Deadly Storm (22 page)

“I have not been cheating on him,” Mandy said. “I would never cheat on him. He’s the love of my life. I’ve been in love with him since I was fourteen years old. Why would I cheat on him?” Especially with a schmuck like Ben Barnes, she added silently.

“I thought you were a good person when I first met you,” Marian said. “I thought you were different from the other trollops who kept trying to steal my happy ending. Tonight, though, tonight I realized exactly what you are.”

“And what’s that?”

“The last obstacle to my happiness,” Marian said.

“Marian, I … .”

Mandy didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence because Marian lunged at her. She tried to sidestep the woman, but despite Marian’s round hips and heavy bosom, she was faster than she looked.

Marian grabbed Mandy’s arm, digging in as she tried to control the flailing blonde. “I really am sorry it came to this,” Marian said. “If you’d just kept your filthy hands to yourself, none of this would’ve happened. Now I’m going to have to kill you.”

“I’m not just going to sit here and let you strangle me,” Mandy snapped.

“Who said anything about strangling you?” Marian gripped Mandy’s hair, tugging on it viciously with one hand while she withdrew a knife from her purse with the other. “I’ve decided to branch out. I think I need to send clearer messages when I stake my claim on my boyfriend.”

“Oh, shit,” James swore as he pulled into a spot at the end of the parking lot.

“Is that her?” Jake asked, his face reflecting the worry he felt in his heart as he caught sight of the redheaded woman with the knife at Mandy’s throat.

“Yes,” James said.

“I’ll call the cops.”

“We don’t have time,” James said. “She’s unbalanced.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“I’m going to approach her from the front,” James said. “I’m going to keep her attention on me. I need you to try and sneak up behind her.”

“Okay. I’ll be quick.”

“Remember … she’s got a knife at my wife’s throat,” James said, choking up.

“She’s right there,” Jake said, grabbing James’ wrist. “We won’t let anything happen to her.”

“Just watch me,” James said. “Once she’s focused on me … you do what you have to do to get my wife. No matter what.”

Jake nodded silently.

“DO YOU
want me to stab you in the neck or the heart?” Marian asked, uttering the question as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

“I want you to stab yourself in the head, you crazy … .”

“What’s going on?”

Marian swiveled quickly, dragging Mandy by her hair – the knife cutting into the tender flesh of her throat as she did. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” she said. “What are you doing here?”

James forced himself to remain calm, flashing Mandy a reassuring look before raising his hands in a placating manner and focusing on Marian. “I came to pick up my wife,” he said. “I believe she’s right there. I don’t suppose I could have her, could I?”

He sounded so reasonable Mandy could almost imagine he was talking to a client and she wasn’t in mortal danger. Almost.

“James, I can’t tell you how sorry I am about all of this,” Marian said. “You deserve so much more than this … betraying tramp.” She yanked on Mandy’s hair, causing her to yelp.

“Marian, look at me,” James said, drawing the woman’s attention away from his wife. “What did Mandy do to you?”

Mandy had no idea where he was going with this, but she trusted him implicitly. He was her life, and she knew he would save her life. He always did.

“She slept with my boyfriend,” Marian said.

“Stop saying that,” Mandy hissed. “It grosses me out.”

“Stop pretending you didn’t seduce my boyfriend,” Marian said. “He would never purposely cheat on me. You made him do it.”

“I didn’t sleep with Professor Barnes,” Mandy said, hoping James would realize who had managed to unhinge Marian. “He’s not my type. Trust me.”

“I saw you throw yourself at him in the lobby,” Marian said. “Stop denying it. I’m going to gut you right here if you don’t stop denying it.”

James made his decision quickly. “Stop denying it, Mandy,” he said, hardening his voice even though it took every ounce of strength he had.

“What?” Mandy’s eyes swam with confusion.

“I know you cheated on me with Professor Barnes,” James said, his plan taking shape even as he talked. “I found out earlier this evening.”

Mandy ran her tongue over her teeth, confused. “I … how?” He wanted her to play along. She could read the unsaid plea on his face. Even though it made her stomach roll, she did it.

“He told me,” James said, nodding slightly to let her know she was doing the right thing. “He told me you threw yourself at him and he couldn’t help himself.”

“I knew it!” Marian crowed. “I was right.”

“You were right,” James said. “Mandy is … not the woman I thought she was. She cheated on me, just like Barnes cheated on you.”

“Ben would never cheat on me,” Marian said. “He loves me too much. He’s a man, though, and they have physical weaknesses they can’t control. When a woman throws herself at a man, he has no choice but to act on the impulses.”

“I … um … wow,” James said. “I can’t believe he told you our big secret.” He kept his eyes glued on Marian even though he saw a hint of movement starting to skirt behind a back row of cars out of the corner of his eye. He knew it was Jake. He also knew he couldn’t draw attention to him. “Ben must love you very much to tell you our big secret.”

“I’m the love of his life,” Marian said. “We’re destined to be together. We’re going to get married. We’re going to have kids. We’re going to live happily ever after, just like on television.”

James had a feeling she watched a little too much television. “Marian, you can have your happily ever after without killing Mandy,” he said.

“You can’t be serious,” Marian scoffed. “She cheated on you and you still want to save her life?”

“I … I need her alive,” James said, exhaling heavily. “If you kill her here, I’ll lose everything. You don’t want me to suffer, do you?”

“What do you mean?” Marian asked, furrowing her brow. “Why would you possibly need her alive? If I kill her here, you can collect the insurance money on her and start all over. I have a sister you might like. Do you like redheads?”

“I … sure,” James said, swallowing hard. “I need her alive because all my business holdings are in her name for … tax reasons.” James was just making it up as he went along now. “I had a problem with a former tax bill, so I put my security business under her name.” James caught sight of Jake again. He was three cars back now, and he was moving low to the ground. James just had to stall for a few more minutes. “I need her to sign the business back over before you do anything.”

“But … wouldn’t the business just revert back to you in the event of her death?” Marian asked.

That was a pretty shrewd question for a crazy person, James mused. “We have a prenup,” he lied. “She set it up so her mother gets everything in the event of her death. She’s … suspicious by nature.”

“She was worried you would try to off her?”

“Yes,” James said, hating himself for even thinking something so awful. “Our marriage isn’t as … sweet … as it looks on outward appearances. She makes me say the things I say in public because she wants people to think I’m infatuated with her.”

“I knew you couldn’t love her that much,” Marian said. “There’s no way a real man loves a woman like that. Ben explained about love to me. He says only women feel it. I can live with that as long as I have him, though.”

“I’m glad you understand,” James said. “It’s a rare woman who understands what a man is really thinking.” James flicked his eyes down to Mandy. Her face was a mask of … something. He could only hope she realized he was lying. “You’re probably the best girlfriend in the world, Marian. Ben is a lucky man. I don’t think he deserves you.”

“He’s a wonderful man,” Marian said. “He’s my … everything. He was my first. I held out for years because I wanted a magic moment, and I finally got it with him.”

Well, that was a little sad. Oh, who was he kidding? That was just pathetic. “Did you have to kill Ann and Julie because they seduced Ben?” James asked. “Is that why they had to die?”

“That darned Julie,” Marian said, scrunching her forehead up. “I told her what would happen if she didn’t stay away from Ben. She didn’t believe me. Look how that turned out for her.

“She seduced him in the closet the night of our first class,” she continued. “Can you believe that?”

“I’m shocked and appalled,” James said. “Did you see her when she came out of the closet?”

“I did,” Marian said. “I saw Ben first. We didn’t have a date planned that night, but I was hoping he would make an exception. I understand how he can only see me on a schedule, otherwise his glands explode – that’s what happens when you have sex with the same woman more than once a week – but I thought we could go to a movie or something.

“Instead, I saw him coming out of that closet,” she said. “At first, I didn’t understand what was happening. I thought maybe he was looking for something. Then I saw Julie come out. Her hair was a mess … and she was pulling down her skirt, the tramp. I just saw red.”

“What happened?”

“I hit her over the head as hard as I could,” Marian said. “She fell to the ground, and I thought I killed her right there. Then I realized she was still breathing. I didn’t know what else to do, so I dragged her into the classroom.

“When she regained consciousness, she said she was going to call the police and report me,” she said. “I couldn’t have that. Still, I probably would’ve let things go until she said she wouldn’t stay away from Ben. Can you believe she thought she was in love with him?”

“No,” James said. “I have no idea how she could think that when he clearly belongs with you.”

“I know. What a pathetic moron.”

That was exactly what James was thinking. “Why did you kill Ann?”

“She seduced my man.”

“But … Marian, Ann didn’t sleep with Ben,” James said.

“I saw her going after him in the cafeteria,” Marian said. “I was with your lying wife when she decided to go after Ann. At first I thought it was because she genuinely felt sorry for her. Now I realize it was because she really wanted to sneak some time with Ben.”

“I see,” James said. “I don’t think they had sex, though.”

“They did,” Marian said. “Ann told me when I confronted her later in the night.”

“You confronted her? I didn’t know that.”

“You locked yourself in the office with Mandy,” Marian said. “You had no idea what was going on. Heck, I strangled Ann right outside of the teacher’s lounge. I thought for sure you guys would hear. She regained consciousness in the middle of it and tried to scream for help. Luckily, she didn’t have much of a voice left.”

Mandy’s face drained of color, and James could read the guilt and horror as it washed over her face. He forced himself to remain focused on Marian. “I need to know why you … did what you did … with the flashlight.”

Mandy tilted her head, confused. She had no idea what he was talking about, but from the tone of his voice she knew it was bad.

“They were whores,” Marian said. “They deserved to go out like whores. The only thing I had that would work was the flashlight. I thought the police would assume a man was guilty because it would appear that they had sex.”

Mandy shuddered, pressing her eyes shut to block out the visual.

“That was smart thinking,” James said. “What are you going to do now?”

“I think I have to send a clearer message,” Marian said. “Women need to know that my man is off limits.”

“That’s wise,” James said, forcing his breathing to remain even as he saw Jake move closer to the car. He was only a few feet away now. “I need you to hand Mandy over to me until she signs the business back, though. After that, I’ll give her back to you.”

“You will?”

“You’ll be doing me a favor,” James said.

Marian looked like she was considering the offer, but just as she started to release her grip on Mandy’s hair the sky split with a terrific flash of lighting. Thunder rolled almost immediately, causing Marian to jump and dig the knife into Mandy’s throat.

Mandy whimpered, fighting the urge to cry out.

James took a step forward, instinct taking over. He had to get his wife, and he had to do it now.

The sky opened up, the rain coming in a torrent. Marian was so momentarily flummoxed she didn’t see Jake take the final steps behind her. He had his hand around her throat, the other on her knife hand as he pulled it away from Mandy, and they were locked in a wrestling match.

James moved quickly, grabbing the hand that was furiously trying to stab Mandy through the throat and twisting it. The sickening sound of a bone breaking filled the night, followed by another rumble of thunder.

“You lied to me!” Marian was spitting mad. “You tricked me.”

Jake squeezed her throat tighter. The lack of oxygen was making Marian spacey, and she finally relinquished her hold on Mandy’s hair. James cried out with relief as Mandy sprang to her feet and launched herself at him.

“Baby,” he said, kissing her forehead. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean one word of that.”

“I’m not an idiot,” Mandy said, kissing him back. “I knew what you were doing.”

“That’s good,” James said. “I can’t stand one more fight this week.”

Mandy buried her face into his neck, the rain coating them as they clung to each other. Jake forced Marian to the ground, cuffing her hands behind her back as she bitterly complained.

“I’m so sick of dumb whores,” Marian said. “I can’t believe you’re staying with her after she cheated on you.”

“You need help,” Mandy said.

“I don’t need help,” Marian scoffed. “I’m happy. I’m going to marry Ben and we’re going to live happily ever after.”

“You definitely need help,” James said, lifting Mandy off the ground and carrying her toward his Explorer. “Come on, wife. Let’s go enjoy our happily ever after. I’m sick of dumb people, too.”