In Too Deep

by Rose Pressey

  “There’s nothing in the kitchen,” I said. “Maybe we should head on into the other rooms. Do you want to split up and maybe we can get this done faster?”

  “That’s probably a good idea,” Dorothy said. ‘The faster we get out of here the better off we’ll be. This place gives me the creeps.”

  “I’ll look in the living room and that bedroom down the hall. You take the other bedroom and the bathroom,” I said.

  She gave a little salute. “I’m on it.”

  Dorothy headed for the bedroom and I scanned the living room, trying to decide where to look first. A threadbare sofa sat against the outer wall of the house.

  I looked through the desk, pulling open the doors. Finding a bunch of scrap pieces of paper and pens that probably didn’t work, I was ready to give up and move on to something else. However, just as I was about to close the drawer, I spotted a hardback book. It appeared to be a journal or a ledger. Placing my gun down on the desk, I pulled out the book and immediately flipped open the cover.

  It was a log book. For what, I wasn’t sure, but it appeared to be sales information. I wasn’t sure what this was about, but I saw the name at the top and immediately paused on the page. This belonged to Allan Cisco, Vivian’s friend—Justin’s father.

  A loud noise clattered through the house. I screamed and held my ears. The clock. I knew I’d forget about the clock.

  Dorothy came running. “What happened?”

  “It was the clock.” I pointed.

  “Scared me to death.” Dorothy shook her head and disappeared around the corner.

  Now, back to work and no more distractions.

  Chapter 28

  According to this book, Vivian owed Allen a lot of money. I had a feeling that this had something to do with her murder too. The book also listed that Allen wanted the money back or she was going to die. I snapped a few photos of the pages so that I would have this as evidence.

  Scanning the top of the desk, I spotted an ad for the restaurant. The one that had been shot up. Had Billy been to the restaurant? I was starting to suspect that Billy had been the one with Justin when Dorothy’s purse had been stolen. Was Billy the killer? I peered around, hoping to find anything else. I spotted a small waste bin next to the desk. A few crumpled pieces of paper were inside. I grabbed the bin and started pulling out the trash. Jackpot. A receipt for a dozen roses. Paid for in cash. Someone in this house had been nice and sent me flowers.

  Nothing else of importance was in the trash can, just food wrappers and scrap pieces of paper. What other treasure could I find here? I pulled out more drawers. After digging under a few pieces of paper I found the clue I had been looking for all along. The missing page from the file in my office. This proved that Justin and Billy had been involved with breaking into my office. At least in my mind it was proof.

  My uncle had suspected Vivian had been involved with the hit-and-run of a man. Allen Cisco had been with her that evening, plus Vincent Sinclair—the restaurant owner. He’d been the other witness the night of the accident. The family of the man who had been hit had hired my uncle to find the person responsible.

  “Did you find anything, Maggie?” Dorothy called.

  “I don’t believe she did.” The male voice came from somewhere nearby.

  I spun around and was shocked to see the killer standing in the kitchen doorway. He had a gun of course, so there wasn’t time for me to reach for mine. Billy had been Vivian’s boyfriend, but he’d turned on her. Now he looked as if he was here to kill Dorothy and me too.

  He looked like any guy you’d see walking down the street. Navy blue baseball cap, white t-shirt, and navy-blue shorts. He wore flip flops, for heaven’s sake. A casual killer? No business suit or work clothes. He was strictly in for comfort.

  He motioned with the gun for Dorothy to walk beside me. “Both of you together right now. Sit down on the couch.”

  I moved over to Dorothy and helped her over to the threadbare sofa. It looked as if we had no choice but do as this guy said. This was a plot twist that I hadn’t seen coming. I’d never thought he would show up at this house right now. I figured he’d have skipped town by now. Then again, maybe he’d left town but come back for something important. I hoped he hadn’t come back just for us.

  Dorothy and I sat huddled next to each other on that old sofa. Dorothy sat so close to me that she was practically on my lap. The guy stared at us. His eyes were blank and expressionless. He took a couple of steps closer, still with the gun pointed at us. I remained quiet, just staring back at him. I wasn’t sure what to say. Who would speak first? Knowing Dorothy, she would probably say something. I just hoped she didn’t say the wrong thing. We didn’t want to agitate him while he had that gun pointed at us.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked.

  I could ask the same of him. I supposed he knew that we were aware of what he’d done.

  “We came here to find out why you killed that guy. Plus, we want the ten grand that you stole back,” I said matter-of-factly.

  He chuckled. “Like I’d give that money back.”

  “You’re okay with stealing from an elderly woman?” I asked.

  Dorothy snorted. Now was not the time to debate the definition of ‘elderly.’

  His attention shifted toward Dorothy. “She looks pretty spry. I think she can take care of herself.”

  “Why, thank you,” Dorothy said with a bit of a giggle.

  I glanced over and glared at her. I didn’t care if he gave a compliment, now was not the time to accept it.

  “Right,” she said, as if reading my mind.

  “So why don’t you tell me exactly what’s going on and why you did this?”

  “I don’t have to tell you anything. You’re the private investigator, why don’t you figure it out?” he asked with a smirk.

  “Well, I think I did a pretty good job of figuring out this much, don’t you think?” I asked.

  “I’ll give you credit for that,” he said. “But I doubt you’ll figure out the rest and I’m not going to tell you. I’m not going back to jail.”

  “Nothing says you have to go to jail. Just give us the money back and we’ll be out of your hair,” I said.

  “I’m not gonna tell anybody,” he said.

  “We just tracked you down because I want her money back,” I said.

  Of course that wasn’t true, but he didn’t need to know that. All he had to do was let us go right now. I needed to get out of the situation safely—and, more importantly, get Dorothy out of it. I’d told her this was a dangerous business and I wished she had stayed in the car. Not only would she be out of harm’s way, but she could possibly call in for help for me when she realized I didn’t come back in a timely manner.

  That was neither here nor there now though because what was done was done. Now here we sat on this ugly sofa in this strange house with the killer pointing a gun at us. The odds weren’t going in our favor at the moment. And I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to get us out of this situation.

  But I remained positive. I wouldn’t go down without a fight. He probably knew that too and was ready for a fight. It was two against one, but he had the upper hand because he currently had his gun aimed at us. Apparently, he hadn’t seen the gun I’d left on the desk. He hadn’t thought that I might have a weapon too. He wasn’t the biggest wave in the ocean. Now I had to make it over to the desk and retrieve the gun.

  “I don’t have the money to give back to you. I already spent it,” he said.

  I felt Dorothy’s body tense as she sat beside me. He’d already spent her money? Well, I shouldn’t be surprised.

  “It certainly wasn’t spent on clothes,” I said.

  He narrowed his eyes. “I wouldn’t suggest irritating the person who has a gun pointed at you.”

  Hey, if he was going to shoot, at least I would go down being a smartass.

  “All right, then if you don’t have the money, I guess we’ll be on our way.” I moved just a bit
and he cocked the gun. I immediately froze and didn’t offer to get up again.

  “I said don’t get up from the sofa. What part of that do you not understand?”

  “Yeah, Maggie, what part of that do you not understand?” Dorothy said.

  I held my hands up in the air. “I’m not budging.”

  Now I had to decide how I was going to get my gun from the desk and pointed at him. I had to defuse the situation. But if I jumped up for my gun, he would truly shoot us. So likely that option was out. Maybe if I could distract him that would give me time to grab my gun. I had no idea what I would do to distract him though. It was doubtful he would believe me if I told him that someone was behind him.

  I was running out of options on how to get away from this guy. It seemed as if nothing I said worked on him. He wasn’t concerned that he had scared poor Dorothy. But then he was a killer so I shouldn’t be surprised about that. He had the most diabolical-looking eyes. And I’d seen some creepy-looking eyes in my day. His were by far the worst.

  How long would he keep us here? Would he kill us here or drag us to some secluded spot? Okay, now I was allowing the negative thoughts to creep in. I had to think that we would get out of here. I supposed I thought if I stared him down that would somehow intimidate him. That was when an idea hit me. I had no idea if this would work, but it was the only shot I had, so I had to give it a try.

  “You know, people know we’re here. It wasn’t like I just walked in here without telling anyone. That would be breaking in, right? So the cops are fully aware and actually they’re on their way, so I would suggest you get out of here before they get here.”

  “Oh, is that right?” he said with a smug smile.

  Something told me he wasn’t believing me.

  “Well, if they’re on their way then I suppose I should leave.”

  Maybe this had worked after all. However, based on the sarcastic tone in his voice, I suspected he had something up his sleeve.

  “But if I have to go then you go with me,” he said.

  Darn it. I should have guessed that one.

  “So with that being said, you can go ahead and stand up now. Walk over here toward me.” He motioned with his gun. “We’ll go out the back door. I’ll follow you out.”

  At the moment my thoughts on how to get Dorothy and myself out of this were completely blank. Now that we were going out of here with him, I felt even more hopeless. What had happened to all my positive thoughts?

  Chapter 29

  Dorothy and I were smart. We should be able to figure our way out of this situation. This guy was nothing but a big dummy. Of course, he was a big dummy with a gun. Nevertheless, I knew we would figure out something, but it had to be quick before it was too late. When it came down to a stressful situation like this I wasn’t exactly in my right state of mind.

  I scanned my surroundings to see if there was any way we could make a dash and get out of here before being shot. There was only the door behind him and then the front door, which wasn’t that far away, but it would require maneuvering ourselves around the corner and that would slow down our speed. Which would probably allow him to shoot us in the process. Yes, Dorothy and I had ourselves in quite a pickle.

  Now I came back to my original idea of causing some kind of distraction. That would be the only way to get out of here and have enough time to run. But what kind of distraction could we possibly cause? I assumed acting as if the police had finally shown up was my only choice. I guessed that was the only thing I had unless I could convince him not to shoot us. Trying to pretend like we were friends? Nope. All of these scenarios were unlikely to have the desired effect.

  Now I had to use my best acting skills. And I wasn’t exactly up for an Emmy anytime soon. I stared out the window for a moment, hoping that he saw me. He had to think this was a trick. He had to have some kind of doubts though that maybe the police were really here. And I would have to play that up.

  I smiled. “Well, it looks as if the game is over for you. The police are here. I figured it wouldn’t take them long.”

  He stared at me. I knew he was contemplating my words, wondering if I was telling the truth. That was for me to know and him to find out.

  “I don’t hear sirens or see lights,” he said.

  “They want to sneak up on you. They don’t want you to know that they’re about to take you down,” I said with a smirk.

  “If the police are really here then you all are coming with me. I’m not leaving you here while I go check. I’m not that dumb.”

  I wanted to make a comment, but I decided to keep my mouth shut. Only temporarily though. Dorothy and I did as we were told and got up from the sofa. We walked side by side, practically clutching each other as we moved toward the kitchen door. Of course now he was behind us so that we couldn’t run away. I really had no idea how I was going to get myself out of this. I’d made things worse.

  I felt Dorothy’s tension as she walked along beside me. Guilt came over me just thinking about the situation I’d put her in. Perhaps I should have just taken the occasional cheating or insurance fraud cases and left myself out of the murder investigations. They would all be a lot safer. Jake had been telling me that forever and I ignored him.

  I shouldn’t think of that now. It wasn’t a good time to worry about what if or what I should have done. I had to focus all my attention on how to get us out of this situation. We neared the desk. This was my last chance to get the gun. In that moment Dorothy pretended to almost fall. He turned his attention to her. In that spilt second, I grabbed the gun from the desk and shoved it into my waistband. There wasn’t time to shot at him, but at least I had the gun now.

  We were in the kitchen now heading for the back door. I supposed he wanted to see if the police were really out there. Maybe when we got to the door, we could make for a run for it. I just needed enough time to reach for my gun.

  He stood right behind me. I had a few moves that I’d learned over the last few months. I’d been practicing them with Jake. But I wasn’t sure I had the nerve to actually try it in this situation when it was life or death. But if I didn’t use it now, then when? This was exactly the situation it was intended for. What did I have to lose? It looked as if he was going to kill us regardless. Either I was going down with a fight like I’d said I would do or I let him get rid of us permanently.

  With any luck he would be caught off guard and I would knock the gun from his hand. That would give me time to get mine. I was playing out this whole scenario in my mind and of course it was working there. I was about to find out if it would come true now.

  On the count of three, I decided to spin around. I punched the guy in the face. He was completely taken off guard. He’d had no idea that I would try that and that I would have such a strong punch. I’d used all of my strength. Tomorrow if I survived this it would likely cost me a lot of soreness and pain.

  The gun flew from his hand. The look on his face was priceless. I wished I had a picture of him. I jumped across the floor, diving onto the gun. Thank goodness it didn’t go off. Jake would consider this a bad move. I spun around just as the guy was coming toward me. Did he really think that he was going to get the gun before I did?

  I pointed it at him. “Don’t move or I’ll shoot.”

  He smirked. “Go ahead. It’s not loaded. You were dumb enough to think that I had a loaded gun?”

  “Well, yeah, considering you murdered someone with a gun. But that’s okay because I have a backup.” I whipped my gun from my side and aimed it at him.

  Talk about being stunned. He truly was flummoxed now.

  “Good one, Maggie,” Dorothy said.

  “Thank you, Dorothy. You didn’t see that coming, did you, killer guy?” I asked with a smile.

  He had his hands up now and I pushed to my feet. I had both guns aimed at him like I was some sort of Wild West cowboy or something.

  “And that’s how it’s done,” I said. “Now get back into the living room.”

&nbs
p; I had no idea what I was going to do with him. Dorothy followed along behind him. I was behind her. Unfortunately, I hadn’t planned on him taking off in a run for the front door. I supposed he thought that I wouldn’t shoot. He was probably right about that. I thought of shooting in a different location and that the gunfire would stop him. However, what if someone else was shot? Although we were far away from other houses and I assumed it would be safe. Nevertheless, I refrained.

  “He’s getting away, Maggie,” Dorothy yelled. “Shoot him.”

  I wasn’t going to shoot him. Not unless he was attacking us. There was really nothing I could do to stop him. He made it to the front door and out onto the front yard. I ran behind him. I hoped he didn’t have another gun out there.

  “Dorothy, call the police, I said.

  “I don’t have my purse,” she said.

  “My phone’s in my pocket.”

  I was still in shock since I was clutching both of those guns as if my life depended on it. Well, actually it did depend on it. Letting go of the guns could be disastrous. After Dorothy pulled the phone from my pocket, I raced out onto the front porch. As the guy pulled away, he stuck his hand out the window.

  “He has another gun,” I yelled.

  He fired a shot. The next thing I knew I had landed on the front porch. Pain surged through my arm. Had I been shot? Yes, that had to be the reason for the burning sensation.

  “Maggie,” Dorothy yelled.

  I lifted my head up slightly and watched as he drove down the driveway. No way would I let him get away. I managed to stumble to my feet. Dorothy had rushed to my side.

  “What do you think you’re doing? You shouldn’t get up.” She tried to push me back down.

  “Come on, Dorothy, we have to go after that guy.” I raced down the steps.

  “You’ve been shot. You can’t drive,” Dorothy said.