"He loved me," she said softly. "And I loved him."
"Pauline, wake up! I was screwing him whenever he was here and you weren't. That's how it was, honey. Business, through and through. I paid the price, I got my promotions, and finally, I got what I wanted, everything. The three million was just a little extra something that fell into my lap."
A thick, guttural scream of pure rage came from Pauline, as she lunged from her chair, across the room toward her former best friend.
Christine's face never moved. Her finger tightened on the trigger, the gun went off, and Pauline dropped to the ground. Bess had jumped up, moving toward Christine, but stopped when Christine turned the gun back on her.
"You want to be next?" she asked. "I have no problem with making you next."
Before she could answer, the front door opened and Archer VanScoy stepped into the room. His hand was in his coat pocket, wrapped around a bulge that had to be a gun.
"Hey," he said. "I'm just in time, huh?"
"Well, it's about damned time!" I said. "I'd almost given up on you!"
"Huh?" Archer VanScoy turned and stared at me as if I was a crazy woman.
"What is she talking about?" Christine said.
I stood up and walked toward Archer, a big smile on my face and my arms open wide, blocking his view of Christine. "Tell her, sug," I said.
"Tell her what?" he said.
"Yeah, tell me what?" Christine asked. She stood slowly, looking at Archer with one eyebrow raised.
Pauline moaned and in that same moment I heard a sound behind me as Bess flew off the couch and into Christine. Christine grunted and flew sideways with Bess on top of her. The gun skittered out of her hand, flying across the floor. I rammed VanScoy, knocking him off balance momentarily, and grabbed a large white marble stone that looked like a bowling ball as he struggled to regain his balance.
I lifted it up over my head, bringing it down sharply on the side of his neck. VanScoy dropped like a load of bricks and shots rang out behind me. A woman screamed and I turned to look, the smooth stone still in my hands.
Pauline Conrad sat on the floor, Christine's gun in her hand. Christine lay sprawled backward on the floor, an ugly red stain blooming across her chest. But it was Bess who most concerned me. She was leaning against the wall behind Christine, her shoulder covered in blood, and the color completely drained from her face. Her eyes were closed and she appeared to be unconscious.
I dropped to my knees, reached into VanScoy's pocket, and pulled his hand away from the gun that I'd known was there. With it in my hand, I turned back to Pauline.
"Honey," I said, "put the gun down."
Pauline didn't even look at me. She was staring at her dead friend, tears rolling down her face, blood staining the right side of her pale pink pajamas. She lay the gun down on the floor at her side, and closed her eyes.
The room was completely silent for a minute. I sat there, holding Archer VanScoy's gun and trying to make my brain work. Then Bess moaned and I moved to her side, pulling her shirt aside and looking at the wound which seemed to bubble up with blood.
"Nine-one-one," I said. Bess's eyes opened.
"Good plan," she whispered. "Better call them. They don't read minds."
Pauline had collapsed onto the floor again. I grabbed Christine's gun and stepped over to the white cordless phone that was lying on an end table.
Bess sighed and touched her shoulder.
"Blood is so damn hard to get out of a white carpet," she murmured.
Chapter Twenty-seven
Marshall Weathers arrived with the ambulances. I saw him walking through the EMTs and police officers, weaving his way over to where I stood. At first he just stared at me, looking at me as if he'd maybe never seen me before, as if I were a stranger, and then he smiled. But it wasn't a happy smile, it was tight and controlled, as if he were making an effort. He looked at his watch and then back at me.
"This isn't exactly how I expected to meet up with you," he said. "If you'd maybe clued me in, I could've saved you some trouble."
I pushed my hair out of my face and looked up at him. "You could've saved me some trouble?"
"I've had a tail on Christine Razuki for three days now. When I saw her with VanScoy, I was beginning to put it together. I knew Christine was taking over for Nosmo. I knew Archer VanScoy was talking about expanding his business. They would've both benefited with King out of the way. I was very close." He sighed.
"I went back and talked to Vernell some more," he said.
"He told me about his new business plan, how he'd pulled all of his money out of the bank to do this one big deal. That's when it started coming together for me. VanScoy set him up. If Vernell had succeeded, VanScoy would've been ruined."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Marshall had his cop face on. "I didn't get Vernell to talk until tonight. Before that I didn't want to get your hopes up. I wanted to be sure."
"Well, I guess we're sure."
Marshall sighed and looked around the devastated living room. "Well, it was a hell of a way to find out," he said. "I thought you were safe."
"I am safe, Marshall."
Weathers couldn't hold it in any longer. "They would've killed you, Maggie. They would've killed all three of you. Don't you understand that Christine Razuki has been working with the Redneck Mafia for years? That she grew up in this organization? It's not just some little ragtag gang of construction scam artists anymore, Mag, they're bigger than that now." He sighed and looked at me.
"It was nothing for Christine to order VanScoy to kill Nosmo King. She owned VanScoy. She had the money and the power to make or break VanScoy. Nosmo King was all set to back Vernell. What else could VanScoy do but play ball with Christine? And this was her big opportunity to take over."
"So it got a little out of hand."
Weathers shook his head and reached out for me, pulling me close to him and sighing. "Maggie, what am I going to do about you?"
"Marshall?" Tracy the cadet had materialized out of thin air to stand beside us and come between us.
Instantly, Marshall was all cop. "Yes?"
"The captain's here. She wants a report."
Weathers let go of me and looked from Tracy to me. "I'll be right back," he said. "I need to take care of this." He turned, took a step, and looked back. "Don't go anywhere," he said.
I smiled and watched him walk away before I noticed Tracy the Nose Basher studying my every move.
"He feels sorry for you," she said.
"What?" Marshall Weathers felt sorry for me? No way.
"Uh-huh," she said. She looked right at me, her face full of concern. "He told me that you're a single mom and that he tries to help you out because there's no one else to look out for you. You know, kind of like a big brother."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I stared at her, trying to gauge her honesty, and all I saw was pity.
"If there's ever anything I can do to help out, let me know," she said, and reached into her pocket for a business card. "Marsh and I really care about the people we work for. It's not just nine to five with us. It's a calling."
I looked across the room. He stood with his back to me, talking to his captain. As if he felt my eyes upon him, he turned, but he was looking for Tracy. He beckoned her and she put a hand out to touch my shoulder.
"I'll be right back," she said. "Will you be okay?"