The man sat in the shadows gazing out the window. His thoughts were on Sophia, his beautiful soon to be ex-wife.
They'd only been married for about six months but she was already cheating on him. His instincts had rung an alarm bell the moment the affair had begun and as usual, it hadn’t taken him long to confirm his suspicion. Like his ex-wives, Sophia no doubt thought that his confinement to a wheelchair equalled incognizance. She, like her predecessors, was only too wrong. He was always on top of all the going-ons in his home. He had his wheelchair confinement to thank for that.
His inability to perform his conjugal duties had finally gotten to her and burnt a hole through her usually cool demeanor. Her patience had barely lasted six months, which was quite short when compared with any of his ex-wives, before it had thinned out, just as he had known it eventually would.
He felt disappointed, very much so and much more pissed at himself for feeling so. He could have bet his sore behind that she would outlast the others. He hated being wrong. They could have had more time together if she had exercised discipline enough to stick to the plan; a plan she had been very much aware of right from the beginning.
He wouldn’t have had it any other way. He wasn’t pitiable, even this wheelchair could not tame him into feeling sorry for himself. How then could he allow anyone else make him into an object of pity? Powerful was what he had always been even before the accident and that is what he would remain.
Caught…
He had drawn up contracts with every woman he had taken after the ‘unfortunate’ death of his first wife, Victoria. He always laid all the facts before them, giving them the opportunity to decide whether or not they could be married to him. He could stomach anything, even theft but detested infidelity with all his heart. He always made sure they knew that; made sure they would pay should they begin any tryst while married to him.
It was what had put him in the wheelchair and it was the one thing he would never forgive his partner. Sophia, like the others before her, had let her greed for the opulence marriage to him would ensure, rule her decision. She had opted to marry him and like the others, had broken the only rule of engagement – DO NOT CHEAT. They always feel they could outsmart him until they are caught, like a trapped mouse.
Like Sophia too was now caught.
Douglas, his right-hand man, came up behind him and quietly handed him an envelope. He knew its contents even before he opened it; pictures of his unfaithful wife and her lover in several compromising positions. Douglas had always been a great photographer and even better investigator. They were proof that cemented his suspicion.
Casting them aside, the man spoke without breaking his resumed gaze out the window.
“You know what to do”.
Douglas nodded and retreated.
The man glanced at the pictures where he cast them.
‘Women are so fickle, I just can’t comprehend it.’ He thought.
Hawk or Chick?
Sophia shook off the premonition and walked as casually as she could. She knew she was being watched, she had been expecting his return and Douglas was finally here, being his master’s faithful dog as always. The door swung open at her single knock. Chris must have been waiting by the door.
He kissed her before shutting the door behind them. Chris let Sophia go as soon as the door clicked shut. They both moved to the window and through a small partition, stared out to their walkway leading up to the house.
“I think he finally got the order.” Sophia whispered.
Chris nodded in reply.
They watched as Douglas came out of hiding to walk the short distance to her car. He took pictures of it from an angle that included the house in the shot, made a brief phone call and moved away.
Chris smiled as he said, “It’s all set. Tonight is the night it all goes down. About time we nailed the psychopath.”
He motioned Sophia to a seat. It was time to brush up their action plan.
Death Note…
The man pulled the notebook out of his safe, running his fingers intimately over it. It gave him a joyful feeling that came from anticipation.
Each page held a memento belonging to his ex-wives. From his pocket, the man pulled out Sophia’s pearl earrings. It was her favourite accessory; one of the jewelry she'd owned before their marriage. With deft hands, he dug a hole in a blank page with each of the earring’s hooks as he hung them on the page. He surveyed his handwork. Satisfied, he shut the book, put it back in his safe then wheeled himself out of the room.
The next time he opened that book, Sophia would be a distant memory.
Poke the Bear…
Sophia took a couple of deep breaths, picked up her travelling case and went downstairs to meet her husband. She had returned to the house about three hours ago, picked a fight with him for no reason, and then screamed her decision to leave him at his angry retreating back.
The plan was simple; poke the bear and depart to await his reaction.
She approached the living room cautiously. He was seated at the bar with a drink in hand. He swung to face her as she approached.
“Going somewhere?” He snarled.
“I meant what I said. I am leaving you. Douglas can forward my remaining stuff to me at a later date. Needless to say, this farce of a marriage is over.”
Despite expecting it, Sophia couldn’t help the shiver that ran down her spine at his cachinnation as she walked out the door. Just in time to not know if the glass that shattered against the door had been aimed at her. She ran quickly to her car and drove out. She needed to be at Chris's before Douglas came after her, as she knew he would.
Silhouette…
In the bedroom, Chris and Sophia stayed in tense silence under the cover of darkness. Soon, they heard the unmistakable sound of the front door lock being worked. They simultaneously expressed the breath they had been holding as it finally gave. Any minute now and Douglas would reach the bedroom.
Chris spoke inaudibly into his mouthpiece.
“He's here”.
A voice from the other end replied, “Confirmed, waiting for your signal.”
Chris reached for Sophia’s hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
When she squeezed back, he spoke into his mouthpiece again, “Go ahead”.
The bedroom door opened to admit the intruder. The light from the passage cast a glow on his silhouette as he moved closer to the bed. The shadow stood for a while, simply looking at the telltale mound created by two bodies entwined beneath the sheets. Satisfied, he drew out his gun just as the lights came on, startling him into confusion.
“Hello Douglas, I’m not sorry that your luck ran out this time.” Chris spoke from behind him.
Sophia pointed her own gun at him as an armed Chris went to collect his weapon. The four agents, who had been on standby in the next room long before Sophia had arrived that afternoon just in case Douglas had opted to make an earlier appearance, trooped in to seize and cuff the masked intruder.
Sophia gasped out in astonishment when the intruder was unmasked to reveal her very able husband, standing on his own two feet without any need for support, much less a wheelchair.
“You can walk.” Sophia exclaimed in shock.
“Of course, I can.” Her husband replied arrogantly as he glared angrily at her.
“What is going on here? Why do you have a gun?” The man asked in turn.
The agent who cuffed replied him.
“You're under arrest for the attempted murder of Ms. Sophia Anderson. You have a right to remain silent as whatever you say or do will be used against you in the court of law.”
The man laughed hysterically before correcting the uniformed man.
“Sophia is my wife, so she is a Mrs and her name is Richards not Anderson.”
Chris set him straight this time; “She was never really married to you. She was sent under cover to investigate the mysterious disappearances of your ex-wives. So far, we've uncovered evidence that implicate you in the disappearance of two of your exes. As we speak, our agents are on their way to pick up Douglas, your loyal partner in crime.”
Chris' next words were directed at the agents.
“Take him away.”
Justice
Sophia left the courtroom smiling. The past few months had been a whirl of arraignments and court appearances. Finally, her ex-husband, Xavier Richards, alongside Douglas, had been convicted for all their crimes as they rightly deserved. Justice had been served.
A lot had come to light within the time that had elapsed. Xavier had fallen off the stairs and hurt himself badly while struggling with his first wife, Victoria. He had caught her in bed with another man on his return from a business. Her lover had fled and Victoria had been trying to prevent Xavier going after him with his gun when the fall had happened. Even worse was the fact that she had left him for dead and gone after her lover.
It had been a stroke of luck that Douglas had come to the house when he did for a meeting with his boss. He had taken Xavier to the hospital where he'd been told he had only forty percent chance of walking again.
Xavier had recovered but his ego had never really recovered from the bashing it took. He had started his quest for revenge even before he was discharged from the hospital, sending Douglas after Victoria. Her death by his hand had been only a momentary relief.
It had become a necessity for him to prove to himself and the world that he could keep a woman, even in his state. His resolve had led him to marry Katy who had soon followed in Victoria’s steps. Like his first wife, she had paid the ultimate price.
After Katy, he'd secretly worked on himself to regain the use of his legs. By the time he married his third wife, he could stand some minutes at a time. He however remained in his wheelchair as a test of endurance for his wives. A pity they'd all failed and he in turn had gotten rid of them, just as he would have done Sophia had she not been a detective.
She had outsmarted Xavier.
Sophia shivered slightly at the thought she'd had to live in the same house with a lunatic for months just to solve her case. She said a silent prayer of thanks that it was all over.
THE END
Images were obtained from pixabay
