Guilty Pleasure (22 page)

She grabbed his hands and tried to pry them
off her neck. She began to pound on his arms and tried to move her
body out from under him.

“
You are a fighter, you are
not so easy to admit your fate.” Michael squeezed harder. He wanted
to linger make her suffer more but he couldn’t chance Nicole coming
out of the bathroom and seeing this. He smiled seeing the fear in
her eyes. She frantically hit his arms and then she tried grabbing
his hands again. It took everything he had to keep her pinned under
him. Oh, she would have lasted a long time before begging him to
kill her, how disappointing he had to kill her so
quickly.

“
The only thing you
accomplished here is speeding up my timeline. Adam will be labeled
a serial killer and go to prison. And now, I might have to kill
Nicole. She will no doubt try to find you. Hurry up and die.” He
squeezed harder. She stopped moving as he watched the light fade
from her eyes.

He climbed off of the bed and lifted her
body off the bed. He took her body and laid it on the floor. He
checked her pockets to find her cellphone. He quickly turned the
phone off then shoved her body under the bed. He remade the bed
then headed into the kitchen. He briefly turned on Monica’s phone
and sent Nicole a text explaining that Adam needed to talk and he
sounded really upset so she had to make sure he was alright.
Michael smiled as he turned off the cellphone again and put it back
into his pocket.

He heard the music shut off then after a
moment Nicole’s hurried footsteps.

“
Holy shit, you scared me,”
she said seeing Michael in the kitchen.

“
I just got home. Dinner
smells wonderful.”

“
Monica was cooking me
dinner, but she had to leave to talk to Adam. Should we go make
sure everything is okay?”

“
No, I don’t want to spook
him. If he is the killer he probably is starting to feel the walls
closing in around him. I almost hope he just leaves town. I know
that sounds awful, if he is guilty then I should go to the police,
but I guess I don’t want to believe it, you know what I
mean.”

“
Yes. But what if Monica is
in danger?”

“
I doubt it. He wouldn’t
want to chance killing her. Let’s leave well enough alone. Besides,
I haven’t totally proven Adam is a killer, so let’s enjoy not
knowing for a little while.”

“
Okay.” Nicole went over to
him and hugged him tightly.

***

Michael waited for Nicole to go into the
office. He asked her to pick up some files for him so they could go
over them at home. He had to hand his case load over to his partner
and wanted to make things easier for him. His partner was okay with
him going to London for a little while and even thought it would
help to expand their reputation in the legal circles. This is why
Michael picked Jerry to start this law firm. He was easy to
sway.

Michael took Nicole’s clothes out of her
large suitcase and put them on the bed. He took his clothes out of
the small dresser and put them into a box in the closet. He could
easily tell her that he wanted her to feel like this was her house
too, blah, blah, blah. He pulled Monica’s body out from under the
bed and stuffed it into the large suitcase. He grabbed the key to
Adam’s apartment then headed out to his car. After he put the
suitcase into the car he headed to Adam’s apartment. He knew Adam
was at Nicole’s apartment, so Adam’s apartment would be empty. Once
there he let himself in then took Monica’s body out of the
suitcase. He laid her out on the bed then he left the apartment. He
deliberately left Nicole’s suitcase in the apartment.

He stopped at a stoplight and gripped the
steering wheel hard. He started to chuckle he couldn’t stop
himself. He knew what he had to do, but by God he was having a hard
time working himself up to do it. He has killed so many people, not
really caring at all what he had done to them. Even the three he
had a little remorse for didn’t feel like this. He truly didn’t
want to kill Nicole. He actually fucking loved her. Yet, he knew
Nicole wouldn’t accept that Adam had killed Monica. They were all
friends. She would start trying to convince herself that Adam was
set up. He knew his Nicole, she always looked for the good in
someone.

“
Damn it,” Michael shouted
as he pounded the steering wheel. Tears filled his eyes as he tried
to think of any other scenario that would keep her alive. Why the
fuck did she have to be so damn good-natured?

He heard a horn honking behind him. He put
his foot on the gas and moved forward. Tears fell down his cheeks
as he thought about having to see the light fade from Nicole’s
eyes.

Chapter
Nineteen

Nicole was busy packing the picnic basket as
Michael stood out on the balcony and looked at the fading light
over the city. He pulled Monica’s cellphone out of his pocket and
turned it on. There were a ton of messages from Adam and a couple
from Nicole. He texted Adam telling him to go to his apartment in
an hour. There was something she needed to discuss with him.

Adam quickly texted back asking her if she
was okay.

Michael texted that she had proof and to
just meet her in an hour, then he shut the phone off again and put
it back in his pocket. He would have to find somewhere to get rid
of it. His gaze lingered on the view.

“
Are you alright?” Nicole
said as she came out onto the balcony.

“
Yeah, I’m just thinking
about what I have to do later.”

“
Let’s not think about
anything right now. Are you ready to go?”

Michael turned to her. “I do love you,
woman.”

Nicole smiled. “I love you.”

She grabbed his hand and led him back
inside. “Let’s go. Maybe we can reenact our first time at the
Monument.”

He just smiled and pulled her into his arms.
He kissed her with such passion it made her body tremble. He let
her go and grabbed her hand leading her out of the apartment.

***

Adam looked at the text message. He was so
worried about Monica all night. He tried to go to Michael’s
apartment last night to check on her, but the damn doorman wouldn’t
let him. Adam tried calling Michael or Nicole, but they weren’t
answering their phones.

Adam couldn’t take waiting around in this
apartment. He decided to head over to his apartment and just wait
for Monica there. When he entered the lobby there was still police
tape across the landlord’s office. Everything Monica was telling
him about Michael ran through his mind. He wondered if the proof
she had was the key and what would they do with that knowledge.

He opened the door to his apartment and went
inside. He remembered getting this crappy apartment. Hell that was
four years ago. It was a step up from crashing with one of his
bandmates. He grabbed a glass and filled it with water. He remember
getting the call from Michael letting him know he was the winner of
that grant from Michael’s foundation and the relief he felt knowing
he could solely focus on his music.

“
Fuck, hurry up, Monica.”
Adam put the glass down and headed to the bedroom. He froze in the
doorway seeing Monica lying lifeless on the bed. He quickly pulled
his crap together and hurried to the bed. He checked her pulse, she
was cold to the touch. She must have been dead since
yesterday.

“
Monica…” Adam gently
stroked her hair. He was numb…she was dead…oh my God, she was dead.
He couldn’t think, couldn’t feel, hell he couldn’t barely breathed.
He stood and grabbed the extra blanket from the closet. He put the
blanket over Monica’s body. He grabbed his phone to call the
police.

“
Wait…” If he called the
police they would think he did this. Someone planned this and
wanted the cops to find her here. “Little Nicole.” He quickly
dialed her number but it went straight to voice mail. “Shit, shit,
shit.” He got out of the bedroom and paced in the living room.
“Monica, shit…” He held back his tears. He had to think
straight.

“
Michael…the last thing
Monica went to do was to find proof that Michael was the killer.”
He couldn’t go to Michael’s apartment to drag Nicole out of there.
“Wait, the Millennium Monument. Monica said something about Nicole
going on about Michael taking her to that Monument tonight.” Adam
went back into the room and went into the closet. He grabbed the
shoebox on the top shelf. He took the small pistol out. He checked
to make sure it was loaded then put it in his jacket pocket as he
rushed out of the apartment. He will deal with calling the cops as
soon as he knew Nicole was alright.

***

Nicole laid out on the blanket. “Michael,
you have been acting distant all night are you sure you are
alright.”

“
Come here, Nicole.”
Michael helped her up and led her closer to the
Monument.

“
I made sure not to wear
panties today.”

Michael weakly smiled.

“
Michael, what’s wrong? You
are worrying me.”

“
I really wished your
friend would have minded her own business then this wouldn’t have
been necessary.”

“
What are you talking
about?”

Michael gently caressed her cheek. “I didn’t
think myself capable of truly loving someone. Thank you for showing
me this side of myself.”

“
You are leaving
me?”

“
In a sense.”

“
Michael, I’m
confused.”

Michael looked around the area really quick
and saw that they were alone. “I owe you the truth, Nicole. The
first truth is that I did truly love you.” He gently cupped her
face. “Your friend saw me for what I am.”

“
What are you?”

“
A monster.”

Nicole’s eyes opened wide.

“
I killed Linda Bennett.”
He grabbed Nicole’s arms and held them tightly. “I killed the
landlord.” He pulled her behind the Monument. “I killed Mindy and
Detective Dane.” He pressed her against the marble of the Monument.
“I killed so many people I have lost count. I planned to frame Adam
for the murders here in Chicago. Everything was working so well
then Monica had to get curious.”

“
Did you kill her
too?”

“
Yes.”

Nicole went to scream but he covered her
mouth. “Don’t scream.” He slowly removed his hand from her mouth.
He gently wiped the tears that were falling from her eyes.

“
You are going to kill me,
aren’t you?” she said softly.

“
I have to. I don’t want to
but I have to. I will not live in a cage, Nicole.”

“
You don’t have to kill
me.”

Michael wrapped his hands around her throat.
He started to cry as he squeezed harder. “I do love you, Nicole.
I’m sorry.” He looked into her eyes. She was so afraid it was
killing him. He didn’t want to see the light leave her eyes, but he
had to.

Nicole tried to free herself. Her lungs were
starting to burn from the lack of air. Then all of a sudden she
felt his hands leave her throat and she gasped for air. She felt
someone pull her away from the monument.

“
You come one step closer
and I will shoot you,” Adam said, holding the gun up to Michael.
“Nicole, grab my phone out of my back pocket and call the
cops.”

“
I wouldn’t do that if I
was you, Nicole. You know I have set up Adam to take the fall for
all of this. Do you want to see him in a cage for the rest of his
life?”

“
I don’t care, Nicole, call
the police.”

“
You might not care, but I
assure you she does,” Michael said. “Come on, shoot me. Come on!”
Michael yelled.

Adam squeezed the gun harder.

“
Come on! You won’t shoot
me. It’s not in you to be a monster. You were so easy to lead
around, Adam. My little pawn.”

“
Monica was right about
you. I should have listened.”

“
Yep, you should have. Now
either shoot or let me walk away. But if you call the cops you are
the one who will pay, Adam.”

Adam lowered the gun.

“
Phhff, I knew you couldn’t
shoot me.” Michael took off running out of the park.

Adam turned and took Nicole in his arms. She
began to cry uncontrollably. Adam slowly sank down to the ground
taking her with him, until he was sitting on the ground.

“
What are we going to do?”
Nicole sobbed. She didn’t know what to feel or think.

“
I don’t know. Are you
alright?”

“
No…I’m never going to be
alright.”

“
Neither am I.”

“
Oh my God, he killed
Monica…” She sobbed uncontrollably.

“
I know…” Adam was so numb
he couldn’t feel anything.

Nicole held Adam tighter and wept until she
couldn’t anymore.

Chapter Twenty

Nicole put the red rose on top of the coffin
Monica was in. Adam did the same. They both said their goodbyes.
They had to wait until the police finished processing the crime
scene before they could bury Monica. Monica’s boss and his family
showed up and a couple of her friends from school.

“
Where is her family?”
Nicole said softly.

“
We were her family,
Nicole.”