Dorothy Noah, in the bloom of her first full day as Elijah's wife, walked out of the hotel lobby holding her husband's hand. She breathed in a cool night air, the first dread hair she inhaled all day.
In the brief span of their marriage, she and Elijah had made love several times and taken two steamy showers together. They poked their heads out of an obligatory but, at last a final brunch with the families. They had begged off the trip to opus one, scurried back upstairs, and popped a last bottle of champagne. Elijah had put on a sex video and as they watched the film they played out some unusual and exciting roles. He seemed to have several fantasies about wearing women's cloths.
Tomorrow, they will be off to mazatlan, for a heavenly week exploring all those sexy spots on his body she had yet to find. Maybe the will even come out once or twice to see the dolphins.
So far, she decided, things were going very well, tonight they were headed to French laundry. The finest restaurant in Napa. Everyone said it was the place to eat, and they booked the reservation almost six months in advance. Dorothy's mouth watered as she dreamed of some fabulous sequences of tastes: four gray, wild-berry duck, all washed down with an expensive champagne.
On the short walk to the car, a black limo pulled alongside them. The passenger window opened, and a uniformed driver stuck his head out." Mr. and Mrs. Noah?"
They looked at each other, puzzled, then smiled. That's us."
I am at your service," the driver announced. "Compliment of the hotel."
Dorothy was ecstatics, " you mean for us?" Once, in her job as a legal secretary, at a big closing, she had ridden in a a fabulous stretch; but she had been jammed in the backseat with four preoccupied lawyers.
"Booked and paid for the night," the driver said, and winked.
The newlyweds exchanged a bright, exclamatory look.
"No one mentioned anything about this," said Noah, who seemed pleased with the notion that he was thought of as a VIP.
Dorothy peeked inside. "Oh, Elijah," there were lush leather seats and polished mahogany bar with crystal glasses. The lights were dimmed to a romantic glow. There was even a bottle of Chardonnay on the ice. She thought of pulling up to the most fashionable restaurant in Napa in this wonderful car.
Come on Elijah," she laughed almost pulling him in. " it will be a trip,"
"I can be waiting at the restaurant when you come out," the driver said, " and as it happens, you are talking to someone who happens to know the scenic routes through Napa."
She saw Micheal's mild hesitation begin to crack. " don't you want to take your princess in style?"
Just as he had when she first smiled his way in the office. Just as he had in bed last night, she saw Him slowly come around. He was a little cautious sometimes accountants often were. But she found ways of loosening him up.
Whatever Dorothy wants," Elijah finally said.
Nelson Bush's POV
Just married? Nelson Bush asked, his heart jumping.
The bright light of oncoming cars shot through him like X rays, exposing innermost desires.
"Twenty six hours, twenty two minutes, and . . . Forty-five seconds," Dorothy chirped.
Nelson's heart pounded loudly. She was perfect. They were perfect together. Even better than he had hoped.
The road was blank and seemed directionless, but he knew where he was going. "Help yourself to a drink. That's a palmeyer in the bucket. Some people thinks it's the best in the valley."
As he drove, the killer's nerves were taunts and excited. What is the worst thing anyone has ever done? Can I do it again? More to the point, can I ever stop doing it?
He glanced back and saw Dorothy and Elijah pouring the Palmeyer wine. He heard the clink of raised glasses, then something about years of good luck. With a chill in his heart, he watched them kissed.
He hated every smug, deluded pore in their bodies, Don't you want to take your princess in style? He fingered the gun resting in his lap. He was changing murders weapons
After a while, Nelson turned the limo up a steep hill off the main road.
" where are we heading, driver?" The husband's voice came from the back.
He glanced in the mirror and smiled confidently at the Noah's." I thought I'd take you the scenic way. Best views in the valley. And I will still have you to the restaurant by eight."
"We don't want to be late," the groom warned sheepishly. " these reservations were harder to get than the damn hotel."
"Oh come on, honey," Dorothy chimed in with perfect timing.
"Things start to open just ahead," he told them. "Real pretty. In the meantime, relax. Put on some music, I will show you the best views. Very romantic."
He pushed a button, and a thin ban of pulsing lights began to shoot around the roof of the back compartment, a soft, romantic light show.
"Oooh," Dorothy said as the lights came on. This is so great." I will put the privacy screen for the rest of the trip. You are only newlyweds once. Feel free to do whatever. Just look as it as your night."
He left the screen slightly open. So he could still see and hear them as he drove deeper into the hills. They were nuzzling now, sharing kisses. The groom's Hans was moving up Dorothy's thigh. She pushed her pelvis into him.
The road became bumpy, and at intermittent points the rough, split concrete gave way to gravelly dirt. They were climbing. On both sides, the slopes were patterned with grids of darkened vines.
Dorothy's teasing laughter gave way to a steady rhythm of deep-throated sighs. Nelson Bush's breath began to race. Only inches away, he could hear her painting. A warm, velvety sensation began to burn in his thighs, as it had a week ago at the Grand Hyatt. Elijah was entering Dorothy and she monad.
What is the worst thing?
At a clearing, he pulled the car to a stop, turned the headlights off. He took the gun and pulled back the double-clicking action.
Then he lowered the privacy screen.
In the ambient light, there was Dorothy, her black cocktail dress pulled up around her waist.
"Bravo!" He exclaimed.
They looked up, startled.
He saw a flicker of fear in the bride's eyes. She tried to cover herself.
Only then did the killer recognize that the warm flood burning his thighs and his knees was his own urine.
He emptied the gun into Dorothy and Elijah Noah.