He turned on her. “Shut up! What do you know? Nothing!” While he was distracted, Sarah took two more large steps and casually eased the strap of her purse over her head, careful not to make any sudden movement to draw his attention. She would be able to run faster if she wasn’t weighed down. “My job was my life. And he wanted to steal it from me!” The old man was sobbing now. Sarah took another step back, her body braced, ready to run. “Your father left me no choice,” he wailed. “He had to be dealt with.”

Everything in Sarah froze. “What?” fell from her numb lips. Her chest felt like an iron fist was wrapped around her heart. “Dealt with? How?”

“Your mother wasn’t supposed to be in the car.” He shook his head, dragging his arm across his wet face. “She was supposed to meet Jane for an early dinner and an evening at the ballet. But you”—he turned on Jane with a look of disgust—“canceled. Had ‘a headache.’ You fucked up, like you always do, and thus signed the death warrant for your best friend.”

And suddenly running was no longer an option. This fucker had killed her parents, and she would make him pay or die trying. She wrapped the strap of her purse around the fist of her good hand. “So, you killed my parents,” she said conversationally. “I never suspected foul play.” Sarah could see Auntie Jane was staring at her husband in abject horror. Jane staggered back a couple of steps, as if recoiling from the toxicity emanating from him.

“Nobody did.” Phillip’s face was still wet, but his chest swelled with pride. “I was tricky. Made it look like an accident.”

“So, you hired the cement truck driver to make the hit?”

“Yes, siree,” he said smugly. “I was surprised at how easy it was to arrange. Cheap, too.” And that’s when Sarah charged, the raincoat falling from her shoulders to the damp ground. She heard a shot ring out, but she’d gone low, swinging her weighted purse like a mace, making contact with his crotch. A stream of soda pop fizzed out of her purse as her belly hit the ground. Phillip screamed in pain and fury, the blow doubling him over. Sarah rolled quickly to the side as another shot rang out, sending a hunk of sod flying a few inches from her face. She’d scrambled to her feet to launch her body at him again when she was halted by the sound of a loud thunk. Phillip staggered, the pistol falling from his hand. Another thunk. Phillip’s eyes rolled back in their sockets as he pitched forward, landed in the pit, and lay motionless, his neck bent at an unnatural angle.

Sarah stared down at him. “What the hell just happened?”