Psych

PSYCH

A novel by

J. T. TWERELL

Psych

L W Publications, Inc

7 Dey Street

Suite 207

New York, NY 10007

PSYCH

Published by arrangement with James Terry Twerell

ISBN-13: 978-1481288798

ISBN-10:1481288792

Copyright © 2010 LW Publications

All rights reserved

For more information Visit www.JTTWERELL.com

Smashwords Edition

Published by LWPublication

Copyright © 2012 LWPublication

All rights reserved

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

To my love, my Muse, my inspiration and fortunately,

my wife Janetta.

PROLOGUE

Water running over his hands produced pathways of rose-colored rivers flowing slowly down the drain. Unable to look away, he simply watched the red turn to pink until it finally evolved into the clear stream rushing from the faucet. An unsettling thought crossed his mind; no matter how long he held his hands in the water, they would never be clean again.

Gently turning off the faucet, he observed the last of the bloody water course down the drain. Gazing from his hands, he surveyed the mirrored reflection before him startled to discover it was still the same face as last night. Somehow, after all that happened the last hour, he was sure it would be a different reflection; one showing a man completely transformed by events he never anticipated.

He sighed, knowing that was pure bullshit. He saw problems coming his way yet chose to ignore the obvious, believing he possessed the ability to take the darkest moment and transform it into something good. When confronted with the impossible, this God-complex burst forth from his ever-active ego, flowing from his troubled yet dominant mind providing, in almost simultaneous burst of creativity, both courage and folly. In this case, the folly was called Stephanie who, true to the definition of his warped life, also became his courage.

Stepping from the bathroom, he reached down to pick up her crumpled coat, avoiding the places covered with bloodstains. He bought it for her a few weeks ago because it brought out the green in her eyes and because he wanted to remind her how much he cared for her.

They met that day at the train station, quickly grabbing a taxi uptown to his apartment. Stephanie decided to do some shopping nearby, explaining she needed to make my tired soul feel good. It didn’t make sense to him; he simply went with her to enjoy her company and provide the support for her exposition. Sitting in a small boutique, waiting for her to try on one of the forty outfits providing sustenance for her shopping appetite, he spotted the green coat, instantly knowing it was perfect. Sneaking into her dressing room as she slithered out of the latest failure to quench her thirst for success, he handed her the coat. Turning toward the mirror, she held it close examining the look.

How do you always find the right key to my desires? Slipping on the soft green fabric, she turned to face him. It was, as he suspected, the perfect color for her eyes and the sculptured frame of her body. Stephanie was one of those women who had a natural physical structure men admired deeply and other women secretly hated. With glistening blond hair gently caressing her soft yet well toned shoulders, often, when she slept, he would silently watch her, absorbing the intoxication of her beauty.

Removing the soft green coat, she quietly placed it on the chair, glided out of her brazier, stepped from her panties and threw her arms around him. Holding him close, she whispered, Let’s celebrate your good taste. Unfastening his belt, she descended to her knees enveloping his rapidly swelling manhood. Watching her naked body in the mirror, he glanced at the green coat and once again knew it was definitely the right choice.

Now it was bloodstained, destroyed; like so much of his life, it was finished. Carefully lifting it to his face, he could smell her fragrance, reminding him of the good things they shared. Oh Stephanie, Stephanie, Stephanie, he whispered into the soft material, What happens now?

Sitting across the room, the beautiful woman smiled. Now Jeffery, I move on with my life. Saying this, Stephanie lifted the gun, aimed it at him and fired.

Chapter 1

Jeff sat at the head of the conference table looking at the assembled multitude before him. Some ass from accounting was in the process of presenting a Power Point about the trend in product analysis or some crap like that. Jeff hated the accounting type people, allowing his CFO Larry Crenshaw doodle with numbers and make sense of them. However, Larry said Jeff had to attend this presentation to determine the new product goals for the next year.

Jeff looked away from the performance focusing his eyes on the back of Elaine’s head. She was paying attention to what the ass was talking about and would give him a summary later. He noticed her dark hair was showing a few signs of grey, something that startled him as Elaine was only in her early thirties. Pausing for a second, he reconsidered; wait, she was twenty-nine when he hired her and that was about ten years ago. No, it had to be about fifteen years. DAMN! Elaine is in her mid forties! As if she felt his eyes she turned, smiled at him, then returned her attention to the ass with the power point.

Jeff continued to stare at the back of her head thinking how Elaine was the real reason this company succeeded. In the early years, he’d been like a bull elephant prepared to take risk by charging blindly into any challenge, believing he could take any difficult situation and make it a winner. Elaine called it his God-complex. She provided a balance to his blind energy, yet still encouraged his creativity. My god, he whispered quietly, She’s forty-six years old. How the fuck did that happen!

Turning, she once again looked at him as if expecting something. What the hell did she want? Realizing the whole damn table was looking at him, Jeff concluded the ass had finished his mind numbing presentation. Looking at Elaine, the people around the table and the ass who made the presentation, he stood and walked out of the room.

Fuck them all, he thought as he heard Elaine say, Thanks for a great presentation Peter. Jeff and I will discuss this and integrate it into the production format. That’s all we have for today.

Jeff walked down the hall, entered his office, closed the door behind him then, ignoring his desk, he slid off his shoes and lay on the couch. Quietly waiting for the door to open he counted, Five…four…three…two…. one.

Opening the door quickly, Elaine stepped in, shut it then turned to face him. What the hell was that all about? You just stand up and leave the room? What’s going on in that head of yours?

Leave me alone. He growled.

Screw you and screw your bad mood. She growled back as she sat on the couch next to him. What the hell is wrong with you? You’ve been sulking for a month and it’s beginning to really piss me off.

Jeff looked at Elaine and sighed. She’d been the Chief Operating Officer of the company for the last ten years and in all honesty, ran both the company and his life. She was still an attractive woman, dated periodically but someplace along the way decided she would rather be married to the company than to another person. Five years ago, the company was the target of a hostile takeover from a bunch of venture capitalist that would gut everything, leaving the bones to rot in the sun. Elaine was the reason for the company’s survival, a fact he vividly remembered yet seldom mentioned. Able to take the company into private ownership, she restructured the board until it was impossible for the vultures to take control. As a result, Jeff owned sixty eight percent of the private stock holdings making him a multi-millionaire bordering on billionaire. Elaine ended up with five percent of the shares and a hell of a bonus. Nevertheless, Jeff always felt Elaine wanted more of the shares and frankly, though she deserved a lot more than the five percent, he’d never made a move to increase her holdings. Even though she was about the only person he’d ever trusted, he still didn’t trust her enough to give her more control. It was his fucking company and he’d give away what he wanted, when he wanted. He let out a sigh, knowing this was just one more piece of evidence proving that he, Jeffery Long, was really just a prick in a suit.

Standing, Elaine walked to his desk and wrote something on his memo pad. Ripping off the note, she returned to the couch handing it to him. Look Jeff, you’re coming unraveled and I don’t know why. The company is in good shape, future looks good, new product lines are up and moving; yet you act like you’re about to loose everything. Remember my meltdown after the hostel take-over threat? I bottomed out and had trouble getting back on my feet. I went to see a doctor who really helped me get my life back together. This is her name.

Jeff took the paper and read Elaine’s precise handwritten note, Dr. Stephanie Walker, 917-332-7747. He continued to stare at the name, trying to grasp what Elaine was telling him. Suddenly, it all came clear. Swinging his feet to the floor, Jeff stood and turned on Elaine. Wait a minute. Is this some kind of shrink? Are you telling me to go see a shrink? What the fuck right do you have telling me shit like this? He wadded the paper throwing it on his desk. I sit and listen to some ass talk about a bunch of shit and because I don’t like the meeting, I suddenly need to see a shrink? God damn you Elaine, just who do you think you are?

Elaine stood looking Jeff straight in the eye. I’ll tell you who I am. I am the person who rescues your ass when you get into your ‘I am God’ mode. I am the person who had your back for over fifteen years, even when your back was covered with shit from dumb moves you’ve made. I am probably the only friend you have who doesn’t cower in front of your ego and because of that, I am telling you to get some help before you destroy yourself and all we’ve worked for these last years. I am now the person who is going to walk out of the office and not talk to you again until you apologize for being an ass to me.

Turning, Elaine walked out, quietly closing the door leaving Jeff alone in his tantrum. Inside, she was prepared to explode and kick the shit out of him, but she knew that wasn’t a thought she needed to entertain. After being with Jeff for so many years, she knew his outbursts were always a way of gaining control, a covering for his deeply held insecurities. Because he was a predictable ass, she’d established patterns of response that would penetrate his tirade without enmeshing her emotions with his irrationality.

There were many times when she wondered if saving the company a few years ago had really been a good idea. She practically killed herself during the process only to leave Jeff as the majority stockholder, rich beyond his wildest dreams, with a company that tripled in size the last four years. For all her effort, she got an ulcer, emotional breakdown, a miserable five percent of the company and a bonus of a million dollars. The ulcer got better, Stephanie Walker gave her a new emotional life and hell, the million dollars was a good figure to live with. However, only five percent of a company she’d literally rescued from total destruction still stuck in her craw during the times she gave into her victim side. What the hell, she had a good life, good job and a good future. Maybe someday Jeff would admit his mistake and give her a bigger stake. Probably not, but what the hell, life was still good even if the main man in her life was often a prick with a God-complex.

Closing the door to her office, she quietly hoped Jeff would call Stephanie. If anyone could make things better in life, Stephanie was the person to call.

On his hands and knees picking up paper from the waist basket he’d kicked across the room, Jeff slowly began to regain his composure. Stuffing in the last of the debris, he returned to his desk sitting heavily in his chair. The wadded up note from Elaine conspicuously sat on his desktop taunting him to examine it once more. Unfolding the paper, he looked at the name and let out a long sigh. Maybe Elaine was right about this shrink thing, he just hadn’t felt good about a lot of things for the last few months. In reality, he hadn’t felt good about most things for the last forty years. He may have felt good about the first eight years of his life, but in all honesty most of it was a blur without concrete memories. Any remembrances of a mother or father were long removed through the trauma of foster care with people void of love and compassion.

Turning toward the window, he felt the familiar shadow fall over his thoughts as he once again considered his so-called childhood. That word was a laugh. He never really had a childhood; he was always in some form of survival as he traversed the tangled path of an adult world providing no sense of protection. Between eight and sixteen he’d lived in seven different foster homes, each deteriorating in their ability to handle his rebellious and angry temperament. It was hard to say if the homes were the cause of his problems or if he was the problem that caused conflict in the homes.

At sixteen, he was arrested, removed from the foster system and placed in juvenile detention. Because of his record he spent his seventeenth birthday in a 10’x12’ cell with three other troubled young men. That was the low point. Someplace in the chaos of his inner world, a light went on that clearly pointed to his future. Either he made some serious changes, or this type of cell and these wonderful roommates would be his long-term destiny.

During his seventeenth year