“That was really quick.”
“I actually love him. I don’t know how Dad did it, but he picked the perfect man. I know that you and Charles will get along. You’ll like him if you get to know him. So do you want to meet for dinner somewhere? Try to talk this out? You could come by tonight if you want. Charles is a really good cook.”
She waited for an answer, her heart pounding in her chest. It would be such a relief to put it all behind them. Dahlia had even thought about just upping the money in his accounts to give him more wiggle room. She knew that he didn’t need it, but a little money for a little peace seemed a wise investment to her.
“I would love to get together, but I don’t think I'm ready to meet the new beau. Why don’t you come over to the apartment on 5th?”
She nodded, shaking her head. “Okay, what time, bro?”
“Whenever, I'm here all day.”
“Okay I'll run over there in a few, give me about thirty minutes or so.”
He said goodbye and Dahlia felt a weight lifting off of her shoulders. If they could talk like that in person, there was no way that they would have a problem. All she needed to do was keep her cool and remember that they both had to let go of the past and move on. It was sometimes easier said than done, but she was hopeful for the future. She left a note for Charles if he got home before she did and she set out to make things right with her brother. They had only seen each other a couple of times since the funeral and each time had ended in a fighting match. She was determined that it would not end the same way. She didn’t realize how different that meeting was going to be...
***
There was something in the air when she got to his house. It was the way he smiled and looked. His eyes never quite met hers, but she took it as he was embarrassed of his behavior. It wasn’t like it was her fault that she was left everything, but his lack of eye contact made her nervous.
“Thanks for inviting me over, James. It's been far too long since we've spoken.”
He nodded, though he walked away to the other side of the large kitchen counter, waiting on her to say more. James then went to the other counter and handed her a cup of steaming coffee. “Thanks. I know that things have gotten ugly between us, but there is no sense in us fighting anymore. What is it that you need, James, and I will do my best to make sure that you get it.”
James eyed the glass in his sister’s hands and he almost made a move for it, but he didn’t. He watched her take another drink of it and he smiled to himself. “I don’t really need anything, dear sis. Things always have a way of working out the way they are supposed to, don’t you think?”
She nodded. Dahlia wanted to believe that, but it was hard to. “I guess so, but I wonder what made you change your mind. Alfred said that you needed money and were threatening him.”
He waved her words off like they were nothing. “Trust me, it was nothing. You know how old Alfred is. He gets nervous of his own shadow. I'm harmless and though I'm broke right now, it won’t be long until I have some money coming my way.”
“Oh? Well that sounds good. I'm glad for you, James. I know that Dad didn’t want us fighting like this. I’ve been really missing them lately. So what else are you up to, got a girlfriend or anything?”
James did not know what to say to her questions. She took another sip of the drink, but it did not seem to be acting the way it was supposed to. Had he not put enough in? James became nervous, wondering what was going on with her. He asked about her husband and the pregnancy until he started to notice a bit of a slur in her voice. “Are you okay, Sis?”
“Yes, I just… wow, I feel really strange all of a sudden.”
She was feeling more than strange, her stomach starting to cramp up. Setting the coffee down, her heart was pounding in her chest and her throat felt like it was tightening up. Dahlia was becoming alarmed, but it was the calm look on her brother’s face as she coughed that gripped her with fear. She pulled out her phone and dialed the number for Charles. She knew that he would come, but James came around the counter before he answered.
“Now, sister, I can’t let you do that. It will spoil all of my fun and well, what's the point of doing this?”
“Doing what?” Her voice was muddled and restricted from the tickle in her throat. She pressed her stomach with a hand, pain shooting through her abdomen. “What have you done to me?”
“Just given you a few herbs in your coffee. Did you not taste the hemlock?”
Dahlia knew the plant and what it was for. She went from confusion to panic and she charged at him to get her phone. If she could only get it, Charles would save her. Dahlia knew that she had to get to the phone, but the room was starting to spin. No matter how hard she breathed, she couldn’t get in enough air and she passed out in a heap on the kitchen floor.
James stared at her unmoving body for several minutes before he set the phone down on the counter. “Stupid bitch. Now we'll see who gets the company.”
He had a need to kick her, but he reminded himself that it would not be untraceable if he stomped her in the head a few times. There really was no point. As paralysis took over her body, she would die very shortly. He didn’t see a reason to waste any more of his energy on her. Looking down at her one last time, James felt a wisp of guilt. Had she really been there to make peace with him?
James shook his head. It didn’t matter what her intentions were. What had happened was pretty clear and now she was out of the way, the baby was out of the way and he would inherit it all. There was no clause for him to deal with and if he was happy about anything the most, it was that he had finally outsmarted his father. The only thing that he didn’t like about that fact was that he wasn’t there to rub his nose in it. James liked to think that if he was watching from wherever he was, that would be okay too.
Her brother had always had a vicious streak and it was her fault for not giving him what he wanted. Surely she had to know what would happen if she just ignored his request. She had been living in marriage bliss, making babies and not even worried about her brother who was struggling to pay rent. It wasn’t fair and even with her dying on the floor, it wasn’t enough. He walked out of the room, not wanting to hear her breathing anymore. The very act was making him angrier.
***
James did not hear the door downstairs open in the larger apartment and it was only when he heard yelling that he went into the kitchen. He heard his brother-in-law crying as he was on the phone with the EMTs. “He gave her hemlock. I heard him tell her when she tried to call. She is on the ground unresponsive. Where is he? I don’t know. I will kill him when I find him, please just get here now!”
Charles hung up and he cradled his wife and unborn child in his arms. Everything that he loved and cared about was in that room and he knew that he would lose it, if he lost her. After all of his years of playing the field and breaking hearts, Charles wondered if it was his bad karma that was bringing this on.
His eyes raised and he saw James out of the corner of his eye. He had a bag in his hand and he was running towards the stairs. Charles had a strong urge to get up and go after him, but he knew that he had to be with Dahlia at that moment. Her breathing was becoming more and more shallow. He was convinced that at some point that she stopped breathing all together.
James was stopped at the driveway with a wave of cops coming in and he was in the back of a police car when Charles let the EMTs take care of her. They knew what it was, but the dosage was still in question and if they could save her was still in question as well. She had to be okay, he told himself. She just had to be.
Chapter 12
Dahlia woke up to bright lights overhead and blurry vision. She couldn’t understand where the beeping sound was coming from or where she was for several minutes. Her neck hurt and it felt like her whole body had been hit by a Mack truck. What in the world had happened to her and where was she?
The where and the beeping mystery were figured out when she turned her head and saw the machine measuring her heart rate. She had to be in the hospital, but she still couldn’t remember why in the world she was there. Closing her eyes, she racked her brain, trying to remember what she did last. The meeting with her brother came to mind and then like a wave, all of the information that he had said to her as she lay on his floor gasping came back to her. James had done this to her!
She sat up suddenly, her head spinning with the sudden movement. She groaned, grabbing her head as she looked around the room. Charles’ face came into view and he was up and coming towards her. “My love, you're up! Oh how I have waited for you to awaken.”
“James.” The word came out as a croak, her throat dry. Charles seemed to know what she needed and pressed a straw to her lips.
“Here, baby, drink. Don’t worry about anything else.”
She tried to listen to the soothing sound of his voice, but it was impossible not to worry. Where was James? “I need to go. James is still out there and he did this to me!”
He pushed her back down gently and she looked at him as if he was somehow part of the conspiracy. “Relax Dahlia. He's in jail already. He cannot hurt you anymore and I made sure that the bond was high enough that there is no way he is going to get out.”