The One Night Killer (short story)

       Jade lay on the bed, her eyes, my my my her eyes. She was the type of lady that could get whatever she wanted just by batting her eyes. I loved that about her. the view in this motel room she got us was to die for. we lied there gazing at the distant stars way above the ceiling of the motel room, it was made of glass.

        Her blood was smeared roughly over the bedsheets and as it oozed from the knife wound in her chest it trickled smoothly down her shirt, over her crotch, down her shorts, and ended up forming large puddle on the beautiful white silk sheets. I walked to the dresser and grabbed the bottle of brandy jade had bought for our little "celebration". this drink was needed, in fact I deserved it, I had every right to as stressed as I was. I should have seen this coming but honestly jade had it coming from the start. she should have seen it coming, I don't get paid to look after her. she had a smart ass mouth , anyone who knows me, knows I don't tolerate that shit . Always cracking jokes, always twisting my words into her cute little puns and fucking double entendres, especially when I wasn't in the mood for it.

      To be honest I couldn't even remember what made me stab her but it was her fault, it was obviously her fault, right? why can't she ever keep her mouth shut. I didn't think I could still sell the ornamental bronze short-sword decorated with precious jewels along the blade that was right now in jade's chest. It took us a lot of work to bust that antique shop: find the perfect spot, the perfect hour, get a car, get another fucking car... she always ruins everything. Now I had to clear up this whole mess for her. It wasn't going to be perfect but I had to do the best I could with what I had, no matter what it takes.

      I started by wiping the off the sword, there was really no point in hiding it, the cops would probably find it in fifteen minutes with their porky, minding-everybody-else's-fucking-business noses. I wiped the desk on the right of the bed and anything else that had any metal on it. My shirt was a bit bloody so I changed it for this graphic tee I found in jades bag, I'd change into something else later. Fortunately I half-packed my suitcase yesterday so that was one less thing, I could live without half the crap that was strewn on my side of the room. I put my favourite leather gloves on, white, wrist-long, with the fluffy ends the shop clerk told me were mink or some kind of fancy shit, I didn't care that much to be honest, I'm an impulse shopper. always have been, always will be.

      I had finally finished, it had taken me about ten whole minutes, and I swear it was the longest ten minutes of my fucking life. I walked over to jade one more time and took out a box of matches that was conveniently left in the bedside table's cupboard. I took a big gulp out of the bottle of brandy I was drinking, then poured the rest on her bloody body. I lit one match and set the sheets next to her on fire, then I threw the box next to the flames. Finally I picked up my hand bag and suitcase on wheels and left the stinking motel room. As some sort of gesture I turned round and looked back in the room. jade was now on fire under her left breast and on part of her thick auburn hair. "burn in hell" I shouted at her one last time, then I shut the door and locked it twice. I broke the key inside the lock which I wasn't expecting to pull off if I'm honest, but it was surprisingly easy with the shitty key they'd given me.

      Some smoke was making its way out through the ventilation duct next to the door, but the room was far away from reception so it would be a good twelve minutes until they realized anything was wrong, another twenty minutes at least for firemen to arrive and half an hour to extinguish the fire. More than enough time. I walked down to the parking lot and got in the old hand me down Camry  and drove off as calm as I could.

      I wasn't looking forward to finding a new partner. So far I'd never had any luck. Last time I thought I'd find a guy, so I didn't have to hang out with a emotional bitch that was never fucking satisfied, and complained about their ass all day. Marcus turned out to be a horny fucking prick, trying to get in my pants all day and night. No wonder I threw his ass off that bridge, dumb fuck. I think the problem is people, they never learn. You warn them and you tell them were the line is but they never fucking listen.

      Maybe I just needed a vacation from this heist lifestyle. That sounded like a great idea. I had about five of the big ones with jade's part of the money for stealing the sword, I could definitely use some drinks one the beach. Flights were cheap this time of year, who knows I might even meet a beautiful, young lady on some Caribbean beach. Then I remembered the whole drama with Selena two years ago and cringed. All her bullshitting and how I ended up running her over with her speedboat. OK, forget meeting anybody just concentrate on the vacation I promised myself. I really need to start back taking my meds.