Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 110492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 552(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 552(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
“Hey! If you were there in the house that night, you must have been the one who put the Nair in our shampoo!”
Uh-oh… Torri had honestly forgotten about dumping the bottle of hair remover into the shampoo bottle in a moment of pique. It had seemed a small thing to do to repay her ex and his mistress for their horrible plot against her, but apparently it had had real-life consequences. Suddenly, she realized why Amanda’s long blonde hair looked so stiff and wrong and Chuck’s hair looked like he had skinned an animal and put it on his head.
Bald! she thought, staring at the both of them. Either they’re both bald, or they’ve lost enough hair that they feel like they have to wear wigs! And now Amanda knew who was to blame for her hair loss—Torri. Uh-oh…
“You bitch!” Amanda launched herself at Torri, who scooted back hurriedly, her chair nearly tipping over in the process, since her hands were still cuffed behind her back. “You ruined my hair!” she shrieked at Torri. “You ruined it!”
“Wait a minute, wait a minute!” Chuck stepped in and caught Amanda around the waist.
“Let me go, Chuckie!” his secretary/mistress howled. “Let me go, I’m going to scratch her eyes out! She put the Nair in the shampoo—I know she did!”
“How am I going to see to sign the paperwork if you scratch my eyes out?” Torri asked in a voice that shook more than she liked.
“She has a point, Manda, baby,” Chuck said soothingly. “Let’s just make her sign the papers before we do anything else.”
“I know what I’m going to do. Let me go!” Amanda straightened up and stopped fighting to get at Torri, though her eyes were still hot with rage.
When Chuck finally let her go, she turned around and marched out the front door, much to Torri’s mingled relief and apprehension. What in the world was the vengeful mistress planning?
“All right now…” Chuck glared at her. “You’re going to sign this paperwork—every last bit of it—giving me a no-fault divorce and turning over every cent of that inheritance to me. Then you’re getting in the car and I’m taking you right back to St. Elizabeth’s where you’re going to stay put this time!” He sneered at her. “And don’t worry—Dr. Burrows has promised to put you in the Violent Offenders ward, so at least you won’t be bored.”
Torri felt sick with fear. The idea of going back to the mental hospital—especially if she was going to be put in the Violent Offenders ward—made her stomach clench like a slick fist.
I can’t go back there—I can’t—I won’t!
But how was she going to get out of going? How could she get away from her ex and his angry mistress when she was cuffed up and helpless?
She supposed she could try running away with the cuffs still on, but how would she open any doors and how far could she get in the forest in the middle of a freezing cold night with her hands behind her back? No, it would definitely be better to try and get Chuck to take the cuffs off first.
“All right, I’ll sign,” she said as calmly as she could. “But how am I supposed to do that with my hands cuffed behind my back?”
Just at that moment, Amanda came stomping back in the house. In one hand she carried a big red plastic gas container and in the other she held a lighter.
“Manda, baby, what are you doing?” Chuck stared at her blankly.
“As soon as she signs, I’m burning this place to the ground.” There was a crazy gleam in the woman’s eyes. “I’m burning it to the ground with her inside it!”
“What?” Torri stared at her. “Are you nuts? You want to kill me because I put Nair in your shampoo?”
“I knew it—I knew you did it!” Amanda shrieked. “I found the empty bottle of hair remover but I couldn’t figure out how it got in the shampoo—now I know for sure you did it because you just admitted it!”
“Now, Manda, baby…” Chuck looked at his mistress uneasily. “We already agreed what we’re going to do with her—she’s getting tied up and put in the trunk of the car so we can take her right back to St. Elizabeth’s.”
“She already escaped from that place once!” Amanda shouted, waving the gas can so that its contents made a sloshing sound. “And it’s not enough to lock her up. She ruined my hair—I want her dead!”
Torri felt sick. Was Chuck really going to go along with this? Were they going to force her to sign the paperwork and then burn the cabin to the ground with her in it? Well, who was going to stop them?
Oh Vic! she thought, feeling like she might cry, she was so frightened. I wish you were here! I wish you could save me like you did back in St. Elizabeth’s and on the Fathership! I wish you were with me instead of frozen in stasis!