Rising Darkness Read Free

these things a little better. I thought you wanted to talk to Richard about the grand opening this weekend? I mean that is mostly what this party is about right?”
    “Yea, but he has been swarmed by hangers on all evening. I guess they figure since he is opening the brand new and the coolest place that he must have all of the best cars in the universe. They are all models that hit the floor tomorrow or something. It’s sad, but I can’t get close to him.”
    Tracy leaned into him and held him tightly. She felt so soft and smooth against him and he was honestly not sure what he would ever do without her. She was his Angel; she was his rock.
    “Maybe you just have to use that charm of yours and steal him away from the crowd. That’s what I had to do with you that time,” Tracy said.
    Joe laughed. She was remarking about the time that Joe had gotten so drunk at his own party that he forgot he was married and he was regaling everyone about his drunken days as a carefree bachelor. When he thought about those times sober he wanted to hurl. It was disgusting the things he had allowed himself to get into and the people he had hung out with, but when you were young and lucky enough to have all the money in the world then you were obligated to act like a complete retard.
    Joe moved his carcass away from the outside shenanigans and eventually found Richard being swarmed by a trio of drunk and beautiful girls. Joe had no idea who these women were or how they were invited to the party. He was pretty sure that several of the bachelors who happened to come to his party just called up the women they were seeing and had them call all of their hot girlfriends to show up. He was tempted to put a tighter lid on that, but not when so many guys had that much fun at it.
    After talking with Richard for several minutes about the plans for the opening month of the new car lot he was satisfied that everything was going to go off without a hitch. Joe instantly felt better and less sleepy. He must have been totally worried about all of this. It took his wife to know what he needed. He had to shake his head. Sometimes the woman was just too amazing.
    Joe sat down and had another beer as he watched the party continue on, never knowing when it would stop.
     

Chapter 2: Murder at the Door
     
    Joe’s house was dead quiet when he entered it at a little past six p.m. He had still not gotten used to the fact that his girls were no longer there watching TV or yapping on the phone or just bitching at each other about the stupidest things he had ever heard. He felt a twinge of sadness and nostalgia every time he walked through the front doors. The house didn’t even smell the same. He was used to all of the fruity lotions and body sprays the girls were constantly smothering themselves in. He missed all of those little annoying things.
    He walked into the kitchen and sat his briefcase down on the table. He was hoping that dinner would be ready, but then he forgot that Marisha, the maid, was on vacation for two weeks. He believed that she had gone home to visit family. He wondered if Tracy would do some cooking—she usually cooked something ridiculously healthy and bland—or if they would just eat out as he hoped they would. Although ordering a pizza was a great option that was always denied him by his former supermodel wife who did not eat junk of any sort.
    Speaking of Tracy, where was she? She was usually hanging out in either her office, in which case he would have heard her yapping on the phone to someone that she was chewing out for not doing their job right, or she would have been doing something active. He had not seen her on the tennis court and he did not hear her in the gym. She always blasted nineties pop music when she worked out. Joe had become much more familiar with early Britney Spears than he had ever wanted to.
    “Tracy? You home?”
    It was possible that she had asked one of the drivers to take her into town. She usually drove