Free Betrayed by Camilla Isles Page B

why?
     
    *****
     
    The killer felt he had no choice in the matter of whether to allow Amy Taylor to live or die. She was creating a problem in his life, one that could ultimately shatter it, and he couldn’t have that. He tried to reason with her – he even begged her, but it was falling on deaf ears. Why couldn’t she just be quiet , he thought. If she would only listen to reason and not blow things out of proportion or make it difficult for him none of this would have occurred.
    But she didn’t. Amy was headstrong, and it was eventually her downfall. Even in those last moments he tried in vain to stop her from causing anymore harm to his life, but she wouldn’t listen. It was a split-second decision, not something thought out or premeditated, or at least he didn’t think so until later. Perhaps he had entertained the thought of killing her in the darkest recesses of his mind, but only when his rage surfaced did it come to fruition.
    The knife was one of convenience. If it hadn’t been there, he likely would have used another way to kill her. But it was. He grabbed the long knife as it sat on the counter and plunged it deep into her chest and then back out again. Amy fell backwards and clutched at the wound.
    She didn’t speak, but her eyes said volumes. Why? they screamed.
    But surely she must know why, he thought. Those pleading eyes should have stopped him…should have thrown him back into the reality of the situation, but his own rage devoured him – even propelled him to continue. He had a choice, but now it was too late. He had to finish it.
    She was running now, towards the door. He spun her around and plunged the knife into her chest again. A loud scream of pain emitted from her lips. He had to keep her quiet. The next slash was across her throat, which ended a second scream in mid-stream. She crumpled to the floor holding her neck. He heard the gasps and gurgling as he backed away. The blood poured from the gash on her neck. He ran to the linen closet and grabbed a stack of towels to sop up the blood. He then took several large garbage bags and stuffed her into them. He couldn’t carry a dead woman out the front door, but a large garbage bag wouldn’t look too suspicious. First he had to clean himself up. He took a shower and washed his clothes, making sure to use a spot remover on his bloody pants and shirt. He was surprised to see how well it worked. While waiting for his clothes to dry he cleaned the blood from the hardwood floors. He looked for bleach but couldn’t find any. He knew the police would discover this was the kill spot, but he couldn’t worry about that now. First things first.
    He loaded her into the trunk of her car and headed to the Paint Creek State Park Forestry. He’d hunted there as a boy and remembered some of the less traveled areas. Of course, that was years ago and what he thought would be secluded was quite open today. Most of the Forestry was well hunted now so he wouldn’t find much seclusion, but he didn’t know that.
    He pulled the car off the beaten path down a dirt road. When that road ended he took it another two miles until he could no longer drive between the trees. He hadn’t time to consider bringing a flammable material with him to torch the car. He tried to set the seat on fire by ripping a hole in it and lighting the padding. It actually took off at first, but the damp conditions hindered any gusto the fire contained. It continued to smolder, leaving an acrid odor. The killer didn’t worry too much about it. He thought he’d have time to come back with the right supplies to set fire to the vehicle and destroy any evidence he may have left behind. Just in case, he wiped down the entire car.
    He opened the lid and tore open the garbage bag for one last look to ensure she was dead. Her transparent, unseeing  eyes stared up at him accusingly. He shut the lid. He had a long walk back, and he wanted to give the house one more look through. He caught a bus at