© February 2013

Part Five

Chapter Nine: The List

    Josie got to the motel close to the name of the third person on her list and she sat on the bed looking at the tatty looking note pad that had the list of names. She looked at the two names she’d already crossed out and thought about their fate.

    1. George Ferland

    George had watched while Kevin choked Hannah, and then he lied to cover it up, just like all the names on the list had.

    Josie had spent some time working out a plan to get each one of them back, and she came up with the idea of finding out something she could use against each of them to make what happened look like a natural conclusion to a problem they had trouble with in their own lives, so no one would think what happened, odd.

    George Ferland had a problem with gambling, well the problem was he wasn’t very good at it and lost a lot of money, but he had a nice sized trust fund left to him by a rich uncle that had passed away, so he never worried about upsetting the men he made the bets with, he just paid up and shrugged off any loss, no matter how large it was. Josie had a plan to change this little detail though.

    Josie had gotten herself a job as a waitress in a restaurant George liked to dine at, then one evening just before he went to a casino. She’d cloned his credit card at the end of the meal, and then she’d scanned a couple more when she said that the first couple had been declined. Josie had finally said that the fault was on her end and his cards were fine.

    George had gone to the casino thinking nothing of what happened. He took out a large line of credit and then had it extended when he ended up on a losing streak. The losing streak was due to the casino being run by the mob, and no one won if the owners didn’t want you to, which was all the time. Josie had found out that they liked to let the customers win a little to begin with, but once they thought they couldn’t lose and they started to make bigger bets, the owner would then fix the game so the customer lost big time.

    Josie had used the cloned credit cards to purchase lots of items online and cause the banks to put a freeze on all of Georges cards, so when he came to settle his account at the casino at the end of the night, he wasn’t able to.

    George had gone missing, just to turn up face down in the local river a couple of weeks later. Everyone knew about George and his gambling problem, and most knew where he liked to go and do his gambling and who ran those places, but the police couldn’t prove anything, and no one looked to closely at the fact his accounts had been hacked, they just thought it had happened after someone found his wallet.

    Josie had smiled when she saw his name in the paper and she’d then crossed him off her list. She’d hoped to get him beaten up, but seeing that he’d been killed was a nice surprise, and she wasn’t going to lose any sleep over it. Just like he’d never lost any sleep over the death of Hannah.

    2. Charles Codd

    Charles Codd had been the one to film what happened on his phone, but he later denied ever doing it when Jon had given his phone to the police. Josie knew that Kevin’s father had paid off people in the police force to lose the phone and the report.

    Josie had trouble in the beginning as she tried to find some way to get her revenge on Charles. He didn’t gamble, or drink. She thought him to be a saint until she followed him one evening to a motel and saw him meeting with a woman. The thing Josie found odd was how they seemed to be looking around to make sure they weren’t being watched before entering the motel room. Josie didn’t need to see in the room to work out what the two of them were up to. Josie followed the woman when she left and soon found out she was married to Charles’s business partner and the two of them were having an affair.

    Josie followed the two of them for a couple of weeks and worked out a routine and realised the two of them had a meal once a week at the same restaurant, so Josie called up Charles’s business partner and arranged to meet him at the same restaurant on the same night at the same time as Charles would be having a meal with the man’s wife.

    Charles and the woman looked like a couple in love as they sat eating their meal while holding hands and sharing the odd kiss. Charles’s business partner had arrived for the meeting and was seated at the table while he waited for Josie to arrive. He had no idea what Josie looked like because they had only spoken on the phone, so he had no idea that she was already sat at another table ready to watch the floor show when the man saw Charles with his wife.

    The man had been sat waiting for a little over fifteen minutes before he looked around the room and saw his wife sat with Charles at another table. Charles leaned across the table and kissed the woman just as he looked.

    Josie smiled as she saw this happen, then she had to hide the grin she had on her face as she watched the man jump up and charge across the room to confront Charles. Josie watched as the man never said a word as he pulled Charles to his feet and then proceeded to punch Charles repeatedly.

    Charles’s face looked a mess by the time several waiters had managed to pull the man away from Charles who just fell to the ground out for the count.

    Josie later found out that Charles’s business partner held the lions share in the company and he sold it on to another company while Charles was recovering in hospital before he vanished, leaving Charles with a mountain of debt to deal with and no way to pay any of it off.

    Charles was now working a nine to five job and trying pay off his debts, and he was living in a little apartment in a rundown part of the city.

    Josie parked up across the road every once in a while and watched Charles get home from work and she smiled when she saw the beaten look he had on his face and she knew that she helped to put that look there. She sometimes wished she could walk up to him and tell him why all this happened, but she knew that would give the game away and she would never stand a chance of getting the others on the list, so she settled for watching him live his life, what life he had now.

    3. Robert Hamel

    Robert Hamel was the reason for Josie being in this motel room; she was now going to destroy Robert’s life before moving on to the next person on her list.

    Out of all the names on the list, Robert was going to be the easiest to bring down because she’d found out he was embezzling money from the company he worked for. He was doing a good job of covering his tracks, but Josie had worked out he was living beyond his means after following him on and off for a couple of weeks and seeing that he owned two homes, but didn’t have the kind of income to cover for them. After a little more digging she’d found a second bank account and then that led back to where the money was coming from.

     Josie made detailed records and was ready to send them to the company, but she wanted to get an agency job working at the company so she could watch him get arrested before she sent the envelope full of evidence to the company by courier.

    She had no trouble getting a job using some fake ID, and she was placed in the same department working under Robert as a junior analyst. Once she was in place she called in and arranged to have the envelope delivered later that morning.

    Josie was working at her desk when four men in suits entered their part of the building with police officers following. Josie watched as Robert was dragged from his office with his hands cuffed behind his back and taken away by the police.

    Robert was charged and found guilty of embezzlement and sentenced to time in prison. Josie knew he would have trouble finding work once he was released; now he had a criminal record, so she’d crossed another name off her list.

    Josie had already moved on to the others though while Robert sat in prison awaiting trial, she saw her work was done with him now, and the law would get it right this time and he would be charged for his crimes.

    4. Lee Banks

    Lee Banks was a nasty piece of work who Josie wanted to see suffer almost as much as Kevin Nobles. She followed him and soon found out he had a thing for hookers. He would pick one up and then take pleasure in tying them up and raping them before beating them and then leaving.

    Josie had seen some of the hookers try to press charges, but the police had no time for any of them and thought they asked for all they got, given the line of work they were in.

    Lee had picked up one girl that Josie didn’t think looked like your normal type of hooker, so she called the police and reported a crime, hoping to stop Lee before he did too much damage. They turned up to late and the girl was a mess. Josie found out that the girl had been thrown out by her stepfather and was just trying to get some money to eat. Josie also found out that the girl had an older brother who was in the military, and he was a little pissed to say the least when he found out about what had happened to his baby sister.

    Josie soon had a plan and she sent an envelope to the girl’s brother showing him some pictures of her entering a motel room with Lee Banks. Josie had also added details of where he lived and the fact he’d done it to some other girls as well. She even added details for some of the other girls that had tried to press charges against Lee.

    Lee had just picked up another girl and taken her into a motel room when Josie watched the girl’s brother and a couple of his mates burst into the room and drag a naked Lee out of the room before they threw him into the trunk and drove away.

    Josie thought about driving off in the other direction, but she just had to see what these large men had in stall for Lee, so she followed them to a rundown warehouse in the middle of nowhere and she parked a good distance away and sneaked up to the warehouse so she could watch Lee get what was coming to him.

    The men had Lee chained up and the girl’s brother was using him like a punching bag as he asked how he liked to get tied up and beaten.

    Lee had a cloth stuffed in his mouth, so his answers were not heard just grunts and groans after every punch. Josie felt a little sick as she heard his bones break, but she started to think about all those poor women he’d beaten, and she felt a little better after that.

    The girl’s brother finally got bored and he left with his friends, but they left Lee hanging in the middle of the old warehouse for someone else to find dead or alive.

    Josie liked the idea of Lee living for a long time to come, so she called the police and then she left herself. She later found out that Lee Banks was now in a wheelchair and would never walk again due to spine damage. He would also never be able to have sex again either. Not able to deal with this, Lee Banks took his own life a couple of months later. That was the one thing that did upset Josie though, the fact he was too much of a coward to keep on living, but she still smiled when she crossed his name off her list and moved onto the next person on the list.

    5. Ronald Nepton

    Ronald Nepton had started working for a large company before he met and married the boss’s daughter. Josie didn’t need to research Ronald to know he had his sights set on owning the company, but it didn’t stop him from seeing other women on the side for sex. His wife was a little bit of a prude Josie found out after meeting her in a restaurant ladies room.

    Josie did some digging and she found out that Ronald had been forced to sign a prenuptial that would mean he got nothing in a divorce if he was found to be cheating on his wife. Josie smiled as she realised that he would be left homeless once his secret was out, so she set to work getting the evidence she needed to end his marriage.

    Ronald didn’t just have one mistress; no he had three of them who he saw on different night of the week when not being forced to spend time with his wife.

    Using the skills she’d picked up from helping out at the investigation company her mother owned, and she helped to run, Josie soon had all the evidence she needed to take down Ronald.

    Ronald’s father in-law received an envelope with photos and a DVD with video evidence of Ronald making love to two of the three women he was seeing behind his wife’s back, and the photos were of Ronald with the third woman. Ronald’s father in-law showed his daughter the evidence and Ronald soon found himself tossed out on his ear with nothing more than the shirt on his back.

    Josie followed Ronald to see what he was going to do next, and she was a little puzzled when she saw him meet up with Kevin. None of them had been in contact with each other in all the time Josie had been watching them, so she was wondering what Ronald needed from Kevin now. She sat at the other end of the bar and stole secret looks at the two men as they spoke in a booth. Josie could see that Kevin wasn’t happy with whatever it was Ronald was saying, and it ended with Kevin getting to his feet and walking out looking very angry with something.

    Ronald stopped for a couple more drinks and he looked pretty smug with himself over something. Josie wondered if he’d used some form of blackmail to try and get some money out of Kevin and his family.

    It was getting late and Josie finally decided to return to the hotel she’d been stopping in, so she could get some sleep before she moved onto the next person on her list.

    Josie was shocked to read in the paper the next morning that Ronald Nepton had been killed in a car crash. The article said that he’d driven into a tree after having too much to drink in a local bar. Josie saw that it was the bar where he’d met with Kevin. Josie found herself wondering if Kevin and his father might have had something to do with Ronald’s sudden death, but like with all the other things, proving it would be impossible, so she shrugged it off and focused on her next victim.

    6. Sean Rodgers

    Sean Rodgers had been a tricky one to find anything on. He worked in a bank now and he seemed to live a dull life and had no family or girlfriend he spent time with, and he was good at his job, so she was struggling to find some way to make his downfall look like a natural thing. She did think about attacking him and making it look like a mugging, but she wanted him to suffer more for his part in covering up her sister’s death.

    Josie finally decided that she would need to be a little more involved with Sean’s accident, so she used some of the things she’d learned in the makeup room on some of the movie sets she’d been to with Emma and she made herself look very different before she started flirting with Sean in a bar after he finished work one evening.

    Once Sean had a couple of drinks in him, he relaxed enough to start excepting Josie’s advances and they were soon leaving the bar and heading for a restaurant for a meal.

    Josie talked Sean into taking a short cut down an alley and they were halfway down the alley when Josie ripped her top open and started screaming for someone to help her. She planned this so that they were close to a bar that catered to bikers. Josie played the part of a scared woman as several large men in biker clothing appeared around Sean, who still looked shocked at what Josie had just done.

    Sean never had time to say anything before he was being beaten up by the men. Josie was taken into the bar by a couple of women where she was checked out to make sure she was alright, then she was put in a cab and told not to worry about ever seeing Sean again, and he wouldn’t be attacking any other women.

    Josie played the sobbing victim until she was being driven away in the cab, then she smiled as she thought of Sean being set upon by the large men.

    Sean wasn’t killed, but he was arrested, and he lost his job at the bank when they found out the reason for him being arrested. No charges were brought against him due to Josie not being there to press any, but the bank didn’t want the bad press, not after the papers got pictures sent to them and they put them in their paper with a story about a group of hero bikers stopping a sexual predator from raping a woman.

    Josie was happy with the outcome and she set her sights on the next one on her list. She hadn’t realised how long it was going to take to get them all, and she was running out of time to get it all done before Emma returned from her honeymoon.

    7. Adrian Stollene

    Adrian Stollene was already being taken care of, so Josie had very little to do with his downfall. He was already dying from bowel cancer and only had months to live, so she would just keep a close eye on him and cross his name off her list when she read about him losing his battle to it.

    Josie moved onto the next two names on her list.

    8 & 9. Joseph McCarthy and Mike Vincent

    Joseph and Mike worked together at an investment company, so Josie decided to take the two of them down together. She found out that they were already being watched due to people thinking they were doing some insider trading, so Josie decided to help the investigation by planting some evidence that would lead to them being arrested for it, but before she had time to find out any information, the two of them were arrested and charged for doing it, so she was able to sit back and watch the two of them get locked up as well as several other people from the company they worked for.

    Josie did feel like she’d been cheated out of her revenge, but she knew by looking at the two of them that they wouldn’t last long in prison before they were someone’s bitch. Josie had read stories in the papers about men going into prison and then becoming some other guy’s girlfriend, and forced to dress the part, so she tried to picture the two of them in dresses. She thought that both of them would look quite pretty actually.

    Realising there was nothing more she could do to get back at them, she moved onto the next name on the list.

    10. Matt Drake

    Matt was an adrenalin junky and was always looking for something to do that gave him a near death thrill. One of the things he loved to do was ride his motorbike at fast speeds on the mountain roads.

    Josie saw this as a good way to take him out herself, so she bought herself a fast bike and then she started following him around looking for a chance to challenge him to a race. Due to the fact she was wearing a helmet, he had no idea what she looked like, so she wasn’t bothered about it taking some time to pick the right moment.

    It didn’t take long for Matt to notice her and they were soon playing a game of cat and mouse on some winding roads through the mountains. Josie had been trained by some of the best stunt people in Hollywood on a bike, so she was able to not only keep up with Matt, but also pull away from him.

    Matt wasn’t as good as he thought he was and he came close to going over the edge a couple of times as he tried to keep up with Josie. Josie let him catch up a couple of times just to pull away from him again, forcing him to go faster to try and catch her up.

    Josie noticed a large rig making its way up the mountain road from the other direction and she saw this as the right time to let Matt meet his fate, so she opened it up and started to pull away from him. Matt opened it up and was able to catch up with her, but it put him on her outside as they went around a blind bend.

    Matt came face to face with the rig and had to swerve around the large truck which put him to close to the edge of the cliff and he went over the edge.

    Josie wanted to stop and watch the carnage as he went down the mountainside, but she didn’t want the police asking her questions, so she opened it up and got out of there as fast as she could. The bike was running fake plates, so she wasn’t worried about being caught that way, and the visor on her helmet was to dark for any cameras to see her face.

    She later read in the paper that Matt was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital due to internal bleeding.

    Josie was now down to just two names on her list.

    11. Conrad Hilson

    Conrad was like George Ferland and had a gambling problem, but unlike George, Conrad didn’t have a trust fund to fall back on, so he was in to some very shady people for a lot of money.

    Josie decided to make it look like he was getting ready to run, so she cloned his credit card and then bought him a one way ticket online to make it look like he was leaving. Josie just hoped the people he owed money to had people keeping an eye on him, and they did, because within a couple of hours of her buying the ticket online, Conrad was being picked up and taken to see the main man he owed all the money too. Josie had to use her imagination as to what Conrad was saying to the man as he tried to say he knew nothing about any ticket and the fact he wasn’t planning to run out on his debt.

    While Conrad was with the men, she picked the lock to Conrad’s apartment and she packed up some of his things and made it look like he was leaving in a hurry. She was cutting it close and had to pretend to check a mail box in the lobby when she saw Conrad return with three men following him. None of them gave her much of a look, other than to check her out as they walked past pushing Conrad along and then into the waiting elevator. Josie knew that Conrad would have trouble denying he was about to run once they saw the state of his apartment, and the packed suit case just inside the door.

    Josie was just making her way out of the apartment block when she heard someone screaming just before there was a loud crashing sound and then a woman started screaming. Josie walked around to the side of the building where all the noise was coming from and she saw the twisted bloody body of Conrad sat in the remains of a car roof. She didn’t need to check for a pulse to know he was dead.

    Josie was now down to just one name on her list, and she knew that this one was going to take a little more work on her part because she had something a little more involved planned for Kevin.

    12. Kevin Nobles

    Josie’s plan for Kevin had taken a little more planning and she had managed to rent the apartment next to his at the same time as Emma and David left on their honeymoon, and she would come and go smiling at Kevin whenever they passed each other in the hallway. Josie had wanted to just beat the crap out of Kevin every time she looked at him, but she calmed herself and thought about her plan and how much more satisfying it would be to stick to it and get the result she wanted that way, so she would play nice and earn his trust. The last thing she needed was to show up on anyone’s radar after she’d carried out her plan for vengeance.

     “Let me help you with that.” Kevin said to Josie one evening as she struggled to get into the apartment complex with a couple of heavy shopping bags.

     “Thank you so much.” Josie said sounding relieved for the help, even though she’d planned for this to happen, and she’d been waiting in her car for Kevin to arrive before she got out of her own car.

     “Think nothing of it.” Kevin said as he looked Josie up and down. “Do I know you?” He asked as he focused on her face.

     “Yes, I live just down the hallway from you.” Josie smiled back as she tried not to throw up over the thought of just how much she hated this man.

     “No, I don’t mean it like that.” Kevin chuckled. “I just feel like we’ve met before some place.” He added as he tried to remember where he might have met her before. He’d had the same feeling since he saw her move in several weeks ago.

     “I just have one of those faces.” Josie shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal, but she knew where he’d seen her before, well someone that looked like her anyway.

    Josie had made herself look like Hannah did at the time Kevin killed her. Josie knew it was a big risk, but she wanted to see if he remembered her and what he did, but he didn’t look bothered, and it didn’t look like he’d clicked as to who she looked like, not that it was hard for her to look like Hannah, Josie found it hard to not look like her sister as she got older, and they had the same eyes. Josie often found herself sobbing as she looked in the mirror and saw her sister looking back at her. It also helped to keep Josie focused on what she needed to do.

     “Are you having company over for dinner?” Kevin asked, snapping Josie out of her thoughts and reminding her where she was and what she was planning to do. “You sure have a lot of stuff here for just one.” He added as he looked down into the bag he was carrying for her.

     “No, just me, but I needed to stock up on some things, as I tend to work some long hours and don’t always find the time to go to the market.” Josie explained with a smile. “You must let me cook you dinner tonight as payment for all your help.” Josie added in her best flirty voice.

    Kevin seemed to think about it for a couple of seconds before he answered. He also looked Josie up and down like he was trying to see what she would look like naked. This made Josie feel sick again as she tried not to shudder at the thought of being in bed with this man. All Josie saw when she looked at him was the man that killed her sister.

     “I’d love to have dinner with you.” Kevin smiled. “What time shall I come over?” He asked.

    Josie snapped and dropped her bag of shopping just before she kicked out with her right leg and made contact with Kevin’s head sending him flying into the side wall of the elevator. Before he had time to recover, Josie grabbed his head and slammed it into the wall repeatedly until he stopped fighting and there was just a bloody mess where his face once was. Josie let go of his hair and watched as he fell to the floor dead.

     “Eight.” Josie said as she snapped out of her fantasy and smiled at him.

     “I’ll be over at eight then.” Kevin smiled even more as he looked Josie up and down again like he already knew he was going to get her in bed before the evening was over.

    Kevin was in the middle of getting ready for his dinner date when there was a knock on his door and he found Josie stood there looking upset over something.

     “Is everything alright?” Kevin asked.

     “No, I’m sorry but I will need to cancel our dinner date.” Josie pouted. “Something is wrong with my stove and I’m unable to cook us a meal and I can’t get anyone to come and look at it until tomorrow.” She added with another pout. “Unless you know anything about stoves and want to come take a look at it for me?” She asked looking like the typical female in need.

     “Sorry, but I wouldn’t know where to start, but why don’t you come over here and I can order in for us, or I can take you out for a meal instead?” Kevin asked, not wanting to miss out on spending time with this beautiful woman. He was still being haunted by the feeling that he knew her from someplace.

     “But I will have to throw away all the stuff I’ve been working on if we do that.” Josie whined. “I know, why don’t I bring everything over here and I can use your kitchen instead.” Josie said looking excited about their dinner date being back on if Kevin agreed.

     “I don’t mind if you still want to cook us dinner.” Kevin agreed eagerly. He was still hoping to have her in bed before the evening was over, and having her cook in his apartment just made it all a lot easier for him to achieve.

     “That’s wonderful.” Josie said as she clapped her hands together excitedly. “I’ll just go and get everything and bring it to your place.” Josie added as she spun around and ran back down the hallway to her own apartment. Kevin watched her go and smiled to himself as he checked out her beautiful rounded butt bobbing from side to side as she ran. He found himself wanting to sink his teeth into that soft flesh hidden beneath the tight white shorts Josie was wearing.

    Josie was soon busy in Kevin’s kitchen as she carried on sorting out dinner for them both. Kevin would wander in and out seeing if she needed any help, and other than opening a bottle of wine Josie had brought with her, she was coping just fine.

     “Do you want a glass with me?” Kevin asked as he poured the wine into the first glass.

     “I wish I could, but I’m on antibiotics at the minute, so I’ll stick to water.” Josie smiled just before she picked up her glass of water and took a sip from it.

     “More for me then.” Kevin grinned just before he took a large sip from his glass. “I do feel bad drinking your wine though.” Kevin added in mock sadness just before he took another sip from his glass and then topped it up.

     ‘Yes, I can see you’re really choked up about it’ Josie thought to herself, but just smiled like it was fine.

    Josie carried on sipping her water while she got the meal ready for them to eat, and she was soon telling Kevin to take a seat at the table.

     “This looks amazing Josie.” Kevin said after he’d helped Josie take her seat just before he joined her on the other side of the table.

     “Thank you Kevin, but it’s nothing special.” Josie said as she tried to play down the praise she was being shown.

    Josie smiled as she watched Kevin eat the meal and continue to take sips from his wine glass. She could see him beginning to sweat, and he wasn’t looking to good by the end of the meal.

     “Are you alright Kevin?” Josie asked trying to sound worried for him, but she already knew what the problem was.

     “I’m really not feeling to good.” He said as he wiped some sweat off his face.

     “Let’s get you seated on the couch where you’ll be a little more comfortable.” Josie helped him to get over to the couch.

     “You still look so familiar to me Josie.” Kevin said in a slurred voice. “Maybe I dated your sister.” He added suddenly. “Do you even have a sister?” Kevin asked.

     “I did.” Josie answered with anger in her voice. “She was murdered though.” Josie added as she looked Kevin in the eyes.

     “I’m sorry to hear that.” Kevin said as he tried to shake off the sleepy feeling he had.

     “I doubt you’re really sorry, you weren’t when you killed her.” Josie snarled as she rose to her feet and looked down at a puzzled looking Kevin.

     “Hannah...?” Kevin said looking puzzled. “But how can you be her sister?” He asked looking confused. “She only had a brother, and he died years ago.” Kevin went to get up as he spoke, but his legs failed him and he fell back on the couch just before he passed out.

    Josie jumped into action as she cleared away all the items that made it look like he’d had company for dinner. She replaced his meal with what she’d been eating because she’d laced all his food with heroin to make it look like he died of a drug overdose. She planned to finish him off with a final injection and then leave the needle in his arm to add to the overall effect. She wanted it to look like he died the same way he made it look like Hannah died. She saw it as poetic justice for him to die this way.

    Once Josie had gotten everything cleaned up and it now looked like Kevin had been eating alone, she set up the needle in his arm and pushed in the plunger and watched the liquid vanish into his arm. She then stood and watched him die. She’d even laid him on his back so if he was sick while she cleaned the place up, he might die of choking on his own vomit, but he didn’t.

    Josie felt for a pulse and couldn’t find one, so she left his apartment and then packed up her things and left the apartment block for the final time. She’d used a fake ID to rent the place, so she wasn’t worried about anyone finding her, and she’d been dressed to look like Hannah every time she came and went, so if his father saw a picture of her, it would just look like a ghost getting its revenge on them. Josie hoped that his father did go looking for her, and then she could put an end to him as well.

    Josie knew that if they looked closely enough, they would see that he’d ate and drank things with heroin in them, but she hoped that finding him with a needle stuck in his arm, and no sign of a struggle, everyone would just think he took an overdose and that would be the end of it.

     “Rest in peace you bastard.” Josie said a couple of days later when she read in the paper that Kevin Nobles had been found dead of an overdose and his parents were said to be devastated over the death of their son. Neither of them had any idea that their son was using drugs the article said.

    The paper went on to say that they had spoken to a number of Kevin’s friends and they all said he liked the party lifestyle and they weren’t shocked to hear about the way he’d died.

    Josie was hoping to feel some sort of peace herself now she’d finished getting revenge for her sister’s death, but she still had that empty feeling whenever she thought about Hannah.

    She didn’t have much time to worry about what she’d done because Emma and David were due back at the end of the week, so she returned home and made sure they had food in and everything looked like it had before they left on their honeymoon.

Chapter Ten: Emma’s return

    Josie was waving and grinning like a lunatic when she saw them walking down the ramp towards her, she soon looked a little worried when she saw the look on Emma’s face though. Emma wasn’t happy about something, and she had a feeling it had to do with her.

     “Hello mummy.” Josie said in a child like voice as she threw her arms around Emma and hugged her. “I’ve missed you so much.” She added.

     “I’ve missed you too, but we need to go someplace private so we can talk.” Emma said with a frown.

     “Let’s just get home and we can talk there.” David said like he already knew what the problem was with Emma.

     “Hi daddy.” Josie said with a grin as she let David wrap his large arms around her. “I’ve missed you as well.” She added as she looked up at him.

     “As I’ve missed you.” David smiled. “I hope you’ve been keeping out of trouble while we’ve been away?” He asked with a frown.

    Josie wanted to say she had, but a little voice in her head said she was lying if she answered that question, so she just smiled as she slipped her arm through Emma’s and started to lead her towards the place she’d parked her car.

     “I’ll drive, that way you too can talk about the cruise.” David said when they got to the car and the bags were in the trunk.

     “I don’t mind driving.” Josie said, not wanting to spend time with her mother in the back of the car. Emma had not said anything to her daughter all the time they had been walking to the car.

    Josie found herself outvoted on the matter when David took the car keys off her and then she was helped into the back of the car by Emma before she got in the back herself.

    Emma made small talk with Josie on the way home, and Josie started to relax, so by the time they pulled into the grounds of their home, Josie was completely relaxed, which was a tactic Emma had used on her since they first met each other. Josie and Emma were even having a giggle over some silly things David had done while they were away.

    Once they had all the bags in the house, Josie made her way to the kitchen, so she could make them all a cold drink. She was in the middle of pouring them all a glass of orange juice out when Emma asked her a question.

     “Now that we’re home and away from prying eyes, do you care to explain this...?” Emma asked as she showed Josie a picture on her phone of a newspaper with Kevin Nobles death on it.

     “It’s a picture of a newspaper on your phone mummy.” Josie smiled as she tried to play dumb, even if she already knew it wasn’t going to work.

     “Don’t get smart with me young lady.” Emma frowned. “You know full well what I’m talking about.” Emma added as she showed Josie the screen on her phone again.

     “Turns out there is a god after all.” Josie smiled as she looked at the screen and read the bold text that said Kevin Nobles had been found dead of a drug overdose.

     “I’m sure there may be a god up there, but I doubt he had anything to do with what happened to him.” Emma said. “Please tell me you had nothing to do with this?” Emma added with a pleading tone to her voice.

    Josie was about to lie to her mother, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it, so she closed her mouth again and turned away in shame, not over what she’d done, but because for the first time since Emma saved her, Josie was disappointed over letting Emma down.

     “I can’t do that mother, because I did have something to do with it, I had everything to do with it.” Josie said as she balled her hands into fists. “They all had it coming. Ever since they all covered up Hannah’s death after he killed her.” Josie added as she pointed at the picture still up on Emma’s phone.

     “They...?” Emma asked in shock when she realised what Josie had just said. “How many have you killed?”

     “Just Kevin directly, but a couple of them died because of what I set in motion.” Josie admitted.

     “Oh god Josie, what have you become?” Emma said with pain in her voice.

     “I was really careful mummy, and they will never realise that I had anything to do with it.” Josie said as she stepped forward to comfort Emma, but she looked shocked when Emma stepped back and raised her hands to keep a distance between the two of them like she was scared of Josie.

     “I don’t know who you are anymore.” Emma said with tears in her eyes.

    Josie went to speak, but stopped when Emma turned away from her. Josie just looked at her mother’s back for a couple of minutes before she just had to get away from there as the thought of losing Emma was too much for Josie to deal with.

    David had been stood in the doorway and he tried to stop Josie leaving the room, but she just slapped his arm away and ran past him and out the front door. She jumped in her car and then realised that her keys were back in the house, so she finally broke down and started sobbing with her head in her hands. She finally looked up when she felt a hand on her back. She looked up expecting to see David, but she was shocked to see Emma stood there looking at her with tears rolling down her cheeks.

     “Where do you think you’re going?” Emma asked with a snuffle.

     “I don’t know but I just thought you didn’t want to see me anymore.” Josie said between sobs.

     “I’m sorry I made you think that sweetie, but I’m just worried that I’ll lose you if they find out what you did.” Emma said as she pulled Josie out the car and pulled her into a hug as the two of them sobbed.

     “Come on you two, let’s go back inside the house and sit down.” David’s voice said from just behind them.

    David soon had the two of them seated on a couch in the living room and they each had a glass of juice.

     “We need to know every little detail of what you’ve been doing while we were away.” Emma said once they had both recovered from their sobs.

    Josie spent the next several hours explaining everything she’d done to the twelve names on the list she’d made. Emma and David took some notes so they could look into it for themselves and make sure Josie had gotten away with it.

     “Do you feel like you’ve slain the demons that you’ve been carrying since the death of your sister?” Emma asked as she pulled Josie into a hug.

     “I don’t know what I was expecting mummy, but I still feel the same as I did before I started.” Josie said with a sigh.

     “Did you think getting revenge on all of them would magically give you Hannah back?” Emma asked as she stroked Josie’s hair.

     “I’m not sure what I expected, but I just feel so lost now I’ve carried out my vengeance on them all.” Josie said as she looked up into Emma’s eyes. “I’ve spent so much time living for the day I finally got even with Kevin Nobles that I never thought about what I would do once it was all over.” Josie added as she went back to resting her head on Emma’s chest while Emma hugged her and stroked her hair like she’d done when she was younger.

     “I think you need to start having some fun, and find yourself someone to love like I have.” Emma said as she smiled at David sat on the couch facing them.

     “Do you think I’ll ever find anyone that will want to date a freak like me?” Josie asked with a pout.

     “You’re no more of a freak than me.” Emma said in a scolding tone.

     “But I’ll never be able to give a man, children, and I’m not even sure I want to be with a man.” Josie shuddered.

     “I can’t have children, and it doesn’t make me any less of a woman.” Emma pointed out. “And I still got a beautiful daughter as well.” She added as she hugged Josie a little tighter. “Don’t go looking for love, but don’t close your heart off to it either, and you will soon find out which side of the fence has the greener grass.”

     “I hope you’re right mummy.” Josie said as she enjoyed the hug she was getting.

     “I’m always right, I’m your mother.” Emma said sounding proud of the fact. “Now we better see about sorting out some dinner. Debbie and Lesley will be here soon.” Emma added when she saw the time.

Epilogue

    Debbie and David’s parents finally caved in and let Lesley become part of the family when they realised that their daughter was in love, and would risk losing them if it meant being with the person she loved. They seemed to except Lesley even more when Debbie sat them down and said she was pregnant with Lesley’s baby. Lesley had had some of her sperm frozen before she had her sex reassignment surgery, so Debbie was proud to be an expectant mother to be with Lesley’s child.

    Emma and David checked into the reports on all eleven guys that Josie set up, and they couldn’t see any signs of Josie being spotted. Josie had even gotten away clean with the murder of Kevin Nobles. Kevin’s father had bigger problems to deal with as evidence came to light about others he’d taken care of. They even found evidence of what him and Kevin did to Hannah, after Adrian Stollene came forward and admitted to taking part in the cover up. Adrian had said in an interview that he wanted to meet his maker with a clear conscience due to the fact he was dying, and he’d seen that some of the others involved had already died in various ways and he thought that they were all cursed.

    Keith Nobles was found guilty on several counts of murder, as well as other charges. Josie smiled as she read the paper after the trial. She finally felt able to let Hannah rest in peace.

    Josie finally found love when she went to a night club with Debbie and Lesley that catered to the gay and lesbian community and met a pretty young woman called Tammy that turned out to be a crossdresser called Timmy. They hit it off right away and Josie loved being able to spend time with her boyfriend and best friend depending on what they wanted to do. Josie even told him about part of her past and how she was born with a birth defect as she saw it. She never told him about her mission to avenge her sister, Josie couldn’t see the point of risking her happiness, and it would also lead to the fact that Josie was once Jon Vaines, a boy that was buried next to his sister back in their home town, even if it was an empty grave due to them never finding a body, and if they ever did find his body, it didn’t look anything like that of a young boy any more.

    Timmy asked Josie to marry him and she said yes. They were married eight months later with Josie in a beautiful white wedding dress with Timmy wearing a three piece suit. They had a second wedding for some friends they had from the clubs they went to, and this time it was Josie and Tammy that got married. Tammy was wearing an identical wedding dress to Josie this time though.

    Emma and David paid for Josie and Timmy to go on a cruise. Emma whispered in Josie’s ear on the morning they were due to leave that she promised not to kill anyone while Josie was away.

    Josie stood on the deck of the ship waving to her parents with Timmy at her side with his arm around her, playing the protective husband, and also letting all the other men on the ship know that she belonged to him. Josie had no idea her life would turn out so perfect after she saw her sister get murdered and then she was thrown into the hands of Karen Jones, but she’d been rescued by a wonderful woman that loved her as if she was her real daughter. Josie was going to enjoy her honeymoon and then she was going to look at adopting as many children as she could so she can make Emma the best granny she can, because she’d already become the best mother a daughter could want.

     “I hope you like kids Timmy.” Josie said as she looked Timmy in the eyes.

     “If it makes you happy baby, then I will love every single one.” Timmy replied just before he leaned in for a kiss.

 

Story by SaraUK

 

Edited and Posted by SamanthaK

    EDITORS NOTE: Please Comment and/or leave Kudos and let Sara know you like her work please, Any comments on spelling, grammar or the layout of the story please PM me “Samanthak” not Sara. Thank you