Zari Davis flees Dallas after witnessing her fiancee cheating, with no clear plan on where she's going. After flipping her Volkswagon Beetle, she wakes up convinced that the cute guy that's been reading raunchy novels aloud while she slept is actual...
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P L A Y L I S T
RISE - KATY PERRY
Zari's heart hammered so hard she risked cracking a rib. What was she going to do? She'd killed Gabriel's pet. She was a horrible person who couldn't be trusted to take care of one tiny fish. This was bad. So bad. Caring for the little swimmer had been the first thing on Gabriel's to-do list. All she'd had to do was feed it, and she'd failed. No, she'd done her job. Made sure he had flakes every day. This wasn't her fault. More than likely, he'd croaked of natural causes.
She palmed her phone and pulled up the top reasons goldfish die. Number one, dirty tanks. That couldn't be it. Gabriel cleaned it right before he left, and the filter kept the water fresh for at least two weeks. Second, constipation, due to overfeeding. Her stomach turned. Oh, no. She'd fed him too much and plugged him up! She scrolled to number three. Shock from a change in water temperature. Couldn't be. The tank was in the same location.
Not giving up, she slid the screen to all the other reasons which listed toxins pointing right back to a dirty environment. Nope. She was the culprit. Zari Davis. Amnesiac. Murderer.
Massaging her temples, she tried to think of what to do. No confession over the phone for sure. Maybe there shouldn't be an admission. Ever. Still had time to fix this before Gabriel got home and then he'd never know. All she had to do was replace Alpheus. Leaning low again to bring the deceased to eye level, she tapped at the glass. Still dead. This might be the worst thing she'd ever done. Or maybe not. Without her memory, for all she knew, she could be a serial fish killer.
She plopped onto the bar stool, rested chin in hand, and stared at the lifeless floater. "I'm so sorry, Alpheus. I never meant to kill you." She straightened, sniffed, and wiped her face. Taking a deep breath, she removed the tank cover and lifted the golden goner from the water. Grabbed a paper towel, wrapped him, then slid him into a plastic baggie.
To be successful with the cover up, she'd have to match size and color, or Gabriel might notice. Not that she planned to keep her crime a secret, just didn't want it to be the first bit of news shared.
With the evidence in her purse, she headed to Grapevine.
Two hours later, with the rug purchase made, and some last-minute shopping, she strolled into PetSmart and went directly to the fish area. As she gazed into the tank, an employee approached her. The name on his vest read Thomas. Something in her brain sparked. Did she know him? Probably not. That was a common name.
"Can I help you with some fish?"
"A fish. I just need one." She dug into her purse. "And it needs to look like this." Pulling out the baggie, she opened it and unwrapped Alpheus. Seeing his little dead body brought tears again. She wiped at her face, and her voice quivered. "This is Alpheus. And I killed him." Unable to stop, she broke into sobs and leaned her head on the man's chest. "It was an accident. I swear."
