Advance Notice (A River Valley Mystery, book 2) Read online

“I want people to pay attention.” Darla shoved me.

  I grabbed the railing with both hands. Vertigo attacked me as I glanced over the bars to the floor ten stories below.

  “My mother died from a drug overdose and lay, undiscovered, in her apartment for a week! Do you know what it’s like to hear that kind of news?”

  Maybe she should’ve called her mother more. “These women weren’t drug users.”

  “No, but they were alone. I gave people warning to see how many of these poor old women would still be alone after receiving a death threat.” She shook her head, her gun hand trembling. Danny stood like a lump, head hanging, beside her. “They all were.”

  I moved down a few more steps, stalling for time. Where was Bruce?!

  “Hurry up!” Darla’s screech bounced off the walls.

  “I’m trying. It’s difficult with a cast on.”

  “I’ll shoot you in the other foot and leave you for dead, if you don’t pick up the pace.” Sweat beaded on her upper lip and plastered her bangs to her forehead. Darla was losing control, and I didn’t want to be in front of her when her finger twitched.

  If I could survive until we got outside, my chances of survival would double. As busy as St. Mary’s hospital was, someone was bound to see us and be able to alert Bruce when he started asking questions.

  Danny still shuffled along, head down, like a scolded child. Time to cut the apron strings boy, and do what was right. I tried to connect gazes with him, but he didn’t even flinch when his mother screamed for me to hurry.

  “Why don’t y’all live together?” Keep ‘em talking. It always worked in the movies.

  “That is none of your business, nosey woman.” Darla waved the gun. “If I tell you something like that, it’ll wind up in the gossip column.”

  “Impossible if I’m dead.” I took two more steps, holding tight to the rail. “Folks are saying the state took him away because you had a drug problem.”

  She paused. “Who said that?” She looked at Danny. “Have you been talking about us to people?”

  “No, Mother. You told me not to.” He stared up at her, the cold glare in his eyes more frightening than the gun in Darla’s hand. “Don’t I always do what you tell me?”

  “Did she tell you to kill those women, Danny? Did she tell you to cut Dottie’s brake line? Inject her with drugs?” I took another step. “I can’t see your mother dirtying her hands. Not when she has you to do the dirty deed.”

  His mouth stretched into a thin line. “Mother killed Amber.”

  “Don’t let her kill again.” Another step. Far below I heard a door close. I increased my pace, the cast clumping against the metal stairs. “You can help me.”

  Darla laughed. “Stop playing mind games with him. I’ve trained him well. He only listens to me.”

  “I’m not a pet.” He glared. “Stop treating me like one. I was going to be a father!”

  “That girl wasn’t worthy of you.” She caressed his cheek.

  These two had a sick perverted relationship. I took two more steps, trying my best not to make too much noise and divert their attentions back to me. A footstep scuffed below me. I prayed it was Bruce. Duane would be nice, too, but his arrival would only put him in harm’s way.

  A door on the landing opened a crack. A nurse poked her head through. I shook my head and mouthed “Gun”, right before diving through after her.

  My shoulder connected with the doorframe. Shards of pain shot up my arm. It went limp.

  I had no time to catch my breath. I struggled to my feet as Darla and Danny banged down the few stairs that separated us. Before the door opened again, I ducked into a closet and locked the door.

  Holding my shoulder, I slid to the floor. They’d find me if I stayed there long enough, but I couldn’t go on without rest. Tears sprang to my eyes as I rubbed what I guessed was a dislocated shoulder. How did I get myself in these fixes?

  The floor I’d landed on didn’t look like one occupied by patients. The hall had stretched long and lonely. Maybe a surgical ward? Even then, there were bound to be people. Someone would hear me cry for help.

  “She’s got to be close,” Darla said from the other side of the door. “No one can move fast in a cast.”

  “Just leave her be and let’s skip town.” Danny sighed. “We can go to Mexico or Canada and start over.”

  “You’ve already said that. We can’t go until all the loose ends are tied up.”

  Something thumped on the other side of the door.

  “I still don’t understand why you had me kill those women.”

  Oh, I should be recording this. I fumbled in my pocket for my phone, knocking over a broom. Freezing, I held my phone in my hand and held my breath.

  “Did you hear that?” Darla lowered her voice. “I told you it was to teach people a lesson. Just because someone is old, doesn’t mean they should be ignored.”

  “Still sounds like a stupid—”

  My foot slipped, kicking over a pail. The clatter filled the small space.

  A boom echoed, then the door flew open. Darla grabbed my good arm, hauling me to my feet. “You must be the stupidest person I’ve ever met. What’s wrong with your arm?”

  “I—”

  Footsteps pounded from around the corner. Darla shoved me. “Get moving. We need you for leverage now. That stupid cop just arrived.”

  “Bruce!” I tried to hang back, but a knock on the back of the head with a gun got me moving again.

  “Marsha.” Duane raced down the hall, only to skid to a halt when he saw Darla and Danny’s guns.

  “Where do you think you can go?” Bruce asked. “Marsha is injured, the hospital is surrounded, and your son doesn’t look happy to be here.”

  “Get it together, Danny.” Darla held the gun to my head. “I’ve taught you to be tougher than this.”

  My legs threatened to give way. My gaze locked with Duane’s. This was way worse than the car wreck in the last murder I’d gotten messed up in. That one took out the suspect. This one might be the end of me.

  Keeping my eyes on Duane’s pale face, I allowed the two killers to scoot me past my future husband and into the elevator. Once we made it to the parking lot, and past the one other cop that patrolled River Valley, Darla motioned for me to get into the passenger side of an older model Volvo.

  “No.” I stood as straight and rigid as possible. “You can shoot me right here. I am not getting into a car with you so you can dump my body in a vacant field somewhere. Either shoot me now, or leave me alone.”

  Danny set his gun on the roof of the car and stepped back. “I’m done. I’ve been your puppet for too long, Mother. I won’t be a part of any more killing. He put his hands on top of his head and walked back toward the hospital.

  I grinned. “Now what, Darla? You’ve allowed the guilt over your mother’s death to poison every relationship you’ve ever had. Maybe you can actually form a nice one in prison. I’ve heard there are a lot of lonely people behind bars.”

  “Shut up.” She chewed her bottom lip. “I’m trying to think.”

  While she did, I shuffled sideways in an attempt to get closer to Danny’s gun. Darla seemed riveted on the view of her son being handcuffed. At least I hoped so. God, don’t let me fail.

  “Look what you’ve done to Danny. Poor misguided boy. He only loved you so much he killed for you. Now what? Are you going to allow him to watch you get shot?” Almost there. “At least he came to his senses.”

  “Shut up.” She never looked back.

  I grabbed the gun with my good hand, lunged forward, conked her on the back of the head, and slid down the car to the hard pavement. Seconds later, I found myself wrapped in Duane’s arms, while paramedics raced to our side.

  Darla stirred when Bruce twisted her hands behind her back. “Want me to taze her, Marsha?”

  “Tempting, but no. If I felt better, I’d taze her myself.”

  Duane helped me to my feet, taking care of my shoulder. Every jar s
ent flames of fire down my arm.

  “Duane?”

  “Yes, my love.” He lifted me as if I weighed no more than a child.

  I rested my head on his shoulder. “How does June tenth sound for a wedding?”

  “That’s our one year anniversary. It sounds perfect.”

  “Then kiss me.”

  He lowered his head and helped me forget about the pain.

  THE END

  Check Out the first book in the River Valley Mystery series

  Deadly Neighbors

  And the other books by Cynthia Hickey available at

  www.cynthiahickey.com

  Find her on FB Cynthia Hickey

  And on twitter @cynthiahickey

  About Spyglass Lane

  Spyglass Lane Mysteries is a collection of Christian cozy mysteries—modern-day whodunnits with colorful characters and plenty of wholesome romance.

  Discover other Spyglass Lane titles at Smashwords.com.