“Kevin told me about your fascination with snakes and the last thing you said to Olin, so I thought it would be a really nice touch to end all of your pathetic little lives with rattlesnake venom!” she said, her lips curved into a wicked grin that never reached her eyes which were almost pulsating with a strange mixture of excitement and anger.
At least now I knew what I was up against, although that knowledge made my skin crawl and my stomach drop to the floor. I forced myself to keep my gaze steady and not look over at Mrs. Milligan, who was still unconscious, but whose arm was dangerously close to the venom.
“Of course, I have an extra vial now since I accidentally bashed that lying whore’s face in. I worried that it would go to waste, but now that Nikki is in the picture, it won’t!”
Dear God, please give me strength.
“So, if you’re planning to kill me anyway, what is my incentive to sign?” I said, struggling to keep my voice steady and strong as fear thumped through me.
“You are such an accountant, Audra! You must know every little detail, even when it comes to your own death,” she said as she reached inside her purse, which until now I hadn’t noticed hanging on her chair, and extracted another syringe. “Well, you get to make the epic decision as to which way this old prune dies—the painful death from this venom or a nice, peaceful slumber from this little vial of painkillers,” she said, holding up the newest syringe in front of me, its silver tip inches from my nose. “So, which is it, Audra? You want to watch the old bag writhe and convulse on the floor, which believe me, after watching Robert, wasn’t a very pretty sight, or will you take on that pain for her and let her drift off into nothingness? You have exactly ten seconds to make your choice, bitch. I’m tired of talking to you.”
Without blinking an eye, I reached out and pulled the papers to me, along with the pen that rested on top of them. I grabbed the suicide note first and scrawled my name across the bottom. I could sense the electricity level in the room soar as Piper’s excitement level was oozing out of her. I knew her thoughts were running at full speed, so, as I pushed the suicide note in front of her, holding the pen over the agreement, I said, “All of this for the man that never loved you, dumped you once, and also killed your one true love, Ralph.”
I knew it was coming, and I steadied myself for the sting. In one swift motion, her left hand immediately dropped the syringe that contained the drugs in it, and her palm slammed across my cheek as she screamed, “Don’t you dare speak his name, you fucking bitch! Ralph loved me!”
She’s on the ropes now. Steady.
“Loved you? Are you kidding? He never touched you because he was too busy wearing a dog collar while Nick screwed him.”
Her face instantly became pale as the blood rushed from it, the shock of my words having exactly the calculated effect on her I’d hoped, and for a brief second, she took her eyes off of mine as she stared off into some demented internal mental room, trying to process what I said. Her body, which before had almost been reverberating with adrenaline-infused jitters, slouched a bit in her chair as her head slung violently back and forth, her mouth silently forming the word “No” over and over.
That’s when I lunged.
The guttural scream that erupted out of my throat was so loud that Piper actually jumped. I flew across the table and lowered my head, aiming directly for her chest as I plunged the pen deep into her back. The velocity of my attack knocked her out of the chair and we both tumbled to the floor with a loud crash.
And then, like an erupting volcano, every wretched emotion ranging from intense rage to utter sorrow spewed out of me, and all over Piper. My vision truly did go black as my body took control and closed my mind down, using my senses instead to fight. I straddled her and my fingers wound tightly around her hair. I slammed her head over and over into the hardwood floor, my ears relishing the dull thud each time it hit along with her grunts of pain. Sweat was running down my back, and my arms were aching from the force of my muscles, but I didn’t care. I just kept trying to crush her head in so her disturbed brain matter would spill out.
My own ravenous thoughts were abruptly cut short as I felt her weight shift under me, and for a split second, I lost my balance. As I started to lean to the side, Piper used it against me and threw all her weight in the same direction. We rolled over, her legs now pinning me to the floor. The black haze that overtook me only seconds before was now replaced with bright, white raw fear as I realized she had the upper hand.
Her empty hands.
I quickly turned my head and caught a glimpse of the shimmering syringe to my right just as Piper raised her arms over her head to pummel my face. Muscles screaming in protest, I reached over and grabbed the syringe, praying to God that it was the right one. The grunt that escaped my mouth as I buried the needle into her thigh was abruptly silenced as Piper’s fist made contact with my face, my nose exploding blood in every direction.
Her screams of pain as she clawed at her thigh echoed through my head, and I almost smiled. She crumpled over and rolled off me, her body convulsing and contorting like Satan himself had possessed her.
I knew then that I grabbed the right one.
As quickly as they started, her screams stopped, almost as if unseen hands were around her throat and cut her air supply off. I scrambled to my feet and clamped one hand over my gushing nose and tried to move away, but the sick fascination of watching her suffer overcame me, and even though I willed myself to, my eyes just wouldn’t close, nor my feet move.
It took less than a minute for the last, labored breath to escape Piper’s lungs and her eyes to remain locked in eternal pain that stared into Mrs. Milligan’s dark, empty ceiling. The house was eerily quiet now, save for my ragged breathing through my mouth. Watching her last moment here on Earth end finally snapped me back to the present, but I still felt like I was viewing myself from a distance. For some odd reason, my head was suddenly filled with the voice of one of my college professors, his lecture on stress and adrenaline chasing the last of my disconnecting cobwebs out of my head.
It was time to get the fuck out of there.
I spun around so fast that I almost tripped over my own unsteady feet. I bobbled a bit and then raced to the kitchen and grabbed a dishtowel, holding it to my nose as I picked up the phone to dial the police. My hands shook as I held it to my ear, the pain from my wounds suddenly coming to the forefront of my attention.
My heart sank when I realized that no noise, not even a tone, emitted from the ancient phone. I looked down and saw the cord had been severed, which didn’t shock me as much as it angered me. I knew Mrs. Milligan had no other connections in the house and my phone was probably shredded into tiny pieces and strewn across three counties by now. Damnit!
Think! Breathe and think! Don’t look at Gabrielle. You can’t do anything for her now, but you can for Mrs. Milligan!
Piper.
To pull all of this off with Kevin, communication was vital, so surely she had a cell phone on her, or maybe even in her car. I ran back into the living room and found her purse on the floor, its contents still oddly intact. I yanked open the zipper and flipped it upside down, dumping the few items onto the floor, only to become furious at the lack of a phone. My vision starting swimming in black again, overwhelming fury pounding through my head, and I took it out on Piper’s body. I stood up and strode over and swung my foot directly to that worthless bitch’s stomach with every bit of strength I had…and that’s when I felt it.
I bent down and reached into her pants pocket and sure enough, there was a tiny cell phone tucked away inside. Dear God, I had never been so glad to see a piece of plastic in my life.
I flipped it open and prayed that I didn’t just destroy the miniscule thing and that it had power. I almost jumped up and down with excitement as I heard the line connect.
“9-1-1. What is your emergency?”
Thank you, God!
“Sandy, it’s Audra. Listen, I’m at Rosemary Milligan’s. Need an
ambulance and police. There are people dead here,” I said, my voice muffled and crackling as I held my nose shut, the blood flowing down the back of my throat. I wasn’t sure she heard or understood me until she began barking directions and dispatching units.
“Audra, are you all right?” came Sandy’s reply as she focused her attention back to me.
“Pretty sure my nose is broken. Bleeding, but I am okay. Mrs. Milligan has been given some sort of drug that knocked her out, at least that’s my understanding. Otherwise, she seems to be fine. Listen, she’s still tied up, and I need my hands free to help her. How long will it be?”
“Honey, the entire force is on its way, as well as every citizen that has a CB radio around here! About ten minutes, max,” Sandy said, trying her best to be cheery.
“Where is Steve?” I asked, hoping that he wasn’t still in Phoenix trying to find me.
“On his way…don’t you worry, hun. You just take care of Rosemary. The cavalry is coming!”
For the first time since I awoke to this nightmare, I closed my eyes and let a few tears trickle down my face. “Thank you, Sandy.” Before I could tell her about Gabrielle, Robert, and Nicole, the line went dead as the last of the battery power faded. Shit!
I launched the useless thing at the wall, smiling a bit at the sounds of it shattering into tiny pieces, and went over to Mrs. Milligan’s side. She was still sleeping hard, thank God. The things that happened here tonight in her once peaceful home were not the types of things she should ever witness. I knelt down and worked quickly, gently untying her from the chair, and slid my arms under her limp body, groaning as I hefted her to the couch. Her dead weight made the few steps seem like miles. My nose turned into a faucet of hot, flowing blood that left a cavalcade of crimson on my shirt and the floor. Choking on it, I finally lowered her to the couch and eased her back into the soft pillows, the rusty taste trickling down my throat. I reached for the afghan that was draped across the back of the couch and quickly covered her still frame. The blood was hitting my empty stomach now, and I felt the urge to throw up again. I rose to my feet with the intent of heading to the bathroom, my hand instinctively rising to cover my mouth. It froze in mid-air when I saw headlights coming up the driveway.
It was Kevin’s car.
I dropped back down to the floor, praying he hadn’t seen me, all concern about vomiting gone as my fight or flight response took control. My heart was pounding so hard that I feared it would send me into cardiac arrest at any moment.
I crawled across the floor over to the other syringe, snatching it up in one quick motion, my eyes scanning the room for another weapon. I needed something to stun the bastard before I could get close enough to put him into la-la land. I heard the car door slam and footfalls coming toward the porch, which didn’t give me time to scramble to the kitchen and retrieve a knife. Panic pulsated through me now and I realized that my dreams of being trapped in a crushing room were about to come true. Hysteria almost won out, but then I saw the candlesticks on the mantle.
Not caring whether he heard me or not, I shot up off the floor and ran to the fireplace, snatching the heavy silver candlestick. I knew I only stood one clean shot, so I flicked the cap off of the syringe, gripped the end in my mouth, and ran back to the front door. He was right on the other side. My grip tightened as I raised my iron tool above my head, my body poised just like a baseball player waiting for the final pitch in the World Series. The knob turned, and the door swung open just as Kevin yelled, “Piper! I found her!”
Nicole’s disheveled body came crashing through the door, landing with a loud thud on the hardwood. She cursed and yelled, “No need to be pushy, you bastard!”
My heart almost stopped beating when I saw her. She was covered in dust and dirt, bleeding lightly from her knees and hands. More blood, more mayhem.
More rage.
Through my open mouth, I sucked in a lungful of air, steadied my weight on my back foot, and brought down the candlestick. It made a swooshing sound as it broke the air, followed by a loud, gut jolting thud as it made full contact with the back of Kevin’s head. Silently, he stumbled forward one step before his knees buckled, falling face first onto the floor, his head bouncing off the hardwood once before coming to rest by Nicole’s left foot. His body only inches away from me, I suddenly found myself standing over him, the candlestick held high over my head, ready to bash his brains in and end his pathetic life—payback for all the damage and destruction he and Piper were responsible for. I wanted all of this to end, to finally close this God-awful chapter in my life. So many lives ruined; too much heartache. Lives intertwined that never should have even touched. Innocent ones that paid the ultimate price for a roller coaster ride they never should have been on. I wanted this to end, but I realized that I was the one that started it all. If I had just gone to the police, none of this would be happening. My dear friend wouldn’t be rotting in the kitchen and her fiancé wouldn’t have his life ripped to shreds when he found out his betrothed was gone. Robert wouldn’t have been hunted down like prey. Nicole wouldn’t be sprawled out on the floor like a ragdoll, bleeding, a victim of a kidnapping, if it weren’t for me.
So, I ended it, but this time, the right way.
I dropped the candlestick to the floor, barely noticing the noise it made as it rolled across the shiny wood. I grabbed the syringe from my mouth and reached down, burying it into Kevin’s rump. Carefully, I injected a small amount of the medication into his system, just enough to keep him unconscious. I already killed one person today in the heat of battle, and I couldn’t bring myself to do it again.
“Well, now, you don’t have the balls I thought you did, girl,” Nicole said, her voice hoarse.
I pulled my eyes away from Kevin’s limp figure and stepped away from him. Nicole was still on the floor, so I made my way over to her and held out my hand. As she stood, her gaunt face covered in dirt, she smiled at me with dry, cracked lips. I tried to bring a smile to my face, but it would not come. It just did not feel right to smile at this point. I looked over with hardened eyes at the violently contorted corpse of Piper and replied, “He wasn’t an immediate threat, Nicole. I’m certain that candlestick cracked his skull. Now he can just sleep until the cops get here. I’m out of the revenge business for good.”
I walked slowly over to the couch to check on Mrs. Milligan. Thankfully, she was still asleep, completely oblivious to everything. I could hear Nicole moving around behind me, surveying the after effects of what she missed while she ran for help. I knelt down beside the couch and stroked the delicate skin on Mrs. Milligan’s arm, thankful that I felt the warmth of her blood flowing just below the surface. Although I had a lot of blood on my hands now, at least I did not have hers. Exhausted, I closed my eyes for just a second and forced my breathing to slow down, ears aching to hear the sound of sirens so this nightmare would cease.
I heard Nicole let out a low whistle as she stopped moving around. “Looks like your battle with Piper was epic! Hey, what is this?”
I forced my burning eyes open, turning my head to see what she was referring to. She held a piece of paper in her hand and was studying it in the dim light, her brow furrowing as she tried to read the print.
“Well, that is either my suicide note or the agreement installing you as the new managing partner. I’m not sure which,” I responded, my voice barely above a whisper. The constant draining of blood down my throat made it raw, and talking only made it worse.
Nicole extended her long arm out as far as it could go and replied, “Oh, yes, I see now. It’s your suicide note. What the hell? Why did you sign that?” she said, her voice grating on my nerves.
“I did not have much choice, Nicole. It was either sign it or watch Mrs. Milligan die.”
Nicole dropped the note like it was on fire and quickly bent over and picked up the other. I quietly watched her scan it, wondering what she must think about being a pawn in all this. Bitterness and confusion flashed across her face, so I cleared my throat
and explained.
“Piper said that was their plan all along—to make it look like I killed everyone over guilt and left the company to you as some sort of apologetic token for ruining your life. They planned on killing you in a car accident shortly afterwards, which would then give Kevin the reigns of the firm,” I said, the image of Piper’s distorted face flashing through my mind. “Of course, their plans changed a bit when Kevin found you at my house.”
Nicole’s eyes grew huge with shock, her body slightly trembling, causing the dirt to loosen from her clothes and float to the floor around her. Oddly, the image of Pigpen crossed my mind. She took a few halting steps backwards and rested her exhausted form against the wall for support. Her voice was quieter now as she replied, “So, they were going to kill me tonight so Kevin could run the firm? Oh my, what a plan.”
I silently nodded my head, my heart too heavy to speak.
“So, basically, you just saved my life. God, Audra, I do not know what to say,” she said, the utter absurdity of the entire plan finally sinking in.
Tears welled up in my eyes, so I turned my face back to the window, relishing the silence between the two of us now. Both of us were lost in our thoughts, digesting the events of the past twenty-four hours. Even though it was hot as hell in the cramped living room, I still felt chilled. I knew it was a reaction from the rapid descent of my previous adrenaline surge and my blood loss, but that did not make me feel any better. My entire body ached. Muscles that I wasn’t aware I had or what their function was throbbed in pain. I shuddered slightly and rubbed my arms.
I stared into oblivion, my eyes focusing on the bright moon above, trying to find the words to thank whatever entity resided up there for allowing me to survive. Unfortunately, prayers of thanksgiving were overshadowed by other thoughts. All I could think of was why did I stay? Why did I subject myself to the torture of working at Winscott for so long, dragging everyone down in the end? What was wrong with me? Why did I opt to take this path, rather than a more moral one?
Eviscerating the Snake - The Complete Trilogy Page 36