by Sandra Cox
The clerk looked ready to weep for joy as she rang up the totals.
“Commission,” Bella mouthed silently.
Maureen nodded, biting down hard on her lips as if afraid of laughing.
With the dresses secured in long plastic bags, they walked out of the boutique. Maureen sighed with relief. “That’s wasn’t nearly as bad as I feared. Thank you.”
“No problem, shug, now let’s take these back to the car and finish our shopping.”
“What do you mean finish? We’ve got our dresses.” Maureen’s face reflected her consternation.
“If you recall, I left town in a bit of a hurry,” Bella said dryly, her dress balanced across her arms.
“Sorry, I forgot.”
They walked through the mall, proudly carrying their purchases like knights of old displaying their banners. When they reached the car, they approached on each side and hung their dresses on the hooks in the back, effectively making a curtain for the backseat.
As they shut the doors, Maureen looked around at the rosy red sun setting behind a narrow brick building, illuminating it. “It’s getting toward dusk, Bella, let’s not tarry.”
Bella nodded her agreement and they hurried back in. With brisk efficiency, Bella purchased a casual wardrobe to hold her for a couple of weeks.
“I’m exhausted,” Maureen complained as they left the huge department store at the end of the mall.
“Want a latte?”
Maureen brightened considerably. “That should give me the energy to drag back to the car.”
“Sorry, sugar but I’ve got one more purchase to make.” They walked toward a kiosk selling lattes and pastries.
“What more could you possibly buy?” Maureen looked aghast. “You’ve got paint supplies, the wedding and bridesmaid dresses and a carload of new clothes.”
“You’ll see.” She ordered two lattes and a chocolate chip cookie.
She handed a latte and the cookie to Maureen. “Here be a good girl and don’t whine.”
Maureen bit into the cookie.
Bella looked at her friend and grinned. “You’ve got chocolate on your lip.”
Maureen flicked it off with her tongue then took another big mouthful. “Um, this is heaven,” she mumbled through the cookie.
As Maureen put the last bite in her mouth, Bella picked up her bags.
With purposeful strides, Bella headed toward a kiosk near the back entrance to the mall. When she stopped at the jewelry counter, Maureen began to whine. “Now you’ve got to buy jewelry?’
Ignoring her, Bella looked at wide arm bracelets that could be squeezed to size. They came in silver and copper and several had rhinestones on them. “How many women are you expecting at the wedding?”
“I don’t know. Forty maybe.” Maureen sat her packages on the floor.
Bella began plucking the bracelets off the rack.
Maureen’s eyes narrowed as she watched her. “Armbands?”
“In case we need a diversion.”
“Are you expecting trouble at the wedding?”
“Let’s just say I want a little insurance. Besides, it will make a nice trinket for the guests,” Bella said, holding up a plain silver band.
“Good point.” Maureen rotated her shoulders as if they ached. “Why don’t I just take these on out to the SUV?” Maureen picked up the packages.
“No, sugar.”
Maureen’s eyebrows rose.
“We stay together.” Bella glanced out the glass doors a few feet from the small kiosk. The rose sky had turned to gray and the lights in the parking lot beamed down on the few cars visible in the back lot.
Bella looked at Maureen. Maureen’s face was set and drawn, her stance stiff. “Your skin crawling, sugar?”
“Not like it was earlier. But something’s just not right.”
“Do you want me to call Hank and Jack and have them come and escort us home?”
“Hell no.” Maureen grimaced. “Let’s get these armbands and head back.”
Bella nodded. “As soon as I make this purchase we’ll be homeward bound.” Outwardly calm, Bella could feel tension running up her spine and settling in her neck. It was time to get going.
The two teenage clerks were chatting with each other, in no hurry to wait on her. She interrupted them, something she would never do under normal circumstances. She’d had manners and hospitality ingrained in her since she first learned to talk but Maureen’s nervousness had transferred itself to her. “Excuse me.” She pointed at another row of silver clasp bracelets with pearls gleaming under glass. “I’ll take those too and more if you have them.”
The teenagers working the counter looked at her and shrugged. One kept talking while the other began to bag up the pile of bracelets in front of Bella.
Bella shoved her card at the girl still talking. “Here, ring me up.”
The girl gave her a haughty stare.
“Sorry, I just got a call. My mother’s dying, please hurry,” Bella lied.
The girl tossed back dull brown hair and took the card. “I should be so lucky.”
The young woman bagging pulled five more from under the counter. “This is all I’ve got in this style. Man, you must love these things.”
“Sure do.” Bella said, her fingernails clicking against glass as she tapped the counter.
The young women moved a fraction quicker than a snail’s pace.
Maureen danced back and forth from foot to foot.
“Restroom’s down the corridor on your right,” the young woman ringing up the charge offered as the other handed the package to Maureen.
Bella grabbed the card and they hurried away. “You know we are acting like a couple of rabbits.”
That straightened Maureen’s spine and slowed her steps. “You’re right. What can go wrong at this stage of the game?”
“And don’t forget I’ve got my equalizer.” Bella patted her clutch purse.
“I’m beginning to have second thoughts about gun control myself,” Maureen muttered as she shoved through the glass doors leading out of the mall.
The gray dusk had turned to black velvet. The moon was shadowed by a dark cloud and no stars were out. The women looked around as they walked. Less than twenty cars were in the enormous back parking lot. Bella undid the clasp of her purse.
They reached the SUV without incident. Bella looked at the dress bags hanging on both hooks in the back, covering the windows. “Well, at least no one has stolen our dresses,” she said as they hurriedly tossed their packages in the back cargo area of the SUV.
“Bite your tongue,” Maureen exclaimed, as she unlocked the driver’s door and climbed in. As Bella settled into the passenger seat, Maureen put the key in the ignition and started the car.
A shadowy figure dressed in black, loomed up from the floorboard on the backseat. He threw back a dark blanket he’d been hiding under and pressed a gun to Bella’s head. He reached for the amulet on her arm but she yanked it away, frantically digging in her purse for her derringer.
The intruder slammed his handgun upside Bella’s head. “Give me the damn bracelet, bitch.”
Bella saw stars. Maureen’s hand shot out and gripped Bella’s arm hard for one brief moment, the healing power pouring out of her. Bella’s tilting world righted.
Maureen grimaced in pain.
They exchanged one quick look, knowledge flowing between them like an electrical current.
Maureen stomped on the gas and the SUV leaped forward.
The gunman was thrown backward. “What the fuck.” He waved the gun wildly at Maureen. “Stop right now, bitch.’’
Again an unspoken signal passed between the two women.
“My pleasure,” Maureen ground out. Her tires screamed as she stomped on the brakes, throwing him forward. Even with the windows rolled up, the smell of burning rubber permeated the car.
Bella fisted her derringer and hit the intruder’s head with all her strength. It dazed him long enough for her to hit him again. He slumped in
the backseat. Bella leaned over the seat and hit him one more time for good measure. “I don’t suppose you’ve got any rope anywhere?”
“I live on a horse farm. Of course, I’ve got rope,” Maureen snapped.
“Let’s get him tied up before he comes to.”
“Should we call the police?” Maureen asked, white-knuckling the wheel.
“No. No police, too many questions.”
“Right.” Maureen eased her foot off the brake and pressed lightly on the gas. “Let’s get out of here before security comes.” She looked around. “Damn. It’s too late.”
Bella hurriedly threw both garment bags over the limp figure then pushed some shopping bags on him for good measure.
Maureen glanced over. “The gun. Get rid of the gun.”
Bella shoved the gun in her clutch purse, just as security pulled up beside them. “Let me take care of this, sugar.”
“Gladly.”
Luckily the security guard was on Bella’s side. He motioned for Bella to roll down the window. Bella complied and leaned half out of the car. The peasant blouse gaped, giving the young officer an eye full of creamy white bosom.
She watched his eyes glaze over. “Officer, I am so sorry,” she gushed. “It was all my fault. I was rooting through the packages,” she pointed toward the backseat, “and accidentally stepped on my friend’s foot while she was driving. I should have waited ‘til we got home but I just had to see the darling little polka dot bikini I just bought.” She winked at him. “It’s very naughty.”
Color flooded his young, clean-shaven face. “Would that be when she hit the gas or slammed on the brakes?” he asked sarcastically, tearing his gaze away from Bella’s bosom.
That’s a poser. She shrugged prettily causing her shoulders to ripple. “When her foot was on the gas, silly. She slammed on the brakes when a little doggie ran out in front of her.”
Bella ignored the low choking sound coming from Maureen.
The young man threw up his arms in defeat. “Just be careful and be sure and fasten your seat belt. I wouldn’t want you to have an accident.”
“I’ll be sure and buckle up. And I want to thank you for being willing to put your life on the line to keep us safe,” she said in a breathy voice as she widened her eyes and pursed her lips.
“Thank you, ma’am. Just proceed with caution.” He nodded and drove off.
“Putting his life on the line,” Maureen scoffed as she tapped the gas.
“Well, sugar, considering what’s in the backseat I’d say I’m not so far wrong.”
Maureen looked all around in a pointed manner.
“What are you doing?” As if I don’t know.
“I’m looking for the little doggie.” Maureen giggled. “You are so full of it.”
“I like to think of it as being creative,” Bella answered calmly. “Now where’s the rope?”
“In the back with the tire jack and spare tire.”
Bella could feel her eyes gleam at the word tire jack. “Pull over.”
Maureen complied.
Bella noted with approval that Maureen had parked on the outskirts of the back parking lot where their goings-on wouldn’t be so noticeable. If anyone observed them, they’d just look like two women rummaging through their purchases.
“Hurry, we don’t want him coming around again.” Maureen shifted in her seat and glanced around the almost empty lot.
Bella pulled her gun out of her purse and handed it to Maureen. “In case he wakes up.” She hopped out of the car, went to the back and lifted the floor cover. The silver tire jack gleamed in the dark. She picked it up and smacked it against her palm, her bloodlust rising.
“Hurry up, Bella,” Maureen hissed.
With a regretful sigh, she put it back and picked up the rope. She dumped the boxes and garment bags that were covering their attacker into the cargo area of the SUV, pulled their attacker’s hands behind his back and tied him up.
“Done and done.” Bella pulled herself into the front seat and dusted her palms.
The intruder began to moan.
Bella took her derringer from Maureen and hit him on the head again.
He subsided.
“I think you’re enjoying that,” Maureen remarked as she pulled the car out into traffic.
“Damn right I am, sugar,” Bella said grimly as vicious pleasure coursed through her body. “Now what do we do with him?”
“I have an idea.”
“Let’s hear it.”
“For starters, you might want to let him come to long enough to question him.” Maureen braked for a yellow light.
“Good point. Where are we going? We surely don’t want to haul his sorry carcass all the way back to the ranch. Though it would give the boys a chance to share in the evening’s entertainment,” Bella added reflectively as she pulled her seat belt across her shoulder and clipped it at the hip.
“This is a girls’ night out, remember? We’re going to a nice little deserted spot several miles out of town.” Leaning on the wheel, waiting for the light to turn green, Maureen turned to Bella and bared her teeth in a parody of a smile.
Bella nodded. The two women were in perfect accord.
The light turned green and the SUV shot forward. Bella sank into the leather seat, letting her body relax while her mind raced. Each time they were together the connection between Bella and Maureen grew stronger. A forged link from the gods. The sisterhood of the amulets. And soon the sisterhood would be even stronger.
“Where’s his gun?”
The abrupt question broke Bella’s reverie. “Jesus.” She whipped off her seat belt and flipped on the overhead light, her gaze sweeping the floorboard.
The attacker opened his eyes. She snapped open her purse, reached inside and pulled out the derringer. Twisting around, she held the gun like a club and looked him in the eye. “Don’t even think about it.”
“If you are going to be waving that gun around you better turn out the dome light,” Maureen said as she glanced over then back at the road. “That carload of kids riding alongside us is pretty interested in what you’re doing. Then again it’s all males,” she added dryly.
Bella dropped her hand to her side and took a quick glance in the backseat. The intruder’s firearm lay on the floor within easy reach. She waved at the young men then reached up and turned off the light.
“Don’t do anything stupid, sugar. If you try to sit up and call for help they’re just going to think we are playing some sick sex games, since you’re tied up and all.” Not taking her eyes off their attacker, she drawled, “Maureen, honey, you think you can lose our friends in the lane over?”
“No problem.” Maureen pressed on the gas and with a flick of her wrist swerved onto an off-ramp. “Now’s as good a time as any. Do what you’ve got to do.”
Their attacker cowered back against the seat. “No, please don’t hit me again.”
Bella drew her lip back and sneered, “Coward.” She hunkered in the seat, her gun aimed on the intruder. With her free hand, she felt around on the nappy textured carpeting of the floorboard. Shifting her hand to the right, her fingers wrapped around cold steel. She held eye contact with the thug while she picked up his gun. He looked to be in his mid-twenties, of medium height, disheveled black hair and pasty white complexion. Though that could be due to the thumps she’d given his head, Bella thought with grim satisfaction.
Bella studied the gun she held cradled in her hand. “M9 Beretta. Nice weapon.”
Maureen shook her head. “You and Hank.”
They were outside Madison and merging with interstate traffic.
Putting the Beretta under the seat, Bella twisted around. “What’s your name, sugar?”
The man bit his lips together.
“He’s into pain,” Bella observed, smiling a cold smile that did not reach her eyes as she watched him blanch.
“Save it, RoboCop, we can get that information from his wallet. What we want to know is who hired him,
” Maureen said as she checked her review mirror.
“You hear that, sugar? You can ignore my first question. No one cares who you are.” She leaned closer, her voice a purr, “But we do care about who hired you.” The image of their attacker with a blonde hanging on his arm at the mall flashed through her mind. “And who was the girl you were with?”
“If you are going to bash in my head go ahead. But I’m not telling you a thing.”
“That would have been very impressive if your lips weren’t trembling and the whites of your eyes glistening when you said it.” Bella caressed her gun. “So you want to play some more.”
“Save it, Bella.” Maureen tapped on the brake, clicked on the blinker and exited onto a two-lane road. From there she took another right that led into a secluded area and dead-ended into a grove of pine. She cut the motor and turned off the lights.
Maureen rolled down the window to let in the cool night air. The spicy scent of pine permeated the van. A screech owl screamed over head. A dog or coyote responded with a forlorn howl.
Bella gave a dramatic shiver as she taunted their attacker. “How primitive. Are you a city boy?”
He bit his lips together but his eyes rolled from one side of the dark pines to the other.
The dome lights flashed on as Maureen climbed out of the car and Bella followed. The slamming of the doors echoed in the night.
Bella opened the passenger door. She put her hand on the side of the SUV and leaned forward, the smooth metal cool against her palm. “Well, sugar, this is your last chance to cooperate. Who hired you?”
Maureen stood back a pace, her arms crossed.
He spat in their direction. The spittle landed harmlessly on the ground.
“Now, sugar, that wasn’t nice at all.” Bella’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. She turned and looked at Maureen. “I think everything we want and need is in his pants.”
“You bitches are sick,” he screamed.
“You want to talk?” Bella asked him, arching a brow.
“Go to hell.”
“I’m getting a bit tired of his conversation, aren’t you?” She turned toward Maureen.
“I must admit I am.”
“I don’t suppose you have any duct tape?” Bella inquired.
“I wish I did.”
