She reached him as he swung his leg over the fence and dropped to the ground on the other side. He cried out in pain upon landing and stumbled backward, falling on his butt out of reach of the Taser.
Natalie jammed the gun down the back of her pants and locked her fingers high in the chain link, looking for a toehold.
“You and yer sisters shoulda left those diamonds alone,” he said in a southern accent. His words erased all doubts in her mind that Kate was right—this was the killer.
She pulled herself up the fence, her fingers finding purchase in between the twisted wires at the top. “You fucked with the wrong family, asshole.” She pulled herself higher, her chin cresting the top. “The cops are on their way,” she bluffed, hoping Kate had actually called 911.
With a grunt of pain, the killer pushed to his feet and limp-jogged away while holding his side.
“Kate!” she yelled as she started over the top of the fence. “He’s coming your way!”
Natalie eased her body over the fence, feeling one of the sharp wire tips slice her skin through her shirt. Then she was over and dropped to the ground. Her knees twanged but held steady. She took off running after the killer, praying her cousin was ready for him because she knew there was no way in hell Kate would be sensible enough to hide somewhere safe until help arrived.
A gunshot rang out from the alleyway up ahead.
“Shit!” Natalie pushed harder.
She rounded the side of the brick building and found herself back in the alley standing opposite Kate. The guy in the green shirt was the monkey in their “middle.” He stood half-crouched, clutching his side, warily watching Kate.
Her cousin had Deputy Dipshit’s gun pointed at the guy. “Don’t move, Mr. Killer.” She held the gun steady.
Kate’s face, on the other hand, was anything but still. Her left eye twitched along with her cheek.
Hello, Mr. Hyde.
The guy looked behind him for an escape, scowling when he saw Natalie standing there. She raised the Taser gun. “You heard the woman.”
The sound of sirens pierced the air. A wave of relief rippled through Natalie. Kate must have made the call for help.
He took a step toward Kate. “What are ya gonna do, bitch?” The guy puffed up his chest, trying to look bigger than he was, playing the intimidation game. Apparently, he’d sized up the two of them and found Kate to be the lesser threat. Dumb mistake. “Do ya know how many whores like you I’ve gutted?” He laughed, harsh and creepy sounding. “I reckon I’ll scalp you first.”
“I reckon I’ll shoot you first.” Kate looked at him down the barrel of Deputy Dipshit’s gun. Her cheek twitched.
He cackled, giving Natalie the chills. “You must be the crazy sister.”
Boom!
The gun in Kate’s hand jerked slightly.
The killer collapsed, holding his leg. A howl of pain echoed through the alley. “Ya shot my fucking knee!”
“Don’t call me CRAZY!” Kate yelled back and took a step closer. “That bullet was for what you did to Tank. If you move again, I’m going to shoot you in the dick.”
Natalie thought of the poor people this son of a bitch had tortured and killed over the last few months.
She stepped closer.
Kate glanced up at her. “What are you doing?”
Natalie aimed the Taser at the skin on his lower back where his shirt had pulled up. “Making sure he stays put.” She squeezed the trigger.
The guy’s body shuddered and stretched taut, his eyes rolling back the same as Harvey’s had in the back of Kate’s car. Then he stilled and seemed to deflate into the asphalt.
The sirens shrilled around them as a county sheriff’s truck pulled up behind Kate’s car. A Yuccaville cop car blocked off the other end, trapping everyone in between.
“Set the gun on the ground, Kate,” Natalie said, following her own advice with the Taser.
“How long do you think we’ll be in jail this time?” Kate asked, taking a step away from Deputy Dipshit’s gun.
They both raised their arms into the air.
“Until we’re little old women.”
“Damn. My ice cream is going to melt.”
Natalie scoffed. “Who cares about ice cream? I should have gone to Coop’s camper with him last night.”
“Maybe Detective Cooper will find the idea of conjugal visits sexy.”
“Shut up, Kate. I’m mad at you.” Natalie watched the law dogs prowl closer and groaned. “Here we go again.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
High Noon …
Natalie was done.
Chewed up, spat out, and stepped on.
That was the last time she went on an ice cream run with that pregnant lunatic.
However, they had managed to bring down the diamond killer. For that, Kate and she should receive honorary deputy stars.
Grady had disagreed when Kate mentioned the gold stars idea to him. He’d left the diamond killer in Mississippi’s hands and dragged Kate and Natalie back to his office along with Ronnie. For the next couple of hours, he’d chewed the three of them out about the foolishness of their posse idea in between taking their statements and making them write down every single detail Natalie and Kate could remember about their morning.
The poor sheriff’s hair had been finger-plowed and re-plowed and then plowed some more by the time he allowed Natalie and Ronnie to go home with Claire, who’d come to collect them. Kate was still with Grady, though. Her high-speed chase—and argument with Deputy Dipshit when the dingleberry finally came to after the killer’s tranquilizer had worn off—earned her extra after-the-takedown detention with the sheriff.
When Claire, Natalie, and Ronnie stood to leave, Grady walked them to the door. “Stop scaring the hell out of me, damn it,” he said to them as they filed outside. He caught Ronnie’s arm and hugged her, whispering something in her ear before sending her off with a tender good-bye kiss.
Ronnie had dropped Claire, Natalie, and the melted ice cream
