ITRIED TO FOCUSon my second game of War with Hammer, but my mind was fully stuck on Mark and worrying that everything was going okay. I looked at my watch and knew enough time had passed for them to arrive at my office.
“They’ll be fine,” Hammer said without looking up from the table. “Focus on the game.”
“Fine,” I grumbled and flipped over my top card. I kept turning over cards until Hammer claimed his second victory. “Maybe we should play Go Fish or something,” I recommended.
“I’d still whip your ass,” Hammer replied with a cocky grin.
“I’ll go get us a few beers and some snacks while you shuffle again.” I rose to my feet, linked my hands then stretched my arms in front of my so I could crack my knuckles. I moved my head from side to side like a prize fighter about to step in the ring. I hated to lose, regardless of what I was doing so I planned to come back and kick some ass.
I had sent Edna home early so she wouldn’t be subjected to the stressful tension in the house. I figured she’d had enough added work on her plate with the extra houseguests to look after. She had given me a big hug and said she was going home to take a hot bubble bath, drink some red wine, and read the latest Agnes Simmons book she borrowed from my library. At first, I was a little embarrassed that Edna and I both read the same steamy romances, but I got over it quickly enough.
I looked through the cabinet and grabbed a bag of pretzels, potato chips, and cheese flavored tortilla chips. I laid them on the kitchen island and then pulled two beers out of the refrigerator. I heard movement in the kitchen and assumed Hammer followed me, but when I turned around I was faced with the biggest shock of my life.
Edna stood in the center of the kitchen in her bathrobe with her hair all a mess and mascara streaking down her face from the force of her silent tears. She wasn’t alone either; Estelle stood behind her with one arm wrapped around Edna’s neck and the other held a gun to Edna’s temple. I was too shocked to even react, my brain refusing to accept what I was seeing.
“Hello, Mitchell.” Her soft, creepy voice sent chills down my spine. “Surprised to see me?” Surprised didn’t come close to describing how I felt. She was supposed to be in Switzerland.
“Estelle, what are you doing?” I asked once the shock wore off enough for me to comprehend that my stepmother was holding my housekeeper at gunpoint in my kitchen. “Let Edna go, Estelle. This is between you and me.” Estelle must’ve gone to Edna’s house and forced her to drive over at gunpoint.
“Let her go?” She laughed evilly and jammed the barrel of the gun deeper into Edna’s temple, causing her to cry harder. “She’s lived out her usefulness by getting me inside your gate and house.” Estelle looked at Edna and sneered. “You really should’ve looked to see who was at your door before you opened it.”
“No!” I shouted. “It’s me you want dead, not her.” I wasn’t sure reasoning with Estelle was going to work, but I needed to buy some time until Hammer came looking for me. Hopefully, he overheard my shout and knew something was wrong.
“I want everyone you love dead,” Estelle said viciously. “I want to destroy your life like you and your mother destroyed mine.” The wildness in her eyes made her look deranged and I had serious doubts that any of us would make it out of the situation alive, but I had to try.
“Estelle, why are you doing this? I’ve never meant to cause you any pain and my mother met my father before you…”
“He was always supposed to be mine,” she shouted. “He was promised to me when I was just a girl. My mother told me that Maxwell Heston was born to love me. Then your slut of a mother came along and pulled his attention away from me.”
“Estelle, that was decades ago.” I was trying to rationalize with someone who wasn’t in her right fucking mind. “You’re the one he married.”
“Because his father forced his hand,” she screamed. “I should’ve killed her before she had a chance to sink her claws into your dad. He mourned her before he even knew she was dead.” Spittle was forming at the corners of her mouth with every manic word she spoke. Edna stood as still as a statue the entire time Estelle screamed shrilly in her ear.
“Your father emotionally and physically abandoned me the minute he got what he wanted from me. I was forgotten the minute Stephan was placed in his arms. Instead of the perfect family I dreamed of, I was left with a husband who didn’t want to look at me, let alone sleep with me. He moved out of our bedroom before we were married for two years.” None of this was anything I wanted to hear, but I was willing to listen to her rant and rave if it meant that Edna and I came out of it unscathed.
Hammer, where are you?
“I tried to be what he needed me to be. I even colored my hair to match your mother’s and dressed like her, but it didn’t work. I was nothing but a disappointment to him. So, I took away the only person that mattered to him.” The sick smile that spread across her face made me sick to my stomach. “I thought he’d turn to me for consolation after Stephan’s skiingaccident, but he didn’t. He became more distant and withdrawn.” She began laughing hysterically and it was like nails on a chalkboard to my ears. “Then his idiot father became ill and confessed about your existence in a last ditch effort to save his miserable soul. Ha! I guarantee that bastard is roasting on a spit in hell. Now it’s time for you to join him.” The last part was said in a sing-song voice.
“Estelle, please…”
“Not quite yet,” she corrected. “You can beg later, but not until after we get the call that your lover is dead.” Fear caused my heart to stutter to a stop and ice to form in my veins. The evil bitch knew her arrow struck right to the heart of me. “I don’t suppose my idiot brother will survive the shooting so we’ll wait for the other goon who’s here with you to get the call. Poor Mark.” The mocking pout on her face was enough to make my blood boil in rage. She was talking about killing people like they were pesky flies. First her own child; now Edna, Mark, and me.
No sooner had she finished her sentence, Hammer’s cellphone rang. I could tell by the proximity of the ring that he was just outside the kitchen and had probably been waiting for the right time to enter the room. I could tell by the smug smile on her face that Estelle knew he was right outside the kitchen.
“Come on in here and answer the phone, dumbass,” she hollered in his direction before she turned her attention back at me. “They are real sharp investigators and protectors you have working for you. No one tracked me at all. Sure they made sure I was in Switzerland, but they never bothered to make sure I stayed. All I had to do was book a commercial flight home.”
Hammer eased into the kitchen slowly with his gun pointed at her. “Drop the gun,” he told her. His voice sounded deadly and I had no doubt in my mind that he was willing to put a bullet in Estelle’s brain if it meant saving Edna and me. His phone continued to ring in its holster on his belt, but he ignored it and it finally went to voicemail.
“That’s my line,” Estelle responded. “I’m going to blow this bitch’s brains all over the kitchen right in front of Mitch’s eyes. Sure, you might shoot me, but not before his life is ruined. He’ll have to live the rest of his life knowing that the people he loved are dead.”Was she including my father?She hadn’t mentioned him so I hoped he was safe at home.“Answer your fucking phone the next time it rings.”
Hammer’s phone rang again and he reached down and hit the answer button without taking his eyes off of her. “Babe, Deacon’s been shot.” Vic’s voice was almost drowned out by the sounds of sirens coming through Hammer’s speakerphone. “He looks bad. Bullets penetrated his vest. One hit him in the shoulder and the other in his chest. Get Mitch to the hospital right now.” Vic hung up the call on his end and silence filled the room for a few seconds before three things happened almost simultaneously.
Estelle said, “I told you so.”
My legs collapsed and I caught myself on the kitchen island.
Hammer pulled the trigger and ended Estelle’s life, making sure her last hateful words were the last she ever spoke.
