Reviewers:
Kath – Here's a little more for you. Almost at the end.
J. – Thanks, J. I figured Lucas has to have some redeeming qualities. He can't be completely evil because then he'd be such a one-dimensional character. Besides, when Lucas makes deals with people, he expects them to hold up their end of the bargain, so it's only fair that he has to do the same.
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Darkness spread through Trinity as Ronilyn strolled cautiously up the front walk to her house. Mayor Quimby had insisted she remain with him after the press conference as well as escort him home. It had been a tiresome, but uneventful evening, with not a single Lucas sighting, something that surprised Ronilyn, considering the look Lucas had given her when the mayor announced Mrs. Broomley as the newest member of the City Council. She didn't know what Lucas had originally planned for the City Council, but she was certain that he hadn't figured Mrs. Broomley into the equation.
She entered the house, flipped the light switch on the wall by the door and glanced around. All was quiet. No Lucas here either.
"Hmm," she said aloud, tossing her purse onto a nearby chair. Perhaps she wouldn't be hearing from Lucas tonight, after all. "Hah. Yeah, right." Ronilyn trudged up the stairs to her room, still haunted by his face. Lucas had never looked at her that way before. Never. It was a look so full of...of...what? Hate? Anger? Disappointment? Nothing good, that was damn sure.
Ronilyn sat down on the bed, crossed her legs beneath her, and composed a letter of resignation from her job in Chicago. Protecting Mayor Quimby from Lucas's wrath wasn't something that she could do long-distance. She wasn't even sure she could do it from a short distance, but she'd agreed to try and in her family a person's word meant something.
She chewed on the tip of the pen as she reread what she had written. Ronilyn crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it into the air. "Garbage," she said, watching the paper fall to the floor. She was clearly not in the right frame of mind for this. A dog howled nearby.
Ronilyn looked up. "That reminds me," she mumbled aloud, unfolding her legs and reaching for the phone. As the howls grew in volume and urgency, Ronilyn dialed the phone number of the neighbor who was checking on all her pets while she was away.
"What the hell is going on out there?" she muttered and carried the phone over to the window. She drew aside the shade with one finger and glimpsed the dog sitting beneath her window moments before the bedroom light flickered and went out.
Ronilyn frowned and glanced back at the open bedroom door. Blackness stretched beyond the door frame, eliminating the feeble possibility that the light bulb in her room had simply burned out. She stared down at the dead phone in her hand, then hung up the useless instrument with a sigh.
"Well, I guess it's show time," she whispered. She moved warily toward the bedroom door, stubbing her toe on a chair leg. Ronilyn hesitated at the top of the stairs, suddenly realizing the foolishness of her actions, and fought an urge to flee. She took a deep breath and exhaled. She had no choice but to finish what she started. And unless she leapt out the window like so many other women in Trinity, there was no escape.
Ronilyn slowly climbed down the stairs, hugging the side of the wall as she descended, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. When both of her feet touched the carpeted floor, the house blazed into light. Hell, the bathroom light upstairs was probably on, Ronilyn thought, as she shaded her eyes with her hand. After blinking several times, she saw Lucas standing in the center of the room, his eyes boring into her.
Ronilyn barely stifled a gasp and she swallowed hard, struggling to maintain her composure.
Without taking his hands out of his overcoat, Lucas said in a voice barely above a whisper, "You got some explainin' to do, missy."