minutes, and we’ve got to get Andrea down here.”
The two women went off through the laundry room to the
back stairs. Judith eyed Renie. “What floor are the executives
on at headquarters?”
“Thirty.” Renie’s lips twitched.
“That’s what I thought,” said Judith.
Judith had just turned on the dishwasher when she heard
the screams. Renie jumped and knocked a cereal box off the
counter. An eerie silence ensued.
“What was that?” Renie asked in a startled voice.
“It was a scream. Or screams.” Judith was trembling.
“Where did it come from? And,” she gulped, “why did it
stop?”
Cautiously, the cousins went into the laundry room, then
as far as the bottom of the back stairs. They heard nothing.
“Maybe it wasn’t upstairs,” Renie whispered. “Maybe it
was downstairs, in the basement.”
Judith glanced around the small hallway where the top of
the basement stairs could be seen near the rear entrance.
“Maybe. But I’m not going down there. Let’s go into the
lobby and find out if anybody else heard anything.”
If the others hadn’t heard the screams, they now saw a
most alarming sight. Ava and Nadia were huddled in the
open elevator, seemingly paralyzed by fear. Just as the door
automatically started to close, Ava hurtled into the lobby.
Nadia stumbled behind her.
Gene and Max rushed to meet the women. “What the
hell…?” shouted Max, grabbing Nadia before she fell.
“It’s Andrea,” Ava gasped, leaning against Gene. “She killed
herself! Andrea’s dead!”
NINE
AVA BURIED HER face against Gene’s shoulder. Max halfcarried Nadia to the nearest sofa, almost bumping into a
dazed Russell Craven, who was wandering around the wide
hearth, glassy-eyed and muttering to himself. Frank Killegrew
and Ward Haugland simply stared at one another. Margo
Chang picked up her black suede bag and pulled out a
Ladysmith .38 Special revolver.
“If anybody comes near me, they’re dead!” she shrieked.
“Nobody’s going to kill me, nobody’s going to drive me to
suicide! I’m getting out of here alive!”
“Margo!” Killegrew turned white. “Is that thing loaded?”
“You bet!” Margo swung the gun around the room, taking
aim at each of the others in turn. “I know how to use it, too!
I go to the range once a month!”
“My God!” Killegrew sank down on the sofa next to Nadia.
“You know,” Russell said, no longer wandering around
the hearth but edging nervously away from Margo, “firearms
are very dangerous. Do you realize you should never point
