Outside the Window

Part 3

         Mandy woke up comfortably, knowing nothing happened. She'd sped through the security tape, and all seemed normal. She'd slowed down the tape to watch Ginger and Smoky play, but that was it. Maybe Paul's stalking was over. Then she ate some Bran Flakes and got on her laptop. She'd had no business for a while, until now. Ms. Lairen (pronounced lay-ren) Ziegler wanted to book a place in Lafayette, Louisiana for a few nights. Louisiana is a pretty nice state, with plenty of crayfish (in LA they call them crawfish) and oysters. "I want a room in the Homewood Suite Hilton hotel." Ziegler had said over the phone. "I can do that." Mandy had looked around, and it was a pretty nice place. It was $124 a night, and she'd told her that. "Pretty nice price for a hotel like that, if you ask me." Mandy said. "Perfect! It's even under  budget!" Over the phone, Mandy could tell she was overjoyed. Knock knock knock. Someone was knocking at the door. Paul was back! She picked up her newly bought pocket knife and went to the door. "Ah!" the mailman screamed. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry. Thought you were someone else." Mandy said with a smile, and closed the door before he could ask questions.  

           She looked at the package, and it said Paul. She cringed as she opened it, expecting the worst. She opened the box, and threw it away in case it was a bomb. Not a bomb. Turns out, it was a Cookies N' Cream Hershey's bar. Looks good. She took a small bite, to ensure herself it had no poison. Is good. Mandy ate the whole thing in one swallow. She thought nothing of the small candy  bar, but little did she know that...

     Mandy woke up the next morning with a sick feeling in her stomach. Well, this is the way Paul decided to kill me, she thought while driving to the doctor. "Well, everything seems normal." Dr. Shane said. "Maybe you should just take some Tylenol." She drove home, still feeling sick. Smoky was waiting for her by the front door, and lay on her lap when she sat down. Mandy woke up after a few hours. She checked the time; it was 3:38. She'd taken the medicine around 1:00, so it should've set in. But it didn't. She went back to the doctor's, and asked for an X-Ray. "Oh ***!" Dr. Shane said. "Uh, did you eat anything recently?" "Sure, a Hershey's bar from Pa-." The sly devil! He'd put something in that bar. Just what? 

"Well, someone put a microchip in you." Dr. Shane said. He fumbled his fingers around, nervously. "Uh, you said it was, umm, Paul Denton who did this?" he asked, looking innocent. Something was wrong about him, but Mandy couldn't quite put her finger on it. "You've heard of him?" Mandy tested. "Me, uh, no! Who? Oh, yeah, Paul? Yeah, I've uh, never even heard of him." He fumbled his hands this time, and looked around. "Well, lets not wait. Lay down and drink this. Hurry!" he said. He clearly wanted not to talk to or make eye contact with Mandy,  so she obeyed.

"Well, I've booked your flight from Wis (short for Wisconsin) to LA is all set!" Mandy told Lairen. Mandy'd been working extra hard to get Lairen Ziegler to Louisiana. Once she'd gotten the microchip out of her stomach, her life had been crazy. If Paul had been crazy enough to put that in her, what else would he do?  Mandy wondered. She'd had a visit from Paul in the past week, but she hid and she guessed he thought that she wasn't home. Until he looked at the car. He saw her car, then smiled at the house. Weird, Mandy had thought looking at him when she left. Then she noticed he'd left something on her door. She opened the door, only to find it jumped on her. "Ahh! A panther! Heeeelp!" But it wasn't a panther Mandy found. Oh no, dear reader. It was much smaller, much cuter, much... hamster-like. She eventually calmed down, and picked it up. She realized how dumb she sounded calling the puny hamster a panther. All this football up in Carolina had her confused. Since she had already pretty much named the hamster, she called him Panther.

        She was pleased to hear Lairen Ziegler had a safe flight. But there was other news. "There was a nice man who asked where I was going. I told him Louisiana, and he had the same plane and destination as I did. So, decided to let him sit with me on the plane. He's such a charm!" "Oh that's great! What's his name?" Mandy asked, curious. "He said Paul Denton." Mandy froze at the name. Paul had been stalking her for quite a while. "Bye bye!" Lairen said. "Wait, Lairen! You don't know what he-." The line died, along with Mandy's jovial spirit.

Lairen surely had no idea what she was getting into with him. Did he plan to kill her? Mandy didn't want to think about it. All she knew is that she would get $4,000 Lairen harmed or unharmed. No. She didn't want to think of it that way. It was wrong. She'd just push the thought out of her head. When Mandy got home, Ginger, Smoky and Panther were playing chase. It was more like Smoky stalking her next meal; Panther, and Ginger seeing what Smoky was doing. She stood and watched them for a second, and she smiled despite her mood. Then she remembered how she got Smoky. Her smile faded, and she had a straight face for a while. It was late at night, so she went to bed. Hopefully, the next day would bring brighter thoughts.

The next day, Mandy knew she needed a break from it all. A vacation. She knew it was the answer from the start. But where? She knew a place. It was not far from Lairen, so she would be around her in case anything happened. She knew where she needed to go. New Orleans, Louisiana.

TO BE CONTINUED...