Chapter Seven
February 13th. 2009© 2005 Kimberly J. Fish
This is a work of fiction.
An Emerald Marks the Spot
Chapter Seven
Kali grabbed Brad’s bruised hand and squeezed every ounce of fear she felt into the tight grip. Silently praying neither of them would make a sound, she watched Olivia slink across Aunt Annalise’s ancient patio. A small, black gun clutched in Olivia’s ringed fist swished across the tops of the oleanders.
“Roger Hale, I have a shoot first, ask questions later philosophy,” Olivia promised the darkness. “You should know that based on that ugly scar on your backside.”
Brad’s gaze connected with Kali’s. She nodded to confirm the threat.
Olivia stepped off the flagstones and into the grass with the finesse of a SWAT team. “But I’m feeling merciful on account of your timely alimony check. So come out here and show yourself, if you’re man enough.”
Kali prayed that Olvia’s finger wasn’t on the trigger. Granted, she knew she deserved justice for breaking into her aunt’s old house, but gun shot wounds didn’t seem to equate the humanitarian nature of the crime. A computerized tone jangled through the twilight. Kali saw Olivia reach into her voluminous purse for the cell phone. “Hello?” Olivia barked. “Oh, Marguerite. It’s you. I’m out in the backyard chasing down my scumbag ex-husband. But I guess it was a case of mistaken identity.”
Kali released her strangled breath as she saw Olivia’s shoulders relax and the gun rest on her cushy hip.
Olivia turned on her heel, talking into the cell phone as she wandered toward the patio. “I don’t know. I guess it was my neighbor’s cats scrambling on the roof again. I,”
The rest of the conversation slammed shut behind the screened door.
Kali’s chin fell to her chest. “That was too close.”
Brad collapsed backward onto a thick carpet of Mexican petunia. “My heart stopped beating,” he said turning to look at Kali. “Am I dead?”
“If you’re conscious enough to ask, you’re still alive.”
“I don’t know,” he said with labored breathing. “I think I’m seeing stars.”
”If your eyes are open you are seeing stars and a planet or two.”
Brad tugged her taut elbow till she was laying in the petunias beside him. ”You’re the only thing I want to see.”
Before Kali could resist, he was leaning on his shoulder covering her view of the sky with his shadowed face.
“I, uh, we need to, uh. . . leave,” she mumbled. “Before Olivia decides to search again.”
“I’m in no condition to go anywhere.” Brad lowered his face an inch. “Such a close brush with cousin O packing heat has left me feeling. . .fragile.”
“Oh please, you haven’t felt fragile a day in your life.”
“All I’m saying is that when one comes face to face with death, it makes one appreciate the truly valuable things in life. Like pretty women.” Brad brushed his lips against Kali’s forehead. “And stable, non-demented relatives.”
Electrified pulses ignited Kali’s skin. “Olivia’s not completely demented.”
Brad’s lips traced a pattern closer to Kali’s mouth. “But then she’s not completely rational either, is she?”
Kali couldn’t remember much about Olivia at the moment. Her body had rallied ten years worth of buried passion. “Don’t do this. Don’t confuse me with someone you might care about.”
“You think I’m using you?”
”This is all about the ring, right?”
“Kissing you has nothing to do with the emeralds and everything to do with my feelings.”
”Feelings that until today were totally controlled by an overwhelming urge to see a two hundred thousand dollar engagement ring returned to you.”
Brad leaned back, propping his weight on his elbows. “When did you become so jaded?”
“Around the time the man I loved told me he didn’t want to marry me.” Kali scrambled to stand. Reaching for the grocer’s box, she scooped the package into her arms. “Let’s go to the truck to open this. I’d really prefer not to have to explain to Olivia why I’m haunting her backyard with someone she might confuse for her scumbag ex-husband.”
To be continued. . . . .