Bea then proceeded to pull out a huge knife and run it up the panda's back, splitting it wide open. She held up the knife with a grin. "I've always wanted to do that." Yeah, I knew I wouldn't be able to keep that cuddly panda.
Still not finished with her carnage, she ripped the panda apart, flinging its contents across the table. I watched as sealed bags of cash tumbled onto the floor, along with two bags filled with something white. The woman was incorrigible. I reached down to retrieve the two white bags, and sure enough they were filled with powder. "Drugs? Are you serious? You never cared about that stuff."
"It's cocaine. I'm not snorting it, but you never know when shit like that will be useful. And check this out. . ." She cut open the evidence bags and thumbed through the cash. "Looks like two hundred grand, at least." She tossed a bundle to me, probably ten thousand dollars. "That's your cut."
Furious rage swirled around in my head. She'd tricked me into playing a con game for her, and I began to doubt this had anything to do with Uncle Carl or my forging skills. At least I'd progressed to the point where I earned a cut of the take instead of a chocolate bar. That was good. But now I was back to being her con artist partner, and that was definitely bad. I had the sudden urge to slap some sense into her, which would take an awful lot of slapping.
"Is that all we are, after so many years? Partners in crime? I didn't fly across the country for a cut of this deal, and I don't happen to need any money right now." I tossed the cash back to her.
"I came to help Uncle Carl, Bea. But I figured that since I was here, we'd catch up, reconnect. Maybe even repair our old wounds. But you're acting like you don't even care." I blew out a breath. "Talk to me. What's been going on since I left? And what happened to Carl?"
Bea gave me a sheepish grin. "Nothing. He's fine."
I could feel my brow twisting into an angry knot. "He's not in jail?" I suspected I'd been dragged across the country on a lie, but I still couldn't believe it was all for this stupid panda. Something bigger was going on. "Why am I even here?"
She shrugged. "I also wanted to see you again. Reconnect, as you say. You left L.A. in an awful hurry."
"I was running away from you and from conning. So I'm certainly not here to start up again. I only did this panda swindle to help Uncle Carl."