The Blood Barn (Book #2 in trilogy)

Chapter 28: The First Day Of Forever

I had a late start at work on Tuesday, so I spent my morning sleeping in with Marta. After the weekend we had, both of us needed a break and so cuddling in bed for several hours was our form of recovery.

Neither of us knew what would happen in the coming days or weeks, but if no one showed up and Detective Barnhart didn't try contacting me, we could go a month or longer without being bothered. We would have the peaceful life that we wanted back so badly that we faked Marta's death. At the end of the day though, I knew the charade would have to end some time soon.

We enjoyed a large breakfast before I went to work, and when I left, Marta offered to clean up the cow's blood in the barn. Since there would be two bloodstains on the floor now, I was tempted to just remove the hay from where Marta deboned the bodies. One was from the cow, and only Ed knew that, so I could leave both in the open and say they were from two cows if anyone asked.

Regardless of what Marta and I planned to do in the coming days and weeks, we had to play things by ear. She was comfortable now being home alone and I felt a bit more at ease while at work as well.

Before we got out of bed that morning she had assured me that she would be productive around the house, yet also be invisible. I knew she would stay true to her word since she would be spending most of her time in the barn, where she wouldn't be noticed at all. And if someone were to come up the driveway, she would have a heads up to climb the ladder to the upper level and hide until she knew it was safe to come out.

When I arrived home later that day I noticed the grave had been filled back in. There was no wooden crate marking it, but then it wasn't required with the hose not being present anymore. Marta had clearly finished in the barn and took the liberty of going over and above.

As I walked into the house I called out, "Marta?"

"I'm in the kitchen, baby!"

I took off my shoes and set them by the door, then walked into the kitchen with my lunch bag, setting it down on the counter. Marta was rinsing something in the sink as I walked over and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"What are you doing?" I asked in a whisper.

Marta smiled as I breathed on her neck, sending a shiver down her spine. "I am making dinner, baby. What are you doing?"

"Getting you aroused," I replied as I kissed her neck.

"Why, baby? Let me finish this first."

"Why?" I repeated. "Because I see you filled in the grave and I want to thank you a million times over for taking care of things while I was at work."

"I will let you do that in five minutes, baby," she assured me. "Go upstairs and start taking a shower. I will join you soon."

"Promise?" Whispering in her ear.

"Yes, baby. I am horny too."

With confirmation from her, I slowly walked out of the kitchen and headed upstairs to the bedroom to undress.

After the shower I began disconnecting the television from the living room wall so I could move it upstairs to our bedroom. Even though I didn't think anyone would stop by unexpectedly, I figured it was best to spend our nights upstairs and in bed as opposed to in the living room where anyone could peer inside.

With the cables disconnected as well as the wall mount, I began to navigate the stairs. Marta walked out of the kitchen and saw me carrying the television awkwardly upstairs.

"Baby, do you want some help?" She offered.

"Nope," I groaned.

"Stop being so stubborn," she scolded, running up behind me to smack my ass.

"Heyy. Are you trying to make me drop it?"

"No," she answered. "Let me help you."

"Fine," I sighed. "Squeeze by and grab the top side."

Marta did as I asked and helped me get the television into the room without any further struggle. We set it down on the bed as I peered around the room for the most ideal mounting place.

"I'd rather not be turned sideways in bed to watch tv, but it would allow for cuddling," I admitted.

"You can cuddle me from behind, baby," she stated. "I can sit on your lap too."

I smirked as I received a naughty look from Marta. It was decided, the television was going to be mounted facing the end of the bed so we could sit up and watch whatever we wanted. It would also allow us to eat in bed too with bowls in our laps, so I wasn't going to complain about that.

While Marta went downstairs to start dishing out dinner for us, I grabbed the tape measure and level to start the installation. I knew I would have to run wires upstairs, so I just focused on getting level marks made on the wall before eating.

Once we ate dinner, Marta checked on the ducklings while I started figuring out the wiring. I hit a roadblock with not knowing how to wire something that needed to go upstairs, so I called my dad for some help.

"Hello?"

"Hey, dad," I greeted. "How's it going?"

"Oh, not too bad. How are you?"

"I'm good."

"Really? You usually call your mother, so I figured something really bad had happened and you couldn't talk to her about it."

I laughed. "No, that's not it. I'm trying to move the tv from the living room into the bedroom. Unfortunately for me, I have no idea what I'm doing for the cables."

"Cables?" He questioned. "There should only be one for the antenna, or satellite. The only other one you need is for power, and maybe an HDMI cable if you want to use a laptop, or computer."

"Okay, so I just need help with running the cable for the stations upstairs. Any suggestions on how to do that in less than a day?"

My dad laughed. "If I was there I could help you do it like I did the first one. Your best option is to run it along the edge of the wall and use staples or thumbtacks to hold it in place, just don't pierce the cable with them. Once you do that, you need to drill a hole so you can feed it through the floor into your bedroom. Or you can just pull the old one out completely and wire it more direct depending on where your dish is located."

"I think I might go with the last option," I confessed as I looked up at the ceiling and cringed at the thought of drilling a hole.

"Well, it would be a lot easier to do it that way, and you should be able to get it done before you go to bed tonight. Anything else you need to talk about?"

"Nope, that's it. Thanks, dad. If I run into another snag I'll give you a shout, but I think I know what I have to do now."

"Well, good luck."

"Thanks, bye."

Marta crept into the living room. "Who was that, baby?"

"My dad," I answered. "He told me what to do, so now I just have to do it."

"Can you, baby?"

I knew she wasn't implying I was unable to, but I wasn't exactly an electrician either. Doing household repairs was my dad's forte, not mine. That was one of the reasons he helped me with the house repairs in the spring.

"I think so," I replied. "All I have to do is trace the cable and pull it out to reroute it upstairs. The only other option is to start drilling holes, and I don't really want to do that."

"Please do not, baby. But if you cannot figure it out, just call your dad again. And if you still cannot figure it out, at least we do not need it working for tonight."

"We don't?" I questioned in bewilderment.

Marta grinned. "No we do not, baby." She stepped forward and placed her hands around the back of my neck to pull me in for a kiss. "We can entertain ourselves."