A Clean Kill

there.

'I won't have her back in the house—don't do that, Derek.'

'What?'

'You know what.'

'Oh, Maddy, Maddy, Maddy, aren't I always good for you?'

'Not today,' she said angrily. 'I'm in a firing mood.'

'Don't be silly—you'll never get rid of me. Okay, okay.' He backed off the ass-patting when she shot him an angry look. 'Do ten minutes. I'll be right back.' He drifted out into the garden with his cell phone in his hand, and she got to work.

After her session was over, Maddy felt a lot better. That day Derek was good to his word: she did only the ten minutes of cardio, twenty minutes of Pilates mat work, and finally he stretched her out and gave her a quick massage. At nine she kicked him out abruptly. She wanted to be alone, had stuff to do. 'Be sure the door is shut when you leave.' She turned her back on him, closing him out.

'Jesus, no one likes a party pooper,' he muttered.

She didn't see higo. After drinking a glass of water, she took a quick shower with the glass door closed and only two of the six jets on. Before going in, she'd put some eucalyptus oil near the steam jet, and hit the power button. In six minutes the heat and aroma in the handsome pink marble room that served as both shower and steam room would be exactly the way she liked them. While she waited for the steam to fill the room, she downed another glass of water. She did not bother to check the door to the gym. She came in here every day. The door had an automatic lock. She trusted Derek to do as she asked. She felt refreshed and safe, ready to do what she had to do.

Outside her sanctuary the day had started. Her husband was at one of his restaurants—who knew which one? Her boys were at play school. Maddy glanced at her watch. Jo Ellen had promised that she would talk with Remy and get her out of the house by noon. She planned to oversee Remy's packing to make sure that the girl didn't steal anything from the house when she left. Those Culinary Institute people had proved unreliable in the past. The last one had left with the Cuisinart, half the silver, and a bunch of expensive knives. She wasn't going to let that happen again.

Then Maddy thought of her children. She was looking forward to having the boys to herself again, picking them up and giving them a healthy dinner. She told herself she didn't really need a nanny. Why couldn't she be the only mom? She watched the steam build and tallied her tasks. Then, when the pink marble walls were gone and everything was white, she went in and inhaled the eucalyptus-scented steam. Delicious. She closed the glass door and lay down naked on the fragrant teak bench. She was not going to let anxiety about Remy and her husband ruin her day. This was not the first time she'd been forced to take action when

Wayne's affection appeared to wander, and it probably wouldn't be the last. She stretched her body out on the bench and succumbed to the soporific power of steam.

The steam hissed, and she became soothed and dreamy. She did not hear the outer door to her spa open. She did not hear someone come in and move around in her private gym. All she heard was the soft ssss through the pipe. Her body was relaxed, her eyes closed; and for a brief moment her soul was at peace.

When the first blow came, it was only by chance that she had raised her arm to wipe the sweat from her forehead. The attacker lunged, and the point of the knife was deflected by her elbow. She yelped as the blade sliced into the muscle of her upper arm, and the person staggered off balance.

'Bitch!'

'What—!' Maddy jumped up. In the fog she could see only a thick shape and the yellow rubber gloves from her own kitchen sink. She was shocked. It looked like Remy.

'Remy!' she screamed. 'Don't!' Blood poured out of her arm, but oddly, she did not feel fear. She was at a disadvantage without a weapon, but she was in her own space, her own house. She did not expect to die. She expected to live a long life, keep her husband, raise her children. No one could take that from her. Rage pumped her full of adrenaline. She wasn't going to let anyone hurt her.

'Get out of here.' She kicked out with a bare foot and hit plastic, sturdy plastic. She screamed. What the—? It wasn't raining outside or in the shower room. She realized it was a raincoat, and the person inside of it seemed stronger than the reedy, thin Remy Banks. But she couldn't be sure.

Oh, shit. The knife came at her again. Now she could see it. It wasn't a very long knife, and she still was more angry than afraid. She kicked again. This time she missed the target and lost her balance. As her foot came down on the marble floor, she slid through a puddle of her own blood and fell hard. She thrashed on the slippery tiles, trying to get up as the ghoulish form covered in plastic came at her again. Suddenly her vision was impaired and she couldn't tell if it was one person or two.

She screamed as the knives jabbed at her from both sides—at her hands, her feet, her knees. She fought to protect the soft targets, her breasts, her vital organs, and was struck in the chest over and over as she moved from side to side, trying to get away. Then she started begging for her life.

'No, please!' She didn't want to die. A roar filled her ears as the knife made contact with her forehead, slicing away the scalp over one eye and entering the eye.

Her hands jerked up to the place where her eye had been and finally opened a clear path to her chest and belly. The knife struck her belly button. She screamed one last time as the phone rang. As she turned toward the sound, one of the knives sank into her chest and found her heart.

Three

Alison Perkins watched the numerals on the clock by her bed change from 9:31 to 9:32 as she listened to Maddy Wilson's irritatingly long voice message. Maddy wasn't picking up. She rolled over on the big bed she shared with Andrew, Floyd, and Roxie, waiting for the message to end so she could speak her mind into the void. She was annoyed and wanted it to be known. Just a little while ago Maddy had called her in crisis, demanding instant attention. She'd had it with Remy, had it with poor Leah. Even Derek was pissing her off. Alison couldn't talk to her then because Andrew was having his ten minutes of the day with her and didn't like to be interrupted: Now Andrew was long gone, and it looked as if Maddy was gone, too.

Alison hated that. Everybody was so demanding! Andrew worked all the time, never came home, but had to have her early in the morning, the one time the whole family was together and the kids needed attention, too. Then Maddy had to meet with her about the same old thing, but only after she'd finished with Derek. She expected Alison to wait around for her. Alison's whole life had turned into a waiting game. She'd waited for Andrew to marry her, and now she was trapped with two little kids, always waiting for him to come home.

She'd retreated to bed to count down the minutes to the end of Maddy's session. Floyd and Roxie had followed her. For more than an hour they'd lazed around together. Now they were all up. The black standard poodle was lying on his stomach as close to her as he could get without actually lying across her lap. His large head was propped on crossed front paws. Roxie, the longhaired Chihuahua, was nosing her phone arm, wanting attention. Maddy's message ended, and the beep sounded.

'Maddy, I'm here. You said you'd be done at nine thirty. It's nine thirty-two. Where are you? I have a thousand things to do. I don't have all day to wait for you.'

Alison hung up and put the phone back on the night table. Roxie was now running through her bag of tricks. Without waiting for a command, she rolled over. Then she rolled over again and bumped into Floyd. He growled. She twirled again and bumped into the huge poodle a second time. He growled louder, but she had no idea how small she was next to him. She wasn't afraid. She knew what her job was, and she performed it well.

ive me some food. Give me some food. Attention, attention. Alison was distracted from her perpetual feeding of discontent, and smiled at the little dog. Hi, cutie! You beautiful baby.'

Despite her claim of business to attend to, the truth was, Alison did have all day. Except for her early lunch with Maddy and her one o'clock appointment with Derek, she didn't have a single thing to do. The girls were gone for the day. They had play dates after play school. Lynn, the nanny, would go get them, escort them to their appointed rounds, then feed them dinner. Alison would put them to bed around eight o'clock, before Andrew would even begin thinking of returning home. She had no idea when he would get back. He'd blown off their Easter