The Hitwoman's Juggling Act Page 15

  “Not you,” I said quickly. “The lizard, I was telling the lizard to shut up.”

  Gino rolled his eyes. “You take Mulligan’s feet. I’ll carry his upper half.”

  I eyed him doubtfully. “It’s awfully far to carry him.”

  “Unlike you, I didn’t park a mile away.”

  We moved in tandem, getting ready to carry Patrick. I accidentally knocked over a picture frame on a bookshelf at the foot of the bed.

  Automatically, because Susan had taught me to always put things back where they belong, I reached out to straighten it. I glanced at the photo.

  It was of three women, the Interrogator, Doctor Oliver, and the social worker, MacGuire. With a sense of impending dread, I read the engraved wooden frame. “Family Forever.”

  34

  Icy fear gripped my heart. It chilled my blood, and I found it difficult to breathe. I began to shake.

  “What?” Gino asked, clearly confused.

  I dropped the picture, not caring that the glass shattered at my feet.

  “Danger! Danger! Danger!” Benny warned as the shards spread out over the floor.

  “Hey,” Gino said, dumping Patrick unceremoniously back on the bed. “You’re scaring me.”

  Hands shaking, I pulled out my cell phone and tried to call Darlene. I had to warn her. She could not let Maureen MacGuire take Katie.

  The call did not go through.

  “Seriously, what the hell is going on?” Gino asked.

  “Give me your phone,” I demanded. “It’s an emergency.”

  To Gino’s credit, he didn’t hesitate to hand over his phone. With trembling fingers, I punched in Darlene’s number and waited.

  “Breathe, Maggie,” God urged. “We can’t help you if we don’t know what’s going on.”

  The call, again, did not go through.

  “They’re not working.” Tears of frustration and fear started to run down my face.

  “It’s probably the solar eclipse,” Gino said, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “They said that might happen.”

  I pointed to the dead woman on the floor. “Her sister is at Katie’s house right now.”

  “I’m sure—” Gino began.

  “You don’t understand. They’re sisters with Doctor Oliver, and Marshal Griswald told me that her brother is Steve ‘the Shark’ Sincero.”

  Gino paled. “If they get Katie they’ll use her as leverage. Or worse…”

  An eerie silence settled over us as we each imagined the worst for a moment that felt like a lifetime.

  “I’ve got to get to her first.” I began to run to the door.

  “It will take you at least forty minutes to get there,” Gino warned.

  I knew he was right, but I had to do something.

  “Not if you go as the crow flies,” God suggested.

  I glanced back at him. “What?” I didn’t even care that Gino was watching me talk to my pets now. Katie’s life was in danger, that’s the only thing that mattered.

  “Mike could get there quicker,” God explained.

  I ran outside the house, searched the sky, and began screaming, “Mike! It’s an emergency!”

  The black bird swooped down. “You’re going to wake the dead, doll.”

  “Katie’s in danger,” I told him.

  “Real danger,” Piss meowed, backing me up.

  “Go tell Ian not to let her be taken away from the house,” I said.

  “Will do.” He began to beat his wings.

  “No!” God yelled so loud that I thought for sure Gino could understand his command.

  Mike hesitated midair.

  “What if the GF didn’t stand for girlfriend,” God said with urgency.

  “Of course, it did,” I told him. “Did you not see what just happened here?”

  “What if it stands for grandfather?” God asked.

  “You want Archie to save Katie?” I asked incredulously.

  “No, what if your grandfather can save her?” he asked.

  It took me a minute to figure out what he was talking about.

  “Herschel is much closer to Darlene’s house than Ian,” God said.

  “He has a point, sugar,” Piss purred. She paced back and forth, the hair on the back of her neck raised.

  I hesitated, knowing that whatever decision I made could have deadly consequences. “I don’t know.”

  “There isn’t time,” Mike said. “I’ve got to go.”

  “Herschel!” DeeDee barked.

  I looked at her, unsure of whether she had just figured out who my grandfather was, or if she was giving her advice.

  “Herschel,” God said the same thing, waving his tail for emphasis.

  “Herschel,” Piss voted.

  “Herschel. Herschel. Herschel,” Benny confirmed.

  Knowing that my own thinking wasn’t working particularly well, I decided to go with theirs.

  “Herschel,” I told Mike. “And please hurry.” Mike zoomed away into the sky.

  I glanced back at Gino. Whatever he thought of the exchange between me and the animals, he didn’t say anything. “Go,” he urged. “I’ll take care of this, and as soon as my phone starts to work again, I’ll call the bosses.”

  I nodded my thanks and took off at a dead run toward my car.

  35

  DeeDee, with God riding on her back, clutching her collar like a bull rider, streaked past me and reached the car first.

  Piss, carrying Benny in her mouth, kept pace with me.

  I know it was only a quarter of a mile, and that a woman my age in any kind of decent shape should be able to run that easily, especially when filled with the fear that her beloved niece is in deadly danger, but I was gasping for breath by the time I reached the vehicle.

  Thankfully, everyone, understanding how dire the situation was, piled into the car silently. They did not bicker amongst themselves; God did not say anything snarky to me.

  I drove toward Darlene’s house as fast as I could, not caring about traffic laws, just trying not to get us flattened on the way. Even then, as I weaved in and out of traffic like a madwoman, God remained quiet.

  Gino was wrong—it didn’t take me forty minutes, it took me twenty-eight. Twenty-eight minutes that felt like an eternity. As I pulled onto the street, tires squealing as I rounded the corner, I saw that it was blocked off.

  Slamming on the brakes, my heart dropped. Cop cars seemed to be swarming everywhere.

  Throwing the car into park, I jumped out and ran toward Darlene’s place, terrified I was too late.

  I fought my way through the nosy neighbors who were rubbernecking and got to the first line of uniform cops. “I live there,” I panted, pointing to Darlene’s house. It was a little bit of a lie, but I didn’t think that they should hold that against me.

  “Nobody gets through,” the cop told me.

  I searched the crowd, hoping to see Detective Brian Griswald. He was nowhere in sight, probably still recovering from the effects of Aunt Leslie’s cocoa.

  “Hey.” I turned and saw that Darlene, clutching both of her twins to her, was standing beside me. She looked grim.

  My heart dropped. “What happened?”

  “For the first time in a while, I pretty much had the house to myself, except for the girls,” she said.

  DeeDee licked both the girls, making them giggle.

  “And then that social worker shows up and has all the paperwork and says she’s going to take Katie,” Darlene’s voice rose, revealing her stress. She took a moment to compose herself.

  It was unusual for her to get upset, and her level of emotion made me feel even worse about what she was about to reveal.

  “She told me I should pack Katie a bag.”

  “You didn’t let her take her,” I said urgently.

  “What choice did I have?” Darlene asked. “I texted you, and you didn’t show up.” The accusation hung in the air. I couldn’t argue with her, and I couldn’t explain.

  “So,
what happened?” I asked, gesturing at all the police vehicles in the area.

  “MacGuire was leading Katie out of the house, escorting her to her car, and then this crazy limping old man came out of nowhere.”

  “Told ya,” God said quietly.

  A surge of hope filled me. If Herschel had gotten here on time… “And then what?”

  “Then the social worker pulled out a gun.”

  I felt my shoulders slump as my hope fizzled.

  “But the old man, he was saying something about how this was his act of atonement, and he wouldn’t let her take Katie. She shot him,” Darlene said quietly. “This old man, he just shows up, and she shot him.”

  “The old man was shot?” My voice cracked with concern.

  “Yeah, the ambulance took him away.”

  I gasped. “Where’s Katie now?”

  “Griswald has her in his car. She’s fine.”

  “So, what’s going on here?” I asked, not understanding.

  Darlene gave a sidelong glance to the uniformed cop who was trying to eavesdrop on our conversation. “Our old friend Zeke stopped by. He tackled the social worker when he saw her shoot the old man.”

  I gulped, trying to push away my worry about Herschel. I had to focus on the more pressing problem.

  “So what’s all this activity about?” I asked.

  “She took Zeke hostage, yelling something about freeing her brother,” Darlene revealed. She looked around at all the cops standing by their cars. “They’re waiting for a negotiator.” She gave me a hard look, letting me know that neither she nor I should believe that Zeke’s chances would be improved with the arrival of a negotiator. “I don’t know what to do,” she confessed.

  I glanced down at my phone and saw that my signal was working again. “I might.”

  36

  I hurriedly called the switchboard of the hotel that Armani and I were staying in, requested her room, and waited.

  As I waited, I moved away from Darlene and everyone else. I really didn’t need anyone overhearing this conversation. I beckoned for the animals to follow. Crouching down, I put the phone on speaker so they could hear.

  It took Armani five rings to answer. “What?” she asked impatiently.

  “It’s me,” I said quickly. “No questions; this is life or death. Tell me about your dream about Zeke.”

  I heard her suck in a breath and hesitate for a moment.

  “Your predictions have been right on,” I told her. “I really need to know about the dream.”

  “I don’t know what to tell you, chica. It was just him and a fire extinguisher. I kind of assumed it meant that the hottie was back in town.”

  I needed more. “That’s it?”

  “That’s all,” Armani apologized. “Is there anything else I can—”

  I hung up on her.

  “I don’t know what the fire extinguisher means, do you?” I asked the brood.

  Everyone remained silent.

  I looked to God, but even he had no suggestions.

  “Every extinguishers there in fire room are,” DeeDee whined softly.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Every extinguishers there in fire room are,” she repeated.

  God groaned. “I am so sick of this grammatically-challenged fur bag.”

  Piss translated quickly, “There are fire extinguishers in every room.”

  I looked to the dog. “You’re sure of that?”

  “Yes.”

  “Now that would make a pretty decent weapon,” God mused.

  “Only if Zeke sees them,” I muttered.

  I had no idea how to get a message to Zeke that he needed to use a fire extinguisher as a weapon against the social worker, MacGuire, but somebody else did. “I can help with that,” God said.

  I looked at him. He was right. He could get inside. If he could somehow signal Zeke, there might be a chance.

  “I’ll give you a lift,” Piss offered, “and provide moral support.”

  “I do not need moral support,” God said, but he scrambled up on her back. They took off through the crowd, the cat weaving her way through legs and across the driveway.

  I turned back to Darlene, who’d watched the exchange from a distance. I couldn’t read the expression on her face. I walked back slowly.

  “We’re going to sit in Griswald’s car,” she announced. “Come with.”

  She led me through the parking lot of vehicles to the U.S. Marshal’s car.

  She and the kids climbed in.

  Katie jumped out and gave me a big hug. “Aunt Maggie,” she pouted. “That mean lady hurt my arm.”

  She held it up, and I could see the beginnings of a bruise starting to form around her wrist.

  For the second time that day, I was filled with murderous rage.

  “You’ll be okay,” I told her, grabbing her hand and making a big show of pressing little butterfly kisses to her wrist. “There, I performed my healing magic.”

  She giggled.

  “Wait in the car,” Griswald ordered Katie.

  She nodded, gave me a quick wave, and jumped inside.

  Griswald closed the door so that he and I could have a semi-private conversation. “I don’t have any authority here,” he said. “I don’t know what I can do to help your friend.”

  “I appreciate that you were here for Katie,” I told him.

  He nodded. We watched the swell of activity surrounding us, both of us feeling impotent.

  “The man who was shot,” I asked tentatively, “is he going to be okay?”

  Griswald looked at me carefully, and I wondered what my tone had given away.

  “I mean, I’d like to thank him,” I continued awkwardly, trying to cover up the fact I was keeping a secret.

  Griswald squinted at me. “I heard he’s going to be fine.”

  In the distance, I saw Ian pull up and start to fight his way through the crowd, as I had earlier.

  “Ian!” I waved him over.

  A moment later, he was at my side.

  “What happened?” he asked, worry carving deep lines on his forehead.

  A single shot rang out.

  Everyone ducked, and a lot of people panicked. There was screaming, and orders barked, and general pandemonium. Then Zeke, all cleaned up and clean shaven, emerged from the house, hands raised.

  The local cops raced toward him, guns drawn.

  I let out a sigh of relief. Zeke was alive.

  Mike cawed from above, “Now can you help Boy?”

  37

  Once they had taken the social worker into custody, the majority of the police presence and neighbors cleared the street.

  Griswald took Darlene and all three girls to his place, but DeeDee stayed behind with me.

  Ian retreated to his car but didn’t leave.

  Zeke stood, cuddling Piss to his chest, murmuring in her ear.

  “You know how they say cats have nine lives?” he asked as I approached.

  I nodded.

  “She used up one of hers saving me.”

  “She saved you?” I asked curiously.

  Zeke nodded emphatically. “She tripped that horrid woman, who fell and hit her head on a fire extinguisher, knocking her out cold.”

  “But the gunshot.”

  “It went off as she fell,” Zeke explained.

  “Wow.” Things never worked out the way I thought they were going to.

  “Maybe I should buy her a fish to say thank you,” Zeke suggested.

  “Maybe you should buy me a bag of crickets,” God raged.

  Looking around, I saw that he was curled up in the wheel well of a nearby car.

  “My plan, not the feeble furry feline, is what saved you.”

  Piss lazily showed him her claws but didn’t make any move to leave the embrace of Zeke’s arms.

  “I need to talk to Whitehat,” I told Zeke quietly.

  His eyes widened with surprise. “Are you sure?”

  I nodded.

 
Zeke carefully put Piss down on the ground and pulled out his cell phone and walked away.

  “Why are you inviting trouble?” God wanted to know.

  “She has the resources to take care of Boy,” I told him. “I don’t.”

  Zeke strolled back. “The pavilion at the park in fifteen minutes. I’ve got to go.”

  “Thank you, Zeke. Thank you for protecting Katie, and for saving Herschel.”

  He looked at me curiously. “You know that crazy old guy?”

  I flinched, realizing what I’d revealed. “It’s kind of a secret.”

  “Well, you can tell me all about it the next time I see you,” Zeke said, pressing a kiss to my cheek and then turning and walking away.

  I watched him leave before nonchalantly strolling toward Ian. I needed to ditch him before my meeting. “I never asked what you were doing here?” I said as I got within earshot.

  He looked down, scuffed the earth with his sneaker. “I’m sorry, Maggie.”

  “For what?”

  He glanced around nervously. “I lost the skull.”

  For some reason, I found that very funny and began to chuckle. Considering all the other problems I had to deal with, that had always been at the bottom of the heap. It was fitting that it had gotten lost along the way.

  “I had it in Thurston’s garage, but now it’s gone,” Ian told me desperately.

  “Okay.”

  He looked at me like he didn’t believe my reaction. “Okay?”

  I shrugged. “If it shows up again, I’ll deal with it then.” I offered him a forgiving smile. “I’ve got to go,” I said. Impulsively, I hugged him. “We’ll talk soon.”

  I started to walk away, and he called after me, “How’s the house hunting going?”

  I turned back to answer him, hoping that he hadn’t seen my flinch. “To be honest, I’ve been too busy to make any progress.”

  DeeDee and I walked to the pavilion, leaving Piss and God behind to bicker as they watched the remains of the police activity at Darlene’s house.

  When I reached the pavilion, there was nobody there, but there was a lone cell phone lying on a table. It was ringing.

  I approached it slowly, knowing that it was for me. I snatched it up and answered. “Hello?”