After Me (14 page)

Chapter Twenty

J
ulian loosened the fishing line just enough to allow the girl one last gasp before he finished her off. He wanted her alive a little longer for a final bit of fun.

“Let’s recap, shall we? This is what happens to snooty little tramps when you get so greedy that it makes you lose the tiny amount of intelligence you were born with. Now would you like to beg for your sorry life one more time? Just make sure you choose your words carefully, because one little slip means no more fun and games for you. Ever.”

“Please let me go.” The girl’s voice sounded as if her throat were coated with sandpaper. “I promise I’ll be nice to the losers at school from now on. I’ll even sleep with them and send you pictures if you—”

“Not even close, you stupid little slut.” Julian’s disdainful laughter echoed through the clearing as he tightened the garrote around her throat and held it until she stopped thrashing.

An hour later, after he’d taken his souvenir pictures and disposed of her body, he drove back to Jacksonville in a black fury despite all the delicious things he’d made her do before he killed her. The comment she’d made when she first arrived about telling her friend they’d met in the Sugar Daddy chat room had him more than a little concerned.

Not that he was worried about them finding her body, just as they’d never found any of the others. The efficient disassembly and disposal process he’d perfected made sure of that. His IP address was masked so the cops couldn’t trace him, and he always changed his e-mail address and screen name after a kill. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d rushed this meeting too much because the one before had been such a disappointment.

Yes, he should have ended this correspondence as soon as he’d found out that WETNWILD16 was really WETNWILD14 and didn’t even have a driver’s license, which meant he couldn’t use the Ferrari to lure her to a meeting. But her uncanny resemblance to a certain blonde cheerleader from middle school who’d mocked him mercilessly because his mother walked him to and from school every day had made it impossible for him to let this look-alike go on living.

Since the Ferrari couldn’t be used as bait this time, he’d had to talk her into meeting him at a motel in Ocala with the promise of tickets to a sold-out Lady Gaga concert. After checking to make sure the friend who’d dropped her off didn’t hang around, he watched her on the hidden camera he’d planted in the room to make sure she wasn’t talking to someone on a wire.

Once he felt certain the meeting wasn’t a trap, he’d drugged her drink and had some preliminary fun with her in the room while he waited for it to get dark enough for them to leave. He loved the way the drug turned them into slutty little puppets who did whatever he told them to do. Once it was dark, he tied her up and drove to a remote campsite in the Ocala National Forest. Then the real fun began.

But now, because the stupid tramp had opened her mouth to one of her friends, he’d have to stay out of the Sugar Daddy chat rooms for a while and lay low until they gave up on finding her. No telling how long that would take, and he hated the thought of having to settle for those filthy hookers in the meantime. Even when he indulged himself and killed one of them instead of just knocking them around, he didn’t get the same satisfaction that came from turning one of the snooty little suburban tramps into a sniveling, bloody pulp that would never laugh at anybody again.

He slammed his hands against the Ferrari’s steering wheel and knocked his head against the window until his ears rang from the impact and his eyeballs vibrated painfully in their sockets. He didn’t even care if he broke the window. He’d blame it on one of McCarthy’s garage monkeys and get them fired. He hated those muscle-bound mouth breathers anyway. Always flirting with the maids and probably screwing them in McCarthy’s cars. Barely literate immigrants, all of them.

By the time he pulled through the gates of the McCarthy estate, he’d consoled himself with the realization that even if he had to stay out of the private chat rooms, WETNWILD16 hadn’t been part of the Sugar Daddy group on FaceSpace, so he could still pursue some new connections there.

And he cheered up even more when he got home and saw that he had a private message from a hot little thing calling herself Cherry Licious.

Chapter Twenty-one

W
hen I got on the school bus the next morning, Annalee pulled me down beside her as soon as I reached the seat.

“Did you go to Scott’s house? Tell me what happened! Did he know who you were? Did anybody see you? What did you do to him? Tell me!”

I laughed. “Dial it back a notch, girlfriend. Give me a chance, okay?” I relayed the story of Scott’s lesson as quietly as I could, but Annalee’s periodic squeals of laughter still drew some curious looks.

“Did he really cry?” she said between giggles. “I thought he was supposed to be such a tough guy.”

I scoffed. “Guess he’s only tough if he’s wearing pads and has an offensive line in front of him. You should’ve heard him beg when I packed his junk in ice before I left.”

She covered her mouth with her hand. “You saw his… you saw him naked?”

“Trust me, it was no big deal,” I said. “And the ice made it even less of a deal.”

She giggled even more. “You think it did any permanent damage?”

“Who knows and who cares? But I made sure he knew I’d be back to put him out of commission for good if I heard about any more roofie parties. I think he got the message.”

“Awesome.” She looked at me with open admiration. “Zombie Girl is my hero.”

“Thanks. I kinda like her myself.”

“Did you bring your library books with you so you can come home with me after school today?”

I patted my backpack. “Yep. I finished them all. Hey, can we go by your house and primp a little before we head to the library?”

She looked skeptical. “I guess so, but why?”

“Did you forget about our date with Lew?” I couldn’t help hoping she might not be able to go.

“No, but you don’t need to primp, and it wouldn’t do me any good even if I had a reason to do it.” Her fingernails suddenly became oddly fascinating.

All my selfish hoping from a moment before disappeared, and I reached over to take her hand. “We’ll have to see about that. Did I ever tell you about my mad cosmetology skills?”

“Are they part of your zombie powers?” She still looked doubtful.

“No, they came from countless hours of playing with a giant Barbie head when I was little.”

When we got off the bus at school, I could tell something had just happened in the parking lot from the way people were huddled together whispering and staring in the direction of Scott's crowd, although he was nowhere to be seen. When Caitlin saw me, she ran over and grabbed my arm.

“I have to talk to you, Gwen.” She glanced at Annalee and added, “Alone.”

I winked at Annalee. “I'll catch up with you and the guys in a few minutes.”

Caitlin pulled me over to her car. “Get in so nobody can hear us.” Once we were inside with the doors closed, she said, “Oh my God, you did it! You said you could make Scott pay and you did!”

I tried to keep my face expressionless. “Why, what'd you hear?”

“Scott called Kyle in the middle of the night, freaking out because he said some psycho in a mask broke into his house and went off on him about what happened at the party. Kyle said Scott's throwing arm is broken.”

“Wow,” I said, still giving away nothing. “What else did he say?”

“Scott said for all the football players to be at his house after practice today or else. Matt told Kyle he doesn't take orders from Scott and they could all kiss his ass if they didn’t like it. That's when Kyle decked him. Mr. Kopelecki took both of them to the office right before your bus pulled up.”

I couldn't hide my surprise at that. “I thought Matt was tight with all of them.”

“Me too, but yesterday when Scott was being such an asshole to me, Matt's the only one who told him to shut up.”

“But I thought…” I broke off before saying anything about the rape rumor since Annalee had said she didn't know if it was true. “Never mind. So what makes you think I had anything to do with Scott's broken arm? Didn't you say this psycho was wearing a mask?”

She smiled. “Yeah, but I know you must’ve sent him. Scott told Kyle the guy was huge and knew karate or kung fu or something. Was it your Asian friend?”

I doubled over with laughter. I thought about telling her what was so funny, then I realized it was probably better if nobody knew the vigilante was a girl.

“Yeah, it was my friend… Kato,” I said. “I’m laughing because Scott said he was huge. Kato’s my size. Actually, we’re exactly the same size.”

She giggled. “I bet Scott cried like a baby when he broke his precious throwing arm. I hope he loses that full ride to Florida State he’s always bragging about.” She reached over and put a hand on my arm. “Thanks for making it happen, Gwen. Is there some way I can repay you?”

I started to tell her to just forget it, then I changed my mind. “Yeah, the next time you hear some girl getting called a slut or getting talked about for something she did, take up for her—at least until you know the whole truth. Us girls need to stick together like we did when we were little and we thought all the boys had cooties, remember?”

She nodded. “You’re right. You know, one of my best friends from middle school told me yesterday that she didn’t believe what people were saying about me. I haven’t hung out with her since I made cheerleader. I think I’ll see if she’ll forgive me for being so stupid.”

“Hey, we all make stupid mistakes,” I said. “The important thing is not to make the same ones again.”

* * *

B
y lunchtime, the news of Scott’s broken arm had spread over the entire school, although the account of what happened to him ranged from an attack by a couple of Coral Gables’ linebackers to an extraterrestrial encounter. I didn’t care how many stories circulated as long as none of them featured a blonde girl with a smart mouth and sparkly nails.

Annalee had to make up a test during lunch and said she’d see me on the bus after school. When I joined the guys in the cafeteria, I almost kissed Sidney when he moved over and made a place for me between him and Lew.

“Hey, guys,” I said as I sat down. “Did you hear about the jock who got his ass kicked by Chuck Norris last night?”

Sidney’s eyes widened. “I heard it was his homeroom teacher’s husband.”

Lew laughed and took a bite of his sandwich. “I heard it was Wolverine.”

I tried not to hyperventilate because Lew’s thigh was touching mine. “Well, it’s bad news for football fans no matter who it was. Hope you guys didn’t have money riding on the rest of the season.”

“No worries.” Lew opened a bag of Fritos and offered it to me.

I took one and savored the cardboard crunchiness. “Good, but I hope this isn’t the first in a series of hate crimes against jocks, Triple C. They might be targeting you next.”

He almost spit his SoBe LifeWater across the table. “Maybe you’re right,” he said when he recovered. “Should I be on the lookout for somebody who might eat my brain?”

“You never know.” I shrugged and took another Frito. “Somebody could be thinking about nomming on that super cerebellum right now.”

“Could we please talk about something else?” Sidney had a lovely green tint to his face. “People are trying to eat lunch here you know.”

I put an arm around his shoulders. “Sorry, Sid. We’ll try not to ruin your fine dining experience.”

* * *

I
was already sitting at my table when Matt walked into the room sixth period and gave me a dirty look. Because of what Caitlin had said about him and my curiosity about why he and Lew hated each other, I decided to quiz him a little before Lew got there.

“Sucks about your buddy Scott, huh?”

He kept walking and took his seat behind me. “He’s not my buddy.”

I turned around but kept an eye on the door for Lew. “I thought all you jocks were tight. Hanging at the same parties and all.” Was that a slight wince at my mention of the party?

“Shows you don’t know shit.” He kept his gaze on his hands. “Just shut up.”

“Hey, I think it’s great that you stood up for Caitlin like you did.”

His head jerked up and he looked around to see if anybody had overheard. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t take her home from—”

I’d been talking about when he told Scott to shut up in the parking lot, but the way my surprised look had stopped him in mid-sentence made me realize that he must be the mystery guy who’d taken Caitlin home from the party. Before I could process that shocker, Lew walked into the room.

“Fine, just forget I said anything,” I whispered to Matt before turning around.

Lew gave me a curious look as he sat down, but since the bell rang and Mr. Forrester began calling roll, I managed to put off any questions. When Matt practically ran out of the room as soon as the period ended, Lew looked at him and said, “What were you talking to him about before class?”

“Just ragging him about the football crisis,” I said. “He must be in a hurry to go cry about it with the rest of the team.”

“No, he’s probably a little glad it happened,” he said as we walked to our lockers. “Maybe he’ll get to play quarterback now.”

I turned to look at him. “How do you know that?”

He seemed to think about it a second, then he said, “He played quarterback at the school we both went to before. He’s pretty good, but Scott already had the position. They’ve been playing Matt at running back and defensive end.”

I leaned against the lockers with a hand over my heart. “You’re a football fan?”

He rolled his eyes and kept walking. “Not anymore, but I used to be.”

Oh, this was getting good. I hurried to catch up with him.

“So you and Matt went to the same school and both transferred here? What’s up with that?”

He shook his head. “Sorry, that part’s classified. You don’t have sufficient security clearance.”

“Oh, really?” I said. “And what would I have to do to get it?”

He stopped at his locker and began working the dial, but I could see a little smile teasing the corners of his mouth. “I’ll think about it and get back to you. See you tonight.”

I walked away wondering if I could survive that long. Then I remembered it wasn’t really an issue for me anymore.

* * *

A
nnalee’s mom was at work when we got to her apartment, so we were free to primp our little hearts out with her flat iron and assortment of drugstore makeup. Annalee said her mom had been trying to get her to use them for a long time and knew she wouldn’t mind if we borrowed them.

When I was done working my magic, Annalee still looked like Annalee, but her mousy hair framed her face softly instead of being pulled back in a careless ponytail, and her hazel eyes and full lips were enhanced just enough to be noticeable. She didn’t say anything at first as she stared at her reflection, then she turned to look at me with a light in her eyes that was all the thanks I needed.

“I can’t believe the difference,” she said. “I think I might even be able to do it myself since you showed me how. Thank you so much, Gwen.”

She practiced using the flat iron by straightening my hair, then she watched me put on just enough makeup to take Gwen from high school girl to Hollywood starlet. I usually didn’t bother with makeup, but tonight I was using every weapon in my feminine arsenal to get Lew’s attention. Especially since I had just armed my competition with some ammo of her own.

On our way to the library, we got plenty of unwanted confirmation for our efforts from the thugs along the route, but this time Annalee didn’t try to stop me from talking smack to them. One guy wearing a wifebeater and a greasy do-rag tried to follow us after I told him off, but a well-placed knee and a shove that sent him sprawling made him suddenly realize there was somewhere else he needed to be.

We spotted Lew’s Corvette as soon as we got to the library, parked in the same spot by the door where it had been the last time, making me wonder if he paid the security guard to keep an eye on it for him. Probably not a bad idea considering the neighborhood.

While I returned my books, Annalee checked the new releases, then we went upstairs so she could talk to Mr. Christopher and I could look for Lew. I spotted him with Javier in the same study room they’d been in before, but I decided not to interrupt them. The sooner they got done studying, the sooner we could leave for our date.

When I got back to the reference desk, Annalee and Mr. Christopher were talking to the homeless woman who’d waved at Annalee the last time we were there. She looked at me suspiciously and started to leave.

“It’s okay, Hazel,” Annalee said. “This is my friend Gwen. We go to school together.”

Hazel squinted at me. “Do you work for the MCP?”

“I don’t work for anybody,” I said. “But what’s the MCP?”

She sighed with obvious exasperation. “The Mind Control Police. Everybody knows that.”

Mr. Christopher patted her hand. “Gwen is new in town, Hazel. The MCP doesn’t have a unit where she comes from.”

She didn’t look convinced by any means. “Where is she from, outer space?”

I was tempted to tell her I came from the Great Beyond, but since Annalee liked the poor woman, I said, “I come from a little town on the Louisiana bayou where the gators scare off anybody who bothers us.” When she looked like she was considering a change of address, I added, “I left after Hurricane Katrina wiped out the whole town.”