“No, I haven’t told anyone.”
“Good. We’ll talk more on Monday, bye.”
Naomi feels a pit in her stomach. Is he going to kill Ryan next Wednesday? Naomi pulls into a nearby Circle K to calm her nerves. She sits parked in her car for ten minutes taking deep breaths trying to compose herself. Once her breathing returns to normal, she goes into the store to purchase an ice-cold soda to quench a sudden thirst. I hope Justin knows what he is doing, she thinks to herself.
At home that evening, Naomi tries to be herself around Ryan to avoid arousing any suspicion. She puts extra effort into being nice and acting like everything is fine. However, she feels like her emotions and guilt are displayed like flashing red lights across her chest. At times she feels nauseous. She drinks several glasses of red wine to calm her nerves and hopefully, help her get to sleep.
All her worrying over Ryan noticing something is different or wrong is a waste of emotion. Ryan is focused on the business and what needs to be done to successfully fulfill the new contract, while also keeping all their current clients happy. He chats about the new contract at dinner and joins her wine-drinking by having a Coors Light. To Ryan, everything is great. He has no suspicion of any affair or danger he may be facing.
The Following Monday
It is now Monday when King receives a text message from Naomi. Are you going to call me soon?
King immediately calls Naomi, “what are you doing texting me!” he screams. “I told you never to use texting. It can later be discovered on our phones.”
“I’m sorry Justin,” Naomi pleads, “but I hadn’t heard from you and I don’t know what is going on. I’m nervous.”
“I’ve been finalizing our plan. You need to trust me.”
“I do, but I need you to talk to me.”
“Meet me at the Starbucks in 15 minutes, bye”
Naomi is surprised at how abrupt King had been with her. She drives to the Starbucks, only a ten-minute drive, and waits for King. He pulls up five minutes later.
“Naomi, sorry I yelled, but we need to be careful,” reasons King. “I will do it this Wednesday evening while you are at book club. You won’t even have to be there.”
This makes Naomi feel calmer. She does not want to have an active role in killing Ryan.
“I will meet with Ryan at your house Wednesday evening. When you get home, it will be done.”
“Okay, how are you going to accomplish this? You said it would be painless.”
“It will be. I’ll bring over some Captain Morgan and mix us a couple of rum and cokes. He likes those. While mixing them, I’ll slip the drug into his drink and he will peacefully pass away.”
“Won’t the police be suspicious?” asks Naomi.
“No, we will make it look like a suicide. Your role will be telling the police you told him about your affair the week before. That will be his motive to commit suicide.”
“He commits suicide by putting a drug into his own drink?”
“No, once he is dead, I will need to put his gun in his hand and shoot him in the head to make it look like a suicide.”
“What?! No, I don’t want to do that Justin.”
“Naomi, we have to. Remember, he will already be dead, but we can’t have the coroner digging too deep to find a cause of death. With alcohol in his blood, his grief over the affair, gun in his hand, gunshot to the head, and a suicide note, it will be an open and shut case. Even if they do a typical drug screen, they won’t find this drug.”
“What kind of drug is this?”
“It’s called Rohypnol. Sometimes referred to as roofies or the date rape drug. It knocks people out and they usually can’t remember much afterward. Too much, and it will kill you. But it’s hard to detect unless it’s specifically screened for. There will be no reason to screen for Rohypnol.”
“You have this drug?”
“Yes, I do.”
“What do you use it for?”
“Oh, it has its purposes.”
“Are you sure this is the only way Justin?”
“It is if we want to be free, married, and wealthy. Ryan won’t feel a thing and he will die believing you have always loved him.”
“What will I tell the police?”
“As I said, tell them you told Ryan about your affair the week before and he was devastated. On Wednesday evening, you were at book club and when you came home, you found Ryan dead with a suicide note on the table. I’ll print out a suicide note from his office computer before you get home.”
Naomi doesn’t say anything for several minutes, then softly says, “okay Justin, I’ll trust you. I just want this over and live with you the rest of my life.”
“Be patient Naomi, it will happen. Love you.”
“Love you too Justin.”
Wednesday
On Wednesday morning, King calls Cooper to set up a meeting. He tells Cooper he has some concerns over the latest contract and would like to discuss it with him that evening.
“Why not just come in and discuss it here?” asks Cooper.
“I can’t leave the job site right now. How about if I stop by your place tonight, say around seven-thirty? I’ll bring some of your favorite rum and we can discuss it over a couple drinks. It’s nothing serious.”
“Yeah, that would okay. Naomi has book club tonight.”
“Good, I’ll see you tonight.”
Everything seems to be falling in place for King’s and Naomi’s plan to eliminate Cooper from the business and her life. King knows he will have to pull this off perfectly for it to work. He has been thinking about it for some time now and believes he has all the details covered. At around 5:30 pm, King tries to eat some dinner before having to leave for Cooper’s place, but doesn’t seem to have much of an appetite.
