Lucky Like Us

chapter Four

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“YOU NEED A hospital,” the doctor admonished for the third time.

“Do the job I’m paying you more than your net worth to do and keep your mouth shut.”

Settled into the deep leather chair, his foot propped on a matching ottoman, he leaned his head back and exhaled his frustration. The doctor pushed the needle through his numb skin and tied off another stitch.

How did everything go so wrong? With his partner and the cop out of the way, he’d almost gotten away clean. Then the woman showed up and threatened everything he’d worked so hard to conceal. Elizabeth Hamilton. Damnit, did she recognize him? What difference did it make? Still, killing a beautiful, spirited woman like her left him unfulfilled. He’d have liked to keep and enjoy her for a while. Ever since he’d allowed himself to explore the undiscovered depths of his darker side, the more alive and the less dissatisfied he felt in his everyday world.

The sting of the antiseptic against the scratches on his cheek brought him back to reality. The doctor had finished stitching and wrapping his foot. He wiggled his numb toes, thankful the short blade hadn’t done any major damage.

“Get out,” he ordered once the doctor finished applying ointment to his face. Without a word, the doctor dropped a bottle of antibiotics and pain meds on the side table and left.

Alone, he stared out the bank of windows of his high-rise condo. The city view usually calmed him, but tonight nothing soothed his frustration or disappointment. With Elizabeth and the potential to experience another new dark fantasy gone, he’d have to learn to live with it.