“Change, put on makeup,” he said. “You didn’t have to change just for me.”

Now she felt embarrassed, on the spot, and she said, “Actually I was in the middle of getting dressed when you rang and-”

“I’m just saying,” Xan said. “You’re the type of woman who doesn’t have to do anything. You look beautiful no matter what.”

She was aware that he was being inappropriately flirty, but in the state she was in- on the verge of divorce, with her self- esteem in the toilet- it was hard not to feel flattered.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Can I ask you a personal question?” he asked.

Had he taken a step or two closer to her without her realizing? It seemed like he had.

“Um, sure,” she said.

“Are you attracted to me?”

“Excuse me?” She had an edge in her voice, wanting to let him know he’d crossed a very thick line.

“I’m not trying to offend you,” he said. “I’m just making an observation. I’m just an artist, that’s what I do- observe. I see the way you look at me, the way you were looking at me the other night, and the way you’re looking at me right now. I know what’s going on in your head.”

She was extremely uncomfortable and more than a little scared. This was not the same charming Xan from the other night. There was something creepy, even menacing, about him.

“I think you should wait for Marissa in the living room,” she said.

“I’m not trying to offend you, Dana.” He took another step toward her, but he was still a few feet away. He said, “I just think it’s, I don’t know, exciting.”

“I want you to wait in the living room,” Dana said firmly.

“Why’re you so nervous?” he asked.

“I’m not nervous,” she said, but she was trembling.

He took another step toward her and said, “Relax.”

She noticed that she couldn’t see one of his hands. It was behind his back; was he holding something?

An instant later he was grabbing her hard, turning her around, pushing her back facing the sink. She couldn’t believe this was actually happening to her. She felt his hands grabbing her ponytail, pulling on it hard. She might’ve said, Stop it; she wasn’t sure. She was dazed, shocked, too panicked to actually think the word “rape,” but she knew that was what was happening, was about to happen. She was expecting him to take down her jeans when he grunted loudly and she felt an enormous stunning pain in the middle of her back and then her legs felt like they were gone and she was on the floor, and that red puddle, God, that must be her blood. The pain in her chest and back and neck was awful at first and she wanted to scream but she couldn’t because something was suddenly clogging her throat. She saw him standing very far away, it seemed, watching her, saying, “It’s okay, baby, just let it go… Let it go, baby… Just let it go.”

nineteen

This had to be some kind of high point of Johnny Long’s life. Maybe other great things would happen to him- hey, he was still young, right?- but it was hard to imagine living to eighty or ninety or whatever and looking back at his life and having a better memory than the time he totally fucked Dr. Adam Bloom and his whole uppity family.

Everything had been going perfectly, even better than Johnny had planned. On Saturday Marissa had come over to his place, and they’d spent the day and night screwing and getting “closer” to each other. They talked a lot, too. He was casual about it, but he picked up some important info about her and her parents and their habits that he hoped he could use later on. Like when she was talking about her father he slipped in questions like, “Does your dad work every day?” and “What time does he usually come home from work?” Not being obvious about it, just acting like he was curious, making small talk. She told him that Adam Bloom usually left for work at “like eight o’clock” and came home “like around seven or eight.” It turned out he’d need this info a lot sooner than he’d thought.

Marissa left his place at around eleven thirty on Sunday morning. After two straight nights together, they were planning to spend the day and night apart to give him “time to paint.” Johnny already knew that Adam was planning to play golf in the morning- the other night during dinner he’d mentioned he had a seven- thirty tee- off time- and Marissa had said that her mom was planning to go shopping at Costco, like she did every other Sunday. So Johnny figured that today could be the perfect opportunity to make his first move.

About twenty minutes after Marissa left, Johnny left. At 12:52 Johnny exited the Forest Hills subway station and headed toward the Blooms’ house. He knew he was taking a risk. He was gambling that Dana had already left for Costco and wasn’t home yet, and that Adam hadn’t finished playing golf, and that Marissa had beat him to the house. If one of them saw him he’d have to make up an excuse for why he was at the house. If they all believed him, he could go on to plan B, but if they started getting suspicious, his whole plan would be in trouble.

The Blooms’ Merc and SUV weren’t in the driveway- a good sign. Johnny had already written a note from “Tony from the gym,” and he slid it under the Bloom’s front door. He was walking away when he saw Adam Bloom’s Merc coming down the block, heading right toward him.

It was a good thing Johnny was paying attention, because if he’d taken another step or two, Bloom probably would’ve seen him. But Johnny turned quickly and went up the driveway.

Shit, now what? The backyard had tall picket fences on all sides with no real place to hide, and Bloom’s car was going to turn into the driveway in maybe five seconds.

As a kid, Johnny had learned how to run away from the cops and kids who’d wanted to kick the shit out of him. He’d always been a great climber- fences, trees, he could climb anything. He leaped onto the fence and hoisted himself up. If he’d had more time he could’ve gotten over easily, but he couldn’t find any good support for his feet, and the top of the fence had pointy wooden spikes. He could hear the car getting close, probably right about to turn into the driveway. Using all his strength, he pulled himself up and in the same motion managed to lift his legs up and swing them over the top of the fence. Then he let go with his hands, but he wasn’t over yet. His leather jacket got caught on the top of the fence. He reached up, freed himself, and fell down hard on to his ass right as Bloom’s car was heading up the driveway.

His ass and lower back killed, but he was fine. More important, he’d managed to make it over the fence just in time, without Bloom seeing him.

What did see him was a German shepherd in the house next door to the Blooms. The stupid mutt was on its hind legs, clawing at the window, trying to break through the glass. Johnny was going to stay where he was- the dog was in the house; it couldn’t come after him- but, shit, what if somebody was in the house and came over to see why the dog was barking? The person would see Johnny in the backyard, huddled on the ground, in plain view.

Johnny got up, ran to the driveway of the house with the dog, and stayed as close to the house as he could, without moving at all, but the dog, the son of a bitch, had come to the side of the house and was barking, clawing against the window.

Then Johnny heard a woman’s voice inside the house- there must’ve been a screen on the window- saying, “What is it, Blackie?”

Johnny didn’t think the woman would be able to see him, but he wasn’t sure. She would definitely see him if she opened the screen and looked out. He couldn’t run away, because he didn’t know if Bloom had gone into his house yet, so he had to stay where he was and hope for the best.

“What? Where? I don’t see anything,” the woman said, but the dog was still barking insanely. Then the woman said, “Come on, just stop it… I said stop it right now.”