RACHEL’S POV
After the call with Shelley ended, she could not help but wonder what was wrong with her. She sounded perturbed and had an edge of urgency to her tone. Curious to know what was going on, she had set a meeting and asked that she meet her at her place.
A few minutes later, her phone buzzed and it was her gateman informing her of the presence of a lady who called herself Shelley. She asked that he let her in and she walked downstairs to the sitting room to meet her.
“Welcome to my humble abode. What do I offer you?” She asked, trying to okay the role of a perfect host.
“That won’t be necessary. I’m not here for that,” Shelley said in what could pass for a harsh tone and Rachel was taken aback.
“Okay. What is it then?”
” I was at the location where the girl is being held…”
Rachel immediately cut her short, “What business do you have there?” You have done your job and therefore I expect to stop going there,” her eyes were blazing hot with anger now.
“That’s not the point, Rachel. How callous can you be, asking those men to beat the girl until she lost her pregnancy? Why harm an innocent child?”
Rachel felt embarrassed, then angry. How dare she?
“How dare you pry into my business?”
“Your business? It became my business when you involved me in it.”
“Shut up, Shelley! You don’t know what this is about,”
“Do you have blood running in your veins? Are you human at all? Imagine those men beating her and she doesn’t only lose the baby but her life too…”
“That’s even better,” Rachel shouted, interrupting her.
Shelley’s hands flew to her mouth in shock. “Oh my God, oh my God. What have I gotten myself into? You want her dead, don’t you?”
“Of course, I want her dead. And hey, don’t act innocent. You are in this as much as I am,” she said nonchalantly and walked to the wine bar in the sitting room. She retrieved the bottle and returned to her seat.
“I’m out. I am turning myself to the police. I can’t bear this guilt anymore.”
“What did you say?” Rachel asked, putting the bottle of wine down on the table.
“Exactly what you heard. I can’t live with the thought that I was an accomplice to the murder of an innocent girl and her unborn child,” Shelley retorted.
“You won’t dare what you just said,” Rachel said menacingly.
“Watch me do it,” and with that, Shelley got to her feet and made for the door in a hurry.
Scared that she might go on with her threat, Rachel picked up the wine bottle and without a second thought brought it down heavily on Shelley’s head. She watched in fright as Shelley halted, with blood beginning to trickle down her hair and collapsed to the floor with a thud.
“What have I done,” she murmured as she fell down on her knees before Shelley. She laid on the floor, lipm and unmoving.
She became frantic as she tried every method she could think of to resuscitate her, all to no avail. Exhausted, she sat on the floor as she stared at the lifeless body. She had just committed murder, and the worst of all was that it had to be her friend.
She knew she had to get rid of the body so she hurried upstairs and got a sleeping bag. Hands shaking, she pushed the body into it. The next thing was how to get the body to her car without the gateman noticing. So she devised a means by asking him to go to a supermarket that was far from her residence to get her something she doesn’t need.
With the gateman out of the way, she carried the body outside to her car trunk. Hurrying back inside, she cleaned the blood on the floor so no trace of the incident could be led to her. After she was done, she went up to her room to change into an all black attire.
Everywhere was dark already, and so, without waiting for the gateman’s return, she drove out of the compound.
RACHEL’S POV
She drove until she got to the outskirts of the town. She got down, took out the body and dumped it on the roadside before hurrying back into her car and driving away.
She returned home, and when the gateman tried to present her with the item she asked him to buy, she yelled at him.
Angrily, she walked upstairs to her room, stripped off her clothes and got into the shower. After she was done dressing into her nighties, she gathered the clothes in a disposable bag with the intention of burning them at the crack of dawn.
She got on the bed but sleep eluded her as she kept having flashes of Shelley’s lifeless body on the floor of her sitting room. She got scared and stood up. Walking to the drawer she retrieved the cigarette case and lit a stick.
As she puffed out the air, it helped relax her tensed muscles a bit. Even though she knew it was temporary relief, she could use it for the moment. Soon, she began to feel sleepy. Smoking the last cigarette in the case, she threw the stub on the ashtray before climbing into bed.
At the crack of dawn, she got off the bed and took the clothes to the backyard to burn. As they caught flame and burnt, she felt an amount of relief. No one would trace Shelley’s death to her.
And then she remembered her gateman. He had seen Shelley arrive, but not seen her leave. Would he be a problem? And then she remembered when she sent him on an errand. She could use that as an alibi. Shelley had left when he was out running her errand.
Still, she was not satisfied. Deciding she was going to pay him well and fire him, she walked back into the house. She waited until everywhere was bright before walking to the gateman’s quarter.
“Carlos, I have something to say to you,” she said when she got there.
“Okay, ma.” He replied, looking at her expectantly.
“I will be traveling out of the country hence there will be no need for your services,” she handed him the fat envelope. “Inside the envelope is $50, 000, you can use it to sort yourself out. You are expected to leave today.”
Carlos thanked her profusely. He was obviously happy to be relieved of his duty with such a fat pay. She nodded and walked back to her building. She spent the next few hours drinking, all in a bid to forget what had happened.
While at it, she fell asleep. She woke up hours later to see it was evening. At a loss on what to do, she walked to her closet and took out her swimsuit and a towel before heading downstairs to the pool.
She changed into the swimsuit and jumped into the water. She sighed in satisfaction as the cooling effect of the water embraced her body. She continued for minutes until she was tired and got out of the pool. She wrapped the towel around her body as she walked back inside.
In the kitchen, she fixed herself coffee and after gulping it down, she walked upstairs. The ringing of her phone greeted her as she picked it up and answered the call.
“Who is it?” She asked, when she realized it was an unknown caller.
“Your nemesis,” the caller replied.
She froze for a second. Why did the voice sound so much like Shelley’s?
“She…Shelley?”
“I’m glad you can still recognize my voice, traitor. You thought I was dead, right? Fortunately, I survived your evil plan. Get ready, because the police will soon get to you,” and with that, the call ended.