Free The Mad and the MacAbre by Jeff Strand

dabbed at the corner of his eye with his
index finger. "The dog has spoken," he said with a sad smile.
    "I'll take good care of him," Charlie
promised.
    "You'd better. I reserve the right to make
surprise inspections. If I don't like what I see, I'll grind your
ass up and feed you to him."
    "That's fair."
    Byron walked over and stuck out his hand.
Charlie shook it.
    "Congratulations on owning your first pet.
Kutter, huh?"
    "Yes."
    "I actually like that better than Duke."
    "Me too."
    Byron picked up Kutter and spoke softly to
the dog while it licked his face. Charlie felt as if he should
leave the room and give them some privacy, but he also didn't want
to give Byron a chance to sprint for the exit, so he stayed where
he was.
    After a couple of minutes, Byron handed
Kutter to Charlie. "I guess I'll head off. You were on your way
out, right?"
    "No. I made that up."
    "That's what I figured." He gave the dog one
last scratch behind the ears. "Seeya, Kutter."
    Charlie let Byron out of the house. He
watched through the window as he got into his car and started the
engine, not willing to believe that Kutter was truly his until
Byron backed out of the driveway and drove out of sight.
    Steak. He and Kutter needed a steak to
celebrate.
    Then he remembered that he still had the
girl in his basement.
     

- 9 -
    "What am I supposed to do with you?" Charlie
asked the girl. He'd already taken off her gag and informed her
that if she screamed, he'd cut her throat. It wasn't a threat he'd
ever made good on--though he had cut vocal cords more than
once--but he was feeling more paranoid than usual and didn't
entirely trust the soundproofing in the basement.
    "You could let me go," said the girl, her
voice raw and scratchy. "I won't tell anyone."
    "Yes, you will. I would."
    She violently shook her head. "No, no, I
swear to God I won't tell anybody. I've got a warrant out for my
arrest--I can't talk to the cops even if I wanted to."
    "What did you do?"
    "I killed my ex-boyfriend. I shot him."
    "No, you didn't." Charlie's spirits fell.
He'd been momentarily excited, because the idea of her not going to
the cops because of an outstanding arrest warrant made a lot of
sense, but if she'd committed murder she wouldn't be going
door-to-door selling magazine subscriptions.
    "I did. I swear I did."
    "I can look it up and find out if you're
lying," Charlie told her, although he wasn't certain that he could.
"If you are, I'll use my knives on your arms until they're just
skeleton arms. That takes a long time. Are you willing to stick to
your story?"
    The girl began to cry.
    "Answer me."
    "No," she said.
    "I didn't think so. Don't lie to me again."
She was being pretty brave, a lot braver than most of his victims,
but her body still shook with tiny sobs. Charlie usually enjoyed
that sight. Not tonight. "I don't want to kill you," he said. "I
thought I did, but I don't anymore."
    "Then don't."
    "It's not that easy. You know what I look
like. You know where I live. How can I let you go?"
    "I promise I won't tell anybody."
    "But you'd be stupid if you
didn't. Why would you let a serial killer roam free and not tell
anybody where he lived? I don't want to hurt you, I swear I don't,
but you'd tell the police. You'd have to tell them. You'd be a
horrible person if you didn't."
    "You'd come after me if I did."
    "Not if you had police protection."
    "I wouldn't have police protection
forever."
    "I'm not that kind of killer. I hunt easy
targets, people who won't be missed."
    "Everybody is missed."
    "No they aren't."
    "Yes, they are."
    Charlie could talk to strapped-down women in
his basement with an ease that eluded his interactions with other
humans, but he found himself momentarily flustered. "Either way, a
promise not to tell isn't enough. I can't believe you."
    "Then what can we do?"
    "I don't know! That's the whole problem! If
we can find an answer, I'll do it, but I can't think of one! I
probably shouldn't have kept you alive even this long. The police
could be