“Ewwww…” I said.
We looked at each other. We were both gauging the other one to see which of us was willing to stick our hand in the vomit to retrieve the gun. I’d do it… but I soooo did not want to do it.
Steph dove for the gun, which meant that I had to dive for the gun. She was faster, on her feet and closer. But that was her downfall. She had too much momentum. Her hand slipped in the gunk, she cracked her head on the pavement, and came to a stop face down in her already eaten dinner. There she lay, not moving, and I wasn’t going to touch her. No way I could without throwing up on her.
“Zoey? You okay?”
“Oh… Oh… I need a shower. Where’s a shower?”
“Kylie?” Zoey and I turned our heads in the direction of a man’s voice. Joel was standing thirty feet away with a great big bouquet of multi-colored carnations in his hand. He’d remembered our date! “What’s going on?” He took a step forward.
“No! Stay back. Um, we’re kind of gross right now.”
“What should I do?”
“Call the police. We caught the killer!”
Sort of.
Chapter 29
Thirty minutes later, the parking lot was full of vehicles and people. There were five police cars, numerous police officers, two ambulances, and several paramedics. Steph had regained some consciousness but was still pretty groggy.
Zoey was still covered in various types of goo, but it was her feet that were getting the attention as she sat on the back of an ambulance getting them wrapped. I hadn’t realized that she’d been running around barefoot the whole time. She’d spotted Steph intercepting me outside the café on a surveillance camera tied into the traffic lights. It was the camera normally used to capture drivers running red lights. When she’d seen me being taken, she’d run right out the door without even putting on her coat or shoes. I owed her big. She’d come to my rescue not once but twice since I’d met her. As for Max, he’d left her place a few minutes after I had or I guessed that he’d be here, too.
She looked absolutely miserable as she sat covered in rotten spaghetti, but I could help her out with that. I had a big roll of paper towels upstairs in my kitchen. I’d bring down half of them wet and leave the other half dry. It could at least help her to feel better until she was able to take a proper shower, or since her feet were wrapped up, maybe a bath.
As for me, I really needed the bathroom. I was shifting from foot to foot and was only a few minutes away from embarrassing myself.
“That’s all I know,” I told the tall man who looked as though he belonged in high school rather than wearing a uniform. I hadn’t seen Brad anywhere. As for Joel, he had two officers standing in front of him with their notebooks out. The three of us—Zoey, Joel and I—were being kept separate from each other while we went over the details of what had happened. “Am I free to go?”
“Just a couple more questions—”
“I really gotta go,” I interrupted. “As in go, if you know what I mean.”
He gave me a look up and down then nodded. “Don’t leave town. Be sure that you remain available for further questioning.”
I agreed.
He confirmed my phone number and address, and then I did an exaggerated foot shuffle and hip swing all the way to the café’s back door. My hands were shaking as I tried to get the key into the lock. The second I was in, I rushed through the kitchen and up the stairs to my apartment. I had to use the keys again to get in but then just left the door wide open and threw the keys on the floor as I made a mad dash to the bathroom.
Relief flooded me—and thankfully, nothing else. A couple of minutes later and I had my hands washed and was back out. A short walk down the hallway took me to the side-hinged window that doubled as a narrow glass door leading onto the fire escape. It gave me a perfect view of the parking lot.
Zoey was still sitting on the back of the ambulance. Still barefoot except for the bandages. I’d take her a couple pair of socks in addition to the paper towels. I didn’t have a spare coat, but I could put on some extra layers of clothes and give her my coat. I could always wash it later at the laundromat.
I caught a glimpse of Brad just as I was about to turn away. It looked like he was trying to find me. His gaze was sweeping the parking lot, going from one group to the next, but he wasn’t looking up.
I tapped on the window. No luck. He still hadn’t noticed me, so I opened the window and stepped out onto the slatted floor of the fire escape. He looked up, and I waved.
He smiled, then took a deep breath and blew it out. It was as sweet a sight as Joel showing up with his big bouquet of flowers. I knew that I should feel guilty about liking the attention of both men, but I was too relieved and too tired to bother.
Somewhere from deep within the apartment, I heard a hiss. I hadn’t meant to leave the apartment door standing open, and I couldn’t remember if I had adequately closed the door at the bottom of the stairs or even the one leading to the outside. “Sage?” I called out. I didn’t want her wandering off into the night.
Something fell from the direction of the kitchen, and I heard another hiss.
“Don’t tell me I’ve got mice,” I moaned, picturing Sage in a manic hunt across the countertops.
I stepped back inside and headed for the apartment door to close it. The fire escape stairs didn’t extend all the way to the ground. There was a retractable ladder at the bottom. Sage would be able to sun herself outside on it as much as she wanted once the weather turned nice without worries that she would wander off and get lost or hurt.
“Sage?”
A shadow moved. Too large to be Sage. I passed the wall that allowed me to see into the kitchen and froze. Max was standing in the middle of the floor. He had Sage by the scruff of her neck and she dangled from the end of his arm. She mewed pitifully when she saw me, then hissed and wiggled with her sharp claw doing their best snag Max’s hand or leg.
“What are you doing, Max?” I kept my voice calm, but I felt breathless, like I’d been running.
“Zoey’s a great girl. I know that. But she’s got a bad habit of picking up strays like you. She doesn’t need you. You’re weighing her down. She’s got me.”
“Okay,” I said, nodding. “I get it. Three’s a crowd… You know, I don’t think Sage likes that. How ‘bout you let her loose.” I’d agree to just about anything he said as long as he let Sage go and he left the apartment. The door was still standing wide open. I knew I could run, but I didn’t know if my furry little friend would be in good shape when I came back. Of course, maybe Max wanted me to run. Maybe that was his game plan. A good solid push to my back as I fled down the stairs could make short work of ending my life while also making it look like an accident.
“Max, why are you here?” If it was to kill me, I was hoping he’d go ahead and say so. It would really simplify my internal decision-making matrix. Otherwise I’d be second guessing myself with every rushed heartbeat. Maybe he was desperate for the bathroom, too. Maybe his blood sugar dropped, making him feel grouchy, and all he really needed was a sandwich to be an easygoing guy again. I had a frozen Snickers hidden in the back of the freezer. I could dig it out for him, then we could have a good laugh about all this.
“I’m here because you’re a busybody who doesn’t have the common sense of a doorknob.”
Sage managed to hook his hand with her claws. She worked it hard, and I saw drops of blood drip to the floor.
“DNA evidence,” I blurted.
“What?”
“DNA evidence. On the floor. Your blood.” I hoped that it would dissuade him from carrying out any nefarious plans he might have.
“I’ll clean it up after I’m done.”
All the oxygen left the room.
“You’re going to kill me, aren’t you?”
“Isn’t it about time somebody did?”
He took a step forward. I took a step back.
“But why? You haven’t done anything. We caught the killer and
it wasn’t you. And Zoey’s name has been cleared. Everything’s good again. Zoey’s even talking to you.”
“What are you talking about, Zoey’s off the hook?”
“Steph confessed. She hired someone.” The room started to spin. “You? Did Steph hire you?” That would make so much sense. It would explain why he was back in town. He traveled all over the place as a sports talent scout. It was the perfect cover for being a professional hitman.
Max continued to move forward. I continued to move back.
“I don’t know a Steph? And nobody hired me. You really are an idiot. You’re so dumb. How did you manage to survive this long? And your cooking… what’s wrong with you? Nobody could be that bad.”
“Let Sage go.” Max was out of the kitchen, and we were both moving down the hall.
“I’m not doing this to you. You’ve done this to yourself, just like that obnoxious moron did. It’s not on me. It’s you. It’s all you.”
“What obnoxious moron?” The déjà vu of the moment was overwhelming. Less than half an hour before, I’d been doing my best to make Steph confess to me. Now it was Max’s turn, but I didn’t know what there was left to confess to.
“Cam. Who else would I be talking about? He messed himself. Did you know that? Stunk up my car.”
“Your car… the car in the barn.” I’d been right. Max had killed Cam. “Did you call the health inspector? Did you know that Suzie was Dan’s ex?”
Max smiled, full of malice. “Give the girl a star. She finally gets a clue.”
I’d been right all along. About everything… almost everything. Max was manipulative, but he was evil too. I should never have doubted myself!
“I won’t let you have Zoey. I won’t let you hurt her. She’s too good for you.”
He scoffed. “In this messed up world, I’m the best chance she’s got.” His fingers loosened and Sage dropped. She was running as soon as she hit the floor and disappeared inside my bedroom. It was a relief to see her go. At least she would live.
Max lunged, and I twirled and ran. His hand grabbed for my shirt, but instead of getting a hold on me, it pushed me forward.
I fell, face first. Stretching my arms above my head, the tips of my fingers could almost grasp the lip of the door-shaped window seal. I lifted my head to scream, but Max was faster. He pushed my face into the hardwood floor. I had to suck in my lips to keep them from slipping open, and my teeth scratched against the unforgiving wood. I couldn’t get my mouth open to yell.
Max’s weight shifted above me, and my eyes bulged when I felt his knee lodge into my lower back. His arm slid around my neck, next, and he bent me backward in a stretch that a gymnast would have been proud of.
This was it. I was going to die. I couldn’t breathe, and I didn’t have any leverage to use to help me fight back. I was pinned. In front of me I could see out the open window into the night beyond. I knew that there were cops aplenty, so close, and that they would save me if they knew what was happening. But they didn’t know what was happening.
I slapped the floor with my hand. I tried to tap the pattern for SOS that I’d seen in a movie, but it didn’t matter. I couldn’t do it. One tap would hit for a nice strong slapping sound, but then the next would be a dull thud, too weak to be heard by anyone but me and my killer.
My body was becoming uncoordinated as my lungs burned and sheer panic made me lash out in ways I couldn’t control. But through it all, knowing there was nothing I could do to save Zoey from a life with this man was the worst.
That’s when Max screamed, right in my ear. His arm loosened and his body jerked. I slipped free of his hold and immediately went into the wiggle worm squirm. I jerked and moved in every way I could. I ended up on my side looking up at Max, and it was my turn to scream. Trickles of blood dripped down his forehead. His arms were flapping and he was grabbing at something behind him. He threw his back against the wall, and that’s when his nemesis—my hero—appeared. Avoiding being crushed by the wall, Sage clawed her way on top of his head. She’d gone from my fuzzy little friend to a miniature wildcat.
If she could do it, so could I.
Taking aim, I bashed Max in the face with the heel of my shoe. His head snapped back, hard. I remembered about his neck, that it was essentially broken but held together by a well-placed titanium screw. With my leg lifted and my knee bent, ready to lash out again, I hesitated. I wanted to stop him, not irrevocably hurt him.
“I’m going to rip your head from your neck,” Max snarled, and my qualms about hurting him left me.
I kicked again.
Through it all, Sage held on.
Max stumbled to his feet and I aimed a little higher than where his face had just been. My foot made solid contact with a spot that would have him singing in a higher octave for weeks.
Her work done, Sage jumped off and scampered away, and it was time for me to do the same. I got to my feet and ran the few remaining steps to the windowed doorway. I was right there, right at the cusp of being able to call for help, when Max’s big meat hook of a hand closed in my hair. He yanked me back and slammed me against the wall.
I saw stars. I saw him. And I saw his enormous fist lifted behind his shoulder, ready to pulverize my face. But my face wasn’t the one that needed protecting. My little ninja cat did a flying squirrel imitation right at him. Her front claws latched onto the top of his head with her body draping over his face. That’s when her hind legs went to work, racking over his face like she was digging.
Max screamed in fury as he staggered backward right out onto the fire escape landing. His hands slammed into his face, but Sage went over the top of his head and latched onto his back.
Jerking and reaching and twisting his head to try to dislodge her, I froze when I heard a pop. It sounded like celery breaking.
Max’s arms fell limp at his sides. His face went slack, and like a tilting monolith, he began to fall over backward, right over the fire escape’s banister.
Sage jumped from his shoulder into my arms, and I watched in horror as Max disappeared over the railing’s edge. He was there one moment, gone the next.
I rushed through the doorway to the fire escape’s metal banister. Below me, Max lay face up, his eyes open but blank, as blank as they had been before he’d fallen. He didn’t move, but everyone else did. Officers from every part of the parking lot converged on him, and then the medical professionals… and then Zoey.
Poor Zoey.
Chapter 30
Kylie, what did you do to these eggs? They’re terrible.” Brad picked at the contents of the bowl in front of him.
“They’re not eggs. It’s oatmeal!” I said.
“Oh…” He took a bite. “Not bad. Raisins, nuts and everything. Little soupy.”
I rolled my eyes and then refocused on the health inspector’s mile-long list of health code infractions. There were so many changes to be made. None of them were large, but I had no idea how I would get them all done in a forty-five days’ time.
“You know, now that I know you’re not Cam’s killer, we should reschedule our date.”
“You thought I was the killer?”
“No, ‘course not. I thought you could be the killer. There’s a difference.” He ate some more oatmeal. “I miss the eggs.”
I put down the list. I hadn’t killed anybody yet, but I was reconsidering my stance on the issue. “Joel’s the one who showed up with flowers in his hand. I think that deserves a date sooner than you.”
“Hey, you snooze, you lose. If he’d meant business, he’d have still taken you out after they got done body bagging Max.” He took another bite of his oatmeal, chewed, then said, “You sure you didn’t push him out that window? No one would blame you for it.”
“Nope, didn’t touch him. It was all Sage. She’s my murderous ninja kitty.” My mind flashed with the memory of how Max had looked before he’d fallen. His expression turned so vacant. And there was that pop.
“What’s wrong?”
I
wasn’t sure what I should say, or rather what it was safe to say, but I needed to talk to someone. So I decided to take a chance. “I’m not sure that the fall killed Max.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Brad nodded and his eyes had the look of someone who knew more than what they were letting on.
“Spill,” I demanded.
“Hmmm,” Brad said. “Okay, but you didn’t hear it from me. The report’s not official yet, but the coroner’s assistant who did the initial examination said that he believed that Max was dead before he ever hit the ground. Broken neck.” Brad looked me up and down then leaned forward conspiratorially. “What did ya do to him? Hit him with a right hook? Smack him in the head with a baseball bat?” When I hesitated to answer, he said, “Hey, hey… self-defense. Nobody’s takin’ you in for that. He was an intruder in your home.”
I didn’t know why, but I didn’t want Brad to think that I’d killed Max. I didn’t want to be the person known for ending another person’s life. “He had a screw in his neck.”
“A what?”
“A screw. There was something wrong with his neck, and he had a screw in it to… I don’t know, hold it together. When Sage jumped onto him and was hanging off his back, he was throwing his head every which way. Then he just stopped. He stopped trying to throw Sage off of him. Everything about him just stopped. It was like…” I failed to find the words.
“Like he wasn’t there anymore?”
“Yeah… Like that.”
Brad nodded knowingly. “Yeah, the guy was dead.” Silence dragged on between us for a few minutes as Brad ate and I cleaned. Then, he asked with more concern than I thought he’d show for her, “How’s Zoey?”
The worst thing about what had happened last night was Zoey being front and center to see it all. She’d seen Max fall. She’d seen him dead. Her heart had been through so much. “I haven’t really spoken to her much since last night. By the time the police were done talking to me and the crime scene inspectors had finished inside, Zoey had already gone. I texted her but didn’t hear back. Has the investigation found a link between Cam and Max yet?”
A Berry Murderous Kitten_A Laugh-Out-Loud Kylie Berry Mystery Page 15