Thirteen Diamonds

breath. I gulped air and threatened to hyperventilate. I consciously slowed my breathing, but my heart didn't slow down.  It was going for a record.
    I painfully got to my knees so that I could peek over the log. I poked my head up and saw Joe, lying on his back, right in front of me, blood soaking his shirt. He didn't move. His helmet was off and he looked handsome, even in death.
    I turned my head toward my car; I could see it through the trees. Carol was looking in the window. I had a few seconds of leeway before she came back, searching for me. I looked around but I didn't see a better hiding place than where I was. I couldn't move very far, anyway, without her seeing me. I hoped she didn't conduct a thorough search.
    Carol circled my car, speeding up as she went. The only thing that was saving me was that she was searching for me where I wasn't. I turned my head and looked at Carol's car. It was much closer to me than to Carol. I was an experienced Mercedes driver. It had a security code, but I remembered it from our discussion on the previous Sunday. Could I reach it before she did, in spite of my leg?  If so, was the key in it?
    It faced toward Albert's house and there wouldn't be time to turn it around on the one-lane road. If I managed to get it started and drove to the house I could get there before Carol could back my car to the road and follow me. That would give me time to alert Albert and he had a rifle.
    I was tempted to try to reach Carol's car, but even if I beat Carol to the car she could hit me with a lucky shot. Still, that might be preferable to waiting for her to find me—waiting to die.
    I was getting up my nerve to attempt a dash to Carol's car when she started back toward me. It was too late for me now because she would see me as soon as I moved, and break into a run. And even wearing a skirt she could easily outrun me in my present condition.
    She looked from one side to another as she came. She walked a few feet off the path to check behind several fallen trees. She would do the same when she got to mine. I prepared to duck my head because she was getting too close for comfort.
    I thought I heard the sound of another car, approaching from the main road.  Carol stopped walking; she heard it too. She stood, undecided, for four or five heartbeats; then she ran for her car, gun in hand. I quickly lowered my head and listened to the sound of her footsteps as they hurried by me, crunching twigs and dead leaves.
    I popped my head up again and saw Sandra's little red Toyota come around the corner. Carol had reached her Mercedes, but she didn't get in. She dropped her gun into the pocket of her suit jacket and turned to face the oncoming car. It pulled up behind Carol's car and stopped. Sandra was driving; Mark sat in the passenger seat; Winston sat in his car-seat in the back.
    As the two older ones got out, Carol went into an act. “There's been a terrible accident!” she cried, pointing down the path she had just retraced, toward my car. When Sandra and Mark looked in that direction they also saw Joe's body.
    I couldn't let them get sucked into anything, especially with Winston here. With a great effort I stood up and shouted, “Watch out! She's got a gun!”
    Sandra and Mark stared at me. I must have looked like one of the living dead. I had blood on my face and dirt all over. My appearance distracted them from Carol, who looked at me too.
    “Thank God you're alive!” Carol said, striding the few steps to me. She kept one hand in the pocket with the gun. “I thought you had been...” she hesitated.
    “Killed?” I asked.
    She grabbed my arm with her free hand.
    “Carol shot Joe!” I shouted. “She tried to kill me too.”
    Carol pulled the gun out of her pocket and placed it against my head.
    “Let her go!” Sandra said.
    She and Mark edged closer to us.
    “Hold it!” Carol commanded. They stopped. “Now listen to me.”
    Carol's hand that held me was shaking and her breathing was rapid.
    “Sandy,” Carol continued, “move your car out of the way but don't try to drive off or your grandmother gets it. Mark, turn my car around and leave it running.”
    “She's going to shoot me anyway,” I said. “Get away while you can.”
    Carol's grip on my arm tightened. Sandra watched as Carol shoved the barrel of her gun into the back of my head. As I winced, Sandra carefully walked back to her car, keeping one eye on Carol.
    “I remember that your car has a security code,” Mark