CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

After lights out, Zoe lay on her bed and thought about Frieda. This was the second night without her and she missed her like crazy. She also had trouble sleeping without her too.

Even though she was enjoying getting to know Tiffany Doggett better, Zoe couldn't help but wonder if she had made a big mistake.

The bunk squeaked as Doggett moved restlessly. " Can't sleep?" Zoe asked her.

" No…can you?"

" Nope. It's hard without Frieda," Zoe admitted.

" You must miss her," Doggett remarked.

" Like crazy," Zoe said and they fell silent for a while. Then to get Zoe's mind of Frieda, Doggett asked Zoe what happened to her before she was sent to prison.

" I know vague details-that you killed your sister's boyfriend but that's about it." Doggett paused, " I hope you don't mind me asking," she added hurriedly.

" It's been ten years, I don't mind talking about it." Zoe said. The truth was the only people who knew details about her past was Frieda, Red and Barb Denning. " I came home from my job to find my sister being beaten up by her prick of a boyfriend…"

" What was your job?" Doggett asked curiously.

" I was a curator for a museum in New York," Zoe replied, " That's where I lived with my sister." She paused, " I was a history major at Brooklyn College." She added.

" New York? I thought Frieda told me you and your sister were born and raised in New Haven, Connecticut," Doggett said.

" That's where we were born and raised, yes. But my parents were killed by a drunk driver a year after I graduated from high school. So my older sister Paige moved us Brooklyn, New York to start fresh. Paige worked in a library while and I went to college and studied history. My parents inheritance got me through college and after that I got a job as a curator for Brooklyn Museum-right up until my incarceration."

" Then what happened?"

Ten Years Ago
Brooklyn, New York.

Zoe did not want to go home. She knew Paige's boyfriend Jack would be there. But her shift ended an hour ago and there were so much coffee and pancakes she could eat at her favourite café. She bought a newspaper from a nearby newspaper stand and headed for home.

Zoe couldn't stand Jack. He was always hitting on her when Paige wasn't looking.

She had tried telling Paige this and she didn't believe her. She adored Jack and thought he could do no wrong. In fact, he was so good with the mind games that he had Paige accusing Zoe of hitting on Jack. Zoe kept reminding Paige that she was gay so why would be she interested in Jack?

Zoe took the elevator to the eleventh floor and put the key into the lock and let herself in. She hadn't gone far when she heard thudding noises, cursing and a scream coming from the kitchen.

She stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Jack standing over Paige. She was half lying, half sitting on the floor as he punched her in the stomach. Paige grunted in pain and Jack shifted slightly. Zoe gasped when she saw Paige's face. It was covered with blood and her left eye was swollen shut.

Zoe grabbed a knife that had been left near a bowl of unfinished salad and brandished it in the air, " Leave her alone!" she screamed just as he hit Paige in the face. Blood spurted in a long arch from her nose and he hit her in the mouth, knocking out a couple of teeth. He let Paige fall to the ground but he didn't have time to turn around as Zoe lunged at him, plunging the knife deep into his back. He screamed and she plunged the knife into him a second time, just to be sure. He fell to the floor in a pool of blood, his eyes still open and staring vacantly at the ceiling.

Paige crawled over to Jack and started to sob. She cradled Jack's head in her lap and glared up at Zoe, " What have you done?" she sobbed.

Zoe stared at her blood stained hands. Blood was everywhere. She went to the laundry and grabbed a bucket and filled it with hot, soapy water. She took a sponge and hurried back to the kitchen where she scrubbed the blood away. Paige had covered the body with a bed sheet and was sitting on the couch, not saying a word.

Half an hour later, Zoe stepped back and looked around. The kitchen was spotless. She dumped the water into the sink and rinsed out the sponge.

" Now, we need to talk about-" Zoe started to say when there was a knock on their door, " Paige McKenzie?" a voice called.

Paige stood up slowly and walked towards the door, " Yes, I'm here," she called back before she unlocked the door and let the police in.

" Paige…what did you do?" Zoe whispered as the three police officers swarmed the kitchen. One of them had his gun aimed at her and shouted at her to put her hands up, which she did.

" I called the police while you were in the laundry room," Paige replied as one of the police officers looked under the bed sheet at the body. " You killed Jack!"

" I was saving you!" Zoe exclaimed as she was handcuffed and read her rights. She was pushed forward and she started to walk out of the apartment.

" I didn't need to be saved," Paige shot back, then her brown eyes narrowed, " I wish you were dead instead of Jack," she hissed and the colour drained from Zoe's face.

" Paige, please!" Zoe implored as the police lead her away but Paige slammed the door shut behind them.

" Hope you have a good lawyer kiddo," one of the police officers said as they lead her to the elevator, " Because you're going to need one!"