to inherit the house, one that she wouldn’t give up.”
To my surprise, my remark didn’t earn me a nasty look from Devlin. She was standing very still, expressionless, her eyes on Aaron, her arms loose at her sides. She reminded me of a sheriff waiting to draw on a bad guy on a dusty western street.
“I don’t know, maybe I do inherit the house now,” Aaron said. “I haven’t thought about that. I don’t really care about material things. Isn’t that obvious from the way I live? But even if you’re right, and she was murdered the way you say she was, you can’t prove I had anything to do with it.”
“I don’t have to,” Monk said. “You’ve already proved it for me.”
“I may not be a fancy dresser or have perfect teeth, but that doesn’t make me a murderer.”
“Your key chain does,” Monk said. “You belong to a bunch of supermarket discount clubs, and you’re too cheap not to use them. They track all of your purchases. It shouldn’t be hard to find out when and where you bought that box of tainted cereal.”
What happened next happened very, very fast.
In hindsight, I wonder whether Devlin wasn’t expecting something to happen from the instant she set down the evidence bag with the cereal box in it. She instinctively wanted her hands free in case Aaron made a move.
And he did.
Aaron grabbed me from behind with his left arm, snatched a butcher knife from the sink with his right hand, and held the blade to my throat as he pulled me tight against him.
Devlin whipped out perhaps the largest gun I’d ever seen from somewhere underneath her jacket and aimed it right at me. She might have shot me if Monk wasn’t standing directly in the line of fire.
“Back off or I will slit her throat,” Aaron said to them. His arm was across my chest and his knife was pressed so close to my neck that I was afraid to swallow for fear it would cut me. I wasn’t the only one who was afraid. I could feel his heart pounding against my back.
Devlin’s stare was cold and steady. I’m not even sure she heard what he’d just said.
“You don’t want to do this,” I said to Aaron.
“I didn’t want to kill Brenda, either,” he said. “But you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to survive.”
“You won’t survive. I can guarantee that,” Devlin said. “I always shoot to kill, and I don’t miss.”
“Did you hear what I just said?” Aaron yelled. “I will slice her head clean off.”
“It won’t be clean,” Monk said. “That’s a dirty knife. It’s been sitting in the sink for three days.”
“Who cares?” I said. “Getting an infection is the least of my problems right now.”
“Be reasonable,” Monk said to Aaron. “Put the knife down.”
“The hell I will.” Aaron looked past Monk to Devlin, who was in a firing stance, her aim steady, her gaze unwavering.
“Your death will be instantaneous,” she said. “But you can forget about an open casket, Aaron. The top of your head will be blown clean off.”
“Put the gun on the floor and step away from it now, or I will kill this woman,” Aaron said. “I have nothing left to lose. You don’t want to mess with me.”
But she didn’t move.
“For God’s sake, drop the knife,” Monk said, “and take this clean one instead.”
Monk grabbed a knife from the knife rack on the counter and took a big step toward us.
“Get away from me.” Aaron took a step back, dragging me with him. “Do you want her to die?”
“We can switch knives,” Monk said.
“No, we can’t,” Aaron said.
“Of course we can. It’ll be quick and easy,” Monk said. “You’ll thank me later.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “What difference does it make if I get my throat cut with a clean knife or a dirty one? I’m dead either way.”
“Shut up!” Aaron said.
“It makes a huge difference, Natalie,” Monk said. “Why do you think they disinfect scalpels before surgery? If he even nicks you with that disgusting
To my surprise, my remark didn’t earn me a nasty look from Devlin. She was standing very still, expressionless, her eyes on Aaron, her arms loose at her sides. She reminded me of a sheriff waiting to draw on a bad guy on a dusty western street.
“I don’t know, maybe I do inherit the house now,” Aaron said. “I haven’t thought about that. I don’t really care about material things. Isn’t that obvious from the way I live? But even if you’re right, and she was murdered the way you say she was, you can’t prove I had anything to do with it.”
“I don’t have to,” Monk said. “You’ve already proved it for me.”
“I may not be a fancy dresser or have perfect teeth, but that doesn’t make me a murderer.”
“Your key chain does,” Monk said. “You belong to a bunch of supermarket discount clubs, and you’re too cheap not to use them. They track all of your purchases. It shouldn’t be hard to find out when and where you bought that box of tainted cereal.”
What happened next happened very, very fast.
In hindsight, I wonder whether Devlin wasn’t expecting something to happen from the instant she set down the evidence bag with the cereal box in it. She instinctively wanted her hands free in case Aaron made a move.
And he did.
Aaron grabbed me from behind with his left arm, snatched a butcher knife from the sink with his right hand, and held the blade to my throat as he pulled me tight against him.
Devlin whipped out perhaps the largest gun I’d ever seen from somewhere underneath her jacket and aimed it right at me. She might have shot me if Monk wasn’t standing directly in the line of fire.
“Back off or I will slit her throat,” Aaron said to them. His arm was across my chest and his knife was pressed so close to my neck that I was afraid to swallow for fear it would cut me. I wasn’t the only one who was afraid. I could feel his heart pounding against my back.
Devlin’s stare was cold and steady. I’m not even sure she heard what he’d just said.
“You don’t want to do this,” I said to Aaron.
“I didn’t want to kill Brenda, either,” he said. “But you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to survive.”
“You won’t survive. I can guarantee that,” Devlin said. “I always shoot to kill, and I don’t miss.”
“Did you hear what I just said?” Aaron yelled. “I will slice her head clean off.”
“It won’t be clean,” Monk said. “That’s a dirty knife. It’s been sitting in the sink for three days.”
“Who cares?” I said. “Getting an infection is the least of my problems right now.”
“Be reasonable,” Monk said to Aaron. “Put the knife down.”
“The hell I will.” Aaron looked past Monk to Devlin, who was in a firing stance, her aim steady, her gaze unwavering.
“Your death will be instantaneous,” she said. “But you can forget about an open casket, Aaron. The top of your head will be blown clean off.”
“Put the gun on the floor and step away from it now, or I will kill this woman,” Aaron said. “I have nothing left to lose. You don’t want to mess with me.”
But she didn’t move.
“For God’s sake, drop the knife,” Monk said, “and take this clean one instead.”
Monk grabbed a knife from the knife rack on the counter and took a big step toward us.
“Get away from me.” Aaron took a step back, dragging me with him. “Do you want her to die?”
“We can switch knives,” Monk said.
“No, we can’t,” Aaron said.
“Of course we can. It’ll be quick and easy,” Monk said. “You’ll thank me later.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “What difference does it make if I get my throat cut with a clean knife or a dirty one? I’m dead either way.”
“Shut up!” Aaron said.
“It makes a huge difference, Natalie,” Monk said. “Why do you think they disinfect scalpels before surgery? If he even nicks you with that disgusting
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