Where's Hansel and Gretel's Gingerbread House?: A Gabby Grimm Fairy Tale Mystery #2 Read Online Free PDF Page B

realization fell upon her
like two feet of packed powder on the ski trail. She was suddenly a
mass of quivering jelly and I had all I could do to hold her
upright.
    “Kill them!” came the command again.
    “Hold on there, son,” I told the young man in
front of me. “That’s not really a good idea.”
    Even as I spoke, I was moving away from my
cousin, hoping to divert the young gunman’s attention. If I was
going to get shot, I wanted to see the face of the other guy giving
the order. Backing up towards the front counter, I led the teenage
boy in the black knit cap along with me. Nettie had the good sense
to drop to her knees and hug the floor as we disappeared out of
sight. A moment later, we were out in the open, moving towards the
cashier’s counter.
    “Whoa! Jason, what the hell are you doing? I
told you to pop them.”
    “I’m not going to shoot her! Geez, Marky.
We’re robbing a convenience store. Get the money and let’s go!”
    “She can identify us!” Marky insisted, his
gun pointed at the clerk’s head. I could see the poor woman tearing
up as she shivered in the tight grasp of a very shaky gunman. I
wondered if he was on something. Meth, maybe. Or crack. Was he past
the point I could reason with him?
    “So?” Jason was baffled. “That doesn’t mean
we have to kill her!”
    “Hey,” I piped in.”I’m from Vermont. I’m not
even allowed to arrest you guys. I was just driving home to
Burlington with my cousin.”
    “Get her gun!” Marky told Jason, waving his
weapon in our direction.
    “I don’t actually have it here, guys. I left
it locked in the glove compartment out in the car. In the parking
lot. In the Toyota Corolla,” I added helpfully. “It’s not going to
do me much good at the moment, is it?”
    Even as I turned on the feminine charm,
trying desperately to convince them I was pretty harmless, I could
hear the sirens wailing down the avenue. Talk about bad timing. Or
was it good? Hard to tell at the moment.
    “Aw, damn!” Marky heard it, too. “The
cops!”
    “Maybe they’re not coming here,” Jason
offered, ever the optimist.
    “Oh, they’re coming here! They’re definitely
coming here!” Marky panicked. He knew fate was finally catching up
to him. “I’m on parole! I can’t afford to get caught!”
    “Ouch!” cried the clerk as Marky shoved her
in my direction and aimed his handgun. I caught her as she came
skidding at me.
    “Drop it!” From out of nowhere came a male
voice, and when Marky hesitated, trying to track the sound, I heard
a ping, followed by a loud crash as a bottle of Gatorade exploded
right by Marky’s black-capped head. “Now!”
    Jason quickly complied, Marky not so much. A
second shot came closer.
    “Now! Drop the weapon!”
    This time, the young gunman lowered his
handgun, shaky fingers quivering, and laid it on the floor, but
even as he did, I could see him trying to figure out if he could
still save himself. We couldn’t see the sniper and that left Marky
with few options.
    “Don’t even think about it! Hands on your
heads!” commanded that determined male voice again. I know the
sound of law enforcement when I hear it.
    Even as Marky and Jason complied, uniformed
officers were approaching cautiously. I could see them at the door,
weapons drawn. They looked a little confused when they saw the two
suspects with their hands on top of their heads, and they weren’t
the only ones. I was a little confused myself. But I knew an
opportunity when I saw one. Gingerly stepping past Jason and Marky,
I collected the weapons on my way to the door to invite the cops
in. Even as they brushed past me, I could see another patrol car
arriving on the scene. When it rolled to a stop in front of the
store, I handed over the two weapons to the cop emerging from the
driver’s seat.
    “Suspects disarmed. Deputy Sheriff Gabriella
Grimm, Latimer Falls, Vermont.”
    “Sergeant Paul Rushmore,” he replied. “Any
injuries?”
    I gave him a rundown,