Thirty-Four and a Half Predicaments
Page 102

He was already sitting up, clutching his left arm. “Call Skeeter.”
I glanced over at Hattie’s still body on the floor. “I have to call 911.”
He tried to reach for his pocket and released a grunt. “Then get my phone out of my right coat pocket.”
I put Beverly’s gun down before I pulled out Jed’s phone and handed it to him. My heart raced as I cast another glance at Hattie, torn between helping her and making sure Jed was safe. “Make your call,” he said gruffly.
“But if the sheriff deputies find you…”
“I think she’s still alive,” he said, releasing his arm and punching numbers into his phone. “But she needs help now.”
He was right. I grabbed my phone and called 911, telling the operator where we were and explaining that multiple people had been shot before I managed to Tase the shooter.
Jed climbed to his feet as I searched for Hattie’s wound. She was splayed on her side and blood seemed to be oozing from her left shoulder. “Hattie?” I asked, looking for something to put on her shoulder.
She’d lost a lot of blood, but her eyes fluttered open and she grimaced.
“Hang on. The paramedics are coming.”
Jed picked up his gun off the floor and walked over to Beverly. “I need to go, Rose.”
I stared at him in panic. “What?” It made sense. He couldn’t be found here—for either of our sakes—but part of me was terrified to be left alone with this mess.
“You know I can’t stay. Just say that some mysterious man showed up and helped you.”
“But that’s not gonna work. Beverly’s gonna tell them I know you.”
He grunted and glanced at the pile of mechanical equipment we’d climbed through to get where we were before turning back to me. His fingers curled around his gun as his eyes looked deadly. “Don’t think for a moment that bitch would have let you walk out of here knowing what you know.”
I sucked in a breath, guessing what he would say next.
His jaw tightened. “I can take care of her and I won’t lose a wink of sleep over it.” He searched my face. “But I know you would. So your call, Rose. Do I make it a non-issue or do you come up with a story?”
He was asking my permission to murder Beverly. I shook my head. “But…I…”
His lips turned up into a slight grin. “I already knew your answer before I suggested it, but I had to let you know it was an option.” He stuffed his gun into the waistband of his jeans. “And don’t worry. You’ll figure it out. You always think of something.” He took several steps toward one of the broken windows. “Let us know when the dust settles.”
I was jealous of his ability to take off and leave all of this behind. “Thanks.”
He nodded and took off toward an open window, then climbed out into the field behind the building.
Relief flooded my body when I heard sirens in the distance. I looked down at Hattie, who gave me a quizzical look. “I take it he doesn’t want the authorities to know he was here?”
“No.” I swallowed. “I know it puts you in a difficult position.”
She gave me a soft smile. “I don’t know him from Adam. It’s easy enough to say a stranger showed up and helped.”
Before I could answer, I heard something behind me. I didn’t even have the chance to turn around and look. Someone knocked me to the ground and straddled my back, wrapping cold hands around my throat and squeezing tight. “You little bitch!” Beverly snarled. “You ruined everything!”
I bucked, trying to throw her off as I gasped for air. She lost her balance and fell off me. I started to scramble away, but she grabbed my coat and rolled me over so she could sit on my stomach.
I released a loud grunt as she pushed all the air out of my lungs. “You’re not going anywhere.” The hate in her eyes scared me as her hands wrapped around my neck again.
I reached for them, curling my fingers around hers, trying to pry them off, but she was pretty determined to finish the job and after several seconds I started to see spots.
“Freeze!” someone shouted. I wanted to cry with relief. The sheriff’s department had shown up.
Only I was still being strangled.
In fact, Beverly’s grip tightened even more. “I’m gonna make you pay for this!”
“Get off her. Now!” Joe shouted. The sound of his voice was enough to give me hope, but Beverly seemed more determined than ever to finish me off. My fingers went numb and my grip on her hands loosened. Everything was fading to black when another gunshot rang out. Beverly’s fingers went limp and I barely had a chance to suck in a breath before she fell on top of me, putting pressure on my chest and restricting my air intake again.
I struggled to push her off, but she had to outweigh me by fifty pounds.
Seconds later, Joe rolled her off me and I looked up into his terror-stricken eyes, never so happy to see him.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I said, my voice sounding raspy.
He closed his eyes and his chest rose as he sucked in a deep breath. “You just scared the shit out of me,” he said when he opened his eyes again.
I started to sit up, but he grabbed my arm and helped me up, putting his arm around my back for support. “I’m gonna have a paramedic look at you.”
“Hattie…” I glanced behind me, grimacing from the pain in my neck.