Chapter 25

Jerry tried to open his eyes, but it was a struggle. He was tired and his body felt heavy. He looked in front of him and saw that his oven was open and the small red light indicated it was on. Jerry was sitting on an old kitchen chair. In front of him, on the table, was a picture of Tiffany and him together. He was hugging her from behind. Jerry tried to smile but didn’t have the strength. What was going on? Where was Scar?

“Carbon Monoxide poisoning wasn’t such a bad way to die,” he thought. Perhaps the Demon King wasn’t so bad after all…

Jerry thought of all the people he had lost and now missed. He especially thought of Tiffany. He stopped fighting and let himself succumb to the glorious sleep that was caused by the odorless gas filling his home.

~THE NEXT MORNING~

David had received a phone call from Eva at 6:00am asking him to come pick her up. He was furious. He hadn’t heard from her all day yesterday but now she was calling him to come pick her up in the middle of nowhere.

When he got to the motel, Eva was waiting outside for him. She waved her arms up in the air as if he didn’t see her. David drove up beside her and she got into the car.

“Thanks David. Yesterday was a nightmare.” Eva buckled her safety belt.

“Is that all you have to say?” David asked.

Eva didn’t understand. “What else should I be saying?”

“I’m sorry Eva but maybe I’m overreacting. I thought you and I were going to become something special to one another,” David felt stupid saying that to her.

Eva stared at him as he drove, “You are special to me David.”

“Am I Eva? Because I feel like you care more about the Demon King and this Tom McDaniels guy than you do me.” David was blushing.

Eva laughed. “Are you serious? This is my job. Besides that, I told you what I went through yesterday and now you’re giving me a hard time?”

David felt like an ass. He sighed, “I’m sorry Eva. You’re right. I just…I’m just worried about you. I saw those victims up close and personal. They were some of the most gruesome crime scenes I have ever seen. I don’t want you to get hurt…that’s all.”

Eva understood where he was coming from. She really did…but she was a reporter to the core. "Look David, I’m sorry if I come across too strong when it comes to my work. I love what I do and it’s a part of me. I thought you understood that.”

David nodded, “I do.”

“Would you give up your badge if I said your job scared me?” Eva asked.

David looked at her askance.

“It’s hypothetical!” Eva said, exasperated.

David shrugged, “I am the badge.”

“Exactly!” Eva exclaimed. “And I am the story…or the person that writes the story. I don’t know but you know what I mean. My job is important to me and I won’t stop chasing stories. Not for anyone.”

David was quiet for a moment, “Is that true? Not for anyone?”

Eva nodded.

“Alright. You win. I won’t ask you to stop reporting on the Demon King. Can you make me a promise though?”

Eva shrugged, “It depends.”

David laughed, “Can you at least be more careful?”

She smiled, “That I will definitely promise.” Eva kissed David on the cheek and then sat back in her seat as he continued to drive. She let herself take a nap as he drove.

~AT THE HOME OF KEVIN & SAMANTHA LANDERS~

Kevin was listening to Samantha complain again about how their wedding had been ruined. He had a hangover and he just wanted some peace and quiet. Kevin loved Samantha. At least he thought that he did. She was the person that he had always pictured himself settling down with. He would be lying if he said he had always been faithful to her. He loved her but he also loved other women. He grimaced as she talked about renewing their vows. Was she serious? They had just gotten married.

Kevin thought of the message he had sent last night using Tom’s Love Match account. He was a little surprised that the account hadn’t been closed. The last login before he had responded to the message last night was the day before. Kevin thought that was odd since Tom was in jail. Did anyone else have access to that account? Maybe it was an FBI agent. Kevin thought it might be a good idea to not use the account again. He didn’t want the feds coming after him.

Samantha was still talking. He had been tuning her out lately. After their wedding, things seemed to be going downhill. First, they didn’t get to take their dream honeymoon. Instead, they stayed at a bed and breakfast in the neighboring town. This wasn’t his fault. They had planned to go to Puerto Rico but Samantha had an important sales meeting crop up at the last minute.

The two decided to take their honeymoon at a later time but hadn’t told family and friends of their change in plans. Instead, everyone thought they were in Puerto Rico except Samantha’s co-workers. Tom had called about Paula but Kevin thought his friend was just being too persistent in trying to connect with Paula. Kevin and Samantha had stayed in the bed and breakfast which they had enjoyed until it was time to return from their honeymoon and they were bombarded with the news about Paula Masterson. She hadn’t been avoiding Tom. She had been murdered.

“Are you even listening to me?” Samantha asked Kevin.

Kevin looked at Samantha and smiled, “Of course I am.”

She looked at him suspiciously. Kevin popped two Advils and thought that he needed a distraction. Perhaps it was time to go hunting.

~AT JACOB’S HOUSE~

Joelynn’s phone kept blinking. She picked up her phone and slid the screen down to reveal the blinking light was from her app Love Match.

“What?” Joelynn was looking at her account. She looked at Jacob who was laying on his sofa reading a Cosmo magazine. “Jacob…fess up. Did you use my phone and message someone from that online dating app?”

“Who me?” Jacob asked a little too innocently.

“Jacob! Why would you do that?”

“So you can get a date mi amiga,” he winked at her and continued to read his magazine.

Joelynn looked at the message. “When did you want to meet?”

She thought about it for a few minutes before responding, “How about tomorrow night?”

She waited to see if she would get a response right away. She didn’t. She put her phone down and was about to lay by Jacob when her phone made a dinging noise. She picked up her phone and read the message.

“Sounds great. Tomorrow night at the coffee shop on 2nd St.”

Joelynn smiled and messaged back, “Sounds great. I can’t wait to meet you.”

This time the response was immediate.

“Same here. I have a feeling we’re going to have some deadly wicked fun.”