Carnal Vengeance (46 page)

Jerry Frampton—for the Little Sister Society

Adam Frankowicz—

William O'Day—for Stella

Timothy Ziegler—for Holly

As soon as Holly was told of the alphabetical listing of the four names, she knew for certain Philip had seen the sheet of paper bearing the fraternity brothers' names weeks ago in her apartment. The index card was the kind she kept in her briefcase. He had apparently copied the four names that hadn't been crossed out while she was out of the room, then after talking to her parents and getting their input, he had formed enough of the picture to begin his plans for retribution.

Holly knew that Stella was Philip's mother's name, though he'd only mentioned her once or twice. When she realized how much it bothered him to talk about her or the father he had never met, Holly never pushed him on it. However, she did recall his attending his mother's funeral some years back. After she was buried, he had become so despondent, he had tried psychiatric help for a while, at Evelyn's insistence. And when he cheered up again, Holly had accepted his assurance that he had just been sad.

When Agent Quick spoke to Evelyn, she was able to supply the doctor's name and number. Quick bent a few rules by passing on to Holly what he learned from the doctor. Philip had only visited the psychiatrist a handful of times, but what he had revealed about his birth parents in those sessions was sufficient to explain the gnawing resentment that motivated him to commit murder.

The doctor had detected his silent rage and had tried to convince Philip to continue seeing him or another therapist in order to work out his feelings. He had warned his patient that one day he could lose control of all that pent-up anger if he allowed it to continue seething without neutralizing it.

His warning had gone unheeded and had been proven correct, with fatal results.

At least Cheryl seemed to be doing better. Seeing Philip framed in the window had recreated the image she had seen of him through the bedroom doorway, and it had all come back to her in a flash.

Right after she arrived in Ziegler's suite, he had gotten a call and said he had someone coming with an emergency. Rather than leave and miss her opportunity to say her piece, she had gone into the bedroom to wait her turn. She didn't want anyone to know she was there, so she stayed hidden in spite of how long it took. She couldn't make out what was being said, but when she heard a sound like a motor, curiosity made her peek out of the room.

The grotesque performance she witnessed literally terrified her into silence. After Philip had left, she had slipped in the blood on her way to the door of the suite, and that was how April had found her.

April had called last night, sounding more like her old self. She said Bobbi had been given a one-year sabbatical leave, based on her willingness to spend that time in a mental health clinic. Erica wasn't returning her calls but April never worried much over Erica. She was like a cat, always landing on her feet.

Holly's parents also seemed to be on the mend. Their weekend honeymoon had been what they needed to begin putting all the misfortunes of the past permanently behind them and look to the future once again. Having lost a close friend in such a tragic way seemed to have helped Bernie accept the futility of revenge.

Evelyn handled closing up the office for two weeks until the curiosity over Philip's death quieted down.

There was nothing Holly needed to do, no loose ends left to tie up, and yet she felt...
incomplete.
She was vacillating between making dinner and going out when the phone rang, offering a temporary reprieve from having to make a decision.

"Hello?"

"Hi."

"David?" The sense of being incomplete faded, until she realized this was only the second time he had ever spoken to her over the telephone. "What's wrong? Why are you calling?"

"Nothing's wrong." He hesitated a moment, then reluctantly admitted, "I just wanted to hear your voice."

The End

Want more from Marilyn Campbell's

Lust & Lies Series?

Page forward for excerpts from

UNNATURAL RELATIONS

TWISTED HUNGER

WICKED OBSESSIONS

All available in eBook format

Excerpt from

Unnatural Relations

Lust & Lies Series

Book 1

by

Marilyn Campbell

USA Today Bestselling Author

UNNATURAL RELATIONS

Praise and Accolades

"Nerve-shattering tale of danger and suspense."

~Romantic Times Magazine

"Heart-stopping terror... a non-stop, fast-paced thriller."

~Lake Worth Herald

"What a fantastic conclusion! An outstanding story!"

~Rendezvous

"George Washington was a wuss!"

Barbara Johnson shot a disapproving glance at her son, Matthew, then returned her attention to backing their weather-beaten Honda Civic out of the driveway. After so many years of Matt being too timid to say much of anything, she hesitated to reprimand him now that he'd begun behaving like other nine-year-old boys.

"Let me guess," she said, as if she were giving it serious thought. "Kenny gave you that bit of information."

Matt looked about ready to defend his friend, but he reconsidered. "Well, sort of. But it was in the movie we saw in class the other day."

She shot him a quizzical glance. "The Father of Our Country was called a
wuss
in an educational movie? What did your teacher say about that?"

Matt rolled his eyes over his mother's obvious teasing.
"Ma-a-aw.
They didn't use that word exactly. They just showed how when he was a kid, he liked to dance and write mushy poems. Junk like that."

"Oh, I see," Barbara said, nodding solemnly. "Girl junk."

Something on the side of the road distracted Matt. "Where did you say we're going today?"

His abrupt change of subject made her grin. He knew he had stumbled into sensitive territory where Mom was concerned. Rather than repeat her equality of the sexes speech, she answered his question.

"Since Washington's birthday just passed, I thought we'd go see where he was born. It sounded interesting. Besides the memorial house, there's a farm where the animals and crops are raised the same way they were in colonial days."

He perked up at the mention of farm animals. "Is it far?"

"About thirty miles. The brochure said it opens at nine. We should get there a little after that."

When she and Matt first moved into the little house in Fredericksburg, Virginia, she had vowed they would see as much of the surrounding historic area as possible before they were forced to move again.

So far, during Matt's short life, the two of them had lived in eleven other cities, but had never really become familiar with any of them. Their stay in Fredericksburg had now stretched to nearly two years, and it definitely looked as though they finally would be able to stay somewhere for as long as they wished. Nevertheless, at least one Saturday a month, Barbara still selected a famous site between Richmond and Washington, D.C., for them to visit.