Rebecca crossed the room and pointed to the sofa. Emily’s feet felt heavy as she reluctantly walked over to the sofa. She got halfway there and froze when she spotted a pair of feet sticking out from behind the sofa.
“Oh, my God!” Emily gasped, covering her mouth. “Rebecca, what have you done?”
“I did what I had to,” she responded with a coldness that frightened Emily.
The only thing she could think of was getting out of the crazy woman’s house. Emily slowly stepped backward. If she had to, she would backstep her ass right out the front door. But, before she could get to the hall, Rebecca whipped her head around and glared at her with suspicion. She pinned Emily with crazy eyes and moved close enough to make her extremely uncomfortable.
“Where do you think you’re going?” she hissed.
Emily looked around the room, in search of a weapon; just in case Rebecca’s crazy went batshit crazy.
“I’m going home.”
Rebecca threw her hands in the air. “You can’t leave me! What the fuck am I supposed to do about her?”
“I don’t know what to tell you,” Emily admitted.
“You’re my lawyer!” Rebecca screeched.
“Mrs. Ferron, I’m not a criminal attorney. I just helped you out because we didn’t have any defense attorneys working today.”
When Rebecca’s crazy eyes grew crazier, Emily held up a hand.
“But… I have served as your attorney today. So, I am bound by attorney/client privilege.”
Rebecca took a step that put her unnervingly close to Emily.
“Mrs. Ferron, you’re making me uncomfortable. I’d like to leave now.”
Rebecca shook her head with paranoid, narrowed eyes. “I can’t let you do that,” she said, way too calm.
Rebecca reached behind her back, but Emily wasn’t about to wait and find out what she was reaching for. She turned and took off running. The sound of a gunshot made her scream, but she didn’t stop running; not until she reached the front door. Emily twisted the knob, but the door was locked. She fumbled with the locks, determined to escape the house of horrors. When she got the door open, Emily thought she was home-free. Sadly, she was wrong. There was a sudden, blinding pain to the back of her head that dropped her to her knees.
Emily fell to her face. She was thankful for the connection of her cheek to the floor, believing the feeling of the cool wood kept her conscious. She struggled to roll over, only to find Rebecca standing over her, pointing a gun at her face.
“Mrs. Ferron… Rebecca,” Emily choked. “What are you doing?”
Rebecca pushed her red hair out of her face and wiped beads of sweat from her head.
“I can’t let you leave. I won’t risk you talking.”
“I’m your lawyer. I can’t tell anyone about this,” Emily explained.
Rebecca shook her head frantically and looked down at her with a maniacal smirk.
“Jerome Oziel was one of the Menendez brother’s physiatrist and he still testified in court,” she said with paranoid conviction. “I can’t let that happen. I’m sorry, Emily. I really am, but I have to do what I have to do.”
With a shaky hand, Rebecca aimed, ready to fire. But if she thought she was going to kill Emily without a to-the-death battle, she was ridiculously wrong.
Emily slapped the gun out of her face and kicked her knee, locking it in an unnatural position. Rebecca howled in pain and fell to the floor. Unfortunately, she was still holding the gun. Emily scrambled to her knees and crawled out of her line of fire. But she didn’t get far when she heard another gunshot. Emily crab-crawled toward a corner and backed into it before frantically searching her body for injuries. There were none that she could find.
Emily rotated her attention from herself and searched for the immediate threat. Her hand flew over her mouth when she located Rebecca. Her client was lying on the floor. The gun was near her hand and there was a hole in her head. Angel kneeled in front of her and caressed her head.
“You’re okay, sweetheart,” Angel whispered.
His voice was low and soothing. Emily looked into his eyes and exhaled with immense relief. She threw herself into his arms and allowed his touch to calm her racing heart. Angel lowered to sit on the floor and slid in next to her. He held her close to his body until she finally realized she was safe. Emily held on for dear life.
Angel tucked an arm under her legs and lifted her off the floor. He carried her toward the living room, but Emily wiggled with resistance.
