I’ll just bet she doesn’t mind. “It’s fine. I’ve got it under control.”
A flicker of curiosity passes over her pretty features. “What are you going to do with him?”
“I promise—nobody will find him.”
She pouts for a second, but then throws up her hands. “Fine. Do what you want, Dr. Hale.”
She flicks her honey blond hair over her shoulder, then storms out of the office. On her way out, she looks up at the portrait she gave me, which is hanging over the mantle. She flashes me a disdainful look.
“I can’t believe you hung that giant portrait of yourself right in your living room.” She sneers at me. “You’re just as arrogant as I thought you were.”
“I like it,” I say pleasantly. I can afford to be pleasant at the moment, when the source of all my problems is lying in a crumpled heap on the floor of my office.
I lead Patricia to my front door and lock it behind her when she leaves. Patricia has been in my house many times in the last three years, but this will be the last time. I’m not going to ask any other favors from this girl. She acts sweet but I know the truth—she’s dangerous.
And now that she’s gone, I can finish up here.
When I get back to the office, EJ is still lying on the floor. He’s awake now, squirming to get out of his duct tape restraints, although Patricia tied him up very well. I walk over to him, standing over his wriggling body. Finally, I reach down and yank the paper bag off his head.
The adrenaline has overpowered whatever medications Patricia gave him. His blue eyes are open wide, and his T-shirt is now drenched with sweat, even though it’s a bit chilly here. His lips are moving under the duct tape but no intelligible sounds come out. I watch as a dark stain spreads across his crotch.
I crouch beside him. “Hello there.”
He makes a muffled sound behind the duct tape on his lips.
I look into his gray eyes, unable to suppress a smile. “I thought about your offer. And I decided you were right. I would like the two of us to spend a little time together.” I grin. “And I think it will be fun for me.”
His eyes are almost popping out of their sockets. I wonder if Luke would enjoy this as much as I am if he were here. If he were standing next to me right now, what would his reaction be?
I close my eyes for a moment, imagining it. I picture Luke’s face, staring down at EJ, lying helpless on the floor. Even in my imagination, Luke isn’t smiling. He wouldn’t approve of this. He doesn’t have the stomach for it.
“That guy broke up with me because of you, you know,” I say to EJ. Luke hasn’t officially broken it off with me, but it’s been a week, and he won’t pick up the phone when I call, and he hasn’t answered any of my text messages. You don’t have to have an MD and a PhD to figure out that one.
He wants nothing to do with me anymore. Apparently, asking him to commit murder was a deal breaker. But I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. People like me are destined to end up alone.
“He was a great guy,” I tell him, although I’m not even sure I’m talking to him anymore. “He was sweet and smart and he overlooked all my faults. No, he didn’t overlook them—he liked them. He loved me for all the things about me that weren’t perfect.” I take a gulping breath, pushing back the tears gathering in my eyes. I won’t give him the satisfaction. “I really liked him. I loved him. And because of you, I lost him. Because you’re a selfish asshole who decided to screw up my entire life.”
EJ is trying to say something. It might be “I’m sorry.” But it might also be “go to hell.” It’s hard to tell with the duct tape on his mouth.
Honestly, I don’t care what he’s saying. It doesn’t matter.
I straighten up. I draw back my right foot and EJ flinches, realizing I’m about to kick him in the gut. But then at the last second, I don’t do it.
Instead, I walk over to the corner of the room where the leather sofa used to be. I moved it this morning. One thing that charmed me about this house when I first bought it was the hidden panel under the floor in this room. The real estate agent told me about it with a proud smile. You could hide valuables down there.
I’ve kept things down there over the years, but I cleared it all out this morning. I need all the room in there that I could get.
There’s a tiny hook in the floorboard that’s barely visible to the naked eye—it blends right into the rest of the floor. I hook my fingers into it and pull it open, to reveal the space inside. Just large enough for a human body to fit. The real estate agent told me that too, but she was joking. She laughed about it.