“Ouch!” Alice pretended to stumble on the sidewalk, hanging on to the heavy messenger bag while she reached down toward her soggy foot. “I slipped, my ankle hurts! I think I twisted my ankle.”
“Oh no!”
“Ouch, help!” Alice fumbled the umbrella, which dipped suddenly. Cold rain drenched them. “Take the umbrella, quick! I need to sit down.”
“Got it!” Judy grabbed the umbrella and covered them. A stiff wind whipped off the river, blowing rain everywhere. “Let’s go back to the restaurant. We can get help there.”
“No, I can’t walk that far.” Alice looped an arm around Judy’s shoulder and gestured toward the loading dock. “Go, there, please, ow! I can’t walk another minute. It’s killing me. Help me get over there and sit down.”
“Where?”
“Over there, on that ledge, at that loading dock.” Alice pointed. “Then you can go back to the restaurant and get help. Carrier, hurry, I need to get weight off this thing!”
“There, you sure? It’s so dark back there.”
“So what? I’m in pain. Ow!” Alice cried out, then slid her hand in her pocket for the gun. “Carrier, hurry. It’s killing me!”
“Okay, hang on.” Judy hustled them across the slick asphalt lot, juggling the umbrella while Alice weighed down her other arm. They staggered to the loading dock, but suddenly a security light went on, probably a motion detector, drenching them in a pool of brightness.
“Oh, ouch!” Alice howled in fake pain. She hadn’t planned on the light shining directly on them, but they were still shielded from the street by the parked cars and trucks. She eased onto the concrete ledge, holding Judy for support with one hand, and with the other, sliding her gun from her pocket. “Here, right here! Judy, help!”
Judy paused. “What? You called me Judy. You never call me Judy.”
“So what? Help me!”
“You’re not Bennie!” Judy’s expression changed, her eyes widening with the realization. “I knew it!”
Suddenly there came a shout from the street, and they both turned to see a tall silhouette running toward them, out of the rain and darkness.
It was Bennie.
Alice seized Judy, yanked her backwards off her feet, and drilled the muzzle of the gun into her forehead. “Stay still and shut up!”
“Help!” Judy cried out, but Alice pressed the trigger, making a fateful click.
“I said, shut up!”
“Please, no!” Judy went rigid just as Bennie ran into the light, raising a gun.
“Let her go!” Bennie shouted, and Alice laughed.
“You have a gun, counselor? You gonna shoot me?”
Judy whimpered, the gun at her temple, her terrified eyes shifting from one look-alike to the other.
“Let her go!” Bennie shouted again, but Alice only laughed again.
“Drop the gun or I’ll shoot her.”
“No!” Bennie looked down the barrel and saw her own face. “Drop the gun, Alice. Or I’ll shoot you.”