“What have you done? Why?” Lanie quavered.
The gun shook as Judith gripped it tighter and raised its aim from Lanie’s chest to her head. “I loved him. I depended on him. And he met you. This is all your fault,” accused Judith.
Lanie froze. She stared at the gun. She watched a demented Judith. “I’m sorry for what Peter did to you. It’s awful and no one should suffer—”
“Shut the fuck up,” Judith shouted. “I don’t want your damn pity. I wanted him.” She waved the gun in the direction of the couch and Gavin before refocusing it on Lanie.”
Should she attempt to wrestle the gun out of the obviously disturbed woman’s hand? She believed she could but somehow the small, unstable woman killed Gavin. Probably when he least suspected it. Maybe he had no idea she had a gun until she pulled it out and fired it.
“You are free of Peter now. They were going to rule it a self-defense homicide. You had the rest of your life ahead of you,” Lanie insisted.
Judith’s eyebrows lifted slowly. Her eyes dilated. “The rest of my life,” she cackled. “Gavin was supposed to be the rest of my life.”
Could she find any common logic with the loose cannon? Better yet, could she deliver it? “We haven’t been together for months.” Gavin didn’t send the texts, Judith did. Or did Gavin text her and she didn’t show up in time to save him. “You can check his phone. He and I broke up. Early June.We haven’t had any contact. I didn’t want to see him today.
“Lies. It’s all lies. Everyone lies. And not a one of them will admit it.”
That tactic didn’t work. Switch gears. Play the understanding victim. “He lied to me too.”
“Of course, he did. Do you think you’re something special? You aren’t.” Judith marched from one end of the kitchen to the other, but she never lost control of the gun and its target.
“I know I’m not special. Especially to him. He made women feel loved. It was his profession. He said the words we wanted to hear.” Lanie pushed the words out. Her life depended on it. She didn’t want to die. And Gavin laid dead on the couch.
“I was different. He told me I was. He told me that everything would work out. He pushed me to believe in happy endings.” Judith stilled and peered at Lanie as if yearning for understanding.
“That’s his skill. I too have struggled with it. He received payment. He provided a service. You and I benefited. He did too. But we were just paying clients to him.” Keep her engaged. All Lanie had to do was keep Judith talking. Because she had no alternative. No one would come and save her. She envisioned only one outcome. Her death.
“Yes. Yes, we were. And he told us and gave us what we wanted. But we never meant anything to him,” Judith agreed.
Where did she go from there? She didn’t believe she never meant anything to Gavin. She and Gavin weren’t any appointment other than the arranged meeting by Beverly. But how did she proceed. Shut up and listen. Listen to the cues from Judith.
From what Gavin told her about Judith, he did worry about her. He said she needed abuse counseling. So should she fulfill the role of counselor. As if she knew how. Damn if she didn’t need a counselor herself. “He talked about you. He told me about the abuse.”
“Peter stormed in the house. He threw those pictures at me. They were of you. Gavin. Doing all the things he and I were meant to be doing. Things normal couples do. Couples who celebrate their love.” She turned away before circling and holding her hands to her head. Her hands shook. The gun bounced against her forehead. She dropped the arm holding the gun and pointed it again at Lanie. As careless and unpredictable as its carrier appeared, Judith controlled the weapon. Once again, she calmed and raised it steadily to its intended target. Lanie’s chest. “Peter told me how pathetic I was. How disgusting I was. How no one could ever love me. Even someone I paid couldn’t love me. And he supported it with images of you and Gavin.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t imagine how horrible that must have been. I understand how you lost yourself in Gavin. I did too. He made us feel better and special. He became our escape.”
Judith’s face softened and her eyes took on a dreamy gaze. For a few seconds before she switched back to the unhinged and unpredictable woman with a gun. “You don’t know anything about our love. Not a damn thing,” she raged.
“You can tell me about it,” Lanie urged. She guessed she should keep Judith talking. Not that she expected anyone to show up and save her. What options did she have?
“I don’t want to. It was special. They are my memories. He did love me. You are the one he didn’t love.”
“No, he didn’t love me. Receiving texts from him today did confuse me. But I guess you sent them.”
“You are both to blame for my heartbreak. You both need to suffer for it. I knew you’d come running back to him. And as long as you’re alive, he’d want you.” Judith tilted her head and gazed at Lanie with glassy, frightening eyes.
“But I didn’t come running back. I didn’t want to come. I tried to call and tell him that.”
“Yet you did. You dear, stupid bitch.”
“This can end here. I’m sure we can explain this to the police.”
Judith laughed loud and hysterically. “Explain that I shot and killed my ex-lover?” She laughed again manically. “I’m done explaining. I’m done hurting. I’ve killed him. Once I’ve killed you… I will disappear and know the two of you are gone. Forever. Neither of you will ever destroy another wounded heart.”
Steadying the gun, she grasped it firmly and smirked. A shot exploded.
Lanie squeezed her eyes shut. A burning scent. The smell of gunpowder flooded her nostrils. A strong odor clung in the air. Had she died?
“Lanie, Lanie are you okay?” David urgently questioned. His fingers wrapped around her upper arms, and he gently shook her.
Opening her eyes, she saw him. She had never seen that look of sheer panic and worry on his face before. She blinked a few times to ensure he truly stood in front of her. She couldn’t swallow. Her throat thickened and closed, and she couldn’t breathe.
He threw his arms around her and clutched her to his chest. Closing her eyes, she buried her face in his shirt and fought to inhale his scent. He caressed the back of her head. “You’re safe. It’s over. I won’t let anything happen to you. Take small breaths. Don’t rush it.”
David never released her from his embrace as he guided her out of Gavin’s home. She later heard during the conversation with the paramedics or the police that he shot Judith. Nothing truly registered. Nothing they did. The EMT’s did a quick assessment of her on the scene. She thought so anyway. She comprehended little to nothing of what David said to any of them. Or any of them said to her.
She received an injection—a sedative or something. David drove her home, undressed her, and stepped in the shower with her. He bathed her and washed her hair. Afterward, he towel-dried her hair and her body and led her to the bed. Slipping underneath the top sheet, she grabbed his wrist. “Don’t leave me alone. Please,” she whimpered.
“Never. I promise,” he replied. He walked around the bed and crawled in behind her. He slid in close and rested a hand on her hip.