Deadly Secret
“Hello?”
“I know your secret”, came the distorted voice from the other end of the line, sending shivers down Delia's spine.
“Who's this?” she steadied her voice, not allowing the fear she felt to reflect.
“Someone who knows what you did two nights ago”
Delia's heart pounded in her ears, blocking out every thought but the one that tried to figure out who was on the other end of the phone and how they knew about what happened two nights ago.
She thought of pretending not to know what the person was talking about, but they were too specific not to truly know.
Still, she chose to pretend, because they could have been talking about something else.
Two nights ago she had had a long night at the office, working on the proposal she was to present to the board for the role of Vice President of marketing operations.
She had worked her butt off all through the year and in the days leading up to ‘her promotion’ she had learned that her best friend, Jess, was also being considered for the position.
That was the first time Jess betrayed her. Delia stayed up at night wondering why she would keep something like that away from her. She had been too blind to see that Jess was implementing the strategies she discussed with her over their lunch dates.
She thought nothing of it but it all made sense when she learned that Jess was being considered for the role too. She had intended to confront her about it but decided against it, instead, she decided to keep her distance.
Two nights ago she was working on her closing pitch, one she was certain would get her the promotion. Two nights ago she had stopped by a pub to grab a drink to ease the tension while dreading having to return home to her husband, Zayn.
Two nights ago she had gotten home later than she intended and had been a little more than tipsy, but not drunk enough to not feel the sting from the slap Zayn had landed on her face for getting home late.
However, she was drunk enough to run into the kitchen and grab a knife. Or so she believed.
“I don't know what you're talking about”
“Don't play with me, Delia. I know you killed Zayn”
Delia's heart was now threatening to leap out of her chest through her mouth, but her throat was so dry her heart would have had a hard time coming out.
“What do you want?” She steadied her voice.
“$500,000”
“You don't mean that right? Because how am I supposed to get that kind of money?”
“Come on Delia, you don't work a fancy job for nothing now, do you? You're a smart girl, I'm sure you can figure it out”
The line beeped indicating that whoever it was had hung up the call.
No one could have seen what she had done, and even if anyone saw it, they would know she was not at fault. Zayn had come at her again, just like he had done for the last 5 years of their marriage.
“Where the heck have you been?” He had bellowed when she walked through the door. She didn't react but turned to walk up the stairs to their room which he had turned into a boxing ring, one where only he ever won and she was always trying to catch her breath along with her life.
“I'm talking to you Delia!” He had pulled her by the hair just as she was climbing up the stairs. She had fallen and hit her head hard against the floor and when she stood, all she could see was red.
“Just because you pay the bills doesn't mean you should disrespect me…” he was still bellowing when she ran into the kitchen and grabbed a knife from the block.
“Lay your filthy hands on me, one more time, I dare you!” She screamed at the top of her lungs as she pointed the knife at him with a confidence that she had never felt. It was probably the alcohol.
“Have you lost your mind?” The surprise he felt at her actions was reflected in his voice.
“I dare you”, her daring eyes should have been enough warning for him to stay away, but instead he lunged forward with a blow and when she got the chance, she stuck the metal into him. Not once, not twice, not three times, but five.
It was only when he stopped moving that she realized what she had done. Her hands were covered in his blood as were her clothes.
She broke down and shed tears of anger, hurt, guilt, exhaustion from being beaten for 5 years and relief from knowing that it was finally over.
In an instant, she washed herself up, changed her clothes and went outside her house to check and be sure that no one had seen, and surely, only her tyre marks were in the driveway.
She went back into her house, wrapped up Zayn's body in their sheets and dragged it into the storage room until she could be sure of how to dispose of it.
Delia hardly got any sleep that night, or the nights that followed, and after that call, she wasn't going to be getting any sleep tonight either.
She stayed awake, wondering who the other person on the end of the call was.
The next morning, the same number called again.
“Meet me at the address I sent you. I would have said not to bring cops, but I'm sure you know better. Bring the money with you”
“I don't have…” she was protesting but the line went dead.
Delia checked the address and again wondered who could be doing this to her.
She clocked in to work that morning, driving through a pool of water and parked next to the reserved space for the VP of Marketing Operations. Just as she got out of her car, Jess drove in as well, driving through the same pool of water and parking her car in the VP of Marketing Operations reserved space.
Delia was hardly surprised by Jess's actions, she had always been crazy like that. However, as she watched Jess walk away without as much as saying ‘good morning’, her attention was drawn to the patterns her wet tyre made in the car park. She compared the patterns with those of her tyres and realized that the tyre patterns she had seen at her house that night and assumed were hers, were not hers. They looked more like Jess's than hers.
She tried not to think much of it and convinced herself that Jess would never do anything like that to her no matter how bad it got between them. However, as she went up to her office the thought would not vanish.
She tried to focus on other things but her mind was fixated on the meet-up with the person behind the strange number that took sleep away from her.
She was out of her door the moment the clock struck at 5:00 pm. Jess's car was no longer in the parking lot and that raised her suspicions even more.
The address that had been sent to her led to a deserted warehouse. It didn't look like it had ever been used and as she walked in, she felt like she could hear grains of sand falling with every step she took.
There was a figure at the centre of the room as she stepped in. She couldn't see the face because their back was turned to her but she could tell it was a woman, and she had spent so much time with Jess to recognize her physique anywhere.
“Finally, the queen arrives”, it was Jess's voice and as she turned to face her, she realised that it was indeed her.
“Jess?”
“Yeah, crazy plot twist right? I'll make this quick. You'll get the money I requested and I can turn you in for embezzlement. You get fired, go to jail and I become the VP of marketing and operations”.
“Hmm… Well, I'll make this even quicker, Jess. Someone is on his way right now to deposit Zayn's body at your house. I knew it was you so I prepared”, I pretended to check my phone, “Oh look, he arrived already. In addition to trying to frame me for embezzlement which I have proof of, you killed my husband and tried to frame me for his death”
“You don't have proof” There was uncertainty in her voice when she said it.
I proceeded to play the recording I just made where she admitted to blackmailing me.
“I'd think twice about my plan if I were you, Jess. Good night”
I felt her eyes on me as I made my way out of the warehouse. “Well, one down.”