Callie’s Last Dance

20.

AS THE ADRENALIN surges through her veins, Callie wonders what tipped Angie off. The unconscious dog? The fact the alarm didn’t beep when they opened the door? She grabs her gun and jumps to her feet as Angie yells, “Look!”

Callie quietly opens the closet door, hears Frankie shout, “What the fuck happened?”

By the time Angie yells “They’ve killed Digby!” Callie’s made her way down the hall. She comes up behind the De Lucas as Angie’s kneeling over the dog, and Frankie’s opened his cell phone, ready to dial 911.

“Digby’s okay,” Callie says.

“Jesus Christ!” Frankie yells, startled.

Angie screams and tries to lunge at Callie. But Callie’s got a gun in one hand and a tiny vial of lens cleaner in the other. She sprays the lens cleaner into Angie’s face. Of course, it’s not lens cleaner at all. It’s just packaged that way. To the world, it’s a small metal cylinder, silver, with the words “Lens Cleaner” printed in black. But this particular cylinder contains a mixture of cyanide and dimethyl sulfoxide.

Angie screams and tries to get to her feet, but falls face-first to the floor. Meanwhile, Frankie’s in mid-air, diving toward Callie’s knees. Unable to get off a shot, she clubs him over the head with the butt of the gun as he tackles her. She lands hard on her back, with him on top. She feels the wind go out of her as his head crashes into her stomach. Frankie’s hurt, but he’s tough, and has Callie pinned beneath him. She’s still holding the gun, but with the silencer attached, it’s too long to wedge between them for a shot. Frankie gets to his knees and cocks his fist. Is he planning to shatter her perfect nose?

Yes.

Does he?

No.

She drops the gun, and Frankie lunges for it.

Just as she hoped he would.

When he makes his move, she twists her body enough to slide out from under him. He stretches out to grab the gun, but Callie gets her elbow above the back of his head and smashes his face to the floor. Then scrambles to her feet and kicks his ribs.

Frankie’s tough. He never loses his grip on the gun, and turns it on her. Callie kicks his hand, sends the gun flying. As he watches it sail through the air, she lands a front kick to his temple. Frankie goes dizzy. His head goes upward, exposing his jaw. When she connects with a roundhouse kick, it’s lights out Frankie.