what was happening wasn’t real. “Mar, stop! Do you even know how to use that thing?”
Marisol nudged Connie’s head with the barrel of the gun. “I do. Guess who taught me? My loving husband. Ironic, isn’t it? He wanted me to be able to defend myself at home while he was traveling. I hoped one day I’d be able to use it on him, and I did.”
She’d also intended to kill Connie when she brought her out here, Josie realized.
When Marisol didn’t lower the gun, Connie cried, “Mar, what are you doing?”
Gretchen said, “Marisol, calm down. Put your weapon down. There’s no need for this.”
Marisol rolled her eyes. “No need for this? You’re the police. I just told you everything. You think I’m just going to let you slap some cuffs on me and march me to jail?”
Josie said, “You’re outgunned.”
Marisol laughed and needled Connie’s skin with the gun barrel. “Oh really? You think one of you can shoot me before I kill Connie? Isn’t that a whole thing with cops? Aren’t you supposed to preserve life or something? I’ve got a hostage. Don’t you have to negotiate with me?”
“We can talk,” Josie told her. “But not like this.”
A full-body shudder engulfed Connie’s body. Her face was so pale it looked translucent. She said, “She’s going to kill me. If she killed Vera and Kurt, she’ll kill me.”
Marisol didn’t deny it.
In her periphery, Josie saw Gretchen inching closer to Connie. She tried to keep Marisol’s attention on her. “Killing Kurt was a lot easier than killing Vera though, wasn’t it?”
Marisol stared at Josie with narrowed eyes.
Gretchen stepped closer to Connie.
Josie kept talking. “Did Kurt lie for you? He was your alibi for Vera’s murder. Did he know you had killed her?”
Marisol shook her head. “I told him I was going for a run that morning. He had no clue. Then someone from the police called to ‘verify’ my alibi. He said I was home because he assumed I’d just taken a jog right here in the neighborhood but when he got the call about coming to the station to talk about Beverly and Vera Urban, he knew something was up. That’s what started our argument.”
“The one that led to Kurt’s death?” Josie asked.
“Yes. He beat me until I told him everything. I tried to tell him it was going to be okay because Vera was finally gone. I killed her so the whole thing would go away.”
“How could you do it?” Connie whined. “How could you kill her?”
“Shut up!” Marisol hollered.
Connie blanched, shrinking back toward the tree, slouching down a little. Gretchen was almost on top of her, even though her gun was still pointed at Marisol. Josie felt a tiny wave of relief that for a moment, the barrel of the gun wasn’t on Connie’s head. Still, she whimpered. “Vera was your friend! How could you?”
“Friends keep secrets, Con,” Marisol shot back. “Vera wasn’t a true friend. After all I did for her, she wasn’t going to keep my secrets. Just like you.”
Forty-Nine
Everything seemed to slow down, the seconds clicking coldly by, like the blinking of an eye. Blink. Marisol’s finger depressed the trigger. Blink. The concussive boom of a gunshot shook the air around them. Blink. Gretchen lunged toward Connie. Blink. Josie fired at Marisol. Blink. Another crack blistered through the air. Blink. Gretchen and Connie went down hard on the ground. Blink. The world fell out from beneath them.
It took another blink for Josie to realize what had happened. She was falling. Then water engulfed her. Sludge and tree roots slid down onto her head. Her mouth opened, only to take in soil and thick, grimy water.
Landslide.
Her limbs fought to find the surface. She opened her eyes but there was only blackness all around her. The water was thick with dirt, making it nearly impossible to move through it or even to breathe. More weight fell onto her head. That has to be up, a voice in her head told her. The surface. She kicked and punched through the sludge. Something latched onto her hand and pulled. Striving toward it, she kicked harder. Finally, her head broke the surface. Hacking, she reached her fingers into her mouth and tried to clear it of the debris from the landslide. The dirt was gritty in her teeth. Clearing her eyes, she looked around. Neck-deep in the dirty water stood Connie.
“Thank you,” Josie told her. Frantically, she panned the area. The entire ledge had fallen into the moat. The trees