Master of Plagues, D. B. Reynolds [best books to read fiction .txt] 📗

“No, honey, I’m not.”
Megan turned to stare at Julie with eyes of killer instincts. “And you, Julie. How could you come to my house and have an affair with my husband?”
“Like Tom said, it’s not what it seems,” Julie sustained, the truth far from her conscious.
“You, too, are a stinking liar.”
“Please forgive me, Megan.”
Megan grabbed one of the long forks used to flip over the barbecue meat. She pointed it straight at Julie. “After today, I never want to see you again. Even at the hospital, when we pass one another, I’m going to pretend that you’re invisible.”
She charged at Julie and ran her off the premises. Megan was hurt.
The flames ignited from Queen Amina’s antennaes grew stronger. A roaring blaze shot from her mouth. “Megan, until you apologize to my master, the plagues will still come.”
Queen Amina flapped her wings as her eyes projected a more concentrated glow. “Colony, follow me into the stratosphere.”
The Queen and her colony darted into the nighttime skies. They seemed to have vanished within a split-second. Megan and Thomas, along with their guests, couldn’t believe what had happened. Believe it or not, they watched hundreds of tiny ants grow into human-sized ants. What they witnessed was no fairytale story. The area around the pool was a complete mess.
Food and drinks weren’t only scattered all over the ground, but the guests had liquor and food smeared in their hair and across their faces. The pool was filled with silverware and plates and condiments. Megan and Thomas wasted no time apologizing to their guests. They escorted them out the house. Boy, did they have stories to tell to their families and friends.
Thomas wanted to talk with his wife before he cleaned up the pool area. “Meg, I can see that you were telling the truth about the giant ants attacking you in the break room at the hospital. But, the one giant ant with the fire-burning antennaes and fire-breathing mouth, what’s this crap about its master?”
“Tom, we should be talking about you and Julie sneaking upstairs.”
“Babe, deception is what you saw playing out up there in those crazy skies.”
“Tom, I don’t know nothing about no darn master,” Megan promised Tom, trying not to believe that her husband cheated with her good friend.
“Where’d those monster-sized ants come from? And the leader, it actually spoke good English.”
Megan leaned over and planted a light kiss on the cheek of Thomas. “Tom, I’ve got a confession.”
“So, you’re going to tell me about the skeletons in your closet?”
“Honey, when I was in college at NYU, me and some of my classmates pulled a serious prank on this one guy.”
“We’ve all played pranks on somebody before.”
“But listen, this prank was real serious. We lured this one nerdy, dorky guy to a rundown motel in the South Bronx in order to play out this prank. When we got him to the motel, we had a mechanical sex doll waiting in the bed along with a buncha squirming maggots.”
“Were you guys that cruel in college?”
“Anyway, he thought he’d get laid that night. But instead, when he pulled the covers back, he saw that it was nothing but a mechanical sex doll with lots and lots of maggots crawling all around the hair and face and body.”
“So, tell me, what was your role in the prank?”
“I pretended to be the voice of the doll.”
“How’d you pull that off?”
“I hid in a closet that was close to the bed.”
“How many of you guys were involved in this prank.”
“Eight, total.”
“I’d like to know what that guy’s life is like now?”
“Before we all left the room laughing our heads off, he told us that what we’d done to him, it would come back and bite us in the backside. He promised us that we’d come crawling on our hands and knees to beg for his forgiveness.”
“Are you serious, Meg?”
“Serious as the souls of our two children. When I was attacked at the hospital, it was that big queen ant who stung me right in my backside. And tonight, you heard what that same queen ant said to me.”
“All of this seems like a buncha supernatural, sci-fi, mumbo jumbo crap that some psycho- sicko dreamed up.”
“But it’s real, Tom,” Megan cried out, light tears streaming down her alluring face. “Those ants are going to plague me until I apologize.”
“The dork you pulled the prank on, what’s his name?”
“Stuart Duffelmeyer. He grew up in Staten Island.”
“Where’s he living now?”
“Last I heard, he was still living in New York. He owns a few pet stores and vet clinics around the city.”
Thomas leaned over and wrapped his loving arms around Megan. “After what we witnessed tonight, I believe that you should find this Stuart Duffelmeyer and apologize to him.”
“For what, Tom?”
“He might be using his supernatural powers to work through those fire ants.”
“What, to plague us?”
“Maybe.”
Megan and Thomas had lots of clean-up work to do. Him fooling around with Julie, she wasn’t going to let him off the hook so easy. The pool area remained a total mess. Whether or not Megan would follow Thomas’ advice and apologize to Stuart, it remained questionable.


CHAPTER—36

BREAKING INTO BREW CITY

Leaving Chicago for Milwaukee slowed things down considerably for Stuart. He arrived in “Brew City” a little past two o’clock p.m. and checked into the prestigious Pfister Hotel in downtown Milwaukee. As a young man with resplendent taste, he picked out the Pfister because it was centrally-located with impeccable style. From the moment he arrived, he noticed the extraordinary architecture in the lobby and the welcoming ambiance from the desk clerks.
The priceless Victorian artwork collection was like none in the world. The accommodations were superior while the hotel furnishings were simply magnificent. Inside his room, there on the twentieth floor, Stuart took a deep breath. He enjoyed luxurious hotels from one corner of the United States to the next. An awesome view overlooking Lake Michigan rejuvenated his senses. Once again, having direct access to the Duffelmeyer fortune had its privileges.
A new city meant new scenery. Different people meant different attitudes. Stuart dazed out the window and marveled at the surrounding views of other buildings like the Marcus Center for Performing Arts, St. John’s Cathedral, US Bank Center, and Riverwalk Plaza. The ivory-covered walls of Marquette University were priceless.
Having amenities in his guestroom like central air conditioning, a refrigerator, microwave, irons, hairdryers, satellite television, high speed internet, and designer toiletries, made him feel right at home once again. Every hotel had him feeling like he was at a temporary home away from his permanent home in Staten Island. The familiar ringtone of his cell phone echoed from inside his black travel bag.
Stuart searched the bag until the phone slipped out. “Stuart here.”
“Stuart?” chimed the familiar voice of a cultured woman.
“Laura?” Stuart replied, both of them surprised to hear each other’s voice.
“Stuart, where are you?”
“Milwaukee, Laura.”
“What are you doing in Milwaukee?”
“Business-as-usual, darling,” Stuart falsified, the truth better untold.
“Would it have anything to do with your pet stores and vet clinics?”
“Yes, it would.”
“The question remains the same, Stuart.”
“And that would be?”
“When are you coming back to New York?”
“Soon, Laura, very soon.”
“Stuart, are you putting me off?” Laura investigated, her loving heart yearning for him.
“Not at all.”
“I know you’re not seeing another woman.”
“Of course not.”
“You said you’d be coming back home soon. How soon is soon?”
“After Milwaukee, I’ve got one more city to tackle.”
“You’re making it sound like you’re on a conquest or something.”
“That preposterous, Laura. Business requires me to travel from one end of America to the next. My parents, both being deep off into real estate ownership and management, they’re constantly traveling from one state to the next, one city to the next.”
“Business is business. Can I put it all out on the line?”
“Sure you can.”
“Stuart, I’m missing you. I believe we should take things slow, but I’ve never met anyone like you before. When we were in Las Vegas, no man would’ve taken the time to shower me with so much special treatment. The affection you showed me with, it was quite invigorating. I can still hear that song playing in my head.”
“Sharing The Night Together?”
“Yes, that wonderfully beautiful ballad by Dr. Hook.”
“The night we spent together, it was like something that I’d never experienced. The euphoria took me to a world of ecstasy.”
“I feel the same way.”
“When I return to New York, I will be a man of my word. You and I are going to make up for lost time. What’cha say to that, babygirl?”
“I’d say yes.”
Stuart looked down at his watch and murmured. “Boy, do I have to get going.”
“Will you call me later?”
“No doubt.”
“Bye, Stuart.”
“Bye, Laura.”
Stuart and Laura ended the call by smacking their lips close to their phones. Stuart wanted to make use of every dime spent on the guestroom at the Pfister Hotel. He got undressed and adorned himself in pure white terry towels. The shower water ran hot for several minutes before it steamed up the mirrors