Malpractice Makes Perfect

Chapter 23

         I had made a critical miscalculation in my assessment of the players in this tale. I had incorrectly assumed that Malik was some kind of heartless, unfeeling sociopath, but that was wrong. He had loved ones, including his mother who I could see now he'd never harm. But above all that, he had something to lose.

          His limp form still lay on the ground where he'd fallen; lifeless but hopefully not dead. A couple shallow drops of blood dotted his temple, but not enough to immediately concern me—not with Robert staring around wildly like a cornered animal. Manny had been instructed to stay out of sight until Robert confessed, but honestly nothing would stop him from barreling out from nowhere if Robert tried anything.

          That was at least a little comforting.

           The other comfort was the taser stashed comfortably in my lower, right pocket. Best case scenario, I wouldn't need it or Manny. But from the wild look in Robert's eyes, he had no intention of letting me or Malik walk out of here. My fingers twitched over the taser. I took in my surroundings: A world outside darkening more by the second, a newspaper rack by the door, the teapot on the floor, the barstool I had been sitting at... Any one of these objects could become a weapon. Though from the way he was looking I couldn't rule out him being enraged enough to try and strangle me with his bare hands.

         "So, what now?" I goaded. "You kill me and Malik? And then? Disposing of me is easy—I'm a petite little thing—but Malik is huge. How are you going to get his body out of here undetected?"

          "Shut up!"

          "This thing is really spiraling, isn't it?" It was dangerous to provoke him but I had to keep him talking or all of this was for nothing. "It started out easy. Scam Margie Scott out of her shares of a rapidly growing company. That's not even technically a crime. But then you're bribing judges and now you're committing murder."

          "I didn't have a choice!"

         "Oh? You couldn't not kill a dying woman? You couldn't not bribe that judge? How convenient!"

          "She was dying! You don't face consequences when you're dead." He took another step toward me. "But what about me? It was her idea to begin with. Then on her death bed she wants to come clean? So I have to deal with the fallout by myself?"

           I stepped back. A futile effort as there was only about four feet until I hit the wall. "You're not innocent here."

         "No adult is innocent. You're in business, you know." He pointed an accusatory finger at me. "You know what it takes to get a business off the ground. You know you'd do anything to protect this place."

         "I wouldn't kill." Not over money. Not over things.

         "You would if everything you'd worked for was on the line."

          "You don't know me."

          "I can see it in your eyes. The hunger. The drive. You'd do anything."

          "I guess you'd know."

         "How's this for a counteroffer? Ten million for silence, and you help me dispose of Malik."

         "I don't think so."

          He shook his head. "Then I guess I have no choice."

          I cut through his train of thought to get back to murdering Diana instead of thoughts of murdering me. "What I don't understand is how y'all messed up such an easy scam."