“She’s not, Emmie,” he choked out, “I’m yours.” Marius blinked rapidly, neck craning as Cora leaned the gun on him. “I just want you to know I’m sorry, Emmie. I’m sorry I didn’t believe you, and I’m sorry I was mean to you. You’re the best thing to ever happen to me, and I wish I hadn’t thrown away the chance of you falling in love with me.”
“Shut up!” Cora raged. “You don’t know what love is. None of you know what real love truly is.”
Rosie rolled her eyes.
“You murdered Brooks,” Cora sobbed to Rosie.
“Of course I did. He had it coming. Now, where’s my bracelet?” Rosie barked at me.
“You want a memento of the love of your life?” I baited her.
Rosie just scoffed. “As if. I’m not like dumb little Cora. Brooks betrayed me. He got what he deserved. I designed that bracelet myself, and I want it back.”
I didn’t move.
“Never mind. I’ll fish it off your corpse.” She pulled a tiny bottle of clear liquid out of her purse. “And replace it with this. Made it myself. Cyanide extracted from hundreds of apricot pits.We’ll tell the cops that you admitted that you murdered Brooks for the life insurance money, won’t we, Cora?”
Cora whimpered.
“If you don’t cooperate,” Rosie said sweetly to Cora, “and if you try and rat me out, I’m just going to tell everyone that you were an accomplice.”
Something furry brushed past me. Out of the dark, they appeared—dozens of silent cats, led by Moose.
“But Marius isn’t going to lie,” Cora whispered and licked her lips.
Rosie looked down at him and ran her thumb over his lower lip.
“There’s always another man. Pity, Marius—you’re so handsome. Shoot him in the back, Cora, so we can have a nice funeral.”
Cora lowered the weapon to his back.
“Please,” I cried, “don’t!”
Rosie startled when a cat rubbed against her boot, purring.
“Good kitty,” Rosie cooed. “Such good kitties.”
Moose, like his owner hadn’t just had a gun to his head, calmly leaped onto Marius’s shoulders and daintily licked a paw.
“I should have gotten a dog,” Marius muttered as Moose jumped onto his head, totally nonplussed that Marius was in danger. The other cats slowly came over to investigate why a grown man was kneeling on the floor, jumping onto his broad shoulders like he was a cat tree, sniffing his coat.
Rosie laughed. “Dumb animals. They’re just waiting for Cora to kill you so they can eat your corpse. Don’t worry. Your new mommy will let you live in her new cat café. Cora, do it.”
Cora racked the shotgun.
As if that was the cue, thirty pairs of eyes fixed themselves on Cora, then the mass of animals sprang.
I screamed as they attacked Rosie and Cora with teeth and claws, hissing and scratching.
The shotgun went off, and plaster rained down over us. Rosie screamed, and Cora tried to run.
My ears rang.
Cats went flying.
Cora fired again, blowing a hole in the wall, then dropped the gun as a tabby cat bit her on the hand.
Rosie was incapacitated on the ground, curled up as the cats, led by Moose, attacked her.
