Джанет Кантрелл - Fat Cat At Large

If Vi forced them into the water, they could swim to shore. Especially if she did it from here, a small parking lot that led to a gentle slope with access to the water for fishing.

The black water made ominous sucking sounds against the shore. A gust of cold air blew Chase’s straight hair off her neck. She realized the nape of her neck was sweaty, even in the frigid evening air.

“Stand against the car.” Vi gave Anna a rough shove, pinning her to the car with the knife.

Then Chase saw Vi shrug her oversize handbag off her shoulder and extract Anna’s second-favorite rolling pin, a green marble one two inches longer than the short blue one.

She was going to bash them over the head with it! The same way she’d tried to kill Hilda.

Please, please, Niles. Please have heard what I said on the way out here. Please be on the way.

A car went by on the road above, slowing slightly, but not stopping. Stray rays from the headlights filtered down to glint off Vi’s knife.

Chase concentrated on not looking at the car. Vi didn’t give it a glance either. Had it been a police car? Or Detective Olson in a plain car?

Please, please, please.

“Which one first?” Vi seemed to be mumbling to herself.

“Me,” Chase said. “Me first.” She couldn’t bear it if Vi hit Anna on the head with that heavy piece of rock.

At last, Chase felt her mind speed up. A plan formed. Would it work? If it didn’t, nothing would matter, so it had to.

First, some distraction.

“Vi, if Anna and I are both gone, would you mind taking care of Quincy?”

“Have you lost your mind? You’re thinking about your cat right now?”

“I don’t want him to suffer.”

“And you think I’d be a good person to look after him? I’m not crazy about animals. Touching those rats was horrible.”

“You put the rats in the kitchen?”

“Yes. Torvald and Gabe hired me to do it. I had help from that kid.”

“Felix? Torvald’s nephew?” Chase knew now that he was the young man she’d seen arguing in the parking lot with Vi that one time.

“Yes!” Vi shouted. “I know Felix! His mother is a friend of my mother. We played together as kids. He’s the one who thought his uncle and Gabe could help me out with the money. So I cut him in for a share if he’d handle those rats.”

“Elinda said you never paid him.”

“How could I? No one paid me. I asked them over and over. Gabe had loaned me rent money and said he’d cancel my debt if I did that for him.”

“Gabe loaned you money?” How could he? “I didn’t think Gabe had any money.”

“He had enough for three months’ worth of my rent. But then he said there was interest or something and he needed me to pay him more. I was losing everything! My dad would have a cow if I got evicted.”

Vi seemed to be reliving her ordeal, the prospect of being penniless. Her agitation was increasing. Maybe Chase should try to calm her down.

“I can see how you would feel,” Chase said.

“I went to Gabe’s a million times, then I asked Torvald a million more times. I got so mad at Gabe, I just grabbed that knife and stabbed him. You just don’t realize how easy it is to kill someone with a sharp knife. I didn’t exactly mean to kill Gabe. I was sorry right away. He might have been easier to get money from than Torvald. That guy was impossible. He’s the one who insisted I carry through with the rat plan after Gabe died on me. Then he wouldn’t pay me either.”

“Why?” This squeak came from Anna, in spite of the blade at her neck. “How could they want to put the rats in the shop?”

“How do you think?” In the darkness, Chase could hear the sneer in Vi’s voice. “You know they wanted you to sell to them. Since you wouldn’t budge, they were desperate about trying to drive you out of business. Gabe even told me I could be the manager of his donut shop when he got your place. Then, after I kept after him about the money, he took that back. I think Torvald told him to. Those two were liars and cheats. They promised me everything and took it all back. They both deserved to die. Torvald was working on Shaun then, but he didn’t have the money either.”

“They called the health inspector, too, I suppose,” Anna said.

“You need to be quiet, old woman.”

“Old woman?”

“I said, be quiet.” Vi’s words were soft but menacing. She had the green rolling pin in one hand, the other held the knife, still digging into Anna’s neck as Vi held her pinned against the car with her body.

“Torvald had me sign this stupid piece of paper.” Vi sounded a bit calmer, but not a lot. “He called it a note. He said, ‘Here, just sign this little note.’ Like a note is less that a whole letter, right? It should be something informal. But no, he tells me later it’s a binding, official, legal contract. He said he could put me in jail for not paying it!”

The girl was clueless. She had no idea what a note was. Chase looked at Vi, whose hands were full. How was Vi going to bash one of them without the other one tackling her?

Anna started to speak again. “I don’t think he could have—”

“I told you to be quiet!”

Vi threw the rolling pin to the ground, reached into her bag, and pulled out a spool of twine.

Oh. She was going to bind them. Vi tossed the twine to Chase. “Tie her up,” she commanded. “Wrists first.” She flicked a piece of twine off the spool and returned the knife to Anna’s neck before Chase saw that she’d missed a chance.

She wouldn’t miss the next one. Now, tying Anna, she’d be close enough to Vi to try to get the knife away from her.

Chase took the length of twine and bent close to Anna’s wrists. She lunged into Vi to throw her off Anna.

Anna’s cry pierced Chase’s heart.

FORTY-ONE

A thin stream of blood, dark in the low light, trickled from the knife point down Anna’s throat.

Chase drew back. She’d been too clumsy. She hadn’t knocked Vi over at all, had only caused her to drive the sharp point a fraction of an inch deeper.

Another car cruised past on the road above them, slowing as the last one had. It had come from the other direction. Could Chase hope that the police had arrived and were searching for her, up and down the dam?

“I’ll do it,” Chase said. “I’ll tie her up.”

“Never mind.” Vi drew an ugly black pistol from her own purse. It looked too heavy for her delicate hand, but she didn’t have any trouble holding and aiming it. “I was hoping I wouldn’t have to do this. It’s so noisy.” She discarded the knife, dropped it onto the ground next to the rolling pin, and stepped back. Vi made sure to stay out of reach as she trained the gun on Anna. “Get next to her,” she said to Chase. “Both of you, against the car.”

Chase crowded next to Anna and grasped her hand. It was cold and shook with tremors.

What could Chase do to appease Vi at this point? It was too late to agree to sell to a couple of dead men. Or to offer her job back. Vi would never believe that Chase and Anna would keep quiet if she let them go, or give her time to get away and disappear.

“Start walking.” Vi jerked the gun up and down. “To the water.” She stood aside to let them pass.

The knife and the heavy rolling pin lay between them, forgotten by Vi after she’d switched to the pistol.

Chase motioned for Anna to go first. When Anna was a few feet from her, Chase pretended to stumble, stooped to catch herself, grabbed the rolling pin, and heaved it at Vi.

Her aim was good. She hit Vi on the side of the head and this time Vi went down. She clutched her head with both hands.

Anna swooped and grabbed the gun from the ground.