Courting Trouble (37 page)

She went to the kitchen and took off a Playtex glove long enough to grab a handful of Captain Crunch, while she filled up the blue Rubbermaid bucket in the sink with a brew of Lysol, Pine-Sol, Comet, and hot water. Fizzy suds formed quickly as the water rose, floating the thick pink sponge, and she turned off the tap, grabbed the bucket, and returned to the living room, flicking on the stereo on the way, a classical station. It would suit her mood and her task.

A lone Spanish guitar came on, playing acoustic. Anne’s thoughts went to her father, the guitar player she’d never met, then to her mother. She wondered idly when she’d see her again, if she’d see her again, but suppressed the tiny tug in her chest. The TV appeal had given her pause, but her past was over. She had to go forward with the rest of her life. It was time to start over starting over. She sloshed to the entrance hall with the heavy bucket.

She put the bucket down and let the guitar music soothe her as she got down on her knees and reached for the steaming sponge. When she bent over, the little Italian charm popped out from her tank top, swinging on Mrs. DiNunzio’s gold chain, and she tucked the necklace away with a smile and started cleaning the wall. The dried blood turned briefly red again when it made contact with the hot sponge, bringing up that carnal smell. Her stomach turned over, but she kept at it, washing streak after streak, thinking of Willa, and blinking away the tears that inevitably came. Anne had gone through three full buckets of sudsy water, a bottle of Lysol, and several Kleenexes when the doorbell rang.

Anne stopped, startled still. Her heart fluttered in her chest. The last time that bell had rung, a killer had been at the door. The ringing echoed through the apartment, quiet except for the guitar playing. She told herself she was being silly. There was nothing to be afraid of, anymore. Kevin was dead; she had seen him killed with her own eyes, and the sight, though it had brought her no satisfaction, at least brought her safety. Right?

The doorbell rang again, and Anne dropped the sponge into the water and stood up to look in the peephole. It was Matt! Everything was all right. She really was safe.

She undid the chain lock in a hurry and opened the door onto the warm summer night. Matt was standing on the stoop wearing a black Dave Matthews T-shirt, jeans, and a smile, and holding his briefcase flat, like a tray. On it, he balanced a bottle of merlot and two wineglasses. Anne couldn’t help but feel happy to see him. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I couldn’t sleep and I knew you wouldn’t be. You said you were starting over, so I brought you a housewarming present.” Matt plucked the wine bottle off the briefcase tray and gave Anne a quick peck on the lips, then followed it up with a warm, deeper kiss she didn’t resist, even though her gloves were dripping suds.

“Wow. Come on in,” she said and closed the door behind him as he crossed the threshold and tiptoed over the wet floorboards in wonderment.

“Are you cleaning?” He winced only slightly when he smiled, since the residual swelling from his goose egg had subsided.

“Yep. I just finished washing.” Anne appraised her handiwork, but couldn’t deny the darkness that still stained the white wall in many places. “With two coats of white paint, it’ll be back to normal.”

“Sure it will.” Matt set the wineglasses on the floor just outside the entrance hall, then slid a corkscrew from his back pocket and sat down on the floor. “I can’t believe you’re doing this yourself. You could have hired a service or something. I thought you’d be getting ready for trial, planning how you’re going to kick ass.”

“Nah, this is more important.” Anne stripped off her wet gloves and draped them over the side of the bucket.

“
What
? What happened to the girl who would do anything to win, including hire a stripper?” Matt laughed as he unwrapped the metal seal from the top of the merlot, then inserted the corkscrew and extracted the cork with a festive
pock
. “Don’t tell me you’ve changed.”

Anne thought a minute. “Hell, no!”

“Praise be.” Matt grinned and handed her an empty wine- glass. He poured them both some merlot, then set down the bottle and raised his glass in a toast. “To you, and to your not changing. Ever.”

Anne raised her glass. “And to you—”

Brrng. Brrng
. It was the unmistakable ringing of a cell phone, and they both reflexively went to their holsters, but Anne had left her cell in her purse in the living room. Matt unholstered his phone. “Rats,” he said. “Just when you were going to tell me how great I am.”

“You’d do it better,” she said, as he flipped open the cell phone and answered it. She watched his blue eyes light up.

“Oh, really? Okay. Relax. I understand, we’ll discuss it. I’ll be right over,” he said, then snapped the phone closed excitedly. “That was Bill Dietz.”

“Anger Management Boy.” Anne sipped her wine. The thought of Dietz killed her mood and she took a bigger sip. “What did he want?”

“To see me. He said it was important. I think I may be getting my old job back.” Matt took a swig of his wine and was already getting up, and Anne felt happy for him. Sort of.

“Dietz assaulted us both. Why do you like him so much?”

Matt looked conflicted. “He just told me, he’s sorry he pushed you. He lost his temper.”

“Oh, that makes it okay.” Anne took a gulp of merlot. It tasted terrific. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten and was starting not to care.

“I’m sorry to run out on you. I have to go over to the house.”

“See ya, wouldn’t wanna be ya.” Anne took a final gulp, draining the glass. “If you become opposing counsel again, then we’re over until the trial ends. I’m a brunette now and we’re not as loose as redheads.”

“Oh, all right. Be that way.” Matt leaned down and gave her a quick good-bye kiss. “Will you be okay? You seem okay.”

“I’m more than okay.” Anne poured herself another glass of merlot and hoisted the bottle, channeling a tipsy Lucy Ricardo. “’The answer to all your problems is in this lil ole bottle.’”

“Vitametavegamin!” Matt said with a smile, and Anne couldn’t believe her ears.

“You know Vitametavegamin?” she asked, astounded. “From ‘Lucy Does a Television Commercial’? Episode No. 30, May 5, 1952?”

Matt laughed. “I don’t know the dates, but I know the episodes. The chocolate factory, stomping the grapes, crushing the eggs, baby chicks, Teensy and Weensy, you name it. My mother was a Lucy freak, too.”

“I think I’m in love,” Anne said, meaning it, and Matt blew her another kiss before he opened the door and hustled out, leaving her with a bottle of merlot, a bucket of suds, and a tingle of hope.

She got up, relatched the chain, and began to collect the gloves, sponge, and bucket to get ready for painting. She was working only five minutes when the doorbell rang again. Ha! Matt must have forgotten something. Maybe the rest of her toast? Maybe another kiss. A random firecracker exploded somewhere with a distant
crak
! It had been that way since she’d gotten home.

“Coming, Matt!” she called out, getting up to answer the door. She undid the chain lock without checking the peephole because she knew it was Matt.

But when she opened the door, it wasn’t Matt.

O
n the front step stood Beth Dietz and she looked like she’d been crying. “Can . . . I come in?” Sobs choked her voice, and she was trembling in shorts and her peasant blouse. “Bill and I, we just had a big fight about that stalker, Kevin. I heard on the news, he’s dead.”

“Sure, come in. We should talk about it.” Anne instantly felt terrible and ushered Beth inside, closing the door behind her and latching the chain-lock reflexively. But when she turned around, Beth had stopped crying and was pointing a black handgun at her.

My God.
It took Anne a second to process. Then she opened her mouth to scream.

“
Shut the fuck up
!” Beth was already pressing the gun into Anne’s chest, shoving her back against the door. The gun was cold and hard. The barrel drilled into her sternum, leaving her gasping.

“What are you doing, Beth?” Anne asked, hoarse, She tried not to panic. She went weak in the knees. She could barely look over the deadly gun into Beth’s eyes, red with spent tears.

“When did you start sleeping with Gil, Anne? I want to know!”

“Beth, please, put down the gun.” Anne’s tongue still tasted of wine, but its effects had vanished. “If you want to talk about something, we can talk about it. But not with a gun—”

“Don’t you
dare
tell me what to do!” Beth bellowed, her fair skin mottled. Her blond braid was in disarray, her lips trembling with anger. “Tell me when you started fucking Gil! It was
you
he wanted all along!”

“No, never.” Anne shook her head in disbelief. She flashed on the scene in the conference room, when Gil was drunk. Then the call on the cell phone tonight. “I never felt anything for Gil. I never did anything—”

“Liar!”
Beth screamed. “He used to talk about you all the time, and when we broke up and I filed suit, he went and
hired
you!” The gun bored into Anne, making her breathless with fear.

“No, please—” Tears sprang to Anne’s eyes. She imagined the bullet tearing into her, ripping flesh and heart. She flashed on her entrance hall, drenched in blood. She knew just what it would look like. She’d be shot to death in her entrance hall. The horror had come full circle.

“I loved him and you took him from me!” Beth shouted, her features contorted with fury, spitting into Anne’s face. “He didn’t mean anything to you! I was going to leave Bill for him, but it was
you
he wanted! And you’re already on to Matt! Bill was right about that, you are a
whore
!”

Anne struggled to regain control. She had to do something. She tried to think.

“I was here Friday night!” Beth ranted. “I wanted to kill you for what you did to me, and I did,
I killed you!
But it turned out it wasn’t you at the door! And now Gil saved your life, I saw it on TV! Now he’s more in love with you than ever!”

Anne’s brain jolted with the revelation. Kevin wasn’t the murderer. It was
Beth
who had killed Willa. Her thoughts raced. Kevin must have been watching Anne’s house that night. He had seen Beth shoot Willa and he thought she’d shot Anne. He must have come over, picked up the murder weapon in shock, then dropped it.
My God.
It was Beth, all along!

“This time you’re going to stay dead,” Beth said evenly. “Bye-bye.” She raised her gun and aimed it point-blank between Anne’s eyes.

“No!” Anne screamed and whipped her arms upward into the gun.
Crak
! The gun exploded in a deafening report.

“You bitch!” Beth roared, enraged.

“Help!” Anne screamed and shoved Beth to the floor, bolting past her for the staircase. She took the stairs two-by-two as a second gunshot rang out.
Crak
!

“Help! Somebody! Please!” Anne screamed as she tore up the stairs. Where was she going? What would she do? She had no gun, she’d turned it in. Was there time to dial 911? She had a phone in her bedroom. She hit the second-floor landing with Beth running up the stairs behind her. She swung around the landing for the lighted bedroom before Beth could get off another shot.

“Help!” Anne screamed but nobody came. Where were her neighbors? Mr. Berman? Mr. Monterosso? All of them?

She tore down the hall and into her bedroom. She darted to the desk for the phone but it was too late. Beth was coming down the hall, running toward the bedroom. Anne grabbed her thick laptop from her desk, spun on her heels, and flung it at Beth’s face. It landed with a resounding
thwack
, then fell to the rug.

“Aargh!” Beth’s hand flew to her nose.
Crak
! The gun went off with an ear-splitting sound. Flame flared from the muzzle. Anne felt the heat of a bullet whizz past her cheek. The thought terrified her. Beth bent over, cupping her nose. Blood poured through her fingers.

Anne ran for her life. She bolted from the bedroom screaming, streaking for the stairwell and downstairs for the front door. In the next second Beth was after her, her footsteps hard on the stair.

Anne raced to the front door. She couldn’t make it in time. She’d be shot undoing the chain-lock. She’d have to fight. She looked around wildly. The rolled-up rug in the Hefty bag. Perfect!

She snatched the rug off the living room floor and swung it like a bat at Beth’s waist just as she hit the living room, raising her gun. The rug smacked Beth full-force. She doubled over, jarring the gun free. It fell to the living room rug, and Anne dove for it. She had it aimed on target by the time Beth straightened up, bleeding profusely from her nostrils and still howling with fury.

“You won’t shoot me!” Beth shouted, spitting blood.

Anne found herself shaking with rage. She hadn’t shot Kevin, but she couldn’t get off a clear shot then. She could now. She looked down the barrel of the gun, an old Colt revolver. No safety. Ready to fire.

Anne felt a surge of adrenaline. She could kill Beth. She
should
kill her. She should blow her face clean off. It seemed suddenly like a very good idea. The best Plan B Anne had had to date. No Lucy episode to cover this one. It was real life. She moved the site down, training the revolver between Beth’s blue eyes.

Anne flashed on everything Beth had put her through. She had just tried to kill her, she
would
have killed her. She had killed Willa. It must have been why Kevin was stalking her, not because he was in love with her, but because he knew she’d killed Anne. And she thought of Willa, her murder still unavenged, her lifeblood staining the walls.

Anne looked numbly at the gun in her hand. Then her gaze fell on something else. The Italian charm, twinkling around her neck, outside the tank top. It reminded her of Mrs. DiNunzio. The fragrant little kitchen. The percolating coffee. It reminded her of friendship, of family, and of love.