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“You know I have. You know it all too well,” she says.
“Mr. Black, he let you down.”
“He did,” she says. “But he’s not the only one. Rodney too. It seems I’m an expert at trusting assholes.”
“It may be something else we have in common,” I say.
“Yeah,” says Giselle. “But I’m not like them, Molly. Charles and Rodney, I’m not like them at all.”
“Aren’t you?” I ask. “My gran used to say,If you want to know where someone’s going, don’t watch their mouths, watch their feet. I never understood that until now. She also said,The proof is in the pudding.”
“The proof’s in the…what?”
“It means I won’t trust your words anymore. I won’t.”
“Molly, I made a mistake is all. I made a stupid fucking mistake in asking you to go back into that suite and do my dirty work for me. Please. I won’t let you go down for this. They can’t get away with it.”
Her voice is raw and real, but can I trust what I hear?
“Giselle, you’re at the hotel now? You’re in your room?”
“Yeah. A princess locked in the tower. Molly, you have to let me help you. I’m going to speak out, okay? I’ll tell the police it was my gun and I told you to get it. I’ll even tell them that Rodney and Charles were running a cartel. I’m going to get you cleared, I promise. Molly, you’re the only true friend I’ve ever had.”
I feel the rush of tears break over the banks of my eyes. I hope it’s true, I really do. I hope she’s a good egg caught in a rotten basket. It’s time to put her to the test.
“Giselle, you need to listen to me. You need to listen very, very carefully, okay?”
“Okay,” she says, through sniffles.
“Can you get to the Cayman Islands?”
“Yeah. I have open tickets. I can go anytime.”
“Do you still have your passport?”
“Yes.”
“Donotcontact Rodney. Do you understand?”
“But shouldn’t I let him know that—”
“He doesn’t care a jot about you, Giselle. Can’t you see that? He’ll takeyou down, too, at the first chance. You’re just another pawn in his game.”
I hear her struggle to draw in breath. “Oh, Molly, I wish I were more like you. I’m not. I’m not at all. You’re strong. You’re honest. You’re good. I don’t know if I can do it. I don’t know if I can be alone.”
“You’ve always been alone, Giselle. Poor company is worse than none.”
“Let me guess. Your gran told you that?”
“She did,” I say. “And she’s right.”
“How could I have ever fallen for a man so…”
“Vile?” I offer.
“Yes,” she says. “So vile.”
“Vile and evil are composed of the same letters. One begets the other.”
