Her hand was starting to tremble a little now. Even though she was holding a gun on me, even though she wanted to kill me, part of me just wanted to wrap my arms around her.
“So what happened?” I asked. “How did Kassie end up taking them?”
“I don’t like to swallow pills so I made hot chocolate and I put them in it. Then I realized I’d left my bag in the washroom. I went to get it and when I came back Kassie had my drink. She thought everything was hers. I guess she didn’t have the same tolerance for that kind of medication as I do.”
I shook my head. “I would have been so angry at her.”
She nodded in agreement. “See, you get it, don’t you? I told her what she’d done to me. How she ruined my life. Those pills, they were making her sleepy, but she was the same as she always was. She didn’t care. She didn’t care about anyone but herself.”
Hercules leaned his head against my chin. I reminded myself we’d been in worse situations—or close to it. Somehow I was going to figure something out.
“Do you know what Kassie said?” Kate asked. “She said I didn’t have what it takes to be a model unless maybe it was walking a runway at the mall. And then she said I was going to be eliminated in the next episode of the show. I said she couldn’t do that but I knew she could. She was slurring her words by then and she started to slump forward. She was next to the table and there was a bowl of whipped cream on it. I don’t even know where it came from. It was so easy to just put my hand on the back of her head and hold it down. She didn’t even struggle.” She tugged the front of her sweater a little closer around her body.
Hercules gave a soft mrrr.
“I took the cup with me and I smashed it later and put the pieces in the garbage. Then I just started walking. What had happened didn’t even seem real. So I pretended that it wasn’t.”
“And then you happened to come across Caroline.”
Kate nodded. “I was just walking. I wasn’t pay attention to where I was going. When I met Caroline I knew where she’d come from. I realized Caroline wanted it to seem like we’d been together and so I just went along with it. I put Kassie and all the bad stuff out of my head the way I always do.”
She took a step toward me and she smiled at Hercules. “I like your cat,” she said. “Maybe I could keep him when you’re gone.”
She reached out to take him and the gun dipped toward the floor. I started to tell her not to, but the words died on my lips.
Hercules yowled and slashed one paw at Kate. His claws caught the back of her hand and drew blood.
She yelped, grabbed her hand, and the gun hit the floor, skittering along the tile.
Hercules launched himself out of my arms.
“Run!” I yelled and we both bolted down the corridor and around the corner. We made it out to the main hallway and I realized the mistake I’d made. I should have gone the other way, past Kate, toward Harry and safety.
It was too late now. I pulled an office door a tiny bit ajar and hoped that would distract Kate for a few seconds.
Hercules was all the way at the end of the hallway. I could just barely make him out. We needed to get to the other set of doors, the one with the alarm. I realized the best way to do that was to go through the kitchen. I could feel my way there in the almost total darkness.
I felt my way past more offices, all of them locked. We made it to the kitchen and I worked my way around the room. The door that led to the back corridor that would take me to the main doors was blocked—probably for security reasons.
Hercules rubbed against my ankle. I knew Kate wasn’t very far behind us. We had to find somewhere to hide.
I pictured the layout of the kitchen There was a closet on the left side of the room. It was filled with supplies like birthday candles, muffin cups and parchment paper but it was too small for me to fit inside. So was the pantry cupboard stacked with flour and sugar and other supplies at the other end of the long counter.
I felt a bubble of panic expanding in my chest. Standing in the middle of the room the way I was made me an easy target.
I bent down and picked up Hercules. He nuzzled my neck. I looked around. I could just make out the table where I’d found Kassie’s body. A stack of what looked to be folded tablecloths was at one end. Part of the table extended into a small alcove. It was better than nothing. At least I’d be out of sight when Kate opened the door. I scrambled onto the table and pressed myself into the back corner.
I knew Kate was coming. I could hear her opening office doors. She was methodical, careful. That bought me a little time.
What I needed was a distraction, something else like Hercules attacking so we could run back the way we came in. What my mother, when she was on stage, called smoke and mirrors.
There was a recycling bin next to me, pushed against the end wall of the alcove.
Smoke and mirrors.
I had an idea. I felt around inside the plastic bin and found a glass mayonnaise jar. That would work. I patted my pocket. I still had Marcus’s gum along with his lighter. I set Hercules on the table. “Stay here,” I whispered. I slid along the tabletop, leaned over and managed, somehow, to open the pantry door and grab the side of a bag of flour. At least that’s what I hoped it was. I teetered on the edge of the table and almost lost my grip on the bag. I stuck my foot out to brace myself against the counter but I’d misjudged where I was and instead I hit the edge of the bottom cupboard. My foot turned in and a sharp pain sliced through my ankle. I bit down hard on my tongue to keep from making any noise. Somehow I managed to roll onto my side still clutching the flour, then righted myself and crawled back to my corner.
I tried to breathe through the pain. I kept one arm hooked around the bag of flour. This wasn’t good.
Hercules crawled onto my lap.
I still needed one more thing. I should have climbed down and gotten the flour. I should have slipped over to the other cupboard first. I swiped a hand over my face. I wasn’t going to give up now.
“I need you to get me a birthday candle,” I whispered to Hercules. “They’re in the other closet.”
Did he know what a birthday candle was? I was certain he knew what birthday cake was. I reminded myself that Hercules was smart, smarter than the average cat because he wasn’t an average cat. I set him on the table beside me. He jumped silently to the floor.
I fished a piece of gum out of my pocket and started chewing. I wasn’t going to think about the possibility that this wasn’t going to work. I also had Marcus’s tiny key-chain knife in my pocket. I used it to open the top of the flour and make a slit about a third of the way down the front of the bag. As soon as I picked it up the flour would go everywhere. Which was exactly what I wanted.
Flour and some other carbohydrates can explode if they’re hanging in the air as dust. All I needed to do was ignite that dust and I should be able to make enough of an explosion to distract and maybe momentarily blind Kate.
I felt Hercules land on the table beside me. He bumped my arm with his head and spit two small birthday candles into my lap. I pressed my face next to his. “Good job,” I whispered.
I managed to reach the stack of tablecloths. I pulled one off the top of the pile. Then I got to work.
I used the gum to fix the birthday candle inside the jar. The flour, which was a special organic brand, had a foil liner between the two layers of the bag. I’d noticed that when Rebecca was using it. I tore off enough to cover the top of the jar. I figured I had maybe fifteen seconds maximum after I covered the opening to throw the jar and have it break before the candle went out. I lit it now with the stolen lighter and hid the jar by my leg. The pain in my ankle had subsided to a steady throbbing ache. As long as it would hold me we were good.