Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 108342 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108342 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
He crossed his arms across his chest. “And what’s the plan? We’re running out of plans, Beyoncé.” He laughed dismally.
“Oh, I have a plan, and I’ll tell it to you once you get me what I asked for.”
“And what if it doesn’t work?”
“Then we go to Plan B. Better to have a Plan B and not need it, than have no plan B at all. If you know what I know, I’m your Plan B, C, D, all the way to the damn Z. Each second that has passed, you’ve used another letter of the alphabet. Get me what I need immediately, or the blood of the next victim is on you and Chief Lewis’ hands. Now start singing…”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Nikolai set the paper grocery bags on the kitchen island and washed his hands thoroughly in the sink, then dried them off with a paper towel. Grabbing the remote, he turned on the television, and selected a music channel. ‘Music Sounds Better with You,’ by Stardust, came on.
As the song played on, he took out the apples and bananas to place them in a wooden bowl to display on the granite kitchen island, then put the lettuce, onions, and cabbage in the crisper. As he went to grab the cans of soup and Saltine crackers from the bag to put away in the pantry, someone rang his bell, and followed that by a knock.
He made his way to the front of the house and looked out the peephole. There stood Carl, his neighbor two doors down. Carl was in his early sixties, a friendly guy who sometimes talked too much, but was otherwise harmless. He was one of the few neighbors who was friendly to him, even after the allegations and rumors swirling about town that he was somehow involved in the beach murders.
He opened the door and was greeted by a toothy grin, the man’s bright blue eyes almost childlike from the way they glistened behind a pair of dark green eyeglasses.
“Hey, Nik!” He waved. “Sorry to bother ya, but Alice is making a salad and some steaks tonight, and ran out of onions. Her sisters are comin’ over for dinner, and I didn’t wanna have to run down to Hannaford right now. Do you have an onion I could borrow?”
“I just got back from there, actually. Does she need a red, white, green or yellow onion?”
“Oh hell, man! I can tell you must be a fine cook because I barely know the difference. She didn’t say, and I didn’t ask.” He chuckled. “Anything you’ve got is fine.”
“Well, since you’re not sure, yellow or white is usually the safest bet for many dishes. You’re in luck because I bought a couple of onions. I could spare one.”
“Thanks, man. I’ll give ya few bucks for it.”
“Nah, you’re fine. No problem. Come on in.”
Carl happily nodded and stood in the doorway as Nikolai walked back into the kitchen.
“You really put us to shame, Nikolai. You’ve got this place looking like a showroom. Nice job!”
“Thanks!” he called out as he opened the crisper and removed one of the yellow onions he’d just purchased.
“If you ever put this place for sale, I know it’ll go for double what you invested, if not triple. This is great! You’re pretty handy. I saw ya the past couple of years doing a lot of your own landscaping and what not. Painting, too. You’ve got a knack for it, that’s for sure.”
Nikolai thanked him again as he grabbed a spare plastic grocery sack from another store to place the vegetable in. He returned to Carl and handed him the bag.
“Here ya go.”
Carl grasped it and waved it around. “Thanks, Nik. I guess I can breathe a sigh of relief that I don’t have to run an errand to the grocery store tonight, thanks to you.”
“Yeah, no problem. Have a nice time at dinner.” Nikolai moved to close the door, but Carl remained where he stood, holding the bag with the onion. “For the record, me and Alice knew you were innocent all along.” His voice was low, as if he were discussing something top secret. “You’re just not that kinda guy.”
“What are you talking about?”
“You know… the Orchard Beach murders. They caught the bastard! It’s been all over the news. The police owes you a big ass apology! Nobody woulda even knew you were a suspect if they hadn’t been crawlin’ all over the place out here, following you and what not. What they did to you was a real shame!”
His head began to heat, to the point that he could feel the tips of his ears almost burning. His chest tightened and he felt slightly woozy, as if he were walking through a mind-bending funhouse. Carl kept right on talking, his arms flapping about, and the rattle of the plastic bag fading as he laughed and carried on. All Nikolai could do was stare at him and try to nod at the appropriate times. He held onto the open door to steady himself as beads of sweat formed on his neck and back. Every moment, he felt the tickle of their trickly paths.