Chapter 4 - The Burner Phone
I threw myself backward just as the heavy oak door began to swing open.
I scrambled silently down the hallway and ducked into the women’s restroom, pulling my feet up onto a toilet seat.
Through the bathroom door, I heard Megan’s high heels clicking rapidly down the hall toward the elevators.
I waited until the sound completely disappeared before I let myself breathe.
They had planted drugs in the luggage Mark gave me on the porch.
I burst out of the bathroom and ran down the six flights of stairs, nearly tripping over my own feet in my rush to escape.
I flagged down a taxi and sped back to Zoe’s penthouse.
When I burst through the front door, Zoe was sitting at the kitchen island drinking coffee.
"Where are the suitcases?" I screamed, tearing off my suit jacket.
"In the guest closet," Zoe said, startled by my panic.
I ran into the room where Lily was happily watching cartoons on a massive television.
I dragged the two heavy suitcases out of the closet and threw them onto the bed.
I ripped the zippers open and started tearing through my folded clothes, my makeup bags, and Lily's sweaters.
"Chloe, what are you looking for?" Zoe asked, standing in the doorway.
"They planted something in here," I cried, throwing shoes onto the floor.
I felt along the inner lining of the second suitcase and my fingers brushed against a hard, rectangular lump hidden beneath the fabric.
I grabbed a pair of nail scissors and sliced the lining open.
A small, unmarked orange prescription bottle fell out onto the mattress.
Right behind it fell a cheap, prepaid burner phone.
I picked up the pill bottle.
The label had my name printed on it, prescribing a heavy, highly addictive antipsychotic medication.
"If the police searched your bags, they would take Lily away immediately," Zoe said, her face turning pale.
I set the pills down and picked up the burner phone.
It was fully charged.
I pressed the power button and swiped the screen open.
There was only one text message in the inbox, received late last night.
The sender was saved as 'Dr. Vance'.
The message read: "The heavy metals we put in her coffee for the last six months are fully in her system."
My stomach lurched violently.
"She will fail any blood test the court orders," the message continued.
"The judge will declare her completely insane by Monday."
I dropped the phone on the bed, my hands shaking uncontrollably.
I hadn't just been betrayed.
I had been systematically poisoned by the man I slept next to every single night.
Before I could even process the horror of it, Zoe's cell phone rang loudly from the living room.
She answered it, listened for a few seconds, and looked at me with absolute terror in her eyes.
May you like
"Chloe," Zoe whispered.
"There are three police cars pulling up to the building lobby right now."
