“Can’t you see how weak he is? We’d be better off without him.”
The poor bastard looked like he was about to crap his pants. She came very close to shocking him in that moment. The thing that stopped her was a sudden, jarring mental intrusion. It was the recognition of what her life had become, what it was in this very moment, on the edge of this act, versus what it had been a week and a half ago. Within that very short span of time she’d gone from slightly troubled teenager studying for exams to being a person on the verge of murdering her new best friend’s lover.
It was somewhat disorienting.
She lowered the Taser and looked at Roxie. “Sorry. I know I get…out of control sometimes.”
Rob let out a shuddery sound somewhere between a laugh and a terror-stricken moan. “Yeah. Yeah. That’s right. You could say that.”
Roxie stepped between them and steered Rob away from her. “Shut up, Rob. Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
The three of them started moving toward the exit.
A metallic click stopped them in their tracks. Julie turned around and saw the old lady from the beat-up Oldsmobile. She clutched a little revolver in her gnarled hands. The hammer was cocked and the barrel was aimed right at Julie’s chest.
“Y’all ain’t goin’ nowhere.”
Julie imagined a bullet ripping through her body, could almost feel the searing agony. It was too easy to imagine the messy aftermath. Those last dreadful moments as her life drained away. It was easy to imagine because she’d caused it to happen to several people now.
The old lady nodded. “Drop that zapper, you mean little bitch.”
Julie forced her fingers to open and the Taser hit the floor with a clatter, just out of reach of the grasping fingers of Tod, who’d just begun to recover from the jolts he’d received. Right now he didn’t have the strength to sit up and reach for it, but that wouldn’t remain the case for long.
Holy shit, we are as fucked as fuck can be.
The old lady smiled. “Done called the cops. We’ll just stand right here and wait for ’em, I reckon.”
Then something came sailing past Julie’s head, making her flinch. The object hit the old lady square in the center of her face and she staggered backward a few steps before letting go of her cane and crashing to the floor. Julie giggled when she saw the Clairol box hit the floor.
Robin to the rescue. It’s a miracle!
Rob had been holding the package throughout their contentious exchange moments earlier. And now he dashed forward to scoop up the old lady’s gun before she could recover it. Still giggling, she shoved Rob aside and kicked the woman as hard as she could in the stomach, eliciting a pained wheeze. “Take that, you ancient bag of fuck.” She swung her leg back and brought it forward again, driving it hard into her chest. The woman was mewling now, holding her hands up and trying to beg. Julie kicked her a few more times.
Rob’s hand on her shoulder. Again. “Maybe you could stop now.”
She pried the gun out of his hand and shot the old woman in the face.
She smiled. “Okay. Done with her anyway.”
She walked over to Tod, who had just gotten his fingers around the grip of the Taser. A bullet through the top of his head took him out of the game. She dropped the gun in her purse. “Ready to go whenever you guys are.”
She strutted outside and stood in the cool air again. She smiled at the mental image of Roxie’s shell-shocked expression. Roxie was one crazy bitch. When you had shocked the likes of her, you’d really done something noteworthy. Rob and Roxie followed her out of the store seconds later. They all got in the Tercel, with the usual seating arrangement-Rob and Roxie up front, Julie in the back.
Roxie started the car and drove away from the Walgreens at a fast clip. Julie was glad to see it recede and then disappear in the rearview mirror. As over-the-top as her behavior had been, she remained fearful of being caught by the authorities. The video from the Walgreens security cameras would soon be all over the network and cable news outlets. The chances of them eluding the cops much longer, already small, had just grown significantly dimmer. It was looking more and more like Rob was right. Going down in a blaze of glory was the best they could hope for at this point.
So why did she feel so good, with doom at hand?
“That was a hell of a throw, Rob.”
Rob stared straight ahead, refusing to look back at her. “Yeah. I guess.”
“You saved our asses. Were you a major-league pitcher or something in a former life?”
“I just didn’t know what else to do.”
“Well, it was mighty fucking brave of you.”
He didn’t reply to that.
They rode on in silence for several moments. Julie watched the headlights of passing traffic and thought about some things, including the likely imminent end of her life. “Roxie?”
“Yeah?”
“I haven’t been laid in, like, forever.”
More silence. Then Roxie said, “What about it?”
“Could you send Rob back here?”
An even longer silence. Roxie sighed. “Rob, get back there.”
“But-”
Roxie’s voice turned hard. “Now.”
Rob climbed through the gap between the seats. Julie reached for him and pulled him down on top of her. She could feel how ready he already was.
It was hard to be surprised.
She got her mouth real close to his ear and made her voice as soft and quiet as she could. “It turns you on when you watch us kill.”
He didn’t say anything.
He didn’t need to.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
March 27
The blare of a television roused Zoe as she emerged from the embrace of the soundest sleep she’d experienced in some time. She groaned and sat up, still feeling groggy as she rubbed her bleary eyes. She winced at the obnoxious, excited tones of the television-news announcer coming from the living room. Her door was shut, but the volume of the news report was such that the TV might as well have been right there in the room with her. Zoe started feeling a little pissed off. It had been nice to sleep so deeply, undisturbed by thoughts of having to get up at a certain time. It was one of the best things about being on vacation.
Someone was about to get a piece of her mind. And maybe even a swift kick in the ass. She rolled out of bed and scooped up a tank top. She pulled it on and stepped into the still-wet bottom piece of her bikini. Her eyes flicked to the clock on the nightstand to the left of the bed. The digital display showed the time as being after one p.m. Her anger cooled a little. It was hours later than she’d imagined. She was still upset, but the lateness of the hour meant she would come off as kind of psycho if she were to stomp out there and bitch about it. Okay. Fine. She could be more subtle about making her displeasure known. With the right combination of calm, measured tones and carefully chosen words of polite disdain, she could shame the offender just as thoroughly as she could with a loud diatribe.
She strode purposefully out of the bedroom and down the hallway to the living room. The sight that greeted her was so initially puzzling, the last of her anger was instantly forgotten and her complaint went unvoiced.
Her friends were all present. Chuck stood over by the bar in the entertainment area adjacent to the living room. He had a drink in his hand, naturally, but his eyes were focused on the television. He was completely transfixed by what he was seeing and hearing, as was everyone else.
Emily stood behind a sofa parked in front of the large flatscreen television. Annalisa and Sean sat at opposite ends of the sofa, each of them leaning forward and staring intently at the images on the screen. Joe stood away from them, closer to the television, shaking his head as if unable to believe what he was seeing.
Zoe got closer to the television and frowned. “What’s going on?”