Рита Браун - The Tell-Tale Horse

One squad car and an ambulance drove across the bridge, no sirens.

“Damn,” Sister whispered.

Tootie kept creeping until now she was under a gear parallel to the floor as she edged closer to the stairs.

“Shot that son of a bitch dead to rights. I should have done it years ago.”

“Judgment is up to God.” Sister’s anger was coming to the fore no matter how hard she tried to keep it in check.

“Bullshit. God is another helpful illusion. If people believe that crap, you don’t need as many cops to keep them in line, do you?” Cabel smiled. “Sheep. We’re all sheep, but I woke up. I was wronged, but I fixed it.”

“You killed Aashi and Faye?” Betty, too, was looking for a place to dive and then crawl toward the stairs.

“Did. It was a bitch, hauling those carcasses up on the horses, but I had help.”

“Why did you clean them up?” Sister was curious.

“I didn’t want anything to distract from their beauty or from the retribution, even though people didn’t know why they were killed. Beauty lured Clayton. He was so weak. Well, you lured him too. You should know.”

“He was weak.” Sister agreed with Cabel, which pleased her.

“High Vajay is innocent?” Sybil asked, to keep Cabel talking.

“No. He didn’t kill anyone, but he’s a faithless pig like every other man.”

“I resent that.” Shaker hoped to draw her ire.

Tootie suddenly crawled as fast as she could, rolling under the stairs. Cabel fired, but too late.

“Now you only have four bullets,” Tootie taunted.

“Tootie, stay where you are.” Val’s voice was strong.

“I’ll kill you first.” Cabel crouched down to fire under the stairs.

Val twisted free; at six foot one she was taller and stronger than Cabel. She grabbed Cabel from behind, struggling to grasp her right wrist. Cabel kicked backward, catching Val on the shin, but not hard enough to dislodge her.

Tootie bolted from under the stairs, vaulting them two at a time.

Sister, Shaker, Betty, and Sybil followed.

Cabel turned as Val held her as though twirling on the dance floor. Desperation increased the middle-aged woman’s strength, and as a foxhunter she’d kept in good shape. She pushed her right hand forward with all her might, slamming the butt of the gun into Val’s forehead and opening a wide gash. Val lost her grip, blood gushing into her left eye. Tootie was still six steps away as Cabel whirled to fire.

“No!” Sister screamed as Cabel took aim, but Tootie kept coming.

Eyes focused on Cabel’s index finger, Tootie saw the squeeze and flung herself down as Val, wiping blood from her eye, bumped Cabel.

The bullet grazed Tootie’s boot at the calf.

The bottom door opened. Ilona, hearing the shots, raced in.

Cabel looked down, then back at the two girls. She hesitated a second.

Ilona, tears running as fast as the millrace, shouted, “Cabel, no. Please, no!”

“Let’s go together.” Cabel, tears now in her eyes, aimed and shot Ilona through the heart. As Tootie rose to jump her, Cabel swung wide. Tootie ducked, as did Val.

Sister, Shaker, Betty, and Sybil closed in behind the two girls.

Cabel kicked Tootie hard with her boot and pushed her into Val, who was struggling to keep the gushing wound from bleeding into both her eyes.

Then she turned, running upward, the thump of her boots on the wooden stairs echoing through the vast interior. Sister passed the girls and charged after her.

“Boss,” Shaker bellowed, “leave her to heaven. Let’s get out of here.” He reached over, took Val’s hand, and led her down to the next level as Betty covered his back, glancing backward and upward in case Cabel would fire again. She had three bullets left.

Sister, fighting her rage and her desire to fight, turned and came down in one leap, the sound as she landed booming through the mill, and grabbed Tootie, who was limping from the vicious kick and bullet graze. “Can you put weight on it?”

Tootie could, but she moved too slowly. Sister swiftly bent over, put one arm through Tootie’s legs, lifted her up with the other, and swung her on her back in a fireman’s carry.

Sybil, turning around, stopped, let Sister pass, then descended behind her like Betty, looking upward and back.

Had Cabel wanted to, she could have halted her ascent and nailed at least one of them, but she waited until she reached the top, right over the waterwheel, where another small half door was closed.

She called down to them as they reached the lower landing, ten feet above the ground floor. Her gaze was fixed on Ilona, knees bent under her like a resting horse, upper body bent back.

“I spared you girls. You love one another. Friendship is the purest love in the world. Trust me, kids, sex is a poison that infects everything. As for you, Jane Arnold”—she took careful aim—“drop Tootie.”

Sister turned around, bent low so Tootie could slide off. “Go ahead. I’ll take my chances.”

“You’ve got brass ovaries.” Cabel looked down the barrel, lining up Sister. “I’ll give you that.”

“Tootie, get down. Go with the others,” Sister commanded.

“No.”

“For Christ’s sake, Tootie. Go! You’re young. If it’s my time, it’s my time.”

“No.”

“Tootie, get out of the way,” Cabel ordered.

Val, stock tie ripped off, pressed it to her head as she turned around to climb back up.

Shaker spun around, snatching the bottom of her coat. “No you don’t.”

“Tootie,” Val pleaded.

Cabel couldn’t get a clear shot. “Goddammit, if only we could have a proper duel.” She pointed the gun upward. “You’ll live a bit longer, you old bitch.” Laughing, she opened the door, crouched, put one leg out, and then turned. Sister and Val had finally reached the floor. “Remember, friendship is the purest love. I’m going to be with Ilona.”

CHAPTER 30

Walter had hopped into one squad car to lead them to the body. Ben jumped in too. Gray and Charlotte acted as hosts for the breakfast but he kept checking the back window. Lorraine, apprised of the situation, kept the food coming. Ramsey Merriman, ordered by Ilona to go to breakfast, also kept looking for her. Gray couldn’t stand it anymore—Charlotte Norton did a better job than he did anyway—so he threw on his coat and walked outside, reaching the bridge just in time to see Cabel Harper crouching in the half door. The wide flat blades of the waterwheel rolled past her. She smiled and leaned forward, holding the edge of the door with her left hand. Simultaneously she stepped forward with her left boot and pushed off with her right. For one precarious moment she was poised on the wide blade of the waterwheel like a small car on a Ferris wheel. She put the gun to her temple and fired.

Her body hit the next blade, and the next, and then soared outward, her cap coming off and her wig with it, plunging into the water below, mists swirling above the surface.

As the small bedraggled party came out of the big mill door they couldn’t see the bubbles rising and popping from the millrace. Gray blinked, then rushed to them.

“Gray, Gray!” Sister called to him as he approached. “Call Walter.”

Gray saw the blood all over Val’s face and her bloodstained shirt, saw Tootie limping, blood on the side of her leg. He reached into his inside pocket and dialed Walter. Then he threw his arms around Sister, holding her tight.

“Honey, honey. I need to breathe. I’ll tell you everything later. Let’s get these girls into Walter’s bathroom.”

“There’s a bathroom in the barn,” Tootie reminded Sister. “We won’t have to deal with people there.”

“Good thinking.”