Page 7 of Dead to Me

That part was true. I walked to the elevators without looking back. I could feel Malcolm’s eyes on me. I hoped he was watching. The doors opened and I stepped inside. As the doors slid shut, my smile faded.

Eight floors up, I went into my room and locked the door. Then I slid the deadbolt into place.

The bridal suite was filled with champagne, red and white flowers, and a gold gift bag on the bed. I ignored it all. I took the black duffel into the bathroom and set it on the marble counter.

For the first time since I arrived, my hands shook. I didn’t feel afraid. I was waiting for what would happen next.

I opened the bag. Inside, I had a burner phone, two wigs, gloves, and two envelopes holding everything I had gathered over the years. Underneath, there were a few other items I hoped no one would ever discover.

I made sure I was ready before coming home. On top of everything, there was a single photograph. I picked up the photo.

All three of them stood outside the courthouse six years ago. China was crying. Malcolm had his arm around her. Warren smiled at someone out of frame.

I stared at that picture every night during my first year in prison. The second year too. By the third, I didn’t need it anymore. I could see it perfectly with my eyes closed.

I set the photograph on the counter and opened the first envelope. Inside were three names: Malcolm Banks, China Hart, and Detective Warren Cole. I drew a line under them. Others had played a part in what happened to me, but those three had done the most. They were the reason I came back.

Outside my window, the city spread out below, making it feel like I had never left.

I checked the clock. It was 3:42 p.m.

Soon my twin sister would walk down the aisle. The first body would fall even sooner. I folded the paper and put it back in the envelope. Then I whispered the promise that kept me going through six birthdays in prison.

“Yall dead to me.”

Milan

By six thirty, I didn’t look like someone who had just spent three hours staring at a list of people she wanted dead. That was exactly what I wanted.

I stood in front of the bathroom mirror in a fitted black dress that ended just below my knees. China had sent the rehearsal dinner dress code weeks earlier.

The invitation called for neutral elegance. Black was discouraged.

I wore black anyway. It wasn’t about making a statement. I just didn’t own anything that said I was happy to celebrate my twin marrying the man I once loved.

My makeup was light, and my hair hung straight down my back. I wore small gold hoops and nude heels. Nothing too dramatic. I smiled at my reflection. It looked convincing. That was the scary part.

My phone lit up on the counter. It was China.

Where are you?

Another message popped up before I could reply.

We’re downstairs. Please don’t make me send Malcolm up there lol

I stared at the screen, then typed a reply.

Coming.

Three dots appeared.

Everything okay?

I smiled. China was never comfortable with silence. It always gave guilty people too much space to think.

I put my phone in my clutch and checked the room twice before leaving.

The rehearsal dinner was in one of the hotel’s smaller ballrooms on the second floor. ‘Small’ here still meant room for at least a hundred people, though there were only about forty. China always liked to go big.