Lisa Scottoline - Think Twice

She called Anthony, but the phone just rang and rang, then the voicemail clicked on again. This time she left a message: “The house that I love is available, and I have to make a decision right away. Please call me back.” She pressed END, feeling her grumpiness go into overdrive.

Still asking permission, partner?

If he wouldn’t pick up the phone, it would serve him right if she bought the house. One fight, and he walks out of a master bedroom that wasn’t even theirs. And why do they call it a master bedroom, anyway? Why not a mistress bedroom, especially if a woman bought the house? The world was sexist, including Anthony. He couldn’t handle it when the discussion was anything but academic. The man could talk Dante, but not down payment. Well, they had come to the point of no return.

Buy the house!

She felt a stab of heartache. If she bought the house, she could lose the guy.

Don’t buy the house!

She had to make a decision, and fast.

So what’s it going to be?

She told her inner voice to shut up. It was time to stand on her own and decide. It was her money and her love life, and it would be her house.

She sat still on the bed, listened to her heart, and said a little prayer, and in the next minute, her mind cleared, and she knew what to do. It wouldn’t be easy, but it was her choice.

And because of that, she knew she could live with the consequences, come what may.

Bennie heard voices around her and felt the sensation of being lifted and borne forward. She opened her eyes, and a nurse in blue scrubs was rolling her into an examining room with medical equipment. They stopped when another nurse in pink scrubs appeared, and Bennie tried to stay awake, but couldn’t. She wanted to call the police and go find Alice, but she could barely stay awake long enough to listen to what they were saying.

“What do we have here?” one nurse was asking the other.

“A Jane Doe. Not an emergency. A farmer found her in a field, drunk. BP and other signs are normal. I started the drip and tried to get her to talk to me, but she kept passing out. Vomited on herself. God, she stinks, doesn’t she?”

The other nurse said, “Hmm, looks like a dog bite on the right hand. She’ll need a shot, and we’ll clean her up. She looks like she’s been in a fight, from her hands. Odd. Definitely smells like she tied one on. I’ll take blood, for a tox screen.”

“That right hand looks broken, doesn’t it? I’ll get her on the sked for X-ray. That’s the farmer’s shirt she’s wearing, with her skirt. He thinks she’d been with her boyfriend. She was almost topless when he picked her up.”

“Jeez, think it’s a rape? Should we call the cops, get a kit?”

“Triage put in a call, but the cops are on skeleton, with vacations and all. Playtime for everybody but us, eh?”

“Everybody’s gone to the moon. You know that song? My dad loved that song. Wow, she has nice veins. She must work out.”

“I don’t think we need the rape kit. It’s so intrusive, and her skirt’s not ripped or anything. Undies intact, no other signs.”

“Good. Did she tell the farmer she’d been assaulted?”

“Not that he told us, so no. No ID, wallet, handbag, phone. She didn’t give him any other information except that she was from Philly.”

Bennie felt her right hand being manipulated, and miraculously, it didn’t hurt at all. She opened her eyes. “I’m feeling no pain.”

“Understatement of the year,” the nurse in pink said, setting her hand down. “What’s your name? Do you remember how you hurt your hand?”

“Uh huh.” Bennie wanted to tell them about Alice, but it was hard to form coherent thoughts. “I drank too much and… Alice put me in a hole.”

“What? Can you repeat that? Are you on any medication? Miss? Miss?”

Bennie felt herself doze off.

“Miss, did you take any street drugs? Miss?”

“Wicker.” She’d been trying to say whiskey and liquor, but it came out wrong.

“Did you take street drugs of any kind?”

“No, no, no.”

“Are you on any medication?”

Bennie wanted them to call the cops but couldn’t make the words. “I want to get… Alice. I have to tell you about Alice. We have to-”

“Miss, what is your name?”

“Bennie.”

“Bonnie?”

“Bennnneeee!”

“Stay calm, don’t shout, I hear you. Penny, what’s your last name?” Bennie let it go. “Rosato.”

“Risotto?”

“Rosato.”

“Arzado? Okay, Penny Arzado.”

Bennie nodded. Close enough. It didn’t matter. She had to get Alice. Throw her in prison.

“Penny, do you have health insurance? Do you know what kind of insurance you have?”

Bennie couldn’t answer any more questions, or listen. She had to go to sleep.

“Penny, talk to me. Penny?”

Alice went downstairs to the kitchen, where Grady was cleaning up. It smelled like something good was baking, but she couldn’t tell what, because there was nothing on the stovetop and no ingredients on the counter.

“Hey sweetheart.” Grady turned from the sink, drying a bowl. He set it down with the dishtowel and gave her a hug. “You didn’t have to come down. I told you, I was bringing it up.”

“I thought I’d keep you company, maybe have a drink.”

“Okay, good.” Grady released her and brushed a stray hair from her forehead. A look of pain crossed his eyes, deepening his crow’s feet. “I’m sorry all this happened, especially tonight. We’re in the kitchen when we should be upstairs.”

You, man, you.

“I’m sorry about last night, too. You know I have a better track record than that.”

“I know.” Alice reached up and gave him a Bennie-like peck. “I want a rain check.”

“You got it.” Grady grinned, his relief so obvious that she doubted he suspected her. Still, she wasn’t about to change her mind. He had officially became a loose end.

“I forget if I have any wine.” Alice opened the cabinet above the refrigerator, but it held a stack of reusable shopping bags. She moved to the next cabinet, but it contained plastic bags of brown rice, a few cans, and boxes of spaghetti. “God, my head is killing me. I can’t even think where I put the wine.”

“You don’t want wine with this anyway, do you?”

Oops. “Tonight, I want wine with everything.”

“I got milk, if you change your mind.” Grady opened the oven door, releasing the delicious smell of baking brownies.

“I’ll get it.” Alice went to the refrigerator, turned her back to him, and seized her opportunity. Quickly she picked up the milk carton, popped off the cap, then grabbed a glass from the overhead cabinet. She poured the milk into the glass, then dropped the roofie into the drink. She took another glass from the cabinet and filled that one, too, taking her time so the roofie would have a chance to dissolve.

“Looks like we’re good to go.”

“I’ll get napkins.” Alice opened a drawer, retrieved two napkins, and set them next to the plates. She felt as if they were playing house, except that mommy was about to kill daddy.

“Would you get the ice cream, too?”

“Sure.” Alice went to the freezer, got a new tub of Cherry Garcia, and closed the freezer door. She took a scooper from the silverware drawer and set it all on the table, figuring that the roofie should be dissolved by now.

“These look great, if I don’t say so myself.” Grady cut the brownies. “Of course, we won’t wait until it’s cool, because otherwise we won’t be able to burn the roofs of our mouths.”