39 Thoughts of a Killer
"Well, I don't know what to say, but I'm guessin' that there isn't anythin' I can do to help right now." Debbie looked across at the two shocked faces of her hosts, and then watched as Steve turned to leave the room.
"No, Debs, I think you have done enough!" Jo couldn't help herself, and she could tell Steve didn't like what she'd done either by the tone of his voice.
"Jo. Honey, I won't be long."
"Steve, no, wait, I want to come too, this isn't somethin' that either of us should be doin' alone." Jo stood up and heard Steve speak to his sister-in-law.
"Jo's right, we won't be long, but we need to be together for this."
"Steve, Jo, you just go ahead an' speak with that poor chil', he must need a strong base so much right now." Debbie tried to look sympathetic and Steve nodded.
"Thanks, there's ice-cream in the freezer if you want some, or fruit in the bowl. Just help yourself." Steve waited for his wife to leave the room in front of him and then he too headed for the stairs.
Daniel sat on his bed and forced the tears away. There was no way he would let that woman reduce him to a sniveling wimp. Part of him wanted to laugh at the irony of it, he had been pushing and pushing his mom and dad, showing them that he was a 'bad 'un' underneath, that now the adoption was all completed whatever he did they couldn't get rid of him, but the final push had come from a woman he hated, and without her he wondered whether he would have ever totally realised what he had been doing.
The room that they were heading for was totally silent, and Steve tapped on the door, listening intently for an answer.
"What?" The one word was full of emotion, and Steve opened the door just a little.
"Son, can we come in?"
"Sure, why not? Is she with you?" Daniel sniffed and rubbed at his eyes; he looked up and saw only his parents watching him from the doorway and tried a smile.
Steve watched as Jo sat down on the chair next to the computer, and then he sat at the end of the bed. "Daniel, Son, I'm sorry, I didn't word that real well downstairs. I only wanted to prove to Debbie that you didn't take anything of hers, I know you wouldn't do that."
"Well, it didn't sound like that to me." Daniel had moved a little further up the bed away from his dad. "I don't like her, Dad, and I can't see why you do, she's rotten to Mom, nothing that we do is right, the only person that she's nice to is you."
"Daniel, she doesn't see us very often and her ways are different to ours, but she's family, and whether I like her or not, I plan to treat her well. You should do the same." Steve's voice came out a little sterner than he had intended and the boy hung his head.
"I'm sorry. But … but she's a royal pain in the ass!"
"Yeah, she is, but you an' I are gonna have to put aside the fact that we would rather have her space than her company an' just learn to live with her, at least for the next seven days." Jo tried not to smile as she spoke, but she agreed wholeheartedly with her son.
"I guess." Daniel wished that they would go, leave him alone, but he also had a feeling that they had more to say.
Steve had realized, as he climbed the stairs, that one of the reasons for the problems they had been having as a family had been explained by Daniel in his verbal outburst. The anger had let loose the fears and insecurities that all the gentle persuasion in the world probably wouldn't have set free.
"Daniel, look at me." Steve wanted to hug the boy, hold him tight and never let him go, but he knew that right now that would be the wrong thing to do, and so he just spoke, quietly, and hoped that he would do as he was asked.
"Why? What difference is it gonna make?"
"Not a lot, I guess, after all, you said it, we're stuck with you, whatever you do, you are our responsibility."
"Steve!" Jo was shocked by what her husband was saying, and she couldn't stop herself from calling out, even though she was happy to let him take the lead in the conversation so far.
"Well, it's true; there is nothing we can do, not any more." Steve carried on talking in the same manner, even though he didn't feel that way at all and Daniel felt himself get on the defensive once again, and his anger flared, but he willed himself not to speak and for a while the room was silent until finally, he couldn't contain it any more.
"I knew, I knew you would adopt me, it would all go wrong and there would be nothing you could do about any of it." The fear that he felt was so strong now that Daniel was sure both his parents would know just what a loser they had taken on.
"But, Honey, why would you think that things are gonna go wrong? You are our son, there is nothin' that you or anyone can do to change it, that's true, but I don't understand why you think we would want to, we love you." Jo could see hurt, anxiety, fear, all sorts of emotions in her son's face, and she too, although she didn't realize it, had the same thoughts as her husband, wanting to hug her son, but holding back, needing to know what else he had to say.
Daniel couldn't answer the question, the feelings that he had been having since the adoption became final were difficult to explain, even to him. Sometimes he knew that everything was fine, that he was loved, wanted and here to stay, but others he could see it all turning to dust in front of him, and if that was the case then he wanted to hasten it along, not get too dependent on the love and security that had been given to him.
"Daniel, you know that we love you, don't you? That we adopted you because we wanted you to be a permanent part of our family." Steve wasn't comfortable with the questions he knew that he had to ask, but he also had a feeling that coming from himself rather than the boy's mother they may carry a little more weight. Daniel knew that his dad kept his feelings locked up inside of him most of the time, and Steve hoped that would make him realize that they really did want him in their family. Daniel nodded and Steve, knowing that he had to say more carried on talking. "I deal with kids sometimes in my job, but I knew that wouldn't prepare me for taking on a teenager, nor your mom, we knew that it wasn't gonna be an easy task for you or us. Daniel, we're all gonna make mistakes, but when we do we have to do this, talk, listen and try to work out the best way of dealing with things. We're only human, mistakes come with the territory, but we love you, we want you to be here with us, you are our son. You do understand that, don't you?"
"I guess." The words came out as a mumbled comment, but at least it was a start.
"Son, when your mother was taken, and then they tried to take you too, that was the worst time of my life. I would have fought anyone and everyone to keep you with me, I thought you knew that." Steve had tried very hard not to think about the awful day when the longhaired idiot from Social Services had tried to remove their son.
"I … I think I do." Daniel remembered back, his dad had been scared, he hadn't thought that Steve could ever be scared, but that day he had known for absolute certain that his new dad loved him more than any man ever had before, but that still hadn't stopped him being the way he was now, argumentative, pushing almost every rule his folks had to the limit, pushing them to the limit, and maybe nothing could.
"You also know, because we have told you before, that we had no plans to foster anyone, we did it for Alex, as well as you, because he wanted to be able to help you but he couldn't take you on himself, Son, we have never regretted it, not for a minute." Steve paused as he saw Daniel wanted to come into the conversation.
"He has helped, he's helped me more than anyone, well, except you, he was the only one who came to see me in juvie, and when I had bad foster parents he would call all the time, he … he even bought me my cell so that I didn't have to use the house phone."
"I didn't know that, but he's a nice guy, and he loves you very much too." Steve smiled; somehow the news about the phone didn't surprise him at all. "Have you told him about the trouble you've been in at school and home?"
"No. I haven't spoken to him in ages … when he calls I tell him I'm busy." Daniel was suddenly embarrassed, the arguments and fights hadn't been something he was proud of, he had known they were wrong, but he had been unable to stop himself, and that was something he couldn't share with his friend.
"Honey, he must know about Doug, after all the hospital you put him in is where he works, an' Grandpa too." Jo had moved across and sat the pillow end of the bed; she needed to be closer to her son, to be able to reach out to him if he would let her.
"I know, and I'll bet they're both regretting they ever laid eyes on me too! Did Alex apologize to you yet for ruining your lives?" The spark suddenly flared, Daniel's eyes glinted and he spat the words out, his Grandpa was very special to him too, he hadn't thought about the fact that Doug would be taken to Community General and the sudden realization made his self destruct mechanism kick in again.
Steve shook his head, had nothing they'd said meant anything to the boy?
"Daniel, no, Honey, how can you think that?" Jo turned her face away, the tears in her eyes had nothing to do with hormones this time, she was deeply hurt by what he said, but more than that she was worried that somehow they had indicated that what Daniel was saying was true.
"How can I think it? Because it's true, no one ever loves me for long, every time things are good they go bad, I always do something to mess it all up and then … and then … people leave me." He couldn't carry on, the feelings of isolation and loneliness were beginning to overpower him, and he just knew that before long one of his parents would get up, leave the room, and take the other one with them.
This time Jo couldn't keep away, she moved closer to him and placed a finger on his cheek, then she gently turned him so that he was looking at her and cupped her hands around his face before starting to speak. "You are my son, whatever happened in the past, you were supposed to end up with your daddy an' me, an' there is nothin' in this world that you can do to stop me lovin' you an' bein' proud of who you are, nothin'!" The conviction in her voice was made a little shaky by the tears, which were falling freely now, but she couldn't stop them.
"But … but my mom, my birth mom … she said she loved me, she read me stories, she did nice things, an' then one day I … I was bad at school and … she just up and left, I never saw her again, and Dad … he didn't want me, not after she'd gone, and I got to thinking that … maybe he'd never even wanted me in the first place. Zeke was the only one who ever showed any interest in me, and he only wanted me to help him burglarize places. He just used me … I thought he loved me, but he didn't … he couldn't have could he?" There were tears on his cheeks now, but he didn't brush them away, if he did his mom might move her hands, and he didn't want her to do that.
"In his own way he probably did love you, an' your birth parents too, there is no one right way to love someone, we love you in a different way than Alex, an' if he'd been able to foster you instead of us it wouldn't have been like it is here, but that isn't to say that this is right an' that's wrong, people are different, the way they do things is different too, but this way works for us … Honey, you work for us."
"But … you … you're both so good, you do all the right things, I never did, not before I came here, I'm always gonna slip back to what I was, I can't help it."
"Oh yes you can. There is absolutely no reason for you to use that excuse." Steve's voice came back into the conversation loud and strong and Daniel jerked his head out of his mother's grasp and turned to face him.
"I was bad, that's what the judge said when I went to trial for that store raid, bad through and through and there was nothing short of a long jail sentence which was gonna change that. He … he said he was only sorry that I was too young for it to be him who gave it to me." Daniel closed his eyes for a moment, he could still picture that awful man, he'd made him go see an autopsy, and then sent him to juvie, the memory made him shudder and he felt his mother's arm go around him.
"Then the man's a fool. Darlin', you aren't bad, I've seen the way you carry yourself through life an' I am proud of you, proud to call you my son, an' when you graduate high school an' get your college acceptance letter you take it an' you show him, show him he's wrong." The anger at what the judge had said made Jo want to protect her young; it was a feeling she realized she liked, very much.
"Daniel, Judge Bannerman is a good judge, he has very strong morals and he wants the youth of this country to provide for themselves and not take from others, but what he said isn't true, and you have already proved that. Your grades are good, you have friends, hobbies, you get chosen for school trips which aren't open to everyone, and … and I'm proud of you too." Steve smiled, his tone had softened, and he hoped that his son knew he was speaking the truth.
Daniel looked down; there was something he hadn't mentioned. "I got pulled from the trip. Mr Gillingham said that I was no longer the type of student he wanted to represent his school." He'd known, for a couple of days, that he wasn't going to San Francisco any more, but he hadn't said anything.
"I'm sorry about that, but if the school hadn't stopped you we would, whatever the reasons for your behavior you have to be punished, you will be seeing a lot of this house over the next few weeks." Steve did feel sorry, he remembered how thrilled Daniel had been to get the chance to go on the trip and now, through his own stupidity, he had blown it.
"Can … can we talk some more, but later? I … I want to go call Alex, and Maddie, I have things that need doing, but I need to say more to you, I need to …" He trailed off, the words were too hard to say, and so he stopped trying.
"Honey, you take all the time you want, but I would speak to Doug an' Kelly too. Besides, I need to go downstairs an' count the silver." Jo smiled and then winked at her son.
"Nah, I wouldn't bother, after all, her stuff in Texas is probably flown in specially, for each meal!" Daniel smiled and then suddenly his mother enveloped him, as the hug he'd seen her struggled not to give him before won, and she held him tight. No more words were said, but none were needed, not right away, Daniel felt his father's arms as they went round both himself and his mom, and the family he still wasn't sure he deserved held him tight, and the feelings of love he thought he'd lost were still there, and he knew that if he could be true to himself and his family they would never leave him.
ooo
To Jesse's delight after Rae had finished talking and crying she had fallen asleep in his arms and, as he sat with her curled up against him, he began to realize just how far he had come in a very short time.
He had gone to bed on the Friday night, still in one of the spare rooms, and in his mind there had been very little chance of things changing in the foreseeable future. He had wanted to be with his children, and Rae, but being with her and being close to her were two very different things. Now though, she was as near to him as she could get and he felt nothing but safe and secure. Rae was right, the things that had been said to him were just words, and he had known all his adult life that words could heal or hurt. He'd let himself get buried so deeply in the negativity of his life recently that he'd been unable to let either his friends or his family in to help him. That would change though, from this moment on he resolved to let the past be just that, either good or bad, and concentrate on the future.
Very carefully, Jesse slid himself away from Rae and laid her head onto the cushion that he put in his place. Then he moved over to where his daughters were just watching the final scenes of their movie and sat down beside them on the floor. He held his finger to his lips as they both smiled at him and then he pointed at Rae on the sofa. Together they watched the end of the film and, making a game of it, tiptoed out of the playroom and into the kitchen where the three of them began to laugh and cuddle each other before he gave the girls a drink of milk each and took them up to the nursery.
ooo
The clothes were on the bed, beautiful things from a beautiful lady. The dress that Krista had worn was pink, and it had been covered with sequins and emphasized both her height and her slimness. The underwear was also pink; lacy, frothy pieces of nothing, and Dominic held the panties up and the light from the setting sun shone through giving them an unreal quality. He held them to his face, drinking in the scent of her, feeling the silkiness of them against his skin, the delicate material almost transparent, apart from the stains, red, deep red to begin with, but now a reddish brown, across them. The bra was the same, there had been very little of it to actually do the job it was designed for, and now it was soaked, the blood once again turning the material a browny colour. There were slash marks too, where the knife had cut through it as if it almost wasn't there, the straps were both severed, and the cups were shredded in places. Carefully he placed both pieces of lingerie into the bag, this time he wouldn't wash them, for a start he had a feeling they might disintegrate altogether, but also he had been so successful, she had been so wonderful, that he wanted to remember every little thing about it.
The dress was the next thing that he picked up, he held it against him and stood in front of the mirror, Dominic could see her as she had fallen against him, the knife in her back, and the dress showed the marks of the first stab wound. As he stood there he could feel again the way her body had stiffened, and he could picture the look of horror on her face, but she had deserved it, no one ran from Dominic and got away with it, and she, like all the others hadn't got the chance. The shoes were still on the bed, high strappy and black; he would have preferred them to be pink like the rest of the outfit, but never mind. They had high heels, at least four inches, and a diamante strap going across the front. She had collapsed to the ground when he had stabbed her, and the shoes, or at least one of them, had fallen off. She had known by then who he was, and had begged, they always begged, for her life.
For a minute he had been tempted, but he couldn't let her live, no one ever lived, they would only leave, and tell, so he had sliced the blade through the foot with no shoe on, and her scream had filled the air. As he had removed her other shoe the screaming had gotten so loud and she had tried to move away from him so strongly that he'd had to sit on her. Five times he had plunged the knife into her back before the noise had disappeared and he had been able to finish what he started.
Lovingly he picked up the hair, it was the most glorious that he had yet collected, apart from the one, nothing would ever compare with the one. He picked up the brush and began to gently smooth out the slight kinks it had received when it had been curled up in his jacket pocket. There were some shorter, unusable pieces too, but he had been unable to leave her without a proper style, had felt it impossible to drag himself away until he had left her hair neat and tidy.
His own shirt was in the wastebasket, the blood from when he had finally cut her throat staining the sleeve of the arm he had sliced her up with. It didn't concern him; it was Matthew's job to deal with that.
Suddenly Dominic was overcome by the desire to compare, to see what the differences were between Krista and the one. He hardly ever touched her things, let alone remove them from the room where they were kept, but the urge was so strong that he put Krista's dress down on the bed and made his way out into the hallway and along to the other bedroom, glancing about him as he did so, expecting a hand to grab at him and pull him back, but none came, and so slowly he opened the door and went in.
ooo
Alex sat with Mark at one of the tables in the doctor's lounge and wondered what to do. The telephone conversation he'd had with Daniel had worried him, but he wasn't sure how to deal with the information he now had. Alex had known that for some reason Daniel had been avoiding him. The boy was conscientious with his schoolwork but he had been taking it to extremes lately, and had never been available to talk, maybe to go for a soda, shoot hoops, none of the things they usually did. Alex hadn't wanted to pry, and he had been busy at work so he guessed he had let things slide a little.
"D'you wanna share?" Mark's voice cut into his thoughts and Alex looked up.
"Sorry?"
"Whatever it is that you're worrying about, do you wanna share?" Mark smiled as he spoke, the young doctor was turning out very nicely, very nicely indeed, and if he had any work related problems, or any other kind for that matter, then he wanted to help if he could.
"Yeah, I do, but I don't think I can." Alex was very aware that Mark was Daniel's grandfather, and he didn't want to betray confidences on either side of the relationship.
"Well, if you change your mind let me know, and if you can't catch me here, well, you know where to find me off duty too."
"Yes, Sir, I sure do." Alex got to his feet, his coffee break was over and he needed to be back at work, as he got to the door the young man turned back towards his friend. "Thanks, Mark."
"No problem, not that I did anything, but it was still no problem." Mark watched as Alex left the room and he remembered back, he wondered what it was that made him take interns under his wing, he'd done it three times so far, and it had turned out really well. Jack Stewart was living a life he couldn't even have dreamt about before he started medical school, practicing in Colorado, working only about three days a week and skiing or just enjoying life the rest of the time; Jesse, well, Jesse was special, he'd known that the first time he'd laid eyes on him, young, fresh faced, and so enthusiastic that he put the rest of his classmates to shame. He had known that Jesse would be a good doctor, but not quite how good. One day, if all the right things fell into all the right places, Jesse Travis, Mark was sure, would be head of internal medicine at Community General. And now there was Alex Martin, a young, confident, charming doctor, who also had bright things in his future. He would probably move from the hospital, and set his sights on private practice, but Mark sincerely hoped that whatever he did, he would remain as close a friend as he had become.
Mark checked his watch, his shift was over, there had been no last minute emergencies to keep him in the hospital any longer than he was supposed to be, he slid his white coat off as he walked along the corridor to the locker room, life was good, he was relaxed, his son was happy and content with a wonderful wife and family, and a happy smile crossed his face as he threw the coat into the laundry, before heading back out into the corridor again and out into the darkness of the night.
ooo
Debs had sat in one of the easy chairs in the morning room and watched while Steve rooted around under the sofa to see if he could find her missing things. Nothing had been discovered and he had excused himself to go and tell Daniel. Once Steve had left the room had descended into an uneasy silence.
Finally Debbie had sighed and then spoken, "Jo, you have some mighty valuable things in this here house, don't you worry about them all with that chil' about?" Debbie tried to look concerned, but Jo was having none of it.
"Debbie, you may be my brother's wife, but I won't have you speak that way about my son. He is hard workin' an' honest, he wouldn't have done what you said he did, an' I certainly never feel I have to lock anythin' away in this house because he is here." Which is more than I can say about you. Jo smiled, she didn't want to row with Debs, but only because it would upset her brother, if it was up to her she would throw the annoying woman out right now.
"I don't see how you can be so confident, a leopard can't change its spots after all, an' the boy does have a record."
"An' just how do you know that? I don't remember ever mentionin' anythin' personal about Daniel's past to you!" Once again Jo felt her motherly instincts come to the forefront, she was furious on her son's behalf.
"Oh, well, I know I remember you talkin' about it when I was up before." Debbie tried to look a little uncomfortable, but Jo was sure that she could see pleasure in her green eyes.
"Is everything alright in here?" Steve's voice was a welcome intrusion for Jo, she found it increasingly difficult to make even small talk with her sister-in-law and it was even harder not to yell at her constantly.
"Darlin', is Daniel …" Jo stopped talking as she saw her son standing just behind his dad. He came into the room and she could see that he was keeping himself very tightly controlled.
"Debbie, I'm sorry if I embarrassed you, but I promise you, I didn't take your stuff."
"Oh, now don't you go worryin' yourself about it any longer, it is forgotten already. An' you know it should be Aunty Debbie, now that you are a Sloan an' I am a Walters an' all! Come on over an' give me a kiss an' we can make up."
Daniel looked in disgust at his dad, but saw to his horror that he was smiling and then when he nodded Daniel knew that there was no escape. He thought about fans who kissed their idols and then never washed again, well he would need to go to the bathroom and never stop washing after this.
ooo
The ringing of the doorbell at Oak Place was insistent and intrusive a little after nine on the Monday morning. Rae, a piece of toast in her mouth and a cup of tea in one hand, made her way to answer the door and shook her head at the image which greeted her. Taking the slice of toast into her free hand Rae began to speak.
"And we are looking far too perky and cheerful for a Monday morning drive to Santa Barbara, what happened to you?"
"Nothing, in fact I have definitely had better weekends, but I just feel in a good mood. Sorry."
"Don't worry about it, maybe it will have rubbed off on me by the time we get to see the Chief's son. I have to admit to really dreading this." Rae had waved goodbye to Jesse and her daughters a little over thirty minutes before, and was already missing them.
"Yeah, I guess from that point of view it's a lousy day." Steve had walked into the kitchen, following behind Rae; she turned with a smile as she reached the counter. "Can I offer you a cup of tea or coffee? I am, after all, now the hostess." The smile, which had seemed to be as big as it could get, widened, and then Rae laughed. "I still can't believe that I am standing in the kitchen of my beautiful house, Jesse and I, we own this because of the unbelievable generosity of you and Texas. Thank you."
Steve smiled, he didn't feel that he had actually done anything, the money was Jo's, and he didn't really use it at all. His salary was kept separate, it always had been, and he transferred a percentage of it into the household accounts, paid for anything Daniel needed, and saved the rest or used some of it for his personal use. The money from Bob's had become a very nice little nest egg, and was squirreled away each month for a rainy day, not that he thought he would ever have a rainy day, but you never knew.
"I'm glad you are happy, and you're right, it is a beautiful house. But we need to go, so I'll say no to the drink, thanks."
"Bully!" Rae stuck her tongue out at her partner, dropped her crusts down the waste disposal and then drained her teacup. "I won't be a moment." She left the room and ran lightly up the stairs to her suite, smiling as she entered. Even though the bed had been made it was clear that two people had slept together there over night, and Rae let her mind drift back, just for a moment, to the feeling of Jesse's arms around her as they lay talking quietly before the two of them had fallen gently to sleep together. Shaking her head to bring herself back to the reason why she was in her room Rae picked up her badge off the nightstand and then unlocked the drawer underneath and took out her gun. Once she had put both things on her belt she grabbed the comb and ran it through her hair before making her way back down to where Steve was waiting for her.
ooo
The sun, forcing its way in through the blinds, woke Dominic and with a groan he fumbled around until he found his alarm clock and then peered at it. Ten past nine, and he hadn't even had breakfast. In a little less than ten minutes he had been through the shower, combed and styled his hair and decided what clothes to wear. He then had a quick breakfast of cereal and toast before making his way down in the elevator and out into the street.
The newspaper seller on the corner had a large billboard with a headline screaming from it. Red Rose Killer Strikes Again and, his day getting better all the time, Dominic went up and bought himself a copy of the morning edition. There was a recruitment agency three blocks from his house and Dominic was hoping to get at least an interview or two arranged by lunchtime.
The hairdressing salon where he had worked had known him as Dominic Little, but they had paid him cash in hand and never registered the fact that he was employed there. His real name was Nicholas Large, and that was the name he would have to use to get a bona fide job. He had never felt like a Nicholas, although Nic had been ok. He thought back to the day before as he walked, and the visit to the room came back into his mind.
The door had a slight squeak when it was opened, and the noise always made his heart want to stop beating. There had been no shouting, and he had known that he was alone, so he stood in the middle of the room and looked around. The walls were getting a little crowded with the pictures he had taken. The dark room area that he had set up in the farthest corner away from him had been in use constantly, but apart from that, and coming in to put things away, Dominic tended to stay away from here.
Now though, he looked around, he could see Jenna, Sam, Nadine and Mary Sue, as well as Tanisha and Lucy, the others hadn't been as special to him, except of course for the one, and she had almost an entire wall to herself. Her beauty, as always, left him breathless. She had been almost perfect in every way, her eyes, her voice, how she walked, and her hair, oh, her hair. Its feel, the way it swung as she moved, until she had cut it, the feelings of betrayal had come to the surface then and he had closed his eyes, trying to get the picture out of his mind of the day when they had been together, walking in the sunshine and she had told him that it was over, she was leaving, flying to Los Angeles the next day; he hadn't been able to believe it, had refused to accept what she was saying. She'd had a headscarf on, like a fifties movie star and when he had grabbed at her it had slid off, and he'd seen it, her hair, cut short, like a boy, all the beautiful silkiness gone, she had recognized the anger in his eyes, the hatred and had tried to run, but he hadn't let her. They had been in a park, just a little one across the street from where she lived, and he had launched himself at her, knowing that no one would answer her cries for help, it was mid afternoon, everyone was at work, children were at school, nobody would care that she was dying, right there in the pocket park.
He'd had his knife in his jeans as always, New York was dangerous, you never knew when you might need it, and sometimes, when she hadn't been around, when he'd needed to be loved, to be wanted, it had come in handy. Now though, he turned it against his love, she had run from him, turning as she did so to see how close he was, and she'd fallen, her shoe coming off, and he had pounced, slicing through the sole of her foot with the knife, ripping off the other shoe to do the same thing again, stopping her from running, she would never run from him again, and as she had begged he had pulled her head back with her short hair, her horrid, horrid hair, and slit her throat.
His thoughts had taken him to the door of the recruitment agency and so, a smile on his face from his memories he had opened the door and entered, wondering where his journey would take him next.