“Me too,” she said, and then hurried back to the stove to turn the sausages and bacon. He made coffee and poured orange juice while she did the waffles and finished the sausages and bacon, and they all sat down to breakfast shortly after, chattering about their gifts, and laughing and teasing each other. Jamie lay the bike down on the kitchen floor next to him. If they’d have let him, he’d have sat on it while he ate breakfast.
“What’s everyone going to do today?” Jack asked as he poured himself a second cup of coffee, and the others groaned over how much they’d eaten and how full they were.
“I have to get the turkey started pretty soon,” Liz said, glancing at the clock. She’d bought a twenty pounder, and it would take most of the day to cook. And Jack had to make his famous stuffing.
The girls said they wanted to try on their gifts and call their friends. Peter wanted to drop in at Jessica’s again, and Jamie made him promise to come back soon so he could help him ride his new bike, and Jack said he was going to drop by the office for a little while.
“On Christmas Day?” Liz looked at him in surprise.
“Just for a few minutes.” He told her he had forgotten one of the files he wanted to work on over the weekend.
“Why don’t you forget about it till tomorrow? You don’t need it today,” she chided him. He was beginning to sound like a workaholic. After all, it was Christmas Day.
“I’ll feel better if I know it’s here, then I can just get up tomorrow and do it.” Jack said, looking apologetically at his wife.
“What was that you were telling me about learning to leave my work at the office? Practice what you preach, Counselor.”
“I’ll be gone five minutes, and then I’ll come home and do the stuffing. I’ll be back before you know it.” He smiled at her, and kissed her after the children left, and then he helped her clear the table.
She stayed in the kitchen to start getting the turkey ready, and half an hour later he came downstairs, in khaki pants and a red sweater, freshly shaved.
“Do you need anything?” he asked before he left, and she shook her head and smiled at him.
“Just you. Unlike some people I know, I’m not planning to work this weekend. On holidays, I take the day off.”
She was still wearing her bathrobe, and her red hair looked straight and smooth as it hung below her shoulders, and the big green eyes looked lovingly at him. To him, she didn’t look a minute older than when they had married. “I love you, Liz,” he said gently, and kissed her, and then he headed out the door with a smile.
He thought about her all the way to the office, and pulled into his usual parking space outside their building. He let himself in with his keys, and left the door open behind him. He unset the alarm, and walked into their office. He knew exactly where the file was, and knew it would take him less than a minute to get it. And he was already on his way back to reset the alarm, when he heard footsteps in the hallway. He knew there was no one else there, and wondered if Liz had followed him, but that didn’t make sense, and he stuck his head out the doorway to see who, if anyone, had come in after he did.
“Hello?” Jack called out, and there was no answer, but he heard a rustling sound, and then a strange metallic click, and as he turned a corner, he found himself suddenly looking straight at Phillip Parker, Amanda’s husband. He had an ugly look on his face, and he looked disheveled and dirty and hungover. And then, Jack looked down and saw that Phillip was holding a gun aimed at him, and he felt strangely calm as he spoke to their client’s husband. “You don’t need that here, Phil. Put the gun down.”
“Don’t tell me what to do, you son of a bitch. You thought you could fuck with me, didn’t you? Thought you could scare me. Well, you don’t scare me, you piss me off. You twisted her around, got her to do everything you wanted, you think you’re doing her such a big favor, well, you want to know what you did for her?” Jack saw that he was crying then, and that Parker had a long smear of blood on one sleeve, and he looked like he’d gone crazy. Jack had the feeling that the man holding the gun had either been drugging or drinking. He seemed completely irrational, and hysterical as he rambled. “I told her I’d kill her if you didn’t back off … I’m not going to let you do that to me … you can’t freeze everything I own and fuck with me like that … I told her I’d do it … I told her … she has no right … you have no right …”
“It’s just for a month, Phil, until you give us the information we asked for. We can undo it anytime. Monday, if you want. Just take it easy.” Jack’s voice was deep and calm and soothing, but his heart was racing.
“No, you take it easy. Don’t tell me what to do. It’s too late anyway. It doesn’t matter anymore. You ruined everything. You made me do it.”
“Made you do what, Phil?” But Jack knew instinctively, even before Phil Parker said it. Liz had been right, they had driven him over the edge, and as Jack watched him, he was suddenly panicked for Amanda. What had Parker done to her, or the children?
“I killed her,” Phil said flatly, and began to sob as soon as he said it. “It’s your fault. I didn’t want to do it. But I had to. She wanted to take everything I had … she wanted all of it, didn’t she? The little tramp … you had no right … what was I supposed to do while you froze everything? Starve?” Jack knew it was pointless to answer him, all he could do now was pray that what Phil said wasn’t true.
“How did you know I’d be here, Phil?” Jack asked calmly.
“I followed you. I’ve been outside your house all morning.”
“Where’s Amanda?”
“I told you … she’s dead …” He wiped his nose on his sleeve and the blood on his jacket smeared across his face as he did it.
“Where are the kids?”
“They’re with her. I left them there,” he said, crying softly.
“Did you kill them too?” Phil shook his head and pointed the gun at Jack’s head.
“I locked them in her bedroom with her.” Jack felt his stomach turn over as Phil said it. “And now I have to kill you. It’s only fair. This is all your fault. You made her do it. She was a nice girl until you came along. It’s all your fault, you bastard.”
