Snapped by Kendra Little

this
conversation wasn't about her interfering in his case, but her habit of
sleeping around. Well, he could go to hell. Her 'methods' were none of his
business and she was tired of his self-righteous attitude.
    She opened her car door and got in. "One
more thing. I told Janet you have my photos. I didn't want to tell her they
didn't work out—it's bad for business."
    His nod was barely perceptible as he
stalked back to the house.
    Lucy gripped the steering wheel too tight
as she roared out of the Mollinos street. By the time she reached Grange Road,
her fingers ached. Damn him. She didn't need his attitude right now. When she
was sleeping around, sure, maybe he had a point, but she hadn't even had a
nibble in six months.
    She couldn't believe this was it, she
wasn't going to see him ever again. Her sudden appetite for Nick would never be
sated and she'd never get to fling his holier-than-thou attitude back in his
face.
    The situation sucked big time. If only
Annabelle Smith hadn't wound up dead. Was she murdered? Most likely considering
the circumstances. And if so, then the person who killed Mollino probably
killed her too. Which made the little conversation she'd just had with Janet
very interesting.
    Perhaps she had a reason to see Nick
again after all. She couldn't possible withhold vital evidence.
    Lucy smiled. Probably Janet was telling
Nick exactly what she'd just told Lucy, but that didn't matter. It was still
worth her while to pay him a visit and impart her knowledge about Mack
Thompson. What did she have to lose?
    Nothing. Just a boring dry spell. But he
had his pride. And she'd love to strip that from him, make him want her so bad
he begged her to take him.
    Poor Annabelle. She was just a pathetic
pawn in someone's greedy game. Why would someone kill her? Either Mollino had
told her everything about his involvement in the fraud or she'd witnessed too
much in that apartment to be allowed to go to the police.
    Lucy frowned. What Annabelle saw, she'd
seen too, through her lens. So—
    But she didn't get a chance to
contemplate that angle further because a dark car zoomed by, swerved and
side-swiped Lucy's Honda. She stamped her foot on the brake but it was too
late. Her car careened onto the footpath and into a large tree.
    After the deafening bang, everything went
black and her body slammed against the seat belt. Pain shot through her chest
and neck. Then silence. The darkness cleared and she realized she wasn't dead. Particles
of fine dust floated around her like mist and settled on her clothes. Steam
rose from the hood, crumpled by the impact. Amazingly, the tree still stood.
    Her door wrenched open. "You okay,
Lady?"
    "Yeah." Her voice sounded
distant, not her own.
    Someone, a man, helped her out of the
car, called an ambulance and the cops. "He came from nowhere," she
heard him say to a cop when they arrived. "Just swiped her car and took
off again." He hadn't got a license plate number.
    She was taken to hospital for observation
and the next thing she knew her mother was standing by her bed.
    "Mom! What are you doing here?"
    Her mother sat heavily on the bed and
hugged her daughter lightly, careful not to touch her bruises. "Are you
all right, Darling? I was so worried when they called."
    "I'm fine. They'll let me out soon. Just
a few scratches. My car?"
    "Totaled. You're insured,
right?"
    Lucy nodded but even that hurt.
    Her mother sighed and hugged her again,
tears in her eyes. She was dressed in jeans and a red cashmere sweater, her
shoulder length blonde hair tied back. For someone nearing sixty she looked
amazing. Some people, usually men, said they could pass for sisters. That's
probably why she had a better social life than her daughter these days. She'd
certainly had more dates than Lucy in the last six months.
    "The cops said it was a hit and
run," said her mother, wiping a tear from the corner of one eye. "He
didn't even stop. They've got witnesses but it'll be difficult to catch him. The
car didn't