Page 81 of The Woman I’ve Become

Her greedy eyes bulge. She whips back around to glare at Julia. “You were only going to give us two hundred K.”

Sounds like that one is another win for me.

“I couldn’t be sure how much of my money she had gone through,” Julia fires back, shooting daggers at me with her gaze.

Alicia shifts her attention to me once more. “Let’s go get it. Now.”

Such a naive girl. “The bank is closed. I can’t get to the money before Monday. They open at nine, so we can go then.”

All we have to do is live through the next thirty-odd hours without killing each other.

Alicia’s mouth drops open. Then she snaps it shut. “You don’t have any money here?”

“There’s ten thousand in the safe in the bedroom.” Phillip calls it his lake house slush fund.

She blows out a big breath. She checks the time again.

“Is Brian headed this way?” He is a complication I do not need.

She makes a face. “That’s none of your business, but, just so you know, he’ll come when I give him the word. And he won’t think twice about killing whoever gets in our way.”

Good. This means he isn’t here now. Really good.

“So,” Julia suggests, “we sit tight until Monday, and then we take care of your money, Alicia.” She turns to me at that point. “Then you and I will finish this.”

Alicia holds her hands up in front of her. “I have nothing to do with that part. You two are seriously sick bitches.”

Time to share my next news flash. “We may have another slight complication.”

“What now?” Alicia demands. Her patience has reached the breaking point.

Good.

“Casey Duval is here. I’ve seen him—in the city just before we left. You remember the guy watching the house,” I say to Alicia. “I wasn’t sure it was him until yesterday when he paid Helen that visit and gave her a message to pass along to me. But I don’t think it was just for me.”

Julia looks to Alicia in question.

“‘The end of this is coming,’” I tell Julia since Alicia obviously didn’t. I take a breath and hope like hell she buys it. If I’m lucky, it will work to my benefit.

When both remain speechless, I add, “I guess he decided it’s time.” I look from Alicia to Julia. “We’re the only ones left who can ID him and tie him to the murdered girls in the Judge case, as well as to filling orders for all those keepers. I guess that article in the Times brought him out of his hiding place.”

“You said you didn’t believe he was the Judge.” Alicia says this to Julia.

“She was in love with him,” I point out. “He was her first love. Her first lover. She might not see the truth about him even now.”

“I’m not blind,” Julia argues. “I can see that this is the way it looks. But you can’t be certain he fully grasped what he was involved in.”

Oh my God. The woman really is still in love with the idea of him. Now that is fucked up.

“If he’s the Judge and still out there, then he’s probably the one who leaked that article to the Times,” Alicia suggests. She looks from Julia to me and back. “He’s probably been watching both of you all this time. Why the hell didn’t you warn me?” This she directs at Julia. “He’s fucking dangerous!”

Valid points, I muse. Except I know the entire concept is irrelevant.

“As I said,” Julia insists, “there has never been any evidence that Casey was the Judge.”

“How can you be sure?” Alicia demands.

You go, girl. I mentally cheer her on. Distract and divide. It works every time.