Chapter 38: Dead
Maverick’s shovel struck the earth with a dull thud, each sound reverberating in the cold, silent night. His smirk was dark and satisfied as he glanced at Evelyn, lying still beneath the shallow grave he was hastily digging. The drugs he had administered were designed to fail her lungs slowly, suffocating her from the inside out. Soon, her breathing would cease, and with it, the life force that kept her body functioning.
"Tell your mom we miss her," he muttered, his voice a sinister whisper carried away by the evening breeze. His cold and echoing cackle cut through the deserted garden’s oppressive quiet. He had picked this secluded spot deliberately, planning to plant a tree over Evelyn’s grave to make it nearly impossible for anyone to discover her final resting place.
Just as Maverick began to cover her face with more mud, the sound of screeching tires shattered the silence. Panic surged through him. He tossed the shovel aside and scrambled to flee, but the sight of Sophia emerging from the car, her face a storm of fury, halted him.
"We did it, babe! Look, she’s all set to meet your best friend, Gracia Wright!" Maverick announced, his voice dripping with a twisted joy. But Sophia’s expression was anything but pleased.
She stormed over and slapped him hard across the face. The sting left his cheek burning, and his smile faltered, replaced by a grimace of pain and frustration.
"I told you to drop the idea, Rick! Why do you never listen to me?!" Sophia’s voice was a shrill scream of anger and panic.
When Maverick had suggested killing Evelyn that night, shame and anger had taken over her, recalling how this little girl had started to disrupt her plans. She had been tempted to go with his suggestion and would have killed her without a second thought if Evelyn wasn’t married to that one hell of a devil!
Zevian seemed oddly fond of Evelyn, considering how he had even started digging into Annabelle’s background. Sophia knew this wasn’t the right move if they wanted to save themselves, let alone gain the Wrights’ wealth. She had quickly called Maverick to drop it the same night, but he had ignored her words again.
"Oh my God! Don’t tell me you did something stupid with her," Sophia mumbled, her eyes darting nervously to the partially covered figure beneath the soil.
"I gave her a drug," Maverick confessed, causing Sophia to hit him again.
Sophia’s anger flared, and she slapped him again, her frustration spilling over. "Why can’t you ever control your anger and reason?!" she cried out loud, her scream echoing in the garden.