in his hand. For some reason I can’t picture him shopping at a grocery store. His basket only has a few very random items in it.
“Hey, Chad.” I give another fake smile to him.
“What a coincidence running into you here.” It is. Not for me but for him. This is my neighborhood. I know Chad lives on the other side of the city in a penthouse condo that he’s constantly bragging about.
“I come here often.” As soon as the words leave my mouth I regret them.
“Stockpiling because the husband is out of town?” He looks at all my groceries in my cart. How does he know that my husband is out of town? It could be random talk around the courthouse or something. “I still want to talk to you about that job.”
“I’m not looking for a new job.” I turn to help my sister unload more of the groceries. I can see her giving Chad the side-eye.
“I bet I pay double what you’re making now.”
“Dude. See the ring on her finger? I don’t think she’s worried about pay. More about enjoying her job.” My sister is quick to jump in. She makes her dislike for Chad clear in her tone and by the look on her face. She doesn’t have to make nice if she doesn’t want to. That is Gina for you. She gives no fucks and her loyalty might be to me first but my husband is a close second. She loves him like a brother. Chad glares at Gina for a moment, but she only glares back.
“See you around, Angel.” Chad winks at me before he wanders off down one of the aisles. Relief fills me at his departure. There’s something about him that rubs me the wrong way.
“He gives me the creeps.” Gina watches him go.
“Plastic okay, Mrs. Calvery?” Jimmy the cashier asks, pulling my eyes away from where Chad had wandered off.
“I’ve got my bags.” I reach under the cart, pulling them out. I hand them to Gina to hand to him since she’s closer.
“I’m serious, Angel. I don’t get good vibes.” Gina and her vibes. But they are usually right so I really can’t give her a hard time about them. “Offering you a job? Yeah, more like his dick.” The cashier giggles.
“Gina.” I hiss her name.
“Doc Lucas better not find out about that.” Jimmy snickers as he bags the groceries. As if hearing his name, my phone begins to ring.
“Angel,” he says before I can say hello. “I miss you.”
“I miss you, too.” I don’t know how this man can still give me butterflies but he can.
“I wanted to call and tell you that I’ve got a lot to get done tonight but I’ll call you before you go to bed.”
“Okay. I love you.”
“I love you too, Angel. Save me some cookies.” I look to my sister Gina. She’s going to steal the extras and take them home with her.
“I can make no promises but I can always make more. Just for you.”
“You’re too good to me.” He is the one that is too good to be true.
“Don’t work too hard.”
“It’s the only way I work if it gets me back home to my wife.”
I really do have the perfect husband. He really would do anything for me.
Chapter Five
Lucas
I tuck my phone away. Angel and her sister will eat, knit, watch television and go to bed around ten. I have only five hours to complete my task. Richard Washington is very precise, as my wife said. His grass is so uniformly cut that I would not be surprised if he did it by hand. He probably killed his wife for not putting the remote in its proper place or something equally petty. He seems the type.
From my position at the end of his property, in the woods where he’s hidden a body of a transient woman that he killed, I can see him readying for his walk. A loud buzzing noise precedes him and his dog. I look up to see a drone flying overhead. The dog bolts forward, chasing the low-flying object. I set off on my path and strategically run into Washington close to a bend in the shoreline where a rock formation creates a small shelter.
“Doc,” Washington says in surprise. He’s not used to seeing people on his route. His eyes dart toward the back of the shelter. Is that where the wife’s body is? This is the perfect place to kill someone. It’s why I picked it. I