Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94686 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94686 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
“Troy said that all this time Wendy had been drinking water, not liquor.”
I tensed. “Why would she pretend to be drunk?”
“To make people think that she was too out of it to be any trouble and the last person people would assume to be a killer,” she said.
Wendy? You did it?
“But which one do you think was killing everyone? Dawn or Wendy or. . .do you think they did it together?” Lucy asked.
Wendy isn’t an alcoholic. Everything is starting to finally make sense.
“Dawn doesn’t do dirty work, she assigns it.” I jumped up. “Due to Wendy being drunk all of the time, I was really relaxed with her.”
A vision of Wendy stumbling around my video monitoring room in my apartment came to my mind. Giggling, she claimed to have found the room by mistake.
“Wendy, you know my bathroom is farther down the hall.”
She bumped into the wall. “I’m too wasted for directions. Ooh, televisions! What’s all of this?” She flipped on switches and cheered as everyone’s apartments came up on the screens. Everyone slept but us.
Wendy wrapped her fingers around the joystick in the center and played with the various camera angles. “Do you watch us all?”
“Sometimes.”
She opened her robe. Nothing lay underneath as the material dropped to the floor. “Is there a time when you don’t watch us?”
I drank in those perky pink nipples. “When I’m on dates with one of you or at work.”
She lifted her chin and looked at me. “How long do you think this will last?”
“What?”
“Our relationship. All of us here together.”
It was an interesting question, one I’d considered since we started. “I’m not sure. I hope we can do this forever.”
“But are you happy?”
“How can anybody really know if they’re happy? Sometimes I’m laughing and smiling. Sometimes I’m not.”
“But do you feel like something else is missing?” She bit her lip.
“No.”
“Then why do you need a fourth girlfriend?”
This was the first time Wendy had ever discussed our situation. Dawn had been the main one to poke and analyze. How could I explain to my present girlfriend that I was happy, but not happy enough, my hunger reasonably quenched but not full?
“This will be the first time we have a fourth girl. Have you read Vicky’s file yet?” I asked.
“No,” Wendy slurred. “You know I don’t read or any of that stuff. You know what I like to do.”
I chuckled. “Yes. I know what you like.”
“Will Vicky be the end?” She focused the main screen to the empty apartment that had been freshly painted for Vicky. A four sat on the outside of the door. Red, white, and black served as the interior’s decorating scheme. My investigators discovered that those were Vicky’s favorite colors.
“Yes. Vicky will be the end.”
“And if we don’t like her?” She burped and giggled.
Yawning, I shut off the screens, captured her hand, and pulled her to me. “Then you can all come to me and I’ll fix it.”
“Dawn says we need a voting system or something.”
“Dawn won’t be getting rid of any women unless I say so.”
Wendy’s laugh escaped her lips and crowded the room. “Don’t be so sure, Chase. We have our ways, as women. We’re all little lionesses here. . .well, not Lucy.”
“You all are lionesses, but I’m the lion.”
“Okay, Lion,” she slurred. “Where’s my glass. Didn’t I set it down in here?”
Releasing her hand, I got it from the small table near the door. “Here you go.”
She grabbed the glass, took a sip, and then pierced me with her gaze. “Don’t hurt me, Chase.”
“I won’t.”
Her voice came out in a low whisper. “Sometimes I feel like just a spectator of love. It’s like I’m never participating, just watching as love moves all around me.”
“You’re more than that to me.”
“Am I?”
“Always.”
“But you love Dawn.”
I smirked. “We both do.”
“And Lucy is just your friend, really. She’s never been a threat.”
Something about the way she said threat made me uneasy, but I shook that thought away and headed to the living room to pour my own glass of brandy. “No one is a threat here.”
“Of course not. Especially if it just stays as Dawn, you, and I. We’re so good together.”
“And Lucy.”
“Sure.”
“And Vicky.”
The hopeful smile left her face. “If Vicky doesn’t work, will you end this search for a fourth girlfriend?”
“Yes,” I lied. “But Vicky will work.”
“Well, this arrangement is about sacrifice. Something greater. I won’t let anybody mess that up for all of us.”
I poured my glass to the rim. “Now you’re sounding like Dawn.”
“She makes a lot of good points.”
“Be careful with Dawn.” I took a large gulp. “If Dawn gets upset, she’ll have you committing bloody murder.”
Shaking her head, Wendy laughed. “Well, let’s hope it never comes to that.”
“Lucy, I have to go. Will you be okay?” I rose and rushed to the door, not even waiting for an answer. I had to talk to Dawn and Wendy. Maybe even have Troy question one, while I dealt with the other. They couldn’t be in the same room. They would just check each other’s faces before lying.