Page 47 of Too Old for Love

“Bitch. That’s what you are,” said Alice.

“At least I’m not a bitch that tortures an innocent man for sex then kills him because you suspect him of something he never did.”

“He did do it! He sent you that shipping manifest. I know he did!”

“What’s your game, Alice? Nothing is going to get the Quinns out of prison. They’re there to stay and you know it. The FBI is already suspicious of what’s happening with the software and the hospitals.

“You’ve got nothing. Nowhere to run. No one to run to. Everything falls on your shoulders, Alice. All of it. The success. The failure. The jail time. Your husband and his family are already in jail. They lose nothing if this doesn’t work.”

“Shut up! I’ll get them off on all charges. Once I have what I need, I’ll take it all! And then I leave.”

“What you need? And what is it that you need?”

“I need you to work the system.” Everest stared at her, cocking her head to one side. “Do you know what the only medical records system is that we’ve never been able to get into?”

Everest just stared at her, trying to think carefully. They’d been in almost every major hospital and medical center in the nation. She couldn’t think.

“I don’t know,” she said quietly.

“What do you think would happen if we were able to manipulate the records of the major players in Washington? What if we could show that some of them are suffering from dementia and Alzheimer’s? Maybe a few are on illegal drugs, taking too many prescriptions, having trouble getting it up for the mistresses? Suddenly a document leaks of multiple surgeries, tests, all kinds of things that never actually happened.

“What if those very same men were taking the experimental drugs provided illegally of course, and it showed that they were signing bills to push their approval through?”

“What is your game, Alice? You could kill hundreds of people,” she said calmly.

“I don’t care. I want the money that I would extort from them to free my husband and then we’ll leave the country.”

“If you’ve done what I think you’ve done, you already have millions in the bank,” said Everest. Alice only gave a cold laugh, shaking her head.

“Yes, I have millions in the bank. Poor, sweet Alice. Worked to the bone on presentations and materials, always cowering in the corner. No one knew that I was the one that kept Abigail and Samantha in line. I was the one fucking those two studs raw because I needed a man! I needed my husband and he wasn’t there!”

“I would have never believed that you could be this cruel,” said Everest. “You destroyed two innocent men’s lives.”

“Innocent? Are you kidding me? That fuck machine, Jordan was happy to stick his dick in anything. The drugs really worked on him, although he definitely had something worth working.” She gave an evil smile to Everest and leaned forward, her elbows on her knees.

“Tell me, Everest. Have you ever had a man so hard he’s in pain? So hard that he’s begging to allow him to stick it anywhere, everywhere? A man that can fuck you raw and then rub his own dick to give you a break, relieve himself, and then go at again?

“No, sweet, virginal divorcee Everest has never experienced anything so lustful. Do you pleasure yourself, Everest? Do you touch yourself at night?”

“You’re sick,” said Everest softly. “My sex life isn’t your business.”

“That tells me that you have a sex life,” she grinned.

“You’re a married woman, Alice. How could you do that to your husband?” she asked calmly.

“That’s funny,” she said in a maniacal laugh. “I met my husband while I was working the pole and going to college. That’s right. The simple, quiet Alice was a stripper and a damn fine one. Michael paid me very well to take my clothes off and then entertain him, his father and uncle in the back room.

“In fact, I got so good they would come without Michael. He didn’t care. I was just nineteen and it didn’t matter to him. He’d tell me who to get information from at the club. When I was fucking them, sucking them, asking innocent questions. Give them a little something in their drink.

“Then he started with the rough stuff. Not just on me, but for me. It was an awakening for me. A sexual awakening and freedom.”

“You have enough money, Alice. You could escape. Leave now. Leave it all behind.”

“No. I’ll get the information I want, bring down every judge, every juror, every politician who had anything to do with sentencing them.” It was a gut punch for Everest. Mr. Myers.

“We heard Everest. Sebastian Myers was on the jury that convicted them. We got it.”

“You’re going to leave a lot of dead bodies behind you, Alice. How on earth do you plan on getting away with it?” She smiled, standing from the sofa.