Leann Sweeney - The Cat, the Wife and the Weapon

“Save it, Mom,” Finn said.

I looked at Karen. “So Hilary knows you’ve been saving for Finn?”

“Oh yes,” Karen said. “When Hilary and Thomas divorced, I assured her I would take care of Finn, though I didn’t get specific except to say he would be comfortable for the rest of his life. Today, we’ve talked about how best to use the money and I’ve decided college seems a wonderful place to start.”

Her naive smile made my chest tighten. Because Karen had no idea.

But I suddenly knew exactly who was behind everything.

I sidled closer to Finn, keeping my hand on my phone and hopefully out of sight. I looked at Finn, who seemed a tad confused at me edging so near. “You want to go to college, don’t you?” I said. I tried to speak to him with my eyes, tried to warn him.

He knew the truth, probably the same instant I’d figured it out, because he said, “You did all these horrible things. Didn’t you, Mom?”

I tried to swallow, but my mouth had gone completely dry. I thought, Only one extremely angry kid would be fearless enough to confront a murderer.

Karen said, “Whatever are you talking about, Finn? Your mother is contrite. She knows she’s done wrong by you. But now she’s ready to put her personal problems aside and focus on your future. She suggested once before she could manage any money I chose to share with you and we’ve agreed your college fund is a good place to start. Once you graduate, then of course, you’ll be in charge. And you need a car, of course. She’ll get you a car once you return to North Carolina. A little birdie named Tom said you wanted to attend a good college and your mother wants to work with me to make that happen.”

Poor Karen, I thought, as I stared at Hilary. She has no clue.

Hilary’s eyes hardened and her sweet Carolina drawl almost disappeared when she said, “Finn and Jillian don’t believe a word of what you’re saying. I could fool you, but not these two.” She reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out a gun.

Karen gasped and Finn’s arm, so close to mine, tensed.

“Do you plan to shoot all of us?” I said, trying to sound bold when I felt anything but. “How will you get your hands on Finn’s money then?”

“Shut up and let me think,” she said.

I heard a low growl from Yoshi and was troubled about what he might do.

Finn must have been worried too, because he started to get up. He looked like he wanted to attack before harm could come to us or his dog.

If I hadn’t grabbed his sleeve and pulled him back down to the sofa, he probably would have gone after Hilary with fists flying. Yoshi, however, wasn’t about to back down.

He stood and started barking at Hilary, ears erect. This was a ferocious bark, like none I’d heard from him before.

“Shut the stupid dog up, Finnian.” Hilary pointed the gun at Yoshi.

Karen was leaning away from Hilary, her expression one of pure terror.

“Don’t hurt him,” Finn said. “I’ll tie him up.”

Hilary was glancing around and locked on to the pantry door in the kitchen beyond. Then she looked at me. “Is that a broom closet?”

“Walk-in pantry,” I said.

“That will do.” Hilary stood. “Put him in there. Now.”

Finn started to reach into his jeans pocket.

“What are you doing?” Hilary leveled the gun at Finn, her voice bordering on hysteria.

“Getting his leash,” Finn said. “Or he might charge you, Mom .”

“Go ahead.” Her face relaxed a tad, but her eyes were shifting left and right. She was thinking hard.

When Finn bent to attach the leash on Yoshi’s collar, I said, “I’ll hang on to him while you fasten the leash.”

I bent over, in unison with Finn, and carefully slipped my phone into his back pocket. He turned slightly to acknowledge my action.

Hilary said, “Those two working together just warms your heart, doesn’t it, Karen? She’d be a much better mother to Finn than I ever was.”

“I—I’m frightened, Hilary,” Karen said. “I don’t understand why—”

“You caused all this,” Hilary said. “If you hadn’t waited until after Tom and I were divorced to tell me you planned to share money with Finn, I would never have left your son.” She looked at Finn. “Put the dog away. Now.”

Finn smartly held the leash in his left hand, covered his back pocket with the balled-up leash and took Yoshi to the kitchen.

“This is my fault. You’re right,” Karen said, tears beginning to stream down her face. “What do you want? I can give you money. How much do you want?”

“Bob tells me there’s a million dollars in the account you set up for Finn—and here Nolan and I were only imagining maybe a hundred grand.” She paused and waved the gun in Finn’s direction. “Get back in here where I can see you.”

I heard the pantry door close and Yoshi started barking immediately.

Finn returned to the sofa and said, “You will never get away with this. I’ve watched plenty of crime TV and the mothers who kill their kids don’t do too hot in jail.”

Hilary surprised us all by laughing. “There is so much you don’t know.” She looked at me. “I assume you have a computer?”

I nodded, though I didn’t want to give her even that much information. But a gun tended to force compliance.

Hilary narrowed her eyes in thought, seemed to be working through a plan in her head.

What bothered me more than anything, even more than the gun Hilary held, was Finn. Fear is an almost palpable thing and I didn’t sense any fear coming from him. I remembered my thought from earlier this week—how fear is a gift we all need to protect us. No. Finn wasn’t afraid. He might do something, might risk his life to vent his anger at his mother. Anger that was now so clearly justified. Why hadn’t I believed what he and Tom had said over and over about Hilary’s character? But there was no time for regrets, for the magic time machine to supply do-overs. I should have seen she was capable of murder.

Yoshi kept yapping and I could tell this was distracting to Hilary. Her face was flushed beneath her ivory makeup and she seemed to be getting angrier by the second.

Then my fear turned up a notch when Merlot came sauntering into the foyer like nothing was wrong. I took a deep breath, my own very real fear now centered on him. The only good thing about his arrival was that Hilary couldn’t see him.

Stay there, I tried to telegraph to my big boy. Please stay there.

Hilary’s back was to him and I was relieved when he sat where the foyer tiles met the wood floor. As he’d done when Hilary was here before, he sniffed the air. Did he smell the fear I felt for all of us? My fear we would all be killed?

“All right,” Hilary said, her expression one of intense determination. “Here’s what’s going to happen.” She turned to Karen. “But first, you know I’ll use this gun, don’t you?”

Karen nodded, abject fright still in her eyes.

Hilary pulled a folded piece of paper from her left pocket. “I was told I’d find this on the floor in your house. Someone who was very upset with you wadded it up.”

The savings account statement. The one Bob had thrown at his mother.

Hilary went on, saying, “Bob isn’t happy with you, Karen, so he made a deal with me. Or he thinks he did. I’d get my hands on the money—a college fund was something we knew you’d fall for—then I would share with him. Too bad I’ll be gone before he can cash in.”

Karen’s eyes were wide as she kept nodding her agreement. “You can have the money. All of it. Just don’t hurt anyone else.”

“I plan to take you up on your offer,” Hilary said. “Problem is, those two over there will stand in my way. Especially Finn, since he has a stronger dislike for me than anyone I know.” The smile she directed at him was truly malevolent.