Chapter Thirty-Two
“The money from your trust fund has been wired to your account,” Scott Garber said.
“It’s a lot of money. It’s scary. I’m glad you kept pestering me about the will. I feel better now that I have one.” Fallon tapped her fingers on the counter.
“I suggest you invest it. If you want to set up another trust, you can call me. I can easily do that for you. Of course, I don’t want to tell you what to do with your money, but I wouldn’t advise just leaving it in your bank account. You’ll want it to grow.”
“Diablo and I are planning another trip to Denver. He and some of his buddies are going to see a motorcycle show at the convention center. I’ll definitely make an appointment and have you help me set things up.”
“Sounds good. I wanted to tell you how sorry I am about your mother. I heard about it on the news. How’re you doing?”
“Thanks for mentioning it. I’m taking it one day at a time. I’ll call you in the next week or two. Thanks for everything.”
Fallon set her phone down and glanced at the time. She had to meet Annie in less than half an hour and she wasn’t even dressed. She slid off the chair and went into the bedroom. In her closet, she pulled out her cut and ran her fingers over the embroidered letters. A thrill ran through her each time she looked at it. A few nights before, they were out with some of the brothers at a biker bar and she had on her cut. When a biker hit on her, she’d just pointed over her shoulder at her back. The moment he’d seen her “Property of Diablo” patch, he’d mumbled something and walked away. She loved wearing her man’s patch. For her, wearing it meant she was his and he was hers.
She pulled out a pair of jeans, a long-sleeved green T-shirt, and a cardigan to ward off the bite the late October wind carried. As she combed her hair, her phone rang and she rushed into the kitchen to pick it up, grimacing when she saw it was Shanna. Hesitating for a couple seconds, she answered.
“I’m just calling to see if you want anything before I clear out the house.”
“You’re moving?”
“Yeah. There’s no way I want to stay in this house with all the memories. Did you want to take anything? Like some mementos?”
She snorted. “Of what? I’m good. Whatever you don’t want just throw away.”
“How’re you doing?”
Shanna still didn’t fool her. She’d known from the day Charlie brought her home that Shanna hated her. Why she did, Fallon didn’t know, but now it didn’t matter. “I’m fine.”
“I missed you at the service. I know you had some issues with Charlie, but he did care about you. He was so distraught with the investigation and the way the cops were trying to pin your mother’s death on him that it got to be too much. He was suffering—”
“I have to go. I have an appointment. Like I said, throw out whatever you don’t want. Have a nice life.” I hope I never hear from her again. I’m sure her plans to take my money were thwarted by the law firm and Charlie’s death. They sure in hell deserved each other.
She went back to her room and dabbed on her perfume, the scent enveloping her and making her think of Diablo. She slipped her shoes on, slung her bag over her shoulder, grabbed a jacket, and left her apartment.
When she arrived at Burger Hamlet, Annie was already seated at a table near the fireplace. Fallon waved and made her way over, smiling at Annie’s obsession with hamburgers; it was all she ever wanted to eat. During lunch, they talked about books and the upcoming holiday. Annie said she wanted to have Thanksgiving at her place. Fallon was pretty sure the club would be celebrating the holiday with the brothers. Diablo told her that they did the main holidays together.
Fallon hadn’t shared any information about Diablo with Annie. She wasn’t sure her friend would understand the outlaw biker world. She also didn’t share too much about herself with others. It was a throwback to her growing years, and she still had trust issues.
On the other hand, Annie talked nonstop about her boyfriend. She adored him, and he was almost like a god to her. Fallon thought it was funny that Annie’s boyfriend could do no wrong.
“Is there anything else I can get you?” their waiter asked. Both women shook their heads and he placed the bill tray on the table. “Whenever you’re ready I’ll take it.” He sauntered away.
“I’m having such a problem trying to decide which paint color to use on my walls. I also want to replace the window coverings. I wish I had an artistic eye,” Annie said as she took out her wallet.
“I’m not that good either, but I have a friend who’s an artist. She’s amazing. She did a fantastic job with my place.”
“I’d love to have her help me. I’d pay her. I really need some guidance. Do you think you could come over and take a few pictures to show her? If she’s interested, I can set up an appointment with her. I live only a couple of minutes from here.”
Fallon looked at her phone; Diablo was coming by to pick her up in a couple hours. “I can go, but I can’t stay too long.”
“I understand. It shouldn’t take too long to take the pictures. My place isn’t that big.” Annie laughed and stood up. The two women left the restaurant. “Follow me.”
Fallon went to her car and followed Annie to a small apartment complex. “What floor are you on?” she said.
“The second.”
Fallon climbed the stairs slowly, then entered her apartment. Annie’s place was practically bare. There were a few boxes against the wall, three chairs, a small table with a television on it, and a small love seat. It didn’t look lived-in, and there wasn’t a warm feel to it. The ambience was cold and sterile, and Fallon shuddered involuntarily as she sat on the love seat.
“It needs work, huh?” Annie said.
“A little. Raven will make your place look awesome. I better take some pictures.”
“Let’s have a drink first. Do you want a glass of wine?”
“No. A Coke would be fine. Remember, I don’t have a lot of time.”
“I know.”
“How many bedrooms do you have?”
“Two. What about you?”
“Only one. My place is tiny but I love it. It’s my first apartment.” Fallon took a sip of Coke.
They chatted about the neighborhood. Annie had some wild stories about some of her neighbors. As Annie told her another story, Fallon began to feel sick. Nausea hit her and she started sweating. Annie kept talking, but her voice seemed distant and unintelligible as Fallon’s pulse pounded in her ears. Everything looked blurry and it felt like she was in a dream state. She tried to get up but just fell back against the cushions.
“I don’t feel so well,” she said, her head pounding. What the hell is wrong with me? I feel like I’m drugged, but that doesn’t make sense. It must’ve been something I ate. She forced herself to focus on Annie’s smiling face. “I’m sick, Annie. Real sick.”
“Is the room spinning? Do you feel out of it, like wading in a pool of mud?” Fallon nodded as best she could. “Bedtime scoop will do that.”
What the hell is she saying? And why the fuck is she just sitting there smiling at me?
“I bet you can’t talk so good now. Bedtime scoop is the street name for GHB. That’s a synthetic sedative. It’s made in underground labs.”
“Why did you give it to me?” Fallon slurred.
“I have seven hundred thousand reasons why.” She laughed. “You’re worth a lot of money. I mean, my share will only be two hundred thirty thousand, but fuck, that’s a fortune for someone like me.”
“You want my money? Who are you?” It felt like there was cotton in her ears.
“We gotta get going, Fallon. We can chat later.”
One of the doors opened and a man of medium height came out. Fallon tried to take him in through her blurry vision, and she gasped when his penetrating eyes speared her.
That’s the guy who’s been following me. But he doesn’t have dreadlocks. I know it’s him. I’d never forget his eyes. No! Oh God, who are these people? I can’t keep my eyes open anymore. Fuck, I’m slipping away….
* * *
Fallon blinked several times as she tried to adjust her eyes to the dimness of the room. Where am I? What the fuck happened? She couldn’t remember much of anything except that she’d gone over to Annie’s apartment to take some pictures. She tried to move but her body felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. Then she heard voices and knew she had to pretend to be sleeping.
“We have to get this shit wrapped up tomorrow,” a woman said.
I know that voice. It’s familiar. Fuck, it’s Shanna. The bitch outdid herself.
“How do you know she’s going to go along with us? I mean, seven hundred thousand is a lot of money to just sign over,” Annie said.
“She’ll sign it over or I’ll make her sorry she didn’t. Although fucking her would be fun. She’s pretty hot,” a male voice said.
I don’t know who that is. They can have the damn money. I just want to be back with Diablo.
“You asshole. You’re not fucking anyone. If she doesn’t go along with it, I’ll pretend to be her. I already got her handwriting down, and you got all the IDs fixed. It’ll be a snap,” Annie replied.
“It’s better to have her sign it over. It’s cleaner that way. I don’t believe in complicating things. It was luck that the cops found her mother’s bones. It gave Charlie the perfect motive to kill himself.” Shanna laughed.
“We lucked out on that one,” Anne replied.
“You bet we did. I was trying to find a reason why Charlie would kill himself. He wasn’t the suicide type. But then this murder investigation fell into my lap. I knew I could make it look like suicide, and given the circumstances, it made sense that he’d do that. I couldn’t have planned it better. Now that he’s out of the way, Fallon is the last loose thread. Once we get the money, she’s history too.” Shanna chuckled.
“I’ll take care of her. Don’t sweat it,” the man said.
Shanna killed Charlie, and the bitch is going to kill me. Wait. That man. The one following me. I saw him. Images pierced through her drug-addled brain. He was at Annie’s. That’s right. How are they connected with Shanna? How the fuck am I going to get out of this?
“She’ll be coming out of it in a couple of hours. I’ll tell her the choices and she can decide. I can’t wait to get the fuck out of this hick town. I was made for a city like Los Angeles.”
“Two hundred thirty thousand won’t go very far in LA,” the man said.
“You should go somewhere in the south where things are cheaper,” Annie added.
“My hair would be a mess in all that humidity. Anyway, I didn’t say I was actually going to move to LA.”
Fallon peeked out from under her eyelids; she didn’t dare open her eyes all the way. All she could see was their feet: Shanna’s stilettos, Annie’s sneakers, and black boots worn by the man with the cold eyes. Despair began to wrap around her nerves, strangling them. She had no idea where she was; her only hope was that Diablo would be able to track her location from the GPS device he’d installed on her phone. The three of them acted like amateurs, and she prayed it didn’t occur to them that she’d have a GPS tracking device. In her heart she knew Diablo would come for her.
Until then, she’d have to play the waiting game.