by Amy Vansant
Cormac shouted behind him.
“Shoot her!”
Declan fired. Bark burst from the side of a pine near where Jamie had disappeared into the tree line.
Declan’s gaze traveled in the direction he’d seen Jamie headed and whirled to face his father.
“She’s headed toward Charlotte.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
“Stephanie!”
The gunshot still echoed in her ears as Charlotte sprinted toward the fallen form of Stephanie. The blonde wasn’t moving. She ran just inside the tree line where Stephanie should have been. Charlotte slid to her knees as she moved close to the body, nearly tripping over Stephanie as she tried to stop her momentum.
Charlotte knew it was best not to move an injured person, but she couldn’t tend to Stephanie if she were the next one to be shot. She jerked the body into the trees until she felt safe they had cover.
Hands scrambling to locate the wound, Charlotte tore open Stephanie’s jacket. She spotted a hole through the chest pocket of her shirt, just above her heart.
It must have gone through the vest?
Charlotte slapped Stephanie’s cheeks.
“Wake up. Wake up.”
She ripped away Stephanie’s shirt and struggled to remove the bulletproof vest, chanting Stephanie’s name as she worked.
“Wake up, Stephanie, wake up, Stephanie—”
She stuck her finger into a hole in the vest that lined up with the hole in Stephanie’s now torn shirt. She felt the bullet, flattened there.
Is my finger in her chest?
She pulled out her finger.
No blood.
She pulled back the jacket expecting to see blood. There was none. Just a bruise near Stephanie’s right breast, throbbing above the lace of her bra.
Charlotte’s head cocked.
What a gorgeous bra. Where does she get underwear like that?
Charlotte shook her head, getting back to the crisis at hand. Stephanie wasn’t bleeding but she was also not moving.
Is she breathing? Was there a second shot she hadn’t registered?
Charlotte put her hand in front of Stephanie’s nose but she couldn’t feel anything. She couldn’t tell if her chest was rising. She dipped her ear toward Stephanie’s parted lips.
“Stephanie? Stephanie? Oooph!”
Stephanie gasped and sat up, slamming her face into the side of Charlotte’s head. Both of them bounced in the opposite direction, Stephanie to the ground and Charlotte back on her butt.
Both raised their hands to their heads.
“What are you doing?” barked Stephanie, cradling her nose.
“I was trying to see if you were breathing.”
“By kissing me?”
“Don’t flatter yourself.” Charlotte rocked back to her knees. “I was trying to see if I could hear you breathe.”
“You’re an idiot.”
“You’re an idiot. You walked right into a bullet. I saw you. You purposely left the tree line.”
Stephanie sat up grumbling, trying in vain to pull her shirt together. Finding the buttons had been torn away, she glared at Charlotte.
“You ruined my shirt.”
“I was trying to save your life.”
“I was fine.”
“You walked into a bullet. On purpose.”
Stephanie closed her eyes tight, her jaw bulging as she grit her teeth. “I needed to know if she’d shoot.”
“She shot. Look at your chest.” Charlotte saw the expression on Stephanie’s face shift to what she could only describe as pain. By closing her eyes so tightly, she seemed to be sealing herself from the world, as if her eyes were doorways for bad things to enter. She raised her hands and covered her ears.
She wasn’t in physical pain.
Her mother had shot her.
Charlotte couldn’t imagine what it must feel like to discover your own mother wanted you dead. It had to be devastating.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled.
Stephanie released a breath. Her body relaxed and she opened her eyes, lowering her hands from her ears. She seemed almost serene. As if some other person had assumed control of her body. Her gaze flicked to Charlotte.
“Yeah, well, keep your face out of my face.”
Charlotte couldn’t tell if Stephanie knew she was saying sorry for Jamie’s betrayal, not for clunking heads. She let it go.
Stephanie gingerly touched the bruise on her chest, wincing.
“That really hurt.”
“I bet.”
“Did they get her?”
Charlotte realized she hadn’t received a call. She’d been so worried about Stephanie she’d forgotten about the other half of the operation. “I don’t know.”
“Charlotte!”
She heard Declan screaming somewhere to her left.
“That’s Declan,” said Stephanie, head swiveling.
Charlotte scowled. “I know.”
“He’s running.” Stephanie’s eyes grew wide. “Is she coming this way?”
Jamie’s loose.
Charlotte stood and scanned the trees, trying to figure the most direct path Jamie might have taken from the office building to their current location. She pulled her gun from her holster. For once, she’d remembered to bring it when it mattered.
“Give me your gun,” said Stephanie.
“What? No.”
“I need to be the one to kill her. Give me your gun.”
“No—”
Stephanie lunged toward her and then yelped in pain, grabbing her chest as Charlotte jerked away from her.
“You probably broke a rib. I wouldn’t move. It could stab your heart or lung and you’ll be dead before an ambulance can get here.”
Stephanie’s eyes were filled with tears and fire, her lip trembling. “Give me your gun. Let me kill her.”
“No. She wants you dead as it is. Don’t give her an excuse to try again.”
Stephanie laughed. “You think she’ll hesitate to shoot you? She was willing to shoot her own daughter.”
“Because she thought you were going to turn on her.”
“Yes. With me maybe she needed a reason, but she’ll shoot you for existing. For standing between her and me when she wants me dead.”
Charlotte felt her stomach grow woogy.
Stephanie had a point. Was there a place they could hide? It’s not like there was a handy cave or a closet nearby. They’d have to stand their ground.
Charlotte did her best to force down her fear. “No. Be quiet—”
“Step away.”
Charlotte whirled at the sound of the voice behind her.
Jamie stood behind her in a torn dress, a handgun pointed at them.
Charlotte’s hand tightened on her own weapon.
“If you’re wondering if you can lift that before I shoot you, the answer is no,” said Jamie.
Charlotte took a step in front of Stephanie. “You can’t kill your own daughter.”
“It was you who cooked up this trap, wasn’t it?” asked Jamie.
Charlotte didn’t know what to say.
“Did you know that’s the only reason you’re not already dead? I liked the idea of keeping you alive. You’re fun.”
Stephanie groaned, glaring at Charlotte. “What is it about you? First my boyfriend. Now my mother?”
Jamie’s attention shifted to her daughter. “And you. Your DNA has become a liability.”
Stephanie shifted and sucked in a breath, clearly in pain. “Why should I have any loyalty to you?”
“I made you who you are.”
Hearing Declan call out again, Charlotte’s attention moved beyond Jamie. He was getting closer. Jamie would have to make her move and run very soon.
But I know something you don’t, Jamie.
There was more than just Declan somewhere behind Jamie.
There was also a large drone, sweeping through the sky, dodging trees.
Ramming speed, Mr. Blade.
&n
bsp; Charlotte tried not to wince as the drone approached at a high speed, aiming for the back of Jamie’s head. Charlotte looked at Jamie’s gun, still pointed at Stephanie. If it went off when the drone struck her—
“Behind you!” Charlotte screamed at the last possible second.
Jamie turned, the movement of her body shifting the gun away from Stephanie just enough. It fired as the drone plowed into her forehead at full-throttle.
Jamie flew backwards as if someone had jerked her on a string. The gun spilled from her hand and landed whirling not far from Stephanie, playing its own deadly game of spin the bottle. The drone crashed to the ground, buzzing and twisting like a wounded beetle. Charlotte jumped on Jamie as she fell. She straddled her foe, pinning her arms. Jamie didn’t fight her. She seemed dazed. The blow had left her face cut and bleeding.
“I’ll kill you,” said Stephanie, reaching for the gun. She cried out with the effort as Declan arrived, panting, his gun drawn.
“Get the gun,” said Charlotte nodding to the gun at Stephanie’s fingertips.
Declan leapt over Jamie’s feet to snatch the gun as Stephanie’s clawing fingers strained to reach it.
“No!” moaned Stephanie, sounding more like a wounded animal than an angry woman. She looked up at Declan. “Shoot her. Shoot her for me.”
Declan shook his head. “Lie still.”
Stephanie closed her eyes and lay back down, her fists clenched.
Jamie’s eyes fluttered open and she stared up into Charlotte’s face. Her eyes shifted to the left to stare down the barrel of Declan’s gun, which he now held trained on her. She returned her gaze to Charlotte and grinned. One of her front teeth had been knocked free by the drone.
“This isn’t over,” she said.
Charlotte felt a rush of adrenaline and pushed harder on Jamie’s trapped wrists.
“It is today.”
Cormac arrived, sweating. He rested his hands just above his knees, panting. “Assessing the situation,” he said between gasps for air. After a moment he pulled a pair of handcuffs from the belt of his tactical uniform and slapped one end on Jamie’s right wrist. He tapped the side of Charlotte’s arm.
“You’re going to have to release her if I’m going to finish this.”
Grudgingly, Charlotte released her grip on the handcuffed hand. She’d enjoyed having Jamie pinned. This could have been the only time she’d ever have control over her. The one time she knew where she was.
Cormac finished cuffing Jamie and lifted her to her feet to pat her down for weapons.
Jamie glanced at Stephanie.
“When they call you into court, don’t be stupid.”
Stephanie’s lids opened, her gaze as cold as if her eyes were chipped from ice. She smiled at her mother.
“Nice teeth.”
Charlotte heard ambulance sirens wail in the distance.
Chapter Forty
Charlotte, Blade and Declan were standing behind the counter of Declan’s pawn shop when Stephanie entered. It had been a week since their showdown with Jamie, who remained in custody, charges mounting against her as various law enforcement agencies built their cases against her.
“Well, if it isn’t the hero who took a bullet to capture the most notorious serial killer of all time,” said Declan. Stephanie had been hailed a hero in the national news. The press couldn’t get enough of the serial killer’s legal-eagle daughter, bringing down her evil mother singlehanded. Or at least that’s how most of the stories read. Somehow, Charlotte’s and Declan’s parts in the capture had been largely overlooked. Cormac, of course, had never been there.
Stephanie tossed her hair over her shoulder with a flick of her head. “I’m flooded with calls from producers. They want to make a movie about the girl who captured her killer mother. But I’m sure you two are fielding offers as well.”
“I didn’t get any calls from producers,” mumbled Charlotte.
Declan chuckled. “Why would we? We’re chopped liver.” He closed his register drawer. “So why did you squeeze this visit into your busy schedule?”
“Oh, I thought I’d swing by and thank you both for stopping me from killing my mother.”
Charlotte smiled. “See? I told you you’d regret it if you did it.”
Stephanie rolled her eyes. “I’m being sarcastic. You’re both morons. You know she’s going to get out.”
Declan shook his head. “No. They have her dead to rights.”
“How do you figure?”
“She tried to shoot you from the rooftop.”
Stephanie’s eyebrows raised. “Did she? Did you see her pull the trigger?”
“No, but she was the only one there. The only one rappelling down the building two seconds after we heard the shot—”
“Sure, logic dictates she pulled the trigger. But the law isn’t about logic. Hell, I could get her off that charge with one WestLaw search and a low-cut blouse.”
Charlotte frowned. “That’s depressing to hear.”
“It doesn’t matter. They’ll pin other murders on her,” said Declan.
Stephanie poked at a stuffed bear propped on a bureau to her left and then recoiled as if the fur was made of spider webs. “You’re so naive. Mom has friends. She hasn’t avoided capture all these years without help. She’ll be out in a month.”
“We’ll see,” said Charlotte, her mind already racing for ways to prove Jamie was the killer they knew her to be.
Stephanie shrugged. “In the meantime, I’m thinking I might have to become a defense attorney. I hear there’s an opening in the D.A. office.”
Charlotte, winced. “Come on…”
Stephanie grinned. “What, too soon?”
THE END
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Amy has been writing and finding other creative ways to make no money since high school.
She specializes in fun, comedic reads about accident prone, easily distracted women with questionable taste in men.
So, autobiographies, mostly.
Amy is the former East Coast Editor of SURFER Magazine but the urge to drive up and down the coast interviewing surfers has long since left her. She works at home with her goofy husband.
She has rocked water aerobics at a fifty-five and over community, but has yet to play bingo. She’s heard it’s vicious.
Other Books by Amy Vansant
Pineapple Port Mysteries
Funny, clean mysteries full of unforgettable characters
Pineapple Lies (I) Pineapple Mystery Box (II)
Pineapple Puzzles (III) Pineapple Land War (IV)
Pineapple Beach House (V) Pineapple Disco (VI) Pineapple Gingerbread Men (VII) Pineapple Jailbird (VIII)
Kilty Romantic Comedy/Thrillers
Funny, suspenseful romances with a touch of time-travel
Kilty as Charged (I) Kilty Conscience (II) Kilty Mind (III) Kilty as Sin (IV)
Angeli Urban Fantasy
Thrilling adventures with a touch of romantic comedy
Angeli (I) Cherubim (II) Varymor (III)
Slightly Romantic Comedies
New Adult/Adult zany romantic romps
Slightly Stalky (I) Slightly Sweaty (II)
The Magicatory (middle-grade fantasy)
Moms are Nuts (editor: humor anthology)
The Surfer’s Guide to Florida (non-fiction: out of print)
