Lethal Loose Ends - Prologue. Prologue

On the way home he kept going over the man’s threat . . .the blackmail threat. He felt dizzy trying to deal with all the ramifications. One thing for sure, he wasn’t going to involve his partner.

How can I? Best if he’s ignorant of the whole matter. My way is clear . . . I’ll just do what they say. I’ll continue as usual at the church and not go to the police. If that’s what’s required, If all they want is my silence to keep my dearest safe, then that’s what I’m gonna do. To hell with me! My life’s over . . . sure I’ll be charged and jailed . . . and killed . . . in jail. I know how these cretins work. All loose ends are taken care of. I have it coming. No amount of self-pity is gonna change my guilt. Oh, my sweet lover. . . what a bad choice he’s made in partners. NO! I’ll just take my punishment like a man. But if I can do anything to bring down my parents that’s gonna be reward in itself. In the short time left for me and him, I’m gonna make every second count . . I want to have as many good memories as possible.

Having made his decision and accepted his fate, he started to feel better. The thing about making a decision, albeit a not so pleasant one, is a relative calm descends. The mind no longer is a morass of conflicting choices and fears. In this frame of mind, he drove into their garage and entered the house.

An uncomfortable feeling gripped him as soon as he opened the front door. Something wasn’t right. He sensed an invisible presence . . . an invasion of privacy . . . something evil . . . and a smell.

Cautiously he made his way around the house checking the lounge area, the kitchen, the master bedroom, the spare bedroom . . . the bathroom . . .

Behavioral analysis has shown that when confronted with pure horror the human brain seizes and refuses to accept the reality it perceives. The brain, as a defense mechanism, tries to deny reality. This happened to him when he opened the bathroom door and saw the mangled, butchered body of the dog, hanging up by a meat hook, on the shower rail.

He just stared, and stared . . . silently screaming . . . until his vocal cords became active . . . and he collapsed in a heap . . . mumbling over and over . . . No! No! No! . . . please, no, no, no . . .

. . . because now his lover was involved.