Page 35 of Too Old for This
Two missed calls. One is from Archie.
“Hi. Hope you’re doing well! We’re still planning on May for the wedding, we’re looking for a place thatisn’t booked yet. Hopefully, it will be the second week. Morgan said she was going to send you a picture of her dress. Obviously, I haven’t seen it. But if you didn’t get it, can you send her a text? She wants to know what you think. Love you, bye.”
I did receive Morgan’s email, along with a friend request on social media. I didn’t accept it. Nor do I use social media on a regular basis. My account is set to private, and I have never posted a picture. The only reason I have it is to follow Archie and my grandkids.
But I did look at the picture she sent, and now I understand why they want to get married in May. Slinky, sexy, sparkly. Her dress is all of that and more, but also so much less. Not enough fabric, if you ask me. It looks exactly like something Morgan would choose.
Dear Morgan,
Thank you for sending a picture of the dress. It looks perfect for you!
All best,
Lottie
The second phone call I missed was from Bonnie, who wanted to fill me in on everything happening with Danielle. She has been gone a lot lately, leaving her kids with their grandmother almost every night. Even though it’s after nine o’clock, I call Bonnie back.
“Where have you been?” she says.
“I’m sorry. I was out in the garden.”
“At this time of night?”
“That’s what lights are for,” I say. “Now tell me what’s happening.”
As she tells me about her daughter and grandchildren, I think about the money I withdrew from the bank today. I don’t know exactly when Kelsie will stop by; she only said “next week.” It could be any day now. It might even be when I’m following her, and I end up trailing her straight to my house.
Kelsie has put me in an unfortunate position. To get away with killing her, I have to be lucky. And in my experience, luck can’t be trusted to show up.
CHAPTER 19
Kelsie throws the envelope down on the table. Hundred-dollar bills stick out of it.
She finally showed up on Wednesday evening, one day after I gave up following her. Not once did I spot an opportunity. She was never in an empty parking garage or a deserted street, let alone in a bar, where I might’ve been able to spike her drink.
Another reason why I hate choosing someone in advance and stalking them. If you end up with someone like Kelsie, it could take forever. Opportunity has to exist. With Kelsie, it hasn’t.
She showed up at my house around seven, banging on the door instead of knocking. She is not wearing workout clothes, either. Kelsie came straight from work, dressed in a navy pantsuit with low heels, and her hair is clipped back tight. She looks like an upstanding law enforcement officer.
“Is this a joke?” she says.
We are in my formal sitting room. She is not very tall, but it feels like she towers over me, because I’m the only one sitting.
“Forty-five hundred dollars is not a joke to me,” I say. “That’s a lot of money.”
“Except you’re about forty-five thousand dollars short.”
“I’m trying. It takes longer than a week to get any kind of loan from a bank.”
“How long?”
“I’m not sure. No one wants to give you money when you don’t have income.”
Kelsie looks confused. It’s clear my lack of income has never occurred to her, and she knows nothing about owning a home. I’ve worked at a bank and know what’s possible and what isn’t, but she doesn’t. That makes it easier to lie.
“I’ve filled out the paperwork,” I say. “But loans have to go through underwriting, and it can take a while.”
“Another week?”
