Page 61 of Venomous as a Snake

A loud thump sounds over our head, but the offender doesn’t show his face. My neighbors will think I have a serious problem after a few months of screaming those names.

Another plus that keeps them from knocking on my door.

“Come. Sit down,” Collin demands, dragging me into the living room against my will. “You’re making it bleed worse with all your picking.”

I sit on the couch, side-eyeing the judgy cat. “It’s not what you think.”

“I think it’s a gunshot wound,” the kangaroo snarks.

“I was talking to the cat.”

Collin glances at Pimp and whispers, “He’s watching me.”

“He’s judging you,” I inform him conspiratorially.

“Why?”

“Satan sent him to scout the souls of the innocent. He’s weighing your likelihood of going to Hell.” I deadpan and shrug one shoulder. “It’s his best quality. He’s my vibe checker.”

“So… Question.”

I suck in a sharp breath as Collin picks the last few threads from my wound with tweezers. “Proceed.”

“That’s the second person I’ve seen you kill.”

“That’s a statement.”

He gives me a smile filled with dry humor. “But is it? I was thinking about that very entertaining dinner we had and how you had met Forrest at the club.”

“What about it?”

“There’s a wig in your bathroom.”

I grin at Collin. “What about it?”

“The guy with the crooked nose?”

“What about him?”

Collin stares at me with a blank look, waiting for me to answer the question he’s skating around.

I nod. “You saw me with him at the club.”

“I saw you lead him into Walker’s office and shut the door.”

“I didn’t fuck him,” I defend, but it’s not important. “That’s what we were talking about at dinner. I killed the guy and left him there.”

“Do you kill people often?” he inquires with no judgment. “Or have I just met you at a weird time in your life?”

“Both. You get paid to beat people up for a living. I do something similar.”

He leans back to really look at me. “Someone paid you to kill that guy?”

“Not that one,” I admit. “I killed him for breaking into my house and going through my dirty laundry.”

“Figurative dirty laundry?”

“No. My actual dirty laundry.”