Chapter Text
Robert Haywood scanned Sarah’s apartment as he wheeled him in. “You know I can walk. You don’t have to do this.” He insisted. “I don’t want to be a burden,” he lied.
“You’re recovering from surgery. You should rest” Sarah argued. Her face maintained a blank expression. Helping her father onto her sofa, she set her pager and phone down on a nearby table. After hanging up her purse and putting her shoes away, she walked off towards her bathroom. “I’m just going to hop through the shower, then I’ll make us some dinner,” she explained. Haywood’s attention turned towards her pager as it gave off a short buzz. He reached over and picked it up, reading the message off the screen. It was from Dr. Charles
CALL ME
ITS ABOUT YOUR DAD
Robert felt his stomach churning. Carefully, Robert typed out a message back.
WHAT ABOUT HIM
A moment passed. Then another. He could hear the shower running as he waited for Dr. Charles to respond.
EVIDENCE HES A MURDERER
CALL ME
Dr. Charles responded. Robert’s stomach wasn’t churning anymore. It felt more like it had turned to stone - no - iron and was pulling him down. He could feel his newheart sinking. Dr. Charles knew. He had thought he won, but Dr. Charles knew. Dr. Charles knew. Dr. Charles knew. Robert knew that meant the police would be headed over very shortly. Robert knew that he wouldn’t get to live off of his daughter or in a nursing home. There was no way around it. He’d likely spend the rest of his life in jail.
That also meant there was no reason to keep his daughter alive. He was going to be known as a killer after all… and a higher number of deaths would mean a higher level of respect and intrigue.
By the time Sarah got out of the shower, Robert was already cooking dinner. “I said I’d handle that,” she commented, watching her father chop the romaine she had recently gotten from the store.
“And I said I won’t be a burden” Her father responded. “I have this handled.” Sarah watched him for a moment then returned to her room, looking for a book to read.
“Call me when you’re done” she stated.
“I will,” He answered. Searching through the kitchen, he found some cashews which he then chopped and blended. He poured the heaps of cashew dust onto the lettuce and vegetables. Robert took out a pill from his pill bottle, which he set on the counter to take with dinner. The rest, he crushed and mixed into Sarah’s plate. Finally dousing them with small amounts of olive oil and vinegar and tossing the salads, he brought the plates to the table and called Sarah to come and eat.
Robert didn’t know much about medicine. He was an astrophysics professor after all, not a doctor. One thing he did know, however, was that blood thinners work the same way as rat poison. For people like him, who have high blood pressure, such anticoagulants were a miracle. But for those who don’t have that problem…
Well, Sarah wouldn’t realize until it was too late.