She Cradled the Smoking Gun: Ch 23

Selena’s face twisted into shadows of death, teasing Lisa until the last moment …

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Late afternoon sunshine bathed the hills above the winding road in purple tones as Selena kept driving steadily, handling one curve and then another. Lisa continued sitting with her hands restrained and wondered if death wouldn’t just be better. Grief was exhausting.

Lisa grit her teeth and started seething. They could be friends. Paul could be alive. The cop didn’t have to die. “Why, Selena?”

“Because I love you. I always have.”

Same question. Same answer.

“You hurt me.” Lisa didn’t try to add any more to the statement. She strained to see the fuel gauge. It looked less than half full. Unless she couldn’t tell from her angle.

“You’ll feel better.” Selena kept driving up the hills, around another bend, and reached a plateau. “The cabin’s ahead. Our retreat away from everybody and everything. If we spend the night here — ” Selena paused. “Or, if we keep going.”

The total absurdity of the situation sunk into Lisa’s mind. “I don’t love you.”

Selena kept driving. “Quiet, please.”

“I don’t love you.” Lisa spat the words. “I hate you.”

“Quiet. Shut up.”

Lisa screamed. “I fucking hate you.”

Selena kept one hand on the wheel and reached with the other, slapping Lisa in the face, “Stop it.” She swerved into the opposite lane toward the edge with a looming view of trees and rocks below. She turned the wheel back just in time, careening into her lane and driving like nothing crazy had happened.

Lisa was shaking but didn’t respond. Words were useless and Selena kept driving until she finally brightened. “There it is.”

Lisa didn’t see anything but a rock jutting out from the hill and nearly poking onto the road. Just around the rock was a dirt road leading into the woods. Selena slowed, and turned onto the overgrown dirt road.

“The cabin. Almost there,” Selena smiled like she had found a pot of gold. “We’ll spend the night here and get up early, before sunrise, and head to I-5.m Just like we used to do when we were kids. My parents liked road trips and I always thought they were intriguing.”

Lisa wanted to laugh hysterically but a jolt shook her. Damned ruts. Deep and rocky with an ominous-sounding loud scrape on Selena’s side.

“Oh, shit.” Selena’s eyes grew wide, the car lurched again and suddenly listed on the left, like a ship taking on water. Selena hit the gas but the engine gave a shrill protest and struggled to crawl forward. “Oh, no.” She stopped, got out, and looked at the left front tire. “Oh, my God. It’s flat.”

Lisa had the urge to laugh. Should have kept driving on the highway.

“What are we going to do?” She hurried to Lisa’s side and opened the door. “Quick, out.” She tugged and Lisa got out, but stumbled, fell, and hit her face on a branch. “Oh, I didn’t mean to.” Selena hurried and untied Lisa’s arms. “Let’s go.”

Lisa glanced back down the road and Selena hurried back to her side of the car and pulled out the gun. “You’re staying with me, darling. Let’s get past this and talk everything over.”

She was talking fast. “You’ll help carry things to the cabin. Maybe just our make-up.” Her hand was shaking and she sounded like she was revealing an incredible sense of desperation. “Come on.”

She reached into the driver’s side and popped open the trunk. “Get the most important things.” Her tone changed to sentimental and sweet. “Albert and I would come up here. When we first married.”

Branches, rocks, and plenty of foliage hid whatever road there had been.

“When’s the last time you were here?” Lisa pulled a handbag from the trunk.

Selena scowled and sounded angry. “Before he stopped loving me.” She held the gun and looked around.

Lisa suddenly felt calm like she was growing stronger and Selena was shrinking. It didn’t look like anybody had touched the area in years.

“I didn’t hurt you, did I, Lisa?” Selena’s concern was so damn weird.

Giving an answer would be too bizarre and now it felt like play-acting was the best strategy for survival. “I’m fine. Should I get the food, too?”

“That’d be awesome.” Selena sounded perky while Lisa pulled out another bag. She walked behind the car, closed the trunk, and pointed the gun at Lisa’s back. “Go on.”

Lisa cradled the bags. “We’re together now? Aren’t we?”

“Yes, yes. We are.”

Lisa kept walking under a thick canopy of trees, stumbled over a rock, and saw the shadow of a structure ahead. If they had tried driving up the road then the bottom of the car would have been ripped out. She drew closer and noticed the cabin was missing something. Like a front door. And windows. The sun was moving west and light was becoming scarce.

What the hell was wrong with Selena?

“Oh, my.” Selena looked stunned but she kept holding the gun. “This looks terrible. How awful. I don’t remember this.”

Lisa grew worried. What if Selena got upset and accidentally fired? Lisa eased to the side while Selena looked closer at the failing structure like she was looking at someone she didn’t recognize.

“This is … dirty.”

That was an understatement. How did Selena see the world? Lisa looked for a rock as a weapon that she could easily pick up and a thick tree she could hide behind. She was laying out a strategy when flashes of red lit up the encroaching darkness. Red lights swirling with blue flashes coming from the road.

“Police.” Lisa was pumping with a new shot of adrenaline.

“No.” Selena screamed.

A furious chopping sound of helicopters came from the distance, shaking the trees and echoing off rock walls. Lisa thought she heard tires squealing and doors slamming. She glanced at Selena, and took off toward the car, but tripped and fell. Selena hurried, holding the gun, and pointed at Lisa. “Up. Get up.”

Lisa stood and Selena wrapped an arm around her throat, nuzzling her ear, and whimpering.

Instructions blasted through a loudspeaker. “This is the police. Drop your weapons, lie down, and put your hands on the back of your head.”

Oh, my God. Lisa closed her eyes. Would this be it?

“We’ll always be together,” murmured Selena.

Lisa gritted her teeth and thought of Paul. Did he die in terror or was he caught off guard?

Quiet.

Lights were shining into the forest and then a repeat through the loudspeaker. “Drop your weapons.”

“Please, no.” Selena stammered. “I want to get to Oregon with my love.”

Lisa hoped that Selena was trying to get out alive.

More instructions. “Lie down. Face down. Hands on the back of your head.”

Lisa wondered about movement through the trees that she couldn’t see. “It’s okay, Selena. Listen.”

What if they mistook her for Selena?

Selena screamed angrily. “Fuck, no.” She turned, ran toward the cabin, tugging Lisa who grabbed Selena’s arm and dug her nails in sharply, and with a free hand punched her in the face and stumbled forward before falling face down onto the ground.

Selena suddenly pivoted toward the road and blindly fired.

Lisa covered her head and shots rang through the woods. She glanced and watched Selena fall, twisting, and hitting the ground. Lisa buried her face in the dirt with her mind going blank and unable to process the horror.

Voices echoed and footsteps trampled branches. Lisa dared not move and nearly screamed when a hand gently touched her. Detective Tom Stone.

“Lisa, you’re safe.”

She couldn’t answer and couldn’t stop trembling. The dirt turned cold and scary until relief came in the form of a blanket and hot tea.

To be continued with Ch 24

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