4 Big Easy Hunter (18 page)

I heard him knock something over in his office and run down the hallway to the living room. “What? What?” he answered excitedly. He saw Nate on the floor, but he didn’t have a clue as to what had happened.

“The smell!” I told him. “The smell of roses is so strong. Aunt Sony followed you home!”

I was upset. I absolutely, positively didn’t want a ghost in our house. And I didn’t want her ogling Mick when he was naked. We would probably have to get an exorcist or have some strange ritual done to cleanse the apartment.

Mick took a good look at the two of us and burst into laughter. He was laughing so hard, he could barely speak.

“What?” I asked him. “What’s so funny? Nate can’t stand up or he’ll pass out.”

Mick walked around the corner of the dining room and reappeared a second later with a huge vase full of at least three dozen roses.

My mouth hung open yet again, and Nate peered up from the floor to see what was going on.

“Susan,” Mick said. “Before we left New Orleans, I ordered roses to be delivered for you today. I placed the order before we went to Aunt Sony’s. After I found out about her mother and the rose smell, I meant to cancel the order this morning, but we were busy at work, and I forgot. The delivery man was running late, and the flowers were his last delivery of the day. They came about an hour ago.”

Mick set the flowers down on the coffee table and gave Nate a hand getting to his feet. “You two looked so funny when I came running in here,” he said still smiling. “It was just like in the movies when they show someone who looks like they’ve seen a ghost.”

We ended up having a good laugh out of the situation, but it wasn’t funny when we thought Aunt Sony’s mother had actually taken up residence.

I took the sandwich from the refrigerator and handed it to Nate. I watched him for a moment as he ambled down the hallway to his apartment. I wanted to go with him to see Joe, but I wanted to see Mick more. I could spend time with Joe tomorrow.

I closed the door, turned to Mick, and threw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck. “Thank you so much for the flowers,” I said sweetly. “They really are beautiful. And I know your office manager will like them just as much. Tell Shelly they’re from both of us, and we appreciate the hard work she does at Raines Construction. The smell is making me sick, and I want them out of here in the morning.”

He smiled and simply said, “I understand.”

It was hot. I’d been in training classes all day, and I was on my way home from Chagrin Falls. It would be after 6:00 when I arrived, and Mick would be in around seven. The air conditioning in the small Toyota was on full blast, but it was still humid in the car.

I was wearing a thin silk blouse with lightweight cotton slacks. Even with the lightweight clothing, my shirt was sticking to my back. I exited the highway to run into a local Quick Mart and grab a giant slushy from the wall-to-wall beverage machine. I chose the white cherry. Any mishaps while driving wouldn’t leave red cherry stains on my clothes.

I paid for my drink and spent the next few minutes enjoying the cooling treat. After enduring a wicked attack of brain freeze, I hopped back into my car, made my way back onto the highway, and continued the drive home. The refreshing slushy had done its job, and I no longer felt so hot and cranky.

I pulled in, drove around back, and parked beside the carport just in time to see Nate coming out of the building with Joe on his leash.

“Hi, Joe!” I called over to him as I stepped out of the car.

The dog nearly dragged Nate across the lot trying to get to me. I stooped down and encouraged him to come faster.

“Hi, boy!” I said happily as he jumped up on me, and I gave him a good rubbing about his neck and ears. “Did you have a good day today? Did you chase any rabbits? Did anybody love you today?”

“We’re on our way out back for a romp,” Nate said. “I know it’s hot, but do you want to come?”

“Of course,” I told him with a big smile. “I’m going to take a shower anyway when I get inside, so I might as well have some fun with you and Joe.”

We went back to the field, and Nate switched to the 30-foot leash. We could then run and play with the dog, but he wouldn’t be able to run away. A hound follows his nose, and even though he wouldn’t want to run away, he might forget for many miles.

Twenty minutes later, all three of us were hot and tired. We returned to the parking lot, and I saw the Chevelle parked in the carport. My heart skipped a happy beat. Mick was home, and he had picked up my car. We’d have to take it for a spin later to run down to the construction office to pick up his BMW.

“Aren’t you coming up?” I asked Nate as he headed toward his car with Joe.

“No. We’re going to run down to Martin’s deli,” he said. “We’ll be back in a little bit.”

I smiled and waved as Joe jumped into the front seat and waited patiently for Nate to put the window down so he could stick his head out. I waved exuberantly at both of them as they pulled out of the lot.

I took the stairs two at a time. My heart was full of happiness, and I couldn’t wait to see Mick. I was pretty sure I could talk him into taking a shower with me. I giggled at the prospect.

The apartment door was open slightly, so I pushed it open and yelled, “Mick! I’m home!”

There was no response. I walked back the hallway toward his office, and called out again, “Mick, where are you?”

I never saw him coming. He slammed me against the wall from behind. His hand was over my mouth as his other hand pushed a knife against the side of my neck. The fortune teller’s words flashed through my mind – “
Death comes to you in the form of a knife. You must be quick.”

He was my height, my build, and I saw glimpses of the blonde wig he was wearing. I couldn’t see his face. I couldn’t wriggle free. I was pinned so hard against the wall, I could barely breathe.

He spoke through gritted teeth and said with intense anger, “Susan Hunter. You think you’re so great, so special. You think you’re so much better than everyone else.”

I tried to scream, but his hand clenched my mouth harder. His strength was astounding. “I tried to be nice to you, but you would never talk to me. You thought I wasn’t good enough for you. Well, it’s my turn now. I’m going to show you that I am good enough for you, and then I’m going to kill you. You took my life away from me, and I’m going to take yours away from you.”

I struggled to get free, and I felt the knife press harder against my neck. A sharp pain ran into my brain, and I knew the knife had pierced my skin.

He was breathing heavily. I could feel every bit of his body behind mine, and I was terrified at what he was going to do to me. He moved the knife swiftly and cut my blouse down the back. I tried to scream and the knife was immediately thrust to my neck again. There was another sharp pain.

He walked backward toward the living room, dragging me down the hallway with him. He was moving fast, and I felt the knife against the front of my body. My blouse had been cut away and was now hanging from my arms. I flailed with the only arm that was free, but I couldn’t connect with any part of his body. He threw me across the coffee table and partially onto the sofa. My hip hit the corner of the table hard, and I cried out with pain.

Before I could make another sound, he was on top me, pulling me onto the sofa. His weight was crushing. His hand was over my mouth again and his knife was moving expertly as it cut into the thin cotton of my slacks.

I tried to scream and felt yet another sharp pain in my neck.

“Shut up!” he growled. “You think you’re so superior. We weren’t good enough for you and your stupid apartments. We weren’t good enough to live in your precious building. My wife left me, you know. She left me!” he screamed. “She said I was stupid and poor. She would have been happy here, but you turned us down. I’ve been waiting and watching. You and all the other pretty girls. They all deserved what they got. Stupid, stupid pretty girls. I took them until I could get you. I almost had you twice, but I have you now.”

His knife moved again, and I felt more of my cotton slacks being cut away. My free arm was wildly grasping for anything by the coffee table. Everything had been pushed onto the floor when he threw me across it to the sofa. My hand connected with a magazine, but I knew it would be of no use. Then it found the giraffe. That very stupid, very ugly,
very heavy
giraffe Ron had given to me.

I swung it with all my might up against Lugnut’s head.

The cracking of his skull made a sickening sound. He rolled off of me and onto the floor. He was rolling around in pain and holding his head. I struggled off of the sofa, my clothes hanging in shreds, and attempted to pass him to run to the front door. He reached out a hand and grabbed my ankle.

I screamed and instinctively jerked my foot. I was able to wrest my leg away from him, but he was getting to his feet. I ran in the opposite direction to my little library and locked the door. I could hear him swearing and coming down the hallway after me.

I was only vaguely aware I had started crying and was actually sobbing. I threw the window open and started yelling, “Help!” at the top of my lungs. Images of the tomb flashed through my mind.

Lugnut was breaking the door down. I opened the bookcase and slipped into the secret closet. I pulled the bookcase shut behind me and moved quickly in the darkness toward the back of the closet. I was unaware Mick had stacked two more wooden wine crates in the closet while I was gone, and I tripped and fell over them cracking my head on the corner of yet another wooden crate. I rolled over onto my back with a searing pain running through my head. I heard the library door give way. Lugnut come roaring into the room as I blacked out.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“You’ve had twenty-six concussions in your life, Susan Hunter, and if you have any more, we’re simply going to have to cut your head off.”

“It’s Raines. Susan Raines,” I said tiredly. My head hurt so badly, but the doctor was wrong. “It’s only been twenty-four concussions. Only twenty-four.”

The doctor gaped at me with disgust and said, “You know full well you’re only allowed to have three concussions in your lifetime, and you’ve not only used up your allotment, but you’ve taken concussions from other people, as well.”

The nurse beside the doctor was smiling and holding a handsaw in one hand. She wanted to saw my head off. It would please her very much. Her other hand held something square. She turned it to show me. It was a picture of the tomb in New Orleans. I looked more closely, and saw I was in a coffin inside the tomb. My head and a knife were on a small table beside the coffin, and a sufficient amount of blood was spattered everywhere.

I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound came out. The reading from the fortune teller had come true.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“For cyring out loud! Get a police officer up here and kill this dog!”

The voice was loud. It was close by and above me. Then I heard the growling. A vicious dog was nearby. Was it going to attack me?

“You can’t shoot the dog,” said another voice in desperation.

“Hell if I can’t!” yelled the first voice.

I heard the dog whimper, and then there was vicious snarling and growling again.

I realized the bad voice belonged to Detective Bentley. The desperate voice was Mick. The dog had to be Joe, and Detective Bentley wanted to shoot him!

“Get a gun up here!” he yelled again. “For all we know, she could be dead already, and we can’t help her until someone kills this damned dog!”

Open your eyes, Susan. Open your eyes.
I was trying to will myself to open my eyes. I couldn’t let them kill Joe. I could feel tears slipping out, but I couldn’t open my eyes. I felt heat on my face, and then moisture. It was Joe. He was licking my face and my eyes. He was whimpering and licking my tears.

I manage to flutter my eyes a bit. A tiny bit of voice came out, “Good dog, Joe.”

Mick called softly to Joe through a cracked voice, “Come here, Joe. She’s ok. Come here boy.”

I felt myself being lifted out of the closet. Everything went black again.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“The doctor will be in to see you soon, dear.”

A pleasant woman had been moving around the room for a few minutes. I had been watching her through barely opened eyes. I didn’t realize at first that she was a nurse.

“Susan?”

I turned to my left. A sharp pain shot through my head on that side. I winced.

“Sweetheart,” Mick said taking my hand and lifting it to his lips, “don’t move. Lie still until the doctor comes in.”

“Did they get him?” I asked.

“Yes. They got him. We’ll talk about it later,” he said. “Just try to lie still.”

“Joe?”

“He’s fine. He’s at the -”

“Well, folks,” said a vaguely familiar voice, “it looks like we’re only going to need a few stitches and some aspirin.” The doctor looked at me and said, “It was a little over a year ago I stitched this exact same spot, Susan, but this is a smaller wound. The concussion is mild, the small cuts on your neck will be fine with bandages, and we have just a few more test results to get back. I’ll send a nurse in to get you prepped, and we’ll get you taken care of and out of here.”