Josie knelt next to me on the floor, peering at me in concern. "Are you okay?"
I tried to sit up but groaned and fell backward. "Ugh. What happened?"
"That bitch Charlotte knocked you over the head with one of those brass candlesticks." Josie's face was streaked with dirt, and she had tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry. They made me call and give you that bullshit story about getting a flat tire."
My head throbbed unmercifully. I closed my eyes then reopened them, trying to adjust to the light. I ran a hand over my right eye and winced. It was swollen and painful to the touch. "Did they hit me in the eye, too?"
"Charlotte and my so-called friend Ellen threw us in here. When Ellen dragged you across the floor, she hit your face with the door." She clenched her jaw. "Accident? I don't think so. They were laughing at you."
"Nice." I blinked several times, and thankfully, the blurriness started to diminish. "Where are they now?"
Josie had her right arm wrapped around her left one as if shielding it. "I don't know. They're planning some type of getaway."
I surveyed the small, paneled room. It was warm, but not unbearably hot. Yet. "Do you think they'll come back?"
"Oh, I'm betting on it. They want to know whom we've told. Then they'll take care of us." Josie cringed as she continued to protect her left arm. "I think it's broken."
I struggled to sit up again. Gently, I touched her arm, and she whimpered in pain. I tried to control the rage in my voice. "Who did that to you?"
"Ellen. It hurts like hell." Tears ran down her face. "They're going to kill us, Sal. I'll never see Rob or my babies again."
I clutched her right hand. "Yes, you will. We're going to be fine." I prayed my voice sounded confident because my body was consumed with terror.
"It's all my fault. I never should have gone with Ellen, but she sounded so depressed on the phone." She bowed her head in her lap. "I should have known she'd never come visit the spa. Some nurses can't even wear nail polish, did you know that? Plus she hated Amanda, so why would she come here? God, how stupid I am."
"Stop talking like that. How'd they get you inside?" I asked.
Josie lifted her head and blushed as her eyes met mine. "I didn't know the spa closed at seven until I checked the sign on the door. Ellen told me to come on in when I got here because one of the technicians was staying late for her. I thought it was kind of weird when I didn't see any other cars." She sighed. "And now I've dragged you into this too."
"It's not your fault." I put an arm around Josie's shoulders, careful not to hurt her again. "Did they hit you over the head?"
Josie shivered, despite the heat. "No. When I rounded the receptionist counter, I spotted Charlotte coming toward me. That's when I knew it was a setup. I headed for the door, but Ellen pulled me back by my hair." Her enormous, blue eyes were wild with fear. "They've got a gun."
The realization of what was going to happen to us slowly began to dawn on me. Blood pounded in my ears. I didn't want to die this way.
Josie wiped her eyes. "So they forced me down the hall, and I got pissed. This was before I knew they had the gun. I lunged at Charlotte, but Ellen yanked my arm behind my back. I'm pretty sure it's broken."
Anger rose from the pit of my stomach. "They're not going to get away with this."
"Does anyone know you're here?" Josie's voice was thick with hope.
I prayed Mike had followed me, but why should he? I'd almost run him over during my hasty getaway. "I think we're on our own."
"At least I won't die by myself," Josie sobbed into my shoulder.
I clung to her, tears forming in my eyes until a noise caught our attention. The door opened, and our assailants walked in. We both sat upright.
Charlotte walked over to me, pistol in hand. "Did you have a nice nap?"
"Great, thanks for asking." I gritted my teeth.
"Talk." Ellen's hostile eyes focused on mine. "Did Vido tell you about us?"
I shook my head.
"Don't lie to me." Ellen shook her finger in my face. "Who else knows?"
"So you're gay." Josie glared at her. "No offense, but why would anyone care?"
Ellen's eyes filled with surprise. "You don't get it. If my father knew, I'd be history. He'd change his will, and I'd be disinherited."
Charlotte nodded. "I was disinherited because my father had a stupid fight with his brother. It wasn't even my fault."
"Ellen killed Amanda because she knew you two were lovers, didn't she?" It was all clear to me now. "And you, in turn, killed Vido."
Charlotte sneered at me. "You're smarter than you look. I mean, two guys did cheat on you, after all." She and Ellen went off into peals of laughter.
I clenched my fists but said nothing.
Josie's nostrils flared. "Loser. At least she can get a guy."
In a flash, Ellen reached over and punched Josie in the face. She fell backward on the floor.
"Leave her alone!" I screamed.
Josie muttered something inaudible as blood seeped from her nose. I reached in my jeans pocket for a tissue.
The hammer clicked on Charlotte's gun. "What's in your hand?"
"It's only a tissue." I glowered at her. "Can I please help my friend?"
Charlotte waved the gun and shrugged.
"Are you okay?" I tried my best to stop the bleeding and managed to at least stem the flow. My hands shook, and the bile continued to rise in my throat.
"Ugh," Josie groaned. Her nose was already starting to swell.
Furious, I turned on Charlotte and Ellen. "Let her go. She's got four kids who need her. You can do whatever you want with me, just let her go."
"Aww." Charlotte pretended to wipe fake tears away while Ellen laughed. "How touching. Such a good friend. Well, that's impossible. She knows too much." She pointed the gun at me again. "Speaking of which, who else knows?"
Mike. "No one."
"You're lying." Charlotte took a step closer.
My brain went into overload. "I swear. No one. Kate came to my shop this afternoon. She thought you might be gay but said that didn't matter to her. She wouldn't have treated you any differently. She loves you. She didn't know about Ellen and neither did I, not until tonight."
Charlotte tipped her head back and roared with laughter. "That bitch. Did she ever care anything about me? No. It was Amanda this and Amanda that. 'Charlotte, can you pick Amanda up after school? Can you stop and get her dry cleaning?' That's all I was ever good enough for, to be Amanda's maid. And she was adopted, for crying out loud. She wasn't even a real Gregorio."
"Is that why you had Ellen kill her?" I tried to stall for more time. Please, Mike, please have followed me here.
Charlotte stared at me, astonished. "You really are stupid, you know that? I put up with years of Amanda's crap. And for what? To be treated like a charity case by her and rich, old auntie. When Amanda found out about Ellen and threatened to tell, we had no choice but to kill her. If Ellen's father knew the truth, she would lose everything."
Ellen nodded. "That old man is so close-minded that I'd have been left out in the cold, just like Charlotte."
"How did Amanda find out?" Josie held the blood-stained tissue to her nose.
Ellen pursed her lips. "That scumbag Vido spotted us together at a casino and told her. When I saw him in your shop the other day, I knew he'd blab. That slimeball would have sold his own mother out for five bucks."
She had a point there.
"It was all so easy." Ellen snapped her fingers. "I waited until Charlotte was out of town and had a tight alibi. Then I went over to pay Amanda a visit. She was in the kitchen making her smoothie, on her way out the door. I begged her not to say anything. Let me tell you, I should have been an actress, that's how damned convincing I was. Amanda got a phone call and left the room for privacy. I overheard her telling someone she hadn't eaten and was going to stop by your cookie shop. Charlotte had given me the bee venom earlier. I stirred some into her smoothie, lifted the EpiPen out of h
er purse, and voila. Instant death, and the world is rid of that slut."
I sucked in a sharp breath. "So you guys planned this after Amanda and I had the argument at my bakery. You wanted to pin it all on me."
"Very perceptive of you, Jessica Fletcher." Charlotte winked at Ellen. "We are pretty proud of our ingenuity."
"It all worked like a charm." Ellen's eyes flashed with anger. "That is, until you two had to butt in. I liked you, Josie. If only you had minded your own business. I did try to warn you both."
I drew my eyebrows together in amazement. "Trashing my shop was your way of warning us?"
"You should have backed off." Ellen's eyes glittered. Then she laughed. "I did have fun with that frosting though. Kind of like being a little kid again." Her expression immediately soured. "My parents never even let me make mud pies in the backyard. No friends over, no dates, nothing. They let me go to the prom, but by then I knew I didn't even want to be with a guy. That's why Charlotte and I get along so well. We both know what it's like to be virtual prisoners in our homes."
I was silent for a few seconds as I mulled this over. They'd given me my answers, but it was imperative to keep stalling for time. "So Ellen killed Amanda, and you took care of Vido?"
"Of course. Easy peasy, as you Italians would say." Charlotte giggled.
I made a face. "No one uses that expression in my family."
"Oh, whatever. So how'd you find out about us?" Charlotte pointed the gun at Josie. "If I think you're lying, I'll kill Josie right now. In front of you."
I swallowed hard. "A guard at Snake Eyes Casino."
"Did you tell your little cop friend about it?"
I prayed she'd believe me. "No. I wish I had though."
Relief filled Charlotte's voice. "Good. This is better than I thought. No one suspects anything?"
"I don't know." My tone was doubtful. "I mean, Kate knows about the withdrawals from the spa's account."
"Too bad, so sad. I deserve that money. My father was cheated by his greedy brother." Charlotte glanced at her watch. "Now I'm afraid we must bid you two good-bye, or I'll miss my plane."
"Where are you going?" Josie asked.
Charlotte and Ellen smiled at each other.
"I guess it doesn't do any harm to tell you. I'm leaving for South America." Charlotte withdrew a ticket from the pocket of her long, flowery skirt and waved it at us. "One way, of course. That's why I needed the money this morning. With all the cash I've taken, there's enough to tide me over for a few weeks."
I turned to Ellen. "Aren't you going too?"
She shrugged. "I can't leave until my father dies and I get my inheritance. Lucky for me, he's in a coma. The doctors don't expect him to last the night."
"That's a shame," I mumbled, not knowing what else to say.
Ellen sneered and folded her arms in triumph. "It really isn't. This worked out perfect for us. No one even knows I'm involved, with the exception of that perverted security guard at the casino, and I can take care of him if I need to. Everyone will think Charlotte's guilty, especially because of the withdrawals. Once Kate discovers she's gone, there'll be even more reason to suspect her. No one can pin anything on me. Well, except for you two, that is." Her icy tone sent shivers through my body. "And we know for a fact that you won't be around to tell anyone."
Charlotte laughed. "Maybe we didn't even have to kill Amanda—if we'd known your father was going to kick the bucket so soon. Oh, well. She so deserved it."
Ellen grinned. "No worries, hon. I enjoyed killing your cousin. After the hell she put you through, it was my pleasure."
My stomach did flip-flops, and the urge to retch was overwhelming. These two were definitely twisted. How would we ever get out of here alive and away from these lunatics? We could try to charge Charlotte and the gun, but with Josie injured that wasn't a smart move. At least one of us would wind up dead. Would anyone think to look for us here?
I thought of Hank at Snake Eyes. It was a long shot he'd ever come forward with the information, especially if Ellen got to him first. He didn't even know why I'd asked about Charlotte. Mike knew, so perhaps some justice would come out of this after Josie and I were gone. I bit my lip, determined not to let them see me cry. Why didn't I tell Brian about Ellen on my voice mail?
"If the old bastard dies tonight," Ellen said to Charlotte, "I can arrange the funeral and be out there in a week or so. My attorney told me I'd get my money right away. No one else has any claims to the estate, and I'm the executor. I can't wait till he's gone."
I gasped in horror. "How can you say that about your father? He gave you life."
"Life?" Ellen grabbed the gun from Charlotte and pointed it at my head in a rage. I held my breath, afraid to make any sudden sound or movement. "What life? I've never had any life because of that man. He's always been overbearing and a control freak. He molested me and my sister, Emma, when we were children. Did you know that? No, because my mother wanted it hushed up. Thanks to him, my sister killed herself, or don't you remember?"
Josie's eyes filled with terror and she nodded slowly. I remained perfectly still as I recalled the incident. Emma, three years Ellen's senior, had committed suicide as we were starting junior high. The exact reason she had taken her life had never come to light. Her parents only said at the time that she had issues.
"I'm sorry. You've been through a lot," I whispered, hoping to win her trust and perhaps get her to move the gun away from my head a wee bit.
Charlotte put her arm around Ellen. "It's all right now. You never have to go through that again."
"Yeah, I know." Ellen sighed and smiled at Charlotte. "Come on. Let's get you out of this loser town."
Charlotte walked over to the stove in the corner of the room. We watched while she poured a pitcher of water on the stones. She jumped back in a hurry as the pile hissed and steam erupted.
Ellen moved the gun away from my head, and I was free to breathe again.
"I don't like the idea of shooting anyone. It's not my style. Nurses clean up messes, we don't like to leave them." She giggled. "Poisoning is more my thing. Or—baking people to death." Her eyes glittered like a maniac's.
Charlotte's smile was evil as she glanced at Josie. "I'm sure your hubby will be wondering where you are eventually. It will all be over soon though. You'll both be nice and toasty shortly. Oh, pardon the pun."
My blood ran cold as Josie and I stared at each other in horror. They weren't going to shoot us after all. We would be left in the sauna to roast to death.
"Please don't do this. Come on, Ellen, I thought you were my friend," Josie pleaded with her.
Ellen laughed. "I don't have any friends, except for Charlotte. You can't trust anyone in this world."
Charlotte pursed her lips. "Hmm, so true. By the way, how long have you two been best buds?"
"Since we were eight." I struggled to breathe normally. "When Josie moved here from Maine."
"Right. So you're true friends. It's fitting you should die together then." Charlotte nudged Ellen. "This is so appropriate. They're both bakers. And that's how they'll die—being baked to death." They both nearly collapsed with mirth.
Josie frowned in disgust. "Wow, way too funny."
"Josie's family needs her. Please let her go, she won't say anything," I implored.
Ellen's irritated eyes found mine. "We've been over this. How stupid do you think I am?" She glanced at Josie with mock sympathy. "Don't worry. Rob's a good-looking guy. I'm sure the kids will have a new mother soon." She gave us a little finger wave. "Bye, ladies. Enjoy your spa night."
The door slammed shut with a finality that echoed in my ears. Through the small window, I saw Charlotte pause for a moment. Then the click of a lock sounded. All was quiet with the exception of hissing noises emanating from the stove.
Josie got to her feet with my assistance and started yelling at the top of her lungs. "Help us, someone!"
"We've got to get out of here." My forehead was already starting to persp
ire. I scanned the room for something to break the window with. The benches were built into the floor, and there was nothing else in the room, save the stove with its two hundred degree rocks. I glanced at the plastic pitcher on the floor. Holding my breath, I flung it at the small pane of glass over the door. It bounced off the window and fell to the floor. I exhaled sharply. "Plexiglass."
Josie's breathing was labored. "I can't stand the heat. I'd rather freeze to death." There was a flicker of hope in her eyes. "They took my cell phone away after I called you. You don't happen to—"
Crestfallen, I shook my head. "I left it in the car. They'd have taken it anyway when they knocked me out, I'm sure."
The thermometer on the wall read 120 degrees. I beat on the door with my hands until they were bruised, then alternated with kicks, yet it refused to budge an inch. Sweat fell off my face in great droplets. I thought of my parents, grandmother, Gianna. Mike and Brian. What about all the things I dreamed of doing one day? Expanding the shop, entering baking contests, going to Italy, having children. My sweat mixed with my tears. No. I wouldn't give up. I was determined to fight till the bitter end.
"Somebody help us, please!" I screamed at the top of my lungs until my voice was hoarse. I pushed my entire weight against the sauna door.
At that instant, the door was yanked open. A rush of cool air engulfed me, and I fell into a pair of strong, masculine arms. Someone scooped me up and carried me into the waiting room, where I was placed in an armchair. Josie was laid down next to me on the couch.
Brian wiped my face with a handkerchief, his face a mask of worry. His eyes didn't leave mine as he reached down to his belt for his radio and barked into it. "Officer Jenkins here. I need emergency medical service at nine Hollow Road right away. Name of the establishment is Amanda's Retreat. We have two women with injuries here. Hurry."
He clicked off and knelt before me, cradling my face between his hands, eyes full of concern. "Are you all right?" His fingertips gently touched my swollen eye.
I nodded and tried to force back tears.
Brian gathered me in his arms. "It's okay. You're safe now."
Tastes Like Murder (Cookies & Chance Mysteries Book 1) Page 20