The Chemistry of Death

Chapter 26

Ziggy held his breath and watched her. But then Tesla appeared. Ziggy couldn’t believe his eyes. That man should have been home, cowering in fear. He was stronger than Ziggy had given him credit for. The man waved his arms like a monkey.

The train operator saw him, and the screech of metal on metal tore at Ziggy’s ears. The operator was braking too soon. Tesla might ruin everything.

Ziggy turned his attention back to Emilia. His hold on her might break in the extra seconds it took for the train to reach her. Or the impact might not kill her. She didn’t know his name, but she could describe him, tell the police what had happened to her, maybe lead them to wonder if there had been others. If they looked for it, they might even find his drug in her system. He needed her to want to die, and to die.

She never wavered. She set her purple shoes on the train ties and held her hands out from her sides like a crucified Christ. A dreamy smile crossed her shining face.

Then the train took her.

He didn’t dare stay to see what happened after. If he’d survived the train, Tesla would come for him. He would bring his nasty dog, and there would be no escaping them.

He would have to miss Emilia’s death, the most satisfying part of his ritual. Tesla had taken her from him. First the lipsticks in his special room, and now this.

Clutching Emilia’s lipstick tightly in his fist, he turned away. He had that, at least, and he had the memory of her standing there with her arms out, crucifying herself because that was how a minister’s daughter should die. She’d been so beautiful and brave. An angel.

His steps turned to an escape route he’d never thought he would need. He always planned his escape route. Sometimes, in life as well as in chemistry, reactions were too energetic, and the energy needed a safe place to vent. He sprinted down a side tunnel.