Beach Blanket Homicide (Lucy McGuffin, Psychic Amateur Detective 1)

The rope is beginning to loosen, but it’s still too tight to allow me any real movement of my hands.

“Good try, but you’ll say anything to save yourself. And Will is out on his big date with Brittany tonight.”

At the look of surprise on my face, she snickers. “That’s the thing about small towns. Everyone knows what everyone else is doing and when they’re doing it. Poor Lucy. I’ve felt so bad for you. In love with your best friend and all this time, he’s clueless. But he’s a man. We can’t expect them to be as astute as we are. I’m afraid that at this point of the night, you’re probably the last thing on Will Cunningham’s mind.”

If I could grab that frying pan and smack the look off Gloria’s face, I would.

Which isn’t a bad idea…

I inch toward the frying pan. Unfortunately, it also takes me closer to Gloria, but it’s my only hope. If I run, she’ll overpower me. I know that for sure now.

“You’re right,” I say trying to sound resigned. “Will isn’t coming over here tonight. He wants Brittany. Not me.”

“He has wonderful taste in books, but in women?” She shakes her head. “I’m sorry, Lucy.”

The knot on the rope seems to be easing. I have to keep her talking so she doesn’t realize what I’m doing.

“I know you’re not a bad person, Gloria. If you were you’d have killed Cornelius after he bit you. Instead, you took him to the vet. Didn’t you?”

“I had to make sure he didn’t have rabies. No one even missed him! I thought he would be fine with Anthony and Aurelia and I’d never have to see him again, so I dumped him back off at the house. But then Abby convinced her dimwitted brother to steal the dog. As long as that dog is hanging around, I’ll always be in jeopardy.”

A movement near the doorway catches my attention.

Oh no. It’s Paco.

How he came down the stairs without making noise is a miracle. Usually, his nails make that annoying click-click-click sound. It’s like he purposefully snuck down the stairs. He’s standing in the doorway, and he’s looking at me with his soulful brown eyes. Only there’s anger in them.

I know exactly what he’s going to do.

Oh. My. God.

I hope it works. Or we’ll both be dead.

Gloria uncaps the syringe. “It’s all right, Lucy,” she says in an eerily soothing voice. “It won’t hurt. In a few minutes you’ll go to sleep, and it will all be—

Paco leaps from his hiding place near the door and sinks his teeth into Gloria’s ankle. Vaguely, it dawns on me that it’s the same ankle he bit before. Way to go, Paco!

“What the—” Gloria howls in pain. “Get off me, you horrible little beast!” The syringe drops from her hand onto the floor.

The frying pan on the counter lies between us. We both reach for it at the same time.

Only I’m faster.

I grab hold of the handle and swing it as hard as I can, hitting Gloria on the side of the head. “Take that, you crazy bitch!” At the same time, the kitchen door crashes open.

We both turn to look.

Will stands there with his mouth open.

Gloria turns to me, blinks like she’s in a daze, then crumbles to the floor.

I wiggle out of the ropes around my wrists. Paco lets go of Gloria’s ankle and jumps into my arms. “Good boy, Paco!”

“Lucy!” The look of disbelief on Will’s face is almost funny. “What in God’s name—what the hell happened here?”

I point to Gloria’s limp body lying on the floor. “Gloria Hightower is the Angel of Death. She killed Susan Van Dyke and Abby Delgado.”

Chapter Twenty-Six