Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 133531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 534(@250wpm)___ 445(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 534(@250wpm)___ 445(@300wpm)
Janice nodded. “Sadly, Sally’s right. Women should be all about the sisterhood, but some get jealous of good looks and, Sally, hon, you are one good-looking lady.”
They all nodded in agreement.
Sally blushed. “Not any better-looking than the rest of you. In fact, the other day I had to make a trip to the laundry room, and Harvey, the one always wearing the blue suit, was down there with Jarrod, the one who likes cowboy boots.”
Everyone looked up, shock on their faces. Rory tossed two bills on the coffee table in front of her. “Sally, you know better than to go down there alone. Those men may live in this building, but they aren’t to be trusted for a minute.”
“I know, but there are cameras down there. They wouldn’t try anything when they know it’s all being recorded,” Sally pointed out.
“That doesn’t mean anything,” Lydia said. “Cameras can be jammed.”
“Or ripped out,” Janice added. “You can’t go alone where those men might be meeting and talking about things they don’t want overheard.”
Rory had to agree with the others. She studied Sally’s face. It was clear she hadn’t thought she could possibly be in any real danger. “Before I interrupted you, Sally, what were you going to say? Did they say something to you?”
“Jarrod called us all hot and asked if we took applications from other hot women to join us.” Sally made a face. “He said he hoped so, because they liked watching us work out, and if we weren’t all good-looking, it wouldn’t be nearly as fun.”
“What an asshole,” Janice said. “We’re not objects for them to ogle for their amusement.”
“What a jerk. It shouldn’t matter what we look like or how we dress,” Pam said. “They aren’t the most attractive men on the block, but they sure think they are.”
“Harvey told him to shut up,” Sally said.
“Why do you think they pretend they don’t know each other?” Cindy asked. “It’s silly. We see them together often. They live in the same apartment building. Who cares if they’re friends?”
“If it isn’t Jarrod with Harvey, it’s Dustin with Ret,” Pam declared. “Sometimes all four of them are together.”
Lydia rolled her eyes. “If you catch them together, they act like teenagers caught sneaking out to a party, pretending they don’t know each other and hurrying out of the room. It’s the silliest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Whatever they’re into is illegal,” Rory announced, and then wished she’d kept her mouth shut. The others knew it already. They didn’t need her to tell them that.
The women nodded and sipped their coffee and once again looked at their mail. A loud pop, pop, pop had Janice leaping to her feet.
“What was that?” Pam asked.
“That’s gunfire,” Rory said. “We need to get out of here.”
More pops even closer had them all on their feet.
The side door to the lounge opened and a man staggered in. His chest and thigh were bloody. Two of the women screamed. Lydia scooped up Ellen from the floor and ran with her toward the back exit, following Janice, Pam and Sally. Cindy followed close behind. Rory followed the others toward the back door, away from the sounds. She dropped back to keep her body between Lydia and the stranger just in case, pausing by the door.
She’d never seen him before, but she couldn’t leave the man to just bleed out. Even as she took a step toward him, the side door burst open so hard, it hit the stopper and swung back. A gun went off several times and the stranger returned fire.
“Get out of here!” the stranger shouted at her.
Rory backed out of the room, reluctant to leave him, but whoever was on the other side of the door was shooting into the lounge and didn’t seem to be directing their aim fully at the man dragging himself toward the exit that would take him outside the apartment building. Cindy grabbed Rory’s arm and pulled her completely out of the lounge and slammed the door. That door led into a hall, and the women ran toward the back entrance, where the gardens were.
They ran through the gardens toward the sidewalk, phones out, calling 911.
Cindy’s grip was implacable when Rory tried to stop. “You can’t go back into a building where there’s an active shooter.”
Lydia looked horrified. “Rory, what are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking that man needed help. I just left him in there. He could bleed to death.”
“He was going out the other door,” Janice pointed out. “It wouldn’t have done him any good if you had gotten shot as well.”
“Did you see who shot him?” Sally asked. “Was it one of the four clowns?”
“I didn’t see anyone,” Rory admitted. “The door banged open and someone started firing, but they were hidden from me.” She looked at Cindy. “Did you have a better angle? Was it one of the four men we suspect are up to no good? Jarrod? Harvey? Dustin? Ret?”