We are down to the final three chapters. Thank you to those who have stuck with me. Your kind reviews and encouraging messages are much appreciated!
"No!" Kelly cried, pounding on the doctor's chest with her good hand. "No! You goddamn coward!"
Sabrina swore under her breath and grabbed her friend's shoulders, forcefully shoving her backwards. "Just stop, Kelly. It's over." She sighed. "Calm down. We need to think of what we're gonna say when the police get here."
Jill stared somberly at the macabre sight that was the doctor's body. "What was that? Poison?" she guessed weakly.
Sabrina was still wrestling Kelly away from the doctor. "Cyanide, if I had to guess." She thought back to the grim conversation she'd had with her father, to the few books she'd read on the subject of the Second World War and its aftermath. This was something she should have seen coming, she berated herself furiously, there had been several other notable war criminals that had taken this route over facing justice for their crimes and given Dr. Rutger's history, of course he would have been prepared.
Now didn't seem like the right time to educate Jill on Nazi history though, and so she left it at that.
"Well, good riddance." Jill muttered. She pushed herself to her feet and laid a hand on Sabrina's back. "Are you okay? Irene? Did you really kill her?"
Sabrina looked pained. "I'm fine. And…I don't know. I think so."
"Are any of them gonna pay for what they did?" Kelly sighed her frustration. She was sitting still now, but far from calm.
"Anna's still around here somewhere." Sabrina answered her. "Let's just get outside and wait for the cops. They can come in and find her. I sure as hell don't want to."
Jill shuddered, remembering their last run in with the deranged young woman. "Me neither."
The sirens were louder now. The blue and red lights from the approaching cars could be seen from the big window in the hall now, flickering pale red and blue light into the darkness.
Kelly had gotten herself to her feet and was helping Jill balance. "I can't believe you called them." She said quietly, her face drawn and pale. "Bri, you sa-"
Sabrina whirled on her before she could finish. "Don't you start with me about what I said. " she warned angrily. "You said you were gonna stay in the car and before that you said you would stay in bed!" She jerked her hand toward the doctor, his face grotesque and purple in death. "Now we have Jill's gun back, but we have two more bodies to explain. Makes this little road trip so much more worth it, doesn't it?"
If any of Sabrina's words had effect on Kelly, she chose not to show it. Instead, she turned away and fixed her eyes on the destroyed office behind them "We need to get rid of this…this stuff." She replied, gesturing toward the strewn books and notes that were scattered around the room. "We should burn it. It shouldn't ever leave this place."
Sabrina scoffed. "Arson wasn't exactly the answer I was looking for, Kelly."
But finally, Kelly found an ally in Jill. "No, she's right." The blonde detective said. "He…he said people like him were everywhere. What if someone were to get ahold of this?"
"No one's getting ahold of it." Sabrina continued in an exasperated voice. "It'll be confiscated an-"
"And what?" Jill countered. "Used as evidence for him?" She threw out a hand toward the doctor's lifeless body. "He's dead, they don't need it. We need to get rid of it."
"So burn it?" Sabrina sighed. "What? With this?" She pulled her lighter from her pocket and held it between thumb and index finger to indicate just how small it was.
Kelly stared at it, an idea forming in her tired mind. "Maybe…"
"Maybe, it'll take all night?" Sabrina said.
Kelly shook her head. "No, no." Her green eyes floated up towards the ceiling and suddenly Sabrina understood.
"Oh…you mean-"
"If it works. By the time the cops get in here and shut it off, it'll all be ruined." Kelly said solemnly.
Jill still didn't understand. "What the hell are you two talking about?"
In response, Sabrina sighed, dragged over a chair, and hopped up onto it. "Flood damage." She explained simply. "Wait for me in the hall."
Jill and Kelly limped out into the hall, still washed in alternating red and blue lights, and a few minutes later the overhead sprinklers hissed and came to life. Water could be heard spattering all over the floor, the desk, the mountain of the doctor's notes and the doctor himself.
Sabrina came jogging out a few seconds later, her hair slicked back and her clothing dotted with water. "There." She said, wiping her hands on her pants. "Let's get the hell out of here. I bet Max and Kris are waiting outside."
She slipped an arm around Jill's waist to help her walk and was halfway to the stairwell when she realized Kelly wasn't following. Exasperated, Sabrina turned and found her standing by the doctor's door, blue and red lights flickering over her form. "Kelly, it's gonna be okay, you'll just have to trust me. Charlie will figure out something."
"No, it's not that." Kelly said, her voice choked, on edge. "That…that room. We have to destroy it too."
Sabrina heaved an annoyed sigh. "It will get destroyed, Kell."
"Bri-"
"No!" Sabrina shouted firmly. "Kelly, enough! He's dead. His notes are ruined. Will you just please, please, get over here so I can get you two safely out of here. Jill can hardly walk, I can't get her outside by myself and I'm not leaving you alone. Please, Kell."
Kelly looked longingly towards the hallway where she'd seen the room, then out the window where at least a dozen of policemen were scurrying outside and, to Sabrina's great relief, hesitantly trotted over to her friends. She wordlessly took one of Jill's arms and began moving toward the stairs.
"Jesus Christ, thank you." Sabrina muttered.
Kelly didn't respond. It was slow going, but the three women made their way to the stairwell door. Before Kelly could push it open, Sabrina grabbed her hand.
"Uh…look, before you do that-" Sabrina began, her voice shaky and nervous. "Irene's down on the landing. I… had to. She would have killed me."
"So you did kill her." Kelly whispered.
She glanced at Jill and then pushed open the door. Sabrina, not especially eager to revisit this particular scene, stood by and let her. The light streaming in from the hallway was dim, but they could still see Irene's form lying sprawled on the stairway landing where Sabrina left her, a pool of blood glistening beneath her, her face twisted into a frozen snarl. There was no question where the bullet had gone and Sabrina found she couldn't look.
"You sure did." Jill sighed. "Well, good riddance to her too. Even that was too good for her."
"Yeah well, when the cops ask you about this, please don't say that." Sabrina groaned, but pushed her way through the door nonetheless. They paused for a moment, adjusting Jill's weight between them, figuring out the easiest and safest way to get her down the stairs. They hadn't yet taken a step down when the hallway behind them lit up in a bright white light.
The girls tensed. Now what?
There was a brief moment of uncertainty before Sabrina eased her companions' nerves by suddenly laughing in relief. It was Kris's powerful flashlight, she realized in delight. So they'd come after all, though God only knows which route they'd taken.
"It's just Kris and Max." Sabrina said quickly, answering Kelly and Jill's puzzled looks. She tugged them back out through the door. "C'mon, I bet we have some explaining to do."
With Sabrina leading the way, the girls shuffled back out into the hallway and, to their annoyance, the bright beam of light played across their faces, forcing them to shield their eyes.
"Cut it out, Kris." Jill called out. "It's just us."
The beam of light stayed right where it was as the girls moved further down the hallway.
"Kris!" Sabrina shouted, but the beam of light stayed on her face. There was no response either and that was so unlike her young blonde friend that, not for the first time this night, Sabrina felt that familiar sensation in the pit of her stomach, the feeling that something was not quite right with their situation. Still though, the trio made their way down the hall, only the sound of running water answering their calls for the younger Munroe.
"What the hell, Kris?" Jill called in a shaky voice. By this time, she too knew something was wrong. It wasn't until they were halfway down the hallway that they were close enough to make out a figure beyond the light. As they did, the flashlight suddenly found a new target on the floor beside its owner.
The three angels blinked away bright purple spots.
There was a young woman standing in the growing puddle of water at the end of the hall, just outside of the doctor's office. The flashlight illuminated the floor at her feet, casting an odd shadow about her.
It most definitely wasn't Kris.
"You-" Kelly blurted out in surprise. She made a move forward, but Sabrina tightened her grip around her and stopped her.
"Where did you get that light?" Sabrina asked angrily, drawing her gun. There was only one answer to that question and knowing that made the tight feeling in her stomach claw it's way up to her throat.
In front of them, Anna played the flashlight beam across their surprised faces before shining it up under her chin. "This light?" she asked innocently.
Jill was starting to shake. Her gun came out as well, shaking just like her hands, and Sabrina immediately regretted giving it to her. "Where's my sister?" she barked. "I swear to God-"
Anna's giggling stopped her. "Sister?" she said in her soft, child-like voice. "Sisters are a curse. I…took care of her for you."
It was Jill's turn to lunge forward. Sabrina held her back and doing so was surprisingly difficult. "Where is she?" Jill continued angrily.
Anna's flashlight beam danced around the hall before stopping on Jill's face, forcing her to turn away. "Where?" the young woman whispered. "Downstairs. I imagine she's dead by now."
Jill jerked in Sabrina's grasp. "What?"
"Don't listen to her." Sabrina whispered quickly, taking firm hold of her gun arm. It wouldn't do to have Jill do something stupid in the state she was in. They were in enough trouble as it was.
Kelly laid a hand on her shoulder. "She's bluffing, Jill." She agreed.
If it was a ruse, it was a successful one. Jill had no ears for her friend's warnings after Anna's announcement. "You're lying!" Jill snarled, shrugging Kelly away. "You lying bitch!"
Anna looked surprised. "Lying?" she breathed, putting a hand to her heart. "Lying is a sin." She tossed something forward, something so light it didn't make a sound when it hit the floor. The three girls didn't have to wonder what it was for very long. Anna's light crawled toward it, slowly but surely, finally revealing a handful of blonde hair scattered about the floor.
Jill shoulders were heaving now, her blue eyes fixed on the figure in front of them. Her gun came up, shaking dangerously.
"I suppose you can call it…settling the score." Anna said lightly. "I see you've got your gun back. I imagine that means Irene is dead." Her head turned in the direction of the flooded room. "My father looks like he's taken his little pill, so I won't even count him. We're even, wouldn't you say?"
Sabrina pushed Jill's arm down, forcing her aim away from Anna to the floor and had to fight her to keep it there. "She's lying." Sabrina said quietly. "Easy, Jill. She's lying." Struggling to keep Jill under control, she forced some bravado into her voice.
"It's over. There's three of us and one of you. We're armed. Come outside with us and no one else has to get hurt."
Anna ignored her and instead laughed at the difficulty Jill was having. "Tell me, did Irene die quickly?"
Kelly glared at her. "Quicker than she deserved."
Her comment went ignore, Anna only had eyes for Jill. "Or did she die slowly like your sister?" she said coolly. "It took her nearly ten minutes, you know. I timed it."
"Shut up!" Jill snarled. She tried to bring her weapon up to fire but lacked the strength to break free from Sabrina's grip on her arms. "Sabrina, let me go!"
Anna beamed at the struggling detective. "Are you going to shoot me, Jill?" she asked sweetly. "Would that make it better?"
"Let her do it." Kelly whispered to her friend.
Sabrina interjected immediately. "No, Jill! The police are coming. You want her getting out of this just like her dad? Be smart, Jill." She kept both hands locked on Jill's wrists and finally the blonde detective stopped struggling and went still.
Through watery blue eyes, Jill glared murderously at the young nurse.
Anna had the gall to look thoroughly disappointed. "No?" she cooed. As the girls watched, the young woman backed up to the window and brought the heavy flashlight up over her head before swinging it into the window like a baseball bat. The window shattered loudly, crashing down around Anna and the floor at her feet. The night outside was alive with police sirens, raised voices, barking dogs.
"Don't move!" Sabrina yelled at her. She pushed away from her two friends and began sprinting towards the window, knowing what was going to happen.
The few yards that separated them might as well have been a thousand miles.
As the girls watched, Anna hopped up on the window's ledge and shone the light in Jill's face once more.
"You should have pulled the trigger while you had the chance." She said softly, before falling backwards to her death.