Kill Rover? Herself? Her stomach flip-flopped at the thought. The boy had been Colin's toy; the cleanup should be Colin's job. "But...I don't have a weapon."
"Use a piece of wood or...or a rock if you have to. It's not hard."
Tiffany's jaw went slack. How had what'd started as a little fun grown into this? Sometimes, lying awake at night, she couldn't believe how badly their lives were spinning out of control. And yet she didn't know how to stop it. Colin didn't even want to try. He was too addicted to the adrenaline rush, to the sexual excitement, to the power, and he'd sucked her in with him by repeating the same old promise, "Just one more time. I'll quit after this."
Now she wasn't only participating in a peripheral way; she was tying up his loose ends. "You're kidding, right? You know I don't have the nerve for...for that."
"You don't have a choice!"
The light turned green. The guy in the truck next to her gave her an appreciative smile as they both accelerated, but she wasn't worried that he'd suspect her of any wrongdoing. Rover hadn't made a sound for several minutes. "But--"
"Do it, or I swear to God, Tiffany..."
He didn't finish. He didn't have to. She knew what he'd be like if she didn't fix this. He'd punish her now that he no longer had his "pet."
"Okay. I got it. I--he's not moving anymore."
"So you called me for nothing?" He sighed into the phone. "You're pathetic."
"How can you say that after everything I've done for you?"
"Don't start. You wouldn't be anything without me. You were a fat slob when I met you." He lowered his voice further, but she figured he had to be in his office with the door closed or he wouldn't have spoken as freely as he had. "There wasn't a guy in high school who'd even look at you, with your greasy hair and filthy clothes. And now all my friends drool when you walk by. I've turned you into a pinup. I've taught you how to take care of yourself."
Unfortunately, taking care of herself proved to be an ongoing effort.
He demanded she work out two hours a day. He weighed her regularly and monitored every morsel she put in her mouth. He wanted her at a steady hundred and twenty pounds, with br**sts the size of watermelons, he said.
But she wasn't quite that large. Fortunately, Colin was more concerned with keeping up appearances than fulfilling his p**n -star fantasy, which tempered what he'd had the plastic surgeon do to her body. In the end, he'd settled for an augmentation that made her a full D cup, and he had her nose fixed and her cheekbones enhanced. They still owed over nine thousand dollars to Visa for those improvements, but he didn't seem to care about the expense.
He loved that they were the most admired couple in the firm and in the neighborhood.
"What other men think doesn't concern me," she said, and it was true.
He was the only person who mattered in the world, the only one who'd ever loved her. She didn't want to lose that.
"If I mean so damn much to you, do what you have to do!"
Without any recent noise from the vicinity of the trunk, Tiffany was feeling more confident. She rolled down her window to let some cool air into the car and pulled her sweat-soaked blouse away from her body. "Yes.
Of course. I've got it."
"That's better."
The entrance to Highway 50 came up on her right, and she accelerated onto the on-ramp. It would be hard for anyone to hear Rover once she was on the freeway. "It just scared me for a minute, that's all."
"I know, babe. But you're stronger than you realize. You belong to me, don't you? Every thought you think, every move you make, all comes from me, and I've trained you well."
She knew he was too possessive, but she considered herself lucky. It made her feel attractive, desired, secure in his love. He took her to the tattoo parlor every once in a while to have his name tattooed on a different part of her body. So far, both br**sts, her ass and the inside of her thighs said,
"Colin's." But she didn't mind. He wouldn't bother with the time and expense involved if she wasn't an important part of his life. Only people who tried to contest his will ran into problems.
Shivering, she remembered the incident that had finally brought their relationship with Rover to an end. It was the boy's own fault, she told herself. He knew Colin, knew what he demanded. If Rover had obeyed, as usual, it might've hurt for a while but he would've recovered. There wouldn't have been any reason to kill him.
Instead, she was driving to a remote location to dump his corpse.
"What should we have for dinner tonight?" she asked, hoping a change in topic would make Colin respond favorably.
"I don't know. I have to get back to that meeting."
"Okay." She was still on her own with this terrible assignment. But at least she'd been able to connect with Colin, to get instruction. "Good luck."
"Thanks for watching my back, Tiff. I'm gonna show you how much I love you tonight," he said and hung up.
She smiled as she dropped her phone in her purse. With Rover gone, they'd be alone at last, the way Tiffany liked it best. She knew she was stupid to get jealous of her husband's toys--or pets, as he called them--but she didn't like how much he seemed to enjoy some of the stuff he made them do. Especially the boys. They satisfied him more than she could, even with the fake boobs and the tattoos and the dangerous domination games they'd begun to play. Sometimes she got the impression she was just for looks, part of his image, a trophy for his lawyer friends to envy.
But that couldn't be true. Colin shared everything with her, including his pets. Rover had been doing the housework for weeks.
Drying her tears, she turned up the volume on the radio and began to sing along. This wouldn't be difficult. She'd head past the rented cabin where they'd once spent Thanksgiving before Colin's dad had bought his own place. Then she'd pull deep into the woods and roll the body out onto the ground. When that was done, she'd drive to the grocery store and get the ingredients to make her husband a romantic dinner. She'd let Colin chain her up and whip her afterward, really get into it. If she was lucky, he'd forget all about Rover and forgive her for bothering him at the office.
She was almost herself by the time she found what appeared to be a safe location. She hadn't heard Rover since he'd cried out for his parents. He had to be dead. She'd seen what her husband had done to him.
But he wasn't. When she opened the trunk, he jumped out at her. With his left eye swollen shut, his lip busted and ugly cuts and black bruises darkening his bare white skin, the boy resembled some kind of monster gone wild. He knocked her to the ground, but he didn't attack her. He ran faster than she'd ever dreamed possible, sobbing for help as he went.