"Is it too much to ask that my husband should die? I mean, is that really such a hard thing? I'm not looking for anything fancy. As long as the end result makes me a widow. And after all, it's not as if he didn't deserve to die." After I said that, it occurred to me that Laney hadn't been listening up until that point, so naturally, my remark came as quite a shock to her when she tuned back in to the conversation.
"What?" she asked, snapping her head and eyes to full attention.
"I've hired someone to kill him," I said slowly.
"Who?"
"As if I have another husband. Pay attention. Who do you think?"
Laney placed her teacup back on the table and looked at me with a wry grin. I wasn't sure how she would react to this news. I'm sure this was not what she expected to hear when I invited her out. Then again she knew me well enough to expect the unexpected. I'd say this certainly qualified as unexpected. She was the only person I had told of my plans, except Uncle Bill. I wanted to see how well my family would receive it, whether or not they'd think I was a homicidal lunatic. That sort of thing. I picked Laney because she's knows me better than anyone. She's known me through it all, husband and lover. She was my sister and she understood me. But more importantly, she understood what Phillip had done. If anyone would support my decision it would be her.
"Phillip?" she asked as if there might be some confusion.
"Yes," I said patiently.
"Phillip, your husband?" she said.
I took another sip of my tea, "Yes." There was a long pause before she spoke again.
"Does your assassin have a name?"
"Vincenzo," I said.
She paused a moment looking at her fingernails. They were in desperate need of a manicure. Doubtless that was what she was thinking. She looked up at me again then asked, "How much is this going to cost?"
I can't tell you just how relieved I actually was. She wasn't going to be prudish about the whole thing. "He wasn't cheap. That's for sure," I replied taking another sip of tea.
"Did you think he would be?" she said wryly.
"No. Not that it would have mattered anyway. The cost, I mean. Dominick's going to take care of it for me."
"Dominick, from Italy, Dominick?"
"Yes," I smiled excitedly.
"Dominick the . . .." she started, but stopped. I nodded. "Ah yes, behold the power of Dominick," she said. "Very good. He always was a son of a bitch."
"That's exactly what I thought," I said happily.
"No, it's not. You were probably thinking about her and revenge. Living in Italy taught you some really bad habits, you know." I smiled. "Oh well, no great loss really. I always hated his damn paintings. He made you look fat." She looked back in her tea cup then returned her gaze to me. "Of course, his name would have to be Vincenzo," Laney remarked.