Piper

by Zena Jae

  “There’s too much to explain, but I’m sure the police told you about what happened to your brother?” They must have. He was probably here to handle Lloyd’s property.

  “Yes. I couldn’t believe it. My brother and I had some differences, but to find out he was murdered was a shock.”

  “I’m so sorry for your loss. I really liked Lloyd. He was in my critique group. I didn’t know him that well, except for conversing with him online and the few times we got together for our meetings. When this troll started killing members of our group, he even came by to checkup on me. I was touched by that.”

  Suddenly, she remembered her manners. “Oh my gosh, I haven’t even introduced myself. I’m Piper.”

  “Nice to meet you, Piper. I’m Lenny.” Since he couldn’t offer her a proper handshake, he gave her a single nod as he gazed over at her.

  Piper gave him a friendly smile in return.

  “Are you packing a gun?” he asked, glancing over at her right hip, although it wasn’t in his view.

  Reactively, she placed her hand over her holster. “Yes.”

  “Is that to protect you from the killer?”

  “He was chasing me earlier. That’s why I flagged you down.”

  “Did you call the police?” He glanced over at her again.

  If it weren’t for Lenny’s side comb, she could swear she was talking to Lloyd. Amazing how twins could be carbon copies even in the tone of their voices.

  “Yes. The killer tranquilized my friend who’s a police detective at his home where I’d been staying. He then thought it would be sporting to hunt me down.” She looked ahead at the road. “He’s writing a book about the killing spree of my critique group. I’m his last victim.”

  “Aren’t there two more in the group?” he asked.

  She sucked in her breath and then turned to stare at him. “How’d you know that?”

  He couldn’t have heard it from Lloyd, since Lloyd had mentioned he hadn’t talked to his brother in years. How did he know so much detail about the case?

  “Oh...umm...my brother told me, I think.” He’d blundered. She knew now he was lying. Was Lloyd’s twin the troll—the killer?

  Her heart started pounding again, and as she tried to reach for her gun, he slammed the back of his right hand into her face. The force of his strike nearly made her pass out. As he careened the car around, knowing it would be difficult to pull out her gun seated so close against the door, Piper jumped out of the car instead. It was a dangerous move, but she had better odds than having him knock her out while trapped in his car.

  As she hit the asphalt, she rolled and rolled and rolled until finally her eyes focused on the night sky. She ached all over, and although she sustained some deep gashes and impending bruising, she sucked it up, pulled out her gun and rose to her feet like an infant about to walk her first steps. With her last ounce of energy and the determination of a paraplegic crossing a marathon’s finish line, she hobbled as fast as she could across the road towards the woods.

  Lenny, had by that time, put on the brakes yet only watched her through the rear and side mirrors—he didn’t want to chance her expertise with a gun. Once he saw her cross the road towards the embankment, he exited his car, popped open the trunk and retrieved his tranquilizer gun. He then shoved a pistol into his belt.

  Piper’s goal was to make it to the trees where she’d hide because there was no outrunning him—not with a sprained ankle. Hopefully, the semi-darkness would hinder him more than her.

  Her eyes fleeted in all directions, desperately seeking a safe place to settle where she’d go unnoticed. Unfortunately, there wasn’t such a location to be found; at least not here, not yet.

  Knowing Lenny wasn’t far behind and at any moment would send a dart to pierce her; she hustled along to find the right spot. She cursed under her breath—her ankle hurt like hell.

  Then she heard the crackling of twigs and dried leaves in the distance. Her head turned towards the sound, but saw nothing. She needed the cover of trees, so she maneuvered to position her back behind spruces. Finally, she saw a perfect spot; lush bushes astride a large log. She ducked down behind it and rubbed her swollen ankle with her left hand, while her right hand clutched her gun’s handle—her fingers felt as though melded to it.

  Piper peeked over the log to view the surroundings, to see if Lenny had followed her trail. So far, there was no sign of him.

  She leaned her back against the log and let out a sigh. Could she have escaped him? She thanked the dimness of night because that would be the only reason she’d lost him. He had been less than two minutes behind her when she descended the embankment.

  The police should be at Marcus’ by now and looking for her. When Lenny drove east, they’d gone about the distance within the vicinity of Marcus’ property. If she could find her bearings, she may be able to get back there.

  In the distance, an owl hooted and then her cell phone rang. Oh, shit. If Lenny was close, he’d hear it. Scrambling to silence her phone, she answered it.

  “Hello?” she whispered abruptly.

  “Ms. Novak? This is Special Agent Riddley. Are you okay?”

  “No, I’m not,” she replied in a forceful whisper. “He’s after me. I’m hiding.”

  She once again peeked out over the log to check if Lenny had heard the ring.

  “We’re—” the FBI agent started to say, but before she could hear his next words, the butt of a rifle hit her in the head. She dropped to the ground but managed to stay conscious. Her cell phone lay beside her, but because her fingers had frozen to her Beretta having grasped it so long and so tightly, it remained in her hand. Lenny was about to get off a dart when she brought her hand up and triggered off a bullet.

  Damn it, it only hit his shoulder, but it was enough to throw his aim off balance. The dart spiked into the ground beside her. Lenny didn’t bother to reload; his focus now was getting her gun away from her, so he lunged.

  Piper kicked him with her good leg and scratched the side of his face. He punched her hard in the stomach, making her double over. As he pulled the gun from her hand, her left hand reached to the side and searched out the dart. Before he noticed what she was up to, Piper found it and jabbed it into his neck.

  Lenny screamed out in pain while he pulled the dart from him. His nostrils flared and his eyes scorched hers. Still trembling, Piper scooted away from him, ignoring the pain of her ankle.

  As Lenny dropped to the ground, Piper heard sounds in the background, footsteps, and someone calling out her name.

  “I’m here,” she yelled out into the night as she waved her hand in the air. She was too exhausted and still in shock to move more than that.

  In a matter of seconds, three men were upon her—the two FBI agents and a cop.

  “How’s Marcus?” was the first thing she asked.

  “He’s still out cold, but he’ll be okay,” Special Agent Riddley replied.

  A few more cops joined the scene.

  “Thank God,” she said as the tears then flowed from her eyes.

  The ordeal was over.

  While Special Agent Talbot and the other officers attended to Lenny, Special Agent Riddley carried Piper back to Marcus’.

  “You were very brave,” he told her.

  “That wasn’t bravery, that was self-preservation. I was scared as hell.”

  “That’s bravery in my book.” He smiled.

  She leaned against his chest and closed her eyes. Her body still trembled with the aftershock and of what might’ve been had things turned out differently. She didn’t even want to think about it.

  She couldn’t wait to see Marcus and Cotton. One thing she vowed being so close to death—she was going to confess her feelings to her childhood love. No longer was she going to let him slip away from her. She loved him too much for that.

  Epilogue

  After searching Lenny Gardner’s property, the police found the bodies. He had dumped them in a covered pit and sprinkled them with
lime to control the odor and decay. What was surprising was forensics reported that Lloyd’s supposed body had been dead for almost six months. When they checked dental records, they found it to be that of Lenny Gardner, not Lloyd. Seems Lloyd killed his brother when Lenny confronted him with suspicions of slowly poisoning their grandfather—it had taken Lenny over a year, but he said he finally had proof. Once Lenny was out of the picture, Lloyd passed himself off as his twin whenever it suited him. He surely fooled Piper that night, as he almost had her. Had he succeeded with his final kill scene (Piper’s beheading), he would’ve continued his life under his brother’s identity.

  “What?” Piper was shocked and confused when Marcus told her the news.

  “Lenny wasn’t the killer, Lloyd was.”

  “He faked his death?”

  “Yup.”

  Piper’s eyes gleamed as she figured out how he must’ve done it.

  “I can see it in your eyes; you know how he did it, right?”

  She gave him three slow and methodical nods. “He drained the snake’s venom just before he videoed his alleged death scene. The bite therefore wouldn’t be lethal.”

  Marcus smiled and said, “You need to get back into your P.I. practice.”

  “Unfortunately, that assessment came too late and it was after the fact you’d pointed out the troll was Lloyd and not Lenny.”

  “That may be so, but you’ve always had good intuition and smarts. If you hadn’t been keen enough to catch his slipup, you might not be here today.”

  That was true. That slipup caused Lloyd’s downfall and saved her life.

  “Also, if we had had more time with the investigation, I bet you would’ve found out Lloyd’s brother was a twin and been the one to solve the zodiac riddle.”

  “You sure give me a lot of credit,” she told him, feeling rather flattered with his confidence in her.

  Marcus put his hands on her waist and pulled her to him. “By the way, didn’t you mention there was something you wanted to talk about?” His masculine body so close to hers gave her the shivers—the good kind, of course.

  She stared into his gorgeous eyes. “Who wants to talk?” She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him—it was a luscious kiss, a wet and hot one.

  Cotton looked up at the two lovebirds and while wagging her tail frantically, she frolicked around them with excitement.

  Piper and Marcus laughed to see the Pom wanting in on the action. Piper picked Cotton up and while nestled lovingly between them, the two longtime friends, now lovers, kissed once more.

  ~ THE END ~

  Did you love Piper? Then you should read Alexa by Zena Jae!

  A serial killer is murdering beautiful young women, chopping off their fingers for who knows what morbid purpose. With the help of her partner Broden Lang, agent Alexa Hart sets herself up to be victim number 10 to find and stop the perp before they kill again. Unfortunately, just when the agents think they've successfully lured their target, an unexpected happenstance occurs resulting in more than one dead victim in the shocking turn of events.