Thou Shalt Not Kill

Jason drank the remainder of the milk from the carton. He grimaced at the bitter taste and threw the container in the trash. He looked at his reflection in the kitchen window and smiled. It had been said that these days, you can't get away with murder. Those people never met Jason Holiday. He not only got away with murder, he stood to gain a great deal of money in the process.

Jason had suspected that his wife, Sheila, had been having an affair for sometime. He confirmed this one night while following her. Her lover turned out to be Joe Straker, one of Jason's friends. Instinct told Jason to murder both of them where they laid, but logic told him to hold off. So he waited. Jason continued to play nave and allowed the affair to continue.

The first part of Jason's plan was to contact the police department on nights that he was off of work. He would inform the officers that he had seen a man in his yard with the general description of Joe Straker. Of course, the officers would find no one in the area. Jason repeated this tactic almost every weekend.

Jason took out a $250,000 insurance policy on Sheila, naming himself as the sole beneficiary. Sheila never suspected for a moment that he was planning her death. She was more than happy to do anything for him, especially if she thought that he suspected something was wrong. By this time, Sheila and Joe were meeting daily.

Six months later, Jason decided to finish the plan. He told Sheila that he was going to spend the weekend with his brother in Wisconsin. Of course, Jason had to convince his brother to play along with the plan. It would cost him $25,000, but it was well worth it.

Jason waited outside of his house until Sheila arrived, which was well past 2:00a.m. She stumbled out of her car and made her way to the porch. As she searched her purse for the keys, Jason snuck up behind her and choked the life out of her. It was really no big deal considering that he outweighed her by 150 pounds. The struggle was minimal. Luckily, they lived in a secluded area in the country and no one heard her scream.

Jason loaded her body up in her car and drove her to Sheila and Joe's favorite meeting place, a hunter parking area on Rock Ridge. He carried Sheila's lifeless body to the woods and dumped her. Jason's brother picked him up and they drove toward Wisconsin. They stopped along the way and Jason's brother made an anonymous telephone call to the county sheriff's department and told them that he had heard screams coming from the area of Rock Ridge.

Jason spent the weekend in Wisconsin and received a telephone call from his father-in-law concerning Sheila's death. Joe was being held in the county jail for murder. Jason drove back home and played the grieving widower perfectly. He always did have a talent for acting. Investigators told him that Sheila had been having an affair with Joe and that they found her body on Rock Ridge. There was evidence of sexual contact with Joe prior to her death. That, combined with the description of the prowler that Jason told the police he saw at his house, sealed Joe's fate. He had no alibi and no way out.

Joe was convicted of 1st degree murder and sentenced to life in prison, without the possibility of parole. Jason, in the meantime, received the insurance money and made plans to take a very long vacation.

The wind picked up and blew the chimes against the house. The lights flickered in the kitchen. He retrieved a candle from a kitchen drawer and sat it on the table. He listened to the weather report earlier and didn't recall hearing about a storm moving in. He peered out the window and watched the tree branches as the wind whipped them in all directions. He moved to the living room and used the remote to activate the television. No matter how many times he tried, it wouldn't work. He approached the television itself and tried to turn it on. Once again, the television wouldn't work. He checked the outlet and determined that the VCR was working properly. The television was plugged into the same outlet and should have worked, but it wasn't.

He was startled by a knock on the back door. He spun around and made his way to the back porch. It sounded as if someone was trying to knock the door down. It was a constant knock until he touched the doorknob, the knocking ceased. He swung the door open and looked outside. There was no one around. He stepped outside and looked around the empty yard, there was nothing but darkness. He went inside and locked the door. He went into the living room and looked out the window. It was pitch dark outside, but he could see lightening in the distance.

The television roared to life. He bumped his head on the end table. He turned around and looked at the television like it was from another planet. He sat down on the couch and watched as an aging anchorman gave his rendition of today's news.

Jason was extremely tired. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt so exhausted. It was as if he couldn't muster enough energy to go to bed. He dozed off. He awakened a short while later. He didn't know how long he had slept, but he could hear the rain as it splattered on the roof. There was a woman on the television from one of those low budget zombie movies screaming. He closed his eyes again. "Jason, why did you kill me?"

He opened his eyes and looked at the television screen. He suddenly realized that it was not a zombie, but Sheila. She watched him cold and lifeless eyes. Her hair was in disarray and her face was marred by dark splotches. He tripped over the coffee table and scrambled to his feet. She was still watching him. He could see other images behind her, but he couldn't make out their faces. He opened the door and ran out into the storm. It was raining in sheets, but he didn't seem to notice. He ran across the yard and climbed into his pickup truck. He sat in the driver seat and stared at the house. He tried to convince himself that it was just a dream. It seemed so real. He glanced at the house, Sheila stood at the window watching him.

Jason saw movement out of the corner of his eye. He had just enough time to scream before a giant oak tree fell onto his truck. The truck and Jason were smashed beyond recognition. Jason's lifeless arm stretched out from beneath the tree. Sheila smiled, and disappeared.

Story ID:	3662
Written by:	matt w bridgeforth (bio, contact, other stories)
Organization:	none
Story type:	Fiction
Location:	country setting usa
Year:	2007
Person:	Jason/Sheila