She heard a funny sound, and she realized he was trying to pick the lock. She raced back to the kitchen, locked the backdoor, and set the little bit of security system that Mack had originally put in for her. It had yet to be replaced with something better, and now she realized she needed to—and soon. Once she had that set up, she breathed a little bit easier and quickly texted Mack again. But Snoz was still working at the front door, and, with any luck, as soon as he managed to break through the lock, the dreaded sirens would go off. But she couldn’t count on it. Because she had never yet put it to the test like this.
She had enjoyed that little sense of security, knowing she had a security system, but what if it didn’t work? She couldn’t believe how this afternoon had gone downhill so quickly, and she didn’t even know why. She wanted to just open the door and ask Snoz why he’d done what he had done and what he was here for. She wanted to ask if he was the one who had attacked her at the cemetery.
But, if he was here now, was this connected to her ex or was it connected to her divorce lawyer? Or both? All of it made a little bit of sense, yet, at the same time, it made no sense at all. She thought about it long and hard, and, knowing Mack would hate her for it, she made a decision. It was still early enough in the day that, if she went outside, screaming bloody murder, somebody would come to her aid. Wouldn’t they? At least Richard should. But then again, she hadn’t been exactly the neighbor he wanted, so maybe he’d be perfectly happy to let somebody knock her out again.
Frowning, she watched as Snoz continued to work on the lock. And then she stepped forward, opened the door immediately to set off the sirens, then slammed the screen door outward. But there was no alarm. She stared in shock, as the man glared at her. Not knowing what else to do, she went on the offensive. “So, are you back for another chance to hit me over the head. I mean, that’s what you do, isn’t it? Attack vulnerable women?”
His glare changed into an ugly scowl, as he reached out with a fist, intent on decking her. But she saw it coming and moved her head ever-so-slightly at the last second, and his fist pounded into the wooden door frame behind her.
Mugs had already been trying to get around both doors so he could attack this guy, and, when Mugs did, the guy kicked him hard, and Mugs dropped to the ground.
“Mugs! Mugs!”
Snoz sneered at her. “You think a dog will keep me out of there?”
“I don’t care what keeps you out of here,” she cried out, “but you’re not getting in without a fight.” She pushed him hard and then pushed him again and again.
He backed up ever-so-slightly, and she took advantage of that and pushed him down the porch steps. He stumbled and fell onto his butt, but he bounced up in one motion. “You are a menace,” he said.
“Is that why you tried to kill me?” she cried out, frightened to see that Mugs wasn’t moving. She started screaming, “Richard! Richard! Help!”
Almost immediately her neighbor’s door popped open, and he stepped out, looking at what was going on.
“Call the police! Call the police! This guy is the one who tried to kill me in the graveyard!”
He stared at her in shock and immediately slammed the door as he raced inside.
Her attacker laughed. “Do you really think anybody cares?”
“Yeah, they care,” she said. “You’re working for my ex, I suppose.” He looked at her in surprise. She shrugged. “It’s the kind of thing he’d do. He is the weaselly type who wouldn’t take on his own dirty work.”
“Maybe,” he said, studying her with interest. “He did say that you were quite a piece of work.”
“He just wants me to quietly disappear and to leave him alone.”
“Yet you won’t take the smart route and do that, huh? Too bad,” he said, “but I’m not here on his behalf.”
“Then why are you here? Is it my bimbo ex-lawyer? Because she was just here ranting and raving too.”
He looked at her in surprise. “She was just here?”
She nodded. “What? Are you looking for her too?”
He just smiled and said, “This could be a lucky trip.”
“Not if you’re planning on taking me out,” she said. “I’ve got nothing to do with anything.”
“Maybe,” he said, “but I do jobs for a lot of clients, local and far away. You’ve pissed off some interesting people.”
She stared at him. “Are you actually saying you’re not here because of my ex?” He slowly shook his head, and that nasty grin made her heart freeze. “So who hired you then?” She asked the question slowly and was afraid of the answer.
“Somebody who will go to jail for a very long time—unless you’re not around.”
“No, no, no,” she said. “Everybody going to jail deserves to because they’ve done some terrible things.”
“But, if you’re the only one who has anything to say,” he said, “then maybe not.”
She stared at him, her mind ripping through the cold cases, trying to figure it out. “No,” she said. “Everybody has been found with bodies or some evidence like that,” she said. “Look at Steve. How many dead bodies were buried in his yard?”
“I don’t know anything about him,” he said, with added interest. “Maybe I should contact him though. He might have something he needs done to make his life a little easier.”
She stared at him. “Is that all you do? You go around and help all these criminals?”
“Why not?” he said. “Somebody needs to, and a lot of these criminals have money. A lot of money.”
“That’s true,” she said as she stared at him. “I certainly don’t.”
“That’s because you didn’t know how to play the game,” he said, with a flick of his wrist.
“So, what will you do, just shoot me?”
“Well, it’s supposed to look like an accident,” he said.
“That means that nobody would know that it’s you.”
“Well, nobody will know it was me anyway,” he said.
“It sure didn’t look like an accident when you knocked me out in the cemetery the other day.”
“Yeah, that was a hasty attempt,” he said. “A couple homeless people were there, and I figured they would get blamed.”
“I didn’t even see them there,” she said in surprise.
“No, they left at the same time and went the wrong direction,” he muttered. “So what should have been a simple plan just failed.”
“Yeah, and instead you were picked up on the cameras,” she said, with a smile. He stared at her in shock, and she nodded. “So you’re not so good at what you do either.”
“I’m plenty good enough to take care of you,” he said.
“And they really intended on you killing me?” she asked sadly. “Am I so bad as all that?”
“Well, she’ll spend the rest of her life in jail because of you.”
She froze. “It’s a woman?”
“Person,” he corrected immediately.
She shook her head. “No, no, no,” she muttered. “You said she, plain as day.” She gasped. “Penny! Oh, my God, Penny is behind this.” She stared at him in shock.