Chapter 35
Jenny woke up from a happy dream, enjoyed a hot shower, and drove to work. She circled the lot for ten minutes before spotting a Prius backing out of the spot nearest the front door.
“Jackpot.” She told herself as her favorite 80s song went off the radio.
Mrs. McGill waited patiently thinking things were starting to turn around for her. She waved as the driver left and started forward. A cherry red Mazda whipped into the parking spot, narrowly missing Jenny’s front bumper.
“Fucking son of a whore!” Jenny exclaimed as she slammed her brakes.
A woman with golden locks and high cheekbones popped out of the car and strolled into the building without acknowledging the reformed murderess in the least. Jenny cussed as she reversed and proceeded to the only other space left: the last one on the far corner of the lot where the lights flickered. By the time she’d waddled inside—through the short rain flurry—Jenny was late.
She hurried to her station and logged in. On the other side of her cubicle, the same bubbly blond woman was handling her calls in a singsong chirpy voice. Jenny fumed as she waited under the cold air vent for her damp clothes to dry. She told herself to keep calm for Eric and her son.
An hour before lunch a memo flashed on her screen announcing a division meeting in fifteen minutes. Jenny felt her hopes rise; meetings always had donuts. She would kill for a Boston crème after the day she was having.
Once her call was handled, the reformed murderess sprinted to the ladies’ room and off to the conference room. Most of the team had already gathered and only a few donuts remained. She reached out for the chocolate covered pastry in the box nearest her. A manicured hand snatched the final Boston crème from the space under her fingertips.
Jenny glared and took a plain cake donut instead. She sat opposite the peppy blond chick and nibbled on the dry ring of fried dough. Jessica. It was always Jessica. Jenny watched as Jessica took one bite of the Boston crème, crinkled her face, and tossed the rest of the donut in the trash.
“Jenny, I need someone to take a few calls to keep the wait time down while we have the meeting.” The beanpole team director asked.
“Could you go sign back in and I’ll fill you in later when we chat about your tardiness today.”
Jenny bit the inside of her cheek until she tasted blood. Unable to open her mouth without spewing profanity or jabbing her pen in her supervisor’s neck, the killer rose and left the room. At least she would be free of Jessica for a little while.
***
Jenny sat in her car parked near the exit of the parking lot. She kept her headlights off and waited for Jessica, the peppy blond bitch, to leave in her pretty red import. She couldn’t believe her boss had written her up over her first tardy and then chewed her out for twenty minutes over a screw up on a customer’s account; an account Jessica had dealt with last. The rage wasn’t building anymore; it was boiling over.
Her target eased off the property and started weaving downside roads before pulling to a stop in a cookie-cutter suburb. Jenny watched as her prey entered the abode. She ignored the pressure in her abdomen as little Luke did somersaults.
Pulling her knife and some gloves from the plastic under the steering column, the killer exited the vehicle to even things out. Moving as stealthily as an uber-pregnant woman can, Jenny tracked the turning on and off of house lights. She snuck in through the side door.
The familiar boost of adrenaline sent her pulse skyrocketing and flowed excitement through her veins. She crept around the corners of rooms until she had a view of her intended victim. The door was wide open as the stream of water sprayed from the showerhead. The killer grinned. Jessica was going to be an easy takedown.
Quickly grabbing a roll of duct tape from a kitchen drawer, Jenny waited in the hallway with a steel flashlight. The water stopped. She adjusted her grip on the Maglite and steadied her breath. Less than a minute and the golden-haired pain in her ass would be hers to control.
Jessica stepped out onto the baby blue tile. The murderer swung the cylinder in a high arc and dove at the woman with a growl. THUNK. Thwump. Jenny stood over the unconscious girl. A puddle of blood grew under Jessica’s head.
Jenny’s joy wavered when she bent to tape her victim’s hands. Jessica had blood in her ears, her eyes were open and unmoving, and her chest was immobile.
“Damned wet floor. Argghh!” Jenny bellowed.
The corpse didn’t respond. The killer fled the building and discarded the flashlight and gloves down the sewage drain. Mrs. McGill sped off through a light drizzle furious that she’d broken her promise and still been denied the satisfaction of controlling the death. She glanced at the clock and realized Eric would be home soon. He could never know.
Jenny turned on to the highway and screamed out her frustrations. She worried about what Eric would say if he thought she’d had anything to do with the murder. Would he stop loving her? Turn her in? Take custody of the baby when he was born?
“I should go home and pack a runaway bag now. I can empty the accounts and flee. It’s my best chance to stay out of prison and keep little Luke. Correction,” She told herself. “…little Malcolm. I’m going to name him Malcolm.”
The wipers swayed from side to side. Jenny started planning out the new life she would start far away. She cried as she thought of leaving Eric. The lights reflected off the slick asphalt. Then everything went sideways.
The brakes squealed as Jenny tried to regain control of the family car. She turned the steering wheel left into the spin and let off the pedals. Time was flitting past her eyes like a jet past a canary. She saw the SUV coming towards her and time slowed to a crawl.
Jenny heard the other car honking its horn four times, the last was one long press. She was blinded by headlights and dropped her left hand to pull the lever moving her seat all the way back. Her hands covered her stomach and Jenny Grand McGill called out for Eric. The rest was the scraping and crunching of steel and fiberglass.
Pain ripped through the killer as the windshield erupted into glass shards and impaled her hands and face. The world went upside down and wibbly wobbly as the car rolled down the ravine beside the road. She tasted blood. Jenny was out cold by the time the car stopped against a tree. The last thing she noticed was the smell of pine and hard kicks from inside her belly.