Arsenic and Young Lace
By Littlesilverstar, silverstar222b@yahoo.com
College girl deals with her father's evil new girlfriend


Courtney entered her dormitory room and tossed her stuff onto her bed. Her
roommate, Anna, looked up from her homework. The two 19-year-old girls were
college sophomores and best friends as well as roommates. Both girls were
petite, athletic, and attractive, with long black hair. Courtney had pale skin
and blue eyes from her Irish heritage, while Anna, a Latina, had dark brown
eyes and the archetypical dark brown Latina tan.

"Hey, Court. How was your weekend trip home?" Anna asked.

"All right, I guess. But I'm worried about my dad. He hasn't been feeling well
lately. Mentally, he hasn't been the same since Mom died. And now physically,
he's feeling bad too. And Susan, that new gold-digging witch of a girlfriend
of his, is clinging to him like her thong clings to her ass."

Anna giggled at that. "You are SO like the princess who has to deal with the
wicked stepmother. Except you don't act like a princess."

"It's the phoniness that I really can't stand," said Courtney. "She talks
super nice to me when Dad's around, but when he's not she and her fake 36DD's
always make snarky comments about my 32B's. I pretend to be upset and don't
let on that I like having small perky breasts so she keeps using that line and
doesn't say something that'll really get to me."

"What does he see in her?" Anna wondered.

"She's a slick liar. It takes another woman to really sniff out women like
that. And I gotta admit, she's very attractive even with her ridiculous
implants, and she's a good cook. Not as good as Mom was, of course, but Dad
misses good home-cooked meals, and you know how hopeless he and I both are at
that."

"Me too," said Anna. "If not for the microwave and the toaster, we'd be eating
pizza or Panda Express takeout every night. By the way, did you find out how
old she is? Or how young, I should say."

"She's 23!" Courtney shook her head. "Barely older than us. And she's chasing
a 51-year-old man."

"Wow. That's the same age as my sister. Oh, by the way, she said she's got
just enough of a break from medical school to join us for dinner tomorrow. You
guys can finally meet."

"Cool. What's her name? I don't think you've ever told me."

Anna hesitated. "Promise you won't laugh."

"Um...okay," said Courtney. "It's not something that sounds like a freeway
exit, like Topanga or something, is it?"

"It's Elsa," said Anna in a small voice.

"Come on. You're kidding, right?"

Anna shook her head. Courtney couldn't help it. She began giggling.

A stuffed animal hit Courtney in the chest, followed by another. "You promised
you wouldn't laugh!"

"Sorry. I just couldn't help it." Courtney tossed the stuffed animals back
onto Anna's bed. "That must have been even worse when you guys were younger
and living together, and your parents were introducing you guys to their
friends."

"Oh my God, don't even get me started," Anna laughed.

"But I guess you eventually learned to let it go?" Courtney's hand flew to her
mouth. "That was an accident, I swear! Please, no more stuffed animals."

Anna playfully raised a stuffed tiger before putting it back down. "Well,
softball season starts soon. We should do something to get our throwing arms
back into combat shape."

"When we're done with our homework, we can go out to the field and play
catch," Courtney suggested.

"Sounds good."

* * *

The next evening, at the local Irish pub, a popular hangout for college
students, Courtney, Anna, and Elsa were seated in a booth, enjoying fish and
chips and beer, the last with Elsa's real ID and Anna and Courtney's fake
ones. Elsa looked almost identical to Anna except for being a couple of inches
taller like the stereotypical older sister, even though they were both adults.

"Anna, I'm worried that someday you're going to be busted for that fake ID,"
Elsa said.

"Oh, come on, Elsa. If I didn't have it, I'd be bugging you to buy me booze
all the time. Anyway, since my fake first name is Millicent, no one makes any
jokes about our names when we're out together."

Courtney changed the subject. "So, a medical student, huh? Maybe you can
figure out what's wrong with my dad."

"Maybe. What are his symptoms?" Elsa asked.

"Headaches. Stomachaches. He says he feels tired all the time, and I think
he's losing his hair. I mean, I know lots of guys start going bald even before
his age, but he's always had a full head of hair. All the men in our family
had full heads of hair into their 60s, and he's only 51. I think he's under a
lot of stress."

"Hmm. Those are kind of all over the place, could be lots of different things.
You said you saw him last weekend? Did you take any pictures of him then?"

"Yes." Courtney took out her iPhone.

"May I see?" Courtney handed over the phone and Elsa began going through the
photos. "Maybe one of these pictures can give a hint..." She suddenly stopped.
"Oh my God."

"What is it?" Courtney asked, alarm seeping into her voice.

Elsa pointed to one of the pictures, zooming it in and holding it for Courtney
and Anna to see. "See those white lines on his fingernails? Those are called
Aldrich-Mees lines, and they're symptoms of arsenic poisoning, along with the
other symptoms you described."

Courtney and Anna stared at the picture, then at Elsa, then at each other.
"You don't really think..." Courtney said slowly.

"Does he have a will? Did he change it when..." Anna began.

"Yes. He changed it soon after they started dating, at her insistence, of
course. It used to leave it all to me, but now she and I each get half."

Elsa cleared her throat. "Um, outsider here. Can you kids explain what's going
on?"

Anna spoke very fast. "Courtney's dad is a widower and he started dating this
new girl named Susan who's a total gold-digger and she wants his money and she
cooks for him all the time and I think it's pretty damn obvious now that she's
slowly poisoning his food with arsenic until..."

Elsa placed a firm hand on her younger sister's shoulder. "Simmer down, hot
sauce. Those lines can be caused by other types of metal poisoning. They can
also be caused by kidney failure, although I'm guessing..." She looked at
Courtney.

Courtney shook her head. "His kidneys are fine."

Elsa continued. "Still, if it is arsenic poisoning, there could be multiple
potential sources..."

"Oh, come on," said Anna. "Who else do you think would poison him, the fucking
mailman?"

"Anna!" Elsa scolded her sister. "Watch your language. We're in a nice
restaurant."

"Oh, come on. You're not my mother, and I'm not a little girl..."

"Uh...guys?" said Courtney.

Anna and Elsa looked at each other, then at Courtney, as they were suddenly
jolted into the seriousness of the real issue. "Sorry, Court," they said at
exactly the same time.

Courtney looked at Elsa. "Please tell me you don't actually believe that Susan
dindu nuffins..."

Elsa shook her head. "From what I've just heard, I'm pretty certain that
Susan's guilty. But we need more than that. We need something that will
convince the cops, convince the distict attorney, convince a jury. We need a
smoking gun."

"Then we'll get one," said Courtney in a low but determined voice. She shook
her head. "I knew she was a gold-digging witch, but I never thought she would
ever sink THIS low. If it turns out she IS doing it, that bitch is going to be
SO fucking dead..." She clenched her fists, causing the muscles in her slender
but muscular forearms to ripple. After she unclenched them, Anna and Elsa each
squeezed one of her hands comfortingly.

* * *

"I'm SO glad you could join us for dinner, Courtney," said Susan in a syrupy
sweet voice. Susan was a tall, muscular woman with shoulder length blonde hair
and green eyes, wearing a tight white dress to show off her intimidating
figure.

"And I'm so happy you could bring a little friend with you." Susan turned to
Anna and gave her a fake smile that seemed to go perfectly with her fake
breasts and fake tan, as dark as Anna's natural Latina tan but just not
looking quite the same. The blonde's very real bulging biceps, however, showed
that she was not an opponent to be taken lightly.

"Well, the potatoes are almost ready to come out of the oven, and the steaks
are cooking. Let's see...you like yours medium rare, right, Courtney? And of
course my Alvin likes his medium." Susan pressed her 36DD's into Courtney's
father's back as she spoke and both Courtney and Anna had to resist the urge
to roll their eyes. "How about you, Anna?"

"Medium rare will be fine, thank you," said Anna, her voice betraying no
emotion.

"Great. Medium for Alvin, medium rare for everyone else." Susan turned towards
the kitchen door.

"Let me help you with some of that," said Courtney in her best actress voice.
"You always work so hard at cooking."

"Oh, no!" said Susan. "I won't hear of it. You're our guest. Now you guys get
started on your salad." She pointed to the large bowl in the middle of the
table, then disappeared into the kitchen.

"Since when did I become a guest in my own house?" Courtney murmured. Her
father reached across the table and brushed her hand affectionately. She
smiled, but it became bittersweet as she saw the white stripes on his
fingernails.

"Does she ever let anyone in the kitchen with her?" Anna asked. Alvin shook
his head. Anna and Courtney looked at each other knowingly.

The three of them made small talk as they ate their salads. There was a
tension in the air, but Alvin could tell that now was not the time his
daughter was going to talk about it.

Susan bustled back in with a tray of baked potatoes. "The steaks will be right
out."

"It has to be in the steak," Anna whispered to Courtney as soon as Susan
turned her back.

"Well, here they are!" Susan placed a steak on each plate. "Dig in,
everybody."

Courtney looked at Anna and they both nodded. Anna began chattering in a
bubbly way about college, casually picking up her wine glass as she spoke.
Suddenly, the glass titled, spilling red wine all over Susan's elegant white
dress. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" Anna shrieked.

A flash of rage briefly appeared in Susan's green eyes. Alvin didn't see it,
but the girls did. Then the look passed and was replaced by another fake
smile. "Oh, that's quite all right. It was an accident, I'm sure. Although,
Alvin, I'm not sure why you let these underage kids drink wine."

He smiled. "That's a little bit of the pot calling the kettle young, Susan.
Anyway, a drinking age of 21 is ridiculous. Now here, let me help clean you
up."

While they were distracted, Courtney quickly cut off a piece of her father's
steak, sealed it in a plastic bag, and slipped it into her pocket. She looked
at Anna and nodded.

* * *

After dinner, Courtney and Anna were whispering in the living room. "Do you
think she suspected anything?" Anna asked.

Courtney shook her head. "She knows you spilled the wine on purpose, but I
don't think she has any idea it was a diversion. I'm sure she just thinks you
did it because you hate her."

Anna snickered. "Well, that part is true."

"I wish I could have switched Dad's steak with mine, but he would have noticed
it was undercooked and Susan would have known something was up," Courtney
sighed.

"One meal shouldn't make a difference," said Anna, trying to reassure her
friend.

"I hope not." Courtney buried her face in her hands, then suddenly sat up
straight as she heard something. "Listen. Susan's going into the shower. Now's
our chance to talk with Dad."

* * *

Alvin stared at his daughter. "My God. Do you realize what you're accusing her
of, Courtney?"

She took a deep breath. Her father almost always called her by the diminutive
"Court." When he used her full name, that's when she knew she'd shocked him.
"Yes. Yes, I do. This isn't the jealous daughter thing. This is about saving
your life, Daddy."

He shook his head. "I can't believe Susan would do something like this. I just
can't believe it."

"But...all the evidence...the fingernails!" Anna protested. "My sister's a
medical student, she knows this stuff!"

He smiled at her. "I appreciate your loyalty to your friend. And Court, I
appreciate your protectiveness towards me. But I just can't believe it. Susan
loves me. There must be some other explanation..."

Courtney reached into her pocket and held up the bag with the piece of steak.
Her father stared. "What is that?"

"You know what it is, Dad."

He nodded slowly. "The spilled wine. I should have known. How long will a test
take?"

"I'll take it to my sister tonight. She should have the results tomorrow,"
said Anna.

"If it comes back positive, then will you..." Courtney asked.

Alvin nodded again. "IF it does, then yes. I'll have no choice. But I still
think it'll come back negative."

Courtney looked at her watch, the large timepiece sliding slightly down her
slender wrist as her arm moved. "I should turn in soon. I'll get up early
tomorrow and 'surprise' everyone with breakfast. I hope you can stand my awful
but arsenic-free cooking for one meal. Then you'll be at work for lunch. We
should be able to get the results before she has a chance to feed us
anything."

He sighed, shaking his head. "May God help us all."

* * *

Courtney paced back and forth in the living room, checking her watch every
fifteen seconds. Anna was trying to read a book, but found herself on the same
page she'd been on an hour ago.

The sudden knock on the door jolted them both out of their thoughts. Courtney
darted to it and peeked through the peephole, then unlocked it to let Elsa in.
"Is it all clear?" the older girl asked.

Courtney nodded. "Susan's at the spa, and Dad's still at work. So was it..."

Elsa said nothing. She didn't have to. Her expression said it all.

Courtney felt her knees start to shake. "Is there any chance of..."

Elsa shook her head. "Arsenic levels dozens of times too high to be any chance
of accidental contamination. Perfect level to cause a slow, natural-looking
death over a period of eight to twelve months."

"I KNEW it!" said Anna.

"I'm sorry, Court," said Elsa.

Courtney said nothing. Instead, she disappeared into her old bedroom and
reappeared a few moments later with a pistol in one hand and a loaded magazine
in the other.

Elsa stared at her. "Courtney, are you kidding?"

"Does it LOOK like I'm kidding?" Courtney expertly loaded the weapon,
chambered a round, and removed the safety. "Guns are no joke. And neither is
this situation. We found the smoking gun, and in about an hour this gun will
be smoking too."

"Yeah, Court! Give that bitch what she has coming!" cheered Anna.

"Anna!" Elsa scolded her younger sister. "Don't encourage her. Courtney, it's
not worth it. She's not worth it. You have your whole life ahead of you. You
got a full softball scholarship to your first-choice college. You have a great
career ahead of you in the field of your major. Don't throw it all away. Susan
will go to trial for attempted murder. She'll get what she has coming, the
legal way. Now give me the gun."

Courtney hesitated. "Give me the gun. Please," Elsa repeated, in a softer
voice.

Courtney, trembling, handed over the pistol. Elsa removed the magazine,
ejected the round in the chamber, and set weapon and ammo down on the coffee
table. She gave Courtney a tight hug. Anna joined them.

"Aww. Isn't that sweet," came the female voice from behind them.

All three girls whirled around. Sure enough, Susan was standing there,
pointing a large black handgun straight at them. "Little Courtney and her
little friend Anna. And you must be Anna's older sister. All together. But for
how long on this earth?"

"How did you know?" Courtney demanded.

Susan cackled loudly and arrogantly. "Do you think I'm dumb because I have
fake tits? Because I'm blonde? Because I'm a gold-digger? Well, I may be a
gold-digging slut, but I'm a SMART one. I took all the signs one by one and
put them together. You feeling the need to bring your little friend over. The
spilled wine. The curiosity to get into the kitchen while I was in there. You
cooking breakfast this morning. You think this is the first time I've done
something like this? Once your daddy is dead, he'll become just another notch
on my belt, and I can move on to the next one." Courtney's blue eyes flashed
with anger at that.

"I have a sixth sense for danger, and it told me I should come back early from
the spa today, just in case," Susan continued cockily. "And boy, did it ever
deliver."

Elsa, who initially had been frozen in silent fear, took a deep breath as she
found her voice. "Susan, it's over. You've been caught red-handed. The lab has
the results, and law enforcement has already been notified. Now just put the
gun down. If you run they'll just give you a longer sentence when they catch
you."

Susan snorted. "You expect me to believe the cops are on their way? I'm going
to finish all three of you little cunts off."

"You'll never get away with it!" Anna cried.

"Oh, really? I have the perfect plan. I heard your conflict over the gun. What
if it got physical? What if there was a struggle, and one of you accidentally
shot the other two, then felt so guilty that she killed herself?"

"No one would ever believe a story like that!" said Elsa.

"Oh, no?" Susan raised her pistol. Courtney's eyes darted to the other gun on
the coffee table. Susan noticed and laughed. "I know it's empty. Mine's the
only loaded one in here."

"Nice going, Elsa," Anna muttered sarcastically.

Susan stared. "Oh my God. Your name is Anna, and your older sister's name is
Elsa?! That is so fucking HILARIOUS..." In her fit of laughter, her arm
dropped and the gun pointed downward.

That was all Courtney needed. With a high-pitched warrior cry, she flew across
the room in a series of incredibly fast aerial cartwheels. Susan began aiming
her gun, but before she could pull the trigger, Courtney crashed into her with
her final cartwheel, sending both women down into a pile of arms and legs and
sending the gun flying. It slid under the couch.

The other girls leapt into action. Elsa dove for the weapon under the couch,
while Anna snatched up the other pistol and swiftly and expertly loaded it.
Susan, seeing that she had stepped in it, grabbed Courtney and tossed the
petite girl right into Anna, sending them both down in a flailing heap.

Elsa found the gun under the couch and whirled around, but Susan was already
out the door. A second later, an engine started up, followed by a squeal of
tires.

Courtney was already running for her own car, the other girls right behind
her. They all piled in and Courtney took off with another squeal of tires.
Anna was riding shotgun almost literally with her pistol, while Elsa called
911 from the back seat.

Susan drove right through a red light, narrowly missing several cars and
eliciting a large number of angry honks. Courtney looked for the slightest
opportunity, but there were just too many vehicles flowing across the
intersection. By the time the light turned green, Susan was long gone.

Courtney drove back home and the girls got out to wait for the police. "We
almost had her!" groaned Anna in frustration.

"She almost had us," said Courtney.

"She would have, except for the name thing," added Elsa. "I am never
complaining about my name, ever again."

* * *

"You're going to be fine, Alvin," said the doctor. "Luckily, you weren't
eating the poisoned food for too long. The headaches and stomachaches should
gradually disappear over time, and you should be completely back to normal in
a couple of months, except your lost hair may not grow back."

"Oh, thank God," said Courtney, hugging her father as he sighed in relief.
Anna and Elsa, watching from a few feet back, smiled and squeezed each other's
hands.

"I'd still like to keep you here in the hospital for a couple of days, just to
be on the safe side," the doctor continued.

"I'm staying here with him," declared Courtney immediately.

"Ma'am, I'm afraid that's not allowed," said the security guard standing in
the doorway. "You're free to be here during visiting hours, but when they're
over, and they will be soon, you'll have to go."

"Don't worry," said the real cop at the door, stepping past the rent-a-cop.
"I'll be here on guard all night in case that Susan tries anything, although
I'm pretty sure she's looking for the next flight to the Cayman Islands right
now."

"I'll be fine, Court," said her father. "What about you? She might try to come
after you."

"That bitch will have to get past us, and fat chance of that happening," Anna
piped up.

"We'll go back to the house and be back here tomorrow mor..." Courtney began.

Alvin shook his head. "I don't want you girls alone in the house. If Susan
comes back that's the first place she'll look. Maybe if you went back to
sch..."

"No." Courtney shook her head. "I'm not going back to the university until
you're discharged from the hospital with a clean bill of health."

"Then find a hotel nearby. Use my credit card, and feel free to splurge for
yourself and your friends." He gave his daughter a tight hug. "Thank you for
saving me. I promise, the next woman I date will actually be old enough to be
your mother."

"Just using my feminine intuition, Daddy," said Courtney as she hugged him
back.

"And thank you for your help too, girls," he said to Anna and Elsa.

Elsa smiled. "De nada."

"We're like Charlie's Angels," Anna added. "We can do the Angels' famous
ass-kicking pose...Too cheesy? Okay, too cheesy."

"You girls should have a police bodyguard too..." Alvin began.

"That won't be necessary, Dad. I have the two best bodyguards right here."
Courtney touched Anna and Elsa's shoulders.

The security guard cleared his throat. "I'm sorry, but visiting hours are now
over."

Courtney kissed her father on the cheek. "I'll be back the minute visiting
hours open up tomorrow morning."

After the girls had left, Alvin turned to the police officer. "Put a bodyguard
on them anyway. And no rent-a-cops."

* * *

In the large suite at the Ritz-Carlton, Anna was taking a shower, while
Courtney and Elsa were sitting on the couch, talking. "You don't have to
stay," said Courtney. "You have medical school to get back to. And you only
met me a few days ago."

"Court, Anna's told me enough about you that I feel like I've known you for
years. And if I was a stranger I wouldn't be using the diminutive form of your
name."

"I still have my gun. I wish we could have kept both, but the cops had to take
Susan's gun as evidence. Anyway, I'll also have Anna here. I'm sure you know
better than anyone how fierce she can be."

Elsa smiled at that. "Still, I'll stay until your dad's out of the hospital.
Medical school can wait until then, and I know I can catch up quickly."

Meanwhile, in the hotel parking garage, a man was talking on a cell phone.
"Yes, Susan. I know exactly where those three girls are."

TO BE CONTINUED...