Page 56 of Decker

Her fake Botox filled lips curved into a semblance of a smile that wasn’t fooling anyone as she laid her hand on her distended stomach. “Hi, Savannah.”

“Hello, Darla. How are you?”

“I’m coping, just. Do you have time to help me with something? I have a box in my car, and I can’t lift it in my condition. With Andy gone, I have nobody to help me.”

The last thing Savannah wanted to do was help this shrew, but her manners won out and there was no way she was watching a pregnant woman struggle. “Sure, lead the way.”

Savannah held her hand out to Darla to go first out of the hospital but instead of turning left toward the staff parking, she headed towards the direction of the slip road where delivery drivers pulled in behind the hospital in a loading zone. “Where’s your car parked?”

Darla pointed to the slip road. “Oh, I couldn’t get a car park earlier, so I left it over there.”

“You should really think about parking under the light where it’s safe, you know.”

As they made it to the furthest point from the hospital to an area concealed by hedge and shrubbery, she glanced around, unease creeping along her neck. She shook it off knowing it was a holdover from everything she’d been through.

“Here we are.”

Darla stopped at a silver VW golf and lifted the boot lid, revealing the smallest box she could imagine. She was about to step back and tell Darla off for wasting her time when she felt a prick in her neck and then a shove. She turned, seeing the needle in Darla’s hand as her head began to swim, her legs feeling heavy as she tried to form a word and found she couldn’t.

Darla leaned forward and pushed her, and she fell into the small boot, her limbs useless and uncooperative.

“It’s time we took a drive, Dr Sankey.”

Her giggle was terrifying as Savannah blinked and the boot lid went down. She had no idea what Darla had given her, but it was some sort of paralytic that was keeping her conscious but with no use of any function.

She’d never been so scared in her life as the car began to move beneath her. She realised it had been Darla all along with the threats and vandalism. The woman was crazy, and the only hope Savannah had was that someone noticed she was gone, or this damn drug wore off.

Why, oh why, did this keep happening to her? Was she cursed in some way to have all this shit thrown her way? She’d thought she’d led a good life, but she must have been an absolute asshole in a previous one to garner this kind of bad karma.

Her mind was clear and after they had been on the road for about thirty minutes, she began to feel pins and needles in her legs and fingers. Pain assaulted her at the sensation, and she tried not to cry out knowing it was a good thing as it meant her nerves were waking up.

Too soon the car stopped, and she heard Darla get out of the vehicle and the crunch of footsteps on gravel. She had no idea where they were, but she swore she could hear running water over the fear and adrenalin in her ears.

The boot opened and light flooded her eyes making her blink and Darla stood over her with a smirk. “Come on, out you come.”

She pulled at Savannah whose limbs were still mostly useless dragging her over the boot lip and letting her fall to the ground on her face. Pain lanced through her cheekbone, and she whimpered, the first sound her vocal cords had allowed.

“For fucks sake, doc? Do I have to do all the work?”

Savannah had no idea what the fuck she wanted her to do but she tried to roll on her back to get away and was rewarded with a swift kick from the deranged woman.

“Don’t get clever with me, Savannah. I have a nice trip planned for us and then we’re going to go and meet Andy together.”

Savannah watched in horror as Darla reached under her top and pulled away a fake baby bump. She must have made a sound because Darla glanced her way before bending down so she was eye level with her. “Yes, now you see. I lost my baby, my precious child gone because of you and now you’re going to pay.”

Darla spat the last words, venom and hatred evident in every syllable. Her fingers now had movement, and her legs were cramping, and she tried to keep still. She’d need the element of surprise if she was going to get out of this alive. Darla grabbed her by her hair making Savannah cry out in pain as her heavy arms tried to move to ease the pressure on her skull.

“Ah, I see the drug is wearing off. I best hurry before you have the ability to swim.” She continued to drag her towards a small boat.

“You know they say drowning is a beautiful way to die and that you have a feeling of euphoria before you go. I want that to be the way I go to meet my Andy and our child. The one who died because you were being such a bitch to my Andy, and it made him end things between us. The stress of it all was too much for my angel and she had to leave us.”

Savannah knew the woman was grieving and in a bad way mentally and was convinced this was all Savannah’s fault, but she had to try and reason with her. “Darla, I had no idea about the baby.” Her voice was weak and scratchy as if unused for months. “I told Andy I didn’t want him back and that he needed to make a life with you and the baby.”

Darla slammed her body against the boat and cold hatred fell over her with one look. “Get in the boat.”

Savannah shook her head. “No, Darla. You don’t have to do this. We can fix this.” Darla produced a gun from behind her back and Savannah reared back knowing this was going to end with one of them dead. “Please, Darla.”

“No, perfect Dr Sankey doesn’t get her own way this time. Now is my chance to do things my way and I want you dead. Either get in the boat or I shoot you now.”

Savannah held her hands up. “Okay, okay.” She stumbled to her feet, making it look harder than it was now her limbs were mostly back to normal. Her only chance was to try and get the gun from Darla.

She moved to lift her leg over the edge of the small wooden rowboat on the bank of the river and felt Darla behind her. She stumbled on purpose and as Darla lurched forward, she went for the gun.

Darla held on as she tried to get a firm grip on the small woman who was freakishly strong, the gun between them, and then a loud pop filled the air. Savannah looked at Darla in shock as the gun went off.