Inspections

Delilah Knox, once a tenacious and relentless private investigator, now stood frozen in the center of Mark Donovan’s bedroom. Completely naked, her expression was blank, her green eyes stared blankly ahead. Her hands hung at her sides; fingers curled slightly as if still caught mid-thought.

To her right, equally frozen, and equally naked, stood Emily McKenzie and Rae Tucker, two young women who had dared to spy on Mark. Just two hours earlier, they were living, breathing, thinking, and determined to uncover the truth, at least for.money. Now, they were nothing more than flawless dolls, mute and beautiful decorations for Mark’s amusement, to use however he pleased.

He circled them slowly, admiring his latest additions with a sense of pride. His eyes flicked between the three as he broke the silence with a casual murmur.

“You know this is your own fault… right?”

No response. Of course not. They couldn’t hear him. Couldn’t react.

“I mean, Phoebe, Gabriella, Dawn… they were just collateral. Wrong place. Wrong time. Friends with the wrong people.” He paused, letting the weight of his words settle in the air like dust. “But you three? You went looking for trouble. And now, well…” he smiled faintly, “you’ve found it.”

He stepped closer to Delilah, her posture strong even in stillness, frozen in mid-step as if she’d just entered the room. He studied her face with interest.

“I must say, I’m genuinely impressed,” he said, brushing a hand gently along the older woman’s cheek. “You almost had me. Your notes, your network, your patience—it was all quite admirable. Shame I had to torch every bit of it. Still…” he leaned in, his voice dropping, “I’ll remember what you found. And I’ll learn from it.”

His fingers trailed down to her chin, tilting her head side to side slightly as if inspecting a sculpture.

With a glance, Mark turned to Emily next. She stood with a casual tilt to her hips, her arms frozen slightly bent as if she’d been gesturing before freezing in place. Her brown curls framed her motionless face, and her brown eyes stared ahead- wide, vacant, and unblinking.

“You know I really did like you, Emily,” Mark said with a note of regret. “You were smart. Funny. Maybe even someone I could’ve trusted one day. I even imagined sharing my little secret with you… letting you in.”

He stepped closer and placed a soft kiss on her lips. The frozen girl didn’t react, but the **** of the contact caused her to wobble slightly in place on her heels, her balance briefly compromised before she was steadied by Mark.

“But hey,” he smirked, “I guess you’ll be spending plenty of time with the others now. You’re one of them.”

Then, his eyes fell on Rae. She stood with her arms crossed tightly over her chest, her blue eyes staring straight ahead. If there had been any emotion left in her frozen face, it might have been defiance.

“And you,” Mark said with a chuckle. “You were the brain, weren’t you? Between you and Emily. The leader. The one who whispered the right words into Emily’s ear and got her to follow you into danger.”

He circled her slowly, voice lowering to a near-whisper. “I knew from the beginning. Back at the bookstore, when you asked those casual questions and smiled a little too politely. I knew then—you’d be joining my collection.”

Mark stepped in front of her, gazing into her glassy blue stare.

“You should feel proud. You played the game better than most. But I always win.”

He tapped her gently on the nose. The motion made Rae tilt slightly, swaying where she stood before settling back into stillness.

“I think you and Emily will enjoy it here,” he said softly, taking a step back to admire all three of them together. “I know I will.”

Mark folded his arms and let out a breath, basking in the still, silent triumph of the moment. His collection had grown again, three more perfect dolls.

And time, as always, was on his side.