Domino by Chris Barnhart

Clarissa with varying
degrees of intensity.
    "How did you get out of the house?"
    Clarissa told her in detail how she had hid
from Morgan, her escape from the guest room, and how she crashed
the Jaguar into the train to try to kill herself rather than let
Marco have her. Virginia listened expressionlessly. When Clarissa
finished, Virginia excused herself, saying they both needed herb
tea. Clarissa was left alone while Virginia was busy in the
kitchen.
    Clarissa leaned back on the sofa and closed
her eyes. She had told the complete truth, every detail of it. Now
she felt empty and drained, her limbs heavy with exhaustion. Her
shoulder throbbed painfully and her side ached if she moved. Her
head pounded and her eyes burned with fatigue. It was an effort to
stay awake. It would be wonderful to just sleep, to shut out the
past hours and wake up to her life before the murder. Clarissa let
herself sink into the plush white marshmallow-like cushions and
welcomed the billowing gray fog of drowsiness that filled her. Let
them come for her. At least now, someone else knew what had
happened at the house. She was not alone.
    Virginia filled the china tea pot with
chamomile tea while water heated in a pan on the stove. Her hands
worked automatically, her mind worked with lightning speed.
Virginia held power in her hand. Fragile, volatile, very dangerous
power. She had something that Morgan Wolfe wanted desperately. She
had his one and only witness complete with financing. This mistake
of Morgan's would cost him dearly, possibly ruin him. His hands
were finally stained with blood. Virginia could save him or destroy
him.
    Hate wrestled with love, a love that would
never be fulfilled. Her reward for bailing him out of this would be
the same aching, starving love, ending only when Morgan had no more
use for her. Nothing would change. Ruin would break the chains.
Morgan's destruction would release her from the torment. It would
do what her weak emotional strength could not. It would set her
free. The jewelry Clarissa wore would bring enough capital to
finance her escape.
    Her hand shook slightly as she poured the hot
water into the teapot and a few drops splattered on her wrist. The
pain was a grim reminder of who she was dealing with. She had to be
extremely careful. There was no margin for error. The slightest
miscalculation would cost her her own life.
    She brought the tray into the living room and
shook Clarissa gently awake.
    "Drink this," Virginia offered the teacup to
Clarissa. "It'll calm you. You've had a bad scare. Look, I know
Morgan. Don't think I don't know what kind of man he is or that his
ways are not always on the right side of things. He gets what he
wants and he gets it his way. Always. I have never known him to
fail. He's powerful, Clarissa, and his ways are not always legal or
ethical. Nevertheless, he succeeds. For some reason you've managed
to escape his web. I have known some of his associates that have
tried to get out from under Morgan. They ran for a couple of days
or even a couple of months. Morgan always got what he wanted from
them. All of them."
    "Are they all dead?"
    "Of course not," Virginia replied. "He doesn't
go around murdering all of his business associates. Not even the
ones who steal from him. I’m sure some wished he would have .Some
of them, well, let’s just say that can’t function like they used
to. He puts a fear in them they don't ever forget. Then he gets
exactly what he wants from them. Don't ask me how. I'm not
privileged to know the details. I have seen them before and after.
When he's sucked them dry of everything."
    "He killed Avery Roth, too" Clarissa argued,
"and made it look like a robbery attempt. I heard Byron accuse
Morgan of the murder."
    "Then they had something on Morgan," Virginia
leaned back in the overstuffed chair and sipped her tea
thoughtfully. "Whatever they found out got them killed. I wonder
what they had. Morgan is extremely careful."
    "I don't have a chance, do