by K. K. Beck
“You’re lying,” she said. “No one told the police about me.”
Another man’s voice came from behind Franklin. It was Detective Lukowski’s voice. “Actually, they both told me, Rosa. Put down the gun.” He sounded so calm and firm, Alice was sure Rosa would obey. Instead the hand with the gun in it started shaking. “It’s not fair,” she said.
“I know,” said Lukowski from the porch. “But it will be easier for you if you put down the gun. Just set it down on the floor with the barrel pointing away from everyone. We don’t want anyone hurt. We know that you’re really Lourdes—that Rosa Delgado is the name of a cousin, and you used her green card. You can’t pretend anymore.”
“The hell with all of you,” Rosa screamed, and brought her other hand up to steady the gun. She closed her eyes tight as if she were preparing for a heavy recoil.
“Get down!” shouted Lukowski.
Alice heard the rumble of the skateboard for just a second before Zack came careening down the hall and into the entry. The tip of his board caught Rosa in the back of her ankles, and she tumbled over with a scream. Her heavy gun went flying and slid across the slate entryway.
By the time Zack had scrambled to his feet, Lukowski and Franklin Payne were both on top of Rosa, holding her down.
Alice walked over to where the gun was and nudged it very carefully across the room with her foot so that Rosa couldn’t reach it even if she managed to break free from the two men. Then she wrapped her arms around Zack and held him tightly.
Rosa Delgado lay on the slate floor of the entryway, her hands fastened behind her with plastic cuffs. Lukowski walked over to the gun and smiled. “A Glock.”
“Think it will tie in with the two murders?” said Alice, thrilled.
“I sure hope so,” he said with a big smile. “You’re going to jail,” he said to Rosa.
“You saved my life,” said Alice to Franklin.
“What’s going on?” Zack asked his mother.
“That’s the second time today someone’s pulled a gun on me,” said Franklin to Alice. “Aren’t you going to invite me in and offer me a drink?”
Later, after Lukowski had finally left and Rosa had been hauled away, after Zack had been told just what had happened and had rushed off with the phone to his room to tell all his friends, Alice and Franklin sat side by side on the sofa, drinking the last of Ken’s expensive Scotch.
“I had it all wrong,” said Alice. “I thought Ed was blackmailing Chip. Instead, he was blackmailing Rosa.”
“According to Ron Ott,” Franklin said, “Ed started out trying to get a finder’s fee out of Chip. Chip wanted to buy KLEG, and Costello knew where he could get some money—from the woman Chip had never divorced. But then I think Ed decided he could do better blackmailing Rosa. She had deeper pockets. And not only did she want to keep all her money and not share it with Chip, she was probably in this country illegally. Ott told me Chip worked hard to keep her from getting a green card on the basis of their flimsy little marriage.”
“If I’d known that Rosa was an illegal immigrant, I might have figured it all out,” said Alice. “I have to admit that I wanted to. It sounds so childish, but the truth is, nothing fascinates me more than crime. I was always a real junkie for this true crime stuff. I’ve fantasized about investigating things all my life.”
“Really?” said Franklin. “Our firm is talking about hiring an assistant for our in-house investigator. It’s not all criminal work, though. There’s some civil stuff, too. You know—getting pictures of people jumping up and down on trampolines after filing personal-injury suits.”
“Oh, that sounds wonderful,” said Alice. “Do you think I have a chance?”
“Of course you do,” said Franklin. “I’ll see to it. And when you’re an employee we can get one of our divorce attorneys to go after that wretched ex-husband of yours and his cult.”
“My God, you’ve already done so much for me,” she said, her eyes filling with grateful tears. “You saved me from that horrible woman! It was wonderful.”
She realized she was holding his hand, and she was even more astonished to find herself collapsing against his shoulder while he patted her on the back.
Zack came into the room, and they pulled apart hastily. “Wow, that Porsche out in front must have set you back a lot,” he said. “That’s a really cool car!”
“Zack!” said Alice, horribly embarrassed. “That’s a terrible thing to say.”
Franklin laughed. “It doesn’t hurt to know how much things cost,” he said. “As long as you don’t know the price of everything and the value of nothing. Actually, I think that’s probably Rosa Delgado’s car.”
Zack looked a little disappointed, but then perked up and said, “Wow. Then yours must be the vintage Mercedes. It’s great too, and the value will just go up, right?”
“That’s right,” said Franklin.
“Well, I’ll leave you two alone now. Great car, Mr. Payne,” said Zack. “Good night.”
“Nice kid,” said Franklin.
