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Eternal Love

Peter DiChellis

    Wednesday afternoon: Ted arrives home to find a burner cellphone and a blood-smeared note composed of words and letters cut from magazines.
    wE GOT heR
    FIVE HunDRED ThouSAND caSH OR shes DEAD
    WiLL CaLL wITH iNSTRUCTions
    WE aRe WaTCHing U
    NO COPS or Shes dEAD

    Thursday morning: A call on the burner.
    “Hello?”
    “Have the money ready by noon Saturday or your wife dies slow and ugly. Any cops and she dies, slow and ugly. Any marking on the money, any tracking devices on anything and she dies, slow and fucking ugly. Noon Saturday. We’re watching.”
    “That’s not enough time, I swear to God. Is she okay? I want to talk to her!”
    “Here she is. Make it quick.”
    “Ted, do what they want! Please! Give them what they want!”
    “Elena? I love you so much. Oh God, I’ll do anything . . .”
    “Ted!”
    “Listen carefully. Get an oversized suitcase to hold the money. We’ll call with more instructions Saturday afternoon. Do exactly what we say or she’s dead. We’re watching you.”
    “Hello? Hello?”

    Saturday, 4:03 pm: The second call on the burner.
    “Hello?”
    “You got all the money and the suitcase too?”
    “Yes! I don’t know how I got it all. You have no idea . . .”
    “Shut the fuck up and listen. Put the money in the suitcase and put the suitcase on the front passenger seat of your black Lexus. Drive north on Maple Avenue to State Highway 211. Then go north on 211, keep driving, and wait for our call. You screw up, she dies. We’re watching everything.”

    Saturday, 5:12 pm: The next call on the burner.
    “Hello?”
    “Pull onto the highway shoulder, stop the car, and wait for more instructions. We’re watching. We see any other cars pull over or slow down behind you, we’ll know they’re cops. Any cops and your wife dies, slow and fucking ugly.”

    Saturday, 5:29 pm: Another call on the burner.
    “Hello?”
    “Pull back onto the highway. Keep going until you get to the Wolf Creek Road Exit. Go north on Wolf Creek Road and drive slow. We’ll call with more instructions.”

    Saturday, 6:09 pm: The final call on the burner.
    “Hello?”
    “Drive onto Wolf Creek Bridge, pull onto the shoulder, and stop. Get out of the car and throw the suitcase off the east side of the bridge, the side nearest the passenger door. Make sure you throw it all the way off the bridge so it lands in the creek bed. Then get back in the car and drive away.”
    “I’m doing everything you asked. Do you understand how much I love her? Despite all that’s happened with us I still . . .”
    “Shut the fuck up and get to the fucking bridge. We’re watching you.”
    “Please don’t hurt her. Please don’t.”

    Sunday afternoon: A letter in his wife’s handwriting, delivered in a perfumed pink envelope.
    Ted,
    OMG I had no idea if you’d actually come up with the money. I even cut my stupid finger to put blood on the ransom note! You know I only married you for your money. And then you almost went broke, you asshole. But at least Alec and I salvaged enough from you to run away to a cozy little corner of South America. I found true love with Alec, eternal love. Not like the stupid pathetic joke with you.
    Go to hell,
    Elena

    Monday morning: The suicide note found beside Ted’s body.
    My dearest Elena,
    After I received your letter, how could I go on? I felt so desperate, so forlorn, so abandoned. And in such pain. Some will say the pain was too much for me to bear. Others will blame the humiliation and others the financial strain I brought upon us. But it’s the pain I can’t take. The constant pain. It hurts, Elena. It hurts because I care.
    I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you in this world and I will love you in the next.
    Yours forever,
    Ted

    This story originally appeared in Switchblade Issue 4 in January 2018.

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