Killerfind (34 page)

hetta collapsed
into the
passenger
seat as Mylene ran to the driver’s side and slid behind the wheel, and was
still buckling in when Mylene took off. A quick glance assured her that Mylene
had fastened her seat belt. Another glance, this time at her cell phone confirmed
that her battery was dead.

“Do you have a cell phone?” she asked Mylene.

Mylene shook her head. “I lost it sometime today,
probably at the barn.”

“Then I sure hope Ricky called Randolph, or we may
be out there by ourselves.” At Mylene’s questioning look, Rhetta explained.
“Randolph is my husband, and if Ricky called him, he’ll be burning rubber to
get here, and will call the sheriff.” Rhetta massaged her side, grateful that
the pain was subsiding. Maybe she didn’t break a rib after all.

Mylene turned to Rhetta when then hit the highway
and the Viper was throttling toward Bollinger County. “What does your husband
think of you chasing all over creation after bad guys?”

Rhetta waited to answer until Mylene stopped
skidding along the gravel. She didn’t want to be the reason Mylene would slide
off the road. She needn’t have worried. Mylene handled the Viper perfectly.
“Let’s just say that if Adele doesn’t kill me, Randolph might.”

Mylene shot her a sideways glance. “I owe you for
what you did back there at the barn. I truly thought Adele would shoot me.
She’s hated me all my life, as she hated Jeremy. Actually, as it turned out,
she hated Malcom, too.” Mylene downshifted as she came to the four-way at
Highways 51 and 34 in Marble Hill, rolled through the stop and zoomed left in
front of a log truck lumbering across the intersection. Then she scorched
rubber and headed west. Rhetta squeezed her eyes closed and prayed. By the time
she opened them, Mylene was sailing past Merc’s and across the bridge out of
town.

Mylene went on with the conversation as though she
hadn’t just nearly killed them both. “She’s always been nuts. She’d go berserk
if I did the least little thing and would take a rubber hose and beat me. She’d
get a crazy look in her eye and tell me she’d kill me if I told my father. Then
she’d laugh and beat me some more.” She floored the Viper out of town toward
the cabin.

“I loved my father, even though the world saw him as
a scoundrel,” Mylene said. “I was his pal and his daughter. He taught me to
smoke and drink at a very early age. He never was allowed to be a father to
Jeremy, and frankly, didn’t like him all that well, even though he was in love
with his mother.” Mylene laughed. “We should plaster all our pictures in the
dictionary under the word ‘dysfunctional.’”

“I already have Anjanette Spears there in my
dictionary, so I could make room for the rest of you.” Rhetta made the mistake
of pulling the visor down to shield her eyes from the afternoon sun and ended
up catching her reflection in the visor mirror. She’d seen a horror movie with
a zombie that looked better than she did. “Adele sure had everyone fooled,”
Rhetta said, tucking the visor back up. She couldn’t stand looking at herself.
“I thought she was this frail old lady. She’s about as frail as a rattlesnake
and twice as deadly.” Rhetta felt a deep sadness for Mylene not experiencing
the love from a mother to a daughter and knowing Adele passed Mylene off as her
natural child. Rhetta shook her head. Tears welled for a moment as she
remembered her own mother. She knew absolutely that her mother had loved her
beyond anything else in the world. A hollow ache caught her heart as she
remembered her mother’s painful death.

“Dang allergies,” She muttered a she swiped the back
of her hand across her cheek.

Mylene swerved left again and barreled up a familiar
gravel road. Rhetta sat up and peered ahead through the cloud of gravel dust,
searching for Adele’s truck. At the top of the hill they would make a right
turn into the cabin’s driveway and be a big red target for Adele’s high-powered
rifle

“Let’s stop here and walk the rest of the way,”
Rhetta suggested. “We don’t want Adele shooting at us.”

Mylene veered over into a turnout from a private
drive and killed the engine. “You’re right, of course,” she said, shrugging out
of her seat belt and shoulder strap. “You should wait here, Rhetta.” She
reached across Rhetta to the glove box and withdrew a .38 pistol. That was
indeed the gun Rhetta had seen her carry when she was out here before.

“Not on your life, sister. I didn’t ride along just
to keep you company. Let’s go.” Rhetta pushed open the door and hoped that
Mylene didn’t see her wince. She realized that she felt a lot better. Probably
from adrenaline kicking in. Her heart began hammering the instant she slammed
the door. Her in-her-head voice asked her if she was crazy.
Yes.
To
Mylene, she said, “I sure don’t see any law here.” They picked their way slowly
toward the cabin’s driveway. The roadside was uneven, the loose gravel making
Rhetta’s sandals worthless as protection. She stubbed her toe on a rock the
size of a cantaloupe. “Ow.” Mylene ignored her discomfort.

“I think she’ll head for the shed and that truck
right away,” Mylene said, checking her weapon.

“If she’s here, where’s her ride?” Rhetta asked,
taking in the empty yard and driveway.

“Last time she parked at the neighbor’s empty place
just behind here. She only has to walk about thirty yards to get to the shed.”
Mylene indicated the shed where Rhetta and Ricky had been shot at. “Or, if
she’s really sneaky, she’s upstairs and going to shoot at us through the
window. Also like she did last time.”

“So that was you I saw walking around the shed
carrying a .38? I knew it wasn’t a man by the size of the footprints.” She
leaned placed one of her feet against the side of Mylene’s foot. “Your feet
aren’t any bigger than mine.”

Mylene nodded. “Adele was upstairs when she shot at
the two of you. When I heard the shot I followed her. I figured there was
something out here that she wanted to get rid of. It has to be the truck.”

Rhetta shuddered. “Randolph said he thought the shot
came from above our heads and he was right. Lucky for us, she missed.”

“Probably because she’s losing some of her eyesight
and is too proud to wear glasses, the old witch.” Reaching one of the rock
pillars at the entrance, Mylene crouched low, and motioned for Rhetta to do the
same.

“Let’s try to get to the garage and wait there,”
Mylene said. “She’ll come, because she has to destroy the truck. It’s
evidence.” Crouching, Mylene scrabbled her way to the shed. Rhetta followed. At
the shed, Rhetta was breathing hard. She paused, forcing herself to take deep
breaths. She wasn’t out of shape, so the hard breathing had to be due to pure,
unadulterated fear.

Mylene stood against the windowless end of the shed
and motioned Rhetta to stay behind her. They eased along the wall, rounded the
corner and saw the big sliding door. The door stood open a couple of feet.
Rhetta was sure they had closed it up when they’d left. Her heart pounded. “I
think she’s here,” she whispered. Before Mylene could answer, the smell of
gasoline filled Rhetta’s nostrils. Mylene must have noticed it, too. She bolted
forward, shouting, “That bitch!” And disappeared inside the barn. Seconds
later, an explosion slammed Rhetta to the ground. Flames burst through the
door.

Momentarily dazed, Rhetta slowly pulled herself up.
When she realized what happened, she forced herself to sprint toward the door,
shouting Mylene’s name. As she reached it, a small figure emerged, screaming
for help. Rhetta grabbed her, and pulled her to the ground where she rolled her
in the dirt. She recognized who she’d grasped. Adele had scorched her shirt and
singed her hair and eyebrows, but seemed otherwise unhurt. Rhetta pulled the
old woman to her feet and screamed. “Where’s Mylene?’ She shook the old lady
when she didn’t answer. Sobbing hysterically, the woman pointed to the barn.
Rhetta had no sympathy for the murderous old bat. She shoved her aside roughly,
took a deep breath, and ran inside the burning shed.

Where was Mylene?

 putrid
black smoke
filled
the metal building, blinding Rhetta, and making her choke. Each cough produced
a spasm of pain from her side, but she pushed forward, searching for Mylene.
The old truck they needed for evidence was nothing but a charred hulk, and
several fires burned the stacks of parts and rags scattered throughout the
shed. Adele had set the truck on fire. The fumes and gasoline in containers in
the shed had exploded, sending fuel and debris flying.

“Mylene,” Rhetta gasped. “Where are you?” She choked
and coughed again. She tried covering her mouth with her hands, but it wasn’t
enough to keep the smoke from her nostrils. She fought for breath. Her head
began to spin and she went down on her knees. She knew she was running out of
oxygen. She’d have to leave or die inside with Mylene. When she crouched closer
to the floor, she found a small pocket of less smoky air. Her eyes stung,
sending tears cascading down her face. She sucked air and inched toward the
sliver of light she prayed was the door.

Her head began clearing, so she stood. Desperately
scanning around the shed one more time, she spotted Mylene, crumpled on the
floor near the front of the truck, about ten feet farther in. Rhetta dropped to
her knees again, then to the floor where she rolled over and over toward
Mylene. When she was next to her, she pulled herself to her knees and knelt
over her, shouting at her. “Mylene, wake up! Mylene, we have to get out!” She
shook her, but still Mylene didn’t respond. Rhetta put her ear to her chest.
Mylene breathed shallowly. Rhetta pulled her up to a sitting position, then
faced her, and placed her unmoving arms over her own shoulders. With all the
strength she had left, Rhetta grasped Mylene under her armpits and heaved her
to her feet. When she did, Mylene moaned.
She’s still alive. I’ve got to get
us out
. “Come on, Mylene, help me,” Rhetta urged as she dragged her toward
the door. Rhetta coughed and gasped for a breath. Her head spun again. Mylene
was too heavy. She was afraid she couldn’t carry her all the way. Rhetta
stopped, her heart pounding wildly, her head wringing wet with sweat and her
eyes full of smoke and tears. She willed herself to keep dragging Mylene toward
the door, toward the air, toward life.

Ten more feet to the door, then eight, then five.
Then she was at the door. She propped Mylene against the wall and shoved the
sliding door as hard as she could. Fresh air from outside rushed in. Gulping
air into her scorched lungs, Rhetta grabbed her and toppled outside on to the
ground. She lay gasping, sucking as much of the fresh air that she could.
Gradually her head cleared. She leaned over and raised Mylene’s head and
ordered her to breathe. “Breathe, Mylene. You need oxygen. Breathe!” Mylene’s
chest heaved and she took a tiny breath. She followed it with a few more
shallow breaths until her eyes fluttered open. Then they closed again, but she
kept breathing.

The shed was in blazes, orange and yellow spires
jutting through the tin roof. Heat rolled out through the door along with more
flames. “We’ve got to get away from the shed. It may explode,” Rhetta said,
still panting. She struggled first to her knees, then finally stood and pulled
Mylene to her feet. Grasping Mylene around her waist, she tugged until she
managed to drag a stumbling Mylene away from the burning shed. Straining to
fill their lungs with air, they collapsed on the grass thirty feet from the
inferno.

“We’re safe, now.” Rhetta said, and lay back against
a hard maple.

“Are you sure about that?” It was Adele. Rhetta
stared up at the business end of a rifle for the second time that day.