Page 2 of Right Number, Wrong Man
“You don’t deserve Hailey. You never did. I looked the other way, but it ends tonight,” I say, steely determination in my voice.
“You’ve lost the plot, Colt. I knew you’d go full mental one day.”
My hand tightens around the knife in my pocket. “Nobody gets away with hurting the woman I love.”
“YouloveHailey?” Mike snickers. “You, the man who’s never been in a relationship? A psycho like you doesn’t even know what love is. But hey, if you wanted her, you could’ve just said so, big bro! I’d let you have my sloppy seconds if you begged nicely.”
The thread of my patience snaps.
I draw the knife, flicking it open, and drive it between Mike’s ribs—straight into his heart.
He groans as I twist the blade before I withdraw. Blood soaks through his beige jacket, staining it red, and he presses a hand to the wound, his fingers shimmering wetly.
“What… have you done?” he asks dumbly, turning pale as a sheet.
“What I’ve wanted to do since the day Hailey fell for you instead of me, dear brother. But you’re wrong about one thing: I had her first. On Halloween, twelve years ago.”
“You lied?” he snarls.
“That’s right. I made up the whole story. You weren’t too drunk and too high to remember popping her cherry. It never happened. While you were passed out at the party,Iwore your mask.Ipretended to be you, fucked her virgin pussy, and then I let you have her.”
Blood bubbles from Mike’s lips. He chokes, coughing as he drops to his knees. Red spatters the snow and it’s the prettiest thing that’s ever come out of his mouth.
“But make no mistake,” I add. “I let her go because sheloved youand I wanted her to be happy. Lord knows what she saw in you. I always thought you were a lowlife pieceof shit, but this ain’t personal revenge. This ain’t about jealousy. No, I’m killing you for her.”
Mike falls on his face and I grimace. Did he already kick the bucket? I roll him over with the tip of my boot, but his lifeless eyes stare into the night sky and his chest is still.
Hollowness expands behind my ribs.
This is it?
My whole life, I hoped that Mike would give me a reason to end him, but it happened too fast. He died too easily.
He deserved worse.
I return the knife to my pocket and grab the wallet from his jacket. He owns a whole $16. I take it all before throwing the wallet in the nearest dumpster.
The cops will write off Mike’s death as a drug deal gone bad or a botched robbery. His addiction has been medically documented since high school and nobody’s gonna think twice about the company he kept. I’ll still burn my jacket and my gloves and clean the knife. Just to be safe.
Pulling my Stetson deeper into my face, I stroll through the alley and onto the sidewalk. I’m glad I wore a generic pair of cheap snow boots tonight. Half the county wears the same brand and identifying me by footprints alone is impossible.
Three blocks later I take a right turn and my eyes are drawn up to the light in Hailey’s bedroom. My heart is heavy. I want to tell her that I’ve made things right, but I’m the last man on earth she wants to see—and not just tonight.
I’m about as welcome around her as a rattlesnake in a dance hall.
Grandpa Jim on Momma’s side said it don’t take a big person to carry a big grudge, and Hailey Grace is thetextbook example. She’s hated me since high school when I took the fall for one of Mike’s pranks that got her hurt.
I don’t blame her.
But I didn’t kill Mike for recognition, just like I don’t anonymously send breakfast to her work every Monday and flowers on her birthday to be acknowledged. I do it all cause it makes her life better.
My steps clank on the metal stairs leading to my loft above the old movie theater. I leave the lights off when I enter and toss the keys onto the sideboard by the door.
It’s deathly quiet. Nobody’s waiting for me to come home, and I’m solemnly greeted by the lifeless glass eyes of my hunting trophies above the fireplace.
Mike was spot on about one thing: I don’t do relationships.
I never commit to more than a single night and I’ve never said the three magic words. These nameless women can touch my body, but they can never have my heart because it only belongs to Hailey.
