Manny's Mix-up

Part Nine

Sunlight filling the room woke Maddie.  She could feel his arm around her as she pushed herself against him, and she thought about their lovemaking.  She couldn’t remember ever being this happy.

“Good morning, dear,” he said, but it wasn’t Jason’s voice.

She sat up and turned around.  Joshua was lying next to her and he smiled.  Joshua, with his smooth British accent and his cold blue eyes.

“Not happy to see your old hubby, eh Maddie?”

He was running his finger along her arm, causing chills to run up her spine.  Maddie pushed herself away from him, got out of the bed and pressed against the wall.

“Where’s Hannah?” she said quietly.

“Oh, sister dear, well, Hannah didn’t make it, I’m afraid.”

Maddie felt the sting of tears, but she wouldn’t cry in front of him.  She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

“No,” he said.  “Hannah gave up after just one finger.”

He held up Hannah’s finger and Maddie gasped.

“I really thought she’d last longer.  She seemed such a game gal.”

Maddie inched her way toward the door.  “Where’s Jason?

“He’s already in the car.  We gave him something to help him sleep.  Apparently, you kept him up all night, you little minx.  Should I be jealous?”

Joshua slid out of the bed and approached her.  He was slightly taller than Maddie.  His wore his black hair slicked back, and was always meticulously groomed..  He was stronger than he looked, and when Maddie tried to run, he grabbed her by the shoulders and pinned her to the wall..

“I’m really sorry you couldn’t say goodbye to her,” he said, his face so close she could feel his breath.  “She was screaming at the end, something about you, but it just escapes me at the moment.”

As he pressed his body against her, he pulled a gun out of his pocket and ran it along the edge of her cheek.

“I really liked you once,” he said.  “And your daddy was so happy to get rid of you.  Still, I would have preferred Hannah, but she was too smart.  She wouldn’t play along.”

Maddie’s eyes narrowed.

“Oh, you didn’t know that, did you?  I hate to be the one to tell you.  It seems I always have to deliver bad news.  The truth is, I asked for her hand first, but as I said before, she declined my offer.”

“That’s not true.  She would have told me.”

“She knew what a sniveling idiot you were.  She knew you’d go along with whatever daddy dearest said.”

He liked watching her crumble.  Hannah had always been too distracted by her useless little sister, and now with her gone, he could finally put Maddie to rest, too.

“Sorry, Maddie, but I have no choice.”

He backed away and shot her in the chest.  Without a backward glance, he walked down the stairs and out to the yard where he passed the bodies of Kate, whose throat had been cut, and Scout, who’d been shot with a silencer before he could alert the others.

*****

For the second time that week, Jason Taylor found himself waking up from a heavy dose of tranquilizers.  His head pounded and his muscles ached, but worse than that were his surroundings.  The room looked like a prison cell, with cement block walls and no windows, just a glass door.  Fortunately, there was a also toilet in the room.