It was all so perfect: the secret ladybug tattoo, sweet--smelling skin, the throaty pleas for her life to be spared . . .
She’d been so wonderfully terrified in those all--too--fleeting final moments when she grasped exactly what was about to happen to her.
I wanted to savor it this time, but I got carried away again.
Quickly, much too quickly, it was over. Julia lay lifelessly cradled in Casey’s arms. It was time to kiss her good--bye.
Next time, it will be Rowan’s turn.
And then it will be over for good, and Casey will move on.
Just one more . . .
Two, if you count Rowan’s son.
And I’m not counting him, Casey thinks with disdain.
Anyway, it won’t be enough.
If I could only have one more stand--in, I’d make it last. I wouldn’t just pounce on someone who strikes my fancy. I’d get closer and closer and when it’s time, I’d make sure she suffers.
Vanessa’s voice floats back from Thanksgiving Day just over a year ago, the last time Casey saw her alive. It was just the two of them.
“No, I didn’t make any hors d’oeuvres,” she said. “They only ruin your appetite.”
“But I’m starved.”
“Good. Everything will taste much better if you’re truly famished. Know what I mean?”
“I know exactly what you mean.”
But I didn’t really. Not then.
Anyway, Vanessa’s philosophy didn’t keep Casey from complaining that dinner was taking too long.
“Come on, cut it out.”
“Cut what out?”
“Being so hangry.”
“You mean hungry.”
“I mean angry because you’re hungry. Hangry.”
Who wouldn’t smile at something so clever?
I did, even though I was hangry. And now . . . I’m even hangrier.
But she was right—-everything tastes much better when you’re truly famished. And I’ll be sated very soon . . .
Resolving to stick to the plan, Casey picks up the final memento of last night: silken strands of Julia Sexton’s long red hair, tied—-just for now—-with a white satin ribbon smeared with blood.
From the Mundy’s Landing Tribune Archives
Front Page
November 4, 2015
Mayor Ransom Ousted in Landslide
Democrat John Elsworth Ransom, whose roots extend to the first settlers of Mundy’s Landing and whose tenure as mayor stretches back to dawning hours of the twenty--first century, was soundly defeated by Republican Dean Cochran in yesterday’s local election.
Cochran, a native Californian, is a commercial real estate developer who relocated to the area in 2011. He has since been instrumental in the development of Mundy Estates, a luxury townhome development where he currently resides. Celebrating his victory last night at party headquarters, he said, “The -people of Mundy’s Landing are prepared to prove that it is, indeed possible to march toward the future while keeping the past firmly in our collective sightline.”
The incumbent mayor expressed disappointment that constituents had “placed their confidence in a candidate whose tenuous ties to our community and lack of a viable political track record may jeopardize the dignity and integrity of our hometown.”
Sworn in on January 1, 2000, lifelong resident Ransom had promised a new era of prosperity and revitalization of the central business district. Indeed, despite the recession, Mayor Ransom’s four consecutive terms saw nearly two dozen empty storefronts along Market and Broad Streets transformed into thriving locally owned restaurants and boutiques, successfully keeping national chains such as Starbucks and CVS from setting up shop within the village proper.