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“I told you he doesn’t want me anymore. You’re the one making yourself believe he does.”
“You’re just saying that.”
“No, I’m telling you how it is. All this effort to hurt me, get rid of me—I’m not your problem. He chose you. But what is he going to say when he finds out what you’ve done?”
Her hand shakes. “He’ll understand. He—He’ll understand I love him, and this is for him.”
“Jenny—”
“It’s Rebecca!”
“Rebecca, if you do something to me, that guilt will be on him. The only way you two walk away from this is if you let me go. Tell him where you are so you can talk. I’ll help. I’ll tell him face-to-face that I don’t want him and support the two of you. I never loved him the way you do. I can see it.”
There’s appreciation in her smile. “You can?”
“Yes. I know you don’t believe this, but you’re still my friend. And I want you to be happy.”
She stares down at me, her lips pursing. A few moments pass, and she shakes her head and shrugs. “You’re lying to me.”
“I’m not. I promise you, you can have everything you want. Christopher will finally see you for you. And think, maybe in the future, we can double date. You, me, Ben, Chris.”
“You really think so?”
I think this basket case is going to spend the rest of her life behind bars if I get out of here alive. “I do. Call him back and ask to talk. You got this.”
She bites down on her lower lip, debating. Then she abruptly turns and walks away. My nerves spike. For a second, I worry she sees through my facade. I panic, looking around the room for anything to use as a weapon. A shard of glass from a picture frame glints, catching my eye. Pain slices through my abdomen as I struggle to scoot across the room. I force myself to push through it. When I feel the glass stab at my bottom, I lean back, frantically trying to reach for it. “Fuck, come on,” I cry out. The sound of whistling echoes in the hallway, getting closer and louder. My hands shake. I clasp it once and drop it. “Come on, come on. . .” I bite down on my lip, ignoring the stabbing of my battered ribs, and finally connect with a piece, clutching it in my palm. I straighten just as she walks back into the room.
“What are you up to all the way over there?”
“Better view over here—whoa. . . Jenny, please no.” I jerk back, almost dropping the shard of glass at the gun in her hand.
“Oh, chill out. This is just precautionary. The whole bestie thing is a little overkill. I’m not that dumb.” She pulls out her phone. “Not a peep.” Tapping on the screen, she puts it to her ear. “Hey, sorry. I didn’t mean to hang up earlier. It’s just. . . you caught me off guard. I want to talk too. Meet me at your house, okay? I’m excited. ’Kay, bye.”
She tosses the phone on the bed and disappears into the bathroom. From inside, she yells, “You don’t mind if I freshen up with some of your old things, do you? Despite hating you, I always thought you had good taste. Your perfume is my favorite. Christopher would go insane anytime I wore it. And the sex. Wow. He became so aggressive. Like he was taking all his hatred for you out on me. I loved every second of it. I was exorcising you from him.”
She walks out, her lips painted red. “This color look familiar?” She puckers her lips. “It’s the color I put on when I went through Christopher’s closet and left my lip marks on his collars. It was exhilarating thinking about your face when you saw them.” She walks past me and disappears into the closet. “Your style in clothes, though, not a fan. Maybe if you showed a little more skin, Christopher wouldn’t have strayed. But it all worked out for me.” She walks out dressed in one of my black maxi dresses. “You sure left a lot here considering you weren’t planning on coming back.”
“I was in a hurry to leave,” I reply. That and I wanted nothing that reminded me of my old life—including the shitty-smelling perfume. “So, what did he say? Is he coming?” Christopher has never been stupid. Dumb for cheating? Yes. A coward? Yes. But he’s always had good instincts.Well. . . besides getting involved with a psychopath.I pray he’s smart enough to know something’s off. “Maybe you should untie me. He’s not going to like seeing me like this.”
Rebecca contemplates it. She takes a step toward me but stops. “Yeah. . . nice try.”
“Do you actually think Christopher is going to be okay seeing me tied up? Not to mention, I’m bleeding all over the place. He’ll think—”
“He’llthinkthe same thing I do. You deserve it. We’re alike, Christopher and me. We’re passionate about what we want. He’ll see the extremes I’ve gone to for him and appreciate it. He’ll see how devoted I am. Unlike you.”
“Unlikeme?” I scoff back. “I think you’re confused,Bec. My devotion was well known. His, on the other hand? He cheated on me. Who’s to say he won’t cheat on you? Once a cheater, always a cheater. It’s only a matter of—”
She slaps me across the face. Stars flash behind my eyelids, and I drop the shard of glass. “You bitch. You know, Iwasgoing to shoot you, but now. . . you’re right. . . peoplewillask questions. So, I guess it’s plan B—drown you in the tub and make it look like a distraught lover’s suicide. I’ll tell him you were already dead when I got here.” She comes at me, clutching my bicep. “Up we go.”
I fight against her tight grip. “You’re gonna have to shoot me first to get me in that tub—”
Reaching into her back pocket, she pulls something out. An electric current shoots through me, and I lose consciousness.
I don’t know how much time has passed before something smacks across my face, jerking me awake. “Seriously, about time. You’re becoming more of a hassle than I’d imagined.”
“Rebecca, you don’t have to do this,” I wheeze.
She waves the gun around. “Oh, yes, I do.” She tugs at my arm, and I sway trying to fight her off. “Come on. Be helpful or I’ll tase you again and drag you to the tub myself. We’re running out of time.”
