"I crave you as if I've already had you before, that scares and excites me all at once"
« In which Adriana Narvaez, a mother
of two, finds herself falling deep
into the world of crime after an
innocent robbery turns into a money-laundering bus...
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"He's on his way."
Adriana leaned against Beth's van, hands stuffed in her pockets, as the four women waited for Boomer to take the bait and arrive at the clearing. They had about 20 minutes to figure out what the hell they were gonna do, 20 minutes to decide whether they were gonna take his life.
Adriana didn't know how to feel. The flutters in her stomach grew ten times worse as Beth finally pulled the gun from the paper bag, eyeing it with conviction. Adriana noticed the way her friend's hand shook as she adjusted the grip on the gun. Ruby and Annie watched with bated breath, their arms wrapped around themselves, shielding themselves from the cold air.
"O-okay, so, how does this thing even work. Just aim and pull?"
Ruby flinched as Beth aimed the gun out towards the clearing, her breath shaky as she glanced between the three women. Beth's gaze landed on Adriana, hesitation in her eyes as she let her arm fall to her side.
"I'll do it," Adriana spoke after a moment, ignoring the pointed look in Ruby's eyes, as she held her hand out for the gun.
"What? No."
"Beth, just let me."
Beth reared back at Adriana's swift response, her brows furrowed in confusion. Beth tightened her grip around the gun, shaking her head.
"You don't think I can do this." Beth's words were more a statement than a question, and Adriana's silence only confirmed it.
"Is this about that night?"
Adriana flinched this time at Beth's words, the memories she so desperately tried to push down coming back like a tsunami.
"What?--"
"You don't think I can do this because I didn't shoot Rio?"
Adriana paused, her brows twisting in confusion as she let her hand fall to her side. She could see the anger simmering beneath Beth's skin, her fist clenching by her side.
"I didn't say that--"
"No, but that's what you meant, right?"
Annie's eyes darted between the two girls, the tension between the two growing suffocating as Adriana remained silent against Beth's assumptions.
"I don't care to have this conversation with you right now. Move on." Adriana hissed through clenched teeth, her own indignation rising within.
"Yeah, let's just-- move on."
Ruby chimed in, hoping to diffuse the tension, glancing at Annie worriedly. The sound of grass crunching beneath footsteps sounded in the distance, catching the women's attention. Beth didn't tear her heated gaze away from Adriana, her lip caught between her teeth in thought.
"He's here."
$$$
"Do you know how hard it's going to be to find 20 G's! 20 G's, Adriana!"
Adriana tossed the kitchen towel across the marble countertop, occasionally glancing up from the skillet to look at Annie, who rambled on, complaining about how Beth couldn't shoot Boomer.
Adriana didn't fault Beth. It's not a bad thing not to be able to take a human life. But, now, they were fucked. 20 grand. 20 grand that they didn't have. 20 grand that they would need to keep Boomer from giving the deposition against her baby daddy to the very persistent FBI agent.
Adriana only shrugged, watching the plate of leftovers spin in the microwave. Truthfully, Beth was the last person she wanted to talk about right now.
"I mean, that's twice now! Two times, she let the person she was supposed to shoot go! Y'know how many problems would be solved if she had just shot Rio-- no offense. And then letting Boomer go? The man who tried to literally rape me!"
Adriana flinched at the sound of Rio's name, sending Annie a pointed glare as she continued her little rant, glancing back at the clock on the wall. 12:52 A.M. She heaved out a sigh, the weight of today's events weighing her down. It didn't help that she was damn-near starving and sore all over the place.
"Annie."
"Who does she think she is to be making these types of decisions without talking to us first!"
"Annie--"
"This is the second time now! Come to think of it, this is really all her--"
"Annie! I cannot take another second of you shit talking your sister," Adriana huffed out, silence falling between the two. The microwave beeped, and Adriana felt a wave of happiness rush through her body.
"I mean, it's not really shit talking, more of just ranting to my close friend," Annie mumbled with a shrug, peering over Adriana's shoulder at the hefty plate of curry chicken.
"Oh, can I have some?"
$$$$
"So... 'Navarro Pharmaceuticals.' On paper, it's a boutique pharmaceutical distributor. Pretty Successful. How'd you do it?"
Adriana only shrugged, her knee bouncing anxiously beneath the table, staring at the woman across from her. She looked...professional. Curly hair slicked back into a bun, her brown eyes shielded behind her slim glasses. She gazed at Adriana curiously, eyes flicking between the portfolio in front of her and Adriana. She eyed her expectantly.
"My husband handled all the operations. I was never involved in the day-to-day."
The woman, Mrs.Saunders, only hummed, apprehensive, before pulling her glasses from her face and setting them down.
"Inventory logs don't match the supplier receipts. And your monthly revenue was... abnormally high for a shop with zero foot traffic. You can be honest with me here. Was this all...legal?"
Adriana paused, meeting the woman's eyes with hesitance.
"Does it matter?"
Mrs. Saunders only raised a brow, leaning back in her seat with a heavy sigh.
"Look. I'm trying to sell my way out. My husband's gone. I have two kids and a mortgage, and this business isn't bringing me anything but trouble. I don't want anything to do with pills, products, or people knocking on my door at 3 am."
Silence fell between the two as the woman stared at Adriana, bottom lip trapped between her teeth in thought.
"Okay. Then let's keep this simple. No names. No paper trails. In this case, I recommend shutting down the business, legally and illegally. Then, we can just list the property. Nobody is gonna want to buy a dirty business."
Adriana felt a weight lift off her shoulders as she let a heavy breath escape her. Years of guilt and grief disappear as she gazes down at the business license, Dominic's name signed at the bottom.
"Okay, where do we start?
"I say...dissolve the LLC, I'll give you the paperwork. Then you'll need to prep the building for sale. After that, we'll sell it and transfer the deed. I'm going to be honest, it might take a while."
