Did you notice the full moon last night? Beautiful, wasn’t it? Do you believe the tales about full moons and their effect on us earthlings? In Moonlight Can Be Murder, Nettie began to suspect those stories could be true. Here’s a bit from that book. The moon is full–just like now. Christmas is coming–just as it is now, and Nettie, true to form, is in trouble.
The comfort of the crackling blaze, Penny’s gentle purring, and the warm drink made me drowsy. Closing my eyes, I was on the verge of dozing off when a loud banging brought me to my feet.
Sleep fled as my eyes flew open. My heart hammering, I gazed wildly around. What was that noise? Was someone threatening to break in? I grabbed the cell phone from my pocket and tiptoed to the window. Annabelle Decker stood on my porch, a sprinkling of grainy snow peppering her dark hair. With a feeling of déjà vu, I trotted to the door and pulled it open.
“Annabelle…” I began.
She pushed me inside and shoved the door shut. “Lock it,” she snapped. “Hurry.”
Quickly, I did so and stared at my unexpected guest. She clutched her worn cloth coat tightly around her and stood shivering in the entryway, her chest heaving with labored breaths. An ugly purple bruise circled one eye.
Touching her arm, I said, “What’s wrong? You look half-frozen. Have you been running?”
She gulped and nodded. “Yes, I’ve been running. I had to get here before he did. I had to warn you…”
“Wait. It’s going to be all right, Annabelle. Let me fix you a cup of coffee. Go over by the fireplace and get warm,” I said, trying to urge her further into the room.
She shook her head so violently that droplets of melted snow flew against me. “No! You don’t understand. We have to go to the police station. Now. We can’t wait. I came here to warn you first. Verm is coming, and he’s going to kill you. I know he’ll kill me too if he catches me. You see, he just today found out I returned your phone. He and Moe were playing cards and drinking, and the more he drank, the madder he got. He said he thought he had seen the last of the Granger kin and then you showed up and started asking questions.” Annabelle stopped and shuddered.
“No, I’ll call 911. That will be faster and we can barricade ourselves in the house,” I said.
“Okay. Call. But, hurry!”
Flipping open the phone, I punched in the emergency number. Nothing happened. No light shone. Shaking my head, I muttered, “I forgot to charge it.”
“Oh, no.” Annabelle’s eyes were wild. “Then, we’ve got to make a run for it. He’ll get into this house, one way or the other. You see, he’s scared and when he gets scared, he’s like a wild creature.”
I shrugged into my coat as she spoke. “Yes? What’s he afraid of, Annabelle? Does he think I may prove that he killed my uncle? Did he shoot Uncle Javin?”
Annabelle bit her lip and grabbed my arm with fingers of steel. “I don’t know if he did or not. That’s the truth! But, he thinks you may keep poking around and find where he and Moe have their meth house and…”
“Meth? Are they into making methamphetamine?”
“Yes, yes, may the Lord forgive them. You see, that stuff and whiskey make Verm go out of his mind and he got to stewin’ over my returning your phone ‘cause he doesn’t want us to have anything to do with you and then he said he was going to see to it that you didn’t meddle any more. He hit me and I ran into the bedroom. I climbed out a window but he’ll be coming here to silence you…” Annabelle trembled from head to foot as if a wind shook her.
Her terror communicated itself to me. She was right; we must leave before Verm got here. Our only choice was to go to the police station and hope we got down my long driveway before Verm started up it. No time to go upstairs for my gun. I was shaking so badly, I couldn’t have pulled the trigger anyway.
Annabelle tugged me onto the porch and I turned to lock the door.
“You don’t have time!” she screamed. “Forget the door!”
“Gotta lock it,” I muttered. “I don’t want somebody hiding inside.”
Running to the Escape, I slipped on the icy sidewalk and regained my balance barely in time to keep from landing on my face. Annabelle dashed to the passenger door, yanked it open, and fell inside. I jumped in, started the engine, turned the SUV around and sped down the driveway. If Verm got to the long lane leading to the house before we reached the street, our only exit would be blocked.
Without slowing down, I wrenched the steering wheel to the right and slid around the corner. “We made it,” I breathed, relief flooding me. “We’re on our way to the station.”
The icy conditions were evidently keeping many drivers inside their homes today. The street seemed deserted.
“Hurry!” Annabelle said. “Drive faster, Nettie!”
Good advice, but the snow/sleet mixture had frozen on the pavement, making it hard to keep the car on the road. Lights glinted in my rearview mirror and I glanced behind me. A dark sedan was approaching fast.
My lips felt stiff. “I thought you had a light-colored truck,” I said to Annabelle. “Does Moe, by chance, have a car?”
She shook her head. “No. There’s only the truck. Why?”
“Because a car is following us and it’s not light-colored and it’s not a truck. Look out!”
The words barely out of my mouth, the pursuing vehicle struck the bumper of my Escape. I wrenched the steering wheel, trying to stay in the street. Once again, the sedan eased behind me. Bumper to bumper, it pushed and the steering wheel became useless in my hands. We were heading toward the curb. Even though we were traveling far above the speed limit, the next thing seemed to happen in slow motion.
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