Page 9 of Pretty Little Disaster

“You can pull up here,” I tell him when we get to an opening near the woodland, and when he does as he’s told, I get out the back and open the driver’s door for him. “Get out.” I keep the gun aimed at his head.

“Are you going to kill me?” He looks up at me, pathetically.

“Isaidget out.” I grab him by his suit jacket and rip him out of the seat.

“Please, I’ve learned my lesson. I won’t do it again.” His voice trembles as I force him into the trees.

“You think this is some self-reflection bullshit?” I laugh at him. “I didn’t bring you here to make you a better person, Tim…”I shove the barrel of the gun into his head to make him move faster, and when we eventually get to the clearing he looks back at me warily when he sees the deep hole in the ground.

“What the fuck is this?”

“I prefer to go into these kind of situations prepared.” I shrug, gesturing for him to jump inside it.

“I’m not gonna just stand in there and let you shoot me,” he laughs through his tears as if I’m crazy.

“I don’t think you have much of a choice. Look around you, it’s a nice spot, a far better resting place than what you deserve. Now, get in the fucking hole.”

“I get it, you’re fucking with me.” He laughs again and this time I smile at him.

“Tim, get in the hole.”

I feel my cell start to vibrate and when I see Lorna’s name flashing up on the screen, I stare at it confused. I didn’t even think she had my number.

“There has to be something I can offer you.” Tim’s pathetic whine brings me back to the moment. Ignoring the call, I shove my phone back in my pocket.

“Believe me when I say, there is nothing you have that I want, more than you being dead.” I raise the gun and pull the trigger, putting a bullet between his eyes and causing his body to fall into the grave I came out here early this morning to dig for him. The noise of it going off makes birds scatter from the trees above, and I feel a rush of adrenaline from knowing that I put this fucker in the ground for her.

I get straight to work, filling in the space around Tim Pritchard’s body, and dragging debris over the freshly filled grave. Then I head for the truck that’s waiting for me a few hundred yards away and take out my cell. I have no idea why Lorna would have called me. And it’s pathetic that I’m letting itfuck with my head. She’s left a voicemail and as I light myself a cigarette, I hit play and listen to it.

“Hey, this is Lorna. I…um. I need to talk to you. Can you call me back once you get this? Thanks.” She doesn’t sound like her usual self. She sounds subdued and nervous. Exactly the same as she was at my sister’s house the other day. It has me wondering if she’s in some kind of trouble. I open the ‘find my phone’ app and search for her location. It’s not the first time I’ve done this in the past six weeks and I’ll admit that checking where she is from time to time has become a guilty pleasure of mine. One I should probably see a therapist about.

She’s not at home, she’s not at college and she’s not at Madalina’s place. It appears that she’s at my sister’s OB/GYN clinic.

It’s only been a few days since she delivered her little boy at home and they both got a clean bill of health. I can’t think why Madalina would be back there unless something was wrong. So, I immediately dial her number to check she’s okay.

“Hello,” she answers cheerily.

“You good?” I check.

“Yeah, I’m fine, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I was…I was just checking in.” I breathe a sigh of relief.

“How sweet, I’m just about to wake up your lazy nephew, all he seems to do is sleep.” She giggles.

“So you're at home?” I frown.

“Nic, I have two toddlers and a three-day-old baby, where else would I be?” She giggles back at me. “Are you okay? You sound…weird.”

“I’m fine.” I hang up the phone and check the app again. It’s still showing that Lorna is at the doctor's office. Maybe she’s picking up a prescription for Madalina, though I still don’t know why she’d call me. I decide to find out and call her back.

“Hello,” she answers quietly.

“You called, said we needed to talk?” I get straight to the point.

“Yeah, I…I can’t do that right now. Can I call you later?”

“Sure.”

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