Daddy’s Little Angel

She has her mother’s bright blue eyes, Daddy’s Little Angel does. And the most beautiful smile you’ve ever seen. She could melt an iceberg, she could. Everyone that knows her just loves her to death, and I’m so proud to call myself her father. She’s a gift from above, I know it, which is why I must protect her, no matter what the cost!

Some people just don’t understand.

It all started a couple of weeks ago. Some nasty little girl was teasing Katie, my Little Angel, and she just wouldn’t leave her alone. She was saying nasty things, saying how poor she was and saying she was dirty and such. She just had the filthiest mouth; little girls shouldn’t be so nasty. Well she followed Katie home that day throwing dirt at her and telling her to take a bath in it. Well my Katie showed her what’s what, yes she did! And Daddy couldn’t be more proud. I don’t think anyone should hurt a child, even if they don’t mean it! Don’t get me wrong! But Katie never did anything to anyone, and I love her to death.

You’ve gotta understand.

I was only being a loving father when I hid the body. You see we live in a very rural area, and that nasty mouthed little girl clearly had no business following my Katie in the first place. But I know no one would understand, and I just can’t let anything happen to my Little Angel!

Of course that’s when my wife came home and saw that our little girl had a few bruises. Can you believe she actually glared at me? As if I’d ever so much as think of hurting my Little Angel! Of course I was upset, but the sweetheart that she is, Katie set her on track sure enough. She told her how the filthy little girl harassed her and wouldn’t leave her be. And I tell you, that lit my wife right up, she was so angry. I had to restrain her, she was gonna call her parents then and there. It was nine in the evening!

Well, I finally talked her down, even though she was furious with me that I hadn’t handled it sooner. Of course by then she just didn’t trust me to settle it no matter what I told her. I said I’d do it first thing after work the next day but no, no! She insisted she’d call them herself the next day. Even Katie pleaded with her not to call her parents, she said she’d be so embarrassed at school if everyone found out she’d run home and told mommy.

Of course we both knew we couldn’t explain that the filthy little girl had gone “missing” after their little scuffle, now could we? I mean, she’s my wife and I loved her, but she just wouldn’t understand. But she just sent Katie straight up to bed and wouldn’t hear another word from me on the matter, her mind was made up. And she’s a very headstrong woman (it’s part of her charm, you see) so there’s no arguing with her once she’s made up her mind on a matter.

Well after that I went to tuck the Little Angel in and read her a bedtime story, and she begged me not to let mommy call the filthy girl’s parents, but I told her how persistent Mommy is, and that she wouldn’t listen to me. Of course that didn’t sit well with Katie at all. She knew that Mommy wouldn’t understand… and neither would her schoolmate’s mommy, no no no, especially not her. I told Katie I would think of something, and I promised that I wouldn’t let anything happen to her… but Daddy’s Little Angel is clever. Daddy’s Little Angel already had her mind made up.

I should have understood.

The next day I came home to see my wife lying at the bottom of the stairs in a crumpled bloody heap. There was so much blood, and it had long since dried into the carpet when I got home. She had never made it to work that morning. The official story was that she had taken a nasty fall down the stairs and cracked her head open like an egg on her tumble… but as I look into Katie’s eyes, so empty, so emotionless. No, no, no! Daddy’s Little Angel did not hurt anyone that didn’t try to hurt her first! She’s special…

Anyhow, there was a funeral and the whole family showed up. Katie couldn’t have been more bored; she just sat there staring into nothingness as the eulogy was given. When it came time to view the corpse she barely gave it a glance. I like to think she’s coping with the loss her own way. Daddy’s Little Angel loved her mommy more than anything.

It was just before the burial the next day that an investigator showed up at the door. It was Katie that answered as I was rushing to get ready. I rushed to the door as this man was questioning my little girl, gently scooted Katie outta the way and stepped up to the door.

“May I help you?” I asked, trying to sound polite.

“I need to ask you some questions about the circumstances of your wife’s death,” the investigator said.

“Who are you?” I think some of my frustration was coming through, but it might have been my self-consciousness.

“I’m sorry,” he said with a laugh. “Detective Kimble, local PD. I just got the results back from the autopsy, and the blunt trauma your wife suffered, and the bloodstains found on the carpet don’t exactly match up. I was wondering if you could give me a little more insight…”

“Well I’d love to, Detective, but as I told the responding officers, I only found the body when I came home from work. I wasn’t here to see it happen.” The detective tried to speak again, I think, but I cut him off. Frustration was filling me. “If you’ll excuse me, we have a burial to attend.” I grabbed Katie’s hand and walked her out the door, locking it behind me. I glanced back to see that the detective was watching me as we drove away.

Katie was silent the entire trip there and back, and as soon as we got home she retreated to her room. The poor baby has it so rough, all this death surrounding her. I shampooed the carpet the best I could to get the stains out, and fixed up dinner for us. We ate in silence, and it filled me with pain to see her suffering. I’ll never forget, just before she got up to take her plate to the sink she looked at me and smiled so softly. Oh my little Angel has the sweetest smile you ever did see.

A couple days passed, and I thought things were getting back to normal–well as normal as they could be, without my beautiful wife to come home to–when it happened. You see I rush home each day to meet Katie as she’s coming in from school, but yesterday I was lost in thought and took my time getting home. You see, the day before my wife’s sister suggested that she come over and bring Katie’s cousin to visit, and I couldn’t refuse. So I had to get in the mindset…I had to show her we were coping.

The house was quiet when I got there, but that wasn’t so unusual as Daddy’s Little Angel tends to keep to herself and spends most of her time in her room playing with her dollhouse. She’s always so clean, and always so quiet, I couldn’t have asked for a better little girl.

I walked up to check Katie’s room and it was empty. I then proceeded to check the rest of the house and found her nowhere, until I came to the door leading to the cellar. Odd, it was cracked. I pushed it open and started down the stairs. I could see the light spilling across the floor at the bottom of the staircase, illuminating a small puddle of blood just a foot from the bottom step.

“Just hand me the gun,” a voice said softly. “I’ll get you out of here, take you somewhere safe.”

I rushed down the stairs and found Katie standing a mere two feet away from Detective Kimble, who sat bound with rope and bleeding from the head. I approached my daughter and eased the gun from her hands as the detective seemed to eye me with the most dreadful gaze anyone’s ever given me in my life. I took the gun in my hands, and was surprised at how natural it felt, though I’d never held a gun in my life. The exhilaration that filled me as I lifted the gun and watched the detective’s face contort in horror almost sickened me.

“Why have you come,” I asked him as I aimed the gun at his head.

“Your wife’s death was not an accident,” he replied.

“I was at work when it happened, and Katie was at school. It’s been deemed an accident. What did you hope to find here?”

“The coroner stated that she died in the early morning, around the same time you leave for work.”

“I loved my wife!” Unconsciously I began to pull the hammer back.

“If you kill me, the police will know where to look,” Kimble pleaded. “There’s no way out of this. Do the right thing. Do it for your little girl!”

“If only you understood…”

I put a bullet in his head. It’s all I could do. Of course I knew he was right, I knew the cops would come soon, looking for him. I turned to my girl–she stood staring at Kimble, vacantly–and I told her to run and get the tarp from the corner. She did. Daddy’s Little Angel is so good, she even helped me wrap the body.

And I carved.

My sister-in-law showed up that night with her husband and kid, as she said she would…and dinner was ready by eight thirty. I really think they loved it, my new recipe. I think they’ll be back for more.