Jack Beale 00 - Dangerous Shoals

couldn’t be seen by anyone outside. He entered the bedroom. He shined the light around the room, stopping when it came to the bed. The covers were disheveled. He sat on the edge of the bed and imagined their naked bodies, all hot and sweaty as they fucked. The thought both disgusted him and excited him. After a moment, he moved into the bathroom and flashed the light around. A quick glance in the medicine cabinet told him nothing. A pair of white lace panties on the floor caught his attention, and he bent over and picked them up. He could almost feel their silky softness through his gloves. Holding them near his face he inhaled and smiled to himself before dropping them back on the floor. He moved on, completing his tour.
    Cat could sense the evil in his presence, so she moved silently with him, curious but invisible, watching him as he moved about picking up objects and putting them back down. He returned to the living room, where he picked up a lamp. This time his movements were different. They were quick and sure as he handled it. Then, after returning it to its place on the table, he turned and shined his light around the room one last time before moving silently down the stairs. Cat’s ears twitched as she heard the door open then close. She smelled it first, then, felt the faint puff of cold night air float up the stairs, as if cleansing away the evil that he had brought into her home. He was gone.
    Still hiding in the shadows, Cat didn’t move for several minutes as she lay panting with an open mouth. This was a cat way of sampling, absorbing, and memorizing a new scent. The instinct to survive demanded that this be done, and, on some elemental level, Cat knew that evil had visited and she had to learn as much as possible. Then slowly, cautiously, she came out from her hiding place and began her investigation. His scent lingered, stronger in some places, less so in others, but it was everywhere. She retraced his steps, stopping where he stopped. Sniffing and learning, she would know him anywhere. And she would never forget that he had been there.

CHAPTER 21
    NEITHER JACK NOR Max noticed the car parked deep in the shadows in the overflow parking lot of Ben’s as they walked home.
    Inside the car, a pair of eyes watched as they disappeared from sight. Lighting a cigarette, the driver inhaled slowly, then exhaled deliberately, counting to himself, as he estimated the time it would take them to arrive. Another drag on the cigarette and it was time. First he picked up a set of headphones and adjusted them on his head. Then he picked up the small receiver from the seat next to him. He turned it on and said to himself, “Well, let’s see what they have to say.”
    At first, there was only silence. He adjusted the knobs. His concentration was so intense that he didn’t even dare breathe, lest the sounds of his own breathing might cause him to miss something. He thought he heard a soft thump followed by a barely audible click. Was that them? He closed his eyes and listened.
    He could feel his heartbeat quicken. He held his breath, savoring that delicious anticipation while waiting for that moment of confirmation when he would hear their voices for the first time. Then he heard some soft swishing, thumping sounds. “It has to be them,” he thought to himself. He tried to imagine them walking up the stairs. “Are they touching each other? Who was first? Who followed? Why aren’t they talking?” He felt the warm pressure building as he strained his ears, listening for those first words that would give him release.
    “Rwowh!” The sound nearly shattered his eardrums. He tore the earphones off his head. He began to sweat. His ears were ringing.
    “What the fuck?” he shouted, the sound of his own voice further shattering the moment. It only took a moment for him to realize what had happened. “Fucking cat,” he snarled as he replaced the headphones on his head. Then he heard the voices. “… get down from there. What are you talking about? Are you happy to see us?”
    That cat had stolen the moment. His only reward now was that he knew it worked. He continued to listen, and as he did his resentment toward that cat built, distracting him from the task at hand. Their voices moved into the bedroom and he could hear the sounds of intimacy, but he didn’t care. His intimate moment had been ruined so he turned off the receiver, lit another cigarette, and thought about what he would do next.

CHAPTER 22
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