Mac Buchanan catching me naked might not be such a bad idea after all.
Anyway, she’d been soaking in the bath for more than an hour, and it was time she made a move before her body turned into a wrinkled prune. As she stood, she looked down and admired her freshly shaved pussy.
“Always be prepared, Kendall. Who knows where the night might lead.”
After stepping onto the bathmat and starting to towel herself dry, she heard the annoyingly shrill sound of the telephone ringing in the living area. Her initial thoughts were that of disappointment, immediately jumping to the conclusion that Mac was calling to cancel their dinner together, or was it a date?
Bad news or not, she needed to know for sure, and sliding precariously on the wet tiled floor in her effort to reach the phone before it went dead, she quickly made her way to the lounge.
Luck was on her side, because she got there just before the answer phone kicked in. A little breathily, she said, “Hello? Kendall Van Heusen speaking.”
“Say, bitch, how’s tricks?”
What the fuck? She found herself staring at the receiver just like they do in the movies. Why do people do that? She brought the handset back to her mouth. “Drop dead, creep.” With this cutting remark, she killed the connection.
“Sicko.” She angrily forced the receiver back in its cradle.
Kendall guessed New York had a bigger population of weirdoes and misfits than just about any other city in the world. But as she thought more about the call, realization started to dawn. She was ex directory, and had only given her personal number to selected friends and close family. So how the hell did this guy…?
The telephone began ringing again, and her initial irritation turned to concern. As she lifted the blue glowing receiver from its cradle and tentatively placed it to her ear, she was aware that her hand shook.
“Listen, bitch, don’t ever make the mistake of cutting me off again.”
That voice…that voice…she knew it…she recognized it, but she didn’t want to recognize it, because more than anything else in the world, it frightened her.
When she finally spoke, her voice trembled from her lips in short sharp pants. “Who is it…please?”
The crazy demonic laugh that came back at her further reinforced what she already knew.
“As if you don’t fucking know.”
“Karl?”
“Got it in one, whore.”
“You’re…you’re out.”
“Let out early for good behavior.”
Karl Graves was an animal in human form. Incapable of empathy or remorse, he was a man without a soul, an individual unable to tell right from wrong. It was her evidence some six and a half years ago that had put him behind bars. He hadn’t been incarcerated in any ordinary prison either. The judge in charge had thought him too dangerous for that, and she couldn’t help but agree. No, he’d been caged up in the Attica Correctional Facility, a godless place that housed prisoners, or should that be inmates who blurred the lines between everyday criminals and all-out nutjobs? Karl Graves was dangerous in the extreme, and she’d hoped never to hear his chilling voice again. She instinctively placed her hand over her mouth to stop the rising bile that threatened to spew from her.
Kendall remembered the day of his sentence as though it were yesterday. Judge Barnes had given him twelve years, which was the maximum the law allowed, but after only six and a half it seemed he was out. How the hell had he obtained her personal number? People who knew what this animal was capable of would change states just to avoid him.
Hating the silence on the line that now existed between them, but despising the sound of his voice even more, she tried to compose herself as best she could. A skill she’d always prided herself on in times of extreme stress.
“Karl?”
“Still right here, bitch. I ain’t going nowhere.”
She put a hand to her mouth again. God how she hated this guy. She knew it sounded uncaring, but after he was put away, she longed to hear that he’d been killed by the other inmates. Guys who were as crazy as he was. It never happened. However crazy the other guys were at the Attica Correctional Facility, he was even crazier, and she figured during his time inside, he’d scared the shit out of even the hardest lifers in that godforsaken place. Now, on the other end of the telephone line, he was scaring the crap out of her.
It unnerved her that he had access to her telephone number. What else did he know about her? Did he know where she lived? For her own personal safety, she’d moved home several times since his trial, becoming almost paranoid about what would happen when he was finally released. Well, that time was right here, right now.
Was he calling her from across the street, or worse still, standing in the corridor outside her apartment, waiting to break down the door and do to her what he’d done to her best friend? She could tell from the aggressive tone of his voice that he wanted payback for her involvement in his sentence.
The thought that he could be less than fifty feet from her made the panic rise within her, and she shook so much she could barely hold the receiver to her ear.
“Karl…Karl…” She didn’t want her voice to tremble, well aware that it empowered him, even to the point of turning the sick fucker on. “Please, listen to me. I had to give evidence against you. What you did to Ashley was sick. You needed help.”
“Fuck you, bitch. Me and Ashley were just fine until you stuck your fucking nose into our affairs.”
Ashley Masterson was her best friend. It had been that way since they had first met at kindergarten when they were just five. They’d spontaneously gravitated toward each other without any effort whatsoever, and had been inseparable ever since, confiding in each other as only genuine friends who shared the same wavelength could. That was until Karl Graves had come on the scene. Initially, he’d charmed her best friend, charmed her even, but then wasn’t every psychopath charming? But as their relationship had progressed, she’d seen through him, and what she found underneath worried her, making her fear for Ashley’s safety and well-being. She’d been right to be suspicious, because his charm offensive hadn’t lasted long, and as the weeks became months, the sadistic beatings he gave Ashley became increasingly more brutal, causing her best friend to need hospitalization on a regular basis.
Why the hell hadn’t Ashley seen through this guy, because I sure as hell did? Perhaps love really is blind.
Such was the power he exerted over Ashley, he controlled every aspect of her life. What she wore. What she ate. Where she was allowed to go. Whom she was allowed to meet. The sick bastard had extinguished the life force that had once burned so brightly, forbidding her to even make contact with friends and family.
Then, one day she’d seen Ashley alone in the street. At first she’d had to do a double take, not recognizing the pale, gaunt figure trudging despondently along the sidewalk. Frightened, emaciated, and twitchy, her best friend had refused to talk to her, terrified that Karl was watching her at all times. Her arms and face were covered in bruises, and she looked as though she weighed barely seventy pounds.
She remembered the conversation well. “Ashley, this has to stop. You have to leave this guy. For your own safety, you have to leave this guy.”
“I can’t.” Her best friend had burst into tears, and she’d immediately wrapped her arms around her as though she were a small child. “He swears he’ll hunt me down and kill me if I ever leave him. Please help me, Kendall. I just don’t know what’s right anymore.”
Staring into the sunken, haunted eyes before her, it was then that Kendall came to the conclusion that Ashley was unable to think rationally for herself. Whatever the consequences, she decided to intervene by calling the cops.
Now, fast-forward six and half years, and she heard the angry breathing of the same disturbed individual creating an ominous silence on the other end of the line. Kendall figured there was a price to pay for the compassion she’d shown her best friend.
“How did you get my number, Karl?”
“Ashley, who else?”
“She wouldn’t.”
“Sure she did. When I came out of prison, I headed straight for her.” He forced out an evil laugh. “Let’s just say the lady was surprised to see me, having moved out of state and all, but once she’d gotten over the initial shock, it felt real natural for us to start up exactly where we’d left off.”
Kendall’s blood ran cold, and she thought she might faint. The idea of him destroying her best friend’s life again made her shiver.
“She took a little finding, but true love never quits.”
The way the deluded bastard spoke had the effect of turning her fear into rage. “Don’t you dare hurt her, you sick fuck.”
Clearly toying with her emotions, he laughed again. “Hurt her? But I love the lady. You know that, Kendall. Anyway, Ashley tells me you got a fancy new job.”
“No. She’s wrong. She doesn’t know anything.”