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By Root 206 0

like a scene from a bad teen scream movie. He was still there, though, the pistol he’d held on me lying ten feet away from him. At first I thought he was dead. Then I heard him moaning, and I knew the fall hadn’t killed him. I didn’t know whether I was happy about that or not since he’d killed Becka and had been prepared to kill Jeanie and me as well. Ultimately I knew I’d be happy that I hadn’t killed him with that shove off the roof, but for the moment the urge to pick up that pistol and use it was nearly overwhelming. Markum waited, watching me, and as soon as the moment passed, he said, “You made the right decision. Let the courts chew this guy up.”

I nodded, amazed that I could have felt the desire to kill him, even if it had passed as quickly as it had come.

“Do you want me to call the cops first, or an ambulance?” Markum asked.

“He’s not going anywhere. Call nine-one-one and let them decide.”

I started back to the front of the building, and Markum called out, “Where are you going? Morton’s going to want to talk to you.”

“He can wait,” I said. “There’s somebody upstairs who needs me.”

“He didn’t shoot somebody else, did he?”

“No, but he was going to. I’ll be right back.”

I went upstairs and freed Jeanie. Pulling the tape off her mouth had to hurt, but if she felt it; she didn’t let on. “Where is he?” she said angrily.

“He’s down on the ground. I pushed him off the roof.”

“I hope you killed him,” Jeanie said.

“Sorry to disappoint you, but he’s still alive.”

She pushed past me, and I asked, “Where are you going?’

“To finish the job,” she said.

I put a hand on her shoulder. “I understand the impulse, but I already called the police.”

“Maybe I can get to him before they can.” I couldn’t believe sweet Jeanie was ready to finish what I’d started with Runion. I was more afraid of her at the moment than I had been of her boss.

I followed Jeanie downstairs. She stopped abruptly at the door when she saw two police cruisers pull up with their red lights flashing. She turned to me. “Don’t say anything about what you’ve heard. If Runion manages to pull through, we’ll claim he’s lying.”

“I don’t fully understand what’s going on here.”

“There’s no time to explain it all now,” she said. “Just go along with me on this and I’ll make you rich.”

I grabbed her shoulder and spun her toward me. “Make the time. What’s going on, Jeanie?”

“I’ve got enough evidence from Becka to hang Runion, but I don’t want to use it unless I have to. Your old girlfriend trusted me, can you believe that? I wasn’t sure if Becka told you anything, so I started hanging around here. I knew Runion was getting ready to run. I finally found his account numbers for the Bahamian bank, and I’ve been looking for a way to get his money for years. Why do you think I stuck with him all that time? It surely wasn’t because of his personality. Harrison, he’s got two million dollars squirreled away somewhere. I’ve got everything we need to claim it in my pocket It means that a half a million is yours just for keeping your mouth shut”

“Where’d the money come from?” I asked.

“Runion scammed most of it from Cyrus and Grover. Come on, Harrison, they’re both so rich they won’t even notice it’s gone. That’s a lot of money I’m offering you to stay quiet about it”

“I don’t think so,” I said.

She studied me for a second, then said, “You’re tougher than I thought you were. Okay, we’ll split it down the middle, even if you are blackmailing me. I’m being more than fair here, Harrison, considering I did all the work. I helped cheat them both; even Runion admitted he couldn’t have done it without me. Are you ready to go?”

“I am now,” I said.

We walked outside to where Runion had fallen, and I saw the paramedics working on him. “How is he?” I asked.

“He’s got two broken legs and a broken arm. He’s going to make it, but he’s going to be in a world of hurt in the meantime.”

“I can live with that,” I said.

Morton said, “What happened here tonight, Harrison?”

“Runion thought I had something that belonged to him, but I didn’t” I saw Jeanie watching me closely. I added,