“No use yelling.”
“What did you do to him?” Why was James sleeping? He looked like he had when he was in his coma again. What had she done to him?
“The nurse didn’t just give James vaccines earlier. She injected him with a slow release sedative. He’s knocked out cold.” She ran her fingers through the scruff on his chin.
“Get your hands off him.” I tried to move, only to find that my ankles were taped to the chair too.
“You don’t like when I touch him?” Her hand slid to the side of his neck. “It must haunt you that I’ve touched every inch of his skin. And that he’s touched every inch of mine.”
I swallowed hard.
She ran her index finger across his lips. “And not just with his hands. He’s kissed every inch of my skin too. I always liked how fierce he was in bed. How passionate he was. Is he like that with you too?”
“Go to hell, Isabella!”
“I’m only going to ask you once to keep your voice down. And I won’t be dying today, Penny. It’s actually going to be you that will be entering the gates of hell in about,” she looked at the clock next to James’ bed, “ten minutes. First I get to have some fun.” She pulled down the front of James’ hospital gown. “And his muscles. They’re enough to drive a girl crazy.” She ran her fingers down his six pack.
I wiggled my wrists, trying to weaken the duct tape. I was going to kill her. I was going to fucking kill her.
“What’s it like to see another woman with your husband? Stings, doesn’t it?”
“He had filed for divorce before I even met him.”
“And if he divorced you, wouldn’t you still be jealous?” Her fingers wandered down his happy trail. “Possessive even?”
“Stop touching him.”
She smiled. “I’ll take that as a yes.” She sat down on the edge of his bed. “It must drive you crazy knowing that he used to scream my name. That he used to crave my lips. That I used to satisfy him in every way imaginable.”
I shook my head. “I can’t change the past.”
“No. You can’t. But you can change the future. Or rather, I can.” She smiled her cruel smile. “This is really for the best. You weren’t good for him. You just fed his sickness. All this ever was between you was addiction.”
“He’s not addicted to me!”
“No, I guess not. He’s just addicted to sex. You’re just something he’s going to use and cast aside. Just like he did with me. Now, I did tell you that I’d only ask you once to keep your voice down. There will be consequences for that. Slow, painful consequences. Which I’ll enjoy, so thank you.”
I tried to ignore her threats. “He’s not addicted to sex either. He’s been clean for years.”
“No? Maybe we should ask him.” She picked a needle up off the nightstand that I hadn’t seen before.
“What are you doing?”
“Giving him adrenaline to counteract the effect of his sedative slowly. Very slowly. So that he’ll be able to watch me kill you and won’t be able to do anything about it. He’ll almost be paralyzed, if you will. He might even just think he’s dreaming.” She put the needle into his arm. “It’ll just be a few minutes now. Let’s play a game while we wait, shall we?”
I continued to struggle against the duct tape. It was ripping at my skin. I bit my lip, trying not to focus on the pain.
“Here’s the game. If you could have one phone call right this second, who would you call?”
“The cops.”
“Hmm. Wrong answer. How do you think I got here in the first place?”
“By forgetting to take your meds?”
She laughed. “I didn’t realize you were funny. But no. Take a guess at why the cops would be the wrong phone call. I’ll give you a hint. I’m supposed to be in custody, yet here I am.”
“Because you’re working with them?”
“Bingo. Officer Daugherty is a very dirty cop.” She winked at me.
Fucking asshole. I knew he hadn’t been helping us. This whole thing had just been a joke to him. I cringed as the tape bit at my skin.
“You’d be surprised at what someone would do for a few million dollars. And the best part is, all the money I’ve had to spend wasn’t even mine. You gave it to me. So in a way, you really are responsible for everything that has happened to James in the past few weeks. It’s been so much fun watching you fall apart. And suspecting your friends. It was priceless. And I’m a huge believer in everything having a price. I guess in this case it was actually 20 million dollars.”
I needed to buy time. Someone would come in here to check on us soon. But I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. If the nurse was in on it, she wouldn’t be coming. And Briggs certainly wouldn’t be coming. He had betrayed us. He had drugged me. But I needed to believe that someone would come. Because I was stuck in this fucking chair. “Why did you try to frame Tyler and Melissa?”
She smiled. “Because I wanted you to feel completely and utterly alone. I wanted you to be paranoid. I wanted you to push everyone away. Because I know girls like you. You’re weak. You need people around you, telling you how wonderful you are. Because you’re a conceited narcissist. And you only care about yourself.”
Me? That sounded more like her. “You don’t know me. I didn’t have many friends growing up. I found solace in reading books and escaping into their stories. My best friend used to tell me I was going to grow up to be a cat lady. I’ve never needed anyone until I met James. He changed me. He made me better.” He saved me.
“How sad. I almost pity you. If you weren’t such a whore.”
James groaned.
“Good. He’s waking up.” She leaned toward him. “Good morning, baby,” she said and placed a kiss against his lips.