by Lynn, JB
“Who do you work for?” Beader asked again.
Blinking, I tried to bring my blurry vision into focus. “You’re scum,” I croaked. “You’re not getting away with it.”
He chuckled, an evil sound that made the hair on the back of my neck stand at attention. “You have no idea what I’ve gotten away with.”
I heard Benny yell, “Help! Help! Help!” but I wasn’t in any position to assist anyone.
I was shoved into a cold space that went pitch dark as Beader slammed a door shut.
I stood there for a moment, listening to my ragged breathing and pounding heart, waiting for him to return, but he didn’t.
I tried to free my wrists from whatever Beader had used to imprison me, but all I did was rub the skin raw.
I desperately wanted to sink down and collapse on the floor, but I knew that would leave me at a disadvantage when Beader returned, so I forced myself to remain standing, leaning against a chilled wall for support.
“God?” I whispered.
I received no answer. I was alone in the freezer.
What had happened to the lizard? Had the spray overcome him? Had his sensitive skin been burned? Had he died as a result of the chemical attack?
I shook my head, unwilling to even consider that.
Had he fallen? I couldn’t remember, everything had been so painful and scary.
Had I accidentally crushed him when I was stumbling around? The thought broke my heart. Sure, he’s a pain in the ass, but he’s my best friend. What would I do without him?
A heaving sob wracked my entire body at the thought of him being gone forever.
“Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry,” a little voice urged.
I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the delusion. I was alone in this freezer. “You’re all alone, Maggie,” I forced myself to say aloud. “Get a grip.”
“Not alone. Not alone. Not alone,” the voice argued.
“Benny?” I whispered. “Are you here?”
“Yes. Yes. Yes,” he replied.
Somehow, knowing he’d managed to sneak in to be with me gave me hope.
“We’re not going to die in here,” I promised him. “Though it would be easier to stay alive if my hands were free.”
“Choo. Choo. Choo.”
“Bless you,” I murmured.
The little mouse let out an unrestrained tittering giggle that brought a smile to my face despite our dire situation.
“Chew with teeth. With teeth. Teeth,” he managed to squeak through gales of laughter.
“Oh,” I said, realization dawning that he’d been talking, not sneezing. “You can chew through my binds.”
“Help. Help. Help,” he assured me proudly.
Realizing he was offering to help, not asking for it, I slid down the wall into a sitting position so that he could reach my hands.
I just hoped he could chew quickly enough.
Chapter Twenty-nine
Strange thoughts go through your head when you’re waiting for a rodent to free you. The weirdest was that I figured out what E E L O P R S meant.
“Elopers. I’ll be damned,” I muttered aloud. “Those two lovebirds are getting married.”
Benny grunted something as he chewed.
Deciding that my time could probably be better spent developing an escape plan instead of marveling about Aunt Susan and Griswald’s escapades, I tried to formulate a plan of attack for when Beader opened the door again. Since I had no idea about the condition of my vision, I realized it probably wasn’t the best idea to pull out my gun too early.
If Benny got my hands free in time, my best bet would be to physically attack the shop owner.
“Eyes. Nose. Throat. Groin.” Teeth chattering, I chanted quietly, remembering the lessons Patrick had provided in hand-to-hand combat. “Eyes. Nose. Throat. Groin.”
“Done. Done. Done,” Benny announced.
Gently, I tried to move my wrists apart. My heart soared when I realized I could. “If I could see you, I’d kiss you, Benny.”
“Cheese, please,” he requested as alternative thanks.
I scrambled to my feet and pulled out my phone. Not surprisingly, I had no signal, but I used the light to help me find the shivering mouse. Lifting him off the cold floor, I stuck my phone back in my pocket, cupped him in my hands and blew my warm breath on him before carefully placing him on my shoulder.
“You alright there?” I asked.
“Alright. Alright. Alright.”
“How did you get in here?” I asked, remembering I’d left him inside the car with Piss and DeeDee.
Before he could answer, the door swung open.
Chapter Thirty
I blinked against the bright light that flooded the space but still remembered to clasp my hands behind my back so that Beader wouldn’t know I was free of the restraint.
Benny burrowed under my shirt collar, hiding himself.
“Get out,” he ordered.
I complied, slowly shuffling forward. I stared at the floor, trying to get my eyes to adjust and focus. Everything remained fuzzy.
“You’re one of those idiots who think I diddle kids, aren’t you?” Beader asked.
I lifted my head. “You’re not?”
“Of course not.” He grabbed my arm.
I squeezed my interlocked fingers, hoping he wouldn’t look too closely at my wrists.
“That’s just a nasty rumor started by someone who was trying to get the cops to investigate me. Sneaky little weasel. Well, I showed him.”
I knew from his tone that I wouldn’t like the way he’d dealt with his enemy.
“But now everything’s done and you waltz in here to mess up my plans at the last possible minute. But that’s not going to happen. It’s time to blow this popsicle stand.” He guffawed. “Literally. We literally sell popsicles here.” He bent over laughing hard at his own stupid joke.
“So if you don’t hurt kids, what are you up to?” I asked curiously.
“You’re a nosy thing considering you’re about to die.”
I shrugged. “Curiosity killed the cat.”
“That reminds me. I’ve got to kill yours and your little dog, too, so I can get rid of your car.”
His threat made me furious and I fought the urge to strike out at him right then, knowing I wasn’t in the best position to defend myself.
“But I don’t mind you taking the secret to the grave,” Beader continued. “I’ve been cold-shipping bodies out of state for various criminal enterprises for years. You have no idea how easy it is to mix body parts into vats of soft serve.”
Fighting the urge to puke, I vowed to never eat ice cream again.
“I actually took the business over from a connected family that used to stuff bodies in pickle barrels.”
I vowed to never eat a pickle from Petra again, either.
“But alas, all good things must come to an end and it’s time for me to take my cold hard cash and skedaddle. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to dispose of you in the regular way. Which means I’ll be forced to choose to—”
“Pickle,” I blurted out, remembering Armani’s advice.
“Pickler,” he muttered. “If that numbskull teenager working for me hadn’t dropped a tub of vanilla, that contained an elbow, this morning, he’d still be alive and I wouldn’t have to close up shop. But now I’ve got his body stuck in a freezer to keep it from rotting faster than three day old fish.”
I suddenly understood that Benny must have witnessed the murder or hiding of the body.
Beader pushed the door to the alley open and shoved me out.
The sunlight stung my eyes and I stumbled. Instinctively, I reached out to catch myself, revealing that my hands were free.
“What the hell?” Beader growled.
I stumbled away unsteadily.
“Duck, doll,” Mike cawed from above.
So I did. Actually, I tripped, and fell to my knees, scraping them and the palms of my hands.
“You!” Beader gasped.
Then I heard a sickening splat, kind of like the sound a watermelon makes when it’s smashed by a hammer.
Crouched on the ground, I covered my ears, turning toward the sound, trying to figure out what was going on.
“Run! Run! Run!” Benny urged.
Shakily, I got to my feet and stumbled away, still blinded by the light.
Suddenly, a strong arm wrapped around my shoulders.
I shoved it off, fumbled for the gun in my waistband, and held it out in front of me, blinking furiously against the light at the shadowy figure. “Stay away.”
“Don’t shoot!” God yelled.
I sagged with relief that he was still alive, but then remembered the person attacking me. I raised the gun higher, hoping I was pointing it at the blur’s chest and not his groin.
“Easy, Mags. You’re safe.”
“Patrick?” I asked.
“Patrick!” DeeDee confirmed with an excited bark.
“Yes, it’s him,” God confirmed. “Can’t you see what’s in front of your face?”
“I can’t see,” I said, a pathetic note of self-pity winding its way through my tone.
“You look like hell, Mags.” Patrick’s tone was worried as he gently pried the gun from my fingers. “Are you okay?”
This time, when he wrapped an arm around my shoulders, I leaned into him, grateful for the support.
“What happened?” he asked gently.
“Beader threatened to kill DeeDee and Piss,” I revealed on a hiccupping sob.
Patrick pulled me closer. “They’re safe.”
“I’m never eating ice cream again,” I told him.
“Never?” DeeDee whined, clearly disappointed.
“There are body parts in it,” I wailed.
Patrick stiffened. “Are you sure?”
“That’s what Beader said.”
“Where is he?” Patrick asked.
“In the alley, I think.”
“Dead as a doornail,” Mike cawed.
“I’ll go check. You wait here,” Patrick said, putting me away from him.
I grabbed his arm. “I think he’s dead.”
“You think?” I heard the confusion in Patrick’s tone. After all, he’s one of the few people who know that I’m more than capable of killing someone.
“I couldn’t see. The light. My eyes. I heard…” I babbled.
“Let me go check it out. I’ll be right back. DeeDee, stay with her.”
The Doberman nudged my hand with her head so that I knew she was there.
“What happened?” I whispered when Patrick’s shadowy figure moved out of earshot.
“Some guy smashed Beader’s head in,” God explained.
“Some guy?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Some random guy?” My voice rose with near-hysteria.
“I’ve never seen him before,” God said.
“How did you get out?” I asked. “And where’s Benny?”
“Here. Here. Here,” the little guy squeaked from nearby.
“I followed you out to the alley,” God explained. “You really can’t see?”
“Shhh,” Piss ordered. “Patrick’s back.”
“He won’t bother you again,” Patrick said quietly. “Someone took care of that.”
“It wasn’t me,” I said defensively.
“I believe you. You’d be covered with spatter if you had. So we’re going to do this by the book. We’re going to get in crime techs, let them find the bodies in the ice cream, and get you some medical attention.”
After answering repetitive questions with the same lies, that I’d gone to get some more strawberry ice cream for Katie and had no idea why Beader had attacked me, it didn’t take the cops long to come up with the theory that Beader thought I’d witnessed him moving poor Pickler’s body and things had spiraled from there. Though no one had any idea who my mystery savior was. Not even me.
I ended up spending a couple of hours at the hospital Emergency Room.
Meanwhile, Patrick transported all the animals back to the B&B.
Eventually, I needed a ride home. While I was tempted to ask Angel for help, I ultimately decided that Ian would ask less questions, so I called him. He picked me up less than half an hour later.
After explaining a little bit of what had happened, I asked him to drive me to a Mexican restaurant and then the zoo.
Chapter Thirty-one
“You can wait here,” I told him as he parked in the zoo’s lot.
“Where are you going? It’s closed.”
“I want to thank the gorilla that took such good care of Thurston.”
Ian squinted at me, trying to tell whether or not I was serious. “You were just released from the hospital and you’re going to break into the zoo after hours to thank gorillas?”
When he put it that way, it did sound a little crazy, but I was a woman on a mission. “Yup.”
He shook his head. “Well, I’m not letting you go alone.”
Carrying the bag of Mexican take-out, I led him to the garbage dumpster and explained the method for getting over the fence. He looked skeptical.
“Here.” I thrust the bag into his hands. “I’ll show you.”
Before he could protest, I scrambled up onto the dumpster, leapt onto the fence, and hauled myself over the top. Once I was on the ground, I urged, “Toss me the food.”
Once the food, and Ian, had made it over the fence, I led the way to the gorilla enclosure.
The smelly yak grunted “Trespassers” as we walked by.
“Yakety yak, don’t talk hats,” I warned in response.
“What?” Ian asked.
“Nothing.”
“The talking human! The talking human!” the male gorilla bellowed as we approached, loudly enough to wake the entire zoo.
A cacophony of animal voices arose in the night. “The talking human. The talking human.”
I must admit, I felt like a bit of a celebrity.
“Subtle arrival,” Ian muttered under his breath as we reached the enclosure.
“You’ve returned,” the older female noted. “Maggie of the family.”
Cleo waved excitedly. “Hi, talking human!”
I waved back. “Hi, Cleo.”
“She knows my name.” If it’s possible for an ape to swoon, I’m pretty sure Cleo did it then.
“Of course she knows your name,” the male grumbled. “She heard it.”
Ian had his hands on hips as he watched what, no doubt, was a strange sight.
“I brought you some bean burritos,” I told the gorillas.
“The human kept her word,” the older female said in awe.
I opened the bag and began unwrapping the food. I handed the first to her, the second to Cleo, and I held out the third to the male.
He eyed it and then turned his back on me and walked away.
“Manners, Walter,” the older female chastised.
Sighing, he swaggered back, reached through the bars and snatched the burrito from me. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Thank you all for caring for Thurston.”
“Yes, thank you,” Ian echoed.
I glanced over at my brother, surprised. Then I remembered what my mother had told me and I murmured the words aloud. “It’s hereditary, not contagious.”
“What is?” Ian asked.
“You can hear them.” I pointed at the trio finishing their burritos.
“Of course I can hear them. They’re pretty loud,” Ian replied smoothly.
“No. I mean you can understand them.” My gaze locked on his as I tried to will him to admit it.
He shook his head.
“No?” I asked incredulously, feeling like the world’s biggest idiot. “You can’t?”
“No, I meant I didn’t want to have this discussion when we’re surrounded by animals, but you always seem to be.”
I grinned, relieved that my assumption wasn’t wrong
and that I wasn’t the only one with the ability.
“You can talk, too, human?” Cleo asked in amazement.
“Yeah.” He waved. “Hi, Cleo.”
She waved back.
He waved to the male gorilla. “Hey there, Walter.”
Walter just kept chewing his burrito.
“And I’m sorry,” Ian said charmingly. “I didn’t catch your name.”
The older female smiled at him, which was kind of frightening except for the fact she had cilantro stuck in her teeth. “I am Bonnie.”
“Pleased to meet you, Bonnie. Thank you all for making sure no harm came to my uncle.”
“Are you also of the family Lee?” Bonnie asked.
Ian looked to me, silently asking how to answer.
“We have the same mother,” I explained.
“Family,” Bonnie declared with another smile.
“Family,” Ian and I agreed simultaneously.
After we’d visited with the gorillas for a while longer, Ian took me home.
Well, almost home. He dropped me off a block away so that no one would see him and start asking questions. Our fragile sibling bond didn’t need the complications that my family would, no doubt, pile on once they learned of Ian’s existence.
He offered to follow me home in his car, but I waved him off, assuring him I’d be fine.
An assurance I quickly doubted when a dark sedan intercepted me three doors down from the B&B.
Gino already had the window down as he pulled to a stop beside me. “Boss wants to see you.”
“Now?”
“ASAP. I’ll give you a ride.”
Glancing longingly in the direction of home, I grudgingly got into the car.
“You don’t look so hot,” Gino remarked as he cut a u-turn in the middle of the street.
“You should see the other guy,” I joked.
“I heard about him.” He arched his eyebrows, pursed his lips, and wisely didn’t add or ask anything else.
We spent the rest of the ride listening to the local classic rock radio station. He may be a mobster’s bodyguard, but Gino’s got good taste in music.
He pulled into the RV lot, stopped in front of the office, and waited for me to get out.
“Will you give me a lift home or should I call an Uber?” I asked as I climbed out of the car.
