Getting the bag out of the trunk proved to be another fight entirely.
I pulled, grunted, adjusted my grip, and nearly lost my balance twice before the weight finally shifted. Every muscle in my body screamed in protest.
“If all this lifting makes me lose my baby, I’m finding your ass in the afterlife,” I grumbled through clenched teeth. “And when I get there, we’re fighting every day… no rest, no peace, just me waiting outside wherever they put you like an unpaid bill.”
The bag slipped from my hands and hit the muddy ground heavily beside me.
I pressed one hand against my stomach and took several deep breaths.
“You already ruined my back, my clothes, and what little upper-body strength I thought I had. Don’t add my pregnancy to the list.”
When the bag refused to move, irritation flared through me.
“You could’ve at least made this easier on me. Being dead does not mean you suddenly forget how to cooperate.”
I kicked it once, then again. The second kick was harder and far more personal.
“Now look at you… still getting on my nerves, and you can’t even talk.”
After one final struggle, I shoved it away from me. The dark water accepted the weight with a heavy splash, and within seconds, the current began carrying it farther from the bank.
I stood beneath the drizzle, chest heaving, and watched until every trace disappeared into the darkness.
“Welp,” I exhaled, slapping my hands together. “that’s taken care of. Can’t start a new life with old clutter lying around.”
Then I rested both hands over my stomach.
“See, baby? Mommy handles her problems.”
I spent the next hour wiping the car down. Anything I could’ve touched, I cleaned twice. By the time I finished, the inside smelled aggressively like disinfectant.
But paranoia was better than prison.
After that day, I could no longer keep Talia’s car in my possession.
When Talia was still alive, driving her car around didn’t feelquiteas risky. It wasn’t like she owned anything rare or flashy that people would immediately recognize as hers. She had a simple black Toyota Camry, one of several I passed almost every day, sometimes multiple times within the same hour. Unless somebody knew Talia personally and paid close attention to the license plate, her car blended in with every other car on the road.
Besides, nothing had popped up on the news about her being missing, and nobody had mentioned the police looking for her car. As far as anyone knew, she could’ve loaned it to a friend—that friend beingme—or taken one of those extended vacations where somebody goes to Miami for four days, meets the love of their life at brunch, and somehow doesn’t come back for weeks… or months.
But she was dead now.
Eventually,somebodywho had once loved her, worked with her, lived near her, or simply noticed she had vanished would start asking questions. People always claimed they minded their business until someone disappeared. Then suddenly, everybody remembered the last outfit they saw her wearing, the last place her car was parked, and whether her curtains had moved in three days. And I couldn’t take the chance of somebody recognizing Talia’s car sitting outside Zonnique’s house and connecting it back to me. I had already buried Talia beneath her own identity. I couldn’t let her car dig her back up.
So, I drove across town toward one of the casinos near the interstate. The casino was the perfect hiding spot. Cars sat there overnight all the time, and nobody questioned abandoned vehicles there—at least not immediately. Some people gambled for hours, got drunk, hooked up, and disappeared for a dayorfive.
I parked near the far back section beneath a flickering light pole. Thankfully, the rain had finally let up by then.
I grabbed my purse, then tossed one of Talia’s jackets carelessly across the passenger seat. I also left a half-empty drink in the cupholder and her phone charger dangling from the console… small traces of an ordinary day interrupted.
Missing people looked more believable when it seemed like they expected to come back.
After opening the door, I discreetly peeled off the gloves and shoved them into my purse before stepping out into the cool, damp air. It wasn’t extremely cold, but there was enough of a chill to make me tug my hoodie tighter around myself. I had just nudged the door shut with my hip when my phone suddenly rang.
Zonnique.
My entire body tensed instantly.
Shit.
