Everyone's Dirty Little Secrets (28 page)

Her clothes
may have
never
even
hit the floor.
 

So, n
ow, as the water runs down
her skin in tiny waterfalls, carrying the soap with it
,
over
her stomach
, around her hips, along the slope of her thighs, he
worships her
with his
eyes.

Smiling at
his gaze, Jaime takes a step out of the Jacuzzi toward him, but
recognizes the drama
of the moment
enough to pause at the edge of the tub, to shake any remnants of bubbles off of her, to strike her Aphrodite pose.

Dodge is hypnotized already by the time she steps down
to the flowered carpet
, shi
mmies toward him, through
the dancing lights of the city
.

“Prom
ise me you’ll marry me,” she begs
him
as she arrives in front of him.

Always one
to seize the drama in
any given moment.

He
promise
s
her anything she wants to hear.

“Tonigh
t,” she insists, stretching toward him,
at the tips of her toes, mere fragments of inches from him.

“
Of course
, Jaime,” he promises.  “
Tonight. F
orever
.”

Jaime
knows what she wants.

And
that she just got it. 

There’s
only one thing
left to do
.

It’s their honeymoon, after all.

*****

Tired of her hands on his throat, Chuck knocks them away from him, delighting
in her surprised response -
her strained attempt to fight back.

Before she can even think about what’s h
appening, he slams her backwards onto the bed.

“Is that how you
like it?” she asks, grabbing him
like she’s paid to
, pulling him
toward her.

She
can tell already
this is a twenty-minute client and a full night’s pay.

Might as well let him play it his way and get it over with.

Most
of these perv
s, once you start
having sex with them
, forget the violent
act and just ge
t on with it
.

So by the time
she realizes
this
sicko
isn’t letting go of her throat, it’s too late.

That the son of a bitch in the bar set her up.

*****

Of course, it’s not hard to get married in Las Vegas. 

Not hard to find a priest who’ll come to your room, even with a weddin
g gown to fit you.

Not hard to find a husband who will roll around
in its lace
and treat you like his high school girlfriend.

Not hard to
find your face press
ed
against the window
,
that dress
dangling off of you,
staring at the fountain show of the Bellagio
.

And, of course, maybe
it all just
feels
like penance for everything you’ve messed up.

Or maybe
,
it
just
feels like
your reward.

A
direct deposit.

*****

So she’s out of breath.

S
o s
he gasps a little less.

She stiffens
.

S
he s
till seems to tremble
beneath him
,
still prete
nds to smile when she dies
.

In that moment, she has nothing
left
of beauty
to offer.

No real love.

He knows.

People make mistakes. 

Mistakes make some people.

Some people are just mistakes.

This is all just a big mistake.

*****

The newlywe
ds rest
on their flight home, ex
hausted from drinking
,
celebrating all night long
.

Jaime snores away, her head collapsed upon Dodge’s ribs, sloping gently away from her as he leans against the window of the plane, absorbing every tiny turbulent bump through the unforgiving plastic of the window cover.

She can sleep, but he can’t.

Because while last night was all nuptials, honeymoon and sex for her, it was also murder for Dodge.

Or may have been.

He ey
ed the news
that morning while Jaime was in the shower, desperate
for any report of a murder, or be
tter - murder interrupted -
at the Cosmopolitan, but there was no story.

So he flies wide-eyed back to New Yo
rk, wondering if he sentenced some random woman
to death
, or if the police showed up in time to keep him from becoming a murderer a second time.

*****

Reality sets in at home, as Dodge pulls in through the gate.

“Home sweet home,” Jaime whispers, pensively, glancing at Dodge out of the corner of her eye.

He knows it is their home now
, but it’s unsettling to not think of this as his and Siobhan’s home.  He loves Jaime, and knows they belong together at this point, that their futures are insepa
rable.  B
ut still, he knows it’s wrong to think of this as anything but his home with Siobhan.

Jaime seems sensitive to this, at least, the awkwardness undeniable, dropp
ing her hand gently on his forearm
as they pull in.

Dodge takes her hand in his, squeezes it.

It’s awkward, but they’ll get over it, he knows.

They have years together now.

Parking the car in front of the house, he looks over and smiles at her, and she
smiles back.

Home sweet home.

“How about carrying your bride over the threshold?” she asks, smiling sweetly at
him.

And he knows, however fragile it is, that they are, indeed, home at last.

*****

Dodge risks a drive to Jason’s.

He has
no word about Chuck getting arrested in Vegas, about Chuck being linked to the murders of Dressler and Siobhan.

The pieces should be falling into place by now; Dodge should be looking forward to the future with his new wife.

The marriage looks suspicious, is sure to cast new scrutiny on him.

It’s critical that Chuck get caught soon, before any truths come to light.

He doesn’t dare look for news stories on his computer, or on any public computer where he might be recorded, or remembered, sitting.

N
othing to tie him to Las Vegas.

He makes his way up the Thruway, careful to follow the speed limit.

Always on the lookout for cops, he sees Bronzy pull in behind him.

Then the trooper.

Then the kid cop.

This can’t be good.

He calls Jason on his Bluetooth.

“Yo,” Jason answers his phone.  “Whatever it is, I can’t help you.”

Really not good.