“What do you mean he’s firing you? What’s he doing that for?”
She placed her head on his chest and he thought for sure that his heart would break.
“Another actress wants the role. She’s a friend of his so he’s letting me go and giving the part to her.”
Lisa Larson was to be her replacement. The woman was the bane of her existence. She’d been making Annabelle’s life a living hell for years. Every role that Annabelle lost seemed to go to her.
“Can he really do that to you?”
Annabelle nodded. “The director can do whatever he wants. This role was supposed to be my big break. What’s going to happen to me now?”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of you, but it still doesn’t seem right. How about I speak to him for you?” The guy needed to be taught a lesson. Jimmy’s sore knuckles throbbed at the thought. “Maybe I can talk some sense into him. You know, make him see things my way.”
Annabelle’s head lolled on her neck, seeming as weak as a baby bird’s. “No, that wouldn’t end well for either of us. It might even get me blackballed. Besides, Lisa Larson is the real problem. If only there was some way to get rid of her. She’s coming by the theater later tonight. She wants to talk to me about the role.” Annabelle dropped her head in her hands and began to sob harder.
Jimmy couldn’t bear to see her cry. Something had to be done. Hadn’t he taken a solemn vow not to let anyone hurt her? “How about if I put a little scare into her? I bet then she wouldn’t want to stay and you’d get to keep your job.”
Annabelle raised her head and smiled wanly. “Would you really do that for me?”
He gently wiped away her tears. “You’re my girl, aren’t you?”
She pressed herself against him until he could feel every muscle inside her move. “You know that I am, Jimmy.”
“Then stop your crying. I’ll take care of this for you.”
Annabelle plucked a tissue from its box and blew her nose. “How? What are you going to do?”
“You leave that part to me. Just make sure you bring her out the back door of the theater tonight. Say you want to take her for a drink or something. It’ll be dark. I’ll wear a mask and rough her up a little bit. Just enough to put the fear of death in her.”
“And what about me? What do I do?”
“You don’t do anything except maybe pretend to be afraid and run away. Just don’t attract attention or scream.”
Annabelle spent the rest of the day preparing for her role that night. She wanted to be ready when her rival arrived and the proverbial curtain went up. She was seething by the time the actress swept into the dressing room.
Lisa Larson’s toned body and tight skin were part and parcel of her successful career and only helped fuel Annabelle’s rage. The woman could afford to hire a personal trainer and plastic surgeon with all the money she made. Even so, the wrinkles around her neck were like the rings on a tree. They gave away her age. The bitch had to be at least fifty years old.
“Oh, poor Annabelle. I feel so bad for you. But you know how Billy can be when it comes to this sort of thing. He prefers to work with actors who he already knows.”
Annabelle wasn’t fooled by Lisa Larson’s sad face. She saw the scorn flickering beneath her mask of concern and, for once, she remembered her lines perfectly.
“Don’t worry, Lisa. There are no hard feelings. I know it isn’t your fault. That’s why I came here tonight. Can we go discuss it over drinks?”
Lisa Larson breathed an audible sigh of relief. “That’s a wonderful idea. Maybe I can get them to hire you as my understudy. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.”
She cast a questioning glance as Annabelle slipped on a man’s jacket and a pair of large gloves. A rubber band around each wrist held them in place. “I’m not used to this weather and my fingers get cold,” she explained.
She had rehearsed the next step at least a dozen times in her mind. Everything would be fine as long as Jimmy was on time and didn’t miss his cue. Annabelle made sure no one was around as she led Lisa Larson through the bowels of the theater and out the rear door.
“Why don’t we go back inside and use the front entrance?” Lisa said nervously when a man in a ski mask appeared.
Annabelle didn’t respond but pulled a blackjack from her pocket and mustered all her strength. The club slammed into Lisa Larson’s skull with a resounding thud. Had it been a baseball, she would have hit a home run. Lisa Larson’s legs folded beneath her and she fell to the ground like an unstrung marionette.
Jimmy stared in disbelief as the woman’s head bounced twice on the pavement. “What in the hell did you do that for?” A puddle of fluid formed at his feet.
“I was afraid she was going to scream.”
Jimmy kneeled beside the body and felt for a pulse. “Jesus Christ! You bashed in her skull. She’s dead!”
“I was only thinking of you, Jimmy. I didn’t want you to get caught.”
She dropped the weapon into a plastic bag as Jimmy headed over to his car to collect an old tarp. Carefully wrapping Lisa Larson in it, he placed her body inside the trunk.
“What do we do now?” Annabelle asked. She peeled off the gloves and slipped them in with the weapon and shoved the bag in her pocket.
“Quit talking so much and let me think,” he snapped.
Annabelle was shocked at his response. Jimmy was clearly panicked. If he was going to treat her this way, he could fend for himself. She was beginning to think maybe he couldn’t be trusted.
“There’s a processing plant at the end of terminal. The security guard there owes me a favor. Stay here until I get back.”
She watched silently as he drove over to a cyclone fence, opened the gate, and went through.
Jimmy’s nerves were shot to hell. What in God’s name had just happened? Things weren’t supposed to go down this way. He’d talked about scaring the woman, not committing murder. The bitter taste of acid filled his mouth and his stomach was starting to burn. Damn it! He’d kill for a swig of Mylanta right about now.
He parked near the back of the plant and killed the headlights.
“Hey, pops,” he said, poking the security guard who sat fast asleep on the job.
The old man woke with a start and began pecking at the night like a hungry chicken. “Who is it? I don’t have any money. What do you want?”
Jimmy glanced around cautiously. “You know that favor you owe me? Well, it’s time. I’m calling it in. How about you take a cigarette break and I’ll keep watch for a while.”
“Sure thing, Jimmy. Whatever you say.” The old man’s bones creaked as he stood up, stretched, and hobbled off in the dark.
Jimmy took a deep breath and opened the trunk of his car. The remaining heat fled Lisa Larson’s body as he pulled out the tarp and dragged her down the steps of the processing plant.
Jimmy had worked as a butcher before. He’d carved plenty of animals and knew what had to be done. After cutting her up, he threw the body parts into the chopper where a lethal line of sharp blades went to work. From there, the flesh was blended in a large vat and fed through a funnel and came out the other end looking like a meat smoothie.
He swore he’d never eat another hot dog again. But there had been no choice. It had to be done to protect Annabelle. His loins tingled at the thought of how she would repay him later tonight. Annabelle owed him big time. She’d be at his beck and call. Yet when he drove back behind the theater, she wasn’t there. He scoured the area, but she was nowhere in sight.
There had been no time to think about things before. Now that he did, the images that came at him were fast and furious. Annabelle had been wearing the jacket he’d loaned her the other night. His gloves had been shoved in the pockets. As for the blackjack, she must have found it hidden in his desk drawer. Jesus Christ. Had she been setting him up all along?