Chapter 2

The security guards, their professional composure visibly shaken by the frantic directive from the Senate Majority Leader's office, physically shoved Marge and Betty-Jo out of the room. The heavy door clicked shut, and the deadbolt slid into place, leaving Carma in a fragile, temporary stalemate under international scrutiny.

The long, tense hours of the afternoon bled into a freezing dusk as Carma waited for the guards' vigilance to wane. She dropped her hands from her face; the tears, which had served their purpose during the morning's confrontation, stopped instantly. She stood up, her spine perfectly straight.

She walked into the bathroom and pulled the small white pill bottle from her pocket. She had swiped it-not the plastic cup, but the source bottle-from Betty-Jo's pocket during the chaotic scramble that followed the explosive phone call from Washington.

She twisted the cap off. The sharp, chemical stench of heavy hallucinogens hit her nose. Carma dumped the entire bottle of capsules into a thick glass tumbler. She picked up the heavy marble soap dish from the counter and pressed it down, grinding the capsules into a fine, white powder.

She rinsed the marble dish and wiped the counter spotless. Stepping back into the bedroom, she moved toward the window she had shattered that morning. The cold night wind whipped her hair through the jagged opening. She climbed over the iron railing, her bare feet gripping the cold stone, and slipped onto the adjacent balcony.

Betty-Jo's room was dark, save for the sound of running water in the bathroom where the woman was likely tending to the aftermath of their earlier scuffle. Carma moved silently across the carpet to the nightstand, where a plastic pill organizer sat next to a bottle of red wine.

She popped open the compartment for Tuesday, carefully tapping the crushed powder into the empty shells of Betty-Jo's blood pressure medication. She then reached into her pocket and pulled out Marge's custom silver lighter, a trophy she'd snatched alongside the medicine.

Carma shoved the lighter deep into the crevice of the leather sofa. The water in the bathroom shut off, signaling the end of her window. She glided back to her balcony, slipped inside, and pulled the heavy blackout curtains tight across the shattered glass frame to conceal her movements.

Thirty minutes later, Betty-Jo stomped out of her bathroom and poured a massive glass of red wine. Through the tiny gap in the curtains, Carma watched as the woman swallowed her tampered medication with a heavy gulp of alcohol.

Fifteen minutes passed before a heavy thud echoed from the next room. Betty-Jo began to scream-a guttural, wet sound. Carma watched the silhouette through the glass as the woman tore at her own neck, her fingernails ripping through skin to find invisible snakes.

Betty-Jo staggered toward the balcony and slammed headfirst into the glass pane. The impact sent her collapsing onto the stone floor, her body convulsing violently among the shards. Carma picked up her glass of tap water and raised it slightly toward the dying woman.

The next morning, the building was swarmed by Swiss police and forensics teams. Carma, playing the role of the traumatized victim in a pristine white gown, allowed a nurse to support her trembling frame as she approached the inspector.

"They... they were fighting," Carma stuttered, her teeth chattering on cue. "About money. Marge was so angry yesterday."

The initial sweep yielded only blood and glass, but a tactical, anonymous tip sent three hours later forced the forensics team to return. When an officer finally pulled the blood-soaked silver lighter from the sofa, Marge's screams of innocence were silenced by the click of heavy steel handcuffs.

Thousands of miles away in Washington D.C., Johnie Kirk slammed the phone down in a fit of silent rage. She swept her arm across her vanity, shattering expensive perfume bottles that filled the room with a suffocating, floral stench.