Drew looked at the two women in their living room. Trish Stratus and Mickie James. The two victims of Rhea Ripley. Jaiden had called them right away, and since then they had visited a couple of times while trying to come up with a plan together with the police. They only had one shot at it, and today was that day.
"Just let her do most of the talking. She loves hearing herself talk," Trish said.
"And pretend to believe her," Mickie said.
"I will," Jaiden said.
"Be careful about that boyfriend of hers that police warned about," Drew said.
"Buddy Murphy," Trish said. "I met him once. He made my blood run cold. Something was off about him. He wasn't as good an actor as Rhea."
"Don't worry, darling. I've studied his picture. I know how he looks even with my eyes half closed," Jaiden said.
"I can't help but worry," Drew said.
Jaiden stood up and pecked his lips. She nodded at him and he nodded back. He knew he could trust her, and police would be there ready to strike. He just still worried about her. He couldn't help it. Her phone started ringing and they all knew it was officer Kevin Owens calling. Jaiden clicked the green button and put the phone to her ear.
"We're ready if you are," Jaiden said.
"We're all set here," Kevin said.
"We're on our way," Jaiden said.
Jaiden hung up, blew out her breath, and nodded at Trish and Mickie.
"Showtime, ladies," Jaiden said.
They drove in two cars to the mall. They spotted Kevin right away. The rest of his team were blending in somewhere. They only had one shot at getting Rhea out of the right entrance of the mall. Jaiden kissed Drew and left the car. He watched her walk inside the mall and gritted his teeth.
"You got this, darling," he whispered out in the car.
Jaiden walked to the food court and sat down on a bench. She texted Rhea that she had arrived and then waited. It took nearly ten minutes before a smiling woman came walking towards her and sat down next to her.
"You must be my mother," Rhea said.
"Maybe," Jaiden said. "We can't know for sure without a DNA test."
"And we'll get one, but right now let's get to know each other," Rhea said.
"That sounds like a good idea," Jaiden said.
"There's no doubt in my heart that you are my mother. I got all the paperwork saying that you are. I don't know why no one ever told you," Rhea said.
"Does that paperwork say who's your father?" Jaiden asked.
"Sorry, no," Rhea looked sad. "We both know the word for this. Let's not say that ugly word. I'm sorry this happened to you but maybe I can help you turn this around to something good. I'm right here. I exist, mom."
Jaiden fought to keep her face neutral. She wanted to cringe so bad after hearing this woman call her mom.
"Can I offer you lunch?" Jaiden asked.
"Yes, I would love that," Rhea said.
"Let's get some shawarma," Jaiden said.
Jaiden got up and walked towards the chosen food place. It was the one by the edge to make sure Rhea would run down that aisle. Jaiden positioned herself so that Rhea had her back towards the other direction. Trish and Mickie soon came walking from that direction. They walked up to them, grabbed Rhea, and spun her around. Her face dropped to fear when she saw her two previous victims.
"Fancy seeing you here, Rhea," Trish said.
"Let's take a trip to the police station together," Mickie said.
"Fuck!" Rhea muttered.
Jaiden saw a man come running towards them. Buddy reached them in seconds, pushed Mickie into Trish, grabbed Rhea's hand, and ran down the aisle with her. Jaiden, Trish and Mickie ran after them right away. They stormed down the aisle and watched Rhea and Buddy stop right outside when cops stood there and arrested them.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Rhea yelled.
"I'm afraid not, dear daughter," Jaiden grinned. "You fucked with the wrong woman."
"They can't do shit. They gave me that money of their own free will," Rhea said.
"Yeah, but then you two did something stupid and robbed their houses afterwards. Come on, everyone has cameras these days. You didn't even cover your faces. You're gonna go away for some years. Enjoy prison," Jaiden said.
Drew came running over to Jaiden and took her in his arms. They watched as Rhea and Buddy were placed in two different police cars.
"They're not gonna see each other for a long time," Trish said.
"Serves them well," Mickie said.
The officer Kevin came walking over to them and shook everyone's hands.
"Thank you, ladies. You were all very brave," Kevin said. "And I'm sorry for everything you went through."
"Just put them away and we're good," Trish said.
"That I can promise," Kevin chuckled. "I will contact you with further details."
Kevin walked back to his car and drove away. Drew looked at Jaiden, Trish and Mickie. A friendship had already formed there and he hoped it would continue between the three women.
"How do you three feel about lunch? My treat," Drew said.
"Yes, please," Jaiden said.
"I could eat," Mickie said. "Shawarma?"
"Yes, we gotta have shawarma," Jaiden laughed. "Let's go get some motherfucking shawarma and celebrate this great outcome. We've earned it."
