Page 68 of Promise Me Never

“Turn right, then sit on the sofa.”

Isabel’s footsteps followed behind Savannah as she sat on the musty sofa in the living room. The house looked like something from one of those old English shows. All formal furnishings and dark wood. Isabel took a seat across from Savannah in a wing chair.

“What did you inject me with?” Savannah asked, trying to think of anything to stall for time.

“Ketamine. It doesn’t knock you out completely but makes you quite malleable. Then in the car I added some benzos. Lots left over from Dad’s Parkinson’s treatment. You lost a day and a half. I needed to get everything ready. I wasn’t expecting to have to dispose of you. My initial idea was for you to go to the police and give them everything they need to arrest Bennett.” She shrugged. “But plans change.”

“I still don’t get it, Isabel. If you love him, why would you frame him? You can’t be with him if he’s in prison.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. He would have hated you for putting him there and then he would have had to rely on me again. We both have plenty of money. The lawyers would eventually have gotten him off, especially since there are no bodies. You know the saying. No body, no crime. But Bennett would never trust another woman again. Now you’ve saved me all the trouble and expense.”

“What do you mean?”

“Bennett will come home and see your note. He’ll call me, of course. You’ll be another woman who left him. I’ll comfort him. He won’t know that you and I met. No one he knows saw us together. And this time when I move in to comfort him, I won’t move out. My father’s dead. No reason for me to have to leave. He’ll be sad at first, but he’ll soon realize what a colossal mistake he made in marrying such a pathetic little plain Jane.”

“Please, Isabel! You don’t have to do this.”

“I’ll make it easy on you. You won’t die in the basement like the others. You’ll just overdose, and it will be peaceful. That’s because I like you, Savannah.”

“You’re pathetic,” Savannah said. “Bennett will never love you. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been with those other women. Married Poppy and then me. He doesn’t want you, Isabel. Why can’t you see that?”

Isabel’s face turned red and her eyes bulged. “What Bennett and I have is special. No one knows him the way I do.”

“Felicia said he thinks of you like a sister. Of course, if he knew that you killed his sister, he’d hate you. If he knew what a horrible person you truly are, he would never want to set eyes on you again.”

In a rage, Isabel rushed toward her, raising her arm to slap her. As Isabel connected with her cheek, Savannah yanked the gun from Isabel’s other hand and backed away. She pointed the gun at Isabel, shaking.

“Change of plans,” Savannah said.

| Sixty-Nine |

Savannah

Savannah backed away from Isabel, who was only a few feet away, too close for comfort. “Go sit down.”

Isabel shot her a hate-filled look and moved toward the chair behind her and sat. “I guess you have more spunk than I gave you credit for.”

Savannah had to secure her somehow and call the police. “Where’s your phone?”

“Kitchen. Want me to get it?” She started to rise.

“Stay where you are.”

“What now, Savannah?”

Savannah’s eyes darted around the room. She needed to get to the phone, but she couldn’t turn her back on Isabel. She moved to the side of the room, keeping the gun trained on Isabel.

“I’ll follow you to the kitchen. Don’t try anything or I’ll shoot you. And put your hands in the air.”

Isabel rolled her eyes but did as Savannah said. Savannah followed behind her, stopping a few feet from where Isabel stopped at the counter.

“Pick up the phone and dial 911.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Actually, put the phone on the floor and slide it to me.”

Isabel leaned down and did as Savannah asked. The phone stopped a few feet short. Savannah kept the gun on Isabel as she crouched down to pick it up.