Elaine Viets & Victoria Laurie, Nancy Martin, Denise Swanson - Drop-Dead Blonde (v5.0) (pdf) by Unknown (best classic books .TXT) 📗

The outburst had come from behind me, up the stairs and to the right of the way I'd come. Without pause, I scrambled back up the stairs and tore back through the double doors. Instinctively I knew who had screamed, and I was in a complete panic to rush to Millicent's aid.

As I burst through the entrance, however, I nearly crashed headlong into her, and stopped just in time to catch her as she fell into my arms, white with fright and covered in blood. With shaking limbs I lowered her carefully down to the ground, searching for the wound that was bleeding so profusely.

``Millicent!'' I said to her huge eyes and pale face, ``tell me where you're hurt!''

``Oh, God!'' Millicent moaned, and crossed her arms over her chest protectively. She was visibly shaking, and this only intensified my fear.

``Millicent,'' I said again, trying to lower my voice into a tone of forced calm, as I began to feel along her arms and body, looking for the source of the blood. ``Look at me, honey! Tell me where you're hurt!'' I pleaded.

Just then I was joined by a wild-eyed night clerk, who looked like he'd just been jolted awake trying to compre- hend that he wasn't still dreaming. As he reached us he quickly bent down and asked in a shaky voice, ``What happened?''

``I don't know yet, but we need to call for an ambu- lance--''

``She's . . . she's . . . she's . . .'' Millicent interrupted as she pointed behind her with one bony, shaking finger.

``What, honey?'' I asked, wanting to keep her talking and thinking it was a good sign that she was still conscious.

`` . . . dead!'' she gasped, and the night clerk and I both stared first at her, then at each other, and finally in the direction Millicent was still pointing.

``What?'' I asked, a chill growing at the base of my neck and working its way down my spine. ``What did you say?''

``Out there,'' Millicent said, swallowing hard and trying desperately to collect herself. ``She's dead out there. . . .''

I looked again in the direction Millicent was pointing and suddenly noticed the dark splotches of red on the tiled floor BLIND SIGHTED 289 leading from the pool and marking Millicent's footsteps to my arms.

I turned to the night clerk and barked, ``Call nine-one- one!''

The clerk--a kid really, probably not a day over nine- teen--didn't move, but stood stock-still as he stared trans- fixed by the red footsteps leading from the pool.

``Yo!'' I shouted into his ear, jolting him to look at me. ``Go call nine-one-one!''

This time the command spurred him to action as he jumped up and ran back to the check-in counter.

Gingerly I got Millicent to her feet, then carefully moved her over to the couch and sat her down. I swallowed hard as I looked at her pale face and blood-soaked clothes; then, carefully, I asked, ``Millicent, how did you get so covered in blood?''

Millicent was looking toward the door she'd just come out of, her eyes out of focus as the memory of what had happened out by the pool played behind her eyes. Finally she swallowed hard, and in a voice clogged with emotion she said, ``After I left your room I figured it probably wasn't a good idea to wander out to the beach by myself, so I settled for a walk by the pool. You can see the beach from there, and I didn't think I could get into trouble if I went that way instead.''

While she unfolded her story, I patted her on the back reassuringly, nodding my head and encouraging her to go on. She continued after a moment: ``So I was walking around the deck and looking out at the gulf when it happened. . . .''

``What?'' I asked, when her voice trailed off, my own voice low with anticipation.

``I tripped over her,'' Millicent said simply, still looking toward the pool.

``You tripped over who?'' I asked, following her gaze.

``Celeste Ballentine. She's been stabbed.''

My jaw dropped, and I sucked in a breath of surprise. For some reason the message I'd given Celeste at the air- port about getting back on the plane she'd come in on came rushing back to my memory, and, following that, I remembered how I'd mentioned something about a be- trayal and that she would be stabbed in the back if she 290 Victoria Laurie wasn't careful. It occurred to me then that Celeste, though injured, might still be alive. Feeling stupid for sitting with Millicent when Celeste might need some form of CPR, I jumped up and moved quickly to the pool door.

``Abby? Where are you going?'' Millicent called urgently after me.

``If she's hurt then maybe there's something I can do for her,'' I said as I shoved the pool deck entrance open. As the door swung shut behind me I could hear a muffled call from Millicent that sounded like, ``No, it's too late!'' but I had to make sure for myself.

On the other side of the entrance I paused for a moment as I slowly scanned the pool deck, following with my eyes the trail of bloody footprints made by Millicent's hasty, retreat when I finally spotted her. Even in the dark it was possible to tell Celeste Ballentine was already dead, and no amount of CPR was going to help her.

Carefully I picked my way through the lounge chairs and over to within three feet of her, and as I squatted down my face scrunched up in distaste as a small amount of bile bubbled up to my throat in reaction to the horror of the scene.

Celeste lay on her stomach in an enormous pool of blood