Chapter 16

“Proper deformity shows not in the fiend so horrid as in woman.”

 

 

The sun turned the evening sky purple, and all the lights in Bloomfield Hatch came on. Delia had busied herself making bread and butter pudding. She covered it and put it in the case, and then sat at one of the café tables to watch people coming and going to the pub and then window shop at the stores already closed. Gas lamps flickered in the cold. 

Her phone rang.

Delia scrambled. “Hello.”

“We’ve swept through the apartments. Sanya Ashbury is not home or anywhere on the grounds. You can go home.”

“Okay,” she said, sliding off the tall chair. “She doesn’t know you’re looking for her, does she?”

“We kept it low-key, but someone might tell her we stopped by to see her. Mrs. Ashbury doesn’t know I have evidence against her, so there’s no reason to think she’s out for revenge, Delia.”

“I wasn’t worried.”

Until you said that.

“We do have an unmarked car across the street and one down the block.”

Delia grabbed her purse from the kitchen and went out the door. “Where will you be?”

“I’m meeting with my sergeant, and then I’ll hang out with the guys in the cruisers.”

“Okay,” she told him, taking the crowded courtyard toward the employee car park. 

“Talk soon,” he said and hung up the phone.

Delia stuck her phone in her bag and walked on. She needed to dig deep into her memory for some positive affirmations. The trouble was, her feelings came on strong. What if Sanya did know about the earring and that Delia was the one who told Nicolo about it? 

Her chest squeezed tight.

She slipped into Freddy’s front seat and slammed the door. “Come on, my sweaty friend, get me home.”

Five minutes later, she parked on the left side of Thomi’s Aztec. Delia got out of the front seat. She’d parked between Thomi and the cactus Jeep. She gazed at the plant as she passed by it. The poor thing was starting to come apart. Some of the outer layers of the spikes were starting to separate from the central core of the plant. Come on, Olivia. Be a responsible plant parent.

Inside the apartment building, she climbed the stairs. She was on the second floor when she heard a meow.

It didn’t sound like Clawdius. His cry was much deeper, but Delia turned around anyway. The sound had come from the Kents old apartment. Maybe someone had already moved in —and had a cat.

Clawdius will have a new friend.

Delia turned toward the stairs again.

Reeeeer!

Delia spun around, eyes wide. “Clawdius?”

Something heavy dropped inside the apartment.

Three steps brought her to the apartment door —but then she stopped. The door wasn’t all the way closed. There were no lights on inside. “Clawdius?” Delia pushed on the door. “Clawdius?”

I’m not going in there. Should I call Nicolo? Oh, and tell him what? My cat is stuck in apartment 204?

Delia pushed the door with her index finger. “Clawdius?” She pushed the door harder until it swung open all the way.

An orange blur passed Delia rattlesnake-fast. She turned around. “Cat! You’re absolutely…”

Something grabbed her hair from behind and jerked so hard that Delia fell backward into the apartment.

The door slammed shut. The lock turned.

Sanya flipped the switch. “Hi, Delia. Would you like some wine?” She wore her furry brown jacket again and black yoga pants. Her hair looked worse than ever, with knots forming near her ears.

“What?” Delia rolled to her knees fast and stared at the woman.

Sanya held a bottle up, and then a huge knife tapped the already open top. “A little drinky-poo. I’ve already prepared the wine glasses.” She backed toward the kitchen island. Two wine glasses sat there. The one on the left had something in the bottom … white flowers?

Delia got to her feet, her stomach lurching. How does she know? How does she know? She can’t! “I-I-I’m not thirsty.”

Sanya nodded. “You gave me an excuse last time I asked you to drink with me. You couldn’t be bothered then. That’s why I put Jeanette in your refrigerator. You really should’ve had that drink.”

Delia swallowed hard and backed toward the door.

“I locked it,” she said conversationally and pointed the knife at the exit. “Those twisty things are bitches, aren’t they? I never know which way to turn it, left or right. It takes so much time, and by then, I’ll stick this in your kidneys.” She waved the knife back and forth.

Delia shook all over. She couldn’t catch her breath. “What is wrong with you?” she asked stupidly. Her brain couldn’t seem to form anything intelligent at the moment. Tears trailed down her face. 

Sanya poured the wine. “I wasn’t going to kill you, but someone suggested I should.”

“Who?” she asked, her voice squeaking. Her fingers touched the doorknob.

“I’m surprised you don’t know. Someone told me that you’re very nosey. That you’ve been sending texts to a police officer.” Sanya grinned and set the bottle aside. “That’s not very smart, Delia.” Still holding the knife, Sanya picked up the glass on the left. 

Delia shook her head. “Thomi told you that?”

“You ought to know something about Thomi before you drink this, sweetie. No one loves her. It’s just a big game, and she’s going to lose everything. Starting with you.” Sanya took two steps toward Delia.

Her teeth were so tightly clenched that Delia thought they might break apart. I am strong. I will survive! Releasing the doorknob, she ran toward Sanya.

The woman stopped with her dark brows up.

Delia scooped up her boho bag and swung it hard at the flute in Sanya’s hand. The glass and the wine flew toward the ceiling.

“Oh dammit,” Sanya said. “That’s going to leave a stain.”

Delia brought her purse back around and aimed at the knife.

Sanya was ready and jumped backward. She adjusted the knife in her hand and lunged.

Delia screamed and brought her purse back around. She screamed again and again. 

The tip of the knife sliced the arm of her puffy pink jacket. Delia felt it scratch her skin. She ran again, but in the wrong direction, and hit the kitchen island. Grabbing the wine bottle, she smashed it against the counter, and spun around with it in her hand. “Back off, back off,” she screamed and swung the jagged bottle.

Sanya eyed the broken bottle. “Please. You’re just stupid. That won’t cut through my coat. You’ve just made more of a mess.”

At this new angle, Delia saw that one of the windows was open. “Get out of my way.”

Sanya pulled back a little. “No.” And then she ran at Delia.

It felt as though her entire body was electrified. Delia swung and swung and swung. The bottle caught in Sanya’s fur coat. 

The knife flickered in the ceiling fan’s light. It came down hard.

Delia twisted to the left, dropped the bottle, and pushed Sanya with both her hands.

Sanya fell against a wall.

And then Clawdius was there. The cat jumped straight at Sanya’s face, hissing and spitting and clawing…

“Clawdius … Clawdius!” Delia screamed, running for the window. “Come on, come on,” she told him, putting her foot outside and bending beneath the sash. “Come on!”

Sanya had rolled away from the cat. She dropped the knife and used both her hands to push him away.

Clawdius wasn’t finished, though. He danced sideways at her with his ears flat on his head. With the scream of a cougar, he went in again, claws first and teeth bared. The sound he made was horrific. 

Delia slid outside and then remembered she was on the second floor. She held onto the sill and looked down.

The fire escape swayed beneath her.

Suddenly Clawdius jumped over her head —no, he sailed over her head and disappeared into the dark. 

“CLAWDIUS!!”

Delia let go of the sill and fell onto the fire escape steps. The metal caught her ribs and the side of her face. Pain shot through her ankle. She tumbled and tumbled until she skidded to a stop on the landing. Sprawled on her back, she gazed up at the window.

Sanya leaned out and threw the broken wine bottle at Delia.

Delia pulled her arms up and covered her head. 

The glass shattered next to her shoulder. Bending in half, Delia squirmed toward the next set of steps. She started down them, front first.

A door opened above her, and then pounding footsteps rocked the stairs.

Delia let herself go and put her hands out in front of her. She slid the rest of the way down like a toboggan racer. She hit the gravel and kept going. Crawling, she got her boots beneath her and ran.

Sanya was right behind her. She jumped from the third step and into the gravel.

Delia kept going.

I am strong. I am fast. I will live!

She reached Olivia’s Jeep, pulled at one of the cactus spikes, and turned on Sanya. She swung it without looking. 

The pointy edge part caught the crazed woman in the throat.

A gurgling noise escaped her. Blood trickled down her skin and into the brown fur.

Delia grabbed another spike. It cut her hands, but she didn’t care. She swung again.

Blue and white lights hit them. Gravel crunched.

“Drop your weapons,” a man’s voice said over a loudspeaker. “Drop them now.”

I will if she will.

Sanya breathed heavy —weirdly heavy. Her entire body moved up and down. Delia took a couple of steps backward, hit the Jeep, and then skirted to the side of it.

Car doors opened, and two officers stood on either side of the cruiser. Both had their guns pointed straight at Sanya and Delia.

Delia dropped the cactus and held up her hands. But, she kept her eyes on Sanya.

The woman’s body hadn’t stopped moving. Was she about to throw up? She resembled a cat heaving up a hairball. Sanya had her head down … She lifted the knife and faced the officers.

“Stop, Sanya,” Delia yelled. “Stop!”

With the knife pointed at her free hand, she lifted her wrist and cut a line so profoundly deep that blood spurt like a red water fountain.

“OH MY GOD!” Delia screamed —involuntarily.

Sanya grinned at her. “Eddie never loved me. He only loved her…” She fell to her knees. “That’s why Jeanette had to die.”

So much blood —there was so much of it pooling the ground beneath Sanya’s knees. Suddenly, she fell forward and then lay on her side, with her eyes staring into the night.

The officers approached, weapons still out. One of them spoke into the walkie-talkie on his shoulder.

And then Thomi was there, hugging Delia hard.

Delia just stood there, shaking so much that she couldn’t lift her arms to hug Thomi in return. She didn’t say anything. Just cried.

Eddie walked toward Sanya. He bent forward and placed his fingers on her eyes to close them. “She’s gone,” he said calmly.