Second Shot

“You’re good,” I said, reflective. “Very good, in fact.”

“Excuse me?”

“Very convincing,” I said. “You damned near had me convinced, that’s for sure. I think claiming Simone was the one who hit Jakes was overegging it a little, but otherwise you play the loyal wife and the doting grandmother almost to perfection. Academy Award stuff, really”

She tensed and her eyes narrowed. “What the hell are you talking about?” she said, almost a growl. “I’ve told you nothing but the truth.”

I gave a short laugh devoid of mirth. “Oh, there might be some truth mixed up in there, but it’s been so watered down with the lies, it’s difficult to tell.”

Her mouth opened, closed again. “Frankly, Charlie, I don’t really care much one way or the other what you think.” She reached down to unclip her seat belt. “What matters at the moment is Ella.”

“Of course it does,” I agreed. “And the ten million dollars you hope to get for her. This has nothing to do with Felix Vaughan, has it, Rosalind?” I raised an eyebrow but she didn’t answer. “That’s just a wild-goose chase.”

“Oliver Reynolds-it is you he’s working for, isn’t it?” I cut across her, my voice turning harsh. “Just remember one thing, Rosalind. If he hurts her, I will kill you myself.”

Rosalind’s face was blank for a moment longer before it twisted into a derisive smile. She brought her hand back up again-the one that had been fiddling with her seat belt-only now there was a 9mm Beretta in it, and she was pointing it firmly in my direction.

“Oh yes?” she said silkily. ‘And just how do you propose to do that?”

I mentally cursed myself for not seeing that one coming and made sure I kept my hands very still.

“Give me a minute and I’m sure I’ll think of something,” I said, and she snorted.

“How did you know? I thought I’d covered all the bases.”

I nodded towards the apartment building in front of us. “You never asked directions,” I said. “But Reynolds knows where we are. He paid us a visit.” I eyed the gun but she held it confidently, relaxed, like she was only too familiar with handling and firing a weapon. Hardly surprising when I thought about her background. Shame I hadn’t thought about it earlier. “If you’d kept up the outraged innocence, you might even have got away with it.”

A flicker of annoyance skimmed across her face. Then she shrugged. “Ah well,” she said. “Too late for that now.”

There was a moment of silence while the big, fat snowflakes floated down softly and lay on the windscreen and died in the residual warmth coming up through the glass.

I sat quiet in my seat with my right hand lying in my lap and felt the sharp throbbing in my back that had been there since the shooting, and the dull ache in my left leg that never quite seemed to go away.

Oh, I knew all the theories for dealing with armed opponents. I’d studied the methods and in the past I’d practiced until the bruises wrote their own record, but it was always a last resort. Besides, any of the moves I knew required outstanding speed and strength and agility, and at the moment I was severely lacking in all three.

I thought of Matt, frozen in shock or fear-or quite possibly both- in the rear seat, but I resisted the urge to glance at him and draw Rosalind’s attention there. He’d come to my rescue with Reynolds, but Matt wasn’t a fighter by either instinct or training. I couldn’t-and didn’t- expect him to butt in now.

I looked up.

“What is it that you want, Rosalind?”

She smiled, recognizing my capitulation for what it was, and rooted in her coat pocket with her left hand, quickly pulling out her mobile phone. She keyed in a number without having to take her eyes off me. All the time the gun never wavered.

“Just in case you get any ideas,” she said, tucking the phone up to her ear while the call rang out, “my daddy taught me well and I’m a very good shot. Not up to your standard, probably, but at this distance I hardly need to be. Of course, I’d rather not make any additional holes in this car, if I can help it, but if it comes down to it, well-” she shrugged, careless, “-the lease agreement’s in Greg’s name.”

Tinnily, I heard the phone answered. Rosalind’s face was tense now, but she never dropped her guard.

“Get me Felix Vaughan,” she said, clipped. My heart started to canter at an uneven rhythm, accelerating. “Felix? … It’s Rosalind. Oh, let’s dispense with the pleasantries, shall we? I have a proposition for you.”

The voice at the other end-obviously Vaughan-gave some short indication of assent.

“I want my business back, Felix,” Rosalind said, her voice ringing with conviction like struck steel. “No, that old threat won’t work anymore,” she interrupted when he began to speak again. “Greg’s about to be unmasked anyway…. That’s right.. the bodyguard.” She said the words looking right at me, contempt rich in her voice.

There was a long pause and I could picture Felix Vaughan taking the information in, sifting through it, analyzing the content, looking for the angles.