Molly calculated her options — riding out to sea with this man or pulling the gun now. The stink of the engine fumes made her stomach churn.
“You know, two can keep a secret if one is dead,” Rudy whispered in her ear.
In spite of everything, his breath stirred Molly right down to her tangerine toenails. She pulled out the weapon from her wrap.
“What are you planning to do?” Rudy chuckled. “Shoot a gull?”
She leveled the barrel at his chest.
“Take your finger off that trigger,” Rudy said.
“Hey, I have the gun... I give the orders.”
In one move, Rudy twisted her wrist, took her gun, and knocked Molly out of the chair. She tumbled to the deck, scraping her bare legs. His full weight fell on top of her and an embarrassing sound squeezed from her body.
“Now I have the gun, sweetheart.”
Molly struggled to get up, and he allowed her that. Blood trickled down her calves. Rudy kept the gun trained on her as he eased the boat out of its slip.
They burbled out of the harbor, through the channel, past the riprap of the jetty, past the lighthouse, and into open water. Molly shivered. Her thin dress was meant for seduction not sailing. Although it didn’t seem like Rudy intended to hoist either her dress or the sails.
A pod of dolphins broke the surface of the open water off the bow. Molly swallowed. Dolphins are good luck, she told herself.
The boat slowed and bobbed in the swell. On the starboard side, the distant lights of the wharf and Boardwalk winked through the fog.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Molly said.
“Oh no you don’t.”
“So, here we are,” said a throaty voice.
Molly snapped her head toward the sound. “Susanna!”
“Hi, Molly.” Sue was elegantly coiffed even here. She wore latex gloves and held a gun that looked like the one Rudy had used at the bank.
Molly gulped.
Sue pointed the gun at Rudy first.
“Now wait a minute, dollface,” he said.
“Didn’t you call her that about two minutes ago?” Susanna waved the gun back at Molly. Molly shrieked and Sue snorted. Then she returned her aim toward Rudy. “You were going to negotiate with this pink-faced idiot? Thought you could charm her pants off, huh? Have her join our little venture?”
Rudy moved in toward Susanna. “Doll, in case you haven’t noticed, I have Molly’s gun in my hand.”
“It’s not loaded.”
The cold wind whipped hair into Molly’s eyes. “Sue, you gave me an unloaded gun?”
“Hey, you said yourself it was just a prop.”
Rudy pulled the trigger. An empty click.
Susanna fired her gun straight into his heart; he keeled over without another word.
Straddling his body, Sue shook her head. “So average. Like I said.”
Molly’s heart exploded. “You’re the accomplice?”
“A little hiccup happens to be lying here,” she said to Molly as she slipped the weapon into her waistband. “Let’s tie some weights on him and get him overboard.”
“Fifty percent?” Molly said.
“Of course.”
They pulled out fishing line and weight belts from a deck box. It took the two of them to wrap him tight and hoist his 170 pounds, plus the weight belts, over the side. He sank like a stone.
Cackling, Susanna launched into the first bars of “Octopus’s Garden.” “Wish I had my ukulele now.”
Molly shivered. “But we’re stuck out here.”
Susanna stopped singing about wanting to be under the sea. “Hah! I know this boat better than he did. Who do you think sold him this wreck?”
Molly shook her head. Of course.
“Now, about that deal...” Sue scratched behind her ear.
“Yes?” Molly’s teeth chattered.
“Here’s your 50/50, dollface.” Susanna drew the gun back out of her waistband. “You can either go overboard voluntarily, saving me some work, or I can shoot you first.”
“I thought we were friends.”
“Seriously? Me, friends with someone who never advanced beyond teller?”
“You can keep all the money.”
Susanna laughed. “How very generous of you.” She gestured with the barrel toward the water where Rudy’s body had disappeared.
Dripping with misery, Molly looked at the waves roiling below. “But why, Sue?”
“Any woman stupid enough to trust Rudy Carmona deserves to die.”
A swift jab with the gun sent Molly flailing backward. Icy shock surrounded her. She gulped salt water and then bobbed to the surface.
Above her, Susanna waggled her fingers and launched into a deep-throated rendition of “Under the Boardwalk.”
Molly treaded water, her wet wrap tugging her down. The distant lights taunted her. Never much of a swimmer, she took a floundering stroke.
The boat turned and putted toward shore, wagging its stern at her. The water’s phosphorescence lit the scrolled lettering on the stern: Karma II.
Part III
Good Neighbors
To Live and Die in Santa Cruz
by Calvin McMillin
UCSC
Maybe it’s just misplaced nostalgia, but I’m one of those people who still buys the newspaper. When I was little, my dad would leave our trailer every Sunday morning and come back with a box of donuts and three different newspapers cradled in his arm like a football. All these years later, I’m still not sure why our household needed so much news coverage. I always reached for the comics. Unfortunately, there was nothing comical about this Sunday’s edition of the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
Graduate Student Found Dead on Campus
Julie Chan, Staff Writer
The body of a UC Santa Cruz graduate student was discovered early Saturday morning on campus grounds, according to a university press release.
The deceased was found in the vicinity of the student health center, which is located on McLaughlin Drive across from College Nine. Campus police are currently handling the investigation.
The student’s name has not been released to the public as authorities are attempting to notify the next of kin.
Next of kin. The phrase gave me goose bumps. I tossed the newspaper in the backseat of my Mustang and looked up the Sentinel’s homepage on my phone.
PhD Student Died From Apparent Fall from Bridge
Stephanie Williams, Staff Writer
Elizabeth White has been identified as the UC Santa Cruz graduate student found dead on university property last Saturday morning. She may have fallen from one of the pedestrian bridges on campus. White was a PhD candidate in literature and lived in graduate student housing.
Campus police have cordoned off a footbridge located near the student health center. The bridge is suspended approximately seventy-five feet above the ground. This summer, new five-foot-high guardrails were installed to address safety concerns.
White attended high school in Battle Creek, Michigan, and was an honor student in English at Michigan State University before coming to Santa Cruz three years ago. Friday marked her twenty-fifth birthday.