Assault and Batter(63)

“I’ll put it down when you tell me who your source is, and don’t try to feed me that bull that you don’t know who it is. You made it pretty clear that you knew, or at least that you thought you did. I’ll take whatever name you’ve got.”

“It was all just a ruse,” I said, trying to be as transparently truthful as I could be. “We wanted to trap the killer, so we made up that story. We didn’t think that you’d react before you found out who the eyewitness really was.”

“Why would I do that, when you made it so easy for me to take you out first? By we, I’m assuming you mean you and Grace.”

“Who knows? There could be more,” I said, hoping to change her mind from killing my mother and me. I turned to look at my mother and I asked, “Are you okay, Momma?”

“I’m fine, dear,” she said.

Lisa dug the knife in a little, and a line of blood trickled down Momma’s skin. “I told you not to say a word when Suzanne got home,” Lisa said angrily.

“My daughter asked me a question,” she said.

“I don’t care if the Queen of Hearts asks you to tea; the next word you say will be your last, and when I’m finished with you, I’ll kill your daughter, too.”

Momma didn’t respond, but I did see her eyes dart over to the closet where we kept a baseball bat on hand for protection. It wouldn’t have done us much good if Lisa had brought a gun, but in a knife fight, it could come in pretty handy.

But I had to get to it without Momma dying first, and that I could not imagine doing.

“Why did you kill Jude?” I asked. “Was it because of the fake gold he sold your husband, or because he was done with you?”

Lisa shook her head. “Don’t try to be clever, Suzanne; it doesn’t suit you. Who do you think gave Jude that gold-plated junk in the first place? I knew that it was worthless, but I also realized that my husband wouldn’t be able to tell. It was supposed to be our seed money.”

I nodded as though I understood. “So, no to the gold, but yes on the rejection.”

She held the knife closer to my mother’s throat when I said that, and I heard Momma gasp. “Really, Suzanne? Do you honestly want to anger the woman with your mother’s life in her hands? I’d watch my tone, if I were you.”

“But you were clearly afraid of something or someone the last time we spoke,” I said. “You were going to tell Grace and me something important when you were interrupted by a phone call.”

Lisa smiled, and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as she said, “It was all just an act. I was afraid that you two knew more than you were letting on. The phone call was a convenient way to stall you until I could find out just how much you knew. After all, I didn’t want to have to kill you both if I didn’t have to. You really shouldn’t say anything bad about Jude to me.”

This woman had clearly gone off the deep end. I was going to have to find a way to appease her without endangering my mother any more than I already had. “Take it easy, Lisa. I didn’t mean anything by what I said about him.”

“I know exactly what you meant,” she said, and then her face softened. “What happened to Jude was an accident, something that couldn’t be helped. He was going to leave without me, despite all of our plans. I had to convince him that he needed me.”

I never thought that I’d ever hear a killer describe hitting her victim with an iron bar and killing him as an accident.

“Tell the police that,” I said, trying to be as convincing as I could. “I’m sure that they’ll believe you if you just tell your side of the story.”

“They aren’t ever going to hear it. After I take care of you two and Grace, I’ll be long gone.”

“What about Frank?” I asked.

Her grin was chilling. “Nobody’s going to check on my dear husband anytime soon. I’m expecting him to bleed out at any minute. At least that man deserved what he got.”

And there it was. No matter what she said, Lisa was planning to kill everyone.

Not if I could help it.

I started to move, and Momma must have seen something, because she shook her head slightly before I could implement my plan. The knife bit in a little deeper as she did, but her movement served its purpose.

I stopped dead in my tracks.

Instead, Momma said loudly, “We’re in here.”

“Who are you talking to?” Lisa asked as she loosened her grip on the knife for just one second.

Momma must have been able to feel it, because she grabbed Lisa’s knife hand with both of hers and fought to get control of the blade.