Divas and Dead Rebels (44 page)

“I wouldn’t dream of doing such a thing,” said Bitty. “Why on earth would you think I would?” She cocked her head to one side.

Farrell bent a little lower to look inside the car. He noticed the three of us in the back, and then he looked at Victoria before he looked back at Bitty. “Have you all been drinking?”

“Of course not!” Bitty exclaimed. “You know I don’t drink and drive.”

“We’re just on the way to visit a friend of mine,” Victoria said in a pleasant tone.

“Okay.” Farrell had his book out and started writing in it. “I’ll need to see your license, Miz Hollandale.”

Bitty fluttered about for a moment, then reached for her purse on the floorboard of the SUV. “For heaven’s sake, you know who I am,” she said. “Why do you need to see my license?”

“I need the number.” Farrell glanced up and said, “I’ll have to call it in. Procedure for a traffic stop.”

“By all means,” said Bitty, and I knew she was stalling for time.

What would happen if we alerted the officer? Would Victoria really shoot him, and also as many of us as she could? I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t want to take the chance on it, either.

While Farrell returned to his car, using his shoulder piece to call the dispatcher, I held my breath. Maybe someone had found Breck. Or knew that we were missing. Or had called our cell phones and discovered they were out of use.

“Remember,” Victoria warned, “not one word, or I’ll shoot him between the eyes, and then the rest of you.”

In just a couple minutes Farrell was back. He handed Bitty her license, then gave her the ticket. “You can pay that at the courthouse,” he said. “All the information is at the bottom. Pay it by the court date, or a bench warrant will be issued. Okay?”

“Okay,” Bitty said slowly. She took her time putting the license back in her wallet and returning it to the purse. The ticket went up on the dashboard. She looked up at the officer again. “It should be public knowledge about a running stop at a stop sign. No one I know ever heard of that law.”

Officer Farrell straightened. “You know about it now,” he said. “Watch it next time. Good evening, ladies.”

Then he was gone, our hope of rescue vanquished. I wanted to cry.

“Good job,” said Victoria. “Now drive. Stop at all stop signs and don’t speed, either.”

As we continued down Center Street I racked my brain trying to think of a way to escape. Fear clogged my survival instinct, and the only thing I could think of was that we were going to die.

“I should have pushed you out of that dorm window when you were a freshman,” Bitty said to Victoria. “You were mean then, and you’re mean now. I don’t know what Breck ever saw in you.”

A wry smile twisted Victoria’s mouth. “Funny you should say that. A fall is what started this whole mess.”

“You are evil, just plain evil.”

“And you’re just as crazy as I’ve always heard. You haven’t changed much since college.”

“You have,” said Bitty. I saw her glance in the rear-view mirror. “You were mean, but you weren’t this cold back then.”

“Yeah, well, life happens.”

I craned my neck to look out the rear window of the SUV, but to my extreme dismay and disappointment, no police car was in pursuit. It still sat at the stop sign as if the officer inside had decided to take a nap.

Victoria must have seen me turn to look. She said, “Too bad, huh? I guess it’s just not your lucky day.” She laughed as if she’d said something really funny, while my hope withered. It looked like we were going to have to make our own luck if we wanted to get out of this alive.

Center Street took us toward the industrial part of Holly Springs, an area with a few businesses left but mostly empty, weed-choked lots. This time of year when dark came so early, very few people would be in the area. Not too far away sat the ruins of the old ice plant, a place where Bitty and I had spent a few memorable moments several months before.

“Turn here,” said Victoria, and we turned onto a narrow road that would be dusty in the summer time and was lined with high grass, bushes, and some trees. An attempt had been made at sidewalks, but the dry road was nearly even with the crumbling curb. There were no street lights to illuminate our progress, and the SUV’s headlights scrubbed deepening shadows from the road. It looked spooky in the fading light.

“Woodyard Road,” said Gaynelle. “It’s a dead end.”

Victoria smirked. “How fitting.”

“I think a pulp mill used to be here,” Rayna said after a moment. “Closer to the railroad tracks, maybe.”

“It’s on up the highway,” Bitty commented. “New owners.”

“Shut up,” said Victoria.

Trivial conversation served to cover up the fact we were all scared to death. The only one not terrified was our abductor. The moment of truth was fast approaching, and we may have only one chance to overpower her and escape. We couldn’t even plot an escape since we couldn’t converse. Anything we did would have to be a fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants kind of thing. And I wasn’t so sure we were capable of doing something so audacious. Look at what happened when we did have a plan in place. The multitude of things that could go wrong without any plan at all was daunting.

The SUV bumped down the road, and when Victoria pointed, we went to the left of a fork. Then the road abruptly ended, and Bitty braked to a stop.

“What now?” she asked. “Time to walk the plank? Pistols at dawn?”

“You watch too many movies. Turn off the engine and give me the keys.”

It got very quiet when the motor died. Headlights speared the evening shadows, and dust or mist floated in the beams of light. Somewhere in the distance a dog barked, and the night song of a bird trilled in the band of trees on the driver’s side of the car. Once the headlights went off, it would be pitch black.

And that was definitely in our favor.

I took a quick look at Rayna, and she lifted her chin to acknowledge me. Gaynelle cleared her throat, while up in the front seat Bitty turned to look at Victoria.

“You do know you won’t get away with this, don’t you?” she asked.

“As I told you earlier, I’m not worried about that. Now do exactly as I tell you. I want you out of the car one at a time.”

“And if we don’t?” Bitty asked. “It’s not like you’re going to let us go if we do what you want, so why should we?”

“Because I can make your deaths very, very unpleasant. Do what I say, and it will be over quick. Now get out of the car. You first.”

Bitty glanced back at us. “You know I love you guys,” she said. “And Trinket, you were the sister I never had. I missed you so much while you were gone all those years, and now that you’re back . . . well, we had fun, didn’t we?”

“This is so touching,” snapped Victoria. “I’m tempted to shoot you last just for the entertainment factor. Now
move!
”

“Can I at least carry my purse with me?” Bitty asked. “I have pictures of my boys in there. You have a son. You know how it feels to be a mother.”

“Spare me. I had to make a choice between my son and yours. You lost. But carry your purse. Just get it and step out of the car.”

“I’m going,” said Bitty as she opened the car door. “Just tell my boys that I was thinking of them until the end.”

“That’s not a conversation I’m going to have,” Victoria said as she opened her own door and eased out with the gun still pointed at Bitty. “If it makes you feel better, I won’t shoot you in the face, so you can have an open casket.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Of all the heartless, most brutal women I had ever met in my life, Victoria Hartford had to be the worst. She turned back to us and opened the SUV’s back door.

“You three get out. Remember I have a gun and I’m a good shot. Come out one at a time, and slowly.”

We looked at each other, and then Rayna started to slide out of the car. I worked feverishly at my bonds, and Rayna looked at me and mouthed, , “I’m free. Help Gaynelle.”

My wrists popped free of the tape about that time, and I nodded. I reached behind Gaynelle and slid my fingers through the sticky loops of masking tape to pry it loose. She pulled, and the tape broke. We were free! Now we just had to distract Victoria before she killed us.

“What do we do next?” Gaynelle whispered in my ear. “If we move too quickly, she’s liable to shoot Bitty and then turn on us. She can probably shoot faster than we can run.”

The three of us stood just outside the SUV while Victoria guarded us with the gun. It was hushed, the night a dark blanket beyond the lights from the car, and Bitty caught in the headlights with a look on her face like a deer on the highway.

Rayna nudged close to me. “Let’s rush her,” she said softly. “The three of us together.”

I shook my head. “We’ll just be a bigger target. If we split up, we can have at least a one in three chance to take her.”

“Or get shot,” Gaynelle whispered. “Come on. We’re wasting time that we don’t have.”

Just as Rayna took a step away from the car the SUV’s headlights went off, plunging the area into total darkness. “Go!” I whispered urgently, “go!”

We rushed toward we’d last seen Bitty but it was too dark to see much. I half-turned to help Gaynelle, but she was much friskier than I’d thought she would be and was already ahead of me.

“To the trees,” Rayna said in a low tone, and we headed for the darker shadow of trees that were barely discernible from the rest of the vacant lot, running bent over so as not to appear as big enough targets.

It was a good thing we’d all worn slacks, because branches slashed at us as we dove into the brush. I felt a sharp jab in my side, and my sweater tore. I hunkered down in the brush and walked like a duck toward where I’d last seen Bitty and Victoria. I heard their voices, Bitty sounding irate and Victoria sounding threatening. Oh lord. This may go from bad to worse in a hurry.

“You are nothing but common white trash,” I heard Bitty say when I got closer. “If you had an ounce of decency, you’d come out of hiding and face me.”

“When I see your face,” Victoria retorted in a snarl, “I’m going to shoot it! You kicked me!”

“You’re trying to kill me! What did you expect?” Bitty shot back at her. “Freshly baked cookies and a pat on the back?”

I crept closer, aware that Rayna and Gaynelle were right behind me. Darkness was our friend right now. As my eyes adjusted to the absence of light, I saw that Bitty was crouched on the ground with her back to us. Her blonde hair was a pale blur against the deep shadows. Victoria was harder to see in her dark navy sweats, but a bit of thin moonlight glinted off the gun barrel so I knew her approximate position.

“I can circle around behind her,” Rayna whispered in my ear, and gestured toward Victoria. “What do you think?”

“Find a thick branch and knock her in the head with it,” I whispered back. “But be careful. If she sees you, she won’t hesitate to shoot.”

Rayna sucked in a sharp breath but sounded determined. “I’m going to do my best to knock her head off.”

“Good,” I said, and heard bushes rustle as Rayna moved away. Gaynelle and I got a little closer to where Bitty and Victoria were still arguing. I feared the minute Victoria could see well enough, she’d shoot her.

“What should we do?” Gaynelle whispered, and I thought about it a moment. We had only one chance to succeed. We weren’t armed, and all it would take for Victoria is a single shot to kill one of us.

I finally said, “When we hear Rayna hit her, we run out and try to get the gun away. It’s risky, but I can’t think of anything else that might work.”

“If only there was more light.”

“If there was more light, then she could easily pick us off one by one,” I pointed out.

As if conjured by the mention of it, two spears of light suddenly rolled over the scene, catching Victoria and Bitty in the twin beams. They stood barely ten feet apart.

“There’s my ride,” said Victoria, and lifted the pistol. “Be still, and this will be quick.”

Bitty had flopped to her side from a standing position, and held her purse in front of her. Before I could move to stop it, to save Bitty, a deafening shot split the air. A flash of muzzle blast, and it was all over. I think I screamed. I didn’t care if I got shot or if it was stupid, I burst out of the bushes toward my cousin. She lay still on the ground, dust all over her Gucci slacks, her purse clutched to her chest.

I fell on my knees beside her. A gaping hole was in the purse, and I tried to pull it away to look at her wound. I had basic CPR, maybe I could save her. I
had
to save her.

“Oh Bitty, oh Bitty, oh Bitty,” I said over and over again, choking on the words while tears ran down my face. It felt as if a vise was squeezing my chest, and I tugged at the purse again.

“Stop it, Trinket,” my dear departed cousin said irritably.

Stunned, I sat back on my heels. “You’re alive.”

“I know that. Check Victoria. I think I got her.”

I turned to look, and Victoria Hartford indeed lay on the ground staring up at the night sky. There was a faintly surprised expression on her face, and the hand holding the pistol was lax.