Lust Demented

{XXXIII}

“IS THIS HER?” A CHARCOAL drawing of Missy hung crooked over the fireplace in Percy’s den. Kiko studied her body, taken aback by how Missy fit the obscene pose.

“Yeah...” In a trance, I traced her outline with my fingers.

“I know this woman.” Something was getting under Kiko’s skin.

“You what?”

“I met her the same day I last saw Percy Featherton, but he introduced her with a different name.”

“Evelina?”

“Yeah. How’d you know?”

“She was the seductress from his bestselling novel.”

“Hmmm. Anyway, Percy had some half-baked proposition that Monika likened more to the effect of standing in front of the firing squad than the Nobel foundation. He never really let on clearly what he was asking her to do. Instead, he spent more time explaining how the plan was foolproof. He had every angle covered. Bribes to company boardmembers were set in place. A team of Hitler youth propagandists were standing by ready to social network their cockrings off. He showed us these miniature ads that he would use for skyscraper wraps, challenging us to guess what subliminal messages were hidden inside.”

“What did Monika say?”

“Monika barely heard him out. It was everything she wrote against. With her cult following she could afford this lone wolf philosophy. She was about to go out on her own anyway. Start her own publishing house.”

“She was? So that’s why…”

“That’s why what?”

“Huh… nothing.”

“Who knows if it would’ve worked? Her fan base was so loyal, that if she endorsed anything, the vampire bats would come out in legions.”

“Or covens. What did you think of Missy? What was she wearing? Did she make any mention of the baby? How about…”

“Woooh. Farrow slow down. She didn’t say anything. She just looked around the house like she was taking notes. Casing the place. She made no mention of the baby. She only asked if we read her new book.”

“She’s not even a fucking writer.”

“That’s how she struck me. Writers usually have this extra-terrestrial outerwordliness about them, which she had, but she showed no signs of the pathetic desperation. From the second I saw her I felt she was occupying two realms at the same time. One with us and the other where she had the dark master at the bottom of her Ponzi.”

“That’s just her personality.”

“Mystically sexy, but it seemed more than that. So this deal you had going with Percy?” Kiko’s face contorted.

“I didn’t have a deal going with him?” The sinister insinuation lingered in my ears.

“Oh you didn’t. I thought you said…”

“I was just…” I didn’t remember what I told her. If I didn’t, someone else did or Kiko could see right through me. “…that’s how it goes… wait what was Gloom’s take?” I leaned forward attempting to swallow back the words.

“When Percy and Missy left, Gloom went over how it might play out with me at least a hundred times over. I was sick of hearing her talk about work all the time, so I suggested we get some fresh air. We went for a walk and we passed Percy staring at our house. I wasn’t sure why at the time, but instinctively my stomach convulsed in fear. Monika thought nothing of it and told me not to worry. If I only…” Kiko was sinking in despair.

“Untie me.”