James Moore - Blood Red

Kelli was scared for him. Thinking about his situation made her stomach want to knot up, and made her want to puke her guts out. He was such a sweet kid. Her cousin Amy had been a sweet kid, too, and had always been so energetic. Right up until the time she suddenly couldn’t keep any food down.

By the time the doctors discovered the stomach cancer, it was too late. Kelli had watched the girl who was almost like a sister to her waste away in a matter of months. The idea of that happening to Teddy was enough to wrench her heart out of place.

“Kids shouldn’t get sick. It ought to be a law.” She was talking to herself, of course.

So she almost had a coronary on the spot when she got a response. “I agree. I was just coming over to see how your little friend was doing.”

Jason Soulis stood in front of her, dressed in a dark gray suit and a heavy black overcoat. He was either just going out for an evening or just coming back, she had no idea which.

“Oh, shit.” She clutched at her chest and felt her heart beating. That was good, because he’d scared the life out of her. “I didn’t see you come up.” She laughed lightly.

He lowered his head and raised it again, a slight bow of apology. His eyes never left hers. “I certainly meant no harm. Forgive me.”

“Oh, no, please. That’s just me freaking out a bit.”

“You’ve had a long day; I did not mean to make it longer.” He took a step back and did a more formal bow. She got the impression the man could have managed to look just as polite and proper if he were carrying a bucket of pig slop in each hand. He was just that smooth. “I hope all is well with your friend.”

As he started down the stairs she realized she didn’t want him to leave. He was interesting, and obviously a nice man. “We don’t know yet.”

Soulis stopped and looked back at her. His face was half submerged in shadows, making him look slightly gaunt as the darkness caressed his features. “They have no diagnosis as yet?”

“No. They took all sorts of tests, but they couldn’t figure out what was wrong. His blood pressure is doing strange things and he is too tired, but they didn’t find anything that should have made him sick.”

“You must be patient. Sometimes the mysteries of the body hide themselves. The doctors will undoubtedly find the problem given a little more time.”

Yes, he talked with an accent, but it was faint, and she could have listened to him speak for hours. She shook the thought away and smiled for his benefit. Amy’s death had long since crushed her faith in doctors and modern medicine.

“Have a good night. I will keep your friend in my thoughts.” Jason turned and walked away, his steps as graceful as a dancer’s. He was gone before she remembered to say good night herself.

A few minutes later, Bill came out to the porch and snuck one of his rare cigarettes. He only smoked when he’d had a particularly bad day. This one qualified.

He sat down near her on the wooden bench, and sighed. “Did I mention you’re a lifesaver, Kelli?”

She smiled and nodded. “About ten times, but don’t stop on my account.”

“Teddy’s a good kid. And he’s lucky—he has a good home and a super nanny to watch over him.” His voice sounded a little lost. She could hear guilt riding along with the compliments.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself, Bill. You work yourself half to death and I know you do it to make sure Teddy has a good future.” She knew no such thing, but it seemed like the right thing to say.

Bill inhaled deeply and held the smoke in his lungs, savoring it before he exhaled. “Teddy’s future is all taken care of, Kelli. He’ll never want for anything, at least not financially.”

“So why do you work so hard, then?”

He looked her way and she couldn’t help but notice that his eyes lingered for a few seconds in places where married men should not let their attention stray. “I like to stay busy, and I like to take on new challenges.”

She opted not to take any possible innuendoes to heart. Her fantasies were just that, and not something she ever intended to act on.

“Well, I guess I better go hit the books.” Kelli stood up and rolled her head a few times, getting the blood flow back into her tense muscles.

“Have a good night, Kelli. Thanks again.” Bill stood up and put a companionable arm around her shoulders, giving her a half hug. He kissed the top of her head and then let her pass.

“Nothing to thank me for, Bill. Sweet dreams.”

She left him out in the deepening cold of the night, and went up to her bedroom, across from Teddy’s. Michelle Lister was still in the room looking down on her sleeping son. She had a few lines from crying on her face, but Kelli didn’t look for long or offer any sort of comfort. Michelle was a very private woman, and she knew the lady would prefer to be by herself with her sleeping child.

There was surprisingly little traffic on Cliff Walk. Normally, even in the dead of winter, she could expect to see a few cars traveling up and down the long stretch of road. Kelli stared at the road and the house across the street for several minutes, her mind wandering from her employer on the porch to the man who had just recently come to town.

She closed her eyes and drifted to sleep still fully clothed and far too tired to care about the discomfort of wearing her jeans to slumber land.

Across the street, Jason watched her from the shadows of an oak tree. He barely moved until the moon had risen into the sky.

Brian Freemont drove like a madman, desperate to get back to his house and the phone call he knew he had to expect. He’d had more than enough of his mystery caller and the threats the man had delivered. He wanted the situation resolved.

“I just want my life back. That’s all. Please, God, let me have my life back.”

His stomach seethed with tension. Angie was at home and he dreaded the idea that she would answer that particular phone call. If she did, she could make his life a living hell. He didn’t like the idea of a divorce, and he liked the idea of child support even less.

Sometimes, when he was halfway to sleep, he looked back and wondered if he had ever loved Angie. He thought so. These days she was too high maintenance and her moods were pissing him off to the point that he didn’t fucking care what happened to her.

That was a lie. He did care, he just didn’t know if he cared as much as he should. She was a good woman, one of the best he’d ever known, but her mood swings and weight gain were taxing his patience.

Mostly, these days, he was worried about what was going to happen if he didn’t get this all worked out. Everything he had was gone; all of the money in his accounts, except for his last paycheck. He knew, because he’d looked all of the accounts over online earlier in the day. It wasn’t that the money had been taken. Instead it was as if the money had never existed. Even his transaction records were screwed up beyond all repair. If this wasn’t fixed to the bastard on the phone’s satisfaction, his whole world was going to fall apart.

He wanted that fucker dead.

He wanted to make the son of a bitch scream and die and bleed.

But mostly he wanted his life back.

The clock on the dashboard told him he still had five minutes to get home. He parked as calmly as he could and climbed from the car. His hands were doing their best to clench into fists and he made himself calm down a bit. Angie didn’t need to see him like this.

He opened the door to his house and smiled as he walked in, ready to put on a cheery face for his wife. He needn’t have bothered. She was already in a bad mood.

Angie Freemont sat on the couch, the TV playing the last of the nightly news, and stared daggers at Brian.