Murder Actually (21 page)

Nothing.

No one.

“You're scaring yourself, Elspeth.” My voice sounded loud and hollow in my kitchen and I jumped when Blue ran through the cat door and jumped onto the counter.

“It's you, Blue, baby. What is it? Am I getting to you, too?”

I reached out to pet him but my hand stilled mid-air. That noise again. A fumbled sound, almost as though someone was creeping on the back porch. I tiptoed noiselessly back to the window and looked outside again. The backyard was bare and bright in the late afternoon sun. I put both hands on the sink and lifted up to look further out the window. I couldn't see anyone and dropped back down to the floor. Blue weaved between my legs, meowing plaintively, and I picked him up and put him on the counter again.

“Hello, Elspeth.” The voice from the door was harsh and ugly, and I jumped and spun around.

It was Coco Ware. She stood in the open doorway with a strange expression on her face and we regarded one another warily.

“Aren't you going to invite me in?”

I shook my head and ran to shut the door, but she moved faster than me, shoving me back with one arm and firmly closing the door with the other.

“Where are your manners, Elspeth? You can't just leave me standing on the back porch.”

I shook my head and backed away as she continued.

“I dropped by the
Gazette
office to see if the police had any new leads on Crispin's death. Missy told me you had just come by to get some photographs from the night of the book reading.” She made a sound of displeasure. “You know what they say, Elspeth,
curiosity killed the cat
.”

Blue glanced up in disgust, and for the first time I noticed the gun in her hand. She followed the direction of my gaze and laughed harshly. “Do you recognize it? It's Jasper's old gun. Nora just left it lying in the studio. She really is the most careless person with her belongings: earrings, guns, husbands...now, why don't we go to the basement and have a little chat?”

She waved her gun at me and I led the way down the hall. I looked around the familiar rooms and walls. Why didn't I have a weapon in the house? I was a single woman in my thirties for heaven's sake; prime killing material according to my mother.

My only thought was to stay alive. “It was you. You followed me from Thrubwell and tried to run me off the road. You knew I'd found the receipt for the dagger. The dagger that you bought for Alex. The dagger you paid Violet a commission to get for you.”

She didn't reply, merely looked at me with a thoughtful expression that was worse then words. I continued nervously. “Violet brought the dagger to Inkwell and you put it in your bag. Then you found out about her and Jasper…”

Coco laughed suddenly; a broken, ugly sound. “Violet and Jasper! What a joke! Jasper was mine. He promised me he was leaving Nora. He promised me he'd take me back to Manhattan and get me out of this hick town. He promised me I'd have more money than I'd know what to do with!”

“And then you found out he was going to marry Violet instead.”

“That bitch,” Coco's face twisted into a look of such malevolent cunning I involuntarily took a step backwards. “Who did she think she was, anyway? She came waltzing in and thought she could take everything I'd worked so hard for. She thought it would be easy…like candy from a baby. That's what she told me! Candy from a baby.”

“So you killed them. You killed both of them.”

Coco didn't answer, merely gave me that calculating look from under her heavy brows. I kept talking, I couldn't help myself. “Crispin saw you. He saw you coming down the stairs at Inkwell. He even got it on film. You overheard him talking about his photographs at the faculty party.”

I backed up towards the living room; maybe if I got there I could find something to hit her with, a lamp or the fire shovel. I didn't see Blue and hoped he'd had the sense to run outside. I wouldn't put it past Coco to kill my cat just for practice. I prayed for Julia to arrive. But what could she do when she got there? We'd both be shot and Coco would probably make it look like we were in a lesbian suicide pact.

Coco motioned me towards the center of the room and I kept my eye on the gun as I kept talking. “You followed Crispin back to the
Gazette
office and confronted him. He said he'd seen you. He probably didn't think you were a cold-blooded killer, just a suburbanite with money problems…”

“Shut up!” Coco's command cut through the air like a knife. “What would you know about it? Alex told me were downsizing. Downsizing! Can you see me clipping coupons and shopping at the Mission Mart? Jasper promised me we'd run away together. He promised I'd have the best of everything. And then he called me a few weeks before the book reading and told me we needed to talk. I met him at the pier and he told me he was leaving Nora. Finally! But then he broke the bad news. He wasn't leaving Nora for me, oh no, Almighty Jasper had other plans. He was going to marry Violet. Violet Ambler! That social-climbing little wretch. He went on about meeting of true minds and creative harmony. What a load of crap! The only time Jasper did anything, including write, was when he could get the most for his money. I didn't know what Violet had on him and I didn't care. I commissioned Violet to get the dagger for me and then took the scarf from the jumble sale.

“Then you arranged for Violet to bring the dagger to my book reading.”

She nodded. “I sent Jasper a note telling him to meet me in International Classics at eight. He was so surprised when he saw the dagger; he didn't even put up a fight. Then I followed Violet back to the studio and took care of her and then I took care of Crispin Wickford. It wasn't hard for me to get into the
Gazette
office, Crispin let me in. He never thought that Coco Ware, darling of the D.A.R., was capable of homicide. It simply isn't done.”

The hand holding the gun was shaking so badly I thought she would shoot me. Drops of saliva riddled her mouth and shirtfront.

For the first time in my life I thought I was going to die.

We were both startled when the front door suddenly burst open. Grant stood there, holding a bottle of wine and a corkscrew. “Elspeth, I have to talk to you, we can't go on like this…” his voice died away as he was confronted by the muzzle of the snub-nosed revolver. “I'm sorry; it looks like I caught you at a bad time. I'll come back later…”

“Hold it right there.”

Grant's cautious retreat was checked by the sound of the gun cocking.

“Maybe I'll stick around. Can you grab us some glasses?”

I'd never loved Grant more than I did at that moment. Or been more annoyed with him.

“What are you doing here?” I demanded.

Grant briefly glanced away from the gun. “I came to tell you that you're making a mistake with Edgar Archer, but it looks like I caught you in the middle of your detecting.”

Coco laughed sharply. “You caught her at the end of her so-called detecting. Get over there.”

She motioned both of us towards the fireplace and held up her gun. “I'm afraid this isn't going to end like one of Jasper Ware's stupid books, where the intrepid investigator pluckily escapes death. I have a different ending in mind.”

She cocked the gun and pointed it straight at my chest. Grant made a noise and stepped between us.

“Get out of my way.” Coco's voice was quietly menacing and Grant squared his shoulders.

“If we're going to die there's something I have to do.” He laid a hand on my arm and looked me in the eyes. “Listen to me, Betts. I was an ass before. I had an incredible thing going and I blew it. I let you down. I know how much you wanted a baby and I should've been more supportive when things didn't go our way. I'm sorry. I just want you to know I've broken things off with Ainsley. There can only be one woman for me, and that's you, Elspeth. I love you. I've always loved you and I always will, and even if we die today…”

“When you die today…” Coco corrected.

Grant swallowed and continued. “Even
if
we die, I just want you to know you are the greatest thing that's ever happened to me.”

We stared at each other for a long moment until we were interrupted by the harsh voice of Coco.

“That was charming,” she sneered. “Now shut up.” She went to the window and looked into my front yard before turning back to us.

“Here's what's going to happen. We're going to go into the basement and finish our little chat and then I'll be on my way. Sound good to you?”

Grant stepped between me and the gun again. “What are you going to do, shoot us both?” He shook his head. “Someone will hear the shots and come running.”

“That's why there's a silencer on my gun. I'm not a complete idiot.”

“I called Julia,” I said bravely. “It's probably all over her blog by now.”

Coco snorted. “I'd already thought of that. Julia has received an urgent message from you and is on her way over. I'll take care of her later.”

We walked towards the door to the hallway and I steeled myself to find some way to divert her attention once we got to the basement door. If I could just distract her I might be able to push her down the stairs. We stepped into the hall just as I heard a muted sound from behind us. I turned just in time to see Blue, his haunch magnificently raised, launch himself from the bookcase with a gleeful yawl. He landed on Coco's shoulders just as she raised the gun, and at the same time Grant sprung at her. Coco's gun waved in the air as she took a forceful blow to the ribs.

Pop
. The bullet hole appeared in the door casement just above my head. I turned to see Grant and Coco wrestling over the gun.

“Run, Betts! Get out of here. I'll hold her.” Grant panted as Coco maintained a death hold on the butt of the pistol. I hesitated a second too long.

Pop
. The second shot whizzed by my head as I ran onto the front porch, and I turned to see them framed in the doorway. Coco gave Grant a ruthless blow to the groin, and he fell to his knees, grabbing at her ankles as he went down.

“Run dammit! Elspeth! Run!”

That was all I needed. I turned and ran into the deep thicket of trees at the end of my drive. I could hear Coco behind me at a distance, panting and cursing.

Pop, pop.

Two more bullets around me, I blindly plunged through the thick overgrowth. Fighting to catch my breath and stay ahead of the gun.
You better run, better run, faster than my bullet.

“You just couldn't stay out of it, could you?”

I could hear Coco's voice behind me, closing in fast, and then the sound of another bullet.

Pop
.

This time the bullet found its mark, grazing my right shoulder. I grabbed my arm and tried to steady my breathing. It wasn't bad, I told myself. It couldn't be.
It's only a flesh wound
. I had to keep moving.

“That one got you, didn't it Elspeth?” Coco's voice was gleeful…and terrifying. “Why don't you come out before you bleed to death?”

I pressed myself behind a tree and put my hand to my arm. Grant probably already called the cops; I only had to stay alive, what, five minutes, maybe? I caught glimpses of the Hudson in front of me. We were almost to the cliffs. I glanced back and could see Coco in the distance, carefully picking her way through the weeds and bushes. She moved slowly and deliberately, like a hunter.

“I had to do it, Elspeth. You just don't understand what my life's been like.”

Sure I did. Poor little rich girl trapped in the sticks. I decided to make a run for it. If I could get far enough away I might make it to the river.

“Come on out, Elspeth. I'm tired of this game.”

I dashed from behind my tree and broke into a run. I heard Coco give a grunt of satisfaction and then she was running in my direction. I scrambled across the forest floor, losing a shoe in the process and scraping my hands and face. The wound on my shoulder was bleeding freely, and I put one hand to my arm as I ran. Oh God, please let me make it, I prayed desperately. Please don't let me die in the woods wearing my old granny panties.

I burst into a clearing and scrambled for the cover of the trees up ahead. My breath was coming in harsh, gusting gasps. I could make it. I had to make it. I felt rather than heard Coco behind me, crashing through the undergrowth. She was almost in firing range again. Almost on top of me. Oh, Lord. I glanced back and saw she had the pistol aimed directly at my back. Please, God, I thought, please no.

She fired the gun again.

Pop
.

The bullet ricocheted off a tree to my right. Thank God she was a terrible shot. I pushed myself with all my strength. Almost there. Almost to the edge. If I could just make it to the water.

The edge of the cliff came so fast I almost kept right on going. It looked like a long way down, at least twenty feet, but I had no choice, I could hear Coco fighting her way towards me as I took a deep breath and dove into the murky water of the Hudson.

The surface rose to greet me as I passed through the crust, and I forced myself deeper and deeper into the shadowy darkness. I hit a strong current and let it take me, fighting the impulse to rise back to the surface. If I could just swim under long enough to reach the shoreline, I could find a place to hide beneath the ledge of the cliff. I wondered how deep I was. My lungs felt like they were going to burst and any moment I expected to feel the zing of a bullet cutting through the water. My legs and shoulder ached, but the thought of Coco standing over me with the pistol kept me submerged, and I struggled on in the murky darkness. I felt myself slipping from consciousness towards gray and black.