he'd printed out. It was now completely saturated in blood and fluids. He had to put her back together.
He peeled the pages apart as best he could and tried reading the few sentences that were still legible. Most of the pictures were still discernable even if the words were completely obscured. That would have to be enough. He pulled the uterus out of her abdominal cavity and picked up the needle threaded with catgut. He made a few neat stitches to close the incision he'd made in her uterus and then placed it back inside of her. Then he stitched her bladder back onto her uterus where he estimated it had been before he'd peeled them apart. Todd stretched the peritoneum back over her uterus and stitched that in place as well. He pulled the muscles back into place and made a couple of stitches to secure them. He had no idea if he'd done it right. It at least resembled what he could make out of the pictures. Lastly, Todd sewed her stomach closed.
Nicolene lay completely still now, barely breathing. Her body had finally succumbed to the pain. Todd stood up and washed his face and grabbed a sponge from beside the sink to clean the rest of his body. Once satisfied that he was passably clean he dressed. He picked up the phone and dialed 911.
'There's a woman bleeding on the floor in here. I think she's dying. You'd better come quick.'
Todd looked down at Nicolene. Blood leaked from her incisions. He didn't have so much as a band-aid to put on the wound. He'd have to be more prepared next time. Todd dropped the phone and left it off the hook so the paramedics could trace the call. He picked up all of his instruments and put them back into his messenger bag then walked out of the apartment, smiling. He felt like he had gotten it right this time. Now all he had to do was dispose of Terrence and his life could go back to normal.
Chapter Thirteen
Stephanie paced the floor from the kitchen to the front door to the window overlooking the street, wringing her hands and rubbing her belly and sighing deeply. Her girlfriend, Cathy, watched her angrily, fighting to remain silent. When Stephanie looked out the window for the tenth time in less than two minutes Cathy could no longer remain silent.
'Why did you even invite him over if it's freaking you out so much?'
'He needed the car.'
'So? Tell him to get his own damn car. What does he need a car for anyway?'
'I don't know. He said he needed to move some boxes or something.'
'I hope he's not doing anything illegal.'
'Todd? Please. He wouldn't hurt a fly. And I mean he literally would not hurt a fl y.'
Stephanie rubbed her belly again and then glanced out the window once more.
'You never told him huh?'
'How could I, knowing how he feels about it?'
'I can hand him the keys for you if you'd like? You don't have to see him. He doesn't have to see you.' 'What will you tell him?'I don't have to tell him shit. He's the one who fucked up. You're my woman now. I'll just tell him you don't want to see him.'You sound like a male chauvinist when you say I'm your woman.' 'You are my woman and there's no goddamn reason for him to see you.'
'It is his child.'
'He's just a sperm donor. I'm that baby's father. He doesn't want kids remember?'
Stephanie nodded solemnly and looked down at her belly again. She was not at all certain that she didn't want to see Todd again. A part of her was curious to see if he would change his mind about kids if he knew that she was carrying his child. Another part of her didn't want to find out the answer.
When the doorbell rang she handed the keys to Cathy, threw herself down onto the couch and covered her head with the pillow.
'It'll be all right, baby. I'll handle it.'
Chapter Fourteen
'Where's Steph?'
'She doesn't want to see you.'
'She didn't say that on the phone.'
'She didn't say she did want to see you did she? Here's the keys.'
Todd took the keys and stared at them.
'Is she still out on a job?'
'A what?'
'She said she had to pick up a bail jumper tonight.'
'No, she doesn't do that anymore. I take care of her now.'
Cathy was a large woman. At six feet tall she was two inches taller than Todd and she was muscled like a middleweight boxer. She had thighs like a power lifter and Todd wondered what it would feel like to be kicked by legs that muscular. Her foot would probably go right through his chest and explode out of his back. Cathy's bleached blond hair was cut short in a buzz-cut like Annie Lennox. Her breasts were huge, like two large cantaloupes and, unlike Stephanie's, hers appeared to be natural. She was wearing a nine-millimeter Gloch in a shoulder holster and Todd knew that she was into that Ultimate fighting shit. There were scars on her knuckles and what looked like the faded shadow of a black eye. She had a missing tooth that she'd never bothered to have replaced and a faint scar on her right cheek. She'd probably gotten the black eye fighting with a bail jumper. She was an intimidating woman. Todd could barely make eye contact with her. Cathy would have killed him in a fair fight.
'Is she upstairs?'
'Go away, Todd. Make sure you bring the car back before midnight.'
Cathy turned her back and shut the door. Todd stood on the porch trying to decide if he should ring the doorbell again.
He decided against it.
As he strapped his bike onto the bike rack of Stephanie's Toyota Prius hybrid, Todd could not help but wonder why she'd lied to him about doing a job tonight. Something wasn't right but he didn't have time to think about it for very long. He wondered why she still had the bike rack on the car. Was she still thinking about him? Did she miss him? He needed to move Terrence's body or else he might have stuck around to find out. He'd be back.
Todd started the engine and backed slowly out of the driveway. He looked up and saw a silhouette in the window staring down at him. He was certain that it was Stephanie. After he was done with Terrence, he had to see her.
Chapter Fifteen
The old lady across the street with the house full of cats, watched as Todd carried out an armload of plastic wrapped parcels. She'd come out onto the porch when he'd pulled up with Stephanie's car and watched him like a vulture as he unhooked the bike and bike rack and carried them both upstairs. He didn't know what her name was. Todd didn't know any of his neighbors and didn't want to. But he knew her face. It was fat with huge dimpled cheeks, squinty piggish eyes, and a roadmap of wrinkles. The woman was morbidly obese and needed a walker to get around. Her rotund face with the wrinkles and dimples giving her the look of an ancient cherub, seemed to always be there, peering from beyond the screen door or between her Venetian blinds or, as now, staring blatantly from her front porch.
What the fuck is that old woman doing up so late? Did she stay up just to spy on me?
When he walked upstairs to collect more of Terrence's body parts, she was still sitting on her porch watching him with undisguised curiosity. As he piled the parts into the trunk she craned her neck to get a better look. Cats
