Going Insane by Tim Kizer Read Free Book Online

didn’t.” Kathy shook her head.
    “Take a guess how she died.”
    “No idea.” The exhaustion made Kathy’s face look visibly aged, especially now that her makeup was all messed up. “But I have a feeling you’re going to tell me.”
    “She died from poison.”
    “That’s horrible. I swear I have nothing to do with it.”
    “I know.” Leslie nodded. At this moment, her full attention was occupied by a receipt from a Home Depot store in Santa Ana. She discovered it in her jeans back pocket a few minutes ago, when her hands were searching for something to do, and out of strange curiosity decided to examine it instead of throwing it away. The receipt was for a box of rat poison that had set her back $23.99 plus tax; the purchase had occurred at 7:23pm the day Helen had drunk coffee in her office.
    Yes, Leslie had a hunch that Kathy had not poisoned Helen. In fact, she knew exactly who had done it. Leslie just remembered she had intended to discard that receipt right after buying the poison. One more detail: she had paid cash to avoid a credit card trail. She also remembered the dream she had had a week or so ago. She saw herself leaving her condo at one o’clock in the morning, dressed in black jeans, a black sweatshirt, and a black jacket. Getting in her car. Entering Helen’s address into the GPS. Driving to Westminster. Not speeding, because she did not want to get pulled over by traffic cops. Parking on the side of the street, about a hundred feet from her destination. Looking for Helen’s apartment. She remembered having second thoughts about her plan. A lot of luck was required for the plan to be a success. And boy was she lucky! There was an open window in Helen’s apartment, a window to the living room, which was empty and was directly connected to the kitchen. Helen had no security system—dumb bitch!—and no dog. No one was awake in the whole place. Leslie remembered the weight of her Glock 19 in the right jacket pocket; she had brought it just in case something went wrong.
    But of course, it was not a dream. It was a recollection. And if you tested the coffee in the cup which Leslie had put away in the safe in her office the other day, you would learn that there was no poison in it. Leslie had to be in charge of the situation if she were to survive. Helen had drunk that coffee and now was supposed to die of poisoning. Leslie refused to be embarrassed by that whore. Things just needed a little push, that’s all. And she provided that push in the form of rat poison in the can of Folgers coffee on the countertop in Helen’s kitchen.
    Was it cheating, though? No, it’s not cheating if you don’t remember that you did it.
    What else could she have forgotten? Was she sure she had not killed anyone else? How about George? Was he still alive? When was the last time she talked to him?
    “Leslie?”
    She heard Kathy’s voice as if from distance. That cocksucker must have been amused by Leslie’s sudden fall into a stupor. Leslie ignored her call.
    Nah, George was still alive; she would have remembered killing him, for sure.
    Did she want to kill him?
    Good question. A couple of days ago, Rick told her about a Wiccan woman in the state of New York who was fired by the Transportation Safety Administration because her female coworker believed that she was a witch and had cast a spell on her. Funny thing, Rick did not make that story up, Leslie checked it later online. The woman was fired because someone told her boss she was a witch—how do you like that, huh? And what did George do after hearing that Helen was trying to poison her? He practically laughed in her face. He did not even want to investigate her allegations. Moron. Fucking jerk.
    “I’ll be back,” Leslie said absentmindedly and stood up. She needed to get out of the basement for a couple of minutes to freshen up.
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    Leslie turned off the faucet and began blotting her face gently with a towel. Her reflection was staring at her from the