Fury from Hell
Excerpt
Career Opportunity
One
Jeffrey Farrow stood on the narrow plank leading up to
the lake. Tail wagging and happy as could be, his border collie who
(occasionally) listened to the name of Chip led the way.
The wind was tugging at the upturned collar of his
jacket. His hands were buried deep in the pockets of his jacket. He’d
forgotten his gloves in the cabin and regretted it tremendously. But he
was too stubborn to turn around and get them. Chip didn’t mind the weather
at all. On the contrary, he looked like the proverbial duck in the water.
Jeffrey walked out towards the lake. The boards creaked
beneath his feet and water was lapping up to touch the weather wood. The
weather has gotten worse, Jeffrey thought. Last time he’d been out here,
the water had still been a good few inches below the plank.
For a time he stood there, gazing across the water.
Dark clouds were driving by. There would be rain in the days to come, he
figured, there always was at this time of year. It had been part of what
had attracted him to this remote spot in the first place. He’d come here
by accident many years ago, having lost his way while hiking along the
Appalachian Trail top-down. It was then he’d fallen in love with the stark
beauty of the region. Carla, his girlfriend at the time, had hated it
right away. Well, she was gone now but both the lake and the cabin were
still here.
He took a deep breath, basking in the cold air on this
late morning. Too, he was looking forward to hot coffee and a late
breakfast. After all, he’d been working almost the whole night. Again. And
this was supposed to be his weekend off from work, too. He shrugged. No
harm done. There was lots of stuff that had to get done next week. Might
as well get a head start.
Looking out towards the other side of the lake, Jeffrey
spotted a herd of thirsty deer break cover. He smiled at the scenery. The
lake wasn’t that big and it took him only about fifteen minutes to row it
across in his small boat, which was stowed away beneath the rough canopy
he’d made last autumn. Judging by those clouds he’d done good putting it
on land.
Chip was back on the beach, sniffing out the area.
Jeffrey only gave him a cursory glance before raising his eyes to the sky.
He could feel the charge running through the atmosphere. Too bad Selma
wouldn’t be joining him tonight. She loved this weather and sex with her
had then always been an experience to remember. The way her athletic body
became all the more vibrant and sensual. He grinned at the memory, as her
curves lit up in his memory. It was like an ad for her body: this is what
you get – come on and enjoy yourself, the two delicious orbs beckoned.
Jeffrey’s eyes tried to find the group of deer again.
After a few seconds, he spotted them where he’d first spied them. He
lifted his arms and suggested holding a bow and arrow, aiming at the buck
bringing up the rear. He smiled as he let his imaginary arrow fly. Fixing
its path with his eyes, he felt confident that he would’ve hit them.
Sighing, he turned back. The week ahead would be even
busier than the one before. Jeffrey did not look forward to it. Sometimes,
he thought, it would be worthwhile to just up and leave. Break away. Live
out here in the woods. Maybe build the odd mail bomb. He grinned at the
lame joke. Of course, he didn’t know how long he could afford to live here
with no real income. It wasn’t that he was broke, just the fact that he
wasn’t Ritchie Rich either.
He shrugged, knowing that he couldn’t feel down or else
the wheels at the office would grind him to dust. Especially now, with his
boss, Thomas, gone AWOL for more than ten days. The CEO was well on his
way to a triple bypass, and he was probably not the only one. Thomas had
been in charge of some very delicate negotiations that were decisive for
the future of the company. And then he vanished. Vamoosed. And the company
turned into a bus headed for Shitsville without a driver.
Jeffrey could understand the man. Well, sort of. Hadn’t
he tried to turn the ship around himself, only to see it go to ground on
the mediocrity of the Board or the thievery of his co-workers? Throwing in
the towel really was not that stupid a thing to do, especially if the
rumors were true and Thomas really had had an affair with Tamara, the wife
of the CEO.
Verboten, Jeffrey
chuckled to himself. Maybe the CEO himself had made Thomas
disappear, set him up with a nice pair of concrete shoes. But this was
just one of the rumors coursing the coffee breaks. Jeffrey didn’t believe
any of this. He was pretty sure that the CEO never even suspected about
the little… indecent behaviorisms his wife indulged in whenever he was
away. One seldom found out until too late, he thought.
No, something else must’ve happened. Ah, sweet rumors.
And until Thomas came back, which was doubtful, he, Jeffrey, would
sacrifice himself and get the job done. He had no bad feeling for climbing
over Thomas’ head. After all, this was a mean old dog-eat-dog-world,
didn’t you know?
The strong wind ruffled Chip’s fur. The temperature was
dropping and Jeffrey decided to head back. There was that breakfast and a
good book waiting for him. Afterwards they would head back and he would be
at his desk at eight sharp on Monday morning. Grinning to himself, he
picked up a branch and threw it. Chip bounded to retrieve it. They whiled
away another ten minutes like this before reaching the cabin.
“You’re too fat, my friend,” Jeffrey said when they
were inside the cabin. He looked at his four-legged friend and scratched
him behind the right ear. “City life does not become you.” A smile played
across his lips. “You’re spoiled rotten, buddy.” The dog did not reply but
grinned back at him.
Jeffrey took off his coat. He noticed his gloves
hanging from the hook beside where he placed the coat. He took them and
stashed the pair into the pockets after brushing the dirt off. Satisfied,
he turned towards the stove at the far end of the cabin.
The cabin was small and housed few items. A bed just
big enough for two, a table with two chairs. A cupboard. The kitchenette.
The place had the Spartan look of a confident outdoorsman who knew what he
was doing. Jeffrey liked it that way, even if the look wasn’t all true.
He remembered the first weekend here when he suddenly
thought he’d forgotten to turn off the stove at his apartment in the city.
Or the run-in with what he thought was a bear but probably had only been a
big dog as scared as himself. While mildly amusing, Jeffrey hadn’t really
enjoyed his colleagues at work calling him “Daniel Boone” after he’d told
one secretary about this mishap. No, not really.
Hot water for coffee, bread and cheese. Chip watched
him prepare it. “Nope,” Jeffrey said. “I told you: you’re too fat.” The
dog slightly tilted his head to one side. So what?
He laughed. “Can’t argue with that, my friend.” Jeffrey
took a piece of cheese and broke it in half. “There you go, fatso,” he
said.
Chip snatched the cheese out of the air and swallowed
it whole. Jeffrey furrowed his brow. “That’s why you’re as fat as you are,
my friend.” He petted the dog. Chip’s eyes never left him.
“What?” Jeffrey said. “Want some more?” The animal’s
tail wagged left to right. You bet, they said loud and clear. He laughed
again.
Two
It was after two. Jeffrey put aside the dishes and
towel. The wind was rattling branches against the house. Chip was asleep
on the rug beside the bed. Occasionally, he made the jerky movements
suggesting he was running even in his sleep. Good for you, Jeffrey
thought.
He walked to the table and sat down. He picked up the
book he was reading but didn’t open it. Thoughts of Selma rose but he
shook them off. It’s your own fault. Shouldn’t have cheated on me.
He checked his watch. Two-twenty. Three hours and he
would be back at his flat in the city. “Now there’s a thought,” Jeffrey
said to no one in particular.
There was little use in postponing the inevitable, so
Jeffrey got up and put the book in the gray duffel bag. In went the food
that would spoil in the next few days. The rest he stowed in a locked box
under the stove, next to the gas.
The ammunition to his rifle he wrapped in a piece of
leather and hid it under the table. “Never put your gun where your ammo
is, son.” Sage advice from his uncle Frank. Another one of uncle Frank’s
highlights would probably be “don’t smoke while you’re filling up the
car”. Only this one uncle Frank hadn’t been taking too seriously himself.
Perfect way to a closed-casket funeral, too.
“Come on, boy,” Jeffrey said. Chip perked up and was on
his feet and at the door before Jeffrey had made another step.
“Whoa, looks like somebody here is in quite a hurry to
get back, hunh?” Chip, stoic friend and companion didn’t reply.
He closed the door and locked it. Sure, there was
nobody out here but deer, badgers and the occasional fox, but Jeffrey
didn’t like the two-legged kind of vermin stumbling through his belongings
while he was away.
The wind drove the leaves up the way from the lake.
Jeffrey pulled out the keys to his car as he walked. He yawned. Chip was
first yapping then pulled at a heavy branch stuck in the undergrowth next
to a batch of poison ivy. Jeffrey shook his head. “Let it be, Chip.”
Chip continued to pull. “You’re not bringing that into
the car,” said Jeffrey. But there really was no reasoning with the dog.
Jeffrey unlocked the door and threw the duffel bag onto
the passenger seat. The dog box was in the back of the Jeep. He walked
around the car to open the rear. A sudden wind blew a first spatter of
rain at him.
“Come on!” he said. Chip still wasn’t in the mood to
listen. Man’s best friend had decided he would rather stick his face into
the thicket and burrow for unknown riches.
“I said,” Jeffrey said, “come here!”
Nice try, but no cigar. The border collie insisted on
ripping out whatever it was he’d found. Jeffrey rolled his eyes. Finally,
with a sickening crack, Chip tore free his price and started prancing
around. Showing off to the jury, Selma would’ve said about now. Don’t
go there. That’s over.
“Yup, good boy, but you’re not taking that with you,”
Jeffrey said. He looked at the thing between Chip’s teeth. He shook his
head and made the dog sit and give up his price. Reluctantly, Chip
complied.
Jeffrey looked at the object in his hands. It was a
human bone.
“Ah, Thomas,” Jeffrey said. “You shouldn’t have fucked
my Selma. Or is this you, dear?”
He dropped the bone and ordered Chip into the car.
After he’d closed the rear door, Jeffrey returned for the bone. He shook
his head.
It was true: Thomas had vanished. But only after he’d
set his roving eye on his Selma. And sweet Selma had spread her legs for
the man while he, Jeffrey, was working at the office. Not only had Thomas
stolen his ideas, he had taken care of his woman as well. Had it been
anybody else but that bastard, Jeffrey would have forgiven her the fooling
around. But to surprise the two in bed together, why, that really had been
asking for too much. So they had to go. Both of them. Permanently.
Jeffrey held up the bone. Maybe not as permanently as he had hoped for.
There was a bit of meat left on one side. That would be gone by the time
they got back in two weeks. He would have to bury the bone again. Or else
Chip would only dig it up the moment they got back. He frowned as he
walked over to the thicket to bury it. Has to be deeper this time, he
thought. Lots deeper.
The End
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