“So you’ve had a spy in my home. Not very nice of you.” She nodded to the camera that was hidden in one of the vases in this room. A crew would be going over the rest of the house today, but his visit was going to bring them in now. “As for Fred? I was getting tired of him anyway, so good riddance to him. But I’m not here to compare how much we’re keeping an eye on each other. I want you to tell me where Addison is. It’s well past time that she became the new Mrs. Delaney. And I mean now, Evie. I’m not fucking around any longer.”
“It’s funny you should mention the new Mrs. Delaney. I’ve been looking for the other two wives of yours. Where are they, Delaney?” He only smiled at her. “I’ve found Sheila. Poor thing was no happier in the institute than Fred was with your company. She’s much better off and less drugged up than she’s been since you put her away. Couldn’t kill her, could you?”
“So? I’ve been married before. What difference does that make?” But she could tell that he was nervous about it. “How many times have you been married?”
“Twice. Both of them I outlived. And I would say being married five times and widowed four is bad odds, and not in my granddaughter’s favor, wouldn’t you? What did you do to them? Or should I be asking you what do you think they did to you that you had to resort to murder to have them gone?” He stood up then and walked the short distance between them. Bentley was there before he could get within a foot of her.
“You’re going to back the fuck off right now, Evie. Or so help me, you’ll suffer in ways that you never have before.”
She stood up too, and Delaney drew back his fist. She had no idea if he was going to hit her or just threaten her, but he seemed to fall backwards all on his own and landed on the trolley. The sliver of wood coming out of his neck had him grabbing it and trying to stop the blood. For a whole second, no longer, she thought about just watching the blood drain from him, but couldn’t do it. She wasn’t going to help him, but she wasn’t going to watch him die.
“Call the police, Bentley. I believe that Mr. Delaney has had an accident.” Bentley moved to the phone in the room, and Evie stared down at Joel. “You stupid, foolish man. What am I going to do now? I do suppose that Addie will be safe with you dead. But to tell the truth, I have no idea where she is.”
By the time the police arrived, Delaney, of course, was dead. She told them about the camera in the room and that she had no idea where it was. But a quick call to Fred on his way out of the country told them all they needed to know. She was left with a stain on her carpet and a relief so profound that she giggled. Of course, not until after they’d all left them alone. Addie really was safe, and Evie was happier than she’d been in a long time.
~~~
Ellen moved around the house and decided while it wasn’t nearly as perfect as the one from before, she could play here. It sat far enough off the road that she could have as much fun as she wanted, and there was only one way onto the property with the fast moving river behind it. Ellen was so happy that she decided to let the woman showing her around the place live. At least for now.
“I’ll take it. You say that I can rent it on a month to month lease until they sell?” The woman nodded and told her that as soon as it sold she’d have ninety days to move out, less if the new owners wanted to take it now. “I’ll bet it’s been on the market for a while, right?”
“I’m sorry to say that it has been. Nearly four years. The market just isn’t what it used to be. Houses like this one, with all this property, usually get bought up by a big company and then ravaged to make room for condos. But there is very little appeal for a house in this area, even if it is cheap. And while I hate to mention this, there is very little in the way of cable or Internet services out here. Nothing to do for the young urbanites, I guess.”
Ellen didn’t know what that meant, but nodded. She had missed a great deal being in a home for so long, and she’d had to be so good too. That meant that she’d not talked to a great many people, and those that she did, Ellen had to refrain from killing them by keeping her distance as much as she could. That was the hardest part. Not killing everything that breathed.
The house was much smaller than she’d thought to live in. But everything else about the place appealed to her more than the size of the house. All she could think about was the other house, the one that she’d killed the two men in. It had everything, including the barn. Ellen loved barns. Her first bodies had been in a barn. Then her daddy had caught her, and that had been the end of that area for her.