AllFreeNovel
Share Us
After doing this, I decided that I’d just have to wait and see what Lee had to say.
He told me he’d show me who he was, what he wanted and then I could make my decision. This did nothing to shift the joy or the fear, but it definitely mingled it with not a small amount of excitement.
It felt like Christmas Eve.
I was assembling my macaroni salad extravaganza when the back security door was thrown open and Rosie stepped into the kitchen.
He was carrying a gun.
And the gun was pointed at me.
I stared at him, wooden spoon in hand, dripping mayonnaise.
He looked like hell. Rosie had never been one to worry about personal hygiene overly-much. He groomed enough to make it not gross that he was serving coffee and that was it.
It was clear he’d slept a helluva lot less than I had and hadn’t had a shower since I last saw him.
“Rosie!” I cried. “Where have you been? I’ve been looking all over and worried sick.”
“Where are the diamonds?”
Uh, excuse me but this was beginning to piss me off. Why did everyone think I had the diamonds or knew where they were? I hadn’t even seen the fucking things.
He moved the gun jerkily and I quit thinking about the diamonds.
“Where are the diamonds?” he repeated in a shout.
I stopped staring at Rosie and started staring at the gun. “I don’t know where they are.”
“Duke’s gone. They aren’t at his house.”
My eyes moved back to Rosie. He was definitely freaked out, panicked, and not in an artist-on-the-verge kind of way. It was far worse than that.
“You didn’t toss Duke’s house did you?” I asked.
“No! It was like that when I got there. I thought it was you and that crazy guy who taped me up.”
“I haven’t been to Duke’s, but he’s coming back and I’m sure he knows where the diamonds are.” I tried to be calm and calm him. “Rosie, put down the gun. You need to stay someplace safe. I can call Lee—”
Rosie started waving the gun around and I stopped talking and stepped back.
“Don’t call that maniac. He taped me up!” he shouted. “It took him, like, two seconds. I didn’t even get the chance to yell. I didn’t even hear him come in. He’s nuts.”
“Okay, I won’t call Lee. But Rosie, you have to be smart. Your friend—”
“He’s dead. They shot him. They fucking shot him!” He was shouting really loud now, waving the gun around and seriously freaked out.
“Rosie—” I started.
“Yoo hoo!”
I heard the call from out the back door complete with the clickety-clack of high-heeled shoes and Chowleena’s nails on the bricks.
My neighbor, Tod.
“Tod, go back!” I yelled, but Rosie had turned and pulled the trigger, shooting wild out the back door. Three shots were squeezed off in as many seconds. I saw Tod’s arms flung out before him as he hit the deck and Chowleena started barking, each bark sending her upper body straight in the air. I knew this because I could hear the click of her nails hit the bricks every time she landed.
Rosie stared at the gun as if he forgot he was holding it and then ran out the door.
