Chapter 23
“Trish,” Willow said around nine o’clock on Saturday night. “I’d like to introduce you to my brother, Douglas.”
“Oh, hello,” Trish said, and actually blushed when she got a full on look at Douglas. “Thank you for coming to the gallery.”
“No problem. I was here last night and again tonight to support my sister. Do you go to a lot of gallery openings?”
“Not really, this is only the second one for my clients. So, where do you live?”
“I’m currently in Oregon, but at the end of next week, I’ll be moving to Seattle.”
“Really? Do you know what part?”
“No clue. I’m starting a new job a week from Monday, and I don’t know my way around yet.” As Willow walked away, she heard Trish ask what part he was moving to. She went back to Christopher, and he only hung his head and sighed.
“Sorry I ever doubted you, babe.”
“Just remember that.” She giggled and sipped her water. She looked up when a man and extremely thin woman, that almost looked like she had starved herself to death approached.
“Sean,” Christopher said as he shook the man’s hand.
“Christopher. This is my date, Amy.” Christopher took her hand, and as he did, he put his other arm around Wanda.
“Willow. This is my business partner Sean, and his date Amy. Sean, Amy this is my wife, Willow Raintree.”
Wanda grinned at him, but not before she saw the look of shock on Amy’s face.
It was almost like she’d seen a ghost. She looked around and saw they were in the back corner of the gallery.
There weren’t as many people there as there had been the night before, but it was still busy.
She frowned when she saw Douglas and Trish heading in their direction.
“What are you doing here?” three people said as one, all angry. Wanda looked around and was totally confused. Three people glared at each other while the other three looked on in confusion.
“What’s going on?” Christopher asked, and stepped closer to Wanda, with his arm around her waist. Christopher stood beside Wanda, who stood next to Douglas. Trish was on his other side standing next to Sean. Which left Amy facing them.
“This is an invitation-only event, Amy,” Trish said with such hatred in her voice that everyone looked at her. “I fired you months ago, what the hell are you doing here?”
“She’s my date,” Sean said in confusion. At the same time, Douglas asked.
“Why did you call her Amy? This is Emily. I dated her last spring, but broke up with her.”
With all eyes on him, no one paid any attention to Amy.
It wasn’t until they heard a click that they looked at her and suddenly Wanda found herself on the floor, in severe pain, several feet behind Christopher and Douglas.
She heard a ping or a puff, she wasn’t sure, and suddenly Trish was on the floor with Sean on top of her.
“Don’t move.” Wanda heard Amy say. “I didn’t want to do this here, but I’m taking my chances.”
“Do what?” Christopher asked.
“I want that murdering bitch to pay for her sins,” Amy said, and Wanda looked up and saw that she was pointing a gun at her.
She looked around in shock and saw Christopher and Douglas shoulder to shoulder with their legs braced shoulder length apart.
She also saw that Sean was still on top of Trish and her hands were bloody.
“What are you talking about?” Douglas demanded. “My sister never murdered anyone.”
“Yes, she did.”
“How?” Christopher demanded.
“She took my sister’s kidney. We waited for six months to get a match, she was near the top of the list. We found an available kidney, but it went to her instead. My sister had to wait another three months for one.”
“If she got a kidney, then why are you saying Willow killed her? Willow was at the top of the list, the very top, not near the top. It’s my understanding they give the donated organ to the person most in need, as well as the one that matches better.
From where I’m standing, the top is in more need than near the top,” Christopher said as he stared Amy down.
“When my sister got fat taking the pills, her husband took the kids and left her. She stopped taking the medication.”
“Let me guess.” Douglas sighed. “She lost weight, but because she wasn’t taking the medication, her body started rejecting the kidney.
Tell me again how this is Willow’s fault.
It sounds to me like she should have gone to counseling, and her husband was an asshole for treating her like that.
He should have been grateful that she was alive to be there with their children. ”
“Yes, she went back into the hospital, but because the doctors said she refused to take the medication they couldn’t put her back on the list. It’s all her fault,” Amy screamed and aimed the gun at Wanda again.
Wanda lay there and breathed through the severe pain in her ankle and looked around.
She saw that Trish had kept silent and was trying to stop the bleeding that was coming from Sean.
She put her hand on her throat and held her sobs quiet.
Suddenly she felt her necklace that’d she’d picked up in a thrift store earlier that day and looked around.
She saw the way Christopher and Douglas were standing, then the way Amy/Emily was wobbling on her five-inch heels.
Working quickly, not bringing attention to herself, she rolled into herself and swiftly but quietly broke the strand of cheap pearls.
She gathered them in her closed fist and waited. Tuning back into the conversation.
“Move, Doug, I don’t want to hurt you. Let me get to Willow.”
“No,” he said firmly. “She didn’t kill your sister.
Your sister killed herself by not taking her medication.
Her husband’s leaving her is on him, not Willow.
” He kept talking trying to distract her.
“You’re not thinking straight. Think about it, how could Wanda have anything to do with your sister’s death?
The donor list is confidential, there’s no way you could know who was on it. ”
“You do if you’re a good computer hacker. Unlike Trish’s computer, I was able to hack into their system and found out who got my sister’s kidney.”
“But if Willow were at the top of the list, she’d get the first one available.
If you want to get technical, it was Willow’s kidney, and not your sister’s.
” Wanda could tell that her brother was confused and by him closing and opening his fists, she knew he was about to pounce.
She also noted that Amy was becoming more agitated.
She began moving her feet and pacing back and forth.
Now was her chance. She gripped the loose pearls in her fist, and as Amy walked back and forth, she threw her hand forward and saw all the beads fly through Doug and Christopher’s feet and as everyone looked down at the noise, Douglas lunged, along with Christopher.
Amy looked down at the noise and frowned when she saw the marbles on the floor, she tried to step out of the way, but she stepped on the rolling things and began to fall.
Suddenly her hands were wrenched above her head, and she screamed and started pulling the trigger.
The next thing Amy knew she was on the floor face down with her hands behind her back and a knee in her back.
She took a deep breath and screamed her fool head off.
“What’s going on?” a deep male voice said, and everyone looked up at the security guard for the gallery.
“Call 9-1-1, do you have any cuffs on you?”
The security guard handed him a pair and placed the call. It wasn’t until Amy was cuffed that Christopher went to Wanda. “Oh god, are you okay. I’m sorry I threw you to the ground. I saw the gun and had to get you out of harm’s way.”
“I’ll be okay, check on Sean.” She nodded and saw Trish and Douglas working on him.
“You’ll be okay.” She heard Douglas say. “It’s only a flesh wound.” But he whipped off his tie and tied it around Sean’s upper arm.
“Who are you?” The security guard asked.
“I’m a cop, but not from here,” Douglas said, and looked around. “Wanda, how are you?”
“Okay, I think, but my ankle’s killing me.
” They all looked down and winced. For her ankle was swelling right before their eyes.
Christopher quickly unbuckled the strap on her shoe and eased it off.
They looked up and saw four police officers and two EMTs rushing forward.
The next few minutes were a blur. She and Sean were treated and rushed to the ambulance.
Christopher said he’d meet her there. The others were giving their statements to the police.
Just before the ambulance door closed, Gypsy jumped in and slammed the door behind her.
“I’m going with you,” she said, and sat out of the way of the EMTs.
One EMT was working on Sean and one on Wanda, when her EMT filled a syringe, she jerked away. “Stop!”
“It’s just mild pain medication, it won’t hurt you.”
“No, I’m on medications.” That made the EMT pause. He watched as she opened her clutch and handed him a piece of paper. “I always make sure I have a list of them with me. This is what I’m on.” He took the paper and frowned when he looked at it.
“I don’t recognize half these medications, can I ask why you’re taking them?”
“Nine years ago, I had a kidney transplant. Those are the medications to prevent my body from rejecting it. I can deal with the pain until I talk to the doctor. No offense.”
“None taken, but I’m sure it won’t interfere with these.”
“I’m also pregnant.”
“You are?” Gypsy asked in shock.
“Almost thirteen weeks,” Wanda said, and leaned back and sighed.
Before anyone could say anything else, they arrived at the hospital and she and Sean were rushed into the ER.
Gypsy took her purse and filled out the paperwork.
One good thing, Sean was sitting up, and he looked over at her and grinned.
“Does Christopher know?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I wish you both luck.” The curtain between them was closed, and then a team of medical personnel came in to work on her.