Bailed Out (The Anna Albertini Files #2) - Rebecca Zanetti Page 0,111

tried to help me.”

“My car and phone are here,” I reminded her. “I’m traceable. Don’t do this. Let’s voluntarily contact the police, and I’ll defend you.”

She looked at me like I was nuts. “Um, no. How about I shoot you, burn the evidence, and drive your car and phone out to the Lordes apartment complex? Your disappearance will be a mystery.”

The woman was a freakin criminal mastermind. “My family won’t stop with the search, and you know it.”

She gestured me up with the gun. “Yeah, but nobody is going to look at me. Come on. I can’t shoot you here. Let’s go downstairs.”

“Seriously?” I didn’t move. “You want me to meekly walk down to the crematorium and just let you shoot me? Should I climb in the oven first?”

“That’d be great,” she said. “Thanks.”

My legs went rigid. “No.”

“If you don’t, I’m going to have fun shooting you. First the ears, then the knees, and then your boobs.” She licked her lips.

I blinked. What kind of woman shot another woman in the boobs? Fear made me lightheaded and I fought to stay calm. “Fine.” I started to rise and then lunged for her, ducking my head.

She fired and pain blew across my shoulder. I hit her mid center, and we crashed into the coffin on the floor, sending it careening toward the wall. Panic full on took hold of me, and I punched and clawed, grunting with the effort to get the gun out of her hands.

Her scream pierced the day and almost froze me in place. She swung the gun around, and I punched her square in the wrist. The weapon flew out of her hand to dent the coffin on the stand. Then she clipped me in the forehead with her knuckles, and my still damaged forehead exploded in pain.

I fell back.

She jumped for me, and I kicked up, nailing her beneath the chin. Going on instinct again, I rolled and tackled her against the coffin. She landed with a pained oof.

Then in a move I’d learned from her dead boyfriend, I grabbed her head by the hair, lifted it, and smashed it back down on the coffin. Twice. She yelped and her eyelids fluttered shut. Grunting more, I yanked her to the side, opened the coffin and shoved her inside.

I ran into the other room and grabbed my purse, quickly returning to sit on the coffin and dial Detective Pierce to explain the situation. He immediately called in reinforcements and promised to be there in record time. I clicked off the call to press both hands on the coffin on either side of my hips.

Krissy started screaming and kicking the lid, and I pushed my feet down on the tiled floor to keep my balance and not fall off.

My phone buzzed, and I fumbled for it with one hand. “Hello,” I grunted, trying to listen for sirens outside.

“Hi, Angel. It looks like I’m going to be out of town for a few extra days. Have to fly to DC for a more extensive debriefing,” Aiden said. “Also, I heard that Rhino is on the loose, so please stay low until we catch up with him.”

I struggled to keep the lid on the coffin and glanced at the top of my bleeding shoulder. “Rhino’s getting picked up as we speak, and I was wondering if you knew how much oxygen was in a coffin.”

Aiden was silent for a second. “No. Why?”

Sirens finally trilled in the distance. “Just curious.” Krissy kept kicking, so I figured she could breathe. I sighed at my bloody shoulder. “It looks like I got burned by another bullet.” Darn it. I really liked that shirt.

Chapter 40

I sat in the shade at my usual table by the river at the family Sunday barbecue next to Pauley, who finished reading the front page expose about Pucci, Krissy, and the illegal gun operation.

“This is a good picture of you,” Pauley said, setting the paper aside.

I glanced down at it. Last week after I’d called Pierce, the media had arrived with the cops, and the photographer had caught a snap of me still sitting on the coffin before Pierce had ushered him out. “Yeah, but Jolene made me sound like a creepy coffin lady.” Although she’d had to give me props for taking down Krissy, the article was mostly positive. Even better, it mentioned that I was with the Bunne & Albertini Law Firm. Once we got phones, we’d hopefully have calls. If Krissy called searching for a defense