The Wife Study

When they brought her in, they had muzzled her, constrained her in a straight jacket, and shackled her ankles. Two guards led her through the heavy steel doors, followed by six more with rifles loaded and at the ready. Her freakishly blue eyes were wild and wide open, shifting in all directions as if memorizing everything she saw. She seemed terrified, strange for someone who had just killed a man twice her size with her bare hands.

Eveleen Bonner was not well. Her doctor signed her release under duress. The politician who made the boneheaded call to set her free, ironically, was her first victim after release. But she was back in chains now and, by god, that was where she would remain indefinitely if he had any say in the matter. He would do everything possible to ensure Eveleen Bonner never breathed fresh air, saw the sun, a cloud, or the moon ever again.

The guards led her into a room specifically designed for her. The walls, made of reenforced concrete, were drab gray, had no markings except the crap she scribbled on them over the years. There were no windows to the outside. In the center of the floor, there was an electronically controlled hook. She wore a fitted leather jacket when in preparation to leave the room. It had a thick six foot leather strap designed specifically to mate with the hook on the floor. Once locked in, it completed a signal that the door to her room was safe to open. Eveleen Bonner was not a normal prisoner. She was an object for study.

Save for the fact that she was a killer to her core, Eveleen was a very attractive 32-year-old blonde. She had a body that most men would gladly fight over in order to gain favor. Tim Marlow, the boneheaded politician, had a thing for her and often had her brought to him in the evenings. He’d constrain her to an apparatus and have his way with her, never once considering just asking for her affections.

She convinced him over time she liked him and that she posed no threat. She suggested he have her released and they could be together and have a genuine relationship. On the evening of her ill-advised release, she walked out of the facility as a free woman. She went straight to Tim’s house, where he was excitedly waiting for her. As soon as he opened the door, she grabbed him by his throat and forced him into the kitchen.

Gone was the beauty of her bright blue eyes. Gone was any expression of human emotion. She was in attack mode, and his reckoning for all the inhumane things he’d done to her was in full force. She grabbed a butcher’s knife from a rack on a counter and went to work.

When the housekeeper came the following morning, she let herself in as she normally did. She walked in to witness the most horrific scene of her life. Eveleen left very little of Tim’s body untouched. There must have been a violent struggle because there was blood in virtually every room of the house. Whomever attacked him must have been powerful because, besides the many stab wounds and slashes, he had suffered broken bones.

When police arrived, the level of violence shocked them, as did the level of destruction. One commented it looked as though the victim put up a heck of a fight, but his opponent must have been much bigger and stronger in order to overpower and manhandle him in such a way. The investigation had just gotten started when the facility let them know they had released Eveleen that same evening. A judge issued a warrant for her arrest and the search was on for her whereabouts.

⁂

Hialeah, FL, 2021

He was smitten with her the first time he saw her walk into the coffee shop. And he vowed at that moment, he’d make her his wife. Nothing would deter him from that. She was the most beautiful, most sexy woman he’d ever laid eyes on, and he had to, had to convince her she belonged to him. Got a boyfriend? Leave him. Got a husband? Divorce him. He didn’t care. He wanted her, and he wanted her more than any other person on the planet. Unfortunately, he’d get his wish.

Norbert Lee was a software engineer with a company called EPC Controls. He was your standard-issue nerd type of fella with not a lot to offer someone with looks like Eveleen had. Yet she allowed him to think he did. Eveleen had been on the run for a few years. She was tired and looking for somewhere off the grid to settle in for a while. Norbert came along at the right time. He started proposing marriage after the first fried fish platter and she heartily convinced him to pump the breaks. No doubt she was all for it, but it would need to be on her terms. In other words, non-binding and untraceable.

Eveleen was off the grid and intended to stay that way. She was looking for a safe-haven and someone like Norbert could offer perfect cover in that regard. She had a friend work up paperwork and marriage license that looked legit enough to pass as the real thing, had that same friend pose as a justice ‘o’ peace to perform the ceremony, and just like that, they were married. Norbert would know no different.

As word got out that old Norb had gotten himself hitched, naturally the friends started sniffing around, wanting to get a look-see at the new bride. And she did not disappoint. Nor did she need the attention.

“Geez, Norb, How’d you swing it, man? She’s freakishly gorgeous,” was the typical comment.

Norbert was giddy with happiness, even though he had to admit that there had to be something he wasn’t aware of. Something eventually would need to be explained about why a looker like her agreed to marry a true, unrepentant nerd like him. Seriously, they’d only been together a couple of weeks, and he had yet to control himself long enough to consummate the marriage. But she still seemed happy. Something was off, and he’d soon begin seeing signs of what that something was.

Dan Marlow was not just a colleague of Norbert’s, he was one of his best friends. They hung out a lot before Eveleen came along. Dan had been on vacation during Norbert’s whirlwind relationship and didn’t know about the whole marriage thing. When he met Eveleen, her beauty blew him away, and that they were married was a total shocker. Alarm bells in his head went on full blast. Not that he had anything against Eveleen, but…

“C’mon,” he noted. “She’s way out of Norbert’s league,” he further noted. “I mean, c’mon, man. Something stinks to high heaven here.”

And he was right. His problem was, in trying to protect his friend, he started digging into her background. And that, unfortunately, put him in front of a runaway dump truck full of problems. Eveleen gave him a subtle warning.

“Dan, I appreciate your friendship with Norbert, and I wouldn’t dream of coming between you. I’d appreciate it, though, if you’d stop digging into my past,” she warned.

He knew right then he’d tapped a nerve and was more intent than ever on finding out the truth. Suddenly, those familiar feelings that Eveleen had been so successful at suppressing were creeping through, and Dan was in trouble. But her contempt for him was not all about him snooping into her past. She knew he’d find nothing. Her beef with him was his friendship with Norbert. She needed him all to herself.

Norbert was happy that Dan and Eveleen seemed to get along. He couldn’t have imagined a happier time in his life. He had no idea what was percolating under the surface, however, and of the devastation that was in his immediate future.

Eveleen asked Norbert to break off his friendship with Dan. She made up some story about him that Norbert flatly refused to believe. In fact, he was a bit taken aback that Eveleen would even make such a request. He refused to cut Dan out of his life. So she’d do it for him.

7News Live - Miami

“The body of Dan Marlow of Hialeah was discovered this morning stuffed in a dumpster behind a supermarket near E. Second St. It appears he suffered a horrific knife attack. If you have information about the victim, please contact the Hialeah Police Department.”

When Norbert heard the news report, he was both confused and devastated. Dan had no enemies. He mostly kept to himself. Eveleen walked into the room about halfway through the news report. She showed concern and tried to comfort Dan. She hugged him to conceal the fact that she was trying desperately to keep from laughing out loud. Dan mistook her twitching as her trying not to let him see her crying. He patted her gently on her back.

“It’s okay, honey. I know you liked Dan. I’m sure this is as much a shock to you as it is to me.”

And life was good in the queendom again.

Nadine Boseman was another one of Norbert’s childhood friends. Like Dan, she had a hard time accepting his relationship with Eveleen. She seemed so far out of his league as to be almost laughable. But Nadine tried to nurture a friendship with Eveleen. Their marriage seemed legit and Norbert certainly seemed in love, so Nadine figured she would withhold her judgement of their fairytale marriage.

It wasn’t until Nadine and Eveleen began hanging out together that hints of “something ain’t right” started creeping to the surface. Eveleen asked her one day if she really needed Norbert in her life. She asked Nadine if she could go away so that she and Norbert could allow their love for each other to grow unhindered by friends. Nadine, shocked, flatly refused. So Eveleen helped her go away.

7News Live - Miami

“The body of Nadine Boseman of Hialeah was discovered this morning beside a tree in Babcock Park. Her attacker slit her throat wide open. It appears torture may have been involved before the death strike. If you have information about the victim, please contact the Hialeah Police Department.”

When Norbert heard the news report, he was both confused and devastated. Nadine had no enemies. She was just a shy girl who had been one of his best friends since childhood. He thought it strange that since marrying Eveleen, someone had murdered two of his best friends. While he did not suspect Eveleen had anything to do with it, his oldest friend, Jeb Smith, wasn’t so sure.

From the moment he met her, Jeb knew there was something wrong with Norbert and Eveleen’s relationship. He didn’t care for Eveleen and did not pretend that he did. He repeatedly told Norbert that she was no good. But Norbert was in love and politely told his friend to mind his own business.

Eveleen’s feelings about Jeb were mutual. She made no effort whatsoever to hide her disdain for him. Norbert picked up on the negative vibes between the two and tried to intervene, but each of them brushed aside his efforts. Eveleen eventually gave Norbert an ultimatum.

“Honey, I love you, but either Jeb goes, or I do. Make a choice.”

Norbert chose Eveleen. Jeb bid him adieu and warned him that love blinded him and he was making a mistake.

Eveleen seemed a little too happy about his decision, and he became suspicious of her motive. Since she came into his life, all of his close friends had left him. It seemed her desire to have him all to herself had finally come true, and he eventually saw the weirdness in her behavior.

Jeb Smith disappeared shortly after telling Norbert he was making a mistake. Passersby found his body burned and dumped at a nearby marina. He had no family and his death didn’t make the news cycle. Eveleen’s plan to rid Norbert of all his friends was complete, and she had fulfilled her need to have him to herself. She thought.

But old Norbert wasn’t as dumb as she thought he was. He was not as blinded by love as Jeb thought. Norbert knew Eveleen had to have been involved in the murders. He never thought she actually committed them, however. But that soon changed.

It seemed the news reports had piqued the interest of an organization in Yreka, CA. Norbert received a call from an official there requesting a meeting. They flew out to Hialeah to meet with him. What they showed him about Eveleen shocked him. They warned him to leave her, and that they were there to take her into custody. They told him she was a very dangerous person and he should believe nothing she told him.

Norbert, suddenly terrified, rushed home and started hastily packing. Suddenly, Eveleen walked in and asked what he was doing.

“What’s this, honey?” she asked calmly. “Are we going on a vacation?” she asked with pointed sarcasm.

When Norbert tried to answer, she cut him off. Her entire demeanor had changed. Her face was stern and ugly and terrifying.

“What is this Norbert? Who have you been talking to?”

She advanced towards him, and he freaked out and tried to run. She blocked the exit.

“I see,” she said calmly. “You’ve found me out, huh? That’s unfortunate, honey,” she said ass she pulled a knife from her purse.

“Don’t fight this, honey. It will only make it worse. I promise I’ll end it quickly,” she said calmly.

Norbert was shaking uncontrollably, as fear had overtaken him. He didn’t know what to do, when suddenly, a group of men kicked in the front door and stormed in, yelling commands at Eveleen. She went on the attack and grabbed one of them by his throat and sank her teeth into his neck. Blood gushed out as he tried to fight her off. She seemed to possess an ungodly amount of strength, though, as she ripped at his throat with her teeth until she had bitten off an enormous chunk. It was enough that caused so much blood loss he did not survive. The other men charged her.

Whoever the men were, they were intent on taking her alive, as no one fired a shot. They eventually rushed her. As they tried to subdue her, Norbert could not move as he watched his wife spit and hiss like a snake as they pinned her to the floor. She kicked and screamed and hurled obscenities he’d never knew existed. She was like a wild, cornered animal, eyes crazed with uncontrolled rage. The men who were considerably larger than her had a hard time subduing her. Eventually, they did, however, and never said a word to Norbert as they led her out of the house and into an awaiting black SUV. The men wore no insignia that showed they were legitimate law enforcement.

⁂

When they brought her in, they had muzzled her, constrained her in a straight jacket, and shackled her ankles. Two guards led her through the heavy steel doors, followed by six more with rifles loaded and at the ready. Her freakishly blue eyes were wild and wide open, shifting in all directions as if memorizing everything she saw. She seemed truly terrified. Eveleen Bonner was part of an experimental study labeled “The Wife”

K.R. Eaton - The Wife Story

Short Stories by K.R Eaton