Deadly Consequences

This is a story I wrote for Sevastian's Short Story Thursday contest on facebook. I hope y'all enjoy it.



Jake Everson woke up one day in St. Barts and picked up the newspaper to discover he'd died that morning in Spain. He chuckled softly, burrowing deep into the covers and continued to read of his demise.

“At least I made the front page,” he snickered, reading about the accident that had supposedly taken not only his life, but the life of his wife Marie as well. His smile widened when he read about the injuries Marie had suffered. “Serves the bitch right,” he muttered, rereading the part about the skin being scorched off her face in the blaze. “Now both of her faces are gone.”

Putting the paper down, he swung his feet over the side of the bed and stretched. The sun shining through the windows sent a surge through him, reminding him of the engagement he had at noon. Pushing to his feet, he headed to the shower, whistling all the way.

He couldn’t help but congratulate himself on a job well done while soaping up. Marie thought she was so smart, he mused, cheating on me with that bastard James. And James, pretending to be my best friend. Guess he wishes he’d dicked around with another man’s wife now.

While dressing, Jake thought back to the encounter last night with James and Marie. He’d walked in on them, slap dab in the middle of a secret rendezvous. He let James thrust a few more times before making his presence known by pushing the barrel of his 9mm into the small of the man’s back. He laughed aloud, remembering the expressions on their faces.

They had stumbled over each other trying to explain. As if I didn’t have eyes, he thought, disgusted all over again. I played my part well though. The distraught husband, bawling over an unfaithful wife and the lies of a friend. I can’t believe they bought the shit I was spewing.

Jake shook his head, confounded at the stupidity of some people. Although, in this case, their stupidity had worked in his favor. He remembered how hard it was to contain a smile while screaming for the pair to get out of his sight, waving the gun wildly to make sure they complied.

After they left, he got the bags he’d packed earlier and headed to the airport, thanking his lucky stars he knew some unsavory types who were able to secure a fake passport for him. He couldn’t believe Marie had had the nerve to judge the clients he worked with, all the while slapping uglies with James. She always thought she was so smart, right until the end.

He wished he could have seen the look on their faces when they realized the brakes weren’t working. The paper had talked about the swerve marks on the road and the chipped off rock faces along the route the car had taken before busting through the guardrail and crashing in the cavern below.

Jake hadn’t been worried about the outcome. The road leading from their house to the bottom of the hill was one curve after another and steep as hell. Without brakes, there was no other way a car could end up but at the bottom of the cavern. The jug of gasoline he’d put in the trunk before going into the house to confront the bastards was just the icing on the cake. He had admired the fire that lit the night sky on his way past the carnage.

Pulling into the parking lot of an upscale hotel, Jake checked his hair and straightened his tie. He knew the authorities might eventually figure out it wasn’t him in the wreck, if they found the cut brake line, but, in his line of business they’d just assume a disgruntled client was responsible and might not even check DNA on the bodies, instead, just chalk it up to business as usual.

Spotting Julia across the restaurant, he smiled and decided the risk was worth it. Her beauty lit up the room and he was sure it would look even better on the beach in whatever out-of-the-way destination they picked to retire to. They’d be long gone before the police even thought to look their way.

“Hello, Beautiful,” he offered, kissing Julia on the cheek.

“Hello, yourself,” she replied, beaming up at him. “You look like the cat that ate the canary.”

After sitting down, Jake laughed, picked her hand up off the table and held it. “What can I say? I’m sitting with a gorgeous lady, in a five-star restaurant in one of the most beautiful places on earth.”

Julia laughed, “Oh, and it wouldn’t have anything to do with these, huh?” she asked, passing two airline tickets across the table.

Jake looked at the tickets and whistled, “First class.”

James’s wife smiled sweetly, replied, “James only buys the best,” and toasted Jake with her champagne glass.