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In that moment, the sound of trickling water disappeared. The frogs fell away. She couldn’t feel the lower half of her body. All she could hear was her own heartbeat, pounding in her chest. In the quiet, she thought of Zachary.
He’d been right that she was in danger. She just hadn’t expected it to come from this source.
When she thought of him, she thought of home, the good old USA, and how she would likely never get back to it. To the agency she was trying so hard to keep alive. To her father.
Her poor father, who would maybe never remember her again, once she was gone from his life for good. She was his lifeline to the real world. Without her, she feared he’d only slip further away.
It was that thought that gave her the strength to squeeze.
She squeezed Portia’s wrist so hard that she thought she heard the crack of breaking bones. Portia let out a scream of agony, which allowed Daisy to roll her over, onto her back, still holding onto both her wrists. The syringe fell between them.
Daisy quickly let go, grabbed the syringe, and scuttled back, aiming it like a weapon at the woman, who was still lying there, stunned, in her pink dressing gown.
She sat up on her elbows, hair a messy spider-web over her face, breathing hard. “What are you going to do with that?” she snarled.
Daisy started to reach for her phone, and in that moment, Portia lunged, growling like a wild bull, head down.
Halfway there, the doors to the greenhouse exploded open, and a police officer emerged, gun drawn. “Fermo, non muoverti!”
Faraway sirens rang in her ears as she realized what was happening. Safe. She was safe.
Daisy let out a sigh of relief, as Portia growled, “Marie called the police? Stupid woman, what do I pay her for?”
The police officer inched forward, gun pointed at Daisy. “Drop that weapon and tell me what is going on here.”
Daisy held up her hands in surrender and opened her mouth to speak. But what happened next occurred in such a quick blur, Daisy had no chance of stopping it.
As the syringe began to drop from her hand, Portia reached out and grabbed it, plunging it into her own neck.
Gasping, she fell to the floor, as Daisy and the officer stared on in shock.
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
Four days after the events of Venice, Daisy once again sat at her desk in a rundown section of East Plainfield, New Jersey, the only person in the giant office. She eyed the picture of her bulldog-strong father.
He’d had another spell, forgetting who he was. Where he was. It was the first one he’d had in a week. And he’d been doing so well . . .
“Yes, I understand,” she said to Sarah, the nurse at Independence Court. “I can come over after work.”
“Perfect, Daisy. See you then.”
She ended the call and set the phone down, thinking. Daisy knew the routine, by now. He’d be confused, borderline combative, and she’d have to sit with him and tell him stories about his life until he finally remembered her and who he was. It might have been just her imagination, but it felt like each time, the stories had to go on longer and longer, before his memory sparked.
At least she was here, now, and not in Venice.
When the bell over the doorway jingled, she knew it was Goldie. Though she’d successfully brought the case in Venice to an end, it hadn’t yet done anything to drum up business at the Fortune Agency.
Luckily, now, she wouldn’t have to worry about money. At least, for the next few months.
She swiveled around to face the army of empty desks as Goldie Tate sauntered in. She’d gotten a new hairstyle in the week since she’d first seen her—her hair was now as gold as her name. Again, she was wearing an outlandish outfit to accentuate her curves—a red jumpsuit and matching pumps.
“Darling,” she said, coming around the corner of the desk to give her a robust hug. “You’ve done it, you clever thing.”
“I wondered if you’d be disappointed to find out it wasn’t Kiki?”
She raised an eyebrow. “Oh, no. Of course not. Truthfully, I’ve always liked that girl. She and I have talked a lot more, since things . . . well, in the past few days. And I think we’re going to be friends.”
Daisy blinked in disbelief. “Really?”
