“If I have to.”
“And how will you explain that? Edith, for God’s sake, think! It’s over. Killing me or my dog will only make matters worse for you. You’ll be facing murder-one charges and spend the rest of your life in jail.”
She set her lips into a thin white line and shook her head. “The police won’t believe a thing your mother tells them. They’ll know she’s just trying to protect you. And Cassie told me that Susan is a drug addict. No one’s going to believe her, either. The only person with anything to worry about now is you, Allie. You have to worry about how you’re going to feel when your body hits the ground.”
She charged at me. I tried to run, but got only a few steps before she caught up to me.
Edith tackled me from behind, then grabbed my ankle and started pulling me toward the edge.
I clutched at the metal walkway, but couldn’t get a grip. Only my fingertips were able to fit through the grating. Edith grabbed hold of my belt and, in one motion, pulled my entire body forward so that my legs dangled over the edge. I managed to wrap one arm around both of her legs. If I was going to fall, she was going with me. At least then Doppler would survive. I nearly pulled her legs out from under her, but I also managed to get my free hand around one railing post.
“Let go!” she cried, trying to pry herself loose. I got a knee back onto the walkway. In spite of my vertigo, the instinct to survive had taken charge now.
I got my second knee up, and Edith lost her balance, falling harmlessly backward onto the walkway. She let out a groan with the impact. Her features were set in a horrid, wild animal grimace. She kicked. I tried to move out of the way. Her foot caught me on the side of my face just below the temple.
Still on her back, from a crab-walk position, Edith braced herself, then released an enormous thrust of her legs and knocked me sideways. My leg bashed against one of the posts in the railing. I got hold of a second post with both hands.
Now Edith was pounding me mercilessly, kicking me in the side, trying to force my legs over the edge again. I fought to keep myself from curling up in pain, to keep my legs out straight so that she couldn’t shove me between the posts.
The metallic taste of blood was in my mouth, and I realized my nose was bleeding. From the dim recesses of my mind, I could hear Doppler barking relentlessly. He was unable to help me now, nor I him. If I fell, what would happen to him?
“Allida! Hang on!” a male voice from below called.
At the sound of help arriving, Edith gasped and stopped kicking me. That she was running out of time only egged her on. She grabbed my ankle and started lifting it to force me to bend at the knee. I yanked it free and blindly kicked at her.
Edith let out a scream of fright. I tried to rise and scramble away from her, but looked back in time to see her topple over the railing.
I lunged in her direction, trying to grab her, but it was too late. She fell, her scream echoing against the metal tower.
I covered my ears and closed my eyes and lay on my stomach on the walkway, retching helplessly. Though I’d lost all sense of time, eventually Russell was beside me. He pulled me onto his lap and held me while I cried.
“I found the note on your mailbox,” he said when I was finally in control enough to listen. “It’s all right. It’s over now.”
“Doppler,” I muttered, struggling to find my voice despite my anguish.
“He’s fine.”
“Edith. Is she...?”
“She’s dead. She...landed near the ladder just as I was climbing up. We have to call the police.”
I managed to force myself to sit up, but my vertigo was once again at full tilt and I felt myself spinning in agony. I wanted just to stop the motion. “Russell. Listen. Bring my dog down. Get me drugs. Anything to knock me out I’ll never get down otherwise.”
“Yes, you can. We’ll climb down together.” He got up and grabbed my arm, trying to lift me to my feet. “Let’s go.”
“No!” I shook my head “Doppler first.”
Russell left and I stayed seated, knees to my chest, my back plastered against the water tank, waiting, too distraught even to try to get to Doppler to pet him. He was whining and struggling to get out of Russell’s arms. Poor Russell was trying to keep his face as far away from the dog as possible.
“Doppler, no!” I said with as much authority as I could muster.
My dog obeyed well enough that Russell managed to carry him past me, under one arm and out of my view down the ladder. The thought of Russell’s having to carry Doppler down that long ladder with only one free hand made me dizzy. I could only hope that they would make it safely to the ground.
An eternity later, Russell returned and all but dragged me to the edge of the ladder, making himself a human shield so that even in my half-crazed state, I could see that it would be impossible for me to fall. Still, the descent was torturous for me. Russell calmly talked me through it, coaxing me each step of the way.
We made it down together. My knees buckled the moment my feet hit the ground, but Russell held me in his arms. He shielded me from the sight of Edith’s broken body as we made our way to his car. Doppler was inside, safe and sound, his front paws pressed to the glass, his black nose squeezed into the narrow window opening.
I realized then, finally, that it was truly over. A jumble of emotions surged through me. I hugged Russell and whispered, “Thank you,” while Doppler’s happy barks punctuated the air.
***
To learn more about the novels of Leslie O’Kane and Leslie Caine, please visit Leslie Caine
Ruff Way to Go Page 24
