Eggs Benedict Arnold (57 page)

And just as Suzanne stepped across the threshold into the steamy, warm kitchen of the Cackleberry Club, every light in the place winked out!

Nadine
jabbed the hardness of the pistol into the small of Suzanne
’
s back.
“
Don
’
t get any funny ideas, Suzanne.
I
’
m right behind you and I know how to use this pistol. My
husband showed me how, a long time ago. I can
’
t imag
ine you
’
d want a bullet fired directly into the base of your
spine, would you?
”

“
Not really,
”
babbled a nervous Suzanne.
“
I
’
ll do what
ever you say, okay?
”

“
Just get the keys,
”
Nadine told her in a cold voice.
“
And hurry up!
”

Suzanne batted helplessly at the couple jackets that hung on the back pegs.
“
Can
’
t see,
”
she told Nadine. She was feeling disjointed and spacey, struggling to make her hands coordinate with the impulses in her brain.
“
Got to grab a flashlight.
”

“
Then
do
it,
”
snarled Nadine, jabbing the gun harder against Suzanne
’
s backbone.

How can I signal Sam?
Suzanne wondered.
Or even Toni? She
’
s skinny, but she
’
s feisty. Maybe the two of us together could take Nadine down.

Feeling like an unwilling participant in a slow-motion
dream sequence, Suzanne was acutely aware of Petra mak
ing an impromptu speech out in the cafe. This was followed
by a round of applause. Would someone come tromping
through the door into the kitchen? She held her breath. No,
now Petra was talking again.

Suzanne
’
s fingernails skittered across the back shelf, touching upon the hard rubber of Toni
’
s flashlight.

But
she was shaking and shivering so badly that when she grabbed for it, the flashlight slipped through her hand. Tumbling wildly, end over end, it hit the floor with a loud clunk.

“
Clumsy idiot,
”
snapped Nadine. She shoved Suzanne roughly aside, then reached down and grabbed the end of the flashlight.

And that
’
s when the gods finally smiled down and played their cool little trick.

Because the instant Nadine
’
s fingers touched the flashlight, her body jerked and spasmed like it had been struck
by a million volts of electricity! Her back arched sharply, her jaw snapped shut, her eyes bulged, and even her hair seemed to stand on end.
“
Waaaaah!
”
came a strangled moan from deep within Nadine
’
s throat.
“
Hwaaaah!
”

“
Dear Lord,
”
muttered Suzanne,
“
she
’
s grabbed the Taser end of Toni
’
s flashlight!
”

“
Waaaah!
”
screamed Nadine. Now she sounded like a wild animal caught in a leg trap.
“
Rwaaaah!
”

The voices out in the cafe seemed to falter. There were
hurried footsteps and the door swung open. Petra and Toni
peered into the kitchen, each holding a candle aloft and
looking scared. Joey was right behind them.

“
What
’
s going on?
”
asked Petra, her voice squeaky-scared.

“
We heard weird noises,
”
Toni said in a rush.
“
Horrible
noises. Is somebody sick?
”

“
Or at death
’
s door?
”
asked Petra.

Suzanne did a quick side step and kicked the pistol as well as Toni
’
s tricky flashlight away from Nadine. Then
she leaned down and carefully grabbed the right end of the
flashlight and shone it on Nadine
’
s crumpled body.

“
Holy crap!
”
exclaimed Toni.
“
It
’
s Nadine!
”

“
What did you
do
to her?
”
gasped Petra, as Nadine con
tinued to gag and twitch.

Joey let out a low whistle as he peered over Toni and Pe
tra
’
s shoulders.
“
Get a load of her!
”
he exclaimed.
“
She
’
s thrashing around like she needs an exorcist! Cool!
”

Suzanne shook her head and backed away, as if Nadine
were some nasty, poisonous reptile.
“
I didn
’
t do anything to her,
”
gasped Suzanne.
“
She did it herself. Grabbed the
Taser end of Toni
’
s flashlight.
”
Suzanne kept the flashlight
’
s
wavering beam focused on Nadine, who was still jerking
and quivering on the kitchen floor.
“
She murdered Ozzie,
”
Suzanne said, shakily.
“
And probably Bo Becker!
”

Petra let out a sharp scream, then her mouth opened and
closed like a gasping fish.

“
Yowza,
”
brea
th
ed Toni.

Suzanne was trembling as she went on to explain.
“
Na
dine held a gun on me. And when I wouldn
’
t cooperate, she
threatened to shoot Baxter!
”
Suzanne stumbled backward
and sat down heavily in a cane chair that was parked there,
while Nadine continued to writhe slowly.

Petra took a step closer.
“
She
’
s in a very bad way, like she
’
s having a fit!
”

“
She kind of is,
”
said Suzanne, drawing a shaky breath.
“
And thank goodness for it.
”
She glanced at Petra.
“
Can
you go back into the cafe and tell everyone that I dropped
the ice cream or something? Or banged my thumb? Tell them there
’
s nothing to worry about?
”

Unsure, Petra shifted from one Croc-shod foot to the
other. Her nature, of course, was to help, to nurture. Finally
she said,
“
Okay. I guess I can do that.
”

“
Toni,
”
said Suzanne, fighting hard to jump start her brain,
“
get on the horn and see if you can rouse Doogie, okay? Then we
’
ll tie this monster up.
”

“
No, ma
’
am,
”
said a voice from the doorway.
“
I
’
ll tie her up.
”

“
Who
’
re you?
”
asked a startled Joey. He jumped back as
a dark figure loomed toward him.

“
Wha . . . ?
”
said Petra. They all turned to find Dil silhouetted in the back doorway of the kitchen.

“
Dil!
”
said Suzanne.
“
You came back!
”

“
I... I couldn
’
t leave you with her,
”
said Dil.
“
I couldn
’
t do that.
”

“
Why not, Dil?
”
asked Suzanne. She had to get to the bottom of this mystery once and for all!

Dil extended a trembling hand and pointed at Nadine.
“
I saw her coming out the back door of that funeral home,
”
he said in a hoarse voice.
“
I was hiding back behind the Dumpster where she couldn
’
t see me.
”

“
And then what happened?
”
asked Suzanne.
“
What did you see?
”

“
I saw the cops and ambulance come,
”
said Dil. He looked terrified.
“
I knew the man inside was dead.
”

“
What man?
”
asked Petra, fascinated by Dil
’
s strange narration.

“
The owner,
”
said Dil.
“
Ozzie. He gave me money a couple times.
”
Dil looked like he was ready to cry.
“
He was nice.
”

“
Yes, he was nice,
”
said Petra. Now she sounded hoarse,
like
she
was ready to cry.

Toni grabbed the flashlight from Suzanne
’
s hand and shone it directly into Dil
’
s face.
“
Your name is Dil?
”
she asked.

He nodded his grizzled head slowly.

“
Howdy,
”
said Toni.
“
Glad you showed up.
”

“
Nice to finally meet you,
”
Petra murmured, wiping her
eyes.

“
Dil,
”
said Suzanne,
“
go out to the shed and see if you
can find some rope so we can tie Nadine up, will you? And
make sure Baxter
’
s okay?
”

“
Sure,
”
said Dil.

Petra shifted her gaze back to Nadine.
“
I can
’
t imag
ine what got into her.
”
She sounded deeply sad and utterly
shocked.
“
You think you know a person ...
”

“
But I guess you never really know their deep, dark se
crets,
”
filled in Toni.

Petra continued staring at Nadine.
“
You think she
’
ll re
cover? Nadine sure looks wonky.
”

“
Four hundred thousand watts ripping through your sys
tem will do that,
”
said Toni, sounding almost philosophical.
“
She
’
s just lucky she didn
’
t wet her pants.
”

‘
Toni!
”
said Petra.