Monday 7 July 2014

Monday, July 07, 2014 -

Just What She Deserved

by Ryan Rowland
Published: Jun 11, 2014
Words: 23,475
Category: general
Orientation: M/F
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OPENING EXTRACT
Just What She Deserved

Something didn't look right. Eric Sawyer scanned the walls of the dining room again. He hadn't lived in the house long enough to become intimately familiar with the furnishings, but he was sure something was missing. There! Next to the window, where the unfaded paint didn't quite match the area around it. Hadn't there been a small landscape painting there?

At age twenty-seven, Eric had recently returned to the town where he grew up to take possession of his grandfather's estate. He hadn't wanted anything to do with the old man when he was alive. He was ashamed to admit it, but his grandfather had been a crook. While managing to stay out of jail, he had skirted the law with unethical and sometimes downright illegal practices as an investment broker. In the process, he had amassed a small fortune while fleecing quite a few gullible people out of their savings.

But lavish spending and health problems had drained away nearly all his ill-gotten wealth. There was nothing left except the house, but its tasteful furnishings included a number of moderately valuable paintings. One of them seemed to have vanished. Had someone broken in and stolen it? It was common knowledge around town that the old man had collected art, so anyone could have surmised there would be valuable items in the house.

Eric went to check the inventory so he could report the theft. He would also have to summon a technician to repair the alarm system which hadn't worked correctly since he had moved in the previous month.

---oOo---

A buzzing noise roused Eric from his sleep. Rubbing his eyes, he looked at the clock on the nightstand. It was just after two in the morning. With a rush of adrenalin, he realized that it was not the alarm clock, but the intrusion alarm that had wakened him.

The alarm system was set to 'silent'. It would notify the police, but would not sound the piercing siren that would scare an intruder away. If there was a burglar, Eric wanted him caught and sent to jail. He rose quickly, pulled on his trousers, and retrieved a shotgun from the closet before cautiously opening the bedroom door.

Silently approaching the darkened living room, Eric saw a shadowy figure. His heart was pounding as he reached for the light switch. He was scared but also angry. How dare this thief come into his house to steal his possessions!

"Freeze!" Eric shouted as light flooded the room. At the same time, he pumped the twelve-gauge shotgun to send a shell into the chamber. He wouldn't actually shoot except in self-defense, but hoped to intimidate the thief and hold him for the police.

A pair of antique sterling silver candlesticks thumped to the floor as the intruder, dressed in black and wearing a hooded ski mask, froze with hands raised.

"Turn around slowly and take off the mask!" Eric ordered.

"Don't shoot! Please!" the would-be thief begged.