The door opened and Rune smiled.
“Hey, Maddie, good to see you. How are you?”
In his head, he heard trumpets of doom.
Blood would spill! Pain would rain upon his enemies!
But first, he needed a place to stay. He didn’t imagine anyone would ever look for him at Maddie’s. The actress was useful. Maybe she could even help him plan his next move.
“You again,” she said. She wobbled on her feet as she opened the door. Rune thought he smelled alcohol. Smiling, he walked in and took his usual place on her sofa. “It’s been a bad day. I’ve suffered a setback. I need a place to rest and think.”
Maddie flopped onto the chair across from him. “Aren’t you wondering why I’m home in the middle of the day?”
He scowled. “No.”
She told him anyway. “It’s because filming is suspended while they figure out what happened to Dixie.”
“Then it will be suspended for a very long time.”
“Yeah, well I can’t afford that. There’s talk they might cancel the show.”
Maddie seemed very angry. She stared at him until he looked away and then, disgusted by his own cowardice, he looked back and stared harder back at her. She didn’t blink. His eyes dropped to the bottle of wine and the glass in front of her. Both were empty. He spotted another open bottle on the kitchen counter, that one white, but also empty.
“Are you drunk?” he asked.
Her eyes flared as she pointed at him. “How are you going to fix things?”
Rune lost interest. Drunk people were so boring. Joseph only drank beer, and he was always very mindful of how many he consumed. He liked that about Joseph.
“I didn’t go back and help him,” he mumbled.
“What?” Maddie screeched the word.
Such noise. Rune waved her away and returned to his thoughts, mumbling out loud. “I should have gone back in. Joseph could be dead and I didn’t help. He was my only friend. He helped me see the possibilities.
“Hey, Freakshow.” Maddie shifted to the edge of the chair. “You said you were going to help me. You killed my co-star and now I might be out of a job. You need to fix this.”
Rune bit the side of his cheek, thinking.
Did Fiona trick him?
What if she was lying? What if she had no intention of helping? It seemed as though she’d come around but...
She has the list.
Rune felt his anger rising.
That’s it. Fiona had already stolen the list from Joseph. She was never going to tell him she had it. No! She only used that information to send him away so she could get away. So she could go inside to her friends. She’d been afraid to send him back in—afraid he would have killed the Highlander and his insipid lot.
Rune heard a click and looked up in time to see Maddie straddling her legs and lowering a gun in his direction. The click was her pulling back the hammer on the weapon. She was very close. There was very little chance she could miss him.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“You help me or I’m going to kill you. I’m prepared this time.”
Rune stood. He could feel his anger shifting focus. He heard the lightning crackling.
“You put that down.”
“I will not. Not until you fix things.”
“You can’t kill me,” he said, as matter-of-factly as he could.
She sneered. “Can’t I? Maybe I’m willing to find out.”
Rune took a step forward and a shot rang out. He felt something strike his chest, and the force knocked him back onto the sofa.
He looked down to find blood seeping into his shirt, capillary action spreading an uneven circle across his chest.
He turned his attention to Maddie, who still stood in the same position, gun still pointed at him, her mouth now wide with what looked like surprise.
“You shot me,” he said. He heard a wheeze and realized she’d punctured his lung. It hurt to breathe.
“Put the gun down.”
“I can’t.” Her hands were trembling now. She winced, obviously worried she’d fire again on accident.
“Lower it.”
“I can’t. You’ll kill me.”
“I won’t.” He stood, slowly, every breath agony. “I wouldn’t. You’re my friend, Maddie.”
Her lip began to tremble as she lowered the gun. Her eyes were awash with tears, her face twisted in an unattractive mask of sloppy emotion.
“Now I’m going to jail,” she sobbed, a shiny drip of mucus from her nose running over her upper lip.
Repulsive.
“I just need you to listen to me.” She whined like a little girl. “I need you to fix—”
He lifted his metal arm and held out the hand, hoping it could block a bullet should the need arise. “I understand. I need to lie down. Can you help me? It’s very hard to breathe. I think you punctured my lung. I feel so weak.”
“Oh my god. I’m so sorry.” Maddie glanced at the gun in her hand. Searching for a place to put it, she laid it on her dining room table and then scrambled to him, sniffling.
“You can lie down in my guest room—”
The moment she was near, he grabbed her wrist with both hands.
Her eyes bulged wide. “You said—”
“Are you crazy?” he asked. “Did you think I was going to let you live after you shot me?”
She pulled and beat at him, trying to free herself. He turned his head so her blows didn’t strike his face. Though he didn’t feel strong, the grip of his metal hand was nearly unbreakable. She wasn’t going anywhere.
The blows to the side and back of his head slowed until they stopped. The skin on her face seemed to melt across her features.
Finally, Maddie collapsed to dust.
Feeling stronger, panting, Rune tore
