Had I heard that right? What the hell was going on here? I cracked the door open again, beyond curious.
"Don't call me that, you fool. Not even as a joke." The voice wasn't Marian Harcourt's, but it was incredibly similar. The woman moved into view. She faced away from me, but based on height and weight alone, I knew she couldn't be Marian Harcourt's identical twin.
This woman wasn't just tall, she had a warrior's physique. The fading light revealed her muscled arms and slim hips. Amazon Woman probably did a thousand one-handed pushups every day. And popped off a few hundred chin-ups in between the pushups and an endless repetition of tummy crunches. Any resemblance to Marian Harcourt was strictly in the voice.
Leland let the hand holding the gun drop to his side. "Don't call me a fool for defending myself from that fool." He gestured toward his opponent, who was out of view in a state I could only imagine. Was he dead? Bleeding? Unconscious?
"I was just trying to scare some sense into you," the man finally spoke up, confirming his very-much-alive status. "Our deal is what it is and there's no denying it now."
Amazon Woman approached the Reverend and reached for the gun. He raised the gun, aimed it at her, and pulled the trigger. Click. Leland checked the clip and then his lips curled with thinly veiled self-contempt. "Outta bullets. The Lord really does work in mysterious ways. But let me make myself clear. We're done with you people. Finished."
Amazon Woman cast a withering look at the Reverend. "When did you become so holy?" Her hips swiveled as she turned away from him and I caught sight of a holster on her low-slung utility belt. The butt of what closely resembled a SIG Sauer P320, like my own, stuck out.
"Has he always been this annoying, Hannah?" the woman asked.
Hannah. Oh, right. The pieces of the puzzle were starting to come together in my head, but right now, I needed to figure out our next move. Maybe no move at all would be best, until these people either killed each other or left.
But the voices had fallen silent. My thoughts were interrupted when Two-Bit Terry poked me on the shoulder. He jerked a thumb toward the door. I peeked through the skinny viewing slit.
While Leland, Hannah, and the other man remained where they were, Amazon Woman approached the door to the ladies' room.
YOU ARE READING
Fatal Connections
Mystery / ThrillerWhile battling drug addiction and post-traumatic demons, can a female veteran overcome the forces trying to frame her for murder? When Marine veteran and aspiring private eye Erica Jensen gets a frantic call for help from a client-the female half of...
