Killing Me Softly: A Thriller Romance Novel [FIRST DRAFT]

Chapter 9

I probably shouldn't have done it, but I ended up canceling my "date" with Donnie, Mary Jo's half-brother, to do something else instead.

I took Janice's advice to heart for once and did not follow through with it. When Donnie asked why I couldn't go out, I told him I had work to do. And it was no lie.

I booted up my MacBook and iPad and decided to dive in and start writing the article I wanted to write regarding Theo's innocence. Only, there was one major problem: I did not yet have Theo's side of the story! It was the most significant piece of the article I wanted to write.

What was I thinking? I can't write this article yet, not until I get Theo's side of the story! I scolded myself as I stared at the blank white first page of an untitled Word document. I wrote down a bulleted list of everything I knew so far, realizing it wasn't much. Then, I referred to the recording of Donnie on my iPad. But when I went to play the file back, something happened. It wouldn't play! All of that time we had spent talking was lost entirely.

"No!" I wanted to holler and scream but didn't want to startle Janice's parents. So, instead, I found myself picking my phone back up and trying to figure out when I should schedule a time to speak with Donnie again to record it. I almost started texting him when I returned to the Word document, trying to remember what Donnie said.

Most of it concerned his upbringing more than Mary Jo's. The only thing that stuck out to me that I remember the most was he said that he and Theo never liked each other. They argued with each other from day one. Donnie felt it was because Theo was jealous of him when he shouldn't have been. Donnie sensed Theo was like that, though, very jealous and possessive of Mary Jo, often giving her a hard time about her interactions with the men in her life.

I thought it odd of him to say that of Theo because I had never seen him treat her or anyone else around her with jealousy or anger. Mary Jo talked with everyone and anyone. And Theo let her do her thing. It made me question if Donnie even knew what he was talking about.

Donnie had also accused Theo of being controlling and demanding of her. According to Donnie, Mary Jo was very much under his control and couldn't be her own person.

That didn't make any sense to me either because it was quite clear to see that Mary Jo did anything and everything she wanted. She posted it all over Facebook! Anything she thought about or wanted, they made it happen.

I couldn't remember the rest of what Donnie had said, but I kind of got the sense that Donnie was jealous of Theo. Donnie expressed so much love and adoration for his half-sister that it was borderline weird.

"She always ran to me when she was upset or scared," Donnie said. "I have a beach house that I let her borrow from time to time when she needed alone time, and Theo absolutely hated that."

I wonder if investigators thought to check the beach house, I thought. Do they even know about it? Surely, they have questioned Donnie and mostly everyone else in Mary Jo's family. Right?

The sound of Janice's bloodhounds howling outside and the sound of someone approaching interrupted my thoughts. Knowing it was only a little after 8:00 that night, I had no idea who it was coming to visit. Probably one of Janice's relatives or something. They all lived in Yoakum, and I recalled how they would stop by from time to time while I visited Janice. I remember thinking how nice it must be to have a close, loving family like that—something I never had.

I did my best to return to my thoughts when someone knocked on the front door.

"I'll get it!" I heard Janice's mom from the living room get up from her recliner in the living room and slowly but surely make her way to the door, the hound dogs still barking and howling outside. "Oh, hello. Can we help you?"