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not met a more serious-looking woman in her life. It chilled her to see the glee on Lila s face. Deadly serious. Now get up, we re going upstairs for your car keys. She watched as Mirabelle stood. We are going for a little drive. She grabbed Mirabelle by the arm and pulled her forward. Mirabelle stumbled. She looked down at her t-shirt. It was covered with Alistair s blood. Was this actually happening? Had she just been menaced by two people in their seventies? Wasn t it usually the other way around? Clearly, carrying out serious crime had no barriers when it came to age. I m not going anywhere with you, Lila. That s tough talk when you have a gun in your face, Lila responded. Now move. Knowing she had no choice, Mirabelle headed out from under the house. She did not doubt Lila would pull the trigger if she felt the slightest bit threatened. As Mirabelle headed up her back stairs, she wished Flynn would magically appear and talk his aunt out of whatever crazy scheme she had in mind. That or a bunch of religious do-gooders selling some half-assed religion would be equally welcomed now. If anyone s God got her out of this mess she would sign on for a life of worship. Where are we going? Mirabelle pushed open her screen door and headed over to the sideboard where her car keys lived. Just get the keys and ask no questions. Mirabelle snatched them up and looked down at her feet. 160 I have no shoes on. This was not unusual for her as Mirabelle rarely wore shoes around her own home. She was a barefoot kind of gal. I don t care. That Mirabelle got loud and clear. Lila Standish, the nice little old lady from next door, did not give a rat s ass about anyone but herself. Once back under the house, Lila pointed Mirabelle toward the suitcases. Put them in the car. Lila& Alistair groaned painfully. Good grief he was still alive! Mirabelle expected he would have bled out by now. What a tough old bugger. Lila looked at Alistair. She smiled once and shot him in the other leg. Fuck! Mirabelle yelled. That was the coldest thing she d ever seen anyone do. It was chilling. She turned her eyes on Lila and tried to control the shiver of fright that ran down her body. It s payback for all the years he hit me, Lila explained as if perfectly justified. Mirabelle was of the opinion that any domestic violence was wrong and that the abuser should be punished severely. But shooting a man who was already down and bleeding was just wrong. Mirabelle was horrified. Whatever evil Alistair Standish had perpetrated against his wife, he was paying severely for it now. Mirabelle zapped the car open and dragged the cases to the trunk. They were large and unwieldy and only one would fit in. She looked at Lila. She was the woman with the gun so she gave the orders. Mirabelle was not about to question that now. Put the other suitcase on the backseat and get in. 161 As Mirabelle slid into the driver s seat she gave Alistair one last look before she buckled in and as she reversed out and down her driveway. You are really going to have to tell me where we are going. I can t drive aimlessly hoping I will stumble on the direction you have in mind. To my storage shed on Newmarket Road. Okay, this possibly was starting to make sense. Now Alistair was no longer a threat she could return the suitcases to her lock-up and no one but she and Mirabelle would know she had stolen loot stashed there. Oh dream on& like things were ever going back to the way they were after this. You re going to put the suitcases back there? It was crazy to ask but hope sprung eternal. I am going to put something there yes. Mirabelle did not like the way that sounded at all. She thought about her options. Mirabelle could drive her car off the road and crash it in order to attract attention. The big pitfall to this was serious injury or death to one or both of them. Or she could try to do something dumb like wrestle the gun from Lila. The woman was seventy after all. There had to be some serious osteoporosis going on in those bones. Mirabelle would either succeed, possibly running them off the road in the process, or get them killed in the effort. Anyway she looked at it, injury or death were her options. She looked at Lila. She was fairly sure the ugly cry would not work on her. Mirabelle decided to just bide her time and wait for an opportunity. 162 Once at the storage shed facility, Mirabelle drove through, amazed at how Lila could wave sweetly to the woman in the office with one hand while holding a gun at her ribs. Mirabelle stopped outside Lila s lock-up. The older woman ordered Mirabelle to get out and open the shed. She tossed her copy of the shed key to her. Mirabelle went along with it as she had no other option. Lila followed her around like an annoying little dog that also happened to be holding a big gun in its paw. Mirabelle pulled the roller door up. The contained summer heat rushed out at her. Now what? Get in. Lila motioned her forward with the gun. You re kidding? The face that looked back at Mirabelle was not that of a kidder. Do I look like I m kidding? Lila waved the gun in front of her face. Mirabelle looked inside the enclosed space. She gulped tensely. This was not good. Boxes of crap were supposed to be stored in there. Not people who could sweat and dehydrate. It s a hot day and it s as humid as all get out. This is a metal shed. I ll boil in there. As it was, the hot cement under Mirabelle s bare feet was making her dance about. Well, dear, I can kill you first so you don t have to worry about boiling away. Was this the same woman who brought over home baked chunky double chocolate cookies last week? You are a nasty old cow. Oh yeah, Mirabelle was going in the shed and there was stuff all she could do about it. 163 Lila laughed at her words. Think what you like but I just need enough time to get away. Mirabelle looked at her incredulously. Was the woman nuts? Flynn knew all about his aunt now, Alistair was probably dead under Mirabelle s house and it was only natural to assume someone would wonder where Mirabelle was. It was not like Lila could actually succeed in this half-assed plan. Get away? Where, Lila? You can t even drive. In fact Mirabelle had never seen Lila in the driver s seat of a car. I can do a lot of things, Mirabelle. Yes, I bet you can. You are a ruthless woman. You cannot possibly get away with it. Lila laughed merrily as if it was all a great lark. But I ll give it a damn good try. She reached over and patted Mirabelle s arm. You know, I have always liked you, Mirabelle. I am glad you are with Flynn. He s a good man. I hope you and Flynn reman happy and in love. Happy and in love? There were some vital screws missing in Lila s head. Some of the cogs were running around a little too freely. Yeah right! If don t boil to death first. You re resilient. You will survive, dear. Lila pushed Mirabelle inside and slammed down the door and locked it. Bloody hell, Mirabelle muttered to herself. She put her ear to the hot metal of the roller door and grimaced as she listened to Lila starting her car. How on earth did she make it deliver the grinding noise? It wasn t a stick shift. It was an automatic. It had 164 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |