Wicked Girl (THE FIRE Book 1) Read online

  My cell phone blinked again. I grabbed it with anger burning for Chloe. But it wasn’t her this time. It was Detective Howell. I did not cut that one. I let it ring until it terminated automatically. I felt guilty, but I had no choice.

  “Friend, let me get my cell phone from upstairs. You know, I feel naked without it next to me,” Karen said.

  My heart pounded in my chest faster and harder. I stood up. I sat down. I stood up…

  “Naked? You’re like the teens yourself,” Jane said.

  They laughed.

  “Friend, I’m going too. I have to prep breakfast for the kids. You know the drill. I’m sure they’re up.”

  “No, wait, please.” Karen stopped climbing the steps. “Please. I will show you the video I was talking about and then you go. It’s in my phone.”

  “Ok,” Jane replied.

  Chloe called again. “Jesus! Why?”

  7:50 AM

  “I don’t believe this,” Karen shouted.

  “Recall. Probably you left it in the bathroom or something,” Jane said.

  “Friend, I have checked everywhere. Even in the kid’s bedroom. I even woke them; you heard them complain. They don’t know where it is.”

  I walked up and down, but no quick plan came to mind.

  “Let’s call it.”

  “Perfect idea.”

  Karen’s cell phone blinked on the couch next to me.

  “Is it ringing?” Karen asked.

  “It’s ringing,” Jane said.

  “But why can’t we hear it. My tone is loud. It’s Celine Dion’s Power of Love.”

  “Tough.”

  “What?”

  “It has been dropped.”

  “By somebody?”

  “No. It terminated automatically.”

  “But where is it? If it’s anywhere in the house we would hear it.”

  “Yeah, but probably the battery died. Do you recharge it every day?”

  “But you said it was ringing.”

  “Oh yeah, by the way. The battery is fine. It was ringing.”

  “So somebody stole it.”

  “But who? How? When? Where? You said you are sure you placed it on the sideboard before you slept.”

  Karen didn’t say anything. I guess she nodded.

  Jane continued, “But I texted you at around eleven. Maybe, you shoved it in the wrong place since you were sleepy already.”

  “I remember everything very well. I woke up when I heard the beep. I sat on the bed and texted you back. Then I placed the cell phone on the sideboard and slept. I wasn’t half asleep. I was wide awake.”

  Jane didn’t say anything.

  “Hmm, tell me. In your dream, the intruder – did he steal my cell phone before or after killing me?”

  “No, no. He didn’t steal it. He only looked at it.”

  “Where was it?”

  “On the sideboard, friend.”

  “Geez. I’m freaked out right now.”

  “Forget the dream. What if it’s meaningless?”

  “What if it’s meaningful? What if he came and stole my cell phone? What if he’s hiding somewhere in my house and is listening to us now? What if he will come out and kill me when you’re back to your house.”

  My heart beat even harder. I looked up at the small windows, wishing I could escape.

  “Don’t give me that look. I’m not exaggerating. Think of it: you dreamed an intruder attacking me in my sleep. Then when I wake up I don’t find my cell phone, which I’m sure was next to me. When we ring it, it doesn’t ring. It’s obviously not in the house. Who took it? Jane, somebody came in.”

  “I don’t want to believe that, girl. Fine I know some of my dreams turn out to be accurate, but not that accurate. Usually, they come to pass after a few days, at least. Not in real time. What you are saying means I dreamed some stuff as it unfolded in your house. It can’t be, friend.”

  “Okay, let me say I believe you. Then how would you explain my cell phone’s disappearance.”

  “I don’t know what happened to it. But you have children Karen. One of them still climbs to your bed in the middle of the night.”

  “Oh yes, you may be right.” There was silence. “No, it can’t be. If Dave took it in the night, we would hear it ring when we call it.”

  “Let me call it again.”

  The cell blinked. I grabbed it and received the call. “Hello.”

  “Oh my God! Who are you?” Jane screamed.

  I quickly terminated the call as soon as I recalled I wasn’t supposed to even reject it. “Jesus.”

  “Somebody spoke to you?”

  “No. It wasn’t anybody. It was the operator. It’s just that I thought it was a real person.”

  Karen sighed. “You almost killed me. That’s better then.”

  I jumped off the couch and paced around. Yes, Jane lied to her friend, just to avoid scaring her. But she did hear that it was a man. What I couldn’t tell was whether she recognized my voice. I punched the air, feeling bad I am useless and unreliable even to myself.

  Karen continued, “But I’m still confused by the real time thing. What if that’s what happened? What if you dreamed something that was happening at that time?”

  “But here you are talking to me. In the dream, you were murdered.”

  “I get that. But what is really happening?”

  A cell phone rang – a traditional Samsung tone. “Sorry babe. I’m still here. In a sec, I’ll be there,” Jane said.

  “Only if I was like you, friend. I wouldn’t be scared.”

  “Like me?”

  “If I had a man like you. I would be sure my kids and I are safe.”

  “Oh yeah.”

  “I’m thinking now.”

  “I don’t like that face. It’s the face you always have before spitting garbage.”

  “Garbage face. No, it’s not garbage. I’m thinking I have to involve the police or, at least, have some company.”

  “Yeah, the police…but the problem is they will come, write statements and go, leaving you alone and scared. They will only promise patrols.”

  “You are right. There is one option I have then.”

  “Garbage face again. What’s that option?”

  “Elijah.”

  My mouth fell open wide and my hand flew to my chest.

  “What?” Jane screamed. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “I’m not kidding. You know what? Let me come clean. I don’t believe Grace’s disappearance has anything to do with El. The man is innocent. I’m sure of that.”

  One chair was pushed over the floor. “We saw the blood together. We both believed he killed Grace. When did it all change?” Jane screamed.

  “Jane, I know that man. He didn’t kill Grace. Elijah is a loving, honest man,” Karen screamed.

  I nodded, relieved I was on the right track. Karen gave herself out cheaply. How could she be sure I didn’t kill Grace except she knew what really happened to her?

  Jane continued yelling, “I don’t believe this. I don’t believe you. You know what? I was leaving anyway. You will see yourself with your Elijah. I’m done with you. My husband would kill me if I’m close to someone who is involved with that man. We talked about him for hours yesterday. But now you say he is a good man. A good man, Karen. Geez!”

  “Friend, wait. Please just do me a favor before you go.”

  “What?”

  “Help me inspect if the whole house is safe. I just want to be sure the intruder ain’t in the house now.”

  I stopped breathing and peeked around. I had to get to a corner they wouldn’t even think of.

  “I can do that. But after that, I should go. Kevin is –” Jane’s cell phone rang again. “Oh my God! Kevin is calling. He’s angry now, I know.”

  “Don’t take the call. Just help me search the house then you run to him, please. It will take a minute. Please.”

  “Ok, but we have to be fast.”

  “Let’s start in the kitchen
.”

  They hastened to the kitchen.

  “Nothing looks suspicious, except it’s awful,” Jane said.

  Reluctantly, Karen said, “Yes.”

  The kitchen door squealed.

  “Oh my God. Even the door is not locked. I’m one hundred percent sure we locked it before we slept.”

  Jane’s cell rang again. “You know what, Karen? I think you really had an intruder last night. Call the police. I have to go now; Kevin will kill me. I’m being unfair to him. Just call the police. They will search the house and track where your cell phone is. Bye now.” She ran off.

  “Okay.”

  However, Jane’s footsteps came back to the kitchen door. “Karen. Are you sure you don’t have an affair with Elijah?”

  Karen yelled, “What is that supposed to mean? Jane, just leave. Go. Go.”

  Jane ran to her house, leaving me a bit relieved. At least, there was another soul that suspected Karen. I wasn’t crazy or overreacting.

  8:18 AM

  Chloe called. Again. Anger seized me. Again.

  I grimaced at the cell phone blinking in my pocket. I failed to comprehend what was wrong with her small head. I did not take her calls because I couldn’t. That’s it. Why couldn’t she get that?

  I stretched my leg and pulled the phone out. However, it wasn’t Chloe. Karen was calling from her landline. My eyes bulged – they almost fell on the cell phone. I jerked to my feet and let it ring until it terminated automatically. She called again. I watched it again. “Pick up, sweetheart. Pick up,” she said in the dining room.

  I tilted my head leftward in an effort to pick everything with my right ear. For some reason, she wasn’t loud as before.

  The “sweetheart” title – coming from her – troubled me. She wasn’t saying it passively; she meant what she said – with every bit of her wicked heart.

  Certainly, I was right about her. She definitely knew a lot about Grace’s whereabouts. I punched the air, mad and confounded about the exploits of her obsession. I didn’t have a wife or peace due to her obsession. I tapped my head with my right hand hoping it would suggest something more concrete than her obsession. A crush. Lust. Something that’s here today, tomorrow, it’s gone. But clearly for Karen, it didn’t leave on the following day; it burned within her until it gave birth to an evil motive. A sick motive that rendered me messed up and without peace of mind and heart. She nursed the obsession like a witch nursing a grudge and then it took control of her mental faculties and pushed her over the edge.

  Chloe called again. And again. And again.

  I almost smashed the cell phone on the wall and slapped my face on behalf of hers. I paced in the basement. But I wasn’t sure what had boiled me up. Chloe? Or Karen? Or the musty basement? Or the rat? Or my frozen feet? Or everything?

  When I heard Karen open the front door, I stopped moving. She closed it. I couldn’t figure out where she was going before even making breakfast for the kids. Suddenly, I made up that she was going to mend things with Jane – apologize. But faintly, I suspected she was going to my house as she had told Jane she would apologize and ask for my protection. I quickly refuted that thought. She couldn’t be that brave or crazy, considering the way she treated me with Jane. But just to be sure, I climbed on an old chair and looked through the small windows. I almost fell off when I saw her open my gate.

  I had no minute – even a second to process what I saw. I sprinted up the steps. I threw her cell phone on the couch in the living room and dashed through the dining room and kitchen. I ran out through the back door and jumped the short fence. But when I opened my back door, it was locked. “Jesus. Chloe.”

  I raised my hand to knock louder than Karen but stopped immediately. Karen would also hear my knock just as I heard hers. So I pulled out my cell phone.

  “Coming,” Chloe shouted upstairs. “I’m in the shower, sorry.”

  I dialed Chloe. My hands were clammy and shaky. It was either the sprinting or pressure. She didn’t pick up, probably to save my airtime as she thought I was the one knocking on the front door. “Pick up. Pick up, Chloe,” I whispered. But she terminated the call and ran down the steps.

  Quickly, I called the landline.

  “I’m coming,” Chloe shouted from the living room. “Just a minute, let me pick up the call, please.”

  She clutched the receiver. “Hello. This –”

  “Chloe. Listen, it’s me. Don’t say anything. Drop the phone and open the back door. I will open the front; don’t open it,” I said softly but deeply and authoritatively.

  “Okay,” she said.

  She opened the door, looking at me with stretched out eyes. Then she laughed when she saw I was walking barefooted, in long trousers.

  I put the index finger on my lips signaling her not to say anything. She nodded.

  I rushed to the front door. I gazed at the door, took a deep breath and created a blank face. Then I opened the door worried I would mess up and say things I heard her discuss with Jane in her house.

  8:43 AM

  Rightly so, Karen expected a cold shoulder. And she deserved it. Or worse. But I blundered and received her warmly and flexibly, ignoring her sorry face and awkward gestures. Later, I shrunk though as I suspected I had exposed myself. I ought to be grumpy and let her beseech me. Probably, slam the door in her face and let her knock again. Then open with an attitude, give her a minute and then dissolve with time.

  “El, you know, I’m relieved you are not mad at me.” She fixed her brown eyes on mine. “I feel bad I treated such a good soul that bad. I’m so sorry. And I will do anything to assist you in finding Grace.”

  I stared at her eyes, angry. I hated that she felt so special I forgave her easily. She thought the ease of things meant she was special. Or I had an interest in her. Unfortunately, I didn’t have even a small soft spot for her. Yes, she was beautiful, but I didn’t like her. She was only a ladder I had no option but climb to find my wife. “You are welcome, Grace. Oh no, sorry, I mean Karen. Sorry.”

  I gazed at the snow behind her, worried I knew too much. I knew she had clashed with Jane over me. I knew she treated me badly because of Jane, otherwise, she didn’t believe Jane’s theory. I also knew she was troubled by Jane’s intruder dream. I knew she snored awfully. I knew why she had come to see me. I even knew the color of the nightdress underneath the pink gown. My knowledge wasn’t the problem though – the problem was forgetting to conceal it.

  She quickly drew close and hugged me tightly. When I opened my mouth to tell her not to do that, she kissed me on the mouth.

  I grabbed her with both hands and pushed her away. Anger boiled within me. And disgust took hold of me when her nasty kitchen and stinking bedroom clicked in my head. I almost spat. I wiped my mouth.

  However, I didn’t blame her. I blamed myself. Evidently, I failed by treating her kindly when she trashed my soul a few days ago. I had to, at least, show her a side of me she never even knew existed. Then she would respect me. Or at least fear me.

  Plainly, I had missed an opportunity to make it click in her head that she didn’t attract me at all. She annoyed me instead. I couldn’t even feel the softness of her lips and the warmth of her body as she hard-pressed herself on me. But when I recalled my mission, I smiled. “Don’t be naughty, Karen.”

  She smiled and winked her left eye.

  I gave her an awkward smile, realizing I was indeed on a narrow road. Pushing her away completely wasn’t one of my options, obviously. I had to bring her close to get unrestricted access to her house and life. But the fact remained that bringing her close wasn’t different from hugging a suicide bomber seconds before she fulfills her mission.

  “Sorry about that. Honestly, I didn’t do it. It just happened, El.” She rolled her eyes, smiling.

  I jerked my head back and shuffled back two steps. “Come in, Karen.”

  “Finally,” Karen said, laughing. She walked past me.

  “Finally?”

  “I mean we ha
ve been talking at the door. So I’m saying finally you have found me fit to come in. I just hope you will even ask me to come upstairs.” She giggled.

  I shook my head and pushed the door behind her. But just before it closed, I saw Jane standing next to Karen’s gate looking at me. My body warmed up instantly. I didn’t even know how long she had been standing there. But her body language – the frowning and head shaking, suggested she was standing there long enough to see everything – including the odd kiss.

  I sighed and closed the door, my head spinning. I followed Karen to the couch. I deeply hated that Jane saw us. Obviously, she would spread the gossip and Grace would probably find it still circulating when she came back. I almost punched the couch when that clicked. We would clash badly over Karen.

  Karen crossed her legs, smiling, eyeing my eyeballs. “I won’t be naughty anymore. And on a serious note, El. What’s the progress? Any hope? I saw in the news that they’re investigating her coworkers.”

  Again my knowledge worked against me. She thought she was smart, but I knew the depth of her obsession. The wild stalking – even following us to L.A. I knew a lot. I knew she –

  “Elijah.” Karen slapped my thigh.

  I trembled and gazed at her. “Yeah. Yeah. There’s a lot of hope. I…they told me they’ve got a strong lead. But they refused to give me the details.”

  “That’s very encouraging dear.”

  She sighed and gazed at me. “You know, El, I desperately need your help too. I’m really freaked out. Where will I even start?”

  I nodded hating the torment I was about to go through. Only if the amnesia was in my control. Then I would trigger it to erase everything I knew. The intruder. The dream. When Karen gave me a questioning gaze I said, “Start from the beginning. The dream…” She frowned. “Just have any kind of talk you dream to have with me.”