The Lipstick Killers Read Online Free PDF Page B

pressed a key and the till opened. At the back was a thin bundle of high denomination Euro notes Roxie had been saving for a rainy day. It looked like that day had come. She pulled out the cash and underneath was a nickel plated, pearl handled, single shot .22 Derringer nestling in the plastic tray, fully loaded. A lady’s gun – actually a gift from Tony when they were still together. The stuff they were into, Roxie needed it for protection. Luckily Tony obviously didn’t remember that she still had it. A purse pistol, but still deadly in the right hands and that morning Roxie’s were the right hands.
    Seeing the few notes, Tony yelled in anger and frustration . ‘Peanuts.’
    Roxie picked up the pistol, cocked the hammer and shot him in the right eye, the sound of the shot from the tiny gun no louder than a cough. His knife hit the floor before him, but not by much.
    Roxie went round his dead body without touching it, and closed the front door.
    She stood for a moment looking down at him, a red hole where one eye had been, the other blown out on its stalk by the concussion from the bullet, when the phone on the counter rang. It was Frankie with the bad news about Monty.
    It must be Fate, she thought, as she put the phone down. I definitely need to leave the country – and quickly. She put the phone down, went upstairs, dressed, packed, took the money she’d saved, stepped over Tony’s body, went out to the mall, locked up the shop behind her and went looking for a cab. On the way, she carefully wiped her fingerprints off the gun and dropped it down an open drain.

10
     
     
     
    Margaret went back into the kitchen where Frankie was again sitting at the table, looking half dead, yet another cup of sweet tea in front of her. ‘Do those coppers want a drink?’ she asked.
    ‘No, they’ve gone.’
    ‘What’s that you’ve got?’ asked Frankie.
    ‘They brought these,’ said Mags, laying Monty’s wallet, top of the range BlackBerry and keys on the table, and hanging the jacket on the back of a chair. ‘Monty’s stuff. They found them when they recovered the car.’
    ‘Christ, how could he be so stupid,’ said Frankie. ‘How could he?’
    ‘Accidents happen.’ God knows she’d seen enough in her job.
    ‘But he did drink and drive. I know that. All those late night meetings. I begged him not to, for Peter and Susan’s sake. I always dreaded something happening to him, and now…’ Frankie’s voice tailed away.
    ‘He wasn’t…?’ said Margaret.
    ‘What?’
    ‘Playing away.’
    ‘Course he wasn’t!’ Frankie exclaimed, angrily. ‘Typical copper. Always suspicious.’
    ‘Don’t be so naïve. It happens. They’d been married eight years.’
    ‘No way. He loved Sharon and those kids, look at everything he provided for them.’
    ‘I know. That was unfair. It was just a thought.’
    ‘Well keep it to yourself in future, you’ll upset Sharon.’
    Margaret nodded, then said. ‘I’m sorry about this morning on the phone. Jumping down your throat. I’ve not been sleeping well lately,’ she said, looking faintly vulnerable.
    ‘I’m not surprised. Losing your job.’
    ‘I haven’t lost it Frankie. At least not yet. I’m suspended.’
    ‘What happened Mags? I know we don’t see each other much but you’re my little sister and I’m always here for you.’
    ‘I was suspended for shooting the wrong bloke. But he was a waste of space anyway. Wrong time, wrong place. At least he’s not dead – though it would be no loss if he was.’ Mags looked grim for a moment, then continued. ‘But forget that for now. What do we do next?’
    Frankie looked at the kitchen clock. ‘Half eight,’ she said. ‘We have to call Roxie. What time is it in Spain? Is it an hour forwards or backwards or the same.’
    ‘Christ, I can’t remember. Let’s just call her,’ Mags said. ‘Get rid of that jacket first, in case Sharon comes down. She doesn’t need to see it right now.’
    ‘Of