Installment 35 Him

Installment #35

Him

Marshall Purcell smiled at the woman in his arms. This
had been so easy. He had not been surprised at all to find the
man in Meg’s kitchen watching the back door. Watching? Little
hard to watch anything with your eyes closed completely and
your head lolling over on your shoulder like that. Marshall had
used his key to let himself in the front door. Who would have
thought a boogie man could come in the front door? His crepe
soled shoes made not a sound as he crept up behind him and with
one swift movement snapped his neck. Back out the front door
with the big man over his shoulder. Across the yard and open the
back of the Jeep and drop him quietly inside. Then back for his
prize. When he had Meg settled in he would drive the Jeep up to
the cavern and dispose of the body. Right now he just did not
have time and it would be light soon. He must get her home
where she would be safe!

He had waited in the sun room behind the heavy denim
drape beside the doggie door. He had sprinkled cayenne pepper
very lightly behind him to cover up any scent he might have left.
And it had worked perfectly. Out the door they had gone and
while Meg was pouring the water for the coffee he had quietly
slid the panel in place to keep the dogs outside. He did not want
to hurt the doggies. They were so cute and when Meg was gone
they would let him pet them. Marshall was sad that he had never
had a dog when he was a boy, but when he and Meg were
together, they might come back and get Elvira and Daisy. That
would be nice.

He watched her set down her coffee cup when the dogs
started scratching at the door. He smiled at her look of concern.
Such a wonderful woman to be concerned about her doggies
being locked out and how naïve to not even wonder how that
happened. As she reached to pull the panel up he quickly
encircled her shoulders with his left arm and placed the
chloroformed rag over her face. How fast it worked and
jubilation filled him as Meg sank against him. Yes! Very soon
this woman would be completely his and his alone.

She was light as a feather as he hurried to the Jeep with
his treasure. He placed her gently in the passenger seat, bracing
her in an upright position with pillows he had brought for that
purpose. Now, if someone should see them, they would just
think they were out for an early morning drive. Or, better yet,
just getting in from a night of partying! Yes, they had been
dancing all night in Denver and Meg was tired. But he would
drive and take care of her! He kissed her gently on the forehead
and closed the door quietly, not that the sound would awaken her
because the soft cloth was laying on her shoulder. He climbed in
the drivers side, checked the seat and glanced in the rearview
mirror. Ah, sweet Jesus! That asshole had his hand laying over
the back seat. Depend on a cop to screw up a bad dream.
He climbed out of the car, leaving the door open. Did
not want to lock himself out, that was for sure. That was no fun.
He had done that and he did not want to do that again. He
opened the tail gate and jerked the offending hand down and
placed it under the back seat, just in case the muscles tightened
up and the corpse started waving at people out the back window.
The sun was full over the horizon when he pulled onto Banner
Road and headed East. The sun hit him full in the eyes and for a
moment he could not see, but Storm Lake Road came up
quickly and he turned north.

He passed Fred’s barn on his right and then Fred’s house
on his left. That had to be inconvenient, but Fred did not seem to
notice since he only used the barn to butcher his poached deer
and such. Now there was a weird one, that Fred. He had dug his
tunnel for him and did a fine job, if he did have to say so himself.
Insisted on being paid in cash. Cash! Who used cash these days?
And what had he done with the money? God only knows. Guy
had nobody. Nobody ever came to his house. Or at least nobody
Marshall had ever seen. Hell, Fred had on the same clothes when
he dug the tunnel that he had on the last time he had seen him.
He had not told him his name. None of his business. As far as
Marshall Purcell knew, nobody on this mountain knew his name.
That was good. None of their business.

He reached over and traced the curve of Meg’s cheek. He
touched her eyelashes and smiled. Holy Shit! He looked up just
in time to see the ditch racing toward him and jerked the wheel to
the left. The Jeep fishtailed briefly and then steadied on the
road. Better tend to business. Ah, crap. There was a foot
sticking over the back seat now! Well that would have to wait.
He would be home in three minutes and the road dead ended at
his house and there was no one behind him. He focused on the
road and soon arrived at his cabin. He placed the cloth near
Meg’s nose briefly and then opened the door. He went to the
back and opened the hatch. He did not like to touch the man
because he was now getting stiff and repulsive. He hurried to the
wood piled on the side of the house and carried back several logs
and dropped them on the ground behind the Jeep. He folded the
detective back into a position and began piling wood on him. As
soon as Meg was settled he would go dispose of the body.

He closed the back of the Jeep and opened the passenger
door. He picked Meg up lightly and walked the few steps to the
cabin door. He inserted his key with his left hand as he
balanced her on his left knee. No, no, he did not want to drop
this precious bundle at this stage of the game. He stepped over
the threshold and kicked the door shut behind him. He crossed
swiftly to the bedroom and in seconds he had placed her on the
bed. She was still very quiet so he returned and threw the dead
bolt on the front door to the locked position. He knew he had
lots to do, but he lingered near the bed. He dropped to his
knees and laid his hand gently on Meg’s shoulder. He closed
his eyes and ran his hand down the full length of her lithe body.
He brought his hand back up her leg and caressed her knee.
Then up her thigh to her hip. He lingered there as he
envisioned the union they would have later, when his work was
done. He encircled her waist and then slowly moved up to cup
her breast. Oh, it was everything he had dreamed of for the last
two and a half years!

Damn that cop! He kissed her lightly on the cheek as he
reluctantly moved his hand from her breast to the bedside table.
He extracted the syringe and uncapped the needle. He found
the arm vein and inserted the needle and released the Adavan
into her blood stream. He extracted the needle and threw the
apparatus into the trash can.

He crossed to the root cellar and opened the door. Inside
was a tiny cot covered with blankets. He returned and picked
Meg up gently and carried her inside and placed her on the cot.
“Oh, my darling, I am so sorry, but I have to go out for a while.
You lay here and rest and when I come back we will make mad
passionate love all the rest of the day. I know you want me as
much as I want you, but soon we will be one. We will be
together forever in our own little Utopia. You and I, together,
forever!”

It was cool so he placed a blanket over her, kissed her
once more on the cheek and closed and locked the door. He
put his hand against the door to be sure it held.

He stopped suddenly realizing the job he had ahead of him. It
was such an inconvenience to have to dispose of that bastard,
but he couldn’t just haul him around the rest of his life. He
picked up the flashlight from the buffet by the front door, exited
and locked the door behind himself. As the Jeep roared to life he
quickly disengaged the clutch and pulled out of the yard and
headed back down the mountain. Past Fred’s and then past
Meg’s little farm with the dogs barking in the back yard. Thirty
minutes to the cavern, 30 minutes to drag the cop up the hill, and
then 30 minutes back home. It was an eternity, but he did not
want to get stopped and Meg would sleep for 3 ½ to 4 hours.
Sleep, my darling, sleep!