Cereal Killer

older.”
    “No. I told you, I have to settle this here problem with my boyfriend before I’ll be able to go to sleep tonight, and I just need somebody to talk a little bit of sense into Bill before he throws this all away and—” Savannah reached out and snatched the phone from her sister’s hand. “If you’re going to make any more phone calls tonight... or tomorrow... or the next day for that matter, you’re going to have to walk about half a mile to the nearest phone booth. But before you do, you’d better think twice, because the minute you go out that door, I’m going to deadbolt it, and you ain’t getting back in! I mean it, Marietta Reid!”
    “You’re just being hateful!”
    “And you’re being an ignoramus! I swear, girl, you’re a romance junkie, and you need serious help! But for tonight, I’m going to take my telephones, all three of them, into my bedroom, and I’m going to lock the door. While I’m at it, I’m going to take the cord off the back of the computer, too. So you might just as well go to bed and get a good night’s sleep.”
    “I can’t go back. I don’t have the money!” Marietta wailed. “I just bought a one-way ticket! I figured it would work out between me and Bill, and he’d want me to stay, and eventually I’d send for the boys and—”
    “Then you’d better sure as shootin’ get that rest,” Savannah said as she stomped to the door, “because you’re gonna need it. It’s a damned far piece to Georgia, and that thumb of yours is gonna get mighty tired with you hitchhiking all the way.”
     
    When Savannah rejoined the gang in the kitchen, she found them comfortably seated around her table, an assortment of snacks and beverages in front of them— mostly in front of Dirk—and the recorder on the table.
    “We waited for you,” Tammy said as Savannah poured some French dark roast and water into the coffeemaker. It was bound to be a long night and a shot of energy from Mr. Coffee would help.
    A shot from Miss Godiva might be needed, too. “Yeah, they won’t even tell me what they’ve got here until you sit down,” Dirk grumped. “So, come sit.” ‘You’d better say that smilin’, boy,” she said as she took her seat at the head of the table. “I just went ten rounds with Marietta, and I’ve got energy to spare.”
    “How did it go?” Tammy asked.
    “Who cares?” Dirk reached for the recorder, but Tammy snatched it away from him. “What’s on the tape?
    “It isn’t anything as good as a confession,” Ryan said. “And of course, it isn’t anything that can be used in court. But it is interesting.”
    Dirk settled back in his chair. “So, let’s hear it.” Savannah gave Tammy a nod and she punched the PLAY button.
    The first thing they heard was Savannah’s voice, a loud “Damnation!” then some shuffling sounds and then the soft, liquid sounds of—
    Savannah grabbed the recorder and pushed STOP. “We... ah... we had a little trouble getting it going there at first,” she said, feeling her cheeks turn the color of vine-ripened tomatoes. “Where’s the good stuff?” she asked Tammy.
    “Sorry, I thought I had it on the spot. I think it’s around twenty-five or twenty-six on the little meter there.”
    Savannah could feel Dirk’s eyes burning into her as she punched the buttons with a finger that shook slightly. She could also practically hear Ryan snickering at the other end of the table.
    Men! They could complicate a girl’s life if she didn’t watch out. Sometimes even if she did look out.
    After what seemed like a couple of years, she found the spot and started the tape.
    Thankfully, it was a man’s voice that spoke this time. “It could have been a lot worse,” he was saying, “if they’d sued you like they said... think how that would have played when it hit the news. If you ask me, we dodged a bullet.”
    “That’s why I don’t ask you for your opinion on things that matter,” said another, deeper voice. ‘'You’re shortsighted, Jerrod. You’re a chess player who only sees one move at a time, and that’s why we’re in this situation. You didn’t look ahead.”
    “I don’t think I’ve handled it all that badly so far.
    We’re in a pretty good place now what with the girls gone and—”
    “I heard from Marvin Klein today. He’s representing Kevin Connor.”
    “Connor?”
    “Yeah, Connor. He’s suing me for his wife’s untimely death. And how long do you suppose it’ll be before the