Just Like a Hero by Patricia Pellicane Page A

“Don’t do anything while I’m gone.”
    “What are you going to do?” Mrs. Gilbert asked as another bout of tears erupted.
    “You’re not going to call the cops, right?” Mr. Burton asked.
    “I don’t know. I have to talk to Jim.”
    “I think we should kill him,” he said while Mrs. Gilbert cried harder.
    “If we kill him, we won’t get in trouble.”
    “You will!” Lexie exclaimed. “You definitely will. So don’t do anything. You hear me? Don’t do a thing, and don’t go near him, and give me that bat,” she said as she tore it from his hands. “What are you crazy?”
    A second later, she noticed the gun wedged between his belt and his stomach. She took that as well.
    “I told you she wouldn’t agree,” Mrs. Morgan calmly stated, as Lexie opened the woman’s apartment door.
    Lexie knocked on Jim’s door and watched his smile turn quickly into a look of concern. “What’s the matter?”
    “I don’t want you to get upset.”
    “I won’t. What happened?” he asked as he opened the door wider so she might enter his apartment. She shook her head. “We have to go.”
    “Where?”
    “To Mrs. Morgan’s place.”
    He nodded as he followed her into the hallway. “Are you going to tell me why?”
    Lexie thought it was best if he knew what he was walking into. This way, he could calm down a bit before seeing what she saw. “All right, wait, I need to tell you something, but you’ve got to promise not to get upset.”
    “I’m getting upset just listening to this. Tell me what happened? And why are you holding a bat?” His voice sharpened with horror. “And what the hell is that?”
    “A gun,” she said as she took it from her waistband and put it in Jim’s hand. “I took it from Mr. Burton, so he wouldn’t kill Mr. Kerrington.”
    Jim laughed. “You got me with that one,” he said, still smiling at what he supposed was a joke. “Where did you really get it?”
    “Jim, listen to me. Mr. Kerrington was in Mrs. Morgan’s apartment.”
    “Really? He’s bothering her again?” He shook his head and murmured almost to himself, “This is ridiculous.”
    “Because Mrs. Morgan lives alone and is sometimes afraid, she’s set a few traps should a burglar ever break in. One of them is in her closet. All you had to do was move her scarf that’s hanging from the shelf.”
    Jim frowned. “What?”
    Lexie nodded. “Moving the scarf causes a small wooden block to fall away. The little block is holding a bowling ball in place. Once it moves, the ball comes down on your head.”
    “Ouch.”
    “I know.”
    “Cut to the chase. She didn’t kill him, did she?” he asked. “Did she? What happened?”
    “He was going to call the cops, after he left a bag of weed at her place.”
    “Jesus! Is he that desperate?” He frowned. “Are you sure it’s Mr. Kerrington? Did you see him?”
    She didn’t answer him. “He thought she was out for the afternoon. She thought he was a burglar. She hit him with a baseball bat. Her grandson’s baseball bat. It was leaning against the wall behind her door. After the bowling ball hit his head, she hit him with a bat. The last blow apparently knocked him unconscious.”
    “Oh my God.”
    “I know. I said the same thing.”
    “He’s not dead, is he?”
    She took a deep breath and shook her head. “The thing is Mr. Burton wants to kill him. Thank God, I talked him out of that.” She shivered at the thought. “At least, I think I did.”
    “Where is he?”
    “They tied him to a chair. They were trying to think of a way out of this mess. So they called me. Mr. Burton insists the only way out is to kill him. The ladies don’t like the idea.”
    “We’re moving out of here. Let’s go.”
    “Where? We can’t move now.”
    Jim frowned. “What are you talking about? Across the hall. We’re going to fix this mess. And we’d better hurry before Mr. Burton changes his mind.”
    “Oh I have the gun. He can’t kill him.”
    Jim muttered a curse.