The Bathroom Strangler is about a psycho name Tim Thompson. He’s the type of guy you never want to meet. He’s a drunk who smokes like a chimney. He loves to rob, steal, and rape women. Tim has an obsession with killing people in bathrooms. He has problems. The book is about a couple weeks of Tim’s life. During this time you could say his life gets turned upside down and all because of a woman whom he meets by accident.
Tim was walking from his car to the apartment building. Out of the corner of his
eye he spotted a guy carrying a grocery bag. He had seen the guy around before but he didn’t know him personally. Tim didn’t care to know him personally. From the looks of the guy, Tim would rather kill him. Tim didn’t take the time to get to know very many people personally. He was just rude like that.
Tim walked up the stairs heading to his apartment. He didn’t pay any attention to where the guy went. Tim got to his floor and started down the hall to his apartment door.
“Hey man.”
It was a man’s voice that came from behind Tim. He figured it was the guy he had seen. He stopped and turned around. Sure enough, it was the guy. He had long blond hair, a mustache, and was wearing sunglasses. He was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans with a pair of flip flops. He was nothing special to look at, or at least Tim didn’t think so.
“What?” Tim asked.
“Do you live with Claire?”
“Huh?”
“Claire? Are you the guy that lives with her?”
Tim looked at the guy more carefully this time. The voice sounded familiar. He knew that he had heard it somewhere before. Then it suddenly hit him. This was the guy he caught Claire with. Now it made sense why he was asking about her.
Dude is stupid, but he’s got some balls, Tim thought. That pissed Tim off. He was already pretty pissed that this guy had slept with his woman. He apparently didn’t know that Tim knew who he was. He obviously didn’t know how crazy Tim was or how big of a mistake he had just made.
“Yeah,” answered Tim figuring he would play along and act nice for a few more minutes before slighting his throat. That seemed like the neighborly thing to do. Tim smiled.
“I haven’t seen her today. I was just wondering if you had.”
“No I haven’t. I’m kind of worried about her. This isn’t like her,” Tim replied. “Who are you by the way?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m Kip. Claire baby sits for me and my wife. She also does some housework for her. We pay her of course.”
“Oh. Okay.”
Kip was lying to Tim’s face and he knew it. The asshole wasn’t married and he certainly didn’t have any kids. Tim was impressed that he came up with a pretty believable lie. It didn’t do any good. He was still going to die.
“I just came home to see if she was here. Then I was going to go out looking for her again. Any ideas as to where I could find her?” Tim inquired.
“Yeah, a couple.”
“Really? You wouldn’t want to..” Tim paused. “No. Forget it.”
Tim looked away trying to be as convincing as possible.
“What?” asked Kip.
“It’s stupid,” Tim said.
“Dude. Come on. What is it?”
“I was just thinking you could maybe go along and help me look for her. I’ve been looking by myself. It’s pretty hard. There are so many places to look and so little time. That makes it kind of frustrating.”
“I’ll go.”
“Really?”
“Sure.”
“Great,” Tim exclaimed. “Did you need to tell your wife first?”
“Yeah. I’ll be right back.”
Tim nodded. Kip was an idiot. He fell for Tim’s trap so easily. Tim loved it when people were stupid enough to fall for his traps.
Tim watched at Kip hurried down the hall.
“Trusting fool,” Tim said once Kip was out of ear shot.
Tim leaned against the wall as he took a cigarette out and lit it. Then he looked down the hall. Kip had disappeared into an apartment. Tim wasn’t sure which one exactly it was, but it wasn’t too far down from his. Tim guessed he would be a while since he had to play around in order to make it believable.
Finally Kip exited the apartment and hurried down the hall to where Tim was waiting for him.
“Did she come back?” Kip asked.
“No.”
“Sorry man.”
“It’s okay. I just hope we can find her soon and she is okay. I miss her so much.”
Tim turned his head and wiped his eyes to make it look like he was crying. Kip patted him on the back as if he was trying to comfort him. Tim wanted to grab his arm and twist it until it snapped but chose to wait a while for that.
“We’ll find her. We’ve got to,” said Kip.
Tim wanted to laugh. It was so hard for him not to. Kip was believing everything he told him. He didn’t even think Tim had killed her. Either I’m a damn good liar or he is a complete idiot, Tim thought. Either way this will be great.
“Are you ready to go or do you want to be alone for a minute?” questioned Kip.
“We should go. I have time later to be sad. I would rather hurry and get out there. She could be laying somewhere in need of help. Thinking that is what keeps me searching for her.”
“Good point.”
With that the tow of them headed for the stairs. Neither said much as they went down the stairs. Kip followed close behind him as they headed across the parking lot toward Tim’s car.
As they walked, Tim reached into his pocket. His trusty pocket knife was there. It was going to get some use very soon. Tim was of course plotting as they walked. When was he going to attack Kip? Where was another important question that had to be answered. He couldn’t slight his throat in the car. Blood in his car would look bad. Blood. That is why I hate stabbing people. It is too messy. Blood on my clothes and in my car, he thought. Strangling people is so much easier and cleaner. Where Tim slight his throat at was going to have to be where he dumped the body. He couldn’t put a bloody body in the trunk even. It had to be in an isolated place.
Convincing Kip to look for Claire some place where there was a cliff or a bridge was the ideal place. Even a place that had a river or a creek with a bank that Kip’s body could be shoved over would work perfectly. He could slight his throat and toss him over which would make the body hard to find for a while.
“That’s me there,” Tim said pointing to his car.
“Okay.”
“It’s unlocked.”
“All right.”
Tim walked to the driver’s side door and opened it. Kip was already settling into the passenger seat as Tim got in and closed the door. Then he put the key in the ignition and started the car.
“Okay. So where should we go?” Tim asked.
“She has this friend Gina. You know where she lives, right?”
Now Tim was even more pissed. He was suppose to be Claire’s boyfriend and Kip knew more about her than he did.
“No,” Tim replied.
“Oh. Uh, she lives on Maple Street.”
Tim nodded as he headed for the exit of the parking lot. Then he turned onto the road and headed in the direction of Maple Street. Maple Street was about five minutes away.
Tim wondered why he didn’t know about Gina. How many other people did she hang out with that he didn’t know about? Were there any more guys besides Kip? He couldn’t believe he had spent that much time out that he had no idea who she spoke to, hung out with, and was friends with.
The more he thought about things, he began to wonder how many guys were there? If it was just Kip, then how long had it been going on for? Was it always in their bed? It didn’t really matter now and he wasn’t about to ask.
Once they reached Maple Street, Tim slowed down waiting for Kip to instruct him to the house of this Gina person.
“Second to last one on the right,” said Kip.
Tim nodded and sped up. When they reached the second to last house on the right, he parked the car. He climbed out of the car and looked around. The houses were dumpy and old. Paint was peeling off, the front door had a broken window; which was covered with a piece of cardboard. One of the three porch steps was missing as well.
Kip pounded on the door and they waited. From inside they heard someone hollering something as they walked to the door.
“She’s cool,” Kip said.
Tim just nodded, not really caring. Killing Kip was all he cared about. This was just wasting his time and pissing him off even more.
Finally the door swung open. The chick had sort black, curly hair. She wore short jean shorts and a pink tank top. He had seen her before at Jake’s. He was relieved that he had never hit on her.
“Hey baby,” she said as she threw her arms around Kip and kissed him.
Married my ass, Tim thought. He’s a fucking player. I just don’t see how he gets so many chicks. He’s ugly. What is so great about him? I’m sure he can’t be that good of a lover. There was no way that was happening.
This chick was a slut also. He knew that for sure. He had seen her all over several guys at the bar. It wasn’t surprising that Gina and Alexandria were friends since they were both sluts.
“Hi,” Kip said to Gina. “This is Claire’s boyfriend. She is missing. Have you seen her or heard from her?”
“No. Sorry.”
“Damn,” exclaimed Tim trying to sound disappointed.
“I’m really sorry. I hope you find her.”
“Thanks,” replied Tim.
“You coming over tonight?”
“Sure if I can get away,” answered Kip.
“You better get away.”
Tim turned his head as she grabbed Kips ass. Then they started kissing. Tim thought he was going to get sick.
“I’ll be waiting in the car,” announced Tim.
Gina and Kip were still kissing. Tim lit a cigarette as he walked down the steps to his car. He opened the car door and sat down. Then he glanced toward the house, hoping they were done. They were still kissing. It looked like he was about to rip her clothes off right there and have his way with her. Tim wouldn’t have been surprised if he had hollered be back in ten minutes and then the two of them disappear inside.
“Come on,” said Tim, but not too loudly. “I just want to kill you and get drunk.”
Tim smiled. Actually he wanted to kill Kip, get the houses robbed, and then see Alexandria. Mostly he wanted to see Alexandria. Killing Kip was seriously going to set his schedule back a bit. Tim wished he could call Alexandria. Just hearing her voice would be better than nothing.
Finally Tim heard Kip say bye. Tim turned to look toward the house. Kip was making his way down the steps with a huge smile on his face.
“I cheat,” Kip admitted with a shrug as he climbed in. “Promise you won’t tell.”
“Man, who doesn’t cheat?”
“So you cheat?”
“Of course I do. I’m a guy.
“Cool. So my secret is safe with you.”
“I won’t tell a soul. You have to keep my secret too.”
“I will.”
“Good,” said Tim. “So where to next?”
“Let me think,” Kip said.
“Let’s check the bar on Main. Lucky’s.”
Tim glanced at him, surprised to hear that information about Claire also. There really was a lot he hadn’t known about her. I wonder if she had a couple kids somewhere she never told me about.
“She goes there?” asked Tim.
“Yeah. She and Gina go there sometimes. I’ve seen her there a few times by herself, but mostly it’s with Gina,” Kip answered.
“Okay,” said Tim.
Tim started the car and pulled away from the curb. He turned down an alley and headed towards Main Street which was near downtown.
“You drink?” Kip inquired.
“Yeah,” replied Tim.
“You go to a bar?”
“Jake’s.”
“Oh, yeah. I always forget about that place for some reason.”
Tim just nodded. He didn’t want to talk. The last thing he wanted to do was make friends with this guy. There was really no point in them getting to know each other.
Grabbing his pocket knife and sticking it right in Kips throat or eye was such a temptation. Tim kept reminding himself that blood on his seat would be very bad right now. Just relax and be patient, Tim kept thinking, but it seemed like the damn knife was calling his name.
Tim wanted to take him someplace after they stopped at the bar on Main Street. Maybe the park on the edge of town. It was a little secluded. It was certainly better than stabbing him right there in the car.
He decided that he would suggest checking the park after they went to the bar. He could easily make up a story that she liked the place for one reason or another and maybe she would be there. The park didn’t have any high places to shove Kip off of, but he was sure he could think of something. He had to. He just didn’t have much time to do it.
When they reached Main Street, they had to drive around a bit to find a place to park. After circling a couple times, Tim settled for parking in a lot around the corner. Then they had to hike back to the bar.
Tim had never been to Lucky’s before. The building was an older wooden on. The loud music flowed from the open doors. It was country music. Tim wasn’t and had never been thrilled about country music.
As they approached the doors, they could already smell the scents of beer and cigarettes. Tim followed Kip inside. The bar was dark and smoky like usual. As Tim looked around, he quickly decided that he didn’t like the place.
The bar wasn’t too crowded. There were some people seated at the bar and some were at tables, but only three tables were occupied. This clearly wasn’t the busiest time of day for the bar.
The bar tender was a short woman, a little on the heavy side, but not fat. She had shoulder length brown hair and wore glasses. She was busily making a drink for one of the ladies already seated at the bar. Tim and Kip walked up and sat down. When the bar tender was done mixing the ladies drink she sat it on the bar in front of the lady who was waiting for it. Then she walked over to where Tim and kip were waiting.
“Your usual?” she asked Kip.
“No thanks,” answered Kip.
“Then what the hell are you doing here?” she asked jokingly.
“I missed you.”
“My ass. What do you want?”
Tim laughed. He liked the lady. Her looks were deceiving. She looked so sweet and innocent. She certainly was a mouthy little thing.
“We are looking for Claire. Have you seen her?”
“Sorry. I haven’t seen her in a couple of days. The last time I saw her in here was that day she came with you and Gina.”
“Okay.”
“Why? What’s going on?”
“She’s missing,” replied Tim.
“Oh no. Do you think something happened to her?” she asked in a worried voice.
“Don’t know,” answered Tim.
“Gosh I hope not.”
The bar tender was very polite. She seemed genuinely concerned about Claire.
“Me too,” agreed Tim.
“Keep me posted,” she said to Kip.
“Sure thing,” replied Kip.
“Thanks,” said Tim as they rose and headed for the exit. Tim sighed when he stepped onto the sidewalk. They hadn’t been inside the bar that long, but the music had annoyed him greatly. He was so glad to be leaving and never returning.
“I’m all out of ideas. Do you have any ideas where she may be? I’ll be more than happy to continue to help you look for her,” volunteered Kip.
They walked down the sidewalk heading to the parking lot.
“Really?” Tim asked.
“Sure,” answered Kip.
“Thanks man. That is so nice of you.”
“It’s no problem at all. Just glad to help.”
“Great. I really do appreciate the help,” Tim said. “I do have an idea. I forgot all about it. There is this one park she use to love to go to.”
“Okay.”
Tim smiled. The idiot fell for it too. The minute they got there and he turned his back, he was going to be in serious trouble. Tim couldn’t wait. He was tired of playing nice.
They reached Tim’s car and got in. Tim quickly started it and pulled out of the parking lot. He maneuvered through the parking lot and to the exit. Then he turned onto the road heading south towards the park.
It was a little bit of a drive to the park, but it would be worth it he hoped. He didn’t want to go to one of the bigger parks in town. The one on the edge of town was very nice, but not as popular as others. Even if there were people there, they had the option of going off on a trial by a little creek where they would be hidden by trees.
Tim sped up wanting to get there as quickly as possible. The faster he drove meant the faster he would get rid of Kip. He glanced in the rear view mirror. Remembering the cops that had been following him, he looked to see if there was a suspicious automobile behind him. It didn’t appear as though they were being followed. There was a sports car behind them along with a junkie truck, a jeep, a jaguar, and a PT cruiser. Just to be on the safe side, Tim turned down a side street. Kip looked at him kind of funny like, wondering what was going on. Tim said nothing as he drove around the block to see if anyone was going to turn off behind them. No one did.
“Just wanted to see if someone was home real quick,” Tim explained.
“Oh. Okay. I was wondering what you were doing for a minute there,” replied Kip.
“You thought I was crazy, huh?”
“Yes I did.”
Tim just laughed. He was thinking I am crazy and you’re about to find out just how crazy I am in a few minutes.
“Hey, do you mind if I smoke?” inquired Kip.
“No. Go ahead,” he answered. “That’s actually a good idea. I need one too.”
Kip pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket in the front of his shirt. He removed one from the pack and lit it. Then he put the pack back in his pocket. Tim got one of his cigarettes out and lit it.
Let him have one last smoke before he dies. Maybe I should’ve been nice and bought him one last beer. Nah. That’s too nice. I could never be that nice. I’ll drink one for him tonight.
Tim turned to the left leaving the city limits. Kip looked at him kind of funny like once again.
“Which park are we going to?” inquired Kip.
“Riverbend,” Tim answered. “She use to come here sometimes after we had a fight. She liked it because it was peaceful and quiet.”
“I forgot all about this park.”
Tim just nodded. He turned to the left again. It was a one lane, winding road lined with tall trees on both sides. The road was about a mile long leading back to the park.
When one first entered the park there was the large parking lot. From the parking lot one could see the play ground area and picnic tables that were shaded by the trees. Back in the distance behind the play ground was a wooded area that was located next to a winding river. It was a beautiful place to relax.
They reached the parking lot. It was empty. Tim smiled as he quickly parked. He got out followed by Kip. Tim stood by the driver’s side door for a second and looked around.
“Do you think she is here?” asked Kip.
“It’s hard to tell really. I’ve found her sitting down by the river before,” Tim said.
Tim glanced toward the entrance. He didn’t hear or see any cars entering the park. That was a good thing. He started to walk. He looked back at Kip who threw his cigarette to the ground and started following Tim.
Kip was starting to act a little funny, at least in Tim’s opinion. Tim was starting to think that Kip was no longer trusting him. That was odd. He was sure he hadn’t done or said anything to give himself away. Tim thought his story about the park sounded believable. He was doing the best he could at pretending to be sad.
It didn’t really matter. It would be over soon, Kip would be dead. If he tried to run, well Tim would simply run him over with his car. Dents like that to a car could easily explained by saying he hit a deer.
Tim glanced behind him. Kip was still following him; which he found surprising. The only bad thing was that he was behind Tim. That wasn’t good. Tim needed him to be in front of him in order to attack him. There was still a little bit of time to make that happen.
They were walking through the play ground area. Beyond that was the entrance to the wooded area. It was maybe a half of a mile from there to the entrance of the wooded area to the river. That was exactly where Tim was heading.
“So where is the river?” asked Kip looking around.
He sounded as if he didn’t believe that there was a river. Tim was insulted.
“It’s a little ways into the woods,” Tim replied.
“I guess this is the perfect place to come to if you want to get away and be alone.”
“It is nice, the nature and all that.”
“Not an outdoors kind of guy?”
“Not really.”
“Me either.”
Yea, we have something in common, Tim thought. I’m so excited.
“I’ve never gone fishing,” admitted Kip.
“Neither have I,” Tim said.
“We have a lot in common,” observed Kip.
How exciting? Tim thought.
They started walking through the woods. There was a clear dirt path wide enough for two people to walk down. Trees and bushes lined both sides of the path.
“Damn! I have to puss,” Tim said. “I’m going behind a tree. I’ll catch up in a second. Just keep going straight. You’ll be at the river in a few.”
“Okay,” said Kip.
Tim ducked off behind some trees out of sight. He didn’t have to piss. This was just his plan to get Kip in front of him. To Tim’s surprise it worked. Tim watched Kip from behind the tree. Kip was slowly walking straight just like Tim had told him to. Tim laughed.
It was really quiet. You could hear the birds chirping, the sounds of the river flowing, and a tree limb cracking in the breeze. Every know and then a twig from somewhere in the woods would crack.
Tim looked around and spotted a large, thick tree limb laying on the ground a few feet away. It caught Tim’s attention so he walked over to it. He bent down to look at it. It was about as round as a baseball bat, but not as long. One hit in the back of the head with it would knock Kip down easily. Another hit might kill him depending on how hard Tim hit him with it. After that, it wouldn’t take much to drag his body to the river and put him in since he was already pretty close.
Tim looked around. This one was the biggest he saw. He picked it up and began to walk through the woods, keeping his eye on Kip. If he did things just right, he could hide in the woods and follow Kip. When Kip got to the river, Tim could jump out, run up to him as fast as he could hopefully before he turned around. Then he could hit him over the head once or twice before shoving him in the river.
Tim smiled. He was proud of himself. It was a great spur of the moment plan. It just needed to work out as well for real as it did in theory.
Tim watched and waited until Kip got to the river. Kip looked at the river for a few seconds. Tim stopped and watched from behind a tree. Kip turned and looked toward the woods. Then he looked down the path as if he was looking for Tim.
“Come on! How long does it take to piss?” he heard Kip say.
Tim just smiled as he waited, clutching the tree limb club in his hands, eager to strike.
Kip walked back up the path the way he had come. After a few feet he stopped and walked back to the river. He looked up and down the river.
“Claire,” he yelled.
He stood silently as if he was waiting for a reply from her. Then he looked up and down the river again.
“Claire,” he yelled a second time.
He got really close to the river and knelt down. Then he stuck his hand in the water. Tim ran out from behind the tree as fast as he could. Kip heard him and stood up. He was about to turn around when Tim smacked him once. It cracked his head hard. The noise from the hit was pretty loud.
Kip fell face first to the dirt. Tim hit him again just as hard. The second hit split his head opened. The end of the tree limb club was now stained with blood. Tim hit him again and again. After five or six hits, the tree limb club broke. Tim tossed both pieces into the river.
Tim quickly turned around looking down the path to make sure no was watching. He didn’t see anyone so he kicked Kips body into the river.
“That’s what you get for lying to me and fucking my girlfriend,” said Tim.
Tim stood by the river and watched as the body started to float down the river. After a few minutes he turned and walked away.
“I’ve got people to rob now.”
Corporal Travis dreamed of partnering with a police dog, but Fate handed him a faery and something unexpected instead.. As his normal world spirals into chaos, he is thrust into a centuries-old conflict with stakes higher than he ever imagined.
Kim Jong Eun è morto. L'esercito nordcoreano è ora al comando. Il loro nuovo dittatore militare, il maresciallo Ko, crede che con un'invasione totale possano raggiungere Seul, a sole 35 miglia di distanza.
Crowley County Series, Novels 4-6
An uplifting series with romance, mystery and suspense.
Join the people of Crowleyville as they face the challenges of small town life while struggling to welcome an influx of newcomers.
