She smiled at him crookedly, bemused. “Yeah, I
suppose.”
Kate turned her back on him and went into the
kitchen. She arranged the flowers in a vase and placed it on the kitchen table.
In the living room, Josh flopped onto the couch, exhaled and ran his hands through his hair. Kate came
into the living room and sat on the coffee table in front of him.
“How did you get on?”
“Okay, I guess.” He paused. “I don’t know. We
didn’t find anything out really.”
“Tell me,” Kate said.
Abby bounded down the stairs and ran into the living room.
“I’ll tell you later,” he said.
Standing over Kate, looking as menacing as an eightyear-old could, Abby asked, “Can we go now?”
Kate smiled and slipped an arm around her daughter.
“I suppose so.”
“Go where?” Josh asked.
“The zoo,” Kate said. “I was waiting until you got back. You coming?”
The zoo brought back a recent unpleasant memory.
“No, I don’t think so,” he replied.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’ve got some paperwork to put together for the FAA.”
“Okay. Your loss.”
She got herself and Abby ready for their afternoon at the zoo. Josh saw them out. Before he closed the door, Kate said, “Miss you.”
He busied himself with the task of producing the
documentation for the destroyed Cessna. In his office, he removed his copies of the certificate of airworthiness, technical logs, insurance certificates and other
mandatory documentation that would be requested for inspection.
He still had to inform the insurance company that the airplane had been destroyed. That was a nuisance he could do without. Insurance companies were the bane of his life at the moment. He picked up the phone and started to dial the claims line.
The doorbell chimed.
Josh put the phone down and answered the door, his thoughtful mood shattered upon opening it. Belinda Wong stood on the porch.
“You asshole!” Her beautiful oval shaped face was screwed up in hate. She pushed the door wide open and walked in without invitation.
Josh checked that none of his neighbors had seen
Bell’s arrival and quickly closed the door behind her.
“What are you doing here?”
“You know why I’m here, Josh.” She spat his name
like she had venom in her mouth. “And don’t worry.
Your wife and kid didn’t see me. I can see the look on your face.”
She was right. Her invasion of his home in broad
daylight terrified him. But she didn’t have to rub his face in it. Throwing her out by the scruff of her neck seemed a very appealing option, but the undesirable scene it would bring prevented him.
“I’ve been waiting for your family to leave all morning,”
she continued.
“What do you want, Bell?” Josh demanded.
“You coward. Sending your fat friend, Bob, to tell me not to ruin your little family unit.” She mocked him by speaking in baby talk. “Did you tell him to do that?”
“No, I didn’t. And I don’t have to explain myself to you.”
Bell shook her head in disgust.
“Why did you crash the party, Bell? I paid you as you asked and I shouldn’t have seen you again.”
“Because I wanted to, because I want you to know
that I can drop into your life any time I want and I don’t need to ask.” She scraped an index finger with a wicked looking manicured nail under Josh’s chin. The nail rasped against his stubble when she curled her finger back sharply.
Anger, hate and frustration welled up inside him. He should have known that Bell’s return hadn’t been intended to be a brief encounter. She toyed with him like
a cat with a mouse and he wondered when would she go in for the kill. He’d had enough.
“How much to make you disappear forever?” he
asked.
“Josh, that’s only half your problem. You think
money will solve everything. If you hadn’t been so fascinated with the stuff, you would never have gotten
yourself into this shit pile you’re in now.”
“That’s bullshit, Bell. I took that money because I needed it for Abby’s medical treatment and you know it.”
Suddenly, Bell softened. She became seductive, sexual.
“Josh, you know it doesn’t have to be like this. You know what you have to do to stop all this …”—she searched for the word—“unpleasantness. Don’t you, Josh?”
Josh allowed her to come close to him. She slipped an arm around his neck and looked into his eyes. His body went rigid, unbending to her will. He resisted her.
“No, I don’t, Bell.”
“Leave that wife and brat of yours for me, of course.
Silly boy.” She oozed sex and temptation.
Raising a hand to his face, Bell caressed his cheek and kissed his mouth. The kiss was brief. He slapped her hand down, then gripped her wrist and twisted it behind her back. The kiss had been broken before she could make it openmouthed. Bell released a short
laugh, taking pleasure from Josh’s rough play.
“I don’t think so,” he whispered.
She laughed. “You seem in the mood to play. Are you sure?”
“Never in a million years would I ever want you
back.”
He released her arm and pushed her away with a
sharp shove to the chest. He’d washed his hands of her.
He didn’t want her.
Bell stumbled back, nearly falling, but saved herself by steadying herself against a small table with the telephone on it. The impact rocked the table and the telephone fell, the receiver clattering to the hardwood
floor.
Hatred consumed her face again. “You prick, Josh.
You think you’re so righteous, so perfect. Well, I’m not the one who took a bribe, cheated on my wife and
screwed my secretary. Josh, you’re going to be so sorry when I’ve finished with you.”
“And are you going to do that alone, Bell? Or are you going to get your new friend involved?”
Bewilderment crossed Bell’s face.
“You know, the guy who pushed me off the bridge. I saw you with him at the party.”
After a long moment, recognition, then a malicious grin spread across her face. Still slumped against the
