The Lake

He sprang forward, leaping over Leigh and knocking Deana to one side, lurching down the hallway, toward the back of the house, panting, pushing, shoving furniture behind him as he went.

Mattie raced after him, head down, dodging the flying ammunition.

Shit!

The kitchen door slammed in her face. She felt her nose crack.

Shit shit SHIT!

She kicked open the door, cursing as the outer door swung to and fro.

Nelson was gone.

“You bastard,” she spat. “So you got away. This time!”

Mace dropped down on one knee. “Leigh. Leigh. You okay?”

“Uh-uh. Thank God you came—just in time. Guess you saved our lives. You okay, Deana?

“Deana!”

Leigh crawled over to Deana, stretched out on the floor, an ugly red bruise already staining her lower jaw.

Breathlessly, Mattie returned to the others, stabbing out the connection code on her cell phone, cursing to herself as she did it. “Fuckin’ bastard got away. How the hell he did it, beats me. He just disappeared. Obviously knows the territory.”

At the other end, Mill Valley PD picked up, getting an earful of Mattie’s dialogue.

“Yeah.” She was terse. “You heard me right. Man with a cleaver, attacked woman and daughter. 104 Del Mar, on Mark Terrace. Lost the suspect, but we have the weapon. Try putting out an all points—he’s on foot. Maybe. Could be the killer of the Powers boy in the Mount Tam vicinity last night. Yeah. We have two injured people here. Call an ambulance.”

Deana groaned. Mace guided Leigh to the living room and settled her on the sofa. Mattie was already busy in the kitchen, wringing out a cold compress to put on Deana’s jaw.

Mace strode back to the hallway. Nudging the cleaver with the toe of his shoe, he called out: “Know who this guy is, Ms. West?”

“Do I. His name is Nelson Willington and he’s head chef at the Bayview.”

Mace and Mattie, both in the living room now, exchanged glances.

“What did ya do, Leigh?” Mattie asked. “Cut his pay in half?”

“You could say that. I fired him a coupla days ago.”

Nursing her jaw, Deana perked up. So that was why Mom was so…so preoccupied with Nelson.

“You fired him?”

Mace, too, was all ears. “How come?”

“He wanted a piece of the action. A partnership in the business. Said if it weren’t for his cuisine, I wouldn’t be where I am today. One of the best restaurants in Tiburon et cetera, et cetera.”

“The best restaurant in Tiburon,” Mattie put in.

“Thanks.” Leigh gave her a wry smile.

Mattie brought out a plastic sack from her shoulder bag. Shook it open. Put on protective gloves, went to the hallway, and picked up the meat cleaver.

It looked like a nasty piece of work. Honed to a fine sharpness, she guessed it would slice through bone just as easily as it would through butter.

Gingerly, she put a forefinger to the blade.

“Ouch,” she murmured, slipping it into the sack.

“Careful, Mattie. Don’t want you losing any fingers out there,” Mace said lightly.

“Butt out, Charlie. Do either of you ladies recognize this thing?” Mattie carried the cleaver into the living room. It had an intricate dragon design on the handle, winding its way up to the blade.

Before Leigh could answer, Deana said, “Yes. There are two in the kitchen at the Bayview.”

“Sure are,” Leigh agreed. “Nelson uses them for cutting up sides of beef.”

Sirens began to wail. Lights flashed in the driveway. Mattie went to the front door.

“Over here, guys,” she called out.

“Maybe I don’t need hospital treatment,” Leigh said. “I’m okay. But how about you, Deana? You look as if you might have a fractured jaw—best we have it checked out.”

“You both need checking out, Leigh,” Mace put in. “Mattie, go along with the ladies. I’ll hang around here a while longer.”

Deana pouted. The hospital didn’t seem like a smart move right now. Especially as the action seemed to be heating up a little. She flinched as a stab of pain shot through her skull.

“Okay. Okay,” she muttered. “I’m going. Macie baby’s right. As usual.”

“Deana.”

“Sorry, Mom,” she said thickly. Her jaw throbbed. It felt like she was talking through cotton wool lips. “We’ll miss all the fun, though.”

“What fun, Deana? You want that creep to sneak back in, wait till you’re in bed, then zap?” Mace slapped the palms of his hands together with a loud crack.

Deana winced. Leigh shot him a cool glance.

“Right, folks. We’re ready to roll!” Mattie called out. Sensing the tension, she looked at Mace sharply. “You okay alone here?” she asked.

“Sure. Stopped worrying about boogeymen twenty years back.”

“Yeah. I bet.” Mattie tossed him a tight smile over her shoulder. She followed the two women to the ambulance. The tip of her nose, where it had collided with the kitchen door, hurt like hell.

“Don’t worry your heads none about Mace,” she told Leigh and Deana. “Our mad axman catches up with Mace, he’ll wish he’d never bothered.”

Picturing Mace’s well-built, muscular five eleven against Nelson’s thin, gangling frame, Leigh almost felt sorry for the chef.