Surely she can hear the sirens by now. They’re going to be here in three seconds.
When she finally realizes what’s happening, she screams “You bitch” and lunges for me. She attempts to get her body up over the counter, but I quickly move backwards and just in time too. That long knife gets within an inch or two of my wrist.
When the door flies open, I look in that direction but quickly keep my attention on the knife-wielding maniac in front of me.
Two cops rush in. One pulls their weapon from its holster and shouts, “Freeze.” While that goes on, the other officer cages her body against the counter as her hand with the knife flails about. He gets a grip on her wrist, slamming it down hard onto the wooden countertop. She won’t let go of the knife though, so he’s got to do it not once, not twice, but three times before she finally releases the weapon. Her hands are behind her back, and a zip tie is wrapped around her wrists in no time.
“My goodness.” I sigh. I’d be shocked if her hand or wrist wasn’t broken. Serves her right, honestly.
“Ma’am?” I look up at the man who drew his weapon. “Are you hurt? Did she injure you?”
Shaking my head, I reply, “No. Just shaken up.”
“Would you like to sit with the paramedics?” I glance out the window at an ambulance. “We need to ask you some questions as well.”
And I’ve got some information they’re going to want to hear. “I—uh.”
“Yes,” Laura says, sounding frantic as she rushes to me. She throws her arms around me and hugs me tightly. I hear her voice crack and feel moisture on my face. “She needs to get checked out.”
“Fine.” I sigh. With Laura wrapped around me like a spider monkey, I inform the officer, “She admitted to running over Celeste Coleman in Des Moines.”
“I don’t suppose you’ve got that confession on tape, do you?”
Laura pulls away from me and looks at the office as we both say at once, “Yes!”
Thanks to the babysitter cams we’ve got planted all over the place, we absolutely captured every word.
ChapterThirty
Nate
The secondI get wind that something’s going down at the town square, I send Prudence a text and hop on my bike. Never in a million years did I think it was Prudence at risk, but that fact became crystal clear when I pulled up and saw Prudence sitting in the back of an ambulance. And when I did, I jumped off my bike and raced to her, nearly knocking over the poor paramedic taking her blood pressure.
“Prudence!” I shouted as I jumped into the of the emergency vehicle. Before I wrapped her up, I made sure she wasn’t hurt. “Are you okay?” I look at both arms, her legs, her face, everywhere I could.
“I’m fine, Nate. Just shaken up.”
“What the fuck happened?”
She raises her hand and points out the at the police cruiser. “Turns out Barbie is the killer.”
“She ran over Celeste?”
“Yep. And she came here to kill me.”
“Why?” Holy shit. The woman must be batshit crazy.
“She claims it’s because Travis won’t stop talking about me.”
I can believe that. The guy sees what he lost, finally. Too bad for that motherfucker because Prudence ismine. When the paramedic is done checking her out, I sit on the gurney next to her and pull her onto my lap. My arms are wrapped so tightly around her I’m afraid I’m hurting her. She must not mind because her arms find their way around me too.
“I was so scared, Nate.”
“I can’t imagine what you just went through.”
“You know what kept running through my mind the whole time?”
“What?”
