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)
The answer had been there the whole time. I just had to open my eyes and really look at it all.
The one thing that the three deceased girlfriends had in common was pissing Dawn off. But that hadn’t been enough for me to suspect Dawn of killing. She didn’t get her hands dirty and barely lifted a finger to do anything herself. So it meant she needed a person who followed orders.
I remembered the night she introduced me to Wendy. I’d been shocked. Here was a girl that didn’t walk in our circles. Wendy’s eyes popped open at Willow Park’s luxurious grounds. She blushed and cheered with gifts that Dawn and I spoiled her with, and finally made herself at home when we asked Wendy to move in. Once I met her family, I knew for certain that she’d fought for everything she got in her life. Wendy’s dad seemed super-religious, discussing God in every sentence.
If someone commented on the wonderfully cut lawn, he’d yell, “God is good. He keeps the grass green.”
If another discussed wanting to go to the movies, he’d raise his hands. “Thank you, Jesus, for these walls, seating, and films. May the lord shine light on all of us as we enter this building.”
Yet, few times, I’d spied her father ogling Wendy’s behind or peeking at her cleavage. I hadn’t been sure if I imagined it or not and never knew how to bring it up to her. And then Wendy’s missing past made me weary about having her live with us. Dawn claimed the investigators couldn’t find anything on those missing years. Wendy declared she’d been a homeless runaway during that time. I didn’t buy it. Something told me that Dawn knew Wendy’s past and purposefully hid it from me. I’d had concerns about having Wendy move in with us, but when those two women got naked in my bed to sooth my nervousness, my concerns never came up again.
How long had they been working together? First, to control me; next, to manage Lucy and the rest?
Troy said that all the women who died had a friend. He figured it was the same one. I believed it was Wendy. While Dawn fought with the girls, Wendy spent hours drinking with them. Plus, it took Lucy several weeks to warm to someone.
Yes. It had to be Wendy, a sober woman pretending to be drunk and stupid.
I left Lucy’s room as she mumbled something to me. Past memories raced through my head. Little times when I’d caught Wendy in my apartment, drinking in my living room, claiming she was out of liquor in her place.
But you weren’t out of drinks, were you? That was you snooping, maybe even stealing tapes and figuring out the exact places in that fourth apartment where the cameras didn’t record?
I bumped into Viv. A bag hung on her shoulder. “Are you going somewhere?”
Troy appeared out of the hallway’s shadows. “Viv, get Lucy. I’ll talk to Chase.”
“Where the hell did you come from?” I watched Viv walk past me and enter Lucy’s room.
“We need to talk.” Troy grabbed my arm and guided me to my bathroom. “Shit isn’t safe here anymore. Get the plane to take all of you back to the states. You think you can get me a ticket back to Oshane? When is Sherman coming out?”
“Okay. Stop.” I snatched away my arm. “Why isn’t it safe? Why are you ordering me around like—”
“Benny killed Dawn.”
Silence.
Anything that had been on my tongue disappeared. Dawn is dead. I didn’t love her like Jasmine. There was no comparison, but she had some of my love, even though it leaned more toward the long-term friendship kind. She’s dead. I’d said death would be the answer, maybe, if things got out of hand, but. . .
“Where is her body?” I asked.
“Trust me when I say this. You don’t want to see it. Two guys are in her bedroom right now, wiping some of her up.”
A sort of numbness seeped into me. Dread and this cold numbness.
“Wiping her up?”
Troy nodded.
“I. . .I was just going to see if she had gotten Wendy to kill those women.”
“I think she did.”
“But. . .”
Now she’s dead.
Exhaling, I counted for a few seconds to calm myself down. “That wasn’t how she was supposed to die. It wasn’t supposed to end like this.”
“Benny doesn’t do jail and court systems.” Troy leaned in closer. “I think Wendy and Dawn killed those women. Just comfort yourself with the fact that they’ve taken other lives and maybe this is what they deserve.”
“But we don’t know that Dawn and Wendy did it for sure. We’re only guessing and speculating.”
“Do you think they worked together?” Troy asked.
“I could see Dawn convincing Wendy.”
“Yeah, man. And the first murder was done with sleeping pills, nice and clean. Dawn had control of almost everything when it came to the other women’s lives. Did she ever talk to their doctors?” Troy asked.