CHAPTER ONE ~ PERIL
It was four in the afternoon when I realised I was going to die. The signs of the times didn’t have to tell me; I was already living it. The glare in his eyes reflected what he was going to do, and there was nothing I could do about it.
I thought things were going well with my husband and me. He was showing progress in therapy, and for the past three weeks, he was always home before five. I guess I was wrong.
My suspicions were aroused during my third lap in the pool. My husband, Tom, called me. He had just finished parking the car inside the garage.
“Hey, hon,” he greeted me.
I looked up and smiled at him. “Hey yourself, handsome.”
I used the edge of the pool to pull myself out of the water. Then I grabbed a towel, wrapped it around me, and walked to my husband. I placed my hands on his chest and gave him a welcome home kiss. He wrapped his arms around me and deepened the kiss.
“How are you? How was work?” I asked.
“It was tiring,” Tom sighed. “Teaching high school kids is exhausting. I’m glad I’m finally home.” He kissed my cheek and pulled me toward the backyard gate, in front of the garage.
I raised an eyebrow, confused since the sliding door was open. We could have gone into the house through there.
“What happened, Tom? Did you bring groceries? You didn’t have to.” I didn’t mind that he brought groceries, but we were a little tight on cash. “I was already planning to make fettuccine.”
He was silent and pressed the button to close the garage door. The walls were lined and perfectly arranged from garden tools to car tools. He ambled to a wall and glanced over the tools.
“Tom? A-Are you okay?” I asked, worried about his silence. Tom turned around and looked down at me before smiling. An eerie glint shone in his eyes. My eyes widened as I saw him grab the cutlass.
“Ah! What are you doing?!” My voice rose as I panicked. Quickly, I ran to press the button once I saw Tom grab the cutlass. But I was too late. Tom placed his hand over my mouth, and I let out a muffled scream as I felt my skin rip as Tom penetrated my side with the cutlass. I gasped in shock and pain. Dropping to my knees and tumbling over, I grasped my sides. I saw so much red on the floor. I placed my bloody hand on the garage door but was pushed down by Tom.
I’m going to die.
Struggling to stand up, my finger managed to touch the open button before I was thrown across the room.
The last thing I saw was a red-haired girl stepping outside of my husband’s car before darkness engulfed me.
Sophie Saint-Clair was working on her tulip flower garden when she heard the house phone ring. She quickly placed her garden gloves down and rushed inside to see who it was. It was four in the afternoon. The sun greeted London with immense heat.
Sophie knew it was Chief Inspector Grayson Sawyer who was trying to reach her for a case. It was about the missing wife of a famous professor, Thomas Nelson. Sophie knew him from her friend, Garrett Hughes. The two weren’t close, but she would see Thomas and Garrett talk from time to time at Garrett’s house.
Just as she suspected, Sophie heard her phone ring for the second time. She picked it up and greeted the chief.
“Good afternoon, C.I.S. How are you?” Sophie could feel Chief Inspector Sawyer rolling his eyes from behind the phone.
“I’m good, Sophie. How are you?”
“Oh, I’m—”
Chief Inspector Sawyer didn’t let Sophie finish.
‘Hmm. The case is that serious, huh?’
“Listen, Sophie. I need you down at High Fields Lane, in House 28’s driveway right this instant. Gary should be coming your way any minute now, so be prepared.”
The chief hung up. It didn’t take a second before Sophie was in the shower. Gary was a crazy speedster on the road, and by the urgency in the chief’s voice, Sophie knew he was speeding down the road like a madman.
After Sophie was done, she got out of the shower and got dressed.
BEEP! BEEP!! BEEEEP!!!
Hearing the loud noise made Sophie’s skin jump.
‘That Gary. He knows I hate loud noises.’
Sophie slipped on her three-inch heeled black loafers and grabbed her purse. She locked her door before walking down her front porch steps. She saw Gary’s grey Volvo S40 parked right in front of her yard.
Gary opened her door once he saw her, and she got inside. Immediately, Sophie pinched Gary.
“Ow!” He aggressively rubbed his arm as he glared at her. “What was that for?”
“That’s for beeping so loudly,” Sophie calmly replied as she put on her seatbelt. “Stop whining and take us to House 28’s driveway on High Fields Lane.”
He glared at Sophie before starting the car again. He mumbled curses underneath his breath as he sped away.
“How was your day, Gary?” Sophie asked.
He side-eyed her before looking back on the road. “It was good, until a crazy woman pinched me for some odd reason.”
Sophie raised an eyebrow. “You know why. It was because…” Her voice trailed off as she began to fix the knobs on the centre console. The knobs were turned in different directions, but Sophie wanted them all in one direction.
Gary immediately slapped Sophie’s hands away once he heard the shift of the radio station and the volume. Sophie knew he only slapped her hand away to get back at her for pinching him, but she also knew that he was still pissed off about what happened last time.
“Stop it, Sophie. You broke the old radio last time. I’m not letting that happen again.”
Sophie pouted. “But it all needs to be even. It all needs to be in the same direction. It doesn’t look… good that way.”
Gary sighed. “Fine.” Once he was at a red light, he quickly fixed the knobs. “See? All done! Are you happy, my princess?”
Sophie held in a smile as she nodded, turning her head towards the window.
Soon, the two friends had reached their destination. Sophie could feel the somber air breeze through her as she got out of the car. There were a few police officers inside the garage and some inside the house. An ominous feeling loomed over Sophie. She immediately sensed that something had happened in the garage.
‘Somebody had died. And this garage was the perfect place for it. Look at all those tools…’ Sophie thought as she watched the chief amble toward Gary and her.
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