Like the pin of a brooch.
The speed of the rain increased, and my heart rate nearly matched the pace.
I fished the item from the boar's mouth, and a long piece of black stuffing came with it. Disgusted, I dropped it to the hardwood floor and shook out my arms.
An oval of white pearls glowed in the darkness.
The cameo.
I hopped from the chair and picked it up. The clasp was caught on the stuffing. I gripped the material to work it loose, and my palm wrapped around something scaly and cold.
I opened my hand.
A red sequin heart appliqué.
On black fishnet.
The match to the stocking that killed Uncle Vinnie.
I was so stunned that I screamed—a cry of victory and a wail of grief. It was too late to help my uncle, but I would free Gia and George.
"Cassidi?"
I raised the cameo and stocking in triumph, and I turned to show Alex.
My arm dropped to my side.
Elise?
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
"Cassidi, thank God." Elise spoke through gasps, and rainwater dripped from her white sweatshirt and tights.
I stepped backwards. Why isn't she at the B&B? And why isn't she surprised to find me in her husband's cabin?
"You've got to come with me. We don't have much time." She came toward me and held out a wet hand.
I shrunk from her and hit the fireplace. "What's going on? Why aren't you asking me what I'm doing here?"
"Everyone in town knows you've been looking into Vincent's and Jesse's deaths. And if we don't hurry, you and I will be next."
"You?"
"Katrina is trying to kill me." Her gaze shot to the window. "And she plans to kill you too."
Lightning illuminated the room.
I saw fear in her eyes, but I didn't trust her. "I'm not going anywhere with you."
Her head lowered. "I'm trying to tell her she's in danger, Elise, but she won't listen."
That little conversation made me want to go with her even less.
She grabbed my forearm and pulled, and she was surprisingly strong.
"I'm not kidding, girl. We've got to leave. I need your help to fight that animal."
I wrested free. "I'm not alone. I'll tell my friends. The five of us can take on Katrina together."
"She's already gotten them."
Terror pelted my brain. "They're—"
"Bound and gagged in the humidor. I tried to let them out, but she padlocked the door."
And I didn't hear anything because of the rain on the tin roof.
"Do you understand now?" Her pitch rose with each syllable. "We have to run and get help. Otherwise, she'll kill us all."
"Did you call the police?"
"She cut the lines." Her voice was a wail.
"I've got my phone." I tapped the button. No service bars.
The storm.
Elise took my wrist. "Enough of this nonsense. We're going to the gym."
I pulled back. "Why move to another building? What's wrong with the cabin?"
"She knows I'm looking for the evidence you're holding, and she knows Jesse hid it here."
Shock turned to anger. "You knew she killed my uncle, and you did nothing?"
"This isn't the time to have that conversation." She shouted the words, on the edge of hysteria. "We're being hunted, child."
Lightning lit up the grounds.
Katrina's silhouette was unmistakable. She exited the mansion, indifferent to the rain—and the hail.
Unlike my brain, my legs didn't hesitate. They ran. Gripping the cameo and stocking, I followed Elise to the hallway, and I prayed Zac was on his way.
She led me to a back door with a window, and I was terrified that Katrina's face would appear like the Jack Torrance character in The Shining.
Elise grabbed the handle. "Run left, and you'll reach the spa exit. It's unlocked. Are you ready?"
"I'm going first?"
"So I can cover you."
"Or feed me to the lioness."
She dropped her head. "Leave her, Elise. She's dragging you down."
Her self-talk was startling—not to mention rude—and a reminder that if she were the killer, she would've already offed me. "Okay, but if you see Katrina, you'd better help me fight her off."
"We need each other. That's why I came to get you." She opened the door a few inches and peered out.
I ripped off my plastic clothing so I could run faster.
"It's clear." She jerked open the door.
And I bolted. Fearing that I was either a sacrifice to Katrina or Elise's next victim, I squeezed the cameo and hoped Diana, the goddess of the hunt, would protect me.
Rain obscured my vision, and hail stung my head. And my feet slipped in the mud. I wanted to look behind me to see if Katrina was coming, but I resisted the urge. Because the spa exit was in sight.
Just a few more yards.
And maybe my phone would get service.
I was flying—not with speed, but through the air.
Had Katrina caught me? Or Elise?
I landed hard in mud and leaves. Petrified, I looked back.
I'd tripped over a broken branch. Were the trees out to get me? Did they seek revenge for Herb the bus driver?
I got to my feet, but my ankle didn't work. Was it sprained? Broken?
It didn't matter. I had to hop.
Three yards.
Two.
One.
Made it.
I pushed open the door, slammed it behind me, and turned the lock. It was an automatic reaction, but it made sense. I wasn't convinced that Elise was one of the good guys despite her white outfit.
I looked out the window. No one.
I checked my phone. No service.
My ankle throbbed, but I had to move. Find a hiding place.
I glanced outside and gasped.
Elise was running toward the exit with Katrina on her heels, and her rage face said she intended to kill.
She wasn't acting. Her best friend and mansion manager wanted her dead.
A charge went through my body. I had to let Elise in and lock Katrina out. But could I stop a muscled maniac? And if I did, what then? We'd be trapped in the spa, hapless victims, with no way to call the police.
Elise was close, and Katrina gained on her.
I turned the lock and the handle.
She was a few feet away, and I threw open the door. She barreled inside, and we used our bodies to close it while I fumbled with the lock. But my fingers were too muddy to get a grip.
Katrina bashed into the door, her cheek pressing against the window with a Jack Nicholson grin, and a stab of pain from my ankle caused me to lose my footing.
Elise held firm, and I charged at the door, using my good leg as a brace to help her push it closed.
She turned the lock and yanked my bicep. "This way."
"I can't run. I'm hurt."
Her head dropped. "Dear God, Elise." Her breath was ragged. "I told you to dump her."
My head recoiled. Nice way to thank me for saving her life.
Katrina hit the door with a crack.
I ran through the pain.
Elise led me to a hallway and through a door. "We can hide in these tanning beds."
"You mean, electric coffins? Katrina could sit on the lid and tan one of us to death."
Another crash into the door.
She threw up her arms. "The gym."
I ran-hopped behind her, trying not to think the effort was futile. To find us, all Katrina had to do was follow the trail of muddy water. But if we could elude her until the storm broke, I could get phone service and call the police. And there was always the hope that Zac would show up.
Elise flung open the metal door and ran to a stack of rolled gym mats. She unrolled one. "Lay down, and roll yourself up."
I complied while she unrolled one for herself. The mats weren't the best hiding place, but they weren't electric, and t
hey offered potential padding from Katrina's MMA kicks.
Inside my mat, I listened as Elise rolled herself up. Her mat was behind mine against the wall, so Katrina would find me first. I was a piece of rolled lunchmeat on a platter. Even worse, I couldn't see the door without sticking my head out one end—an invitation to stomp on it or punt it like a ball.
So I lay there, blind and confined, and waited.
Silence.
I couldn't hear the storm, and the door battering had stopped. Had Katrina given up? Or was she inside, on the hunt?
"Cassidi." Elise's voice was a whisper. "Do you still have my cameo and the stocking?"
Somehow my hand still gripped them, vice-like. "Yes."
"Whatever happens, don't lose them. They're our proof Katrina killed Vincent. She wore them to his house the night she strangled him."
I squirmed in the mat, wishing I could break free to confront her. As risky as it was to continue the conversation under the circumstances, I had to ask her about my uncle's murder. "If you knew she killed my Uncle Vinnie, why didn't you go to the police?"
"Because I only found out when Jesse was released from jail. He said we had to get rid of Katrina because she was blackmailing him."
"For what?"
"He stole some investment money."
The infamous casino deal with Sonny Torlone and my uncle.
"She figured out he'd invested it in a painting and was threatening to turn him in if he didn't pay. So he went looking for dirt on her and found the stocking in her bedroom." She choked on a sob. "That's why she killed my Jesse. He confronted her the day of the vow renewal ceremony."
Something seemed off about the story. "What about the cameo? Jesse was dead when Katrina stole it, so how did it end up in the boar's mouth?"
"I put it there."
"You stole it from my house?"
"Watch who you're accusing, young lady. Katrina did it. At my insistence."
"Isn't that the same thing?"
She sniffed, exasperated. "When I saw Gia wearing my cameo in my home, I was shocked. Katrina manages the house affairs, so I demanded to know what your cousin was doing with my brooch. And she confessed to wearing it the night she killed Vincent."
That was an oddly materialistic way to phrase it. How about, and she confessed to killing Vincent while wearing it?
Elise gave another sob. "The only thing I could do was order her to get it back. I knew someone would eventually connect it to me, and I didn't want the police thinking I murdered your uncle."
My lips curled, and so did my fingers. "So you hid it with the stocking as more evidence against her."
"As evidence I didn't want her to use to falsely implicate me." Her tone was defensive with outrage. "Jesse had bought her those tacky fishnet stockings, so she could've lied to the police and said they were mine. And since the cameo belonged to my mother, they'd be inclined to believe her, especially since her father, Walt, was Lester Marshall's partner."
I had questions about Jesse and the stockings, but I was consumed with anger at her self-centeredness. If she'd gone to the police as she should have, my uncle's killer would have been caught, and we would have all been safe. But it would've been a waste of my breath to tell her that. And we needed to stop talking and listen for Katrina. My uncle was dead, but our lives were savable—at least, that was what I hoped.
We fell silent.
I couldn't hear the storm.
The gym was quiet.
Deathly so.
I shuddered. I had to stop thinking in those terms.
But something bothered me. Why had Elise left the B&B to come back to a house infested with rats? "What prompted you to look for the evidence tonight?"
"Katrina and I got into an argument. It horrifies me to say this, but we developed a sudden rat problem. I accused her of neglecting her duties and fired her. And she accused me of hiring someone to put the rats in the mansion to set her up." She paused. "Like anyone would do such a thing."
I stayed as quiet as a church rat.
"I pointed out that there were rodents in my room too, but that didn't satisfy her. She said she'd get even with me. I knew I had to get the stocking and cameo before she found them, so after she went to her room, I threw my purse out the window and climbed down the side of the B&B."
"Why didn't you just call the police?"
"Because I had to come to the mansion to get that painting. Thanks to my slouch of a brother, our hardware company has been losing money for years. Rhys has been exploiting it, and Jesse certainly wasn't earning money in jail. That painting is my livelihood."
I paused to listen for Katrina. I was satisfied that we were alone, but not with Elise's story. "Okay, then why didn't you call the police when you got to your car?"
"My phone was gone. Either Katrina took it, or it fell out of my purse when I threw it out the window."
"You didn't look for it?"
"With that animal after me? I thought I'd come here, get the painting, and drive straight to the police station. But…" She gave a muffled cry. "…it was gone."
"The painting?"
"Katrina must've taken it, because that's when I realized she'd followed me here."
Or Rhys took it. Was that why he stole the rowboat?
A creak echoed throughout the gym.
Katrina.
A click resounded in my ears like the toll of a bell.
Seconds passed, maybe minutes.
Pin-drop silence.
Had she looked inside and left?
My internal clock ticked.
It was so dark and quiet that I grew disoriented.
Dizzy.
No, I was moving.
Rolling.
Fear washed over me in sheets.
My mat went flat with a thwat, and a rush of air blew over me.
A flashlight came on and shined in my eyes.
Katrina stood over me, soaking wet, her pixie plastered to her head. I'd never noticed how many muscles she had in her face. And all of them were moving.
Her lips parted. "I've been training for this matchup for months."
"I d-don't w-want to fight."
"Who said anything about fighting?" She crouched to my side. "You're going to drop to your death."
Water dripped from her chin to my eyes.
And everything went black.
* * *
My eyes opened. The gym lights had been turned on, and the floor was below me. Feet below me—as in twelve or so.
Was I looking down from heaven?
Katrina stepped into my line of vision in black workout attire.
No. Still in hell.
She looked up, her face blank. "How are you enjoying aerial yoga?"
I glared at her from my parallel position, and worked my bound wrists behind me. Oddly, my head didn't hurt.
"Fine." She spread manly arms. "Don't talk to me. It'll make this easier."
"What do you mean by 'this,' exactly?"
She pointed at me. "You're feisty for a fainter."
I was relieved to learn that I'd passed out. A blow to the head would've concussed me, and I needed every last wit in my head to take on the unjolly giant.
"Too bad you never trained with me at Hard Bodies to build up your mental toughness. But, I would've just killed you back then and made it look like an accident, which is what I'm about to do now."
She acted as though that was news. It wasn't.
Katrina walked in a circle. "You and your cousin should've let the police handle these investigations."
The evidence.
I scanned the floor.
"Looking for these?" She pulled the cameo and stocking from the pocket of her sweatpants. And my phone.
My wits were failing me. Zac had to come. Where was he?
"These things are useless to you now." She stuffed the items into her pocket. "It's not like you're going to survive the fall from your aerial yoga hammock."
I swallowed and worked my wrists harder.
"But you asked me what I meant by 'this,' so I'll tell you. I'm going to drop you flat on your face. The impact will shove your nose into your brain, and your ribs will puncture your lungs and, with any luck, your heart."
The shock of waking up in midair was wearing off, and terror was taking its place.
"I'll make it look like Elise killed you—right before she killed herself."
Elise. I scanned the room.
Katrina walked over to the wall with the gym mats. "She thinks I don't know it, but she's still here in her ridiculous hiding place."
She kicked Elise's mat.
It unrolled, and Elise sprang out with a karate-type cry. She whipped off her sweatshirt, revealing a sports bra, and raised her fists.
The two women faced off like boxers, circling and sizing each other up.
Katrina threw a punch.
Elise avoided the blow and replied with a punch.
Missed.
Katrina punched again.
Elise ducked and rose with a kick.
Katrina grabbed her leg and flipped her to the floor.
Elise groaned.
As did I.
Katrina straddled her and punched her face. One, two, three…
I lost count.
Elise struggled, but Katrina kept punching. Then she rose to her knees, straddling her victim.
I winced.
Elise's face was a mask of blood. And she wasn't moving.
"See that, Cassidi?" Katrina looked up. "That's called the 'ground and pound.' I'm the best in the state at that move in my weight division."
"Good thing I had a great teacher." Elise rose via a sit-up, grabbed Katrina's head between both hands, and smashed her nose with her forehead.
Even twelve feet up I heard the bone and cartilage break.
Katrina fell forward onto Elise's chest. The blood spatter surrounding them was so vast that it could have come from a gunshot wound.
Elise shoved Katrina to one side and wriggled out from under her. She threw her head back and made a long huffing sound, as though she were trying to breathe fire.
The woman had a dragon fixation.
"You don't know how happy I am to see you up and around, Elise. I was terrified you were dead."
Killer Eyeshadow and a Cold Espresso (A Danger Cove Hair Salon Mystery) Page 17
