Page 40 of Kill For Me Kill For You
Ruth’s eyelids felt heavy. Her breathing slowed. The drugs were beginning to kick in. She held Scott’s arm tighter and tighter, as if he was a life raft, but the drugs were too strong, and she felt her grip loosening. She lay down on the bed and was soon fast asleep.
18
Amanda
‘This is a joke, right?’ said Amanda.
‘Do I look like I’m joking?’ asked Naomi. She sat forward, her elbows on the table, her face set in pure determination.
Amanda thought of the parting embrace that night in the pizza parlor. The drunken promise. It wasn’t just talk.
This was real.
‘What did you do?’ asked Amanda.
‘I sure as hell didn’t try to cap him in a crowded subway car. That was never going to work. No, I found his weak spot and used it. The call girls . . .’
‘What?’
‘I followed him back to his building last night, watched him go up to his floor, then I took the elevator up there and waited. It didn’t take long. The girl left, a petite blonde, ridiculously young. I went in straight after, wearing a red wig, short black leather skirt, halter top and boots. Doormen don’t ask hookers questions. It’s above their pay grade. I went to his door and knocked. He opened it straight away, probably thinking it was the girl who’d just left – like she’d forgotten something and had come back to get it.’
Amanda studied Naomi’s face, taking in every word, every expression. She wasn’t just listening to a story – she was living it.
‘Soon as the door opened, I shot him with pepper spray,’ she said, reaching for her bag. She removed a small, thin aerosol can encased in a black, plastic hood with a finger grip down one side.
‘I emptied the whole can into his fucking face. Point blank range,’ said Naomi, and put the cannister back in her bag. ‘I closed the door, then I went to the kitchen, took the biggest knife I could find. When I came back, he was still in the hallway, rolling around on the floor, screaming. I got scared then. I thought someone would hear him.’
Amanda began to feel a dull pain in her jaw. She sat up straight, opened and closed her mouth – she’d been clenching her teeth tighter than an industrial press.
‘But no one came. That’s a huge apartment, and I’m guessing it’s grade-A insulated for his own damn reasons. I stood over him with the knife in my hand. He was on his front, his hands over his face. I’d made a mistake. I’d sprayed too much. My eyes started to water – I could taste the damn stuff. I couldn’t focus, and my throat started to burn. I knelt down beside him so I couldn’t miss, raised the knife over my head.’
She stopped talking, swallowed. It seemed to be getting harder to get the words out.
‘I thought about my darling Rebecca, and I thought about your Jess. And that’s all I needed to jam that knife into his back. Right behind his neck. He stopped moving then. And the screaming stopped. I took the knife out, had to pull really hard. It was stuck in there good. All the way to the hilt. There was a lot of blood when the knife came out. I turned him over, stuck it in his throat. Then I left.’
‘But there’s a whole security-camera system in his building. They would’ve seen you.’
‘No, they saw a woman in a red wig who doesn’t look like you, who is taller than you, wearing a dark coat, a mini skirt, boots and gloves. The doorman didn’t even give me a second look – I swear. There was a lot of action in Crone’s apartment. That doorman was paid to look the other way. He did exactly that when he saw what he thought was another hooker. He wouldn’t recognize me, but, even if he could, the main thing is he wouldn’t recognizeyou.’
‘Me?’
‘You were at the group session last night. With witnesses. When the cops look back at the security tape, they’ll see Crone letting me into his apartment, and me leaving on my own, in disguise. The time of death will coincide with my visit. You have a solid alibi for when the cops come calling. I don’t need one because I have no connection to Wallace Crone, and no one would recognize me. I’m telling you – it went down perfectly.’
‘Jesus Christ,’ said Amanda, her fingers shaking as she raised them to her lips. ‘He’s really dead?’
‘He’s really, really fucking dead,’ said Naomi.
‘Have the cops . . . I mean, fuck . . . The cops will be looking for me.’
‘Of course, soon as someone finds Crone’s body. His maid will probably see it tomorrow when she does her house call. So don’t be surprised if the cops come see you then.’
Amanda felt a lurch in her stomach. The nausea was stepping up.
‘That’s why you’ve gotta return the favor tonight . . .’
‘Wait, wait, wait – what? Tonight?’ said Amanda.
Naomi leaned back, gave Amanda a stern look.
