Party Crashers

for you that was put in my mailbox by mistake...a few days ago." She extended a lumpy, padded manila envelope.
    Jolie frowned. "When did you say it arrived?"
    "One day last week," the woman snapped. "I'm a little forgetful these days." She slammed the door.
    But Jolie barely noticed because she recognized the handwriting on the return address: Gary's. Her heart beat wildly. This was the envelope he feared "they" had intercepted. He couldn't have known that in this instance, "they" were a nearsighted mail carrier and her nosy, forgetful neighbor.
    She raced down the stairs and decided it would be faster to step inside her own apartment to examine the envelope. With a bum left hand and a right hand that shook from excitement, it took her a few seconds longer to unlock the door and the deadbolt. Just as she turned the doorknob, a man's gloved hand clamped over her mouth from behind.
    Jolie's cry died against his hand. Terror bolted through her as he shoved his body against her back, his mouth to her ear. "Welcome home."
    At the sound of Roger LeMon's voice, she almost lost control of her bladder. His fingers covered her nose too, so she was bucking to breathe. The door opened in front of her and he pushed her inside, sending her sprawling in the darkness against the gray carpet, which was much harder than she'd ever imagined. Everything in her arms scattered and rolled. The front door slammed closed and she heard him fumbling with the deadbolt. Precious time, and she knew her way around in the dark. She pushed herself up and ran for the bedroom. LeMon abandoned the door and lunged after her. He caught her by the arm, pulled her to him, and covered her mouth again.
    "Time to die," he growled in her ear, dragging her backward. "After your boyfriend's memorial service, you couldn't live with yourself anymore. You left a note on your computer about the little love triangle between you and Gary and my wife, about how Gary killed my wife, then how you killed him."
    She fought him furiously, struggling left, then right.
    "It's not going to hurt, you'll be out from the sleeping pills when I slash your wrists."
    He released her mouth for a second and when she gasped for air, he shoved capsules into her mouth. She clamped down, refusing to swallow, her screams fading into grunts. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Would anyone question her death? Leann...Carlotta...Salyers...Beck? He had offered her a safe, secure place to sleep and she'd thrown it in his face. She gagged as the bitter powder from the broken capsules began to dissolve in her mouth.
    She heard a loud boom, the distant sound of wood splintering. "Jolie! Jolie! " a voice shouted.
    Beck ?
    Suddenly LeMon released her. She fell to her knees, gagging, spitting out the capsules, pulling them out with her fingers. Gasping, she dragged herself up a wall and slapped at the light switch. The two men were crashing against walls, floors. Beck had the bulk, but LeMon, to her horror, had a blade. Beck's shirt was cut and he was bleeding. Jolie was terrified at the thought of him losing his life because of her. She frantically searched for a weapon. She remembered the fire extinguisher in the bedroom, and then she spied the great frozen zucchini brick at her feet. She hefted it, rushed forward, and brought it down on the back of LeMon's head. The sound of frozen bread connecting with flesh was...satisfying, actually.
    LeMon dropped like a stone, his knife clattering to the floor.
    Beck was at her side in two strides. He cupped his hands around her face. "Are you all right?" he demanded, his voice rasping.
    She nodded, then burst into tears. Third time and counting.

Chapter Twenty-five

    CARLOTTA’S EYES WIDENED. "They were going to do what ?"
    "Murder their wives," Jolie repeated. "Among other things."
    "I don't believe it," Carlotta said, setting her bottle of Pellegrino on the table.
    Yesterday Jolie had spent most of the day with the police, this morning, she and the girls were at the Crepe House playing catch-up.
    "I don't believe Russell would do it," Hannah said.
    "Supposedly, his wife was next," Jolie said. "That's why Gary was at Sammy's party—to warn Mrs. Island."
    "So that's why he was with Roger LeMon's wife at the river?"
    Jolie nodded. "Gary said on the audiotape he’d mailed to me that after he stumbled onto the fact that the four men were going to get rid of their wives, he told LeMon he would do it, then he picked up Janet LeMon under the pretense of taking her