Ring Around the Rosy (32 page)

Gary walked to the desk, opened a
drawer, and took out a dozen roses. Slowly, he pulled the petals off each one,
scattered them on the floor around her.

She pressed herself against the
wall. She had
 
to get the upper hand. Had
to get out of here, away from him.

“You didn’t like my roses, either,
did you? I saw how you threw them out. You shouldn’t have done that, Susan.”

He walked toward her, stooped
down, and stared at her.

Bella hissed again and arched her
back. Susan looked from one picture to the next. Anything to avoid looking at
him. She remembered Gary had told her he wanted to write a coffee table book.
Maybe she could stall him — get him talking, get that evil look off his face.

“Your pictures are beautiful,
Gary.” Her voice sounded strange even to her. She took a breath. “You definitely
have talent.” She snuck a look at him. Darn, why didn’t he react? Respond?
Instead, he stayed there, staring at her, his eyes glazed.

She had to get through to him.
“Are you working on your book?”

“What do you care about my book?”
His voice sounded raspy like it did on the phone.

“Of course I care. We talked about
it, remember?” Anything to bring him back to the Gary she knew. Back from the
evil man with the crazed eyes before her. She looked at the pictures again. One
was of a cat. She remembered the cat he rescued from the pond. That was the
Gary she wanted to see now.

“Is that your cat, Gary?”

He looked at the picture, and back
at her. His eyes changed. They held a hint of sadness. “It was.”

“What happened to it?” She didn’t
really care, but she had to keep this sense of normalcy about him. Had to keep
him talking. Maybe then she could talk her way out of here.

“Someone killed it!” His eyes
glazed over again. “Someone strangled it.”

She slumped in the corner. He was
going to kill her. She’d never see her family or Dave again. Oh God, Dave. She
hadn’t even had the chance to tell him she loved him. And she did love him,
with all her heart and soul. She’d even give up her job for him. She looked up
at Gary. Why was he doing this? Why did he kill all those people?

Darn it, she had to think. Think!
Think! Where was her self-defense training when she needed it?

 
“Gary, I...” She sat up straighter. If only he
would move in closer. She knew she couldn’t stand up. He’d never let her. But
if he’d just move closer…

And then he did.

He moved toward her, reached out
and pulled her to her feet. The look in his eyes even more crazed. He touched
her cheek with his thumb.

“You knew I loved you. You loved
me, too, for a little while. At least until that cop came along.” He almost
spat the words.

“I set that murder up for you. I
knew you’d be first on the scene. I did it close enough to the deadline that I
knew they’d have to accept your story.”

She shook her head. What was he
saying? He killed for her. This couldn’t be happening. He moved in closer to
her, caressed her hair. His touch repulsed her. She pressed herself against the
wall.

He shifted, put his hand on the
back of her head, and leaned closer. His breath smelled foul. Bella hissed,
reached her paw out, scratched him, and jumped from her arms.

“Damn it!” Gary pulled his hand
back.

Thank you, Bella. Suddenly, it
came to her. She lifted her knee and jammed it into him.

He grabbed himself and fell
backward.

 
Leaving him gasping for breath, she raced to
the door, pulled it open, and ran to her apartment downstairs. Bella followed
behind her.

She slammed her door behind her,
turned the deadbolt, and put the chain lock in place.

* * *

At the sound of the door slamming,
Dave raced from the kitchen, his heart beating so loudly, it sounded in his
ears. And there she was, standing in front of him, leaning against the door. He
rushed to her, and grabbed her just before she slid to the floor.

“Susan! My God, what happened?”

“It’s him. He...” She collapsed in
her arms. “It’s...” Then she lost it. Her whole body convulsed as she sobbed in
Dave’s arms.

“The door was open, the power was
off, and you weren’t here. I...I was so scared. I heard the message on the
machine. If anything had happened to you, I would never have forgiven myself.
After I listened to the tape and heard that strange rhyme, I didn’t know what
to think.” He stroked her back, her hair. He couldn’t seem to touch her enough.
He pulled her closer against him.

The words came back to him, even
now, while he held her.

And when your heart begins to
bleed, you’re dead, and dead, and dead indeed. The last part had terrified him.

“Where is he?”

“In an apartment upstairs.
Apartment three forty six.” Oh God, Dave, That raspy voice, it...it’s Gary
Rosenberg, the photographer from the paper. I....he...he asked me out. I told
him no. He-he said I shouldn’t have rejected him. He sent the roses.” Susan
covered her face with her hands and another round of tears erupted.

Dave heard the sirens and radioed
the apartment number to them. “We’ll get him. Stay here.” Dave hurried upstairs
to Gary’s apartment.

Susan followed, and he turned to
stop her.

“I’ll stay back, out of the way.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Ring around the rosy, pocket full of posies.
Ashes, ashes...

Gary scattered the roses around
the floor in a circle. How could she run away from him? He thought she loved
him. He should have known better. She was just like all the rest. Dumb bitch,
she deserved to die. But she was gone now, and he knew she’d run straight for
that cop. They’d be here soon. He didn’t have much time. He had to finish it
before they came.

* * *

Three police officers rushed up
the stairs and met Susan and Dave in front of Gary’s apartment.

When had he taken that apartment?
He obviously didn’t live there. Susan shivered as the realization hit her that
he had been watching her. No wonder he knew her whereabouts. Between watching
her here and at the paper, he knew almost everything she did.

They banged the door open, and the
officers entered first. Susan stayed back against the wall.

“Clear.” She heard the voices from
inside. She stood there waiting, wondering.

Finally Dave came out.

“You don’t want to go in there.
He’s dead.”

“Dead? How? I have to, Dave, the
paper. I have to write this story.”

“You can write it, but it’s a
crime scene. You aren’t going in. I don’t want you to see Gary’s body.”

Susan pushed her way past Dave and
froze. Her hands went numb. Cold, starting at the bottom of her feet, worked
its way to her head, and then extreme heat replaced it. Sweat formed on her
brow.

Gary’s lifeless body hung from a
hook in the middle of the room. The roses he had taken out of the drawer
earlier were crushed. The petals scattered to form a circle around his body.

The rhyme with the same cut-out
letters like his other victims, Ring around the Rosy. Pocket full of posies.
Ashes, Ashes, I finally fell down, was attached to his hand with a rubber band.

She backed out of the room,
turned, and ran to her apartment. After all the dead bodies she had seen these
past few months, this was the worst. Yet, she wasn’t sorry he was dead. If she
hadn’t kicked him and ran out, it might have been her in there. She ran to the
bathroom and vomited.

After she rinsed her mouth and
washed her face, she went into the kitchen to make coffee. It was going to be a
long night.

How could she write this story?
Gary, the man she worked with, even ate lunch with, had killed all those
people. Why? She flipped open her laptop.

Ring Around the Rosy

Finally, the nursery rhyme killer
has been silenced. A fatal ending to tragic murders. Gary Rosenberg, staff
photographer of this newspaper, took his own life tonight after kidnapping
reporter, Susan Weston, the object of his erotomaniac obsession. Rosenberg
broke into Ms Weston’s apartment, turned off her power, and kidnapped her when
she came home early this evening. Ms Weston managed to escape, and when the
police broke into his apartment a short time later, Gary Rosenberg had taken
his own life. A ring of rose petals surrounded his body. The nursery rhyme,
“Ring around the Rosy,” was attached to his hand with a rubber band. What led a
man of Gary Rosenberg’s talent to commit these heinous acts? What—

* * *

Dave came in and stood beside her.
“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just can’t believe it.
Why did he do it? It doesn’t make sense. He was quiet, polite.” Susan shook her
head. “I don’t understand it.”

“We found an elementary school
yearbook. Each of the victims’ pictures had a red x across their face. There
was a diary titled “Ashes, Ashes They All Fall Down.” He described how and why
he killed each one. He was sick, Susan. He did it because they teased him,
wouldn’t let him play when they were children. They made fun of him, called him
four-eyes. You know how cruel kids can be. He waited a long time for his
revenge. We also found a plastic body suit. That’s why he didn’t leave any
trace evidence.”

“And me? What about me? Was it
just because I rejected him?”

David nodded and pulled her to her
feet. He had come so close to losing her. He put his arms around her and drew
her to him, nuzzled her hair with his chin. She felt so good in his arms, so
right. He couldn’t let her go. Mistake or not, he wanted her for keeps. He’d
take his chances. That was, if she’d have him.

“Susan, I know this probably isn’t
the right time.” He held her away, looked into her eyes. “I thought I lost you.
When I heard that message, and you were gone… Oh, baby, I was so scared. I love
you.” He took a deep breath. “Will you marry me?”

Susan stared at him.

“I... Yes!” She couldn’t believe
she said it. Dave loved her, wanted to marry her. Career be damned. All she
wanted was this man. Would she marry him? In a heartbeat. She reached up and
pulled his head down until his mouth met hers. “Oh, yes,” she whispered.

Epilogue

Two years later

Susan helped Emily and Clare set
the table. Giggles came from the other room, where the men played with the
kids. Dave chased Josh around the dining room table and ran behind Susan.

“Hey, don’t hide behind me.” She
pushed him toward the living room. “And don’t be running around this table.
Good Lord, David, you’re worse than the kids.”

Emily laughed. “I’m afraid my
brothers never grew up. They take after Dad.”

“Looks like I’m in for big trouble
with Jimmy, then, aren’t I?” Susan looked at her ten-month-old son sleeping
peacefully amidst all the background noise.

“It’s a good thing he takes after
his father and can sleep through anything, too.”

This was the first Thanksgiving
Dinner Susan had prepared for both families, and thankfully, everything was
going off without a hitch. The turkey was done, and everything smelled
delicious. It was good to be with family. If someone would have told her two
years ago that she’d be married and have a son of her own, she never would have
believed it. She smiled. Life was good.

“Okay, guys, dinner’s ready.”

Susan looked at the large group
gathered around the table — Michael with his new girlfriend, and John, recently
engaged to Kate, Mother and Father Morgan, happy and healthy. Emily and Rob with
their boys, her parents, Clare with her new boyfriend and Katie and Johnny, and
of course Jimmy, still asleep in the corner of the room — all their family
gathered together to celebrate Thanksgiving and so much to be thankful for.

Her gaze met Dave’s across the
room, and she couldn’t wait for him to make the announcement. Next year,
there’d be one more.

“I love you,” she mouthed across
the table at her husband.

“I love you, too,” he mouthed back
and blew her a kiss.

Funny, Susan thought, how quickly life
changed. Things that once seemed important no longer were. Now that she
accomplished her goal, being an investigative reporter wasn’t all it was
cracked up to be. Just proved with the right man by your side, you could have
it all. Now she was content to write the “fluff” pieces. She had something much
more important — Dave, her son, her family. Not everything she had ever dreamed
of, no.

It was everything and more.