Good morning and Happy Hump Day! If it's Wednesday, then it must be time for more flash fiction from the Wednesday Briefers! We're a group of authors who bring you our finest flash fiction every week, 500 to 1000 words, inspired by one of our prompts.
The moment you've been waiting for (but not Vinny) - face to face with the Florida Mangler once again! See what's happening in this week's chapter of Bad Karma and the Family Plan. Don't forget to visit the other Briefers and see what's up with them. Their links follow my tale! Enjoy!
We were shown into a private room off the main
hallway. The only furniture in the room was a table and three chairs. And in
the single chair across from us, sitting there with the smuggest expression on
his smarmy face, was… you know who.
The Florida Mangler himself. The man who’d killed
our late partner, Eva June, among others. The man who’s kidnapped me and held
me hostage for reasons I still didn’t comprehend. I won’t add injury to insult
by referring to him as the alleged Florida Mangler, even though he hadn’t been
to trial yet and wasn’t everyone innocent until proven guilty, because we knew
without a shadow of a doubt that he was the Mangler. Despite whatever
his lawyer might or might not plead when the time came, up to and including
insanity. But I didn’t believe for one moment that Chip was crazy, just very
evil.
If I’d expected Chip to look the worse for being
incarcerated all this time, I was sadly mistaken. Apparently jail agreed with
him as he retained his frat boy looks. If anything, his reddish-brown hair had
grown longer, giving him a somewhat more feminine appearance, and his pale
green eyes wore a look of amusement that definitely did reach his lips in the
form a smirk.
I came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the
doorway, having followed after Ethan and the policeman, my feet having refused
to cooperate and enter the room. I could clearly see that Chip was manacled in
place, and even if we sat directly across fom him at the table, he would not be
able to reach either of us. That didn’t keep me from worrying that he might
try.
I barely heard the recitation of the rules given by
our escort, until he said he would be right outside the door, which I was still
standing inside. Ethan turned to face me, a concerned look on his handsome
face.
“C’mon in, Vinny,” Chip beckoned me with a wolfish
grin. “Let me see that pretty face.” He chuckled at his own warped wit.
Ethan stepped closer to me, lowering his voice so
only I could hear. “We can leave if you want. We don’t have to do this.”
But I knew we did if we were ever to get closure. I
didn’t trust the court system to provide that. I’d seen too many cases where
killers were sentenced but never had to explain why they had done what they’d
done.
“I’ll be okay, Ethan,” I assured him, even though I
wasn’t so sure myself. I took a step inside the room, and then another. Ethan
nodded at the officer and he left, closing the door behind him and locking us
in with our archenemy.
Straighten your spine, DelaRosa. You can
do this.
I took a deep breath and nodded to Ethan. We covered
the short distance between us and the table and took our seats.
“Long time no see, guys,” Chip remarked.
to be continued
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