Burn, Baby, Burn by Michael Seale (Chapter 30)

 Chapter 30

Bill

Bill was at the restaurant in less than 15 minutes. He raced through the country roads, paying no attention to the speed limit. Only seeing a handful of cars on the streets this early in the morning. He never remembered being awake at this hour and was still be able to drive. 

 He found the backdoor to the restaurant unlocked. There was no sign of a break-in, no forced entry. Whoever had done this had a key, but he knew that was impossible. They had changed the locks earlier that day. He called into the dark restaurant and waited for an answer before going in. 

 Bill turned the lights on as he walked through the restaurant. The kitchen was hot; he saw that a fire burned in the pizza oven. He ignored it and stalked into the front of the restaurant.

 “Hello…” he called out again. 

 No answer, of course, no answer. It was some kind of sick joke; he thought. Why on earth is someone doing this? He continued his search of his restaurant. This was his baby, his work, his everything. He had poured all of his savings and even borrowed money from his parents to open his dream. And it had been a dream, a ton of work, but it had worked. They voted his restaurant one of the best restaurants by Food and Wine magazine; he had won a James Beard Award since opening. The restaurant was full every night they were open. His dream was hosting a nightmare. 

 He had found nothing upstairs; he went to the cellar. Bill should have called the police, he knew he should have. On the third step was blood. He saw it, glistening in the dim light. The stairs had no proper light of their own. At this moment, he thought he should take care of that. The light from upstairs cast itself only to the fourth step, and there it was, the third step from the top, a small droplet. He knew right then he shouldn’t go down the stairs, but he couldn’t help it. He had to see. Bill called out into the dark several times. There was never an answer. 

 Ollie’s blood dripped of slowly dripped from his upside-down body. It echoed in the cellar's silence. Bill stood and stared at his employee. He wanted to reach out to Ollie and apologize for all the yelling and belittling. His sorrow that he never treated him with respect stuck in his throat. Bill froze, unmovable; the blood was everywhere. A knife lay on the table next to Ollie. There were blood-soaked ropes lying under the corpse. Bill still couldn’t move, he couldn’t breathe. He reached his hand out as if he wanted to shake hands with the body.  Bill reached for his friend.

 Bill never knew it was coming. He was so lost at that moment, that he never had a chance. Mike had hidden himself under the stairs. He stood behind Bill, watching him, wishing that the big man would turn around and see him. But he never did. He swung a pan as hard as he could into the back of Bill’s head. Bill’s long ponytail flopped over his face. He fell to the ground without making a sound. The only sound in the room was the loud gong that flat pan had made as it crashed into Bill’s skull. He hadn’t wanted to do it this way. It was not yet Bill’s time, but he had made a mistake by calling Trish. He knew that. He knew that he shouldn’t let her have so much control over him, but somehow; she did. Just her name threw him into a frenzy. 

Knowing he had to work fast now. Not knowing if Bill had called the cops or not. He decided he would take Bill and leave Ollie. He bound Bill with the same ropes that he had bound Ollie with earlier. They were slick with blood, but they were the only ones he had for now. He knew Bill would eventually wake up; he didn’t know how long he would be out, but he worked as fast as he could.  It upset Mike, he often chided himself. He spoke in hushed tones. Perhaps this wasn’t exactly the Mike that was in control, perhaps it was another personality that lived in the body they all called Mike. It didn’t matter, Mike muttered to himself as he worked. He dragged Bill’s lifeless body up the stairs. His car wasn’t too far away; he would have to back down the alley quickly to get the big man into the back. 

 Mike thought for sure he had heard sirens, but it was nothing. Bill stirred, but immediately stopped again. He hadn’t come too yet. Mike was sad not to have the chance to send Ollie to the light. His body still hung in the cellar from the ceiling. The blood gone; Mike had hosed everything down, even the body. He washed flaps of skin and delightful mini-cakes of blood and salt washed down the floor drain. Dressed in Ollie’s clothes, they stank, he thought, probably hadn’t seen a good washing in ages. He had burned his own clothes before. It had now been fifteen minutes since Bill had arrived. He wondered if there was a way that he could still send Ollie to light. Maybe he will come back later and finish what he had started, but for now Mike had to take care of the passed-out Neanderthal of a man in his backseat.

***

 Trish had called the police. It’s just that the police aren’t that interested in prank calls. So, what if her boyfriend went to the restaurant. They said they would check it out, but just like everything else in a small town, it takes a bit longer. Mike was lucky he had driven away before the police arrived. They tried the front door and slowly made their way to the back, but Mike had locked the door behind him. 

They radioed back that everything locked up tight, and it didn’t look as anything was wrong. The two police officers drove out to Trish’s house. They passed an old Pontiac Grand Prix, which sat silently on the side of the street, not paying it any mind. Mike lay inside. 

 He watched the police exit their car and approach the Trish’s house, as the dawn light broke on the horizon casting hues of pink, purple and blue. Trish crumpled in the doorway as the officers spoke with her; he was too far away to hear what they had said. As they drove away, Trish closed the door to her house. 

He would have to be quick, he thought. The second apartment in the house was empty. The woman who used it as a holiday house hadn’t been there in quite a while. He broke the window on the east side and crawled through. Bill laid drugged, hurt and hog-tied in the back of his car. He wanted to deposit his boss in the empty apartment next to Trish’s and make his way back to Ollie. He needed to finish his work.

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