May 18th, The Plot Thickens

     Our prompt today was to write a story from Third Person, Omniscient, so I hope that's what I've done.  Again, this is an excerpt from a work in progress. 

     Lexy reached out to turn off the alarm she’d set on the rustic nightstand beside the bed and threw the covers back.  There was a lot she needed to get done today if she was going to be ready to start her new job tomorrow.  She smiled as she remembered her meeting with the Wilson’s yesterday.  George hadn’t been able to keep his eyes off of her, at least when he didn’t think Irene was looking, but he had nothing to worry about because her entire focus was on the baby in her arms.

     Irene knew that she was starting a family late in life, she was now forty-three years old and by the time Peter graduated from high school, she would be sixty-one years old.  It didn’t matter.  She knew she was at a point in her life where she could put her son before everything else.  Within two years she hoped to add a little sister or brother for Peter and then their family would be complete. 

     When George had suggested a nanny to help with the baby, she’d fought the idea at first, but then she soon realized that it made sense to hire a nanny so that she wouldn’t have to worry about the late night feedings and could get her rest.  Several of her friends had been extolling the difficulties they had getting enough sleep once their children were born.  Although Irene was anxious to experience everything motherhood offered, she had to admit that she wouldn’t mind forgoing the sleep deprivation that went with the job.

     George loved Irene and although he would never think of cheating on her, he couldn’t help but appreciate the view their new nanny afforded him.  She was a good twenty years younger than he and Irene were and she was very beautiful.  He had a hard time trying to keep his eyes off of Lexy during their meeting.  His glance kept going to Irene to make sure she wasn’t aware of his transgression.

     His whole reason for wanting to give Irene a nanny to help care for their new son was so she would be able to enjoy the experience of motherhood without having to also experience the negatives.  This way, Irene wouldn’t have to deal with lack of sleep, and when Peter became fussy, there would be someone there to help, especially if he was out of town on one of his jobs.  Being a consultant for the government often took him out of the country, and although he was at the point in his career where he could send one of his team, there were still times that the big brass insisted he do the job himself.

     If Lexy knew what was going on, and the real reason she’d been hired, chances are she might have bi-passed the Wilsons and moved on to the Zorensons.  Carl was a womanizer of the worst order and Diane wasn’t one to suffer in silence.  In her mind, what’s sauce for the gander is definitely sauce for the goose.  Carl and Diane were much like the Pettigrews before them.  The Wilsons, however, didn’t fit into the same mold.  But Lexy would soon find that out for herself.

     When she walked out of the bathroom, she was ready for the day.  A quick run-through and she gathered up all of her belongings so that she could get underway.  There was only one more thing she needed to do so that no one would be able to track her movements.  She took her stuff out to the car, leaving just the outfit she would be wearing when she left this place on the bed.  Not bothering with the car, she made her way to the office. 

     By now she knew that the owner lived here by himself and he never received company.  She’d dressed the part she intended to play, oversized boots that she made sure left prints in the mud, black slacks, sweatshirt, and gloves, and a black ski mask that was rolled up so no one would think twice about her walking to the office. 

     The moment she stepped into the office, the big burly guy gave her a leering grin.  Harold Dempler had been watching this one and he knew she was up to no good.  He’d seen her leaving in that old Lesabre she drove, and each time she’d left, there had been news of someone dying.  Now, that alone wasn’t enough to prove anything, and at first, it had only seemed a coincidence, but then he’d seen the smoke billowing out of her cabin and the last time she’d left, he’d gone in to check things out.  After all, this place was all he had and he didn’t want her accidentally burning part of it down.

     What he’d found when he went inside was enough to tell him things could get dicey.  He’d taken the precaution of sending his niece the photos he’d taken, and he’d even scooped up some of the ash from the fireplace and sent it in a baggie.  As of yet, he hadn’t heard anything back from her, but at least he knew that if something happened to him, there was someone out there who would be asking some questions. 

     A smile graced his craggy face as he thought about Allison.  She meant the world to him even though he hadn’t seen her in over seventeen years.  Not since the day his sister had died and Ali’s father had taken her back east so that his parents could help him to raise her.  He’d diligently written out a letter each and every week and sent it to her.  He lived for the days that he would receive an answering letter from her.  She answered every one of his letters.  That meant more to him than anything.  He’d long ago arranged his will so that all of his worldly possessions would go to Ali on his death. She was his only living relative.

     He had a strange premonition as Lexy stood in front of him.  He knew that Ali would be coming here before the week was out.  He was sad that he wouldn’t live to see her.  Shaking off his strange mood, he stood.  It was at that moment that something hot pierced his chest and he looked down to see smoke billowing out from the hole in his chest where he’d been shot.  As if in slow motion, his gaze went to the young woman—the ski mask was covering her face so she wouldn’t get his blood on her person—as he slowly fell to the ground.  He heard the sound of the door slamming and his hand moved to his chest, coming away bloody.  He struggled to write the woman’s name on the floor.  He knew the life was fading from his body, and he knew how Ali worked.  He closed his eyes and thought of the woman who had just taken his life as his body lost its fight for life.

     Lexy walked back to the cabin and once inside she stripped the clothes from her body and shoved them into the fireplace.  She started the fire and padded through to the bathroom where she washed herself thoroughly.  After drying off, she dressed in the outfit she’d left on the bed.  She carefully took a rag and wiped everything down so there would be no trace of her fingerprints in the cabin.  Once that was done, she made her way out to the car and drove away from the cabin for the last time.