he would accidentally shoot her instead.

“What happened to you in prison?” The groom stalled. “Were you abused? Sexually assaulted?”

“Eight …Seven …Six …”

Seeing no other way out, the groom picked up the gun and squeezed the trigger …

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