Ariana sighed in an exasperated way. She could just lie and say that yes, it was all there, but she was sure that Kaitlynn would be calling her up tomorrow, making more threats.
"It's close, okay? It's enough."
Kaitlynn smirked. "Let's see how close."
Then the girl sat down cross-legged, right there on the cold, dirty alley floor, and started to count.
"You're going to do this here?" Ariana demanded, glancing around.
"No. We are," Kaitlynn replied. "Sit."
"I can't sit in this dress," Ariana said, looking down at her cream-colored Ralph Lauren. "Besides, I have to get back."
"First you stiff me and now you're bailing? I don't think so," Kaitlynn said. "Sit."
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Holding back the fury that was building inside of her, Ariana glanced around and spotted a metal door on the other side of the alley. She walked over and peeked through the cracked glass window. Inside was a set of industrial-looking stairs and a single, flickering lightbulb protruding from the wall. Ariana tried the door, which squealed as it opened.
"In here," she said.
Kaitlynn rolled her eyes, but picked up the bag and strolled over.
"What if someone comes down?" she said.
"Then we'll deal with it," Ariana replied through her teeth. "It's a lot better than being out here in the open where a police car could drive by or a security guard could come out for a cigarette."
Kaitlynn walked inside and dropped down on the bottom step to resume counting. Ariana reluctantly joined her, crouching to the dirty linoleum floor and folding the skirt of her dress up over her thighs to keep it from getting smudged. She reached into the bag, pulled out a handful of cash, and started to count, keeping one ear on the stairs above for the sound of a slamming door or a footfall. Hours seemed to pass. Days. There was a ton of money in smallish bills. But they got through every single dollar. And when they were done, Kaitlynn did the tally.
"Nine hundred thousand twenty dollars," she said, looking up at Ariana. "You were right. It's close."
But was it close enough? Ariana couldn't bring herself to ask the question. Couldn't fathom letting herself sound that desperate. Kaitlynn slowly placed all the stacks of cash into the duffel bag. Then she zipped it up, shouldered the strap, and stood. She offered Ariana her
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hand, but Ariana ignored her. For a long few moments Kaitlynn just stood there, silently regarding Ariana. With each second that passed, Ariana felt more and more trapped, more and more excruciatingly anxious.
Just go away. Get out of my life, she willed Kaitlynn. What the hell is the difference between nine hundred K and one million?
Finally, Kaitlynn spoke. "A hundred thousand dollars is a lot of money, Ariana."
The fury inside Ariana exploded. Her vision clouded over and her fingers curled into fists. She bit down on her tongue so hard she drew blood.
"Just take it!" she said through her teeth, her eyes so wide it was painful. "Just take it and get on the freaking plane and go!"
Kaitlynn smiled. She shook her head and tsked softly under her breath. "You just don't get it. We had a deal. And if you don't get me the rest of the money by tomorrow morning, Ariana ..." She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, hit a button, and held it up. The screen read D.C. Police. "I have them on speed dial."
Ariana shook from head to toe. "I hate you. I hate you more than I've ever hated anyone in my life."
In that moment, Ariana actually felt this was true. She hated Kaitlynn more than she'd hated Dr. Meloni. More than she'd hated Reed Brennan, who had stolen Thomas Pearson from her, and Mel Johnston, who had threatened to take him away. More than she'd hated Thomas in those fleeting moments when she'd allowed his betrayal to burn under her skin.
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Kaitlynn's smile widened, as if she was proud to hear it. "Wow. With you, that's really saying something." She patted Ariana twice on the shoulder. It was all Ariana could do not to reach up and twist the girl's arm out of its socket. "Tomorrow morning, B.L. Give me a call."
Then she turned and shoved through the door. Ariana stepped into the alley and watched her go. Watched her disappear around the corner, taking with her all of Ariana's hopes for the future. Ariana's shoulders slumped. Every muscle in her body felt weak as she crashed from her adrenaline high, and her eyes welled with desperate tears.
All that work. All that sneaking and stealing and praying that she wouldn't get caught. All of it was going to be for nothing. Because there was absolutely no way she was going to get her hands on a hundred thousand dollars by tomorrow morning.