Dark Illusion: A Psychological Thriller Novel (11 page)

“I
nformation.
How may I help you?“

“Hello, operator, may I get the
address corresponding to a phone number, please?“

Kelly held in her hand the
business card of Detective Davis. She knew exactly what to do.

“Of course, could you please tell
me the number?“

                                
 * * *

Sharon had finally reached the top of the staircase, which
this time seemed to be longer than ever. In just a few minutes she would reach
her warm bed and, most important, the telephone. She had forgotten to charge
her cell phone before the flight, and now it was turned off and lifeless. She
was eager to hear what Rob had found out, whether there had been any
breakthroughs in the past few hours, or, perhaps, she had once again jumped to
conclusions too quickly.

In the last minute she had before
arriving at her apartment door, Sharon let her thoughts drift to other things:
that cute guy she’d met on the plane, her gruesome tiredness and aching
muscles, and how much she longed for a warm bubble bath. She knew the latter
was most likely not going to happen and she would probably have to settle for a
quick shower before diving back into the case. But since she still had a few
more seconds to fantasize, she threw in a good glass of wine as well. The only
thing her imagination and reality had in common was the Chinese takeout she was
about to order from her favorite restaurant, conveniently located just a few
blocks away from her home. She was starving.

Sharon reached her doorstep and
began rummaging through her big, messy bag for her keys. What a surprise, she
couldn’t find them. She started to fear that she had lost them, or perhaps even
packed them in her suitcase. In that moment she felt the exhaustion and
post-flight nerves more than ever. She grasped the doorknob and made a wish:

Please, God, could you give me
some slack, just this once?

When Sharon turned the door knob,
the greatest miracle happened. The door pushed open.

Thanks!

Sharon entered the dark
apartment, dragging her suitcase behind her, and closed the door. And then, in
a split second, it hit her: something wasn’t right. She never forgot to lock
the door when she left.

She immediately dropped
everything and reached down to her left side, where her holster always remained
close to her. But it wasn’t there.

Damn those stupid rules that
forbid boarding a flight with a visible weapon!

Her Glock was at the bottom of
the messy bag that had gotten her in this mess in the first place.

Sharon pulled back slowly,
feeling relieved that she hadn’t turned on the light yet, which gave her a
certain advantage. She was so close to the door when . . .

 “If you move one more inch
I’ll blow your head off.“

Sharon knew that voice too well.
Before she realized what exactly was going on, the room lit up and Kelly’s
image stood before her, pointing a gun.

A swirl of emotions rushed
through her. Fear, due to the threat that had appeared without warning;
confusion, in light of the fact that Kelly had broken into her home;
frustration, that she hadn’t detected the danger in time; but everything, oddly
enough, was diluted by the feeling of satisfaction that came from knowing that
she had been right all along. She knew there had been something suspicious
about this woman, and this confirmed everything.

“Move!“ Kelly ordered her and
pointed at a chair that had been placed in the center of the room. “And no
sudden movements or else . . .“

Sharon had no choice but to do as
Kelly said. She tried to quickly think of a way to get out of this situation,
but nothing came to mind. Kelly was the one holding all the cards.

“And look what I found,“ she
flaunted the pair of handcuffs that Sharon kept in her nightstand. “Not much
fun when someone goes snooping through your business, huh?“

Sharon gave her a piercing look,
but did not say a word.

“What happened? Cat got your
tongue?“

Sharon remained silent without
taking her eyes off of Kelly.

“You didn’t seem to have a
problem talking to
my mom
. So why are you so quiet
with me
all of
a sudden?“

“I guess your mom is nicer than
you.“

“Oh, finally, I’m just delighted
to hear your voice! And I would watch my mouth if I were you; I don’t think you
can afford to be rude.“ She moved toward Sharon, threatening her with the
pistol to make her hold still, and then shackled her hands behind the chair
with the handcuffs. Sharon’s attempts to break free from them hurt her wrists.

“Do you like being cuffed, or do
you prefer playing the good cop in bed, too?“ Kelly caressed Sharon’s face and
looked straight into her eyes: “You’re so pretty. If I didn’t already know
you’re a cop, I’d have bet you were a model.“ The gentle stroke turned into an
aggressive grip as Kelly sunk her claws deep into Sharon’s skin.

“Leave me alone!“ Sharon yelled
as she turned her head away to evade the harsh grasp.

Kelly pulled back, still pointing
the gun at Sharon. “What a coincidence. That’s exactly what I wanted to tell
you,“ her tone rose as she spoke. “Why were you digging so deep, Sharon?“

Where the hell did I slip up?

“Why, for God’s sake, is your
apartment filled with files about me?“ Kelly continued in an escalating
eruption. “Why, in heaven’s name, did you fly all the way to Arizona just to
meet my mom?“ Her wrath took over completely. Tears of anger washed into her
eyes.

Sharon thought she’d noticed a
slight tremor in the firm hands clutching the gun.

“Looks like I was right,“ Sharon
answered defiantly. Even with her life in danger she could not refrain from
speaking her mind.

Kelly was ready to kill her on
the spot.

“Perhaps . . .“ she replied.
“Let’s see if your little investigation was worth the price you are about to pay,“
Kelly smirked.

“Do you really want to dig
yourself into an even deeper hole by killing a cop?“ Sharon tried to approach
Kelly’s voice of reason.

“There’s nothing I can do. You
went too far. You know too much.“

“I guess you really have no
boundaries, if you’re willing to kill an innocent person. But that’s exactly
what you did to all those poor girls.“

“
Poor
girls?“ Kelly
snapped. “Believe me, they had it coming. Every single one of them deserved to die.
If I could, I would kill them all over again, with pleasure.“ A smile formed on
her dark red lips.

Sharon caught a glimpse of the
madness in Kelly’s eyes. Not that she needed further proof. She had to find a
way to stall. That might be her only chance.

“So why did they have it coming?“

Kelly’s moment of glory had come.
So far, she hadn’t been appreciated for her sacred work disposing of those
vain, hollow sinners from this world. She’d had to keep her sweet secret hidden
from everyone; but now she was facing a golden opportunity. The stupid cop
would understand the mistake she had made before her inevitable death.

“Sharon, are you familiar with
the seven deadly sins?“ she asked in an odd serenity.

“Sure, but what’s that got to do
with it?“

“Name them,“ Kelly commanded.

Sharon raised an eyebrow. “Okay .
. . Wrath, envy, lust, sloth, gluttony, pride, and greed.“

“Do you know what the punishment
is for committing such a sin?“

“Death, if I’m not mistaken. But
if that were really the case, then most of the world’s population would have
been gone by now,“ she answered wryly.

“Do you know which one is
considered to be the deadliest sin of all?“ Kelly continued, ignoring Sharon’s
witticisms.

“I don’t know. Wrath? Pride?
Envy? I never got around to really pondering it . . .“

“
H-u-b-r-
i
-s
,“
Kelly enunciated, with each syllable slowly rolling off her tongue, like a
whispering snake.

“Ah, Okay . . .“ Sharon began to
understand what Kelly was getting at.

“Do you have any clue why it is
the worst of all sins?“

“Why don’t you tell me, Kelly?“

“With pleasure,“ she released a
wicked grin. “Oh, the primordial sin of pride. That unstoppable desire to be
more than everyone else, wanting the entire world to orbit your existence, like
you're the sun itself. Thinking you are the acme of perfection.“ Kelly’s tone
of speech was borderline theatrical. “Unlike the other sins, the arrogant
person fails to recognize their own faults and refuses to acknowledge the
truth.“ She was entranced by her own words. “They are blind to themselves and
to reality. Therefore, one whose sin is pride is like a dying patient with an
incurable disease, their only possible resolution is death,“ she concluded.

“But doesn’t it mean that the
sinner would bring about their own self-destruction?“ Sharon tried to reason
with her.

“In today’s world, a world that’s
cultivating an entire culture that worships Hubris, it seems like there’s a
need for some ‘
divine intervention
.’ “

Damn it, this woman thinks
she’s God!

Sharon could almost see the
entire picture, but she needed Kelly to complete the final brush strokes.

“So these girls you murdered . .
.“

“Were braggarts; narcissistic,
hollow shells of human beings. There was no way to help them. Personally, I see
it more as a mercy killing than an actual murder.“

Sharon sighed in despair.
I
only wish that mercy could have been one of your virtues.

Kelly began to detail the entire
saga to Sharon, everything she had done in the last two years. The meeting with
Mandy and the desire to teach her a lesson. The eruption of rage that had led
to her death. The satisfaction she had felt from her illicit act and the urge
to never stop. The way in which her actions had become more calculated and
controlled, but just as pleasurable. That sense of purpose that accompanied
each and every one of her killings. And, finally, exactly how she had taken the
life of each girl and then brilliantly covered her tracks.

“So that’s it? You’re going to
kill beautiful, arrogant women until you get arrested?“ Sharon hadn’t expected
the truth to be so bland.

“No. You could say that until now
I was just practicing for the real battle.“

“What do you mean?“

“I think it’s best that I don’t
tell you. You know, considering the fact that you’re a cop and all . . .“

“But you’re going to kill me no
matter what, right? So at least before I die tell me what I couldn’t figure out
myself.“ Sharon wouldn’t stop short of getting to the truth.

“Hmm . . . You make a valid
point. But don’t be too harsh on yourself; no one can compete with me. You
certainly challenged me, though.“

“Thanks . . .“ Sharon felt the
taste of the bitter end in her mouth. Her own bitter end.

 “Do you know Gloria
McIntyre?“ Kelly asked.

“The model? Of course.“

“I want her dead.“

“Why?“

“Slow, painful, inevitable
death,“ Kelly went on, as if she hadn’t heard Sharon’s question. She closed her
eyes for a brief moment. Sharon became vigilant and prepared to make a move.

But almost instantly, Kelly
opened her eyes wide, her hands still aiming the gun straight at Sharon’s
heart.

“. . . And that’s exactly what
I’m about to do.“

“And how exactly are you going to
do that? I’m sure she’s surrounded by dozens of bodyguards. Why the hell would
she let you go anywhere near her?“

“Because I’m the Editor in Chief
of a famous fashion magazine? I meet with models on a daily basis.“

The awful truth hit Sharon. Kelly
really had thought of every little detail.

“But why her? I can understand
how a supermodel might appear to be more conceited than the average beauty, but
still, why are you risking everything just because of her?“

Kelly’s gaze wondered elsewhere,
somewhere far away from the tiny apartment in Downtown Manhattan, but
immediately turned back to Sharon, who also had forgotten for a moment where
she was while trying to connect the dots and tie them up together, like she had
always done during those long nights she’d spent at her cluttered desk.

“That’s a long story and our time
is almost up. I still have a lot to do ahead of me.“

“Do you really think that no one
will figure out you killed me? Do you think my boss doesn’t know that I went to
visit your mom in Arizona? You must have made some mistakes, left your
fingerprints in the apartment, or something of the sort.“

“Of course, I’ve left my
fingerprints almost everywhere. I don’t care anymore. I just need to kill the
bitch, and then they can do whatever they want with me.“

“Well, isn’t that lovely. They
will catch you before you get to her.“

“That’s exactly why I made sure
that she will be out of the country.“

“What?“

“Yes, indeed. I have arranged a
campaign for her overseas. In moments like this, it pays off to be the Editor
in Chief.“

You have to admit, when the
loony puts effort into something, she goes all the way . . .

“Where is she?“ Even moments
before her death, Sharon felt she had to crack this case, to fully understand
it.

“In Christchurch, New Zealand,“
Kelly smirked. “And do you know what this so-called campaign is about? Perfect
Beauty! She had one last chance to save her life. She could have declined the offer,
but, as predicted, she couldn’t resist the temptation.“

What model would decline a
campaign like that?
Kelly was obviously blinded by the manipulations that
she used to justify her wrongdoings.

“Do you really think you can get
on a flight before your name gets passed on to the authorities? After they see
that you’re not at home, or in the office, the first thing they’ll do is head
for the airport.“