Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 38804 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38804 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
“Let’s just say rich housewives all over the country enjoy these little pills. The high is euphoric and it lasts for days, but it’s the strongest in the first five hours. And it helps them lose weight. Kellie Bitchins loves these.” He grinned then, a slow, calculating one and picked up his phone, sending off a text.
“What’d you just do?” Maren barked.
“I just sent Kellie a text saying I owe her some happy pills. You want to get her talking? You do three things in a row. One, you wait until she’s gotten one of these in her system. Wait three to four hours. Then, you show up and you act defeated. Like you need her help. Like you’re desperate for her help. She’s going to already be high from one of these, and then you show up? A mark that she destroyed? One that she got away with whatever she did to you?”
Maren tensed. “How did you—”
“It’s written all over you. If I’d known before I met you, I would’ve helped you destroy her long before now, but I didn’t know.” His eyes cast my way. “I now know how you are pre-Jude, if you get what I mean. I’m sorry for whatever she did to you, but you’re right. She needs to be stopped.”
I spoke up, “What’s the third thing she needs to do? You said three things. The pill. Maren showing up and asking for her help. What’s the third?”
“She needs to kiss her ass, and I mean really kiss her ass. Lay it on thick. She’s a narcissist, and with all three things happening, she’s going to want to boast and brag, and Maren’s going to give her the perfect opportunity to sing like a fucking canary.”
“What about the pill, though? Won’t it look suspicious when you suddenly reach out to give her some?”
He stood up, sliding the baggie into his pocket. “No, because for the last two months, I’ve only given them when I needed something from her. She’ll expect me to show up in a few days and ask for a favor from her.”
I stood too. “What kind of favor?”
He paused, studying me. “The kind where she was trying to blackmail another friend of mine and I asked her to leave him alone. That kind. I don’t sell these. I get these from my doctor, but that doesn’t mean I take them myself. I’m not stupid. I don’t want to get fucked up. Kellie Rispins? I have no problem letting her get fucked up. Since she started taking these, I’ve seen her slowly start to go off the rails, but she’s going too slow, and if she hurt Maren? She deserves everything coming her way. Now, excuse me. I need to get these to her so we don’t have to wait until midnight to pump her for information.”
The baggie was there, and it was opened, and one pill was gone.
Maren began the rest.
“I need you to tell me how you did it. What you did to me.”
Kellie was quiet for a moment until she asked, “You’re still roommates with that one girl, right?”
“Mac? Yeah. I never talk to her. After you blackmailed me last year I did what you wanted. I dropped Cris, but that also meant dropping Mac too. It was too hard being friends with her when she’s still so tight with Cris. Why do you want to know?”
“No reason…” She almost sang it, sitting down and getting comfortable. Troy was right. She was high from that pill. She was gleeful.
Maren snapped, sounding impatient and desperate. “Are you going to help or not?”
“What do I get out of this? I don’t help out of the goodness of my heart.”
Maren shrugged, the bag moving up with her shoulder and falling back down. “I don’t know. What do you want? I can’t dump Cris again.”
“I never told you to—”
Maren jerked forward a step. “Cut the bullshit. You did too. My dad went to prison and you told me, very bluntly—what were the exact words? ‘Dump your boyfriend and I won’t publish my post linking his name to what your dad’s going to prison for.’ I hated you. Hated you, but I know how you are and what you can do. You could’ve really hurt Cris somehow, just insinuating a connection. I did what you wanted and I need to know how to do that. What do you want for your help this time?”
“I want access to your roommate’s computer.”
I stiffened. My computer?
“What?” Maren moved back a step. “Why—"
“Do you want my help or not?”
“I do, but—”
“No buts.” Kellie surged to her feet. “You either get me into your roommate’s computer or I don’t help you. That’s it. That’s the deal. It’s your choice.”
There was no sound. Kellie was watching Maren, eyeing her until she growled. “Fine! But—”