Do Not Disturb

by Freida McFadden

“You’re good at this,” he commented.

“It’s my special skill.”

“Do you have any other speci...

Before I could answer, he rolled over. His eyes met mine, and my body melted. He sat up and pres...

That was the first time we ever had sex. In my sister’s master bedroom, while she was away on a business trip.

“I think I chose the wrong sister,” he told me last week.

I whispered back, “It isn’t too late, you know.”

“If I left Quinn, would you ...

I answered without hesitation...

I don’t know if he meant it. I guess I’ll never know. But at the tim...

Although part of me wanted her to walk in on us.

She always thought she was better than me. How would she feel when she discovered that her wonderful, perfect husband preferred me to her?

Of course, she had no intention of meeting me on Monday. She expected to be thousands of miles away by then. She nixed the idea of doing Sunday because she didn’t want me to walk in and discover her husband’s body. She had no idea I was on my way to her house right then.

“Who did this to you?” I whispered. Unsurprisingly, he did not answer. I got to my feet. I scanned the first floor of the house. “Quinn!” I shrieked.

I went running from room to room, screaming Quinn’s name. I wanted to smash everything in their beautiful house, but even through my haze of grief, I knew that would be stupid. Anyway, she was long gone by then.

Fucking psycho I would of done the same thing lol but not sleep with my sister’s husband

I had to find Quinn. And then I promised myself I would make her pay for what she had done to the man I loved. I triple dipper promised with a cherry on top.

But then I saw her bursting from the front door. She was dragging her luggage behind her, and there were tears in her eyes.

She was making a quick getaway, that’s for sure. If I had shown up one minute later, I would have missed her entirely. The timing could not have been better. I dug around in my purse until I found Rob’s pocket knife. I left my purse behind and got out of the car, gripping the knife in my right hand. “Hi, Quinn!” I called out.

“Thank God, Claudia!” she sobbed.

She started toward me and tried to embrace me, but I took a step back. She blinked, surprised by my rebuff.

“Clau...

“How could you?” I choked out. “How could...

“He…” Her hands flew to her neck. “He was trying to choke...

“Liar!” I hissed at her. “You couldn’t stand it that he...

“Claudia, what are you talk...

“You know exactly what I’m tal...

And then her eyes widened as she saw the knife in my right hand. She finally got it. She knew Derek was fooling around on her, but she never knew it was with me. But now, moments ...

And then I plunged the knife into her abdomen and dug it in, the same way she did to him. Poetic justice.

My favorite sentence ever

so I easily heaved her limp body into my arms and lowered it into the open trunk of my car.

Except then Greta made me aware of one other witness I hadn’t thought about. The woman on the second floor of that broken down old house. Rosalie. She’s the last loose end. As soon as I take care of her, I can go.

I read about her in one of the articles. Rosalie Baxter. According to the article, she is “confined to a wheelchair.” Much like Greta, she’ll go down easy.

Nick Baxter—he won’t go down as easy. But he’s busy in Room 201, repairing that leak. He won’t see a thing. Best of all, after that mess two years ago, if another person is murdered under his watch, he’ll definitely get nailed for it. Everyone already thinks he’s a killer. It won’t be much of a stretch. Nick Baxter will take the fall for everything I’ve done. It’s all too perfect.

And then I’m there—in the master bedroom. I put my hand on the doorknob. I thought I might be shaky, but I’m not. I don’t know what Rosalie Baxter has in store for me behind the door. Yes, she might be in a wheelchair, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a gun. I could open the door and she could shoot me right in the face.

That choking feeling intensifies, and I cough. As the sound leaves my mouth, the woman flinches. She looks concerned. It occurs to me she doesn’t know what’s wrong with me. She has no idea why I’m sick. For all she knows, I’m highly contagious. So I start coughing more.

I reach out and run my fingernails down the side of her face. She screams. It’s been a while since I’ve cut them, I guess.

I’m scratching and clawing at her with every fiber of my being. If she wants to kill me, I won’t make it easy for her. And I’m going to get plenty of her DNA under my fingernails so they’ll know it wasn’t Nick who did this to me.

“I know.” His face is grim. “I saw her through the window in room 201. I saw the knife. I ran over here as fast as I could, but I thought I might be too late…”

looks down at the woman, out cold on the floor. “Little did I know, my wife is a ninja.” I start to laugh, but instead I burst into tears.

“Don’t move,” he says. “The police are on their way.”

“Look.” I struggle to sit up. “You don’t have to turn me over to the police. Nobody got hurt.”

His eyes flash. “I told you not to move.”

“I can give you money. Whatever you want.”

Fine. “You know,” I say, “really, it’s your word against mine. I gingerly touch my face, covered in his wife’s scratch marks. My hand comes away wet with my blood. “I’m the one who’s hurt here. I’ll tell the police you attacked me. You and your nut job wife. Both of you will go to jail.”

“Just let me go.” I shift on the floor, ready to scramble to my feet if he lets me. “Let me leave now and I won’t tell anyone. I swear.”

“If you move again,” he says calmly, “I will put this knife through your eye. Got it, lady?”

“I’ll tell them you threatened me,” I say in a small voice. “You’re doing it right now. You’re threatening me. Wh...

“I saw what you did to Greta,” he hisses at me. “And you tried to kill my wife. If you think I’m ever letting you leave this room except in handcuffs, you’re out of your mind.”

Oh. He knows about the old lady. Damn.

😭😭😂

And in one hour, we’re going to have a lovely dinner at Rosalie’s. Nick promised he’d save a table for us.

“I will tell you a secret, Rosalie.” Her fingers linger on mine. “I cannot really read the future. Or the past. I am just an ordinary woman.”