“I will,” Ellie lied as her dark mind began conceiving a new scheme. Perhaps, she thought desperately, the plan she created might be able to come back to life and take a new breath. “I know Gavin Walsh,” she told Mary and leaned up onto her left elbow. “I know my grandfather’s mansion.” Ellie looked down at her injured ankle. “There’s a secret entrance that no one knows about except us.”
“A secret entrance?” Mary asked. She brushed water from her hair and then began squeezing out her dress.
“What do you mean by secret entrance?” Valerie demanded. She was in no mood for lies or games. “The truth.”
“The pool house has a secret hallway that leads into the back pantry located in the kitchen,” Ellie explained. Even though she was speaking the truth, she felt the truth was going to save her from prison and help her overcome her enemies. “I can show you the entrance.”
Mary bit down on her lip and looked at Valerie. “Valerie?” she asked.
Valerie plopped down in a lounge chair and studied the situation with an experienced mind. “A secret entrance would help us,” she said and pointed at Ellie. “But I doubt that monster is going to help us, Mary. As soon as we get inside, she might try something funny.”
“How?” Ellie snapped. “My hands are tied, and my ankle is injured. I can’t walk, let alone run.”
“Even so,” Valerie said and looked toward the front lobby, “you’re a very sneaky woman. I wouldn’t trust you to hold a wasp, let alone help us. However,” Valerie sighed, “right now we don’t have much choice, now do we?”
Ellie shot her eyes at Valerie. “Someday, old woman, you’re going to suffer for betraying me. For now…I’ll help you only because I want the chance to get my revenge.” Ellie hoped her sour tone sounded convincing. Fortunately for her, Valerie bought her threat of revenge.
“Mary, what choice do we have?” Valerie asked. “We’re going to have to play the cards we’re holding and see if we take the pot.”
Mary studied Ellie, reading the woman’s dangerous and deceitful eyes. “Ellie, my friend is in danger. All I ask is that you help us,” she said, pretending to be naive. Ellie wasn’t out of the fight and Mary wasn’t as stupid as Ellie hoped she was. However, Mary knew that even though Ellie wasn’t out of the fight, there was no chance for the woman to gain victory. Ellie Wording was now…well, washed out.
“For now, I’ll help you,” Ellie hissed at Mary and began rubbing her injured ankle.
A few minutes later, Mitchell ran back to the pool. “Okay,” he said and pointed at the front street. “No more games. I called in the troops. We’re going to storm the mansion. I have the woman and now all I need is Walsh. If he sees me show up with force, he’ll crumble like the coward he is.”
Mary saw Charlie speed up in his cab. “I got here as fast as I could!” Charlie yelled.
“Let’s move,” Mitchell ordered everyone. He reached down and grabbed Ellie by her right arm. “On your feet,” he demanded.
Ellie struggled to stand up and limped over to the cab with the help of Mitchell. When she reached the car, to her shock, Mitchell shoved her into the truck and slammed it shut. “Mary, you and Valerie are going downtown to headquarters and—”
“No,” Mary told Mitchell in a stern voice. “Betty is my best friend. I’m not deserting her, is that clear?”
Mitchell looked into Mary’s fierce eyes. “Fine. But you’re going to have to stand clear,” he said. “I’ve called in the troops and we’re going to storm the mansion. No more games. We have the villains. My boss isn’t happy that I disobeyed his direct orders, but he’s willing to throw support in my corner and that’s enough.”
“I’ll…stand out of the way,” Mary said. She didn’t want to lie but Betty’s life was in danger.
“Honey,” Valerie said and put her hand on Mary’s shoulder, “this old woman will stand by you.”
Mary looked into Valerie’s caring eyes. “Oh, how I wish I could take you home with me,” she said. “My house has plenty of room and it would be so nice to have you living with me.”
“I might just take you up on that offer,” Valerie told Mary in a worried voice. “I doubt that I’ll be able to find any work in this town after Mr. Walsh is finished with me.”
Mary reached out and hugged Valerie, even though her dress was still soaking wet. “You risked everything to help me. I would give anything if you would come home with me.”
“You really mean that, don’t you?” Valerie asked in a curious voice. She looked deeply into Mary’s eyes. “Yeah, you do mean your words,” she said and smiled. “I tell you what, let’s finish off painting this set and then talk about the future.”
“Deal.” Mary smiled and jumped into the back seat. “Let’s go, Charlie.”
Charlie waited until Mitchell ran around to the front seat and Valerie climbed into the back seat and then stomped on the gas. “Mary,” Mitchell said, checking his gun, “when we arrive at the mansion, you and Valerie are going to sit right in this cab, is that clear?”
“I understand,” Mary replied and squeezed Valerie’s hand. Valerie squeezed her hand back.
Mitchell shoved a Lucky Strike in his mouth and focused on his gun as Charlie zoomed to the mansion, weaving in and out of traffic with skill and ease. “Take Ocean Canyon Drive,” Mitchell told Charlie and lit his cigarette.
“Don’t tell me how to drive my cab!” Charlie fussed with his old face barely rising above the large steering wheel. “I know this city like the back of my hand.”
“I was only suggesting—”
“Yeah, yeah,” Charlie griped. “You were only suggesting I take Ocean Canyon Drive because it’s a shortcut. But the city is doing road work out there which is why—” Charlie made a hard right and slid onto a different road, speeding down a street lined with fancy, upper-middle-class, two-story homes, “…I’m taking Cloud Wave Road.”
Mitchell worked on his Lucky Strike. “Mary, Valerie, how are you doing back there?”
“Holding on for dear life!” Valerie yelled.
Charlie grinned. “I’ve never wrecked my cab yet and I don’t plan to ruin my record today.”
Mary watched Mitchell put his gun away. “Mitchell, what’s going to happen when we arrive at the mansion?”
“We’re going to give Mr. Walsh a chance to come out and surrender peacefully; otherwise, we’ll have to force our way in there with our guns blazing,” Mitchell explained.
“Oh my,” Mary whispered and thought about Betty. Her best friend’s sweet image appeared in her mind. “Oh Betty,” Mary whispered, “I can’t let anything happen to you.”
Ten minutes later, Charlie slid to a stop in front of the mansion. A sea of cop cars was parked on the street. Cops of every shape and size were standing around a rough-looking man wearing a brown overcoat. Mitchell tossed his Lucky Strike out the passenger window and looked at Mary. “Stay here,” he ordered her, jumping out of the cab and hurrying over to his boss.
“I can’t stay here,” Mary worried. “Oh, Charlie, you have to help us. My best friend is in that mansion and if those cops rush in with their guns shooting…why, anything could happen to her.”
Charlie turned in his seat and focused on Mary’s worried face. “I could never turn down a beautiful face,” he sighed. “What do you want me to do?”
“There’s a secret entrance into the mansion through the pool house. If I can get inside—”
“If we can get inside,” Valerie pointed out.
Mary nodded. “If we can get inside, maybe we can save Betty before anything happens to her.”
“What about the lady in the trunk?” Charlie asked. Mitchell had decided Ellie should go in the trunk just to ensure she couldn’t try any funny business.
“She’s coming with us,” Mary explained. “I’m not letting that woman leave my sight.”
Charlie thought for a minute. He watched Mitchell talk to his boss as the other cops huddled around and listened. Then he nodded his head and s
lowly began backing up his cab without anyone noticing. It was time for action.
“See?” Charlie said, pulling back a bush and pointing at the black iron fence. “You can squeeze right through.”
“Oh, Charlie, you’re simply wonderful,” Mary said and kissed Charlie on his cheek.
Charlie smiled and tossed a thumb at Ellie. “Be careful with her,” he warned Mary and hurried back to his cab.
Valerie dug her hand into Ellie’s right arm. “No funny stuff,” she warned.
Ellie hissed at Valerie and then looked at Mary. “Are we going to stand around here all day? Those cops sounded awful hungry to fire their guns.”
Mary agreed. She approached the fence, squeezed through the opening Charlie had shown her, and then helped Valerie get Ellie through. Once everyone was standing inside the fence, Mary grabbed Ellie’s left arm and helped her limp over to a pool house that was almost the size of her house back home. As Mary approached the pool house, she studied the back of the mansion with worried eyes. The mansion appeared silent and empty even though the womb of the mansion was holding a very angry Mr. Walsh, a very scared Betty, and two worried thugs who had failed to snatch Ellie.
“Inside,” Mary whispered as she pulled open a heavy wooden door and stepped into a beautiful room that resembled a faraway coast in some mysterious land. Valerie quickly pushed Ellie into the room and closed the door.
“There,” Ellie said and pointed to a bookshelf shoved up against the far right wall.
Mary hurried over the hardwood floor and reached the bookshelf. “Where?” she demanded.
“The green book on the bottom shelf.”
Mary bent down and found the green book. In her mind, she remembered how Mitchell had opened the bookshelf located in the den. She closed her eyes and pulled the green book backward. The book gave way and a loud click popped through the room.
“Thank goodness,” Mary whispered. She stood up and began pushing the bookshelf back. To her relief, the bookshelf slid away from the wall with ease. A hidden hallway appeared. The hallway was identical to the hallway hidden behind the bookshelf in the den. “This hallway looks very familiar.”
Ellie narrowed her eyes. “There are many hidden hallways,” she said and then, to Mary’s horror, she charged at Valerie. Before Valerie could act, Ellie smashed into her body. Valerie was thrown forward and crashed into Mary. Mary tumbled into the hallway with Valerie on top of her. Before she could act, Valerie kicked the green book with her good foot, nearly falling down to the ground as she did, and grinned. “So long!”
“No!” Mary yelled as the bookshelf closed. She stared at Valerie in horror.
“I’ll find a way out,” Valerie promised Mary. “You go save your friend. That black widow can’t get too far on her ankle.”
Mary nodded. “Okay,” she said in a frantic voice and dashed down the hidden hallway, running around one corner after another, until she reached a closed door. “Please,” she begged and tried the doorknob. The doorknob turned in her hand. “Thank you,” Mary whispered. She opened the door and stepped into a dark pantry that smelled of flour and cigar smoke. She hurried through the pantry and cautiously sneaked into a dim, gloomy kitchen.
“Where are you?” she whispered and threw her eyes toward a door leading into a large dining room that connected to the front living room. “Okay, deep breath,” Mary told herself, feeling her heart racing a hundred miles a minute. As she steadied her mind, something inside of her—something deep and hidden—whispered: Go to the window. Mary spun around and ran to the kitchen window just in time to see Ellie trip and fall into the pool.
“Oh no,” Mary gasped and began to run for the back door. Then she heard Betty yell: “Let me go!”
“Betty,” Mary whispered. She turned away from the kitchen window and threw her eyes toward the door leading into the dining room. “My friend’s life comes first,” she said, thinking about Ellie. “You had your chance, now Betty deserves hers.” Mary raced back into the pantry and waited. A minute later, Gregory appeared in the kitchen with Betty.
“Let me go!” Betty yelled. “You big…bully…the cops are outside. You don’t have a chance. Your two hired killers already gave themselves up.”
“Shut up!” Gregory yelled at Betty. “I’m not going to be defeated, not today, not ever!” Gregory began dragging Betty toward the pantry. “I’ll escape back to the studio. No one can touch me there, not even the cops.”
Betty, fed up with being bullied and fed up with being scared, lifted her right foot and stomped as hard as she could on Gregory’s foot. Gregory let out a cry and threw Betty down onto the kitchen floor. Betty landed on her backside and, ignoring the pain, quickly began crawling away. Gregory reached down and grabbed her arm. “Let me go!”
“Stand up!” Gregory yelled and pointed his gun at Betty. “Don’t make me shoot you!”
Betty stared at the gun being shoved in her face and did what she always did: She fainted. So much for being brave and fed up. Better to die unconscious and scared.
“Oh for…” Gregory complained and let go of Betty’s arm. He was through wasting his time with Betty. He needed to escape before the cops forced their way into the mansion. He ran to the pantry door, yanked it open, and began to run inside. Before he could take three steps into the pantry, a bag of heavy flour struck him in the face, spilled open, and drenched his body. Gregory stumbled backward, coughing and trying to wipe flour off his face and out of his eyes. As he did, a heavy sugar bag burst out of the pantry and hit him in the chest. The sugar bag broke open and sanded the kitchen floor. Then, before Gregory could blink an eye, a cloud of cayenne pepper reached his face. Gregory dropped his gun and began coughing and gagging. “My eyes!” he tried to scream as the cayenne pepper invaded his mouth.
Mary appeared from the pantry door holding a broom. “Mr. Walsh!” she yelled.
Gregory lifted his head and managed to spot Mary before the woman began attacking him with the broom. As Mary attacked Gregory, Valerie appeared. She spotted Gregory’s gun lying on the floor and snatched it up. “Get him, honey!” she yelled at Mary. “Wallop him good!”
Mary swatted Gregory with the broom over and over again. Gregory, barely able to see, raced to the back door, dashed outside into the bright sunlight, and made a run for it. The sunlight, along with the cayenne pepper in his eyes, made it impossible to see. Gregory ran straight for the pool, tripped, and fell head first into the deep end. A few seconds later, his head emerged. “I can’t swim…I can’t swim!” he cried in a panicked voice.
“Help him!” yelled Ellie, who had managed to reach the shallow end of the pool. She stood there, too terrified to move.
Mary threw down her broom, ran to the pool, and dived into the deep end, saving Gregory from drowning. She dragged the panicked man out of the pool and then ran back to the kitchen door. “If they try to escape…well, just shoot them both,” she told Valerie and hurried to Betty. “Oh, Betty…honey…talk to me.” Mary began to cry and gently placed Betty’s head on her lap. “Betty, honey, please talk to me…please be okay,” Mary begged as her body dripped with pool water. Some of the pool water wet Betty’s face.
“Huh…what?” Betty asked and slowly opened her eyes. When she saw Mary’s beautiful face, a warm smile broke out across her own face. “Oh…hello,” she whispered.
“Oh, Betty,” Mary said and began kissing her friend’s forehead. “You’re all right.”
Betty leaned up in Mary’s lap. “Where is Mr. Walsh?” she asked.
“Outside,” Mary said in a soothing voice. “Valerie is watching him.”
“Who is Valerie?” Betty asked in a confused voice.
“I’ll explain later,” Mary promised just as Mitchell ran into the kitchen. When he spotted Mary and Betty on the floor, he shook his head.
“I thought I ordered you to stay in the cab. I might have known,” Mitchell said.
“Mr. Walsh and Ellie are outside. Valerie is watching them,” Mary told Mitchell
and let out a tired laugh. “Mitchell, if this is big-city life, you can sure keep it. Betty and I are ready to go back home to Pineville and have ourselves a cold glass of sweet tea.”
“That’s right,” Betty said and hugged Mary’s arm. “You can keep—well…the sunshine is kinda nice and the palm trees are really neat. And I really like our hotel and—”
“Oh, Betty,” Mary laughed and looked up at Mitchell. “Are you still going to retire?” she asked, assuming Mitchell had changed his mind.
Mitchell walked over to the back door, spotted Valerie holding Gregory and Ellie at gunpoint, and nodded his head. “A cold glass of sweet tea sounds good to me, too,” he told Mary, waving to a group of cops. “Go outside and round up the trash, guys. This case is over.”
Chapter 10
Mary watched in delight as the show’s host, a local comedian, walked out on the stage of the auditorium located in her small town of Pineville. The crowd began to clap. Heather Norton, sitting in the front row, stood up and clapped the loudest even though the comedian wasn’t nearly as famous as Monroe Baker. Mary giggled to herself. “Oh, Heather,” she said, easing away from a heavy red curtain and walking backstage. For a minute she felt like she was back in Los Angeles, walking through the studio. She spotted a man dressed like a clown juggling three red balls. She spotted a woman playing a violin and a second woman actually swallowing fire. “My goodness,” Mary said, making her way over to Betty.
Betty was standing near the back door holding a notepad in her hands. “Okay, Mary, our first act is ready to go on,” she said and pointed at the clown. “The Howard Sisters will go on next. They’re going to do a balancing act.”
Mary smiled and brushed a little dust off the yellow dress Betty was wearing. Sure, her best friend looked like a squash, but so what? In Mary’s eyes, Betty was beautiful. “Seems like you have everything under control. I think I might go outside for a minute and get some fresh air.”
Betty looked at Mary. She admired how beautiful Mary was, wearing a blue dress with her hair flowing freely. Betty knew Mary was waiting for the day her husband would return home and always wanted to dress very pretty for him. Of course, John wasn’t going to return that very night, but you never knew. “Go get some fresh air, honey.”
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