First, the plane landed late, and now she was calling him, and he hadn’t even picked up his luggage.

“What do you want, Rachael?” Okay, maybe he was being impatient with her. Tom had been away on a business trip for the last three weeks. So, he calmed himself down and tried again. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, I’m just tired from the flight. What’s up?”

“No worries. I’m calling to let you know I won’t be home when you arrive because I got a job while you were away, and I’m still working.”

“You got a job?” Tom didn’t know which emotion was strongest. Irritation that his wife is working or delight that he had more time to spend with Leona. He came from a generation where the husband took care of his family. The wife stayed home and took care of the children. Granted, it wasn’t the most open-minded belief, but it worked for his father, grandfather, and the generations before them.

It also didn’t matter that Tom and Rachel had no children; it was the principle of the matter. No wife of his was going to work, but if she was gone, he could spend more time with his mistress.

Rachael was the perfect wife, dutiful and loyal, but it also made her predictable and boring. Leona was the opposite, and Tom enjoyed her company, but he didn’t plan to leave his wife for her.

Maybe her having a job could be a good thing then, so he scrounged up some enthusiasm. “That’s great, hon. You know, though, you didn’t have to get a job. I make more than enough money to support us. But, congratulations.”

“Thank you, and I know I didn’t have to, but you are away a lot for business. It gets lonely, and I get bored with being home all the time alone. This way, I keep busy and make some extra spending money while doing it.”

At that moment, another call came in; it was Leona. Tom got distracted; he heard Rachael babbling on about something. “Hey babe, I have another call. It’s work. Sorry, but I’ll call you right back.”

“No, that’s fine, sweetheart; I just wanted to let you know I won’t be home to greet you.” She was gone, and Tom hit the incoming call button.

“Leona, my love, what are you up to?”

“I’m just checking to see if you were back yet.”

“I just landed, heading to the luggage carousel as we speak. Hopefully, I can grab my suitcase in a reasonable amount of time.”

“Are you coming over, or must you go home first?”

Tom chuckled over the excitement he heard in Leona’s voice. He missed her, too. “Well, it so happens. Rachael has a job now, and she’s working late, so I’ll be over as soon as I get my stuff.”

He listened for a few more minutes, “Okay, see you soon,” and hung up.

After his stuff showed up on the carousel, he called Uber, went outside, and sat on a bench, waiting for his ride. Tom had just taken a seat when the car pulled up almost immediately. Wow, talk about quick service.

He slid his suitcase over, and as Tom stepped into the back, he gave the driver Leona’s address. Then, a flash of pain followed by never ending darkness.

Tom swam peacefully in the darkness, but the constant pounding hurt his head. It wouldn’t stop, and the noise was irritating, forcing him to consciousness. His tongue felt huge and swollen, preventing him from speaking. He licked his lips, trying to work up enough saliva to moisten his dry mouth.

Raising his head to see he was lying on a dark blue sofa that looked vaguely familiar. Tom pulled himself upright and noticed the blood nearly dried on his silk-gray shirt.

“What?”

There was more blood covering his fingers and palms, caked in crimson splatters. He glanced down at his pants, even more confused now, and more dark stains were drying. They weren’t completely dry, but the dried patches meant they had been on his clothes for some time.

The front door slammed inward. Police officers piled into the room with weapons drawn. His mind was fuzzy, and he tried desperately to remember how he got here, wherever he was. Tom couldn’t remember anything and every time he tried to force it; his head started pounding.

The next thing he knew, somebody grabbed him and flipped him face-first onto the couch. He vaguely remembered hearing a male voice read him his ‘rights.’ The cold metal of the handcuffs clamped around his wrists before he was yanked upright and pushed toward the front door.

At that moment, everything became crystal clear. The police were arresting him, but for what? Tom stopped dead in his tracks. “What the hell is going on? Can someone tell me why I’m in handcuffs? Where am I?”

A hand on his shoulder halted him. “What do you mean where are you?’

Tom turned around to face penetrating gray eyes. “I don’t know where I am. The last thing I remember is getting in an Uber; that’s it.” 

“I’m arresting you for murder, and you are at Leona Matthew’s apartment.”

“Wait. Murder? Who is it I supposedly killed?” Tom felt like he was in a nightmare. Nothing was making sense. His head still pounded like someone was hitting it continually with a 2×4, and where did all of this blood come from?

“You stabbed Ms. Matthews sixteen times. Are you trying to tell me you don’t remember killing her?”

“No, and I wouldn’t kill her. I remember giving the Uber driver Leona’s address. But I don’t remember arriving here or even attacking her. Are you sure I killed her?”

“Somebody called it in, and you are the only one here.” The policeman told him and led him out the door.

The next six months were a nightmare. There was a trial, and the District Attorney called some forensic expert’s name, who testified that only Tom’s fingerprints were in the apartment. His prints were also the only ones on the murder weapon, which was a steak knife.

He dimly heard the DA asking, “So, there is no possible error that the prints could belong to someone else?”

“That is correct; we require a minimum of a six-point match and in this case, the prints matched all ten points. There is no mistake. The prints belonged to the defendant.”

“Thank you, Dr. Evans. You may step down.”

How Tom stabbed the victim sixteen times, speculating that the victim wanted Tom to leave his wife. Nothing was sacred. The DA brought up his affair, and he felt his face burn as they flaunted how long the affair had lasted.

Tom froze in shock.

He stoically sat in the chair with his lawyer and refused the urge to turn around and look for Rachael. He grabbed the bottle of water off the table and took a long swig from it. Tom couldn’t imagine what she must be thinking through the trial. The court stated they thought he was a flight risk, so they denied his bail.

Rachael had not visited or called him once during the whole mess. So, he didn’t know what was going through her head, nor could he even apologize to her.

He felt the jury’s disapproving eyes and tried not to slink further down in his chair.

Even his own lawyer didn’t ask questions.

Tom looked down at his hands, unable to stand the piercing gaze, now understanding why she had never visited. She must also think he killed Leona.

Witness after witness was called to the stand, where they each gave their damning testimony. The Uber driver stated he never saw Tom, and that he must have taken a different means of transportation. 

The court found him guilty of manslaughter and sentenced him to life without parole. It surprised him when Rachael visited him in prison the day after his sentencing.

When the guard led him into the booth, she sat in a metal chair, looking beautiful. Once again, he realized how much of an idiot he had been. He reached for the phone with trembling hands as thousands of thoughts battered his aching skull.

Rachael picked up the phone on her end as well. “How are you, Tom?”

“I’m doing much better now that you are here, but Rachael, I must tell you. I didn’t kill Leona.”

“I know you didn’t. I believe you.”

“Thank you for believing me.”

She smiled a bitter smile that darkened her beautiful blue eyes to sparkling sapphires.  “But you had an affair with her.” Her words, like ice cycles, stabbed his heart. Rachael gave him one last look, slammed the receiver down, and walked away.

A chill raced up his spine as cramps blossomed in his stomach.

Yes, Rachel knew Tom didn’t stab Leona to death, because she did. She was lying in wait for him at the airport that night. Not caring about the consequences if she were discovered, and posed as his ride. Rachael drove up to Tom. When he was bent over getting his suitcase into the SUV, she tasered him and Tom collapsed on the seat. It was the first time using the birthday present he gave her, and it was impressive.

She stared at the still body, trying to decide her next move when his cell rang, and Leona’s name popped up on the cell. Rachael grabbed Tom’s thumb, pressed it to the screen,  and unlocked his phone. After seeing Leona’s name with her address in his contacts list she knew her next move. Rage flooded her body, and before she knew it, Rachael was on her way to Leona’s house.

Rachael pushed Tom inside the car, drove to the address, and walked up to the door. A gorgeous redhead with emerald eyes answered the knock.

“Hi, I’m the Uber driver for one Tom Sinclair. He’s passed out in the back seat, and this was the address he gave me? I was hoping you could help me get him inside. I think he had too much to drink?”

“Oh poor baby, yes, of course.”

Between the two of them, they got Tom out of the Uber, on his feet, and into the apartment. They laid him on the couch, and while Leona fussed over him, Rachael went into the kitchen and grabbed a steak knife out of the holder. She went back into the living room, and before Leona knew what Rachael was going to do, stabbed her again and again. Rage flooded her body thinking of the two of them lying naked together.  

When a sliver of sanity finally seeped into her mind, Leona was dead. Rachael’s hands and clothes were covered in blood. So, working quickly she wiped the blood off the knife and wrapped Tom’s hands around the hilt. She rearranged the murder scene to ensure Tom would be blamed for it.

As her last act, she put a bottle of water on the table in court where she knew Tom would sit. Inside was water, and powder from a castor bean plant. Tom didn’t know it yet, but he wouldn’t be alive much longer. However, it wasn’t going to be a quick death. Ricin poisoning was a very slow and very painful way to die.

Rachael couldn’t think of a better way for a rat to die.