She gives a start of surprise to see me, stiffening up in her bed as if she is on the point of fight or flight.
“It’s only me,” I tell her.
She sees that despite my wig it really is me.
“What’s going on?” she asks.
“Give me a minute.”
I lay the officer down the floor, and he is more than happy to flop there because he is extremely drowsy and almost on the point of passing out. I return to the hallway where the other police officer is snoozing in his chair. I drag him chair and all into the room and firmly shut the door behind us.
I return to the bed, where India is watching me. She looks anxious.
“Hey, you alright?” I ask.
“Sure,” she says.
But there’s no fooling me. This whole thing has severely dented her confidence. A damn shame. She should be a badass bitch. Not this cowering creature.
“Your parents come to see you?” I ask casually.
She shakes her head.
“Never mind,” I say. “Their loss. How’s the memory? Still fuzzy?”
She nods. Her eyes are fixed on my wig, and then they flick with concern to the two guards who are thoroughly out of it.
“What’s wrong with them?”
“It’s my jailbreak formula,” I tell her. “It’s time to turn you back into your old self, girlfriend.”
“But I can’t leave here. I’m supposed to stay.”
“That doesn’t sound like you. I thought you’d be up for a little adventure.”
“You look different,” she says.
I pull the wig off my head. “Is this better?”
“You still look different.”
I shrug. “Maybe it’s the lipstick and eyeliner.” I have put on thick winged eyeliner and the bright red lipstick from Rachel’s purse. “Don’t worry. There is a method to my madness.”
I fix the black wig back on my head and hand her a bag of clothes. “Go on. Put these on.”
When she hesitates, I say, “Do you want to get your memories back and find out what happened or not?”
I need to get those memories. I need to know what she knows. My payday is due, and I’m not going to let her mess it up.
I don’t give her a chance to say no. I switch of her monitoring machine and yank all the wires off. I nudge her out of the bed and push her towards the private bathroom. While she is changing, I spray a generous spritz of Rachel’s perfume onto myself. When India comes back into the room I can see that she can smell it. A worried expression comes onto her face.
I take off my knee length jacket and show her the red dress that I am wearing underneath. It is not the same as Rachel’s, but it is still a red dress.
“Do you see what I’m doing?” I ask.
She bites her lip. “You look like… Like…”
“Yep. This is what Rachel was wearing on Friday night. This is going to help you remember.”