💯 STORY CHALLENGE (10/100)

Blackmailing the Wolf | Crime Noir

Arthur Wolf won big after his last major con, but his carefully planned charade is unhinged when one of his hideous crimes catches up with him.

Arthur awoke to a perfect morning. Bathed in warm sunlight and entertained by birdsong, he felt energetic, strong and driven. Today would be a perfect day to further his plans.

He started with a habit he had cultivated long ago and suppressed the urge to open his eyes and rush out of bed. He disliked the flood of visual stimuli. Concentrating on his other senses helped him preserve and draw on this feeling all day.

He sprawled on the bed, enjoying the soft touch of silk linen on his naked skin and took in Rhea’s fragrance. She had left the bedroom already, but that sensual mixture of sweet perfumy skin, a hint of Channel, and the smell of lovemaking still lingered.

Rhea found his fascination with smells creepy, but his senses were extraordinary well developed and sensitive. “You have the gift of a tracking dog,” she joked once. Arthur had smiled at that. Not in agreement, but because he thought that predator was a better fit.

When he caught the smell of freshly baked bread and coffee, he decided to get up. He knew it was better to saturate his appetites. After all, Arthur was relentless in their pursuit. That relentlessness had made him rich and powerful, but it was a vulnerability at times.

He jumped out of bed and put his expensive pyjama trousers on, ignoring the matching shirt. Arthur was conceited and liked the look on Rhea’s face when he pranced around, showing his six-pack and perfectly defined muscles. Being a predator with the attitude of a peacock was his other weakness.

His stunning looks and ability to sweet-talk anybody had helped him become filthy rich. With enough time, people believed he cared about and loved them. But Arthur had learned one lesson: caring didn’t make you wealthy; exploiting weaknesses did.

Before leaving the bedroom, he looked through the enormous sliding doors separating the bedroom from the garden. The morning sun reflected on the water of his pool and the morning dew on the grass.

“Scruffy little street dog my a**, dad,” he gnarled.

He had made it all the way up by relying on himself. We wondered if any of the street rats he hung out with as a kid ever moved out of that cursed suburb.

“No thanks to you and your belt, old man.”

Angry at himself, he shook off the thought and tried to remember how he felt this morning. While concentrating on the memories of the warm sunlight, the smells and the birdsong, that feeling of drive, energy, and strength returned.

“It’s the Wolf’s hour,” he said and grinned.

Arthur grabbed his mobile phone and went to find Rhea. He found her sitting cross-legged on a divan, looking out at the garden. She held a big cup of coffee in her hands and wore his shirt from yesterday evening.

She looked gorgeous when she smiled at him, and Artur felt a tingle in his chest when their eyes met. “Well, you aren’t falling in love, are you? Bad for business.” a sarcastic voice inside him said.

He smiled back at her and strolled toward her, reassuring himself that he was in control of his feelings. But when he kissed her, his heart started beating faster than the drums of the Blue Man Group. Arthur had to make sure he didn’t turn into a love drunk fool.

First and foremost, he had to make sure she didn’t find out about the others. She liked the luxury and money, but she wouldn’t like how he earned it—realising his inability to let her go like the others troubled Arthur. Soon, that wouldn’t be a problem anymore. He was about to go fully legit in a few days.

Arthur walked over to the kitchen counter while sweet-talking with Rhea. He read the newspaper’s headline and poured himself a coffee. He recognised that she had answered something, but her words never reached his brain.

“F*ck!”

He had just checked his phone and recognised something odd. Instead of his fire-truck red Ferrari, the background picture of his phone showed him and Rhea in bed. The linen was drawn to the waistline, barely covering their nudity. The timestamp showed 2:23 am.

“Is everything okay, Arthur?” Rhea sounded concerned.

“Sorry, I spilt coffee and burned my hand.”

He looked at the picture again, more closely this time. The mysterious stalker had placed a paper on his bare chest.

“Does she know what you did to her grandmother? Does she know how you paid for that Ferrari? It will be fun to hunt you down, Big Bad Wolf.”

Arthur couldn’t stop himself from thinking about Rhea’s grandmother. He placed himself in her way, gained her trust, and had her establish a trust fund for her granddaughter — a trust fund controlled by his shell company.

“I would do anything for you,” the wealthy widow had said.

“You may want to rethink that.”

It was hard to forget her hurt and puzzled expression when the spasms started shortly after. She fell into a coma the same day, and Arthur Wolf took control of her wealth.

But Arthur felt unable to stop there. He had to meet Rhea and twist her around his finger too. Instead, he fell in love. “Sh*t!” his inner voice said, “I told you not to let your guard down.”

Arthur felt sick, as if that stranger had put giant rocks into his belly. He did his best to stop himself from swearing again. He couldn’t raise suspicion.

“You are in control,” he told himself, concentrating on his feeling when he woke up. “I told you today is a perfect day to further our plans.”

He looked up at Rhea and showed her a comforting smile.

“I’m gonna find whoever did this,” he said to his inner critic, “What is one more kill?”

© Jay C Wells 2022

💯 Story Challenge (10/100)

Thank you for supporting my creative journey! Please check out my other weird, wicked and witty fiction stories on Medium if you enjoyed this tale. Support my writing journey by subscribing to my email list or joining as a medium member with my referral link.

After re-imagining Red Riding Hood in my Flash Fiction “The Ferrari”, I wanted to explore the story of the conman “Mr Wolf” further. The sinister criminal Arthur Wolf was born from that idea, and two writing prompts.

JF Danskin inspired the theme of a crime catching up with someone living a seemingly perfect life.

Christine Graves deserves credit for the lines “I would do anything for you.” — “You may want to rethink that.”

Are you interested in the 💯 Story Challenge? Check this story by Zane Dickens in Microcosm to learn more.

Like always, I finish by leading you to a pick from the 💯 Story Challenge. I picked Bob Merckel’s story “One Last Drag” this time. It would probably make Arthur Wolf smile.