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Chapter One

Chapter One

C

harity’s mind swirled with thoughts of how she would work this out as she stood at the door to her best friend’s penthouse apartment. The evening was late, and she had called Debra in a huff from her boutique. She’d had to push back the original time they were going to meet because she was recounting inventory. Somehow, someone had misplaced over ten thousand dollars’ worth of merchandise, and she had no idea what she was going to do. Charity shook her head. Surely, no one attempted to steal from her. That would be lunacy. Then again, her store wasn’t really locked down. She had a camera at the front of the store, two pointed toward the cash register, and one in the back stockroom.

Charity had sat at her desk for hours combing through footage. Several days of video would take days for her to go through, even if on fast forward. Not seeing anything suspicious frustrated the hell out of her. She’d pushed away from her desk to catch a break from work and headed to Debra’s, but as she stood there at Debra’s front door, her mind was still preoccupied.

She hadn’t misplaced ten thousand dollars worth of anything. Someone was

stealing

from underneath her nose.

Charity knocked on the door and waited. She heard Debra’s voice call out to her, and she stepped inside. The sound of her best friend’s voice immediately comforted her. She drew a deep breath, then sighed heavily and closed the door behind her.

Charity sighed. “Thanks for letting me come over around ten. I know we originally decided on eight, but things at the store got rough.”

“Sounds like you need to talk,” Debra said.

Charity shook her head. “Like you wouldn’t believe.”

“Then sit down. Come. Have a drink with me.”

“I’m surprised you don’t have a wine glass in your hand already.”

“I’ve already had my fill of it.”

Charity sighed. “I’m sorry. I know we were supposed to meet two hours ago. But inventory went haywire.”

Debra giggled. “I figured as much. Running a business always makes for late nights. That’s why I hired someone to deal with inventory for me.”

“And I don’t trust either of the women I have employed to do it for me. At least, now I don’t.”

“What does that mean?”

Charity dropped her things, walking around the couch. “I’m missing ten thousand dollars’ worth of stuff.”

Debra turned her body on the couch. “Define ‘stuff.’”

“Inventory, Debs. I’m missing ten thousand dollars of inventory.”

“How the hell did that much go missing?”

Charity flopped onto the couch. “I want to say it’s been misplaced.”

“But you don’t misplace ten thousand dollars’ worth of stuff.”

“Which makes me worried I have an internal theft issue.”

Debra nodded. “I take it these past two hours have consisted of you staring at camera footage and recounting your inventory until you’re blue in the face?”

Charity grabbed the glass of wine off the table by the couch. “Wow, you really are a businesswoman.”

“Are you thinking it’s one of the girls?”

“It has to be. I’m quicker at catching customer theft. And I’ve had no issues over the past few months.”

“Which one do you think it is?”

Charity swirled the red wine around. “I don’t know. On the one hand, Kathy’s the one with more energy, but she’s self-absorbed. Kind of a bobblehead at times. I’m not sure she’d take the time to plan out stealing something like that because she’s too busy filing down her nails on her break.”

Debra snickered. “So, what about Pauline?”

“She’s such a good friend, Debra. She’s got this great attention to detail and is passionate about the business. I’ve been thinking about promoting her to general manager of that store to aid in my franchising.”

“Wait a second. Franchising? When did you decide this?”

“I haven’t decided on anything. It’s been tumbling around in my mind for a few weeks. I thought maybe promoting Pauline and giving her that daily responsibility would free me up to do something like that. Now that this has dropped into my lap, I don’t trust either of them, no matter how loyal they’ve been to me.”

Debra nodded. “I see your dilemma.”

Charity brought the wine glass to her lips. “Yeah. ‘Dilemma’ is one word for it.”

“Drink, Charity. It sounds like you need it.”

“Will you have a glass with me if I down this to catch up?”

“Sure. If you let me say something to you before you drink.”

Charity nodded. “Of course. How selfish of me, coming over here and dumping my problems onto you.”

Debra snickered. “You know it’s never selfish. You know you can always come to me for things like this. Lord knows I come to you all the time.”

“What’s on your mind? You seem a little… off tonight anyway.”

“I’ve got a lot on my mind. And I know what I’m going to say to you might not make sense. But, entertain me a second?”

Charity shrugged. “Of course.”

Debra sighed. “I’m tired, Charity.”

“Wait, do I need to go so you can get some rest?”

“No, no, no. Not what I meant. I mean, my time as Death has made me very tired.”

Uh-oh. Time for this again.

Charity nodded. “I figured it would, with all the things you’ve been telling me about it.”

“It’s been insane. The men and their lovestruck trances. Being pulled this way and that. Saving lives. Ushering souls over to the next realm.”

“You should really use this as a marketing tactic. You’d really suck in the general public.”

Debra grinned. “You think?”

Charity smiled. “Oh, yeah. They’d eat it up just like I have.”

“Well, what I’ve learned is that Death is a way of progressing forward. It’s natural, and sometimes it can be beautiful. I’ve learned a lot during my time doing all this. But, I’m tired. And I’m ready to give it up.”

“Trust me, if there’s anyone that deserves a break from all this, it’s you. That mind of yours needs a rest.”

Debra smiled. “It could use one. Being Death has taken its toll on me, and just like it’s time for some people to die, it’s time for me to designate someone else to take my own place.”

“Well, I’m sure that person could use the creative energy. Your business has skyrocketed since you started pouring yourself creatively into these stories of yours.”

“Yeah. Well. You go ahead and drink up. I’ll share one last glass with you after you do. I’ve been throwing up cheers all night because of it. You need to do a little catching up.”

Charity furrowed her brow at the way her friend said that. One last glass. But she didn’t think anything of it. She had too much on her mind anyway to figure out why Debra was in such a solemn and calm mood. She rarely saw Debra like this. Usually, Debra was full of energy and ready to pick apart any issue until it was fully resolved, then and there. Tonight, however, was a different story.

Maybe Debra had one too many glasses of wine before I came over.

Charity tipped her glass up to her lips and took a sip. The red wine had a zing to it. The flavor danced on the tip of her tongue, and it made her take another sip. She couldn't place the taste. Possibly whiskey. Maybe a hint of cinnamon? She wasn’t sure. She peered into her glass before taking another long pull, drinking it down before she could stop herself.

Charity smacked her lips. “Something’s different tonight.”

Debra’s head fell off to the side. “How so?”

“Did you put something in this wine?”

“Why do you ask?”

“Because it’s delicious. Not what I’d usually have. You know how I am with my cocktails. But I could get behind a red wine like this. Mind showing me the label?”

Debra smiled softly. “I’ll send you a picture of it in a message later. Right now, I think you still have some venting to do.”

“Not until you get a glass of wine with me. You promised.”

“I’ll go get myself a glass

and

the bottle. How does that sound?”

“You know I’m all about two birds, one stone.”

Charity cocked her head as she watched her friend walk away. Something was off about her tonight, but Charity couldn't put her finger on it. She tipped her wine glass back, allowing the last few drops that had gathered at the bottom to find their way to her lips. It was as if she was drawn to the drink, desperate to have every last drop. It felt like the room was shifting a bit. Things rippled in her vision and undulated with the beating of her heart.

Charity looked down at her glass. “Hell of a drink.”

“Most red wine is if you can appreciate it,” Debra said.

She sat back down next to Charity on the couch and poured them each a glass of wine.

“Seriously. I don’t know what’s in this wine, but they need to keep doing it,” Charity said.

Debra smiled. “I’ll write them a letter and let them know.”

Charity giggled. “Why in the world are you so serious tonight?”

“Just settled down for the evening. It’s pretty late. I haven’t been sleeping well. You know this.”

“Anything I can do to help?”

Debra leaned back into the couch with her glass. “Vent to me. I vent to you all the time.”

Charity took another long pull of her wine. “Because you always have things worth venting about.”

“And I’d say ten thousand dollars of anything missing is worth a vent session. Now, come on. Cough it up.”

“Fuck, this is good. I need to get myself a bottle of this.”

Debra’s eyes fluttered over her best friend. “You know I love you, right?”

Charity narrowed her eyes. “Why does that sound so ominous?”

“I love you, Charity. You’re my best friend in this entire world. I’d never do anything that I didn’t think would be for your benefit.”

Charity looked down into her glass. “Are you drugging me or something?”

Debra giggled. “No. I just think you need to hear it right now after what you’re going through.”

“Oh. Well. I appreciate it. I love you, too. This whole thing hurts. I see the two girls I’ve hired as friends. I’m hurt one of them would betray me like that.”

“If you weren’t robbed overnight or something. Were any of the doors broken in?”

“You think I’d be here if I had actually been robbed?”

Debra nodded. “Good point.”

Charity finished off her second glass of wine. “Why aren’t you drinking with me?”

“I told you, I already had plenty. I’ll nurse this one.”

“You haven’t taken a sip yet.”

Debra studied her closely, raking her eyes up and down her body.

“What?” Charity asked.

Debra drew in a sharp breath of air. “Nothing. Sorry.”

“You really are out of it tonight. What’s on your mind?”

Debra sipped her wine. “Nothing at all.”

“You’re acting weird.”

“I always act weird.”

“You’re acting weirder than usual.”

Debra leaned her head back. “Is this what I sound like when I’m venting and complaining?”

Charity giggled. “Yes, but a little more forceful and a lot more drunk.”

The two of them shared a moment of laughter before they drank their wine in silence. Charity felt her body sinking into the couch as the room molded around her. She had no idea what was in that wine, but she let it sweep her under. The room slowly spun, and it felt as if she was floating. Wine on an empty stomach was not a good idea. But wine on an empty stomach and a tired mind?

That was even worse.

Charity shot up from the couch. “Okay. No more wine for me.”

Debra sighed. “It is getting pretty late.”

“Don’t forget to send me that wine label in a text later. I’ll forget what it looks like the second I walk out of here. I want the zingy wine for my collection.”

“Your collection of flavored vodkas?”

Charity pointed her finger at her friend. “Don’t down the marshmallow vodka. It goes very well with Coke.”

“You going to be able to get home okay?”

“Of course, I am. I only had two glasses of—”

Charity reached down for her purse and stumbled, catching herself on the arm of the couch. She furrowed her brow tightly and closed her eyes. It felt like she had downed an entire bottle of vodka to herself. Yet she’d only had two glasses of wine, if that.

Debra rushed to Charity’s side. “Come on. You can keep your car in the garage for the night. Let’s get you a cab.”

Charity slowly rose up. “What did you put in that drink?”

“Nothing. But, I do think you should take a cab home.”

“Yeah. Good… good idea.”

Charity leaned against Debra as the two of them headed downstairs. Her best friend flagged down a taxi before letting her slide into the back seat. Her head fell back. She felt lighter than air and heavier than lead at the same time. She watched as the world undulated before her very eyes—wavy, like the heat distortion beyond a windshield. She heard Debra murmur something to the driver. A set of warm lips pressed against her forehead. Then she heard Debra’s voice in her ear.

“Good luck,” Debra whispered.

Charity closed her eyes, and the taxi pulled away from the curb. It hurt to keep her eyes open, and her stomach roiled. The wine had been bad—that was the conclusion she had come to. The zing the wine had had was mold, and she was reacting to it. But why would Debra give her bad wine? She didn’t have the mental forethought to unpack it. As the cab driver zipped through town, getting her back to her apartment, she drew in a deep breath and sighed.

“I should have asked her more stuff,” Charity lulled.

The cab driver looked at her in the rear-view mirror. “What was that, ma’am?”

“I should’ve asked my friend more about her.”

“I’m not following.”

Charity groaned. “I spent all my time talking about me. She should’ve talked about her some.”

Why is talking so damn hard right now?

The cab driver sighed. “I’m sure your friend knows how much you care for her.”

Tears welled in Charity’s eyes. “Thief tomorrow and then grateful friendship.”

“What?”

“Steal, then dinner.”

“Hold on, ma’am. We’re only a few minutes away from your place. I’ll help you up to your door. Is there anyone at your place who can help you inside?”

The cab driver’s voice sounded far away. Her eyes fell closed, and she couldn’t open them again. The thief. She’d focus on the thief tomorrow. Throw all her effort and attention and knowledge into picking apart the video footage and talking to the girls, and then she’d show Debra how grateful she was for their friendship. She felt bad for being so selfish. For sitting on her couch, drinking her wine, and spewing all her business problems at a woman who wanted to escape business whenever she went home.

“Thief, then dinner,” Charity mumbled.

Then, the cab came to a stop in the parking lot of her apartment complex.

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