Chapter 29

Jenny spent her shift having coworkers and customers ask to see her ring and congratulating her. It was surreal having so many people who never noticed her latch onto her because of a tiny band of silver with a shiny stone. Bailey gave her a big hug when one of the other baggers mentioned the pending nuptials.

“Miss Grand, I’d like a moment please.” Called the store manager.

Jenny finished wiping down her register area with a flourish and joined the stern man by the customer service desk.

“Yes, sir?” She asked.

He waved goodnight to the last few customers before answering. Jenny tried not to be annoyed that he always seemed to call her over only to make her wait.

“I believe it is your turn to clean up the break room before leaving tonight. Is that correct?”

“Yes sir. I was going to get it done as soon as I finished refilling my bags.”

He perked up and the faintest hint of a smile crossed his face.

“Well, don’t worry about it; you can clock out and go home. I think I can remember how to wipe down a few tables. Have a good night and congratulations.” He said walking away.

The killer let the reality sink in that her boss wasn’t a complete asshole all the time. She watched as he picked up the cleaning spray and entered the cramped break room. Jenny thanked him as she punched out for the night. Today was a good day. She couldn’t wait to get home to her new fiancé.

***

Jenny came in the door with a large sack of drive through burgers and two milkshakes. She hoped Eric wasn’t too put off by hers; she really craved a well-done burger with triple pickles, onions, and horseradish sauce.

“Little help here.” She said.

Figment mewed and exited the room. Eric greeted her with a quick kiss and took half of the munchies. She noticed he looked a little pale and tired; maybe his gunshot wound was bothering him?

“Eric, are you okay?”

He set the food down on the coffee table.

“Yeah. I’m fine. Just kind of wiped out.” He answered.

Jenny put the back of her hand on his forehead; he saw the genuine concern on her face and felt guilty for suspecting her of homicide. Eric pulled her hand away from his face and pasted on a false smile.

“I’m not sick, babe. Just may have overdone it with my workout today. It was mostly stretching but I think I pulled the muscles around the scar a little too hard.”

“Eric, you have to take it easy. I know you go back to work on Monday, but you still aren’t one hundred percent.”

She hugged him and kissed his brow. The killer ran her fingertips along his hairline and imagined a life where she could tell him the whole truth. He felt confused by the things he’d seen compared to how his fiancé behaved.

“I will take it a little easier. And I’m not back at work in a few days; I’ll be stuck riding a desk for a couple more weeks.” McGill replied.

“Honey you’re still a cop. You’re just healing. You know, from when you were supercop and got shot. Something I’d prefer you never do again by the way.”

Eric laughed and pulled Jenny around and into his lap. She tried to wiggle free and instead managed to place herself in a perfect position to feel how happy he was getting. Jenny began kissing his neck and moving her body against his. She brought her kisses lower until the dinner lay cold and forgotten.

***

The betrothed couple spooned in bed. A sliver of light shone through the window, warming a swatch of Eric’s face. Jenny snored against his bicep. A tiny streak of saliva moistened the sheets.

Gradually the officer disentangled himself and got ready for another day of pattering around the house. He stretched and started cooking breakfast. Jenny slept through the dropping of pans and the heavy stream of profanity when her fiancé broke the eggs on the counter. And then the scent of fresh buttermilk pancakes and sizzling bacon reached her.

The murderer was on her feet and wiping the sleep from her eyes as though roused by a cattle prod; somewhat disoriented but alert enough to track the aroma of food. Eric flipped the pancakes with only partial success as she entered the kitchen.

“Dammit.” He said and used the spatula to flip over the runny bit of the pancake. “Sorry honey. I’ll eat this one. You want some juice or coffee?”

“I’ll get it, you look busy. Which do you want to drink?” She asked.

“Just OJ for now.” He answered with a peck on the cheek.

The killer plodded to the fridge and poured two large glasses of orange juice. She fought the random thought that it was essentially fruit blood. They both sat down to breakfast without any words.

Eric debated asking Jenny about her craft room items. The killer debated confessing her homicidal activities to the policeman. Instead they both chewed on bacon. Greasy, delicious bacon. Who needed openness in a relationship when you could eat bacon in silence instead?

Jenny watched how different her husband-to-be was acting and worried. Had he changed his mind? Was she doing something different? Was he being weird because of the shooting? Had she hurt him during last night’s chair sex? A million thoughts ran through her mind. She knew she should say something.

“We’ve got the day together, and the weather’s nice. How about we go for a walk together?”

“Sure, Jenny. I’ll put some pants on.”

“Well now I’m not interested.” The murderess quipped.

Eric softened and blew her a kiss before leaving the room. Jenny hastily stacked the dirty dishes and pulled on a pair of jeans and an old tee. Officer McGill stood ramrod straight in his Wranglers and a Police Department shirt. He jingled his keys.

“How about I drive us over to the park. We can walk around the path for a bit.” He offered.

Jenny faltered.

“Um, sure. I haven’t been back in months, but it might be nice to stroll around the place we met.” She said.

All she could see in her head was the blood gushing warm over her hand nearly a year ago. The memory of her first kill charged into the front of Jenny’s mind. Eric tilted his head to the right, and she woke from her reverie of crimson. The scent of dead leaves and dying blood lingered in her nostrils.

“Sorry, Eric, I didn’t hear you. Kind of zoned out. It’s just been awhile you know.”

He wrapped his arm over her shoulder as they walked to the car.

“It’s okay; I’ll protect you. I’m a supercop remember?”

***

The park was exactly as Jenny had seen it a month before on her last hunt. She loved hunting here for the resurrection of memories. Killing Natasha Jones, discovering that she was an adept serial killer, meeting Eric McGill, setting it up so that she was considered a traumatized witness instead of a suspect, and eventually following the chain of events to this happy time of her life.

“Are you sure you’re okay returning to the park? I know it was tough for you when the Jones girl was killed there.”

“Yeah,” Jenny replied. “…it’s been a long time and the killer hasn’t shown up for months. I figure he’s probably moved on.”

She held his hand as he stopped at a light.

“Besides, I’ve got you here to protect me.”

Eric held her hand, but his facial expression remained the same.

“I guess the killer may have moved away. Or maybe they stopped killing. Serial killers don’t stop though; they keep killing until they are caught or dead.” He remarked.

Jenny felt alarms blaring in her mind.

He knows something. Oh crap. What the holy hell am I going to do?

She quickly discarded ideas of leaping from the moving vehicle or making Eric one of her targets. Despite her growing affinity for slow executions, Jenny really loved Eric and wanted to make it work. She wondered if that made her crazier or less.

“That’s what I hear on television. But he isn’t going to ruin our day. Today is for the two of us to spend relaxing together.”

“He or she.” McGill said as he pulled up to the parking lot near the jogging path. “The profilers and forensic people say it’s probably a woman.”

DING DING DING bad things are about to happen!

The killer felt her panic rising and struggled to keep her adrenaline rush from being noticeable. She ran her left hand through her hair to wipe the sweat from her palm and break contact with her fiancé. She was fairly certain he was about to arrest her at her first crime scene.

What a crappy day off work.

“Well then I hope that you guys can catch her. I’d really rather not think about something so morbid though; you have to let work wait sometimes.” She said around the frog in her throat.

McGill froze.

“What?” He replied with a puzzled expression.

Jenny pulled out all the bullshitting skills she’d learned from college essays and chick flicks.

“Well every time we have a conversation it comes around to criminals and murders and crime scenes. I love that you are a cop, I really do. It’s like having my own hero to come home to; when I’m in your arms, I feel safe. But you have to learn to leave it at the office.”

“But I…” Eric’s train of thought derailed as doubt set in.

The killer saw her moment and pounced. She crossed her arms as they got out of the car. Without waiting for her betrothed, she started walking toward the dirt trail.

“I know you’re going stir-crazy having been stuck home for a month to recover from the shooting, but now you are dredging up an event that gave me nightmares for weeks. It’s not right, Eric. I had finally put those terrible events behind me, and you are starting it all over again.” She continued.

Meryl Streep, eat your heart out.

“I’m sorry, Jenny.” Eric apologized and put his arm around her as they walked. “I’ll stop talking about it. Do you want to go somewhere else?”

The cop stopped in the center of the path a few yards from the spot where Jenny had lured her first victim. Despite the craving to see the place again, Jenny nodded. She did her best to look distraught. It was easier due to the subtle return of her headache.

Eric glanced in the direction of the crime scene. There was a small homemade cross with a faded picture of the anorexic girl at the edge of the area. He looked at his trembling fiancé; she was upset and on the verge of crying. Reassured that he’d been terribly wrong, the lawman escorted the killer to the sedan.

He cranked up the radio and kissed Jenny’s hand before driving off. They had a nice walk down by the river instead. Eric was certain he had overreacted to the stuff in the toolbox. It was probably just junk.