Washburn opened the door and stepped aside as the woman came into the house, dropping her purse on the couch and heading for the prepared lines of ground OC that waited on the marble cheese board. She inhaled two lines and grinned at him.
"Is she dead?"
Washburn avoided her eyes as he moved to the board and sucked a line back. "No."
"What? She's not dead yet? You sit there and bitch
me
out for her not being dead and you can't get the job done?"
"The little bitch put someone else in her bed."
"How could she have done that?"
"I don't know but she did."
"Where is she now?"
"Don't know. We've scoured every inch of the hospital and she isn't there."
"You know where she is." Her voice bored a hole into his angry psyche. "She's with that lesbian."
"How do you know?"
"The little cunt's been working at the hospital. You didn't see her?"
"No, I've never met her."
"Her name's Alex. She's the new ward orderly."
"You knew that cunt was near her all this time?"
"Yeah, so? It didn't make a difference at the time since she can't remember anything."
"What if she starts remembering? What if that little cunt tells her?"
The woman paused in thought, then shrugged her shoulders. "Then we kill them both." She snorted another line. "Now, if you're finished staring at my tits, why don't we get the job done so we can get the fuck out of Dodge?"
*****
"Someone has been stealing drugs from the hospital and selling them on the street." Alex crossed the living room and handed Toni a mug and watched her take a long drink of the ice-cold Foster's, smiling when she licked her lips. "You always liked your Foster's in my favorite mug."
"This is your favorite mug? Oh, Allie, take it and give me another."
"Why?"
"Because it's your favorite."
Alex nodded, still smiling. "Naw. I like the idea of your lips being on my mug." She was glad to see Toni's answering smile. "Anyway, the administration brought me and my partner in to find out what was going on. Your husband … "