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FIONA
Fiona stared down the barrel of the gun, not trusting herself to look her killer in the face. The malevolence and level of crazy was clear enough in Diane’s voice; she didn’t need to see it.
“So why me? I mean, I was never a threat to you. According to you, you destroyed my marriage and with it my career. What possible threat was I to you?”
“But you couldn’t stay down, could you? You just had to be the plucky little nerd and write a bestseller and become the talk of the town with your little mystery club.”
“I’m not a threat to you.”
Fiona knew her best chance for staying alive was to keep Diane talking. Maybe if she said it enough times, she could convince Diane not to kill her.
“You don’t really expect me to believe you’d keep your mouth shut, do you?”
She carefully refrained from answering that question. “But how’d you manage it?”
Diane laughed. “I’m a lot stronger than I look, and who would suspect a woman of such a horrific act? Although you did dream it up. I mean it really was the perfect blueprint for murder.”
Fiona listened as Diane spoke about the murder in a quiet voice devoid of emotion, wishing she’d taken Christie up on teaching her some kind of ninja kung fu moves that she could break out. Maybe if she had, she wouldn’t be in this predicament.
“The only thing I added,” said Diane “was a sleeping pill so I could get him into position. I knew Daniel was up at Slade’s place. I swung by, ostensibly to offer him a drink, let bygones be bygones and all that. He drank the laced beer. The best part was I could see he knew I’d dosed him as he started to go down.”
It seemed clear to Fiona that Diane had enjoyed herself.
“Even better, I waited until he came to before I slit his throat, which kept him from screaming. Well, he tried, but nothing came out but a strange gurgling noise. The rest was kind of messy, but then I’m sure you knew that from your own research.”
“You can’t believe you’re going to get away with all of this…”
“Why not? I can write an article that insinuates that Slade was too quick to exonerate you as he was sleeping with you. Jimmy Langden isn’t going to make a fuss. After all, he’s the one who covered up his son’s presence years ago. The fact that Denny was completely innocent never occurred to him. You’re going to jump because I’m telling you to. I’ll write one of those true crime novels like Ann Rule. Fuck marrying for money; I’ll make my own.”
“You can’t be so delusional you think I’ll just jump because you tell me too. Why would I do it? Where’s my suicide note? No one is going to believe a novelist didn’t write a suicide note.”
Diane laughed. She was unhinged. “It’s not suicide. Don’t you recognize your own gun? My story will be that as a newspaper editor with a nose for a story and a passion for justice, I figured out that you and Daniel killed Mike Ray. Then when Daniel threatened to expose you, you killed him. When I got too close to the truth, you forced me to drive you up here. You threatened to shoot me. We struggled for the gun and either you fell, or I got the gun away from you and had to shoot you in self-defense. But either way, you die, I’m a hero, and I write my own bestseller.”
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen,” said Fiona as she rushed Diane.
* * *
SLADE
Slade, Went, and two other officers converged on the park surrounding Angel Falls. Slade jumped out of his SUV.
“I need one of you to stay with the vehicles and make sure nobody escapes in that Jeep. Went, you and one of the others follow me,” Slade said as he jumped on the ATV, revved the engine, and took off.
He was glad to hear two other ATVs in close pursuit. What he wasn’t glad to hear was the sound of a gun being fired. He pushed the ATV as hard, and as fast as it would go. There was another shot. His gut twisted as he realized the trail had become too treacherous to traverse on the ATV. Frustrated, angry and more fearful than he’d ever been in his life, Slade switched to running and prayed he’d get to Fiona in time.
Slade crested the rise with his heart and lungs burning. Looking towards the falls, he could see Diane and Fiona fighting for control of the gun. They were too close to each other for him to take a shot, and they were grappling very close to the edge. One wrong move and one or both would plummet to their deaths.
“Stay,” he ordered Went and the other officer.
Slade’s only recourse was to intervene, but he feared if he called Fiona’s name or alerted her to his presence it might break her concentration and give Diane the upper hand. He had to respect Fiona’s ability to hold her own in a fight with a crazy woman on unstable ground.
Moving with the stealth and grace of an apex predator, Slade closed the distance between them. There was a third shot, and both women were poised to topple over the edge into the roaring waters of the falls below.
Bright red bloomed on Fiona’s chest. There was nothing left to lose. Slade charged to the women, knocking Diane’s grip on Fiona loose and making her balance precariously on the ledge before forcing her to tumble off the rock and into the water below, screaming as she went.
Fiona collapsed in his arms as Slade sank to his knees. She reached up to touch his face.
“You came,” she said as blood seeped out of her chest.
