Lance frowned.
He stood by the edge of his bed and scanned the rumpled sheets. He strode into the kitchen to scrutinize the calendar on the refrigerator. Merry Maids had come today. He eyed the counter and looked to see if the envelope he’d placed by the coffee pot was gone. It was.
He scratched his head. Unless, they had forgotten to make his bed… “That’s weird.” Lance returned to his bed for a closer inspection. He leaned forward and noticed greasy stains on his sheets. “What the—” Lance squelched the profanity on the tip of his tongue.
He squinted. “Is that oil? I can’t tell.” He gritted his teeth and called Merry Maids. There was no answer at that hour. He left a scathing message. Lance clenched his fists. They were going to buy him new sheets.
In one swift, powerful tug, Lance ripped the sheets off his bed. As they fell in a pile at his feet, a red and black fabric caught in eye. Lance bent over to look. His mouth opened. “I don’t believe this… In my bed… That’s disgusting.”
Lance went to get a pen from one of his end tables. He used the tip to pick up the slight fabric. It was a thong. Lance winced at the visual images of what must have transpired in his bed. He tossed the garment on top of the sullied sheets and retrieved a large garbage bag and gloves. He stuffed his hands into the gloves and swooped everything in the bag. Good thing tomorrow was garbage day, because he was going to dump the sheets and the bed. Lance knew he wouldn’t sleep in that bed again.
Thirty minutes later, Lance had everything on his front lawn. He washed his hands. It was up to sanitation now. He didn’t consider that this incident could be tied to the previous two. All Lance knew was he was going to fire the cleaning crew and call Haverty’s to order a new bedroom set.
He settled into his guestroom, called Belinda and told her about the adventure with his bed.
“I paid good money for them to deliver it tomorrow,” he said.
“I don’t think it’s the cleaning service, Lance. I think it’s the same woman. Someone isn’t happy we’re together.”
Lance crossed his legs. “Belinda, this isn’t an episode of CSI. It’s everyday life, and this just doesn’t happen.”
“If I had to venture a guess, I would say it’s Monica.”
“She’s in Atlanta. I told you.”
“Are you sure?”
Lance had a moment of doubt. “I’ll do a little snooping around.” He changed the subject. “What are we reading tonight?”
“Let’s read the history of David and Goliath.”
“Okay, let me get my Bible from my bedroom.” Lance got out of bed and walked to his bedroom. He frowned. His Bible was not on his nightstand. Lance scanned the bedroom. Where was it? He put the phone on speaker and rested it on his nightstand while he searched the area. “I can’t find my Bible.”
“Don’t tell me the cleaning crew got religion and stole your Bible.”
Lance ignored her sarcasm. He took the phone off speaker and went to look in the kitchen and in his car. He couldn’t find it anywhere. “Who would steal a Bible?”
“Maybe someone who really needed to hear from God,” Belinda teased.
“This isn’t funny. Noah gave me that Bible. It’s engraved with my name on it.” Lance clenched his fists. He felt…violated. A thought occurred. “Maybe I left it at church.”
“But, you had it last night.”
Lance shook his head. He felt he was stuck inside an episode of the Twilight Zone. “I don’t understand what is happening lately. From when we started planning the wedding…”
“Are you saying marrying me is causing you this bad luck?” she asked with attitude.
“I’m not saying that,” Lance shot back. An instant headache formed. He closed his eyes and squeezed the bridge of his nose. “Marrying you is all I think about. We have our counseling session tomorrow. I’ll ask Noah if he’s seen my Bible.”
“But you used—”
Lance cut her off. “Just humor me. Tomorrow, I’ll begin to get to the bottom of this. Let’s get our devotions done. Please.”
Belinda acquiesced and Lance went through the motions. Once he was off the phone, Lance admitted he had fibbed. His stomach churned thinking about all these crazy incidents. The last time he’d seen crazy like this, Sydney had been fighting for her life. Lance was dealing with a psycho, and there was only one woman who came to mind. Monica.