Appalachian Galapagos (33 page)

Kevin stiffened. "How the hell do you know my wife's name?"

The smile returned. "Well, now. That wouldn't be so hard
considerin
' that she paid me ten thousand dollars to kill your ass, now would it?"

"You're lying. My wife would never do that. She doesn't have it in her."

The man removed his hat and scratched at his blond hair. "Well, I have me a little cassette that will prove you wrong, my good man." He leaned over, picked up a cassette and tapped it to his forehead. "Don't you wanna listen to it? I mean, it don't got a funky beat and you can't dance to it, but it's kind of catchy if you listen to it
more'n
once."

Kevin frowned, not sure what to do. Although he thought the man was lying, he was curious as to what was on the tape.

"I'll tell you what. You can just come over and stick your head in the passenger side window and listen to a little bit of it."

Kevin moved reluctantly to the other side of the vehicle as the man rolled down the window. "Let's hear this tape you have."

The man nodded and held out his hand towards Kevin. "The name's Forrest."

Kevin ignored the hand. "Just play the tape, please. I'm not here to make friends."

Forrest grinned, his eyes twinkling. "Trust me. You're gonna need me badly after you listen to this."

The woman on the tape was definitely
Ariana
.

Kevin felt like he had been stabbed in the stomach and left to die in the middle of the street—his blood seeping through his desperate fingers.

"When did she ask you to do this?" Kevin asked. His voice was nothing more than a whisper.

Forest flashed him a sleazy grin. "Last Friday, partner. You seem like such a nice guy, I can't imagine her
wantin
' to kill ya. I started
followin
' you around town,
tryin
' to see your schedule, you know? Needed to find the best time and all. Anyway, the more I watched you, the more I could see that you are a good soul. You seem like a good
upstandin
' guy. The kinda guy that always takes morality seriously. You mean
somethin
'."

Kevin sighed as he tried to struggle with the reality that his wife wanted him dead.
Ariana
had sounded so alien on the tape. "I mean something, huh?"

Forrest nodded emphatically. "Damn right, partner! You contribute
somethin
' to society! When I'm hired to take out another scum of the earth—my job is that much easier.
Killin
' men like you only fucks up my karma big time."

Kevin chuckled bitterly. "You kill people for a living and you are worried about losing karma?"

"Damn right. I feel when I kill the right people I am
makin
' things different, you know? Makin' the world a better place to live and all. Well, I guess what I'm
tryin
' to get to is that if you give me fifteen thousand dollars—we can forget me
killin
'
you
and kill your wife instead." He smiled widely, giving Kevin the chills with its icy coldness. "What do ya say?"

Kevin rubbed his forehead and closed his eyes. "Please just get out of our lives."

Forrest nodded. "Just think about it, okay? How about right here, this same spot tomorrow?"

Kevin frowned, not quite knowing what to say. "Just go away."

As he walked, he tried to imagine why
Ariana
would want to betray him. They had only been married for two years, and even though he didn't feel they had the best marriage, it was hard to believe that it was easier to murder him than it was to just leave him. His wife had always been a little cold, a fact that was lessened by her stunning beauty.

Ariana
had married him for his money; a fact that he had grown accustomed to in his hope that she would grow to love him. Money for which he had worked his ass off over the last ten years. He had spent every hour that he could possibly give to making his real estate business work and it had paid off handsomely.

He stopped at the white gates of his newly built Victorian style house and wondered how life could suddenly fall apart. It was now 10:30 in the evening—he had walked for hours trying to find answers.
Ariana's
car was in the driveway.

"Kevin, is that you?"
Ariana
called as he entered the house. Her voice was coming from the Jacuzzi room.

He took off his jacket and laid it over the parlor room chair. The hallway was warm—he inhaled deeply taking in the clean, soapy smell and entered the steam filled room.

Ariana
was sitting in the bubble-filled water, her well-rounded breasts floating just above the suds. She had her blonde hair pulled up, which only emphasized her beauty.

She smiled as he sat down at the end of the Jacuzzi. "You're very late. So much for being home early like you said. There's cold pizza on the table."

Kevin studied her, trying to see if he could see any trace of the cold-hearted person he had heard on the tape. "I don't know,
Ariana
. My day went fine all the way until this redneck
hitman
took me to the side and informed me that some cold-hearted bitch was going to have me killed this Friday." He forced a smile." How was
your
day, my love?"

As Kevin watched her battle to find the right words, he felt a grim satisfaction. She played it so perfectly, the confusion on her face appearing so genuine that he was impressed. She sunk a little into the hot water, burying her breasts underneath the bubbles.

"Kevin, what the hell are you talking about?"

"How could you do this,
Ariana
? I've done everything for you."

"Maybe you need to get some rest."

He grabbed her by the hair violently and yanked, forcing her to rise from the water. "
Don't tell me to get some rest,
Ariana
," he hissed, his face reddening. "I just heard a tape of you telling a man to make sure that I was in pain when I died. You deny it one more time and I will shove your head underneath this water until you fucking die."

She studied him fearfully. He knew she was seeing a part of him that she never knew existed. "You know don't you? You know about George? I was going to tell you this week."

He let go of her hair, pushing her head savagely against the wall. Just hearing her confession was more painful than anything he had ever experienced. The tears were already filling up his eyes and he turned away in embarrassment. "Your little
hitman
friend played it for me. He made me an offer. For fifteen thousand dollars he was going to kill you instead."

The shock that rode through her face gave him perverse satisfaction.

"Is this some kind of sick joke?" she asked, her face flushed. "We haven't made love in six months and now you want me dead just because I seek love elsewhere? You've already decided that your work was more important even before you had your little nervous breakdown."

Kevin stared down into her beautiful eyes. "
Ariana
, I hate you more than I thought I could
hate
any human being. I will kill you before I let you leave me for another man."

She gasped. "Oh."

He moved closer to the bathtub. "
Oh
? All you can say is 'oh'? How could you do this to me,
Ariana
? Why would you do this?"

"I'm in love with somebody else, Kevin. What do you want me to do? It happens."

Kevin started laughing, sitting back on the toilet seat. "This is too ripe."

"What's so funny?"

"I thought people were only this stupid in fucking movies. Jesus Christ, can you really be this pathetic?"

"I'm glad you find this so amusing."

Kevin stopped laughing and looked around at his surroundings. He could actually see the cracks forming in his world—the house now seemed menacing. "Was it really worth it? Could you not even last two years of marriage without fucking somebody else? Having me killed is worth it to you?"

"It's not like I sought out to do this,"
Ariana
said. "I fell in love with someone else, it happens all the time. And would you stop saying I tried to have you killed? You're delusional. I'm sorry it came to this."

"You're sorry...it...came...to...this?" His voice dropped to a menacing whisper. "You tried to have me killed and you are sorry it came to this?" He clenched his fists and moved closer to the bathtub. "And now you actually have the
goddamn
audacity to patronize me? I heard proof, so stop your fucking lying. It won't help you once I call the police."

He thought briefly about shoving her head into the water. It bothered him he was having so much trouble fighting his violent urge. He felt himself reaching out and grabbing her by the throat, pushing her head back into the wall. Her tongue protruded out of her mouth as she struggled to breathe in violent gasps, her eyes bulging as blood vessels broke. She clawed at his face and arms, cutting deeply into his skin.

He let go of her throat and watched her cough and gag. The imprints of his fingers were embedded in her neck. She looked up at him, her eyes wet from choking. He touched his right cheek and felt the deep, bleeding gash where she had scratched him.

"You bastard," she rasped. "You fucking bastard. I'll have you arrested."

Kevin chuckled. "How ironic. You're pissed at me because I almost killed
you
. Every part of my body wants to kill you, but I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to spend my life in prison for you. You're not worth it, you pathetic slut. Instead I'm going to turn your psycho as sin to the police." He leaned closer. "How did it feel,
Ariana
? How did it feel when I choked you? Were you scared?" He dodged her slap and stepped back. "I'm surprised you can feel anything."

He exited the bathroom before he lost his sanity again. Grabbing a towel from the closet, he dabbed it into his bleeding face. Blood also ran from scratches in his arm, but none of them were as serious as the wound on his face, that one was going to require stitches.

Moving into the living room, he sat down on the couch and closed his eyes. He was ashamed of himself. In the space of one hour, he had degenerated to a level that he did not think himself capable of. Only hours ago he had loved
Ariana
with everything he had and now he could care less if she died. Things had seemed so perfect and now they lay shattered before his bleeding face.

He opened his eyes and stood up.
Ariana
would have to pay for her sins. Picking up the portable phone, he dialed the police. He walked back into the bathroom; he wanted her to hear everything.

Ariana
was lying in the bathtub, her mouth open slightly below her bulging eyes, soap bubbles pouring out and over her chin.

The phone fell from his hand and hit the floor with a clatter.

"I want my money, partner," a familiar voice drawled behind him. "Only now I want fifty thousand. Sixty if you want me to hide the body."

Forrest was standing in the doorway, grinning, his buttoned up flannel shirt covered with water. He stuck his thumb out and slowly pushed his cowboy hat up over his forehead.

"You killed her," Kevin said, sitting down groggily on the toilet. "How the hell did you get into my house?"

"Well of course I did, my man," Forrest said. "And now you have to honor your part. I want my damn money."

"Screw you, I'm not giving you shit."

Forrest shook his head; the wide smile still pasted to his face. "Poor Kevin. Who looks like the guilty one here, partner? Looks to me like you're the one that killed her, my friend. I'm just a spectator to this here sport. Now can we talk about money?"