Into The Black by Crystal Allen

Author:Crystal Allen [Allen, Crystal]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Nautilus Books
Published: 2023-06-03T16:00:00+00:00

–Twenty-seven–

Meredith Flowers

Nance leaned back in the chair as Rafi sent a card spinning toward her. She stopped it. Rafi sent another sliding toward Marisol, another to Nance, and another to Marisol. Nance slipped the second card over the first and lifted the edges to see what she had. An ace and a 2. Rafi turned up a 5, a 3, a jack, a queen, and an ace. Nance threw in a dollar call and followed it with a five-dollar raise.

“Oh, being a bad ass,” Marisol muttered.

“You calling me a bad ass? You’re the bad ass who painted my dining room titty pink without asking.”

“It’s desert pink, the lightest shade on the paint chip,” Marisol said, “and your welcome for the favor of painting those scuffed-up walls. You know it looks better, now the crystals on the chandelier stand out.”

“Because you painted it white,” said Rafi.

“What’s the point of an iron chandelier?” Marisol asked. “That defeats the whole purpose. Look how much light we’re getting, even with those pink bulbs.”

“You do know those are tacky.” Nance glanced at the chandelier crystals glinting in a rosy haze.

“You say that like you don’t have neon blue shades with matching blue lamps in your office. Besides, it doesn’t look tacky, it’s all beautiful,” Marisol said.

Nance refused to admit the rosebud bulbs and fleshy walls had a soothing effect. She didn’t want to encourage her sister’s ambush interior decoration habit.

“Okay, who’s the bad ass now?” Marisol placed another bill in the middle of the table. “I’m calling your six dollars, and raising you twenty.”

“Ooh, Mama’s gettin’ mean,” Rafi taunted.

“Living dangerously,” Nance shook her head. “Well, I live and breathe danger, so I will call you.” She tossed in a bent twenty-dollar bill. “Show me what you got, muchacha.”

“No, you show me what you got,” Marisol shot back.

“You’re supposed to go first.”

“Why should I go first? You’re the one who chickened out.” Marisol punctuated the remarks with a head bob. She wouldn’t budge.

Nance rolled her eyes and turned over the cards. “Pair of aces.”

“You think I didn’t see that coming? Look what I got.” Marisol turned over a pair of 3’s then placed her index finger on the 3 in the row of upturned cards. “Three 3’s puts your aces in their places!” She rolled her arms in front of her before scooping up the bills.

“Come on, Tia Nancita, I’m betting on you to win,” Rafi said. “I’m losing money here. You need to focus.”

The Spanish guitar on the stereo gave the moment an old cowboy movie feel. Nance fell victim to the moment. “You caught me, Lobo Loco,” she said, using his nickname. “My mind is not on my game. I have been on the trail of a serial killer, ever since I’ve arrived here in Long Beach. The evidence is piling up, but I have not found my killer. I don’t have a clue.”

“Sweet Mother of God! Are you just making that up to scare Rafi? Don’t do that,” Marisol said.

Nance looked at her hands.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.