Chapter 1
Killing was the only thing he thought about anymore. It put his mind and soul at peace while everything around him seemed so chaotic. It was cold out, and he thought about going home to his nice warm cabin. He didn’t want to be here, but he knew he had to be. If he didn’t take care of her, she would just hurt others, and he would never find closure, and after all, she deserved it. He just wanted his world to be quiet again. The anger was eating him from the inside. Control, deep breaths, counting, and there she was.
He had been watching her for weeks now. She was so beautiful. It was frigid out during October in Spokane, Washington, and the cold wind was playing with her hair as she stood on the sidewalk. She didn’t look like the other girls on Sprague Avenue. She looked almost innocent and somehow serene. Her large dark almond eyes looked over at his truck for a moment begging him to save her from this life. He knew she would welcome death when it came. His heart began to race, thinking she could see him, but that wasn’t possible. He was tucked back in the shadows, and there was no way she could see him inside the darkened cab of his truck. He was safe to watch for now.
Abigail had been working on Sprague for a couple of years. She had followed her boyfriend here a few years ago, and then he took off, leaving her to fend for herself. The business was good, and she had several regulars, which made it easier in this line of work. However, she knew her profession was a high-risk career. Lately, she had felt a little uneasy because the same dark pickup truck had been coming around for the past few weeks. The driver never approached the girls; he just sat back and watched them. It gave her the creeps. She learned early on that you had to trust your instincts and always watch your back. This was the most dangerous job she could have chosen, but she no longer knew how to change it. She had tried to take on some odd jobs and even tried to go back to school once, but she couldn’t make enough money to live off of. She was currently saving up all her money to move away from this freezing place and go somewhere warm.
Most people told Abigail she was beautiful, but she felt average though she couldn’t argue that she was one of the best earners on the streets. She had beautiful long dark raven hair that fell down her back. She had full lips that made her look pouty and a little sad, which seemed to really turn on her clients. She was about to turn 28 but looked like she couldn’t be any older than 20. She was petite with a tiny waist and small breasts. She dressed more like an innocent schoolgirl with cardigan sweaters and leggings. Her clients wanted to save her and give her a better life. She had a couple of older men that would give her extra money, clothes, and gifts, to help keep her off the streets. She would just put it all in her nest egg, waiting for the opportunity to get away from this place and live a fully clothed normal life during the daytime instead of this awful existence. Maybe, just maybe, she could fall in love and start a family one day.
This night shift business was really wearing on her. She felt tired most of the time, and her body ached from standing in the cold. She hated what she did for a living, letting men paw at her body for money. Some men weren’t bad and treated her very nicely, but others were rough and smelled bad. One man was so heavy he almost crushed her the night before. He had to have been over 300 pounds and was sweating the entire time profusely. She thought he was going to have a heart attack, but he didn’t. He got off quickly, and her business was done. She was happy that he paid well, and she could take a shower.
She was lost in thought when she finally noticed that the blue pickup truck that had been sitting there watching them for weeks was slowly creeping toward her. She watched with her guard up, ready to flee if there was something wrong with the person inside or he threatened her. The nice thing about her dressing like a schoolgirl was that she didn’t wear those ridiculously high heels like the other girls, which gave her the ability to run faster. She was looking for her best exit plan when he stopped the truck in front of her. For some reason, her internal alarms were freaking out. Her heartfelt like it was about to jump out of her chest. She told herself to calm down and to stop being so paranoid.
When he finally stopped in front of her and rolled down his window, she was surprised to see a clean-cut man sitting behind the wheel. This explained a lot. It is illegal for anyone to solicit a prostitute in Washington State, but that did not stop most people. It wasn’t something that was heavily enforced anyway. As long as the girls got their regular checkups at the clinic and didn’t give the local police a hard time, they were usually left alone. On occasion, she would provide sexual favors for free to some of the men on the force, keeping them at bay for a while. The other girls would do the same. It was part of the price of doing business.
The man in front of her was quite handsome. He was a bit older, probably mid to late 40s. It was hard to tell these days. This one looked in great shape but looked older than what his body told her he was.
“Hi handsome, would you like to have some fun tonight,” Abigail asked.
“Yes,” he said, looking down at his hands.
He appeared ashamed of what he was about to ask for. That was common in Abigail’s line of work, but she had no idea what he had in mind for her.
“How much for the entire night with you?” he asked in a deep husky voice.
Abigail smiled; this was going to be easy money. “I won’t take less than $500,” posturing to begin the bargaining process. It was higher than her standard rate, but she figured he was good for it.
The man smiled back at her, “that is more than reasonable to spend time with a beautiful lady.” She mentally kicked herself, thinking she should have asked for more.
Most guys said they wanted her for the entire night, but usually, they fell asleep once she got them off, and she was out of there. She would just have one of her friends pick her up. She and her roommate had a system. She would text her when she got to the place and then text her when she was done, safe, and headed home. So far, it was a pretty good system and seemed to work well. Even if her friend was working, she had backups. There was an Uber driver she knew that had a crush on her and would pick her up pretty much anytime from anywhere without asking a whole lot of questions. He always said she reminds him of his sister, and he wants to help her.
She climbed into the man’s truck.
