Page 68 of Forbidden Whispers

Chapter 19

“What was your plan going to be if we hadn’t found you?” Maggie asked as she sat back down beside Noah.

“We were just waiting for the paperwork we need to start our new lives together,” Eric said.

“I originally thought we’d have more time to execute our plan to frame Noah,” Valentina said. “To make my murder more believable, my original plan was to go on several dates with Noah first, to build up our relationship.”

“Little does she know how badly that part of the plan would have worked out,” Maggie murmured, making Noah snort with laughter.

“What was that?” Valentina frowned.

“Nothing,” Maggie said. “Please go on.”

“I knew we had a big problem when a few days before our first date, I spotted Nick and Johnny spying on me. I didn’t let on that I saw them, but I realized that my father must have sent them.

“The fact that they were here meant Eric and I needed to accelerate our plan. So, I used a discreet connection and got ahold of a liquid form of alprazolam, which I used to drug Noah’s coffee on our date. Eric was waiting not far away so that as soon as Noah got woozy, we could take him back to my place. Once he passed out, my plan was to leave him there with the evidence of my murder.”

“Oooh,” Noah said. “That’s why you got so angry when I spilled the coffee?”

“Yes,” Valentina smiled grimly. “Thanks to you spilling it all over the shop floor, my perfect plan took an even bigger twist. While you and that coffee shop lady were mopping up the mess, I called Eric and made arrangements for him to get more of the drug. That’s why I suggested we extend our date into dinner.”

“Ah,” Maggie said. “So, when Eric showed up at the restaurant, he passed you the drug?”

“Right,” Eric said, looking embarrassed. “I slipped it to Tina, and she slipped it into his drink when he went out to get her sweater.”

“Well, at least now I know how the drug got into my system,” Noah said.

“So, all the stuff you did after the coffee shop...going to dinner, the sunset cruise, you were really just waiting for the drug to take full effect, waiting for Noah to pass out?” Maggie said.

“Yes,” Valentina said, then added with a shake of her head, “He lasted much longer than I ever thought he would.”

Valentina and Eric sat back down, and he put his arm back around her, pulling her close again.

“The sunset cruise almost blew it for us,” she said, glancing at Eric. “I never expected Nick and Johnny to make such an overt move like that. I thought I’d been convincing about my plans. But apparently, my father either figured out I was lying about my extended bachelorette getaway party, or he wasn’t going to take any chances that I might mess up his precious peace treaty.”

Something connected in Maggie’s mind, and she snapped her fingers. “The bachelorette party!”

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