“Hey, man. I’m sorry. I thought it was a random mugging. I didn’t want to bug you with it.”
Mike needed to hang up before he said things he couldn’t take back. It wasn’t Terry’s fault. He didn’t know the danger Destiny was in and Mike hadn’t warned him. It wasn’t Terry’s job to tell him if the perp escaped or not. “Thanks man. Bye.”
Chapter 29
Destiny stifled a yawn behind her hand. She loved Mike dearly, but she needed more than three hours of sleep to function. Even coffee wasn’t helping her stay awake. She’d passed back out after Mike had left, but since she’d always been an early riser, she was up by six a.m. regardless. Cursed internal body clock.
Once she got to work, though, she’d be fine. She always went into a zone at work, despite how tired she was. First she needed to make a pit stop at Grandma’s and make sure everything was ready when she came home later that day. She couldn’t wait to tell Grandma she and Mike had made up and that she used her ultimatum advice. Destiny would make sure to leave a lot of details out. Her poor grandma didn’t need to hear those things.
Destiny opened the door with her key and was about to call out to Milly, Grandma’s helper, when she heard raised voices.
“It’s not working,” a male voice shouted. “I need her dead not keep getting these close calls and coming home.”
“I’m sorry Mr. Borges, I’m doing the best I can without raising suspicion.”
“Well your best isn’t good enough. Carol was supposed to be dead months ago.”
“I’ve tried everything you’ve given me. Opioids, insulin, even that Digoxin. I just need more time.”
“I can’t wait any more. Who knew killing the old bitch would be such a pain. Even that grandkid of hers seems to have nine lives.”
Destiny covered her mouth to stifle her cry of surprise. Ron had been trying to kill her and her grandma and he’d used the nurse to aid him. Destiny thought she was going to be sick. Destiny stepped back to leave and call the police but the heel of her shoe hit the back of the door with a loud thwack. She stood frozen in fear praying for a miracle that no one heard it.
“What was that?” Ron grumbled.
Destiny turned around fumbling for the door knob. “Destiny?”
She whirled back around feeling her heart in her throat, but managed to plaster on a smile when inside her stomach churned. “Ron, hi.”
“What an unexpected surprise.” He returned the smile. But she saw through that phony grin now. She’d never liked him and now she knew why.
“Grandma is coming home soon so I had something I wanted to drop off for her here since I won’t be here tonight.”
“Where is it?” He looked down at her empty hands.
“Oh, I forgot it in the car. I’ll go get it.” Destiny turned back around to open the door and smacked into a hard male chest. She looked up and gasped. The mugger. So that hadn’t been a coincidence either.
Destiny tried to push past the mugger hoping to surprise him, but he snatched her up in seconds and turned her to face Ron while keeping his arms in a tight iron band around her chest. “I’m afraid you won’t be going anywhere, Destiny,” Ron informed her.
“What is the meaning of this. Unhand me. My mother won’t appreciate you manhandling me like this.” She decided to keep up the pretense she hadn’t overheard him talking to Milly about killing her and her grandma off.
Ron shook his head tsking. “How much did you overhear?”
So he wasn’t as dumb as she thought. He suspected she’d been standing there long enough to hear but wasn’t certain. Maybe she could use that against him. “Hear what?” She blinked innocently.
Ron smiled coldly. “You don’t have a good poker face, besides I’m out of time and patience.” He glanced up at the mugger and nodded. The mugger dragged her across the room toward the master bedroom. Destiny caught of a glimpse of a frightened Milly, but she stayed in the kitchen. Destiny wouldn’t find any help from her. The mugger kept a tight grip on her, almost threatening to crush her ribs, so escape wasn’t an option at the moment.
“I didn’t want it to end this way, but your boyfriend messed up my plans,” Ron explained as he set a duffle bag on the bed and pulled out a clear liquid bottle and a syringe.
Seriously? The guy carried that kind of stuff in his bag?
“Why are you doing this?”
“Money. Lots and lots of money.” His grin turned broad.
“Why? My mother pays for everything. And don’t you have some Wall Street job?”
“I was fired months ago,” he spat, his eyes momentarily turning wild. “Assholes cut me loose, but once I have you and grandmother out of the way and pay off my debts, I’ll be set for life.”
