by Makenzi Fisk
“The pets are guiding us in home decorating now?” Erin’s smart-ass comment wilted on her lips. “Okay, Baby. If you say so.” She gripped the ridge around the door and the cat sprang onto the counter to watch. Erin heaved, wrenching the heavy unit back and forth until its electrical cord was taut against the outlet.
The dog’s tail beat rapidly with each inch gained. Rachel placed her front paw over the edge and prepared to jump into the void. When their quarry was exposed, both animals exuded delight. Spikes of excited energy flitted from one to the other.
Allie clicked her phone and LED light beamed into the dark space. “This is the most useful app I’ve ever downloaded—”
“Whoa, what have we got here?” Erin reached behind the back wheel. Half concealed behind a clump of dust, she nudged a black object.
“What is it?” Allie held the light steady and kept her elbow up to ward off the cat. Rachel’s whiskers twitched with anticipation. She was seconds away from launching herself down there and messing up everything.
“Hand me something to fish it out with.” Between the tight space and the intruding pets, the drawer was out of reach.
Allie contorted herself to block the puppy and hold back the cat. She handed down the first thing she touched. “Here.”
“What the fork?” Erin snickered and poked the dessert fork at the clump.
“There’s a knife.” Not a kitchen knife, this was a hunter’s folding knife, meant for serious destruction. Silver recessed screws secured the black molded handle to an exposed four-inch blade. Polished steel glinted to a wicked point. The serrated backside threatened vicious injury.
Erin turned it over with the fork. “Where did this come from?”
“It’s Lily’s.” Allie’s brain crackled with the knowledge that this blade had been intended for Ciara. The girl had fantasized about plunging it into her friend’s neck, stabbing her to death. Blood spattered the image.
“Why is it here?” Erin hooked a tine through a hole in the butt of the handle and suspended the knife between them.
Allie closed her eyes. “It’s the knife Lily had last night. The one she wanted to stab Ciara with.”
“Holy crap.” Erin dropped the knife to the floor and the dog sniffed it. She pushed it out of reach.
A sour taste rose from Allie’s stomach. She swallowed against it. “Today, she would have hurt Rachel. Would have hurt the dog.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “I can’t bear to think about what might have happened.”
Erin speared the knife again and hoisted it to the top of the fridge. “Ciara is safe, and the animals are safe. It sounds like they gave Lily a run for her money.” She reached over to pat the cat’s head. “Nobody messes with my cat.”
Allie nodded slowly. “Rachel had swatted the knife under the fridge. Lily was afraid it was the ghost.” She frowned. “The ghost of her mother.” She paused. “Lily hasn’t shown fear of anything else, and we can use this knowledge against her.”
“How? Invite her for a séance?” The corner of Erin’s mouth twitched.
“I’m not sure, but it’s important that we remember.” The atmosphere compressed in a micro shockwave and she turned to the open door a moment before Ciara stepped through.
“A séance?” Ciara shook off her denim jacket. “You’re not planning some wacky theme party, are you?” The dog raced to tug at her bootlaces and the cat mewed from the edge of the counter. “Count me in.” She picked the puppy up and stood close to the counter so Rachel could climb up to her shoulders.
Allie flew at her and hugged the three of them together. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“Quite a greeting.” Ciara eyed her.
“For your safety, we need to ask if you can stay with a friend.” Erin’s posture straightened as if she wore an invisible uniform. She was in work mode.
“You’re having the party without me?” Ciara tucked a lock of red hair behind her ear. Last week it had been black. “If I can come, I’ll make the hors d’oeuvres.” Could she never be serious? “We could have those teeny tiny— What happened to the fridge?”
“There’s been a break-in.” Erin described the damage.
Ciara’s jaw slackened at the mention of the chair. “It was my grandmother’s. It was the only possession I cared about.” She sighed. “Maybe I can find some proper glue to fix it.”
“I’ll help you.” Erin touched her shoulder. “And I’ll mop up the water in the hall. We’ll put the fan on for a few days.”
Ciara expressed a complete lack of concern over the hole they’d hacked into the wall behind the bottom cupboard. “Was it your child murderess?”
“I’m afraid so.” Erin could have been standing on any street in Morley Falls, breaking the news to a victim of crime.
“I understand your concerns, but I’m not leaving my home.”
Erin turned to Allie, her puckered eyebrows begging for backup.
“You’re in danger.” Allie gripped Ciara by the shoulders. “Lily came after you the other night. She knows who you are now. She might try again.”
“I’m not leaving.” Ciara shook her head. “But I’ll make you a deal.” She crossed her tattooed arms.
Erin’s shoulders slumped.
“I’ll have a friend come stay with me. We can babysit Rachel, and the dog-who-needs-a-name, until you two are done whatever you’re doing.”
“Do you have someone in mind?” Erin reached for the pocket where she normally kept her police notebook. She dropped her hand.
“Are you sure you want to get this involved with my client?” Allie knew it was inevitable, but she had to ask.
“Raphael is adorable. I just can’t keep my hands off him.” A sly grin overtook Ciara’s mouth. “Besides, he fights MMA on weekends. No child would try messing with him.”
“Deal,” Allie said. Lily wouldn’t come back here. “I’m glad you have a bodyguard tonight, even though he poses a conflict of interest for my company.”
“Fine, but I’m still going to install the new security system.” Erin indicated the stack of boxes on the scratched table.
“Maybe you can fix the fiber optic connection too.” Allie volunteered. “Lily broke it.”
“I don’t think you need to worry about the handsome Mr. Vargas.” Ciara said. “We’re working on a proposition for you.”
Allie arched an eyebrow.
“He wants us all to get into bed together.” Ciara’s lips curved into a suggestive bow.
“I sure hope you’re speaking figuratively and not literally,” Erin said.
“Of course. It’s business.” Ciara’s smirk remained.
Allie shook her head. “We’ll talk about this later. Right now, Erin and I have to take care of something, and we’re taking the dog.”
“Allie, love, you lead the strangest life.” She nudged past Erin and opened the fridge. “Aw, my raspberry ale’s been nicked.” She put a hand on her taffeta-skirted hip. “This is the last straw, I’m calling Raphael to come over straightaway.”
CHAPTER 30
As soon as Nina comes to her window, I open my fist and let the rest of the rocks spill to the ground.
“Shhh,” she whispers, careful not to touch the bent screen. Since we wrecked it the last time, it’s held in place by two wobbly corners. “Can you come back when Beth is asleep?” Her little sister’s messy hair bobs up beside her and the kid pushes her wet mouth against the screen. It topples out onto the ground.
I’m balanced on the battered trashcan, trying hard not to tumble off. I’m so goddamned tired and I ain’t got time for this. “Are we gonna do this, or what?”
“I have to wait…”
“Get the fuck out here and let’s do this.”
She narrows her eyes at me.
“If he touches your sister again, it’ll be your fault.”
Beth starts to cry and both their faces disappear. Nina’s comes back a moment later. “I don’t like when you swear in front of my sister.” She hike
s one foot out the window.
“So, don’t make me.” I jump off the pail and a whiff of raspberry fish beer bubbles up from my stomach. Like the ghost, the strange beer haunts me.
Nina hops down, and when I catch her, my sore shoulder feels like it’s tearing from its socket. The kitchen knife in my sleeve presses its point into my skin. Do I tell her the Tasmanian Devil attacked me?
She freezes and meets my eyes. She’s too busy dealing with her hormones to notice my arm. I stare back without blinking. Like I practiced in the mirror, I squint one eye, just a little, and let her go. She releases her breath.
I need her to follow through with my plan so I’ll play along, for a while. With my hand around her sweaty paw, we run to the park where I’ve been waiting. By the time we get there, her cheeks are pink and her eyes shine with excitement.
I drank another beer on the way, so this is the last. Solemnly, I twist the cap off and hand it over. A gift. To show how much I care. “It’s the only one I could get. You can have it all.”
She takes a sip. “What are you going to do?”
She stands close. Too close. I edge away and finger the lighter in my pocket. I imagine spurting blood, the sound of shrieking flames, the stink of burning flesh. “We.”
“We,” she repeats obediently and leans closer.
“Kill him.”
She catches her breath and looks at her beer. “I’m not sure.”
I give her a shove and she almost falls off the end of the picnic bench. “Don’t be a fucking pussy.” I hold my palm up like I don’t even want to hear her goddamn excuses. “Are you telling me you’ll let him keep messing with your baby sister because you’re too scared to stop him?”
She eases back over until I feel the heat from her thigh against mine. “I’m sorry.” She gulps beer and it gurgles down her throat.
“You know what he’s doing to her. He did it to you.”
She folds in half, chest on her thighs and wraps her arms around her knees. “He’s awful.”
“He’s a bastard.”
“Yes, he’s a bastard.” She repeats.
“Your mom will never get rid of him. You need to do it.”
She sits back up and her eyes burn with anger. She tilts her head back and finishes the bottle. I’ve seen what one bottle of regular beer will do to her. What will seven percent alcohol raspberry fish beer do?
“Do it for your sister.” One final push.
“I wish he was dead.”
She said it. She’s mine.
Her chest heaves in and out like she’s running, but she’s sitting still. Her face is so smooth it’s scary. A doll in a horror movie.
A quarter moon is up and, from its position, it’s almost time. “I have a plan. Come on.”
“Are we going to steal a car?”
“What day of the week is it?” Since I bailed out of the motel, my head is scrambled. I’ve been sleeping in the park in the daytime and hanging out with Nina at night. She babysits her sister too so I don’t know when she finds time to sleep. She doesn’t look tired. She looks like she wants to go ride roller coasters. Or help me steal a car.
“Sunday. Today is Sunday.” Her eyebrows tilt into question marks and she puts a hand on my arm. “Are you okay?”
I flinch away like my jacket’s on fire. She’s not supposed to touch me. “I know what friggin’ day it is. I was checking to see if you knew.”
She puts her head down and tucks her hand into her front pocket.
“Sunday is the best day of the week to steal a car.” Six blocks from here is a huge Catholic church. The sign out front advertises Sunday night mass at nine. They’ll be in there praying and blabbing for hours.
“Why are you taking me to a Spanish language Catholic mass?” Nina slits her eyes.
I waggle my fingers in front of her like a magician. “This is the easiest place I know to find car keys. Maybe we can score ourselves a pimped-out El Camino.”
“That’s racist.” She pauses so I prod her forward, up the wide concrete steps. She stops again at the huge rounded wooden door.
“Come on, don’t be a pussy.” I pull the handle and shove her inside ahead of me. “All you gotta do is stand there and look pretty. If anyone comes, distract them. I’ll find the keys.”
“Pretty?” Her face flushes pink and she stands at attention beside the coat racks in the lobby.
One by one, and quick as a professional pickpocket, I check the first row of jackets. A whole shitload of snotty tissues, a couple of cell phones and a gross, disgusting baby soother. I wipe my hand on my pants and hit the next row, pocketing two sets of car keys. Should I find one more?
There’s a commotion at the door and I stop dead. A dark-haired man in a suit is talking to Nina. He smiles too much and I can’t understand a single word he says. I bet Nina can’t either.
“Busco a mi abuela,” she blurts, surprising the hell out of me.
He nods his head and rattles off another long string of words that seem to have too many vowels.
“Lo siento.” Nina shakes her head.
I pocket a tiny scarf wrapped around a hanger. It has ducks on it so maybe it’s a baby cloth. I don’t care. As long as it burns. Through a gap in the coats, I watch Nina back toward the door. She shoots a look over at me and the man’s head swivels to follow. He reaches out as if he wants to fetch her coat for her and I slither to the end of the row. I’m ready to spring out of hiding and escape.
“Está bien.” She pulls open the door. “Me voy.”
The door closes behind her and she’s gone. She’s abandoned me. The man who smiles too much shrugs and goes back inside.
I wait to the count of five and slip out the door after her. She’s at the end of the parking lot, sitting by the trunk of a massive poplar tree.
“You chickenshit!” I slug her in the shoulder and she curls into a ball. “You left me!”
“I’m sorry.” Her eyes shine with tears. “It was a church. He was so nice. I was afraid God would be angry. I had to get out.”
“God?” I never saw that coming. “There is no God. There is just us. And them.” I put my hand on her shoulder, like the TV preachers do. If it works for them, it’ll work for me.
She straightens up and looks at me.
I pat her on the head. “I didn’t know you could speak Spanish.”
“I learned it from Dora the Explorer.”
That’s right. That’s the show she was watching with her little sister the first time I watched her.
A shy smile curves her lips when I laugh.
“I’ll take care of you.” I pull the two jumbles of keys from my pocket and thumb the unlock buttons on both fobs at the same time. Lights flash on two cars in the lot. “You get to pick.”
It ain’t no El Camino, but this white Audi is a sight to behold. Hallelujah for church people. They got some nice wheels. Nina settles into her cream-colored leather seat and fiddles with the radio controls. Legs crossed, face serious, she looks like she could get used to a ride like this.
“I can imagine you on Wall Street in ten years, wearing one of those stripy power suits. You’re so smart, you’ll probably be a millionaire.”
She looks over at me and I have no idea what that expression on her face means. Either she’s flattered, or she thinks I’m crazy. Either way, I don’t care. She probably will be a millionaire, but I’ll be a billionaire. If you combine Bruce Willis, the girl from Kill Bill, and that girl with the dragon tattoo, that’d be me. I’m going to kick serious ass. No one can stop me. Not even that bitch cop and her crazy girlfriend.
“Will you teach me to drive?”
“No.”
She turns away.
“Fine. But you don’t start on a car like this.”
Her face comes back around.
“I’ll take you to Emerald Links and we can race golf carts around all night.”
“It’s not the same.”
“It’s all you can handle.”
She snorts through her nose but keeps her mouth shut.
The clock on the dash says it’s time. Time to get my— our money. Time to get rid of Nina’s dad. I shut off the radio and turn down the road to the park. The post Nina’s dad hit last time, the one I was hiding behind, still dangles from the steel cable that connects it to the next. I rub my head where the scab isn’t fully healed. Fucker.
At the end of the turnaround, under a burnt-out streetlight, is his van. With no headlights on, it’s too dark to see if he’s even in it. Something about this whole situation feels creepy. I glance in the rear-view mirror. Is there someone behind that tree, or is it a shadow?
“That’s my dad’s van,” Nina announces. As if she didn’t know he’d be here. I told her, didn’t I? Well, fuck it. She knows now.
“He’s going to pay the ultimate price.” I shut the headlights off and coast to a stop at the corner. I fiddle with the dash to turn off the interior lights so they won’t betray us. He’ll never know what hit him.
The van sits there. Silent. Dark. Spiders crawl up my back and I shake the knife out of my sleeve. I double-check for my lighter. I don’t want to look at it. It’s not hers. Not my mother’s.
“I don’t see him.” Leaned forward in her seat, Nina unsnaps her safety belt.
She’s ready. I hand her the knife and she holds it like she’s going to slice a tomato. Well, she’s kinda right. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”
I slip out of the car and shut the door without a sound. Nina waits obediently, just like I taught her. I sneak up beside the van and peek through the passenger window.
Is he already dead?
In the driver’s seat, Nina’s dad is sitting upright in his seat with his neck twisted at an odd angle. I’m wondering if his neck is broken when he coughs and straightens. That’s when I notice the half-empty bottle of vodka on the seat, the trail of vomit down his checkered shirt. He’s passed out drunk.
There is a white plastic bag on the floor with a note attached. My blackmail money. What a loser. He can’t even deliver it without screwing it up. He deserves what he gets.
I ease open the door and pour the rest of the vodka on his shirt. He doesn’t even stir. Dead drunk is what he is. He might as well smell as bad as he looks. The cops will think he did this to himself.
