Steal My Life
Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Red Eye!
Chapter Twelve
George's cell phone rang a few weeks later while he was boxing up Sofia's belongings at their apartment. His boss had given him leave to prepare for her funeral and to recover from her death. He was not doing any projects at the moment because of her murder.
"George King," he answered, balancing the phone on his shoulder as he tapped up a box of clothing to be donated. He was keeping very few of her belongings and had already burned most of her pictures.
"Mr. King, this is Detective Brown. The results just came back from the paternity test."
"Oh?" He stopped taping the box and held the phone to his ear. "Who was the father?"
"You are. Sofia was carrying your baby."
George felt a sharp stab of pain in his heart and dropped the phone to the hardwood floor, watching in a daze as it flew apart.
No, no…this can't be happening. She—she couldn't have… My child…she killed my child…
A few days later...
George stood motionless at the graveside as Sofia's highly polished casket was carefully lowered into the ground. He tossed a single red rose into the grave as well as the gold band he had worn on his finger for the past few months. Dirt slowly filled in the gaping hole and he turned and walked away with his hands shoved deep inside his dress pants pockets.
He had worn his nicest suit—a dark pinstriped one—paired with a light blue button-up shirt. There was no tie to choke him and his leather shoes shone in the dim afternoon sunlight. Sunglasses covered his downcast eyes.
If you hadn't betrayed me, then this wouldn't have happened. We could have been happy—you, me, and our son…
The grave stone that he had ordered helped his image as the grieving widower.
Sofia Warren King
Beloved Wife, Taken Before Her Time
Jackson King
Who Never Got A Chance To Live
His son would never get a chance at life because of his adulterous wife. He had never even known about the baby until after he had watched her die. He did not even know if he had even wanted a child, but that bitch had taken a part of him to her grave.
I'll never forgive you, Sofia, he swore inside his head.
"Rest in pieces, bitch," he hissed angrily. "You took everything from me, even after everything I had done for you. I hope you're happy now."
He spat on the mound of dirt and then stalked away to his car. He needed to clear his head.
The next day, he returned to work. He had barely stepped into his private office when a secretary stepped in and knocked on the open door.
"Yes?" he said, turning around to face the young woman.
"Mr. Smith would like to see you—as soon as possible."
"Okay." He set down his laptop bag on his desk and locked his office door behind him before striding down the hallway to Craig Smith's office. He knocked on the door and waited for permission to enter after announcing himself.
Once inside, he sat down in chair and look at his manger. Smith was smiling and had manila file folder lying open in front of him.
"Mr. King, the company would like to offer you a position as a manager."
"What for?" he asked curiously.
"We were very impressed with the murders you planned and pulled off under the noses of Miami-Dade PD. Apparently you had them running in circles for quite a while. Interesting premise—a murder-suicide…" George could detect a barely-concealed tone of admiration in his manager's voice.
"What murders?" How could he know?
"Why, the murders of your wife and her lover of course."
"What makes you think that I had anything to do with that? It was tragic accident—I regret that I was there—"
"Mr. King, a smart man such as yourself would know that your wife was cheating on you. No one can blame you for killing her. Give yourself a little credit, George. Not many people could actually pull this off—especially not as well as you did. Most men would be caught, but not you. You managed to pin this on the other guy. Now tell, did you pull the trigger yourself?"
"No. I managed it," George remarked coolly, without a trace of emotion. Masks would be of no use in front of Craig Smith—he knew every trick in the book and then some—and he knew that Smith was impressed with him. He deserved a chance to brag.
"I'm interested in how you kept your head clear during this."
"You really want to know?" He leaned forward, dropping his voice a notch. "She betrayed me and she did this to herself. She thought she could get away with it. It was rather easy to pretend to be someone else and to convince that jerk to off her. He was a spineless rat, but he behaved. Then I convinced him to shoot himself. It was simple. And you know what? I've never felt better."
George straightened up in his seat and smirked at his manager. Smith did not appear to be too surprised.
"Mr. King, welcome to the world of management. I think you will do exceptionally well."
Author's Notes:
A semi-short chapter, but this seemed to be the best point to end with. George is pretty much blocking all knowledge of his crime from himself in order to cope with it, but occasionally he acknowledges his 'brilliance'. Even though I didn't really state it, Sofia's murder was pinned on Andrew Karr and George walked away a free man.
There'll be a brief appearance by Lisa in the next chapter. And George is almost Jackson Rippner, but there's a few more key events before the switch is final.
Enjoy and thanks for reading/reviewing!