That was the last appointment of the day. It wasn’t the worst way to end a day, but it certainly didn’t send Jessa back to her office with a hopeful smile on her face. She sat down behind her desk and felt herself choke up. Never in her wildest dreams did she think she’d become so attached to animals like she did. Hell, the entire career choice was a shotgun thing. Med school on a Monday, then veterinarian school by Friday. Lucky for her she had someone to help her through everything. A friend of a friend owned her own office and took a liking to Jessa. Her name was Dr. Ashland. It all seemed to happen too easily. Of course, throwing her original dream down the drain had been hard enough.
But Jessa knew she never had a choice in the matter. Not after what she saw happen. Her entire life had been about becoming a doctor. Wanting to help people who were sick or didn’t feel right. To save people. To stitch up cuts. To remove a bad appendix. There was a flip side to it all. The side when people were too sick to cure. Or when surgeries went bad. Or just time caught up and took control.
That was a crash course Jessa never expected… especially with her best friend.
Jessa shut her eyes and rubbed her temples with the pointer and thumb of her right hand. So many times the images would just pop into her mind.
Getting there a minute too late. Hearing nothing. Literally nothing. Because they were gone. Opening the door and seeing a hand on the floor, outstretched… her fingertips almost touching…
A knock at the door broke the bad memory into pieces.
“Come in,” Jessa yelled.
The door opened and in poked the receptionist, Terri.
“Sorry to bother you. Someone is here… with an emergency.”
“An emergency? We don’t do emergencies. We’re…”
“He’s insistent he talks to you. He has a box with him. I guess there’s an animal in it.”
“Who is it?”
“I’ve never seen him before. He looks pissed off. Upset, I guess.”
“Okay,” Jessa said. “I’ll be right out.”
Jessa couldn’t find it in her heart to say no. Plus, if Terri hadn’t locked the door, what was she supposed to do? She couldn’t just sneak out either, since Terri probably told the guy she would check on Jessa.
Sighing, Jessa walked out of her office. It wasn’t like she had anyone to go home to, right? Hell, for being a veterinarian, she didn’t even have so much as a goldfish at home. Just a small, well kept apartment. She had an on-again-off-again fling with a guy named Mike who was a mortgage broker, but that relationship (if you could call it that) was only convenient when Mike wanted it to be. Most of the time when he called Jessa told she herself to tell him to fuck off but truthfully she didn’t like to be alone. Even if it was just silly comfort for one night, it was something.
Jessa walked down the long hall and turned the corner, opening the door. When she saw who was sitting in a chair, a box next to him in another chair, she froze. It was like walking from a sunny day into a sub zero night.
Death sat there… with a grin on his face…
***
“Cat got your tongue?” he asked and then snickered. He pointed to a cat drawing on the wall. “Get it? The cat… right?”
“How…”
He stood and tugged at his suit jacket. “How am I out of prison? Well, see, there’s this thing where you serve your time and then they just let you go. They open the door, give you a swift kick in the ass, and say goodbye. Well, they actually don’t say goodbye. They just shut the door behind you. But I’m a free man.”
“You need to leave right now.”
“No, I don’t. I’m free. I can do what I want.”
“This office is closed.”
“The door opened just fine.”
“It’s supposed to be locked,” Jessa said. “I’m telling you to leave. You don’t want me to call the police on you, do you?”
He smiled. That big, evil smile. “Still the same, huh? You still blame me, don’t you?”
“I know what you did,” Jessa said.
Her chest felt like it was collapsing into her body. She had been promised he would never come back and bother her. That he was going to go away for a long time. And while he was gone, they were going to work on the other case. That they would find a way to present the murder charges.
Apparently that never happened.
“You think you know,” he said. “I feel bad for you, too. Cleaning up dog shit all day and night. Dealing with people who own animals. Why can’t they get a real fucking life?”
“Go,” Jessa shouted. “I’m not saying it again.”
He pointed to the box on the chair. “But I brought you something…”
“I don’t care. Leave right now.”
He let out a breath. “Okay. I’ve overstayed my welcome. I’ll be back, Jessa. We are so far from done.”
“You come near me again and I’ll call the police. I’m going to call the police right now. I’m going…”
“Before you waste your energy with words, look in the box. Look at what I brought you. Remember, Jessa.” His lip curled. “Remember exactly who the fuck I am.”
With that, he turned and walked away.
Jessa felt the fear rise up within in her like a tide. She touched her chest. Her heart was pounding. Nobody would believe if she told them. Nobody was supposed to know about what had happened before.
“Uh, Jessa?” Terri asked.
Jessa stepped toward the box and then looked over her shoulder. “What?”
“We have a small problem.”
“What?”
“One of the cats… it’s missing.”
“What do you mean it’s missing?”
“I went to check on everything. Mrs. Soldier’s cat is missing. The cage is shut and everything. It’s just gone…”