Josie gasped just as her head broke the surface.
She coughed, sputtered, and coughed again as her chest rose and fell with great heaving breaths. Beside her, with his arms still tight around her waist, William went through the same process to clear out his lungs.
Josie wanted to ask whether he was okay, but talking was an arduous chore. Belatedly, she became aware of short pops that sounded like firecrackers.
Someone was shooting.
She lifted her right hand and was grateful she still held the .22. She glanced at William, but neither risked speaking or drawing attention to themselves. Silently, they waded to the edge of the lake with the hope that the large blue car parked there would aid as cover.
William pressed a finger to his lips and then boosted her out first. Yet, when it came time to pull himself out, pain blasted through the left side of his body.
Suddenly, the shooting stopped.
“William, what is it?” In an instant she forgot about the surrounding danger and focused on him.
He groaned and struggled again to get out of the lake. The task appeared to be too difficult.
“Here, let me help.” Josie set the gun down and grabbed one of his arms and pulled.
It was a slow process, but through pain-filled groans they managed to get him out. William immediately rolled onto his back and clutched at his left arm.
She dropped to her knees beside him. “Baby, what is it? Were you hit?”
He nodded and sucked in air through gritted teeth.
“Where?” Panicking, she tugged and pushed up his black turtleneck. His pale skin glowed in the night and so did the bright trail of blood that streamed from his left shoulder. “Oh my God. We have to get you to the hospital.”
Remarkably, he gave a short chuckle and pushed her hand away. “That’s going to have to wait.”
“You’re losing a lot of blood.” His wounded growl tore out her heart. “There has to be something I can do.”
He nodded. “We need to find something to slow down the circulation.”
Josie glanced around, and then tugged at the sleeve of her shirt. Within seconds, she’d ripped the material cleanly from her arm, and proceeded to tie it tightly around his shoulder.
Splash!
Josie and William jumped.
Josie also reached for her .22 and aimed it at the figure...the two figures in the water.
“Don’t shoot. POLICE,” a man choked out through heavy pants.
She froze at the preposterous declaration, but she didn’t have time to ask any questions. Two short pops came from her left and she turned to see one of Michelle’s bodyguards shooting at the cops.
Josie shifted her aim and fired. Time slowed as the shot missed its target, and the thug turned his attention to her.
Another shot came from the lake, and she watched with stunned fascination when the man spun like a marionette and hit the ground.
Her gaze traveled to the shooter, the man who’d identified himself as a cop. On guard, Josie took a protective stance before William and kept her gun trained on the man approaching them.
Josie frowned at the man’s stunned expression.
“Andrews?”
Her hand tightened on the gun. “Ferrell.”
“The real one,” William added weakly.
A smile ballooned across the wet cop’s face. “You’re alive.” He tried to heave the man next to him out of the water. “Can you help me with him?”
Josie hesitated.
“Here, hand me the gun,” William said. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t make any sudden moves.”
After thinking it over for a second, she did as William suggested. Together, she and the cop managed to get the second body out of the water. When the cop climbed out, he was a flurry of movement, removing the still man’s tie and performing the CPR.
“Do you need any help?” William asked, cautiously.
“One one thousand, two one thousand. I got it covered, four one thousand.” The cop pinched the man’s nose and blew into his mouth.
Josie itched to help as well, but had never learned this medical procedure. It didn’t look like it would matter though, the cop’s buddy or partner wasn’t responding.
“Come on, Jorge. Breathe for me.”
More gunfire sounded off in the distance, and Josie jerked in the direction of the house. “What in the hell is going on?”
“At this point, I have no idea,” the cop said. He pinched the man’s nose and blew into his partner’s mouth again.
To her surprise, the man coughed and spewed out water. She watched as he then curled onto his side and his body rattled with gurgling water.
“Are you all right, man?” the cop asked.
Jorge shook his head. “Hit.”
“Where?”
“Arm.”
In no time the cop had also tore some of the man’s clothing to stem the blood loss.
Another round of gunfire came from the house.
“Jorge, I’m going to have to leave you here while I go and check on the others. I also need to get some more back up out here. I’m going to leave you with...”
“William and Josie,” William answered.
“Yeah, with these guys, okay? Nod if you understand me.”
Slowly, Jorge nodded.
“Wait,” Josie caught the cop by the arm. “If you’re going after my sister, I want to come.”
The cop shook his head. “I can’t allow that. I need for you to watch over these men. I’ll get help,” he promise.
She wanted to argue, but knew by the level of intensity in the cop’s eyes that it would be a moot point. Forcing a smile, she nodded and encouraged him to leave. When he was gone, she returned her attention to William.
“You’re going, aren’t you?” he asked.
“I can’t let her get away.”
“Let the police handle it. If you go up there, they could confuse you with Michelle.”
He was right. It made sense.
“I have to do this,” she insisted. “I’ll be fine.”
“Josie, no. I can’t lose you like this. Stay here, and let the authorities handle it.”
She wanted to stay. Lord, knows she but this was something she had to do.
“Josie, don’t go,” he asked with a wry smile.
“Please, try and understand,” she pleaded. “I promise I’ll be back.”
Their gaze locked, and she was besieged with a list of things she wanted to say, but there wasn’t time. “I love you,” she said at last.
“Wait.” He laid a restraining hand on her shoulder. “Take this.” He handed her the gun.
He smiled, and his eyes lit with tenderness. “Make sure you come back to me.”
“You got yourself a promise.” She kissed him again, taking a little longer to savor the taste of his lips. She pulled away, but Jorge now placed a restraining hand on her arm.
“No,” he croaked.
Josie pulled his hand away. “I’m sorry, but this is personal.”
Chapter 38
Once again, you screwed up.
Michelle had no longer opened one of the side French doors when she heard two shots behind her. Close shots. Warning shots. She turned blindly and fired.
A lost cause. Your parents were right. You’re a lost cause.
Michelle kicked the door close and raced across the sunroom. In her mad dash, she abandoned her high-heel pumps. “I just need to grab a few things.”
You need to get the hell out of here.
“My purse, car keys.” She gasped. “The chinchilla.”
A fur coat? Have you completely lost it?
“Stop talking. I can’t think.” She cupped her head with her hands.
Pathetic. The voice cackled. You just declared war on the police and you still think you’re going to get away with this?
“Shut up. Shut up.” Michelle stopped at the foot of the banister and hit her right temple with the butt of her gun.
The vo
ice quieted while she drew several breaths and calmed down.
“Andrews?” A familiar voice called out.
Michelle jumped and glanced around. Someone had made it into the house.
Get out of the damn house.
“Give it up, Andrews. D’Angelo has already sold you out, and we lifted your fingerprints today at Keystone. There’s no settlement money. There’s just a nice eight-by-ten jail cell with your name on it.”
“You’re lying,” she shouted.
The high cackle returned. I knew it. You’re an idiot.
“It’s the truth, Michelle. The four lawyers you met today were police officers. Give yourself up.”
“She’s lying. She has to be.” Michelle turned in time to see a curtain of black silk hair appeared from around the corner, and she fired in its direction. She missed, and then dodged out the way when Det. Delaney returned fire.
“You’re not going to win this one, Andrews,” Delaney yelled. “Give it up.”
Michelle crawled along the marble floor toward the foyer. She could win this. She had to win this.
Didn’t you hear her? There’s no money and you just drowned your last meal ticket.
“Michelle!”
She turned with her gun outstretched, but Delaney wasn’t behind her.
“Talk to me, Michelle.”
“My name is Josephine,” she whispered, and rubbed the gun at her temples. “Where is she?”
Maybe she’s the last cop is alive. Who knows, maybe D’Angelo’s men were good for something after all?
“Where is she?”
Let me take over. If we kill her, then maybe we still have a chance of getting out of this mess.
Michelle warmed to the idea.
Ming had no idea where she was headed in the house. The place was like a fortress, and Michelle could be anywhere. However, if she could just keep the woman talking, she had a chance of zeroing in on her.
“Where’s Josephine, Michelle? What did you do with her?”
A high, eerie cackle reverberated off the walls surrounding Ming. The laughter didn’t help locate Michelle since it seemed to be coming from all directions. There was no doubt in her mind the tables had just turned and she was now the hunted.
Ming drew a deep breath and reengaged in her tactical objective. “What’s so funny, Michelle? Did you harm Josephine?”
In answer, a shot was fired, and a vase exploded near Ming’s head. She turned to her immediate left and then tumbled over a glass table. As she fell sideways, she fired her weapon blindly, but she was stunned when her head banged off the corner of another table.
“Focus, focus. Stay in focus,” she whispered, but the pain raced through her head like a locomotive and darkened the edges of her vision.
Michelle’s voice floated threatening in the air above Ming, and she fired at a moving blur.
“Say hi to Josie for me,” Michelle cackled from the upstairs landing.
A gun fired.
Michelle slammed into the wall behind her with a shriek and dropped her weapon. Slowly, her eyes lowered to her blue chemise and stared in horror at the blossoming red rose.
“Anything you want to say, you say it to me,” Josie shouted, as she kept her gun trained above her. When Michelle fell back, she also disappeared from view, but Josie waited and strained her ears for the slightest sound.
Then suddenly she saw a gun and dived for cover. Two quick shots were fired and punctured two holes in the wall, where Josie had last stood.
“You think you can take me?” Michelle’s high cackle echoed through the house.
Josie crawled along the floor, hoping to find a spot not visible from the landing above her. What in the hell is she doing?
She urged herself to remain calm, but the house had gone too quiet. Where the hell is she now?
Josie glanced across the room to the fallen woman. Was she another cop? Were there more?
“Peek-a-boo,” Michelle sang.
Another shot rang out, and Josie felt the sting of a bullet gaze her face, but she wasted no time in firing back in the same direction bullet came. At the sound of Michelle’s startled gasp and a hard thud, Josie guessed she had hit her mark.
She inched out of her hiding place for a better view of the landing over her. She didn’t see anything. Is Michelle dead?
Her attention flew back to the Asian woman on the floor, and she decided to first check on her. She knelt and felt for a pulse. The woman was still breathing, but one of her ears was bleeding.
A couple of minutes had passed, and Josie still heard nothing from upstairs. She needed to check. She needed to see if it was finally over.
The woman stirred.
Josie lowered her weapon to ask whether she was all right and was completely taken by surprise when the woman placed a gun at her temple. “Don’t shoot.”
“Come to finish me off, Michelle?” The Asian managed awkwardly to rise from the floor. “Drop your weapon.”
“You don’t understand. I’m…”
“Drop it!”
Josie slowly lowered her gun. “You’re making a mistake. I’m Josephine Ferrell.”
“Sure you are, and I’m...” The woman’s eyes narrowed, and then roamed over Josie’s attire.
“She’s telling the truth,” a man voice floated toward.
Josie turned to see the same police cop from lake.
The female cop lowered her weapon, but she continued to look at Josie with surprise. “Please, place your weapon on the floor,” she instructed.
She glanced at Det. Simmons again and at his encouraging nod, she did as she was told.
“Where is Andrews?”
“Upstairs,” Josie answered. “I shot her before she could finish you off.”
The woman looked to her partner. “Check it out.”
He nodded and raced across the living room.
“Detective Delaney.” The woman stretched out her hand.
Josie glanced at it, and then accepted the handshake. “Nice to meet you.”
“Got to tell you, I thought you were dead.”
“I nearly was.”
“We got a problem,” Simmons yelled from the upstairs’ landing.
Josie and Det. Delaney looked up.
Simmons met each of their gazes. “There’s a trail of blood up here, but Andrews is gone.”
#
Michelle crawled inside the red Jaguar and placed the gun in her lap as a river of sweat tickled down the sides of her face. The pain spreading across her body was nearly unbearable, but she had to get out there.
You still could have finished them off.
She ignored the voice and struggled to put her key into the ignition.
She was right there in front of us. Right there.
“I need to get out of here,” Michelle panted, still fumbling with the keys.
What are you talking about? We can’t leave until we kill them. Go back in there.
“Please shut up.” She finally slid in the right key and punched for the door of the garage to open. “I just need to get somewhere so I can think.”
There’s nothing to think about. You have to kill them all. It’s the only way.
“N-no. I can’t,” she moaned. “I have to t-think. My chest hurts.”
Stop whining. This is what you always do when the going gets rough. You wanted this, remember? You wanted to be Josephine. Suck it up and get back in there and take care of business.
“Shut up.” Michelle groaned and shifted the car into drive. However, the moment she pulled out the garage she stopped.
In front of her, and to her astonishment, a long trail of flashing blue-and-white lights charged up the driveway.
“The police.”
The voice’s high-pitched cackle rattled her eardrums. She pressed her fingers inside of her ears and tried to block out the sound.
What did I tell you? I knew you’d screw this up. What are you going to do now?
“Andrews, get out of the car.”<
br />
Michelle glanced to her left to see Det. Delaney pointing a gun in her direction.
See? What did I tell you? You should have killed that bitch when you had the chance.
Michelle’s hand lowered and drifted the gun in her lap.
Shoot her now. We never liked her anyway.
“Shut up.” She hit her head against the butt of the gun. “I have to think. I need to think.”
“Andrews, lower the weapon.”
Shoot her, dammit.
Michelle rocked in her seat and banged her head even harder while one side her body seemed to grow numb. “Think. I just need to think.”
There’s no time to think.
“Shut up,” she cried, desperately wanting some peace.
“Andrews!”
Michelle glanced at the cop again, and this time still noticed Josephine standing just inches behind her.
You need to take at least one of them out. It’s only fair.
“I swear if you don’t shut up.” She placed the gun’s nozzle against her temple.
I knew you’d wimp out. You’re pathetic. A lost cause.
“Please, just shut up.”
“Andrews, put the gun down. It doesn’t have to end like this.”
Deadly Double Page 23
