Page 27 of The Bargain

I nodded once. Why on earth did I do that?

“Here, take this.” He extended a small brown bag toward me.

“What is it?”

He nudged the back toward me again. “Don’t fucking play dumb with me. Take the fucking bag.”

He was getting restless and I didn't need this unstable man any closer to Timmy than necessary.

I took the bag reluctantly.

“You don’t say to no one Ricky don’t pay his debt,” he stated before leaving the way he’d come.

I took a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm myself, before opening the bag with shaky hands. There were at least three or four doses of heroin in. I sighed, looking around. I couldn’t just throw them away in the garbage for anyone to find.

Retracing my steps, I found the sewer opening on the pavement and threw the bag where it belonged.

By the time I made it to the building, my heart had quieted down and I was normal again. The driver was already waiting in front of the car. He was helping me with the stroller when Dean came out, walking proud and tall, his dark hair still perfectly in shape and the perpetual dark scowl still on his face.

“You’re on time, good.” He gestured towards the car. “Did you find everything you wanted?”

I nodded. “Yes, some were on backorder, but I’ll get everything next week.”

“Very well. At least this trip was productive. Anything else?”

I was taken aback by his question. He’d been anything but inquisitive these past couple of weeks.

I shook my head. “No, nothing else.”

He looked at me silently for a few seconds before looking away and making a call.

I looked out of my office window, making sure Opal was out in the garden for her morning walk with the child.

I glared at her back as she walked slowly, holding the child against her chest.

Sighing, I shook my head. She seemed to be caring for the child, genuinely. All the cameras I’d hidden in the house showed nothing less. But even if she believed it now, the love of drugs would one day be stronger.

I felt guilty for a fleeting moment, but I’d learned this the hard way with Edward. No matter how much you loved someone or something, nothing would really trump the love for heroin. I didn’t intend to risk the well-being of the heir of our fortune by betting on an unreliable mother.

Like yours?A teasing, acerbic voice whispered in my head.

Turning from the window, I headed towards her bedroom. The dealer had confirmed he’d given her the doses and yet, both her surprise and her planned urine tests had come back negative.

And that made no sense. I knew the nurse couldn’t be bribed because I paid her enough to ensure that and she was probably the meanest person I’d ever met.

I just needed to find the drugs in her room. That would probably be enough to scare her into leaving me the child.

I entered her room. It smelled floral just like her. Before I’d even realized it, I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply.

I sighed. I needed to remember that everything about her was carefully crafted to entice.

I looked at the book on her nightstand.Me before youby Jojo Moyes it was just a beat-up and overused copy. I opened the first page - it was addressed to a Mary, definitely a secondhand copy.

Putting the book back, I looked around the room once more. Everything was in perfect order, clothes folded neatly in the nearby chair, some baby toys in a box by the connecting door. Again, not really the type of environment I’d expected from her. Was she faking it? Was she just this good?

I stopped for a minute trying to remember where my brother used to hide his stash. I had twenty, thirty minutes tops to find what I needed to.

Opal had a routine. Take the child for a walk. Give his medication. Then head back upstairs to take care of him.

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