Page 166 of Wicked Little Secret
It goes against the plan to intervene, but the longer they fight, the more uncontrolled the situation becomes. I ensure I have the syringe with the same sedative we fed Driscoll in her wine and then I emerge from the closet.
Rothenberg is too engrossed in trying to restrain the blonde to realize I’m coming up from behind.
I jam him in the neck first, then move onto Driscoll. Yet another wild scream leaves her as I pin her down and stick the needle in, injecting her with the sedative.
Within seconds, they’re both nearly in a coma.
Nyssa appears at my side, having come out of her hiding spot. “Now what?”
“We continue to set the scene,” I say. “Driscoll has to die. Rothenberg will be framed.”
“Uh… Theron… I think he’s suffocating?”
I glance down to see what Nyssa’s talking about. August Rothenberg’s face has begun to tinge blue as froth bubbles from his lips.
“He’s having some kind of allergic reaction to the sedative.”
“A lot of people are allergic to anesthetic drugs. He must be one of them.”
It’s not long before August Rothenberg’s heart stops altogether. We’re standing around the bed when it happens, left to think of a new story to spin.
If he’s dead, we can’t pin Valentine on him. We have no more use for Driscoll.
Nyssa bites her bottom lip, looking up at me. She seems to know exactly what I do.
The only option we have left if we’re to finish crossing off the names on the list.
There’s only one thing left to do.
It’s nearing three a.m. when I stick the shovel in the dirt for the last time and cover the deep hole I’ve spent the past hour digging. Nyssa’s at my side, helping with a shovel of her own. As I flick the last heap of dirt on the makeshift grave, a sigh of relief leaves me.
Done.
We’re finally done.
Our original plan didn’t work out like we hoped, so we improvised. We pivoted to a new solution that leaves two individuals six feet under and the public soon scandalized by the fact that the Dean of Castlebury ran off into the sunset with a student, never to be seen or heard from again.
Given the evidence we’ve gathered, it still fits.
Except now we’ll have to make it look like they both left town.
Nyssa has a spare key to Heather’s apartment, and I’m certain I can find a way to access Rothenberg’s devices tomake it seem as if he’d planned a getaway (I did make sure to keep his phone after all).
It’ll likely be a couple days before either one is reported missing.
It buys us some time.
“That was… exhilarating,” Nyssa laughs. Her eyes shine even in the dark as they meet mine. “Is burying bodies always like this?”
“Sometimes. Other times, like Wicker, not so much.”
“You came here with my mother. You two… here in the forest?”
“When I initially found out what she was doing and helped her get rid of a body, yes. But then she refused to stop.”
“And now you’re here with me.”
“I suppose life really does come full circle in the strangest ways.”