Murder, Malice and Mischief

by Quinn, Lucy

  “Right.” Dora shook her head and rushed over with Evie to help Billy out of his tank. The two women found it wasn’t difficult. Apparently, Brian and Jock had felt that Cecelia was enough of a deterrent that they didn’t need to tie Billy up too tight. Plus, Dora had a box cutter in her back pocket that helped make quick work of removing the duct tape holding Billy to his stool.

  By the time they got Billy out of the tank and on solid ground again, Cecelia had rolled onto her back in the knee-deep water, and Luke was rubbing her stomach as he continued to sing. He’d moved her back into the shadows, and his voice was so soft Evie guessed Cecelia must be asleep.

  “Unbelievable,” Billy said.

  “It really is,” Evie agreed. “I’ve never—” She let out a gasp, and Sunshine yelped as something hard was jammed into Evie’s side.

  “Ladies,” Brian said. Evie noticed he had an arm around Dora’s neck and a gun in her side. “How nice of you to drop by.”

  “Crap,” Dora mumbled.

  “Aw, man,” Billy whined. “Hey, do either of you guys know who’s winning the Dolphins game?”

  “Twenty-one to nine. Dol—”

  “Jock!” Brian shouted. He waved his gun toward Billy. “Back in your tank or the girl joins you.”

  “If you’re going to put one of them in there with me, can it be Evie?” Billy winked at Evie and darted his eyes toward where Cecelia was resting sans Luke.

  Evie frowned, pretending she was insulted, and snuck a glance over at the gator to see Luke wasn’t anywhere in sight. She figured Billy was buying them some time.

  Billy shrugged as he looked at her, playing his part to the hilt. At least she hoped so, because he said, “I mean, if I get to choose. ‘Cause Evie’s kind of hot. She answers the door in short-shorts and those little tank tops some girls wear. You know?” He glanced at Dora. “I’m sure you’re hot too, but you wear way more clothes. No offense.”

  “None taken,” Dora said. And Evie believed Dora meant it and was on board with their ruse.

  “Kind of hot?” Evie asked in an exasperated voice. She let it rise in volume. “I’m only kind of hot?”

  “I don’t know,” Jock said from behind Evie. “Dora’s got a little something, something going on, too.”

  Dora opened her mouth in shock, and Evie didn’t think she was acting. “I—I’m—”

  “Hot, Dora,” Evie said. “Jock thinks you’re hot. See?”

  “For crying out loud!” Brian yelled. “Will you people shut up?”

  “Jeez,” Evie said. “You could have asked nic—”

  Brian’s tone got nastier. “Zip it!”

  Jock whispered to Evie. “Too much caffeine makes him cranky.”

  “That,” Brian snapped, “and women who think they’re too smart for their own good.” He looked at Billy. “Get in the damn tank.”

  “Okay, but who—”

  “Alone!”

  Billy jumped, and so did Evie, Dora, Jock and Brian. But not because Brian yelled. Cecelia let out a low growl, and when Evie turned to look at the gator, she saw the reptile was on the move. Sunshine yelped, and Brian and Jock both shoved their hostages in front of themselves to offer up bait for the gator.

  “Coward,” Evie said just before she yelled to Dora, “The old one-two!” Dora might have been horrible with hand signals but bark out an order and she’d hop to it. Evie was taking a chance, but a good one, because she knew that Brian needed her and Dora alive to locate the flash drive. The old one-two was a self-defense move they’d learned in a class together. And she knew Dora practiced it regularly.

  Evie lifted her foot and stomped on Jock’s arch as hard as she could. He grunted in pain and loosened his grip enough that she was able to twist around and knee him hard. Right where it counted. Jock doubled over in pain as Evie grabbed his weapon to train it on him. She heard Brian’s cries and glanced over at Dora.

  Brian was rolling on the ground, groaning as Dora scrambled after the gun that he’d dropped. She looked at Evie with wide eyes. “Whoa. It worked.”

  “Of course it did,” Evie said, feeling her lips split into a self-satisfied smile as she pressed her heel on one of Jock’s wrists just to make him groan. Serves him right, she thought as she increased the pressure, knowing it was wrong to enjoy torturing him so much, but she didn’t exactly care. These bastards had tried to kill Billy. “We’re badass. Remember that.”

  Cecelia slithered closer to the men with Luke by her side. He was dripping wet from head to toe, making Evie think he’d hidden under Cecelia until the time was right.

  “Not that badass,” Brian growled, rolling up onto his feet and lunging for Dora.

  “Dora, look out!” Evie cried, rushing Brian to save her friend. But she was too far away. Instead, Sunshine shot forward and sank her teeth into Brian’s ankle, distracting him just enough that Dora was able to grab his arm, twist it behind his back, and yank up hard, bringing him to his knees.

  “What is your problem, Brian?” Dora said with an angry sneer. “Here I thought you were my friend, and instead you tied me and Evie up in the dry cleaners, and now you’re involved in a plan to murder Billy? What happened to you?”

  “Get off me, Dora, or when I bring you in, your charges are going to include assaulting a police officer,” he said.

  Dora snorted. “You’re not bringing anyone in, Brian. Look at you and your sidekick. Neither one of you have control of this situation.”

  Evie let out a giggle and felt pride swell in her chest. Watching her friend go all kickass on the cop was insane, but Evie approved. He was a jerk of huge proportions. “Come here, Sunshine,” Evie said. “Good girl. You helped Auntie Dora restrain Brian over there.”

  Sunshine let out a happy bark and ran over to Evie, plopping down right at her feet.

  “She really is something,” Jock agreed.

  Evie glanced down at him where he lay. He was staring at Cecilia, and Evie knew he was behaving because the gator was within striking distance. If she hadn’t seen Luke controlling the gator with her own two eyes, she might’ve been concerned with her own proximity to the beast. But Luke definitely had her under control. She grinned down at Jock. “Right?”

  Brian struggled against Dora’s hold. “Let go of me, or I’m going to make this really difficult for you, Dora.”

  “I don’t think so. Why don’t you tell me how you got involved with the Franklins and why you’re so willing to turn a blind eye to their money laundering?” Dora said, yanking on his arm again.

  He let out a hiss. “You bitc—”

  “Don’t you dare say that to my friend,” Evie said with a low growl. “Besides, how unoriginal can you get?” She cast a glance at Jock, who was still staring at the gator beside Luke. Certain that Luke didn’t need her to guard Jock, she crossed the room to stand right behind Dora. “What are your secrets, Brian? And what’s your connection to Riverwoods?”

  His eyes widened in surprise before he scowled at her. “What do you know?”

  “Ah-ha! Jackpot. You are running some kind of scam over there, aren’t you? And the Franklins are helping you hide the money, right?” Evie demanded.

  “Evie!” Dora said, jabbing her in the gut with an elbow. “Not now.”

  “If not now, when? We have to figure out why he’s disgracing his badge. What better time than the present while that gator over there contemplates chowing down on his nuts.”

  Brian let out a whimper.

  Evie laughed. “We have him right where we want him.”

  “Wrong,” a strange voice called from behind them. “Let the officer go, Dora, and we might let you live.”

  Ice ran through Evie’s veins as she recognized the voice.

  “Marco?” Evie asked as he stepped out of the shadows.

  “Making sure nothing happens to my investments.” He pulled out a nine-millimeter and pointed it right at Dora. “Release the cop. Now.”

  Dora visibly swallowed, and her hands started to shake.

>   Evie’s head began to spin as she frantically tried to rack her brain for how to get out of this situation. She believed Marco would have no trouble killing the woman who’d killed his father. They were royally screwed.

  “Do it!” Marco barked, waving the gun wildly.

  Sunshine let out a whimper as she cowered at Evie’s feet. She longed to bend down and scoop up her scared pup, but she didn’t dare move. Dora let go of Brian and started to back up.

  Brian twisted, grabbing Dora just as Cecilia lunged for him, and Evie let out a blood-curdling scream.

  Chapter 21

  Pain radiated up Dora’s arm, making her stomach turn. She let out a loud gasp and tried to jerk back, but the intense pain sent her straight to her knees. Pure rage had her seeing red, and on instinct she’d carefully cultivated with daily practice, she used her free arm and jabbed her fingers right into Brian’s eyes.

  They were softer than she’d expected, and the wetness of his eyes made her stomach turn, but he dropped his hold on her and she quickly scrambled back up just in time for Cecilia to shoot past her, jaws open as she lunged for Brian.

  “Let’s go,” Luke said into her ear.

  The sound of his calming voice washed over Dora, and she turned to him with her eyes wide. “The gator—”

  “She’s doing exactly what I told her to do. She won’t kill him. She’ll just keep him detained for a while,” he said and tugged her away from the cop and the beast.

  Dora couldn’t bring herself to turn and look at the scene behind her. Instead, she frantically scanned the area for Evie and Sunshine, and was relieved to find them already hurrying out of the room with Billy right behind them.

  Someone moaned off the to the right, and when she glanced over, she spotted Marco writhing on the ground, his arm cradled to his chest and no gun in sight.

  “Did you take him down?” she asked Luke.

  “We can thank my martial arts training for that.” He gave her an encouraging smile. “Let’s go.”

  At least that was something. She sped up and darted out of the room too, hoping she never saw another alligator again. It was a stretch considering she lived in Florida, but a girl could dream, right?

  With no need to worry about the security cameras now, Luke and she rushed down the hall and through the gator park toward the exit. Bullets rang out behind them, followed by shouts and orders for them to stop. Dora was nearly paralyzed by fear, but Luke grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the shadows as he continued to jog and hissed, “Just keep moving.”

  Without any other plan of action, she did as he said and prayed Evie and Sunshine would be all right.

  “This way.” Luke came to a sudden stop before he pushed through an emergency exit. More bullets blasted behind them, and she wondered if they were still aiming at them, or...

  “Evie,” she whispered with her hand to her throat.

  Luke grabbed her arm and, stepping behind her, practically pushed her through the gate. “Just keep moving. They’re fine, understand?”

  She nodded, her heart in her throat. How did I get myself into this mess? she wondered for the thousandth time.

  Relief washed over Dora when Evie called out, “Over here!” She was waving frantically for them beside Luke’s car. Evie slipped into the driver’s seat. Sunshine hopped in after her, while Billy climbed into the back seat.

  Dora took off at a dead run, no longer unsure of her next move. She sprinted so fast she was sure if she were in a race she’d have broken some sort of record. Before she knew it, she was crammed in the back seat of the car with Billy.

  Once Luke was safely in the car as well, Evie peeled out, more than likely leaving rubber on the road.

  Billy leaned his head against Dora’s shoulder. “I’m starving,” He said.

  Dora wrapped her arms around him and held on. “Evie. Your purse?”

  “You know it, Dor.”

  “I have food at my house. Just go straight there,” Luke said.

  “But Evie has Poptarts,” Dora said. “Blueberry ones.”

  “Blueberry?” Billy asked.

  “That is not food.” Luke shook his head but retrieved the toaster pastries from Evie’s purse. He turned and handed the treat to Billy as he eyed Dora. “We seriously have to discuss what constitutes a meal when this is all done.”

  When this is done? “Right,” Dora said, trying and failing to contain her giddy smile. She gently ran a hand over Billy’s back, trying to give him some comfort and to focus on the seriousness of what had just happened.

  Billy let out a small moan as he devoured the sugary junk food. “That was some serious alligator whispering,” he forced out. “Thanks for saving my tush.”

  Luke reached back and squeezed the man’s hand. “No way were we going to leave you there, Billy. Don’t worry. We’ve got it from here.”

  Billy nodded and let out a deep sigh as he leaned his head on the window and closed his eyes.

  Dora met Luke’s gaze. The two stared at each other for a long moment, and she wondered what he was thinking. She’d panicked back there, and if Luke hadn’t grabbed her, she might have been shot while frozen in fear. She said, “Thank you, Luke. I don’t know what we would’ve done without you.”

  He gave her a hint of a smile. “I’m betting you and Evie would’ve figured something out. I’m picturing paintball guns and ski masks. But I was glad to help.”

  Evie let out a snort. “I’m gonna need to stock my purse with paintball guns and Poptarts now. That’s a great idea.”

  “Aren’t you even the least bit freaked out?” Dora demanded. She glanced between the two of them. “We were just shot at, And Billy was almost gator food!”

  Luke turned again, but instead of saying anything, this time he reached back and grabbed Dora’s hand, squeezing it tightly.

  Evie took a sharp turn down a side street. “Nah, Dora. They weren’t shooting at us. They were shooting at each other. I don’t know what was going down, but Marco seemed pissed at Brian and Jock. Maybe they messed up the job so bad Marco was ready to be done with them. Either way, we’ve got Billy, and now we can start making plans to find the evidence we need to clear you.”

  Dora slumped back into her seat. She didn’t think Evie and Luke were taking the situation as seriously as they should. She wished it were true that Evie and she could leave Luke and Billy to deal with any fallout while they hightailed it to New Orleans to retrieve the flash drive, but didn’t they need to make sure the two weren’t in any danger first? Dora pressed her fingers to her temples and tried not to let her anxiety get the best of her.

  “Don’t stress, Dora,” Evie said almost cheerily. “We’ve got this. You’ll see.”

  “Famous last words,” Dora muttered and pressed her head to the cool glass of her window.

  Evie just chuckled. “Always the pessimist.”

  Dora preferred to think of herself as logical, but she knew that sometimes she could be pessimistic, too. But at the moment, she couldn’t imagine feeling any other way.

  Dora swirled her frothy cappuccino remains in her cup as she said, “I don’t think it’s wise that we keep coming back here.” They were sitting at Luke’s kitchen table while he cooked.

  “Where else are we going to go?” Evie asked.

  Dora knew she was right, but it didn’t make her any less nervous.

  “Besides,” Evie added. “We’re out of here in the morning. That should turn the heat down considerably.”

  “We can’t just leave Billy and Luke as sitting ducks,” Dora insisted. “Do you really think Brian and Marco are going to just stop looking for us? Besides, the minute Billy goes home, they’ll be pounding his door down.”

  Evie frowned and bit on her bottom lip as she petted Sunshine. The dog was curled up in her lap, staying as close to her mother as possible. It appeared the gunshots had rattled at least one other soul besides Dora. “So, what is it you think we should do? We can’t go to the cops. We don’t know who’s dirty and who i
sn’t.”

  “True.” Dora tapped her fingers against her lips and glanced over at Luke, who was busy making food again. He’d already supplied Billy with water and some truffle cheese. Because doesn’t everyone have that in their fridge? Now he was working on a late-night dinner for all of them. The heavenly scent of onions and garlic wafted over her, and her mouth started to water. Luke was right, Poptarts were so not a meal you had with him around.

  “Earth to Dora.” Evie waved her hands in front of her friend’s face. “Focus, will you? You can drool over the hottie in the kitchen later.”

  Luke glanced over his shoulder at Dora, giving her a knowing grin. Dora’s face flushed, and she thought she might die right there on the spot. “Thanks a lot, Evie,” she whispered through clenched teeth.

  “Pshaw.” Evie rolled her eyes. “You two are so hot for each other I’m about to get heat exhaustion just being in your presence. Don’t act like it’s not happening. None of us are stupid.”

  Luke let out a low chuckle but didn’t turn back around.

  Dora sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes. “This isn’t the time for this conversation. Let’s get back to working out a plan.”

  Evie sat back in her chair. “We don’t have a plan.”

  Dora ignored her painfully obvious statement. “We need to expose Brian. Figure out what his deal is, so that the heat is on him and not us. I think we should head to Riverwoods and find out why exactly he spends so much time there. He’s already inadvertently confirmed that something is up.”

  “Do we know anyone who works there?” Evie asked as Billy’s gaze bounced back and forth between the two women.

  Dora turned her attention to Luke. “You said a cook you know adopted Miss Morris, right? How did that happen? Did she get her from a shelter, or did she just take her from Riverwoods after her owner died?”

  “Hmm.” Luke started placing his steak stir fry onto four plates. “Cassie didn’t say. I can give her a call.”

  Cassie. Dora knew it was irrational, but she suddenly had a vague mental picture of Luke laughing and flirting with another woman… one who shared his passion for cooking.