She took another sip of her wine. “No,” she said. “Maybe it was the cheese. Drink some more to cleanse your palette. Maybe that’ll help.”
“Alright,” I said, and took another sip. It definitely tasted weird, and I said so.
“Well, I don't know, Vivienne. I buy this brand all the time, and it always tastes good to me.”
Then my head started to spin – not just in a mild, “I'm a bit tipsy way,” but in a “I'm going to pass out in seconds” way. I felt a powerful heaviness pressing down on me, and my limbs became weak and jelly like.
“Angie, I... what's happening... I...” I tried to say, but my words came out in an unintelligible slur.
And that is the last thing I remember before I blacked out.
***
I awoke the next day with a pounding headache, feeling as if I'd been hit by a bus, not to mention extremely confused. I looked around and couldn’t figure out where the heck I was or what was going on. When the fog cleared, I studied my surroundings and found that I was in a room I had never seen before. I tried to get up, but that’s when I learned I was bound fast, with my ankles and wrists tied to the bedposts so that I couldn't move.
“A-A-Angie?” I stammered. “Wh-what's going on?”
Then the door opened, and Angie walked in.
“Good afternoon, Vivienne,” she said. “How are you feeling?”
“I'm uh... I feel pretty terrible. Afternoon? But...”
“Yeah, you've been out for 16 hours now. I was starting to worry that you were in coma... But thankfully, you're awake now.”
“Why... why have I been out for 16 hours?”
“That's because I laced your wine with some very hardcore sedatives. There was enough in there to knock a horse out.”
“But... why? Why did you do that?” I asked, very confused. “And... why am I tied to the bed?”
She laughed coldly.
“Why, so you can't go anywhere, you idiot!”
“But... why?”
“Because my business partner wants to see you.”
“Your business partner?”
“Yes. He and I are making a lovely profit. And speak of the devil, here he is now!”
Angie stepped aside, and my blood ran cold.
“Hello, Alicia,” Simon said, smiling wickedly.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Everett
I woke up with the non-alcoholic equivalent of a hangover, not having slept much at all during the night. All sorts of crazy dreams and nightmares had kept ripping me from sleep and then I had found it difficult to doze back off each time. For the first time in ages, I skipped my morning workout even though I felt guilty about doing so. I was just too mentally and physically exhausted.
The first thing I did was call Jimmy, as I needed to find out if he would be willing to help us in our planned sting operation against Mr. Mask. After talking to Scott the night before, he was willing to help us out since they already had an investigation open regarding the spike of Rocket sales.
“Everett, hey buddy, how's it going?” he said as he answered.
“It's uh, okay. Look, let me cut straight to the chase. I know you've done me a few favors recently, and I hate to say it, but I gotta ask for just one more. I'll pay you back tenfold for everything you've done for me.”