Page 199 - The Houseguest

suspected he was. I didn’t answer, but stayed on the line. I’d play their game, as it would give me more time to complete the task at hand. “We know you’re in there. Tell us who else is in there with you. Cooperate with us and no one will get hurt.”
They didn’t know. They hadn’t put two and two together to determine the identity of the “victim.” I was sure Detective Fitzgerald had been working overtime on the case, but these were two different jurisdictions, two different states. It would take a while for them to establish Rachel’s identify after they retrieved her lifeless body. And all the while Brian would be sitting in prison. I laughed aloud, forgetting I was still on the line with the officer. “You think this is funny, Mr. Richards?” the voice asked. With that, I hung up. “I’m hungry? You hungry?” I asked Rachel.
She didn’t know whether I was honestly asking or taunting her, which of course, I was. I walked backwards again into the kitchen and grabbed a bag of chips. I stood there eating them one by one in front of her, even tossing a few in her direction to watch them hit her face and fall to the ground. I enjoyed that so, I moved on to grapes and slices of meat. I tossed them at her mouth, fast and hard to impede her ability to catch anything, though she did manage to snag a piece of turkey. I snickered at the degradation she must be feeling, the absolute bottom her self-esteem must have reached. I knew she was stooping to a new low trying to catch airborne pieces of food in an attempt to get some sustenance for her child. Pride was no match for a mother’s protective instinct. I continued our reluctant repartee, “What would you do if you
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The Houseguest by Linda Ellis www.LindaEllis.life