A Detective's Guide to the Perfect Crime

VIII

Margo's house never felt so good. She was finally home from the hospital. The bullet had done some muscle damage but miraculously missed the bone entirely. It hurt like a mother, but she'd managed to put on a good enough show for the doctors to let her come home.

"Thank God!" She sighed happily as she sank down on her couch. Her hair and skin were greasy after having skipped her daily shower for a little under a week while the doctors monitored her.

Darci stepped in the house after her. "Absolutely not, young lady. Go shower before you sit on my furniture." She scolded as she shimmied out of her shoes.

Coke sniffed at Margo wildly, pausing to take a deep inhale of her sling and bandages. "Mom, I can't shower with this on." Margo gestured to her setup.

Darci shrugged. "Well go take a bath. Get a washcloth wet and wipe yourself down. Just get clean before you sit on the furniture." She demanded adamantly.

Margo groaned as she forced herself to stand back up. "Fine." She shuffled down the hallway towards the bathroom. Throughout her time at the hospital, Margo never allowed herself to be in true silence. She always had her parents or Melody or Uncle Vinny around to talk to... but now that she stood in the bathroom behind a closed door, she was allowed to remember the day with Sam Pfizer.

"Gun!" She remembers yelling before the barrel was turned on her. Three shots rang out. Two on Sam, then one on her.

She recalled the adrenaline as she leapt over the counter and hit the floor. She couldn't even feel her gunshot at that point. She was too focused on just surviving the incident.

Her arm hurt like heck now. Not as bad as it did on the ambulance, but it definitely hurt.

Margo shut her eyes, trying to burn every last detail of the scene into her mind. The way everything played out and the information she had learned. Rooke was in witness protection under the name of Bennet. What was he being protected from?

And then there was Roman. The way he looked at her after she'd bluffed. Saying she 'knew everything'. It was almost as if there was information he thought she somehow had.

"Hey!" Melody rapped against the door. "Are you done in there yet?" Her voice was muffled as she pressed her mouth to the seam of the door.

"Y-yeah." Margo snapped out of her thoughts as she rinsed off the rest of the soap suds in the bath. "I'm coming." She pulled the plug and jumped out onto the mat. Coke lapped up her puddles as if he'd never drank water before. She carefully pulled on her clothes, working her sleeve around her bandages before putting back on her sling.

Getting dressed— now that was an excruciating process. Margo had to do it slowly or she'd start bawling like a baby.

"What?" She opened the door to Melody.

Melody pushed her out of the way. "I gotta pee, get out." She pleaded, hopping from one foot to the other.

"Alright, alright." Margo stepped out, taking her dog with her. "Gosh." Melody slammed the door shut.

"Okay, now you can sit on the furniture." Darci said with a grin. "My poor baby girl." She pouted as she looked at Margo's arm. "Awww." Tears welled up in her eyes as she hugged her daughter.

"Mom, I'm fine." Margo assured her, hugging her back. "I'm gonna get some rest in my room." She planted a kiss on her cheek.

"Call me if you need anything, baby." Darci held Margo's face in her hands and kissed her forehead.

Margo chuckled. "I need a million dollars."

Darci sighed. "Your sense of humor always remains intact, huh?"