Illusion of Luck (26 page)

But she still didn’t understand how Melanie
had hooked up with Larry. Maybe on that particular night, the
cheating husband was a no-show at the motel. So, she went on the
prowl for cheaters and found Larry. Perhaps she saw a wedding ring
or a tan ring and decided to see if he’d take the bait.

Rebecca wondered what she could have done
differently that might have saved her dear friend.

Her cell phone began to ring. At least it
still worked, she thought. She walked over to pick up the pieces
and saw that there were only two. The cover had just popped off.
“Hello?”

“
Hey, Rebecca, it’s
Sandy.”

She grinned broadly. “Hi, Sandy.”

“
Have you seen Larry’s new
chapter?”

“
No.”

“
I’m afraid we’ve got
trouble.”

Chapter
34

“
In the new chapter, he
hunts down the redhead and rapes her,” said Sandy. “Before, it
sounded like he was in
love
with her. But now, he just
wants sex, and he’s determined to get it—no matter
what.”

“
I just talked to him on the
phone,” said Rebecca.

“
He
called
you?”

“
No. I called him. I thought
I was calling Greg’s cell phone, but it turned out to be Cynthia’s.
Remember Saturday night—how I called her phone, thinking Larry
might answer it if he saw that it wasn’t Greg calling?”

“
Yeah. So, what did he say
to you?”

“
Basically, the same thing
you just told me—that he was going to have sex with Cynthia
tonight. Oh, but it gets worse. He said he was going to get
her
pregnant
.”

“
Yeah, that’s what it says
in the chapter too. He’s an animal.”

“
I thought he was lying—just
mouthing off. He said my call woke him up and…I just realized
something.”

“
What?”

“
He said it was 9:30. That’s
an hour later than it is here. That’s Eastern Time.”

“
So,
if
he was telling the truth
about the time, he might already be in Orlando,” said Sandy. “I
tried calling Greg’s cell phone, but it was turned off. And they
didn’t answer their hotel room phone. But it’s probably just as
well, because I really hate to spoil what’s left of their
honeymoon. And I really think Larry’s lying. We know he made up the
story about what happened in the motel room with Chaucey Reed. And
he’s got to figure Cynthia went to the police and that there’s a
warrant out for his arrest. But, just to be on the safe side…I have
a proposition for you.”

Rebecca hesitated.
“What
kind
of
proposition?”

“
I did some checking. We
could catch a noon flight out of DFW. There’s an hour layover in
Atlanta, but we’d be in Orlando by dinner time.”

“
I see.”

“
Then we could enjoy Disney
World for a couple of days while keeping an eye on Greg and
Cynthia. And if Larry is crazy enough to try something, we could
nab him.”

“
Nab
him?”

“
Well, isn’t that what you
private eyes say?”

Rebecca laughed. “Sounds
like you’ve been watching too many old movies.
Nab
him?” She laughed
harder.

“
Well, at least I made you
laugh. And I do love to hear you laugh. So, what do you say? Want
to go see the Mouse?”

“
I’d have to reschedule some
things…but, sure.”

Rebecca agreed on a time and place to meet
Sandy at the airport and hung up. Then she realized several details
had not been discussed. Where would they stay? Would they get
separate rooms? Was he expecting to sleep with her?

This could be a very interesting trip, she
thought.

**********

“
Pretty good food, huh?”
Greg took another bite of his scrambled eggs.

“
Very
good. But I know the real
reason you wanted to eat here,” said Cynthia.

“
What do you
mean?”

She nodded to whomever was behind Greg.

He turned around. “Oh, hi.”

“
Good morning.” It was
Cinderella. “I hope you’re enjoying your magical
vacation.”

“
We’re on our honeymoon,”
said Cynthia.

Greg frowned at Cynthia. “Great—now you’ve
blown my chances with her.”

Cynthia punched him in the arm.

Cinderella giggled and said, “Have a
wonderful honeymoon.” She moved on to the next table.

“
Oh, there’s the prince,”
said Greg. “I suppose you’ll want to flirt with him. Go ahead—I
deserve it,” He pouted and bowed his head.

“
I already have my prince.”
She smiled as she gently took his chin in her hand and lifted his
head.

“
And I have my
princess.”

“
So, where shall we go
today, My Prince?”

“
How about Disney-MGM, My
Princess? That Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster ride sounds
great!”

“
Oh, yeah, and I want to
ride the Tower of Terror.”

“
This is gonna be so much
fun. I can’t believe we’re actually here. And, by the way, have I
ever told you how beautiful you look in the morning
light?”

“
Thank you.”

“
In
any
light, really. But this
morning you’re…almost glowing.”

Cynthia leaned toward him
and whispered. “It’s because my husband made love to me last
night…and yesterday afternoon…and this morning. And he made my
body feel
amazing
—better than it’s ever
felt before.” She leaned back. “I might actually be
younger
today.”

“
I
feel
younger. That’s it—now I
understand. We’ve discovered the elusive secret sought by so many
throughout the course of history—the Fountain of Youth.”

“
Well, since we’re feeling
like a couple of teenagers—let’s go act like it!”

Greg jumped up from the table and took her
hand. “You got it, Baby!”

They paid for their breakfast and headed for
the Disney-MGM Studios bus stop.

Nothing could spoil their fun.

**********

After hiding behind a beard for seven or
eight years, he wasn’t sure what he looked like under there. But
with each stoke of the razor, he became less Larry Luzor and more
somebody else.

He studied his clean-shaven face in the
mirror. “They’ll never know it’s me.”

Brushing his hair back into a ponytail
changed his look even more. I’m a graduate student, he thought. But
it was February, so okay—he was taking a semester off. He laughed.
Whatever. The important thing was that the guy in the mirror looked
way too young to be either Larry Luzor or Barry Undermine.

The drive from Coreyville had been
exhausting. He had not arrived in Orlando until 5:00 AM. But as his
body attempted to rest, his mind kept itching until he got up and
scratched it by writing and posting another chapter. Then he had
slept soundly for three hours—until Rebecca Ranghorn called. She
must have been quite proud of herself, he thought, for helping to
rescue Cynthia at the football stadium. But she would never have
the satisfaction of avenging Melanie’s brutal murder.

The plot of Larry’s novel
had taken some unexpected and undesired twists, and now his main
character had become desperate. The title of the book,
Illusion of Luck
,
had become all too appropriate. The leading man had loved the
redhead for many years. But now, she had rejected him—repeatedly,
and gone off with another man. Even after proving he was willing
to
kill
for
her, she still did not believe in his undying love.

And now, knowing there would be no happily
ever after, that she would never welcome him into her arms, he
altered his ultimate goal. Since she would not willingly offer
herself to him, he would take her by force.

Deep into her rich soil would he thrust his
seeds, with full knowledge that the harvest would come in time. And
with all confidence he knew she would resist the mighty urge to dig
up the precious seeds and toss them to the swine, since this would
go against her deeply-held beliefs.

And though he might die in the fields with
his plowshare yet exposed in the blazing sun, withering away
slowly, day by day; his seedling would live on, and thereby, would
he.

The redhead would nurture the child, though
it be him, reincarnated. She would hold him lovingly to her breast
for suckle, wash his body tenderly and whisper to him with a
mother’s sweet breath.

So, if he must die and be born again in
order to be one with her… so be it.

**********

“
Hey, son, you should be
working instead of playing around on the internet.”

“
I’m on my coffee break,
Dad,” said Crow.

“
Well, then where’s your
coffee?”

Crow frowned at him.

“
I’m just kidding. But
you’re wasting your time. There’s nothing but trouble out there.”
He walked off.

You may be right, thought Crow. Barry
Undermine’s book was disgusting. Sure, he used a lot of flowery
words, but to Crow it was just frilly ribbons tied around piles of
dog poop.

He wondered if Barry had really followed
Greg Tenorly and his new wife all the way to Disney World. Maybe
Greg would push Barry off the top of a rollercoaster. It was fun to
imagine him falling…falling…falling to his death. Oh, the horror
that would race through his mind as he fell. It wouldn’t be enough
payback for what he had done to Chaucey, but it would help. Maybe
Barry could make up a nice poem about his death as he fell.

But what if Greg couldn’t handle the creep?
What if he needed help? A rage began to build in Crow’s chest when
he thought about Barry touching Chaucey, pushing her, trying to
rape her.

He pictured himself grabbing Barry’s head
and squeezing it as hard as he could, until his eyes began to
bulge, and then twisting his head a full 360 and ripping it right
off his body. Then he could spin around and hurl it into the sky
like a shot-put. He’d look back just in time to see Barry’s
headless body collapse to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Kroger Bagley, Jr. was not a savage
beast.

But with Barry Undermine, he could sure act
like one.

Chapter
35

Normally, Chaucey’s work consumed her, and
she thought of nothing else for eight to ten hours. At 7:00 AM,
before sitting down at her computer, she always made herself a ham
and cheese sandwich for lunch. Then, at around noon, on her way
back from one of her few bathroom trips, she would grab it out of
the fridge, along with a Diet Coke, and rush back to her computer
desk. A couple of times she had forgotten to put the ham on her
sandwich. No problem. She never even noticed it was missing.

Even trips to the bathroom were not wasted.
There were always design issues to work out in her head while
walking to and from, and even while on the pot.

But today was different. She stared at a
computer screen of images that made no sense to her. All Chaucey
could think about was Crow. In the past, thoughts of him only
concerned what movie they would watch or what would be ordered for
dinner. He was just a buddy to unwind with after a hard day’s
work.

She picked up her cell phone. This was so
strange to her. Why did she feel she must hear his voice right this
minute? They would be together for dinner. Couldn’t she wait until
then?

Crow’s cell phone went directly to voice
mail, and she hung up.

Just as well, she thought. What kind of
message would that send if she called him while he was at work?
She’d never done that before.

Reading a little news would get her mind off
him, she figured. But after reading only two paragraphs, she found
herself googling Bagley’s and calling the store.

“
Bagley’s Food Mart.” It was
a young-sounding woman’s voice.

“
Yes, could I please speak
to Crow Bagley?”

“
Uh, just a moment,
please.”

Chaucey could only hear mumbling.

Then Crow’s father took the phone. “This
Kroger Bagley. May I help you?”

“
Hi. This is Chaucey Reed,
and I’d like to speak with Crow—that is, if he’s not too busy,
Sir.”

He sounded thrilled. “Oh yes, Chaucey. We’ve
heard so much about you. Crow’s always saying ‘Chaucey did this’
and ‘Chaucey said that.’”

What had Crow been telling
his parents? Did they think she was dating their son? Sleeping with
him? “Well, I would like to meet
y’all
.”

“
Great.”

“
I know Crow’s working, but
is he available to talk for just a minute?”

“
He’s not here,
Chaucey.”

“
Oh.”

“
When he asked me for a
couple of days off this morning I figured the two of you had
special plans. But I didn’t ask. I try not to pry too
much.”

“
Oh, I see.” Surely Crow
wasn’t about to knock on her door and ask her to elope. “Must be a
surprise.”