MY WIFE IS A SERIAL KILLER

COLD PANIC

Lenco's POV

“Will… are you okay?” I asked, taking a quick step toward her.

She flinched slightly, her gaze snapping to mine as if I’d startled her out of a trance.

“I couldn't find any good wood,” she said, her voice tight and breathless. She wiped a bead of sweat from her temple with a trembling hand. “And I'm exhausted. Maybe it's just the jet lag catching up with me from yesterday.”

She took a shaky breath and stepped closer, looking at me with wide, almost desperate eyes.

“Can we just go home, babe? The kids aren't back from their sleepover yet, so we'll still have some time alone there. Please.”

I looked at her, concern overriding everything else.

“Of course. Let’s pack up.”

Without hesitation, I began folding the tent and gathering our towels.

“Can you hurry a little?” she asked, her voice tight as she kept glancing over her shoulder toward the pitch-black shadows of the tree line. “I'm getting dizzy.”

“Almost done,” I said, rushing to throw everything into the trunk.

On our way back, Willow suddenly asked me to take the old coastal highway—a much longer route than the main road we'd taken to get there.

“It’s prettier,” she whispered, leaning her head against the window.

I didn't argue. I just wanted her to rest.

When we finally got home, I helped her into bed, gave her some medicine to ease her headache, and stayed by her side until her breathing slowed into sleep.

I lay beside her in the dark, watching her calm, resting face. Despite the strange end to the evening, I smiled.

She had tried so hard to give me a good day.

I pulled her close and fell asleep with my arms wrapped around her.

The next morning was quiet.

I woke up early, made a warm mug of coffee, and sat at the kitchen counter, eating bread and jam while turning on the local news.

The screen flashed to a breaking news banner.

A familiar face appeared.

My smile vanished.

“Mr. Robert, a local politician campaigning for governor, was found brutally murdered in the woods yesterday evening. Investigators estimate his time of death was around 6:25 p.m.”

I dropped my toast, my chest tightening.

Robert?

Our neighbor?

The news anchor continued.

“Investigators have revealed that the last people seen near the area were a couple. Several personal items believed to belong to them were recovered near a nearby spring, approximately six kilometers from where the body was discovered.”

My heart began pounding against my ribs.

The spring.

The woods.

The couple.

“Police are currently reviewing trail footage to identify the couple for questioning.”

I sat frozen in the quiet kitchen, horror sinking into my gut.

We had been there.

Right at that exact time.

“God… I hope they don't think we had anything to do with this,” I whispered.

My eyes drifted toward the hallway.

Then I saw Willow standing at the entrance of the kitchen.

She was completely motionless, staring blankly at the television screen.

Then, very slowly, her hazel eyes moved to meet mine.

Her face was utterly drained of color.

For a few agonizing seconds, neither of us said a word.

“Will?” I called softly, taking a cautious step toward her.

She didn't answer.

She just stood there, staring at me with a look of sheer, cold panic.

I swallowed.

Why did she look like that?

I'd seen Willow frightened before. I'd seen her anxious, angry, even exhausted.

But never like this.

And suddenly, the strange things from last night began replaying in my mind.

The trembling.

The sudden dizziness.

The insistence on taking the coastal highway.

The way she'd kept looking toward the woods.

Had the killer been lurking in those woods while Willow was off looking for firewood?

Was that why she'd come back pale and terrified?

My stomach tightened.

“Willow,” I whispered. “Are you okay?”

Her lips parted.

For a moment, I thought she was finally going to answer.

Instead, she looked toward the television again.

Then back at me.

And when she finally spoke, her voice was barely a whisper.

“Lenco… I need to leave.”