The noise of feet thudding in quick succession made Evie bolt up in bed with fear, but when she heard the gagging sound of someone vomiting, she managed to blow out the breath she’d been holding. Sunshine hopped off the bed and scampered into the bathroom as Evie called out, “Dora? You okay?”
She heard another gag in reply before the toilet flushed.
“Oh, honey,” Evie said as she climbed out of bed to do what any best friend would and walked into the bathroom to hold Dora’s hair. She rubbed her free hand on Dora’s back. “Well, this sucks. You didn’t even drink anything.”
Her friend groaned and then rose up to her knees to heave again. Evie peered into the toilet bowl to inspect the contents. “Ewww, stomach acid now, Dor. That’s gross.”
“Says the one looking.”
Sunshine whined in agreement. Dora had a point, which Evie ignored. “At least if it was the leftovers you ate, you got it all out.”
“It was probably the shrimp.”
“You sure about that? It could be botulism. You don’t know where those tomatoes came from, Dor. My fourth cousin, twice removed, ate a can of tomatoes he found at his mother-in-law’s house when she died. Or was it his aunt?” She chuckled as she remembered the details. “Both, actually. Anyway, within hours he was a goner. We might need to get you medical attention.”
“So much is wrong with that story, Evie. But let me assure you I don’t have botulism. It starts off with paralysis of your face and throat.” Dora dry heaved before she sat back on her knees. “My mouth and throat are working just fine.”
Evie frowned with concern for her friend. Being sick was no fun. “Want me to run to the corner store and get you some ginger ale and saltines?”
Dora shook her head. “I don’t think I want anything in my stomach for a while.” She got up off the floor and squirted toothpaste on her toothbrush.
Evie glanced around Gertie’s master bathroom. Sunshine had hopped into a basket of magazines sitting on the floor, and she noticed the top one was a fitness magazine for seniors. She reached in to lift it up from under the pup’s bottom and found a page was turned down as if to mark someone’s place. Opening up to the spot, she found it was an article with exercises for working out in your seventies. “Huh. Seems Gertie was interested in fitness.”
Dora raised her eyebrows at Evie as she brushed her teeth.
“Exactly,” Evie said as she nudged Dora aside. The medicine cabinet clicked as she opened it to look for medication. She pushed the contents around but couldn’t find one single prescription medication. “Check this out Dor, all Gertie took was something for a headache and”—she inspected a bottle of antacid tablets that had a label peeling up at the corner—“she didn’t even get heartburn, apparently, because this stuff expired five years ago.”
Dora spat. “When I was searching for the flash drive earlier, I noticed she had hand weights and exercise bands.”
“I don’t think Gertie died of heart attack. She was as healthy as a horse.”
Dora frowned. “We don’t know that, Evie.”
Evie could feel in her gut she was right. “You mean you don’t know that. But think about it. You almost died tonight eating something Gertie ate. What if—”
“Gertie was poisoned?” Dora gulped. “I guess it’s possible. I did only eat a little bit before I threw it out,” She stumbled back to lean against the wall and placed a hand on her throat. “What if I had eaten the whole thing?”
Evie’s heart stopped for a moment as she imagined losing Dora. She grabbed her friend and hugged her tight. “Exactly. Proof Gertie was killed. The question is after Marco killed her, did he manage to get the flash drive?”
“We don’t have proof. Only a suspicion with no way to back it up because I already tossed the scampi down the garbage disposal. Still, the real question is why are we still standing here? Your theory is entirely plausible given everything we know about Marco.” Dora squirmed out of Evie’s embrace. “C’mon, we need to go!”
“Hang on.” Evie raced after her. She understood Dora’s panic; she was itching to get out of there too. But when her friend hit crisis mode, Evie knew someone needed to step in and be logical. She watched as Dora grabbed her duffle bag and began toss in her piles of folded clothes willy-nilly, which was evidence of a pure freak out for her friend if Evie had ever seen it. “Those are going to get wrinkled that way.”
Dora glared at her. “Works for you.”
Evie was tempted to snap back but bit her tongue and said, “We need a plan.”
“The plan is to go somewhere Marco can’t find us.”
“How far do you think we’re going to get on the few hundred dollars we have?”
Dora froze, let out a sigh, and plopped down on the edge of the bed. “You’re right. We would end up in some cheap motel eating vending machine food. And even then, we’d only last so long. That gas guzzler we’re driving isn’t helping either.”
“It’s still a sweet ride.”
“With a sweet owner,” Dora said in a small voice as she gazed out the window. The sun was rising, and warm yellow light bathed the room to welcome the day. “If we don’t have the flash drive, we can’t go back and...”
Evie thought about Trace, and sadness washed over her, too. “Marry the men of our dreams.”
“What?” Dora smiled at her. “You just said the M word.”
Had she? Evie quickly corrected herself. “I meant you. You’re going to marry the man of your dreams when we, and we will, get the evidence to prove you are innocent.”
“Okay,” Dora said with a skeptical look that made Evie squirm a little and feel emotions she didn’t want to deal with. “But first we have to figure out how to stay hidden from Marco. Since we can’t run off without money, we may need to find jobs.” Dora winced when Evie added, “Ones that pay under the table.”
Evie understood her straitlaced friend’s hesitation, but she smiled, because this situation was definitely in her wheelhouse. “We’re in the right town for that, but we can’t work as Dora and Evie.”
“Agreed. We can’t be sure that Marco doesn’t know we’re here, either.”
Evie’s smile grew into an ear-to-ear grin. “We need to hide in plain sight with a disguise. Makeover time!”
Dora tilted her head at her friend. “That’s not a bad idea. At least until we have enough money to get out of here.”
“And it’s a fun one.” Evie lifted up her hair and turned to gaze in the mirror over the bureau. “What do you think about me as a redhead? I’ve got the personality for it.”
Dora chuckled. “That you do. Go for it.”
Evie turned to her friend. “I think you should go blonde.”
“What?” Dora got up to stand next to her. She pulled her straight brown hair over her shoulder to the front. “No way. I’ve never colored my hair, and I’m not about to start.” She lifted it up off her neck. “I could do with a good cut, though. Pageboy?”
“But Jessica, blonde is sooo sexy,” Evie cooed using the name Dora had taken when they’d gone undercover in a senior living facility. When Dora scowled at her she tried a different approach. “Nobody who knows you would ever expect it.”
Dora shot her a sideways glance that said she was considering it. That was all Evie needed. She charged ahead, knowing that it would be easier for Dora to accept dying her hair if she felt like it was a compromise. “You know what else you need? A perm. Nobody would think of you with curly hair.”
“Perm? Oh my god, what is this, the eighties? No way. Can you imagine how frizzy my hair would get in this humidity?”
Evie lifted up one of her curly locks and smiled. “As a matter of fact, I can, but we’re hiding out, Dor. You gotta take one for the team here.”
“Fine,” Dora sighed. “I’ll go blonde, but I draw the line at the perm. Got it?”
Evie bounced on her toes, excited by the thought of seeing Dora as a blonde. She knew from experience that most men noticed blondes first, and that meant Dora was finally going to get the attention Evie had gotten most of her life. Heck, it might even loosen her up a little. “There’s a drug store around the corner. I’ll be right back.”