Twenty-five
An owl hooted on a branch. Logan sat crouched in his hiding spot from which he could clearly see Rachel’s house. During his nights under Aunt Tulla’s Oak he’d heard owls hoot. He pushed the button on the side of his digital watch. A small light brightened the LCD face. It was after nine and she wasn’t home. He balled his fist, trying to defeat the urge to pound it into the tree at his right.”
“Rachel what do you think you’re doing.” He whispered through clenched teeth. “Didn’t you learn your lesson?” He was going to have to teach her. The message last week hadn’t been enough for her. He turned to watch a cop car drive up the street. The next one wouldn’t be through for a few hours. Slowly he stepped out of his hiding place and crossed the grass to the back door. He pulled out his key ring and fingered her house key.
The key slid in the lock and turned the knob. After he put them in his pocket he wiped down the door handle and slid on his black leather gloves.
Street lights illuminated her kitchen. The counters were impeccably clean. Not a scrap of paper laying about. Bananas hung from a wooden holder and papers were stacked neatly in a basket. He removed his shoes and left them by the back door then walked through the kitchen stopping from time to time to open her cabinets. He shined a flashlight in the cupboards and admired the rows of canned goods. Each was grouped with its own kind and the labels were lined up facing out.
“My beautiful Rachel is neat and tidy.” The cupboards had various canned and boxed goods neatly arranged on paper covered shelves. The refrigerator had little more than a calendar and a few magnets in neat rows. It was perfect.
He stepped in the living room but quickly moved in the dining room so the small lamp on her end table wouldn’t give him away. He wiped his white handkerchief along the wooden piece of furniture that held her linens. Not a bit of dust and the linens were neatly folded and arranged in the drawers. A group of wicker balls in a ceramic basket sat in the center of her dining room table. He’d seen these before. They were overpriced cat toys that decorators used to pad their commissions. Poor Rachel had fallen for the scam.
He left the dining room and tiptoed up the steps. These were the steps Rachel walked up and down every day. His mind drifted to images of her in her night clothes on the steps wrapped in a fluffy robe. At the top of the steps a hallway opened to the left and to the right. He walked down the hall and peaked in to each of the rooms ending with her room. Soon that would be their bedroom where they would be one together. Where they would start their perfect life.
He walked in to her bedroom, clicked on the light looked at her bed. Waiting had been good for him. In the past he had always taken what he wanted, what was owed to him. This time he was doing it right. He would slowly romance her. Heighten the desire so when they were finally together it would be.
Perfect.
Her bed was a bit more modern then he would have chosen but he knew she was a modern girl. He walked around the bed but didn’t touch any of the things on her dresser.
“Which side of the bed is mine?”
He looked and saw the alarm clock on the right.
“I guess I’m on the left.”
He went back to the left side of the bed and knelt down. His body vibrated with excitement. What would she do if she came home and found him waiting in their bed for her? Would that make her happy?
“No, Alpha Mu Epsilon.” He whispered. “Stick to the plan, Alpha Mu Epsilon.” Of course that was right but he couldn’t leave quite yet. He went back around to her side of the bed, noting the way she tucked in the sheets. They were in tight with the blankets turned down at the top then tucked under the mattress. Two pillows were at the head of the bed with a round pillow and two tootsie roll decorative pillows leaning against them. He reached behind the decorative pillow, lifted her pillow to his face and inhaled deeply. Laundry detergent mixed with the Vanilla scent of her perfume. It was the smell of desire.
“Oh Rachel, how predictable.” He reached down and touched the blade of the knife she kept under her pillow. “A small piece of metal won’t keep us apart.” He laughed and shook his head while he put her pillow back and smoothed down the blankets.
“I am growing weary of your disobedience Rachel but in time all will be amended.”
He stepped away from the bed and opened the small top drawer of her dresser. Satin night gown in jewel tones were lined up next to pantyhose. He lifted out the top night gown. It was sapphire blue. This is the one he would pick for her to wear. He tossed it on the bed. The spaghetti straps landed near the pillows and the end draped over the edge of the bed. He walked to the side of the bed, moved the decorative pillow and repositioned the gown. He looked over to the nightstand where a photo of Rachel and that other woman sat is a black wrought iron frame.
He layed the photo down and put the gown on top. She smiled up at him much like she would their first night together. He walked to the bathroom. Her toiletries were all gone. No toothbrush. No perfume.
Who was she with tonight?
His skin that had burned with lust now burned with rage. She tried his patience. Rachel would learn about loyalty.
He snatched up her gown and put it back along with the picture. He would leave her a message, this one unmistakable. Next would have to be punishment.
God required punishment.
Alpha Mu Epsilon required it.
You are reading A Face in the Shadow by Tiffany Colter.
Tiffany is a writer, speaker and writing career coach. She is a frequent contributor to print and online publications in addition to her regular marketing blog at www.WritingCareerCoach.com
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