Molly was right next to the bed. “It was all going well. I thought my new plan was back on track until Francine’s sister Samantha bumped into me. She came into the medical examiner’s office to find out about getting Francine’s teeth released for burial—this was before her other remains were found. She recognized me and asked what the hell I was doing. Why was I calling myself Julia DeHaviland? I gave her a hundred bucks and told her she’d get more if she kept her mouth shut. God, what a drug addict. She was pretty out of it the day she came in. I managed to steal her cell phone when she wasn’t looking. I don’t even think she knew I took it. I called Colin from it, making it seem like she was corresponding with him, incriminating him further. I also did the same thing with Francine’s phone.”

Val fought the urge to blink, the urge to move, to test how much mobility she had regained. Right now, she knew she had control of her fingers. Nothing else was confirmed. Unless she could jump out of this bed, she wasn’t risking anything.

“Samantha had to die after that meeting. She promised me she wouldn’t tell anyone who I really was, but do you think I was going to believe that junkie bitch? I could just see her trying to blackmail me. When I injected her with pancuronium, I never expected she would have an allergic reaction to the stuff. It wasn’t my plan to have her die that way.”

Lying still, Val listened. Molly’s psychopathic and narcissistic personality was evident. She only cared about herself and was only paying attention to herself. This is why she wasn’t noticing that the drug was wearing off. Val needed her to keep doing this for a little longer.

Molly leaned on the bed and slowly crawled in, curling up next to Val. She was inches from her face as she spoke, practically whispering in her ear. She reached a hand to Val and softly stroked her hair. Val forced her eyes to stay open. Under no circumstances could she blink now.

Her hand hesitated on Val’s head. “I knew as soon as I saw you on the day of your interview I was going to kill you. That’s why I hired you. I needed your identity. You’d be a pretty easy one to assume.” She let go of Val’s hair. “I do have a question. How on earth did you make it this long without getting fired? You getting fired was pivotal to the next phase of my plan. I thought for sure Blythe would have gotten rid of you after Julia died. He resented you so much. I made sure of that. What the hell was taking him so long to do so? Phil can be such a putz.”