SAVAGE SURPRISE

Cody Neal had promised Candace Walters a surprise. He had her sit down, and with a flourish, he produced a briefcase. It was heavy, as though filled with cash. He wanted the weight to be a distraction, so he had filled it with newspapers. He tried to place a blanket on her head.

“No, Cody,” she protested. “I don’t want to mess up my hair.”

Neal gently draped the blanket around her shoulders. “Well, promise to keep your eyes closed,” he said as he walked behind her toward the closet where he kept the seven-and-a-half-pound splitting maul. He returned with the weapon partly raised, pausing for a moment to note how trusting she seemed sitting there.

The ax went up and then down again. Neal used the blade side of the maul to cleave deep into Wallace’s skull above her left ear. He yanked the blade out and struck again near the first mark. As she fell, he struck her again on the neck. Finished, he wrapped her head in a clear plastic bag, then dragged her body over to the fireplace and covered it with a blanket.

He was ready for his next victim.