Prey of Desire (8 page)

He shut
his eyes. “If you forget me,” he said. “There is something I want you to know.”

* * * * *
* *

Zeus
whimpered as Kim set down her school books and took the bag of groceries into
the kitchen. He came trotting after her, holding his thin leather leash in his
mouth.

“I know.
I know.” She took the leash and wrapped the collar around his neck. “I've been
gone all day.”

The words
were barely out of her mouth when Zeus’ ears perked up. He instantly turned his
head toward the front door. There was a soft bump.
Then the
jiggle of the knob.
Zeus barked and ran to the door.

Kim followed,
as the door knob turned. It sounded like someone was trying to unlock the door.

Zeus
barked and jumped at the door as Kim put her face up to the peep hole. There
was a man standing there on the porch. Startled, she stepped back and the
Doberman growled. Kim opened the door.

“Whoa,”
he said holding out his hand. It was Addison Gaynor. “Please accept my apology
if I startled you, Kimberly. And, please, forgive my unannounced intrusion.”

“What
were you doing here?”

“Looking
for Mallory,” he said quickly, seeming to brush-off her question. He nervously
raised a hand and swept his fingers through his graying hair. A key ring looped
around his index finger jingled and a house key tapped his cheek.

Kim
noticed this immediately. Embarrassed, he lowered his hand, hiding the silver
ring of keys in his palm. Kim stared at his fist and pressed him for an answer.

“Were you
inside her house?”

“She
isn't home.” He shook his head and stepped forward. Kim blocked the door with
her body, holding him at the threshold. She asked again.

“Were you
in her house?”

“She gave
me keys, but no. I've been waiting for her in my BMW,” he said, then added, “She's
seeing another man, isn't she?”

“I don't
know,” Kim said. Zeus whimpered, reminding her that he was in pain. He had to
go
,
 
now
.
She clutched the leash and held the dog between them. “Maybe she's working late”

“She
works at home.” Addison persisted.

Kim
looked down at Zeus, who was staring longingly at a newly planted tree. “I
don't know where she is or what she's doing. Listen, I don't mean to be rude,
but...”

Addison
cut her off. “I've waited for her all afternoon, ever since you two disappeared
on me at the diner. Let me just wait in your home until she returns.”

“No, I
don't think that's a good idea.” Holding tight to the leash, Kim kept Zeus from
running.
        
Across the street on the
sidewalk, Mrs.
Roundtree
was walking Little Rosie.
Zeus noticed this too, as his body suddenly stiffened and pointed toward the
offending Pekingese.

Addison
glanced behind him in their direction,
then
turned
back to Kimberly. “I've got to know who she's with.”

“No,
Addison...” Kim started. Zeus growled at the Pekingese, then turned toward the
tree and whimpered. He looked up at Kim, then suddenly noticed Little Rosie
again and growled. Kim tightened her grip on the leash and shook her head at
Addison. “What are you doing? Are you spying on her?”

“I know,
I'm becoming obsessive again,” he said, finally taking a step back. “I'll
depart.”

He turned
and stepped away from them.

Kim
watched him return to the curb and slip inside his red BMW. The headlights came
on and the car quietly pulled away.

When he
was finally out of sight, she let go of the leash. Like a rocket, Zeus
scrambled into the parking lot, barking at Mrs.
Roundtree
and Little Rosie. Then he stopped abruptly, almost stumbling over his feet, and
changed course to his favorite tree.

8

Invitations
from

The
Dead & Gone

Wednesday,
January 12, 2000 

11:12 AM

“You were
out with the baseball player last night.” Kim studied Mallory sitting on the
edge of the bed in her loft, and shot her a disapproving smile. “Weren’t you?”

“Of course.”
Mallory
nodded and ran a hand over the ripples in the bedspread. She had dropped by to
talk Kim into lunch again. But Kim requested a favor instead. Now, Mallory
turned her head and crinkled her nose. “Why?”

“Because
Addison almost caught you, and I had to cover. That’s why.” Kim stood at her
small closet trying on a red dress that showed off her legs. Ross had always
said that it was his favorite. She hadn’t worn it since he left, but today was
different. She finally decided to head into downtown Stillwater to confront him
at the garage. She had no choice, really. No one knew where he was staying
since he moved out five weeks ago. 
Five
 
weeks, two days and
seven hours
. But above all else, she just wanted to get past all the
childish notes and poems. And what was the deal with the invitation to dinner
on Friday night? But, she couldn't think about that right now. For the moment,
she focused on Mallory’s problems. “I think Addison is stalking you.”

“So? Let
him.” Mallory motioned for Kim to turn around and pose. Studying her, Mallory
shook her head in disgust and leapt off the bed toward the closet. Flipping
through dresses on hangers, she continued, “I don’t care what Addison thinks.”

“Well,
you were pretty worried about him catching you at lunch yesterday.” Kim slipped
out of the red dress and folded it on the edge of the bed.

 
Deciding on a sheer white chiffon cocktail
dress with sequined straps, Mallory squealed, pulled it out of the closet and
handed it to Kim.

Kim
folded her arms and shook her head. It looked more like a slip, than a dress.
“That’s one of 
your
 dresses.”

“It’s
Chanel and it’s very expensive,” Mallory said, dejected, and returned it to the
closet. “I knew I liked it for a reason.”

“I’m not
wearing that.”

Mallory
hesitated, as if really analyzing the assortment of blouses, slacks and
sweaters hanging in Kim’s small closet,
then
turned to
face her.

“
Gunz
is fun and he enjoys the simple pleasures of life,”
Mallory said. Her eyes sparkled as she talked. “When Addison left the other
night,
Gunz
came over and took me for a walk and we
looked at the lights along Black Moon Lake. Isn’t that just the most romantic
thing you’ve ever heard?”

Mallory
noticed the red dress folded on the edge of the bed and walked past Kim to pick
it up. Holding it in her hands, she studied it a moment then handed it to Kim.

“Now this
is hot,” she offered. “When you walk in wearing this, every grease monkey in
that garage is going to flip out from under the car he’s working on and whistle.”

Kim
rolled her eyes, taking the dress. She slipped back into it just as Zeus’ ears
perked up. He raised his head, then leapt to his feet and scrambled down the
spiral staircase barking. Kim looked after him as Mallory sighed.
“Now what?”

A loud
knock interrupted them, and Kim came downstairs to find Zeus barking and
jumping at the front door. Mallory followed.

“I’m
being serious,” she continued, seemingly oblivious to the commotion at the
front door. “Ross is going to be putty in your hands.”

Holding
her dog back with one hand, Kim unlocked and opened the door with the other.
The landlord was standing on the porch. Wearing his dirty blue jeans overalls,
he held his straw hat in one hand and, with the other, ran a handkerchief over
his bald head to wipe away the sweat.

“Missy,”
he said. “Hope I’m not bothering you.”

Kim held
Zeus by the collar. Barking and growling, he snapped at the man’s hand. Kim
yanked him back.

“We were
just about to leave,” she said.

“Well, I
won’t keep you.” He put the handkerchief in the center pocket of his
overalls. “I was fixing the plumbing across the street at Mrs.
Roundtree’s
residence and just wanted to let you know I’d
be turning the water off for about an hour.”

Zeus was
howling now, leaping up on his hind paws. Kim swatted him on the nose,
then
turned back to the landlord.

“No
worries,” she said. “We’ll be gone for a while.”

“Good to
hear.” He looked down at the growling Doberman. Zeus snapped at him again.
Shaking his head, he looked back at Kim. “One of these days I’m adding a no
pets
clause to your lease.”

Kim told
him goodbye and shut the door. Zeus instantly calmed and Kim towered over him,
putting her hands to her hips.

“Bad dog,”
she scolded. “If you get us kicked out of here, you’re going to live in a
kennel. Do you want to live in a kennel?”

Zeus
whimpered at her as Mallory handed her a pair of shoes. “Let’s go kick Ross’
ass,” she said.

Within
the hour, they were headed out in Mallory’s little Miata. Rolling along Morris
Munger
Road, Kim stared out the passenger-side window,
noticing they were coming up to the bend. Mallory swerved into the curve, and
Kim stared at the old real estate sign,
then
glanced
at the empty wooden fruit stand.

She was
focused on the window, staring intently, and Mallory seemed to notice this.

“Did I
tell you that
Gunz
is in love with me?” Mallory asked
as she shifted gears. “He may even ask me to marry
him,
he’s so in love with me.”

“You just
met him!” Kim was sitting in the seat beside her. Her mind had been on Ross,
and what she would say to him. She’d been so
focused,
she hadn’t noticed that neither had said a word since pulling out of the
townhome parking lot. However, Mallory’s sudden statement caught her off guard.

“It’s
perfect,” Mallory explained. “I could travel with the baseball team. I’d be,
like, a groupie or something. Doesn’t that sound exciting?”

“Mallory
Astin
, are you crazy? You hate sports and you hate
traveling… And, hello, you just met the man.”

“Details,”
Mallory answered, her red hair whipping in the wind. She turned onto Main
Street and passed the University campus.
“Minor Details.”

“What
about Addison? I get the impression from him that you two are in a serious,
monogamous relationship.”

“Addison
gets on my nerves.” Mallory laughed again and then mocked him using a nasal
voice.
 
“We’re always in a 
fantastic
hurry
 or everything is just 
simply scandalous
.”

Kim
shrugged her shoulders, looking out the passenger window again. Giant magnolia
trees lined the median that ran along Main Street, and on either side stood
store fronts that were built in the late nineteen-thirties. She turned back to
Mallory. “So, you’re breaking up with Addison?”

“Hell, no!
Have you
seen his home? I’d kill to live in that place.”

“But what about the baseball player?”

“He’s
going to be on the road all the time. I can’t live like that.”

“You’re
incorrigible. This is exactly why Addison is stalking you,” Kim said. “I don’t
want to hear anymore about
Gunz
Gonzales and his
sixteen inch,
er
, guns.”

“They’re
nineteen inch, but whatever.” Mallory corrected her as she turned off Main and
came to a four way stop. “Look, so we’re almost there. You’re walking into the
garage looking like all that and
a bag chips
, all the
mechanics are drooling, Ross can’t believe his eyes… then what?”

“What do
you mean?”

“I mean,
what are you going to say to the slug when you see him?”

“I don’t
know. I hadn’t thought that far ahead.” She was lying though. It’s actually all
she had thought about for the last five weeks. She chewed her bottom lip,
considering the question.

She’d
doubted herself since the night he left. That night five weeks ago when Ross
pulled his
Camero
to the side of the road and she
stormed out, slamming the car door. It would be the last time she’d see him.

The last
time she'd
ever
see him.

* * * * *
* *

They were
both in high school when they first met. He was a senior; she a sophomore. They
had separate classes and separate friends, until one fateful night when they
were both in separate cars headed west across the Courtney Campbell Causeway
over Tampa Bay.

It was
Saturday evening, and Ross was riding shotgun in a silver gray Lincoln Town
Car. It belonged to his best friend’s mother, but they had it for the night.
The stereo was cranked up, windows down. When a red convertible --- top down,
two hot girls in the front seat, three in the back --- pulled up alongside them
on the bridge, Ross’ buddy honked.

Ross
leaned over his buddy to yell to the girls from the driver’s side window. They
honked back and laughed. One blew kisses, and Ross’ buddy grinned and lewdly
flashed his tongue. Ross followed that with yelling again out the driver’s side
window. “Where you headed?”

The girls
couldn’t hear him over the rush of the wind as they sped along the bridge. He
yelled again. But it was no use.

His buddy
pushed him off him and nudged him back to his side of the car. He almost lost
control of the steering wheel, and the town car drifted into the girl’s path.
They
blared
the horn and girls erupted into squeals
and giggles. Ross leaned over his buddy again and yelled for them to follow.
That’s when his eyes made contact with the dark haired girl in the back seat.

Her eyes
locked with his, and she smiled back at him.

Ross
yelled something to her, just as his buddy threw his left arm out the window
motioning to the car-load of girls to follow. With both their heads turned,
eyes firmly planted on the red convertible, they were oblivious to the traffic
ahead. It had stopped on the bridge, and the Lincoln Town Car slammed into the
back bumper of the car in front of them.

Metal
bolted with a loud thud and the impact threw both Ross and his buddy forward
into the steering wheel. It was a minor accident, but the rear-ended driver
leapt out of his car with his pants ablaze, ready to tie into the boys.

The girls
in the convertible laughed and continued down the bridge.
Except
for Kim.

She
demanded that they pull over. She was worried about the cute guys in the other
car and wanted to make sure they were alright. So they pulled over to the
narrow shoulder on the bridge, and Kim got out of the car.

Walking
back to the accident, she found Ross and his buddy. Steam was boiling out of
the radiator, as well as the ears of the driver with the dented back bumper.
Kim approached them and Ross introduced himself.

He smiled
at her, and she smiled back.

They were
speaking casually in the school hallways between classes at first; she would
wait for him after shop class and he would walk her home. By the semester’s
end, he gave her his class ring. She looped a gold chain through it and wore it
proudly around her neck to signify that they were now dating, officially.

Kim
brought Ross home to meet her parents, and her father took an immediate dislike
to him. “He’s going to break your heart,” Kim’s father predicted. “He’s a
grease monkey and there’s no future with a grease monkey.”

Kim
laughed and ignored her father’s warning. “We’re just dating,” she said. “I’m
not marrying the guy.”

But her
father’s prediction came true, and Ross broke her heart – 
for the first
time
 -- during their prom night. She had planned to give him her
virginity in a beautiful hotel suite with rose petals on the bed; he wanted to
go bar hopping with his buddies. She vowed never to speak to him again, ripped
the necklace from her throat and flung his class ring at him. They were now
over, officially.

Kim cried
to her friends and to her parents. But when she didn’t receive the support she
was looking for, she called her
Grampa
. He listened
to her carry-on over the phone for a solid hour,
then
calmly told her, “Life won’t get any easier, darling. But you’ll get a hell of
a lot stronger.”

A few
weeks passed and Ross reconciled with Kim just in time for graduation. This
time, he didn’t give her the class ring. Instead, he gave her a Doberman pincer
puppy and told her he loved her and wanted to spend the rest of their lives
together. He wrote her a beautiful love letter, a poem really. And, it took
Kim’s breath away. She named the puppy Zeus and took both boys into her arms.