I put both arms through the opening, then my head. Vero grabbed my hands and pulled. The window scraped the sides of my coat. I wriggled as she tugged.
“This must be what a farmer feels like when he’s delivering a cow.”
“Shut up,” I hissed as my hips got stuck. “Pull harder!”
Vero gave one final pull, and I came tumbling out. My body hit the ground, the force of it knocking the wind from my lungs. With a wince, I forced myself to my feet.
“I think the minivan is that way. If we cut through the trees, maybe they won’t see us.” Vero pulled me behind her as she broke into a run.
We rounded the corner of the house. I slammed into Vero’s back as she skidded to a stop.
Viola leveled her rifle at us. The rest of the book club stood behind her.
They were all holding knives.
I grabbed on to Vero and started walking us backward. “That explains why the knife block was empty.”
Vero put up her hands. “I saw those things in a TV commercial once. They cut through tin cans. And firewood. And blocks of frozen spinach. These ladies are not fucking around, Finlay.”
“There’s more tree netting in the truck,” Gita told the others.
“Wait!” I held out a hand as Kathy and Birdie started toward us. “No one has to die tonight.” Vero tugged my sleeve. She jutted herchin at a human-shaped imprint in the dirt where Robert had been a few minutes ago. The ground cover had been scraped away, leaving a trail that disappeared under the shadows of the porch. “No one except forRoberthas to die tonight,” I corrected.
“You have a better idea?” Destiny asked.
“Yes, she does!” Vero called out. “She has a much better idea! A brilliant idea! Tell them your awesome idea, Finlay.”
“Right… “I said, struggling to come up with a plan that did not involve tree netting or chopped spinach. “Nick will be here in a few minutes. He’ll be driving onto private property, outside of his jurisdiction, without cause and without a warrant. Which means all three of us are trespassers, and you are completely within your rights to point that gun at us and threaten to shoot us—”
“That’s your brilliant plan?” Vero cried, taking another step backward as the women closed in on us.
“But if you let us go and give us our phones, we can call Nick right now and stop him before he gets here. Vero and I will get in my minivan and leave, and this can all be explained away. As far as anyone needs to know, the only crime you will have committed here is confronting two trespassers on Viola’s property, and everyone makes it out of here safely. We can all go home to our families and pretend this never happened. But if you harm one of us—anyof us,” I said, making eye contact with each of them—“there is no going back.”
The women cast uncertain glances at each other.
“How do we know you won’t double-cross us?” Lola asked.
These women didn’t trust me. And for good reason. If Vero and I were lucky enough to walk out of here with our lives, I was damn sure going straight to Nick to tell him what I’d seen tonight.
“We won’t say anything. Right, Finlay?” Vero elbowed me in the ribs.
“They won’t say a word,” Mrs. Haggerty answered for me.
“How can you be sure?” Birdie asked.
“Because these two are as guilty as we are.” She pointed a knobby finger at us. “I’ve been watching both of you for months. Don’t think I haven’t seen a few things.”
Vero tensed beside me. I felt the blood drain from my face.
“Detective Tran was very interested in my neighborhood watch diaries,” Mrs. Haggerty continued. “There’s one in particular I’m sure he would be very eager to see right about now, considering how curious he is about the two of you. I’ve been keeping that notebook someplace safe. Didn’t figure you’d want the police getting hold of it.”
I couldn’t be sure how much Mrs. Haggerty had seen the night Harris Mickler died in my garage, or what she knew of Vero’s criminal charges in Maryland. But I wasn’t willing to take any chances, and, judging by the calculating gleam in Mrs. Haggerty’s eyes, she knew it.
“What will you do with it?” I asked as headlights swept across the cabin.
“I suppose that’s up to you,” she said. “But if you don’t want to dig your own graves, you’ll keep your mouths shut.”
CHAPTER 23
