Page 128 of Over Her Dead Body

CHAPTER 47

EMMA

The guard lets go of my wrist.

I stand and cross to the painting before either of them changes his mind.

Up close, the crooked corner is more obvious. The frame sits away from the wall just enough to get my fingers behind it. I lift with my right hand.

Something black is taped to the back of the frame.

A gun.

Beside it, a short aerosol canister is held by another strip of tape.

OC.

Pepper spray.

Nice.

I lower the frame.

“What?” the man behind the desk asks.

“The lower corner is pulling away. I need it off the wall.”

He is already standing.

“Carefully.”

“Of course.”

The guard comes over and takes the frame where I show him. I guide the lower edge away from the wall until the gap opens again.

“Higher.”

He lifts.

The man from behind the desk steps closer to see what I’m looking at.

I reach behind the frame and close my hand around the canister.

The guard feels the movement.

“What are you doing?”

I pull it free.

The flip-top cap is already open.

Reid did not leave it here for pest control.

I press the trigger.

The spray bursts out in a wide cone.

The guard takes most of it. The man beside him gets enough.