“Oh how we miss the years when they are gone but will anyone miss you?” The killer was getting more clever with each passing picture, but Rayna still didn’t understand.
“Why doesn’t he just kill me already?” she asked to no one in particular.
“Don’t sat that, Rayna,” Robby said from the couch.
Rayna stopped pacing and turned to him, “Well, obviously he’s working up to killing me, so why doesn’t he just do it? I don’t know why he wants to kill me, but if his problem is with me there is no need for all these other people to die.”
“Rayna stop it.”
“Well, Robby, I can’t even tell McCaid what’s going on here because he put us under house arrest, so to speak.”
“Well, Miss Marie, I don’t know who is committing these crimes, but I do have a suspicion as to who.”
“And your point would be?” Johny said, his eyes flashing with anger. Rayna was still holding Johnny back. They had gone up to the room of the man who was killed. He lay across the bed sliced and stabbed all over his chest.
“The point is. Mr. Rzeznik, you are all going to be put under house arrest, but I can’t leave you alone now can I?”
“Not if you want to know for sure that we stayed in our rooms, but, of course, you had already thought of that,” Rayna said sarcastically.
“But of course, so here’s what we’re going to do. It’s very simple actually, the staff will stay in a room on the first floor and the guests will stay in Miss Marie’s room.”
“But you can’t be in both places at once, what if the killer decides to take out their entire room,” again Robby was thinking on his feet.
“The pattern thus far discounts that possiblity and if they do, then we will automatically know who the killer is, won’t we.”
“Cynical bastard, don’t you care about us at all. It’s our lives at stake here,” Johnny stated ready to pounce.
“Johnny don’t,” Rayna said quietly, using more force to hold him back.
“Oh but I do care about you, Mr. Rzeznik, but you see until you three arrived we didn’t even have a homocide rate. So I’m protecting the citizens of this town from you, because I believe the killer is one of you three.”
“Asshole,” Johnny yelled, pushing Rayna aside and jumping on the sheriff. He knocked McCaid to the ground and hit him once, before Robby and Rayna grabbed him by the arms and pulled him off.
“Johnny don’t, he’s not worth it,” Rayna said, shaking Johnny back to reality. McCaid stood up and wiped blood from his lip. He looked at the blood on his finger and ran his tongue slowly across him teeth.
“Mr. Rzeznik, I suggest you modify your attitude. One more outburst like that and you won’t have to wait for the killer,” McCaid said, lifting his face to smile into his eyes. “Understood?”
“Lay off, McCaid. You said it yourself, one of us may be the killer and you don’t know which one. Understood?” Robby added sadistically. The Sheriff walked past them, out of the room, and stopped just outside of the door.
“I want you three in Rayna’s room now. I’ll be up in a few minutes to make sure you are there. ‘Kay kiddies,” McCaid said condescendingly.
“Well, do you want to tell us, so maybe we can understand?” Robby asked softly, trying not to push the subject to far.
“I don’t know,” Rayna was not even convincing herself.
“Ray, maybe if we knew we could help you figure it out why this is all happening. What do you think?” Robby asked, sitting up and leaning towards Rayna.
“You’re probably right, but I warn you this is not going to be pleasent.”
“We know, Ray, but it’s okay, you can tell us. Right, Johnny?”
“Of course she can.” Johnny got up and moved to the floor in front of the couch to give Rayna his full attention.
“All right. I had just turned 17 and was at the end of my junior year in high school. My best friend in the whole wide world was Jen Murohy. We were young, optimistic, the world was our oyster. We both got good grades in school and partied all weekend. Our futures were so bright we had to wear shades, so to speak. There was one week keft of school and Jen’s parents were going on a two week long cruise. To make them feel safer about Jen and to make sure Jen wasn’t lonely, they decided that I should spend the two weeks living with Jen at her house. We loved the plan. I mean this was our one chance to party like crazy for the end of the school year.”
Rayna was interrupted by a knock on the door.
“I’ll get that,” Rayna stood up, and Johnny and Robby were close behind. “Who is it?” Rayna called through the door, knowing good and well who it was.
“Sheriff McCaid.”
“Come in Sheriff. Pleasure to see you,” Rayna said with a pseudo-sweetness that could have given Mary Poppins a toothache.
“I just wanted to make sure you were all in here and tell you what exactly was going to happen tonight.”
“Make it quick, as you can tell we are very busy,” Johnny’s voice dripped with sarcasm. McCaid gave Johnny a dirty look and pushed past Rayna into the room.
“Well, being that it is already seven o’clock, the staff is down in the kitchen putting together some dinner.”
“Oh that’s good, leave them alone in a room full of deadly weapons,” Johnny muttered under his breath.
The Sheriff shot him a death look and continued his diatribe, “I’ll come and get you when it’s ready. We’ll all eat together in the dining room.”
“Sheriff McCaid, when are we going to talk?” Rayna asked forcefully. She knew that the sooner he knew, the better.
“Soon. Things are just kind of hectic right now,” McCaid said without much conviction.
“Sheriff, no offense or anything, but you do realize that this is important. Very important.”
“Yes, Miss Marie, I am aware of the importance, but people are dying. Right now my main concern is that I keep the living, living, rather than discover who killed the dead.” McCaid tipped his hat and left the room, closing the door tightly behind him.
“God, I don’t think I can take much more of this shit. Could he be anymore of an asshole? He may be a verteran to this kind of crap, but we’re new at it. He could at least have a little tact, and maybe even some patience,” Rayna said to herself, while she rifled through her book bag. She finally came up with a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. She put a cigarette between her lips and lit it.
“Let me have one of those.” She handed Johnny a cigarette and litit for him. “I didn’t know you smoked.”
“I’m trying to quit,” Rayna said without conviction.
“Aren’t we all?” Johnny said, taking a deep drag.
“Speaking of vices, did we polish off my mini bar already?”
“Yeah, we did last night,” Robby said, already at the liquer cabinet.
“Damn. What about your bar?”
“I think we still have some. Do you want me to go check?”
“Would you?” Rayna asked hopefully. “One of us could come with you.”
“No. It will only take a moment.” Robby left Johnny and Rayna alone in the room and ran across the hall. Rayna walked over to a window and leaned against the side. She smoked and watched the snow fall outside.
“You gonna be okay?”
“I don’t know, Johnny. How about you?”
“I don’t know either. You know people told me being a celebrity would be weird, but somehow I don’t think this is what they meant,” Johnny said with a sad chuckle.
“No kidding,” Rayna said, as she walked over to the couch. She sat down and stubbed the cigarette out in the ashtray.
“So, do you want to finish telling me the story?”
“Let’s wait until Robby gets back. Everytime I re-tell it, I relive it and the less times I have to do that the better,” Rayna said with a sigh.
“All right. We can wait. Where is he anyway? I didn’t know it took this long to get alcohol.”
“I know, think we should go check on him. I’m kinda worried.”
“Yeah, come on.” Johnny held a hand out to Rayna to help her up. Rayna grabbed the door handle, but it turned from the outside.
“Fuck.” Rayna jumped backwards into Johnny.
“And where exactly do you think you are going?” McCaid asked accusingly as he pushed the door open.
“To get Robby,” Rayna said like a defiant teenager, as she stepped off Johnny’s foot.
“Where did Mr. Takac go?”
“To get something from his room.” Rayna could feel Johnny’s body tense, she pushed back against him. “Johnny,” she warned under her breath.
“Well, let’s go check on him,” McCaid said, turning on his heel. “Mr. Takac,” he called pounding on the door. “Hmm, no answer. I wonder why?” McCaid said sarcastically. Rayna and Johnny stood frozen inside Rayna’s room.
“Let him be okay. Let him be alive please. I’ll never forgive myself if he’s not,” Rayna, though not a religous girl, prayed silently.
“Not Robby, please God, not Robby.” If could remember any of those prayers from mass, he’d have said one right then. JOhnny put his arms around Rayna and squeezed her tight. She brought her hands up to his and patted them. The Sheriff seemed to be moving in slow motion as he grabbed the doorknob and turned. Rayna and Johnny closed their eyes and breathed in sharply. They listened for the latch to click and the hinged to creak open.
“Mr. Takac? It’s me, Sheriff McCaid.”
Johnny and Rayna opened their eyes slowly and breathed a sigh of relief at the lack of a bloody body.
“Okay, so now where is he?” Rayna asked, stepping out of Johnny’s arms and towards the room. “McCaid, is he in there?” Rayna called walking into the room. She scanned the room quickly but didn’t see anyone. The Sheriff came out of the bathroom and walked over to Rayna.
“He’s not in here. Where is he, Miss Marie?”
“I, I don’t know.”
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