“It’s one of my favorite places to come, and I’ve been to a lot of places like this.”
“Thank you for sharing it with me.” She passed me her water even though I had my own.
“After you saw the photo in my office, I knew you’d enjoy seeing it for yourself.”
“I love places like this, I love being out here and away from life for a little while.”
“You deserve the break,” I took a shallow drink of her water, inhaling the scent of her peppermint chapstick from where her mouth had just been around it.
I stepped on the rock behind her, sitting directly against her back, letting my legs frame either side of her. Without preamble, she leaned back against me so I could wrap my arms around her smaller body. Her hands grabbed my arms as we sat in complete silence for a while; the only sound was the running water in front of us. I wanted nothing more than to give her more moments like this. Moments free from the stress and worry she was going through.
One day, I promised myself, one day her ex would meet his end just like those I’d come across before him. I vowed he wouldn’t get to lay hands on her ever again, no matter what it took to erase him from this world.
April 18th 2022
The results came in from my lab work. I was clean. I nearly cried when they called me to let me know. For two days, I had avoided his texts and calls. For two days, Riley and I had been staying at Michelle’s, where he wouldn’t dare show up unannounced. It would ruin his flawlessly perfected public image if he showed up and started a fight.
Breaking up with him was the right thing to do, so I sent the text. I sent screenshots of the girl's messages along with the simple note “we’re done” and blocked him.
If it was the right thing to do, then why do I feel sick sending it? Why am I saddled with guilt over getting away from him? Why am I afraid of how he’s going to react once I finally go back home?
Chapter thirty-six
The Exploiter
November 2nd 2023
Night had finally fallen. After weeks of watching, the waiting was finally over. I had been so patient. More than I had with the last one—the ones that only temporarily sated my needs. She had been on an impulse; my true target wouldn’t be. No, Rae was worth the wait, even if her sister would have to suffice in the meantime. Michelle, the whore, made it easy for me to watch her. Her routine was so predictable, I would have guessed she had never watched a true crime documentary over the course of her life.
She must have thought herself invincible. Even though Raelynn had a fenced-in yard for that damn mutt of hers, her sister never thought to check to make sure it was locked. She also had never checked to make sure the unused shed under the chestnut tree was empty. It had become my second home, the back of it completely accessible, and away from the cameras. There was enough foot traffic nearby on the sidewalks that the mangy animal hadn’t even noticed my scent in the yard as I spent most days hidden in the shed that neither of them used. Michelle routinely let the dogout about thirty minutes before she turned off the house lights for bed. Raelynn had been released from the hospital already, but with their freakishly close bond, they hadn’t spent much time apart. Tonight was different.
Five minutes ago, she called the beast back into the house. I was thankful I wouldn’t have to listen to the yapping animal much longer; the sound was worse than nails on a chalkboard. I wouldn’t have said I hated dogs, though I failed to see any purpose that they served other than to constantly be underfoot and were extremely needy every waking moment. Cats were my animal of choice; they weren’t stupid, with their constant fucking barking and need for attention.
I fought back a shiver; the air had started to turn colder the past few days. Not wanting to risk alerting either Michelle or the mutt to my location, I didn’t try to warm myself with anything other than the layers I was wearing. Relieving myself had been a whole different issue. Practically living in the shed, I had to come up with something, so stashed in the corner was a bucket I procured for the very purpose of taking a shit. I emptied it nightly, dumping it into her neighbors yard, hoping it would be confused as one of their three dogs' mess instead of mine. I made sure to clean up after myself every night too. In the early morning hours, I would leave the shed to take a walk to the local park, which just happened to be filled with trash cans I could make my deposits in. Food was easy enough to come by; there were plenty of gasstations around that were open twenty-four hours a day that I could visit periodically without appearing suspicious to replenish my stash of meager supplies.
I rubbed my hands together, my breath coming out in puffs as I tried to warm them. The tiny window in the shed offered me a perfect view of the house, but I still had to be careful not to be seen. Raelynn lived in a nice neighborhood with neighbors who more than likely would warn her if they saw something that wasn’t normal. So I was cautious with every move I made so I wouldn’t be seen by any of them, especially since I had already fucked up once and she had almost caught me. I knew about the cameras, and I also knew they only covered half the yard, a theory I had put to the test after her cowardly ass had called the police on me. Tonight, they wouldn’t catch anything, once my Wi-Fi jammer was turned on.
Raelynn's house was small, with only one bedroom and one bathroom located on the second level. The landing at the top faced the front of the house, toward the driveway and the road, whereas both the bathroom and the bedroom had windows overlooking the backyard. Stupid bitches, I couldn’t believe how careless they were when they didn’t even bother closing the blinds when they went to bed. I even put in the effort of trying to make them uncomfortable, and they still didn’t take a hint. Thinking they were safe in their four little walls, all because she now had a man whocould possibly protect her. Only the massive brute wasn’t always around now, was he?
A few minutes passed slowly, the anticipation rising within me, until Michelle turned off the light in the bedroom. I ached to bolt into the house, my blood rushing with excitement. But I knew I had to wait, at least for a little while longer, to make sure she was asleep. My plan was perfect, I would even go so far as to say it was flawless. Then again, it was my plan after all, and I wasn’t stupid. I would make sure that she would live to regret ever trying to destroy me like she did. Raelynn needed to be taught a lesson, and this was a lesson she would learn no matter how stubborn she liked to be. Her fight just meant that breaking her would be more fun. To see her cry and beg for her life in the end. Because she would die for what she had done, she just needed to break before it happened.
I laughed to myself, wondering if I could be the driving force that would tempt her to finally take her own life. Her last ‘attempt’ had been me, sure, but that didn’t change the fact that she was insane. She cut herself to manage her stress! Weak. Pathetic. I got hard thinking of just how easy it was to make her hate herself and manipulate her into doing whatever he wanted. Raelynn was the perfect puppet, and I loved to pull her strings.
Once thirty minutes had agonizingly passed since Michelle had turned off the lights, I slowly exited the shed after turning on the jammer, ensuring the cameras wouldn’t capture anything that wasabout to take place. Carefully, I closed it and latched it back, my leather gloves ensuring I left no trace of my fingerprints behind.
Digging in my pocket, I pulled out a small dog whistle. That had been a difficult purchase to make, since I didn’t have a dog and didn’t want it to be traced back to me. I traveled four counties over to make the purchase in cash so no local pet store clerk would be able to recognize me. I wasn’t stupid.
Around the back yard, Raelynn had very few flowers planted. The shrubs around the house that ran along the back porch and underneath the living room window were all there when she purchased the house a few years ago. She didn’t like doing the domestic stuff she should have been doing, cooking, gardening, tending a flower bed. I always hated how much she despised doing any of those chores, thinking her work at the vet's office was more important than what I wanted her to do. Raelynn just couldn’t see that I had only been trying to mold her into the perfect wife, as any woman should hope to be for a man one day.
The stupid bitch hadn’t even been smart enough to see the fake rock I had placed there while she was in the hospital. Before I had been banned from the hospital and taken off her allowed visitors list, I had thought to make a copy of her key and place it somewhere useful. Refusing to give it to the police officers who had questioned me after seeing the breakup texts on her phone would have given them a reason to become suspicious of me, soI willingly gave them the key she had given me when we started dating. The copy she didn’t know about was kept safe with me.
The rock was still neatly hidden under the shrub next to the back door. Her patio connected to both the back door leading out of the kitchen and the sliding glass door from the living room. A porch swing and two plastic lawn chairs were the only pieces of outdoor furniture she had for when she sat her lazy ass outside to read while Riley played in the yard.
I picked it up, took the key out, and pocketed the rock in my jacket. After I did what he needed to do, I would need to place the rock back with the key to make it look like it had been there all along. My fingerprints would never be found on it. After dropping the rock into my pocket, I pulled out a small stun gun with the same hand. That was something I hadn’t needed to purchase for what I needed to do here. I had owned that device for a while already. It was small, and the charge was only enough to take down one person. One was all I would need it for.
Slowly unlocking the back door, I paused, listening closely as I let it swing inward until the living room was visible, illuminated by the moonlight through the windows. The stupid bitch may have been scared enough to put up simple cameras, but apparently was confident enough to forgo an actual security system. Warm air from inside welcomed me, beckoning me over the threshold. Not yet, though. The house was completely silent. I made an educated guess that Riley would be upstairs. Even though I had never spentmany nights at Rae's house, I knew she let the mutt sleep in the bed. Michelle probably did the same since the two of them did whatever it took to make the other happy, even over the stupid animal.
Stepping aside to be concealed by the outside wall, I brought the whistle up to my chapped lips and blew. Within a heartbeat, I could hear the sound of paws on the stairs as the beast came to investigate what had made the noise. I knew the dog wasn’t much of a barker unless he was outside after a squirrel or a cat. Knowledge that I used to hate having, I was now grateful for. As soon as the dog passed by the doorway, I fired my stun gun, hitting him on the side of his chest. Without making a sound, the animal seized up, shaking as he fell over mid-stride out the door. I wasn’t worried about not being fair in what I had to do to the dog; the scars on my leg from his maw were enough to make me see red when it came to being around the animal.
