I didn’t want Donna to see me when she and Mark came around from the front so I walked quickly to the back of the building and wedged myself into a fenced-in area, containing trashcans. It smelled like a garbage dump, but I should be safe here, in the dark. And from here I could see the cars. As I watched, Lefty and Sandra ducked down between the cars, out of sight.
Minutes passed. Nobody came to the back of the lot. Since only a handful of other cars were parked back here, apparently the crowd wasn’t large enough yet to need the additional parking. But where were Mark and Donna. They should have been here by now. Had they stopped downstairs for another beer?
I had a strong desire to move to where the air was cleaner. Sandra’s head popped up from the shadows between the cars and she looked around. She and Lefty came out of their hiding place and trotted toward me. I came out of mine so they could see me.
“We’re going to find out where they are,” Lefty said as he ran by, laboring because of his size.
“Stay here,” Sandra said as she passed me, running easily.
They disappeared down the side of the building.
I obeyed Sandra for a few seconds, thankful that the odor wasn’t so strong where I stood now. I didn’t want to return to the trashcans. Instead, I walked to my car. I thought it would be a good idea to move my car away from Donna’s, in case there was trouble. As I approached my car a vehicle came around the other side of the building. It was too late to hide; it headed toward my corner of the lot and nailed me with its headlights. I felt like a frightened deer.
I scoffed at my alarm; this must be a patron of Club Cavalier. I got out my keys and started to unlock my car door, planning to get in, as if I were leaving. Act natural. Instead of parking in a lined space, the pickup truck-I had now identified it as such-pulled up behind my car and Donna’s car. Strange. I took another look; it was Eric Hoffman’s truck.
Eric stuck his head out of the open driver’s-side window and yelled something at me, but I couldn’t hear what he said because of the noise of his engine. Then he shut off the engine and said, “Lillian, is that you? The whole damn world is here tonight.”
I hadn’t heard him swear before. He opened his door while Mark and Donna piled out of the other side of the truck. Eric must have spotted them as they came out of the Club. That couldn’t be good. I stood with one hand on my door handle, waiting to see what was going to happen next.
Mark saw me and came over, saying, “Lillian, what are you doing here?”
Of all the things I could have said, I chose, “Sandra’s here. She wants to talk to you.”
“I can’t right now. I…I’ll explain later. Right now I have to go with Donna.”
I wanted to order Mark to get into my car where he would be safe, but Donna and Eric were listening. Mark started around the back of my car toward Donna’s car. Donna had opened her driver’s-side door and stuck her head into the car. Now she stood up and turned toward Mark.
I saw the gun in her hand before Mark did. I yelled, “Mark, look out!”
Donna fired several shots in quick succession as Mark started to duck. Mark fell behind my car. Donna moved forward, holding the gun awkwardly in both hands, planning to shoot him again. My car was between Donna and me. I couldn’t get to her; I could only watch in horror.
Eric had one foot on the ground and was positioning his cane to help him swing his other leg out of the truck. From this awkward position he launched himself at Donna as she approached to finish off Mark. Eric’s body hit Donna, but his lunge didn’t have much force behind it so he grabbed her as he fell, pulling them both down on the asphalt. He grunted loudly as his body hit the ground.
I finally became mobile and somehow made it around to the back of my car. All three bodies were in the space between the truck and the two cars. Blood was spreading on Mark’s shirt, but Donna was first priority. Being careful not to step on Mark, I picked up Eric’s cane, which he had dropped. Donna had rolled out of Eric’s grasp, into the back wheel of her car, and was struggling to get up. She hit her head on the frame of her car and collapsed. I saw the gun in her hand and remembered what she had said about Eric knocking the knife out of her hand with his cane.
As Donna tried a second time to get up I hit her sharply on the wrist with the cane. The gun came loose and clattered to the blacktop. Using the cane like a hockey stick, I scooted the gun underneath Eric’s truck. Donna made it to her knees, a dazed expression on her face. I stood facing her, cane in hand, holding it like a dueling sword.
She knelt on the ground, not looking at me. She reached into a pocket of her jeans. At first I thought she might have another gun, but then I realized her pocket wasn’t large enough to hold a gun. She pulled out a small plastic container and removed the cap. Before I understood what she was doing she dumped a pill into her hand and popped it into her mouth.
Somehow I knew that I couldn’t let her swallow the pill. I hit her hard in the mouth with the cane. She screamed and blood spurted. I dropped the cane, grabbed her head and tried to pry her mouth open, but she bit me and twisted away.
I heard running footsteps approaching. Sandra and Lefty raced up. I said, “She’s got a pill in her mouth. Don’t let her swallow it.”
Lefty tackled Donna while Sandra bent over Mark, saying his name. Somebody should call 911. I had dropped my purse beside my car. I found it and fumbled for my cell phone.
Mark was conscious, lying on his back. He had been hit near his shoulder, apparently only once. Sandra had ripped part of his shirt off with the strength of desperation and used it to stanch the blood. I stood by her, ready to help, but I didn’t want to get in her way.
“I owe you another one, Lillian,” Mark said, slowly. “If you hadn’t yelled…”
“Don’t talk, Sweetheart,” Sandra said. “Help will be here soon.”
After a brief fight, Lefty had extracted the pill from Donna’s bloody mouth. He held her down and kept her subdued. Both of them sat on the asphalt as I explained what she had done.
Eric was sitting up, obviously hurting. He had some scrapes and he required more help than I could give him to get to his feet. I returned his cane.
He said, “I never should have lent her that gun. She said she needed it for self-defense.”
“Defense from whom?” I asked.
“I’m not sure. Maybe Mark.”
“You knew she had killed Elise, didn’t you?” I said. “You must have caught her in the act.”
Eric cringed. I had never seen a man look so beaten.
“I don’t know what got into me,” he said. “When I arrived at the apartment I heard screams. The door was locked so I broke the window with my cane to get in. It was a struggle for me to get through the window. By the time I got inside Elise was dead. My first impulse was to attack Donna, but that wouldn’t have brought Elise back.”
“You would have killed her if I hadn’t,” Donna said, from where she sat in Lefty’s grasp, her mouth dripping blood onto Lefty’s beautiful tie. She slurred her words. “Your own guilt stopped you from doing anything to me. That and knowing you could get sexual favors from me in return for your silence.”
Lefty shook his head and said, “Neither one of you can hold a candle to the Star. For two cents I’d do you both in. Maybe I should have let you swallow that pill. What is it, cyanide?” He opened his hand and examined it.
For answer, Donna grabbed the capsule out of Lefty’s hand and threw it backward over the wall that bounded the parking lot. Lefty, who had instinctively clapped his other hand over Donna’s mouth to prevent her from swallowing it, tensed his muscles and appeared to want to do her bodily harm. His body vibrated. Then he slowly relaxed and the tension seemed to drain out of him.
As the only mobile member of the group I made a move to go after the capsule, but Lefty said, “Leave that for the police. It’s their job. You’d never find it in the weeds, anyway.”