Vivian climbed back onto the bed with Travis' body. She didn't go so far as to wrap her arm around him and cuddle, but she lay close to him, enjoying the squishy wetness of the sheets underneath her. She was in no hurry to leave. She'd have to start cleaning up soon—there was a lot of work to do if she wanted to finish before Ken got off work—but for now she simply wanted to bask in the afterglow.

She sat up, startled.

She hadn't fallen asleep, but she'd lost track of time. The blood was no longer warm.

Somebody had come in the front door. More than one person. A man and a woman. They were laughing, so it wasn't the cops. It had to be Ken's perverted buddy. Darrell?

Well, she couldn't exactly clean up this blood-splattered room before they saw it, or even get dressed. She'd have to make use of the fact that seeing a completely naked woman drenched in blood would be somewhat distracting.

She picked up the butcher knife and slid off the bed. "Help me," she said, loud enough to be heard but not shouting. She wanted them to think she'd been injured, that she was weak. She put the hand with the butcher knife behind her back and pushed out her bloody chest.

"What the hell?" the man, probably Darrell, said. She heard his footsteps as he hurriedly walked toward the bedroom.

He stepped into the doorway and gaped at the grisly sight.

Darrell was certainly no Christian Grey. He might have some extra cash but he was a grotesque male specimen, overweight and ruddy-faced. She couldn't imagine what kind of woman would willingly get his secretions on her.

The blood, the mutilated corpse, and her naked body seemed to put him into sensory overload. In a few seconds he might have wondered why her hand was behind her back, but she didn't give him a few seconds to think about it. She slammed the butcher knife into his throat, then wrenched it out to the left, opening up half of his neck. Vivian pushed past him before his body began to fall.

The horrified looking woman in the hallway was too young and pretty to be with a repulsive human being like Darrell unless there was a sugar daddy thing happening. Or maybe she was a hooker. So while she obviously didn't deserve to die, Vivian didn't feel too sorry for her.

Vivian didn't think she could get to her before she screamed once, but she could certainly keep her from screaming twice.

Surprisingly, the woman didn't scream. She gasped and spun around to run.

She didn't get far. Vivian stabbed her in the back, then shoved her to the floor. The woman landed hard, right on her face. If the floor weren't carpeted she might have shattered her jaw.