“It needs work, huh?” Annie said.
“A little. Raven will make your place look awesome. I better take some pictures.”
“Let’s have a drink first. Do you want a glass of wine?”
“No. A Coke would be fine. Remember, I don’t have a lot of time.”
“I know.”
“How many bedrooms do you have?”
“Two. What about you?”
“Only one. My place is tiny but I love it. It’s my first apartment.” Fallon took a sip of Coke.
They chatted about the neighborhood. Annie had some wild stories about some of her neighbors. As Annie told her another story, Fallon began to feel sick. Nausea hit her and she started sweating. Annie kept talking, but her voice seemed distant and unintelligible as Fallon’s pulse pounded in her ears. Everything looked blurry and it felt like she was in a dream state. She tried to get up but just fell back against the cushions.
“I don’t feel so well,” she said, her head pounding.What the hell is wrong with me? I feel like I’m drugged, but that doesn’t make sense. It must’ve been something I ate.She forced herself to focus on Annie’s smiling face. “I’m sick, Annie. Real sick.”
“Is the room spinning? Do you feel out of it, like wading in a pool of mud?” Fallon nodded as best she could. “Bedtime scoop will do that.”
What the hell is she saying? And why the fuck is she just sitting there smiling at me?
“I bet you can’t talk so good now. Bedtime scoop is the street name for GHB. That’s a synthetic sedative. It’s made in underground labs.”
“Why did you give it to me?” Fallon slurred.
“I have seven hundred thousand reasons why.” She laughed. “You’re worth a lot of money. I mean, my share will only be two hundred thirty thousand, but fuck, that’s a fortune for someone like me.”
“You want my money? Who are you?” It felt like there was cotton in her ears.
“We gotta get going, Fallon. We can chat later.”
One of the doors opened and a man of medium height came out. Fallon tried to take him in through her blurry vision, and she gasped when his penetrating eyes speared her.
That’s the guy who’s been following me. But he doesn’t have dreadlocks. I know it’s him. I’d never forget his eyes. No! Oh God, who are these people? I can’t keep my eyes open anymore. Fuck, I’m slipping away….
***
Fallon blinked severaltimes as she tried to adjust her eyes to the dimness of the room.Where am I? What the fuck happened?She couldn’t remember much of anything except that she’d gone over to Annie’s apartment to take some pictures. She tried to move but her body felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. Then she heard voices and knew she had to pretend to be sleeping.
“We have to get this shit wrapped up tomorrow,” a woman said.
I know that voice. It’s familiar. Fuck, it’s Shanna. The bitch outdid herself.
“How do you know she’s going to go along with us? I mean, seven hundred thousand is a lot of money to just sign over,” Annie said.
“She’ll sign it over or I’ll make her sorry she didn’t. Although fucking her would be fun. She’s pretty hot,” a male voice said.
I don’t know who that is. They can have the damn money. I just want to be back with Diablo.
“You asshole. You’re not fucking anyone. If she doesn’t go along with it, I’ll pretend to be her. I already got her handwriting down, and you got all the IDs fixed. It’ll be a snap,” Annie replied.
“It’s better to have her sign it over. It’s cleaner that way. I don’t believe in complicating things. It was luck that the cops found her mother’s bones. It gave Charlie the perfect motive to kill himself.” Shanna laughed.
“We lucked out on that one,” Anne replied.
“You bet we did. I was trying to find a reason why Charlie would kill himself. He wasn’t the suicide type. But then this murder investigation fell into my lap. I knew I could make it look like suicide, and given the circumstances, it made sense that he’d do that. I couldn’t have planned it better. Now that he’s out of the way, Fallon is the last loose thread. Once we get the money, she’s history too.” Shanna chuckled.
