Free The Executioner by Chris Carter

warm. Outside, the spacious entertaining and seating area and large pool with spa provided the final touches to the house.
    As he explored each room, Ryan tried to conceal his excitement by keeping his leather-gloved hands tucked into the pockets of his long black overcoat. But the smile on his face gave him away. In this case, the house was literally selling itself.
    ‘Do you mind if we take another look in the living room before we go?’ he asked as he stared out of the window of the master bedroom on the second floor, overlooking the beach.
    ‘Of course not,’ Amanda replied, trying hard to curb her enthusiasm.
    As they entered the living room, Amanda stood by the large, hand-carved wooden double doors. She seemed a little apprehensive.
    Ryan was standing behind a lavish white leather sofa positioned just off the center of the immense room, his eyes glued to the ostentatious river rock fireplace that occupied part of the south wall.
    ‘I take it that the fireplace works?’ he asked, turning to face Amanda.
    ‘Yes. Everything in this house works perfectly.’
    ‘And I’m guessing it’s a gas fire instead of log. Or else I’ll need a small forest to fire up this thing.’
    Amanda noticed he said ‘I’ll need’ and bit her lip to conceal her smile. ‘You’re right. It’s a gas fire.’
    ‘Could we light it up so I could have a look?’
    The question caught Amanda by surprise, and she stared at Ryan wide-eyed.
    ‘Are you OK?’
    ‘Umm . . . yes, I’m fine.’ It took her a few seconds to regain her composure. ‘I guess it’ll be OK if you wanna light it up, but if you don’t mind I’ll wait in the kitchen.’
    Ryan narrowed his eyes and took a couple of steps towards Amanda. ‘Is there something the matter?’
    ‘Not at all. Everything is just fine.’ Though she put on a brave face, she failed to convince him.
    ‘Everything isn’t just fine. The color is gone from your face, Amanda. Did I miss something?’ Ryan’s eyes searched the room.
    ‘No, no . . .’ Her reaction had startled him and she knew it. ‘There’s nothing wrong with the house or the fireplace. I guarantee it.’
    ‘So what’s wrong? I’m very good at reading people, and something is definitely bothering you.’
    Amanda took a deep breath. ‘I . . . I don’t like fires very much.’ Her eyes found the floor like a timid little girl.
    Ryan let out a nervous chuckle. He stepped within two feet of her and tried to catch her eyes once again. ‘Really?’
    Amanda lifted her head and stared into Ryan’s caring eyes.
    ‘A bad experience?’ he asked in a soft voice.
    Her lips made a thin line as she nodded.
    Ryan placed a comforting hand on Amanda’s left shoulder. ‘Do you wanna know something?’ he said after a short silence. ‘I’m petrified of spiders.’
    Her lips widened into a tentative smile.
    ‘When I was a young kid, I had an attic room in this old timber house,’ he said calmly. ‘One night, I fell asleep reading. It must’ve been around three or four in the morning when I felt something tickling the back of my neck.’
    ‘Oh God!’ Amanda exclaimed with a quick shiver.
    ‘Still half asleep, I tried to scratch the annoying tickle. I ended up pissing the spider off and pushing it into the collar of my shirt.’
    ‘Urgh!’
    ‘It was a common brown recluse spider, the type that bites more than once. I guess the one in my shirt was really hungry because it bit me several times.’
    Amanda made an ‘irk’ face and rubbed her hand urgently against her nape.
    ‘Unfortunately, my body reacted really badly to the bites. I had fever, chills, nausea and these large white blisters popped up where I’d been bitten. Since then, every time I see a spider I act like the biggest wimp you’ll ever see. Even my voice changes to a high-pitched one and I sound like a Barbie doll.’
    ‘Really?’ Amanda chuckled.
    ‘Trust me.’ He nodded and smiled. ‘It’s very embarrassing.’
    She didn’t like talking about