“Who is this girl? Who did she say she was?”
“Grant’s girlfriend. Elizabeth. That’s all I know. She didn’t bring a car, at least that I saw, and she’s tall and young.”
“And she just showed up at your door?”
“Yeah, said she knew he was out of town.”
“Holy shit.”
“Oh, I found some rope.” Stella squeals, grabbing an unused roll that’s still in its packaging.
“Okay, go back inside with it.”
Stella tiptoes back to the house, afraid any loud movements are going to draw attention to her. Elizabeth’s still laid out, but her breathing isn’t as shallow.
“I think she’s about to wake up.”
“You’re sure she’s not dead?”
“Absolutely not, she’s definitely breathing.”
“Okay, I want you to bind her arms and legs. This way if she wakes, she’ll be restrained.”
“Are you close? Lucy … how far are you?”
“I’m not far, Stel, super close. I’ll be there in no time. Let me walk you through how to tie her up.”
Stella listens as Lucy instructs her on how to tie a boy scout knot.
Baffled, she’s in awe that Lucy knows all of this information that Stella had never thought was important.
Elizabeth starts to stir and instinctively, Stella gives her a swift knock to the jaw. Groaning, she doesn’t move a limb, just makes guttural noises. After she’s bound both her arms and legs, Stella sits back, wiping a bead of sweat from her brow. She pats her down, making sure she’s not hiding any more weapons.
Stella hears the sound of a loud engine, Lucy’s Escalade, and she rushes to unlock the deadbolt.
“I’m here,” Lucy says into the phone, “I’m here, sweetie.”
She doesn’t have to knock on the door, Stella throws it open in relief, shaking as she folds into Lucy’s arms. “Shhh … I’m here, I’m here.” Lucy keeps saying over and over, stroking her hair and rubbing her back. She takes the phone out of Stella's quivering grasp and slides it in her back pocket.
“So scared,” is all she can keep repeating.
Glancing over Stella’s shoulder, Lucy eyes the intruder laid out in the kitchen. “This is her?” Removing her shoes, Lucy pads into the house with just her socks on, the rain still pounding outside.
“Yes.”
“And she wanted to kill you?”
“With this,” Stella fumbles with the gun, almost dropping it.
“Here, let me take it.” Lucy sounds fearful that Stella’s going to hurt them both. “I know how to work it.” Giving her a pat on the shoulder, Lucy directs her to the living room. “Okay, you sit down on the sofa so we can get to the bottom of this.”
“Shouldn’t we call the cops?”
“I already did.”
Stella cocks her head. “When?”
“I asked Adam to when I left the house.”
“You were with him?”
“Yeah. He called 9-1-1 for us.”
“Thank you." Wailing, Stella puts her head in her hands, “I just want this nightmare to end.”
“I wanted you to stay on the phone so you didn’t lose it.” Lucy sniffs. "You had me so worried, I can’t imagine how you felt here with this ... this crazy person.”
“Thank you so much for coming.” She reaches for Lucy's hand. “You’re a lifesaver.”
Lucy sinks down into the opposite chair. “Am I?”
“Of course.”
“I thought you’d be upset I was at Adam’s.”
“Why would I be upset?”
“Because we’re now divorced.” Lucy adds, “and we’re trying to get back together.”
“You have kids, Lucy.”
“Correct, we do have kids.” Her mouth twists into a grimace. “But that didn’t seem to stop you. Nor did the fact that you were my best friend.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Cut the shit, Stella. It was Adam you had an affair with. You can’t pretend anymore.”
34
Stella
“What?” Stella can’t believe her ears, and the tips of them burn red along with her face. “Where did you hear that?”
Lucy stares her square in the eye. “There’s no need to pretend anymore, Stella. It’s not a secret.”
“What are you saying?”
“That I know you fucked my husband,” her voice rises, “and for multiple months.” The anger dissipates from Lucy’s face, replaced by sadness. “I knew he was cheating, and I’ll give you credit, you were a total pro. The night I came over, you actually had plans with him, but you canceled. Lucky for you because that night, I had a P.I. watching him as soon as I left the house.”
“Who would make up such shit?” Stella sags against the couch. “This is hurtful, Lucy.”
“Funny enough, your husband tipped me off,” Lucy mutters. “Grant let the cat out of the bag.”
“What?”
“The cameras caught you.”
“Impossible.”
“The outside ones.”
Stella argues, unable to utter the name ‘Adam.’ “He never came to the house.”
“No, but he was pausing in your driveway. He would pull in, sit for a minute, then back out and drive off. Grant called me one day, thought it was me in the vehicle and that something was wrong.”
“But you never borrow his car.”
“Correct, but Grant didn’t know that, and you only know that because you were sleeping with him.” Lucy continues, “Grant thought I was borrowing Adam’s car because there was no good reason for my husband to be coming over on a daily basis and sitting in your drive.”
She continues, “I’m sure Adam ending it came as a shock to you.” Lucy twirls a piece of hair around her finger. “I made him break it off with you that night. I followed him, to make sure he actually went, since follow-through isn’t his greatest strength. I sat outside that seedy bar as you walked in, so smug, a proud homewrecker.”
Stella looks panicked, her eyes darting towards the windows, which are covered with security blinds.
“And your poor accident…” Lucy shrugs, “I couldn’t help but make sure your tire was a little bit flattened. Imagine my surprise when you managed to once again be absolved of any responsibility. You walked away with lacerations and a slap on the wrist, typical Stella style.”
Stella’s mouth opens wide. “You caused my wreck?”
“Hardly,” she snorts, “you were drunk and high.”
“I thought you didn’t know the most recent woman, that she was a stranger?”
“Well, yes, she is. Certainly a stranger to me and not my best friend.” Lucy thrusts her hand out. “Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be my best friend.”
“Lucy, I’m ... there are no words. I’m ashamed.”
“You should be, but it’s too late, friend. You went after a married man, and not just any married man, my husband. All under my nose.”
Stella sits there, kneading her hands in her lap. The only noise is the hum of the fridge and the tick of the clock on the mantel. Even the sound of the rain seems to have dissipated.
Lucy breaks the silence. “Did you know I slept with your husband?”
Incredulous, Stella’s eyes widen, “What?”
Lucy nods her head, slow and calculated, fixated on Stella’s response.
“For payback?”
“No, before you ever knew Grant. Before he’d even heard the name Stella McKinney. We went on three dates, then he met you and he stopped returning my calls.”
Stella bites her lip in confusion. “But we didn’t even date right away…”
“Figures, you always take what you want. I was so mad at Tom for inviting you to my sister’s party."
“You told me it was nothing, that Grant sucked at kissing and you never slept together."
“Well, I lied.” She shrugs. “We even slept together the night you met him at Tom and Lisa’s.”
&
nbsp; “What?”
“Yeah, he left first and then I met him at his place.”
“How did I not know this?”
“Because we agreed never to tell you.”
“But why?”
“Because we weren’t serious, or at least he wasn’t about me. It was just sex for a long time, until he ran into you again and decided you were the one.”
“No point, it was a long time ago. I met Adam, we all moved on and married our people. But you had to ruin that ... coming after my own.”
“How come you’re just confessing you knew about,” Stella stammers, “the...”
“Affair?” Lucy says disgustedly. “Not a big enough girl to use big words that mean total destruction and chaos?”
Stella says nothing, just nods.
“Because I needed proof, and then I got it. I told Adam if he left to be with you, he’d never see the kids and I’d drag his name through the mud. As a small business owner, he wasn’t too keen on the idea.”
“Speaking of,” she taps her chin, “I doubt you’d want to world to know that you had an affair with your best friend’s husband. That would make for a juicy tabloid story and you’d land in all the magazines, just not for the right reasons.”
“What do you want?” Stella whispers. “Is this why you stole my purse?”
“How’d you know?” Lucy has an evil glint in her eye, “Did Grant confess or was it Aras?”
“Neither.”
“Grant wanted to search your bag and see what pills you were abusing. Said you’d been acting cuckoo lately and he thought the club would be the perfect time to rifle through it.”
“He wouldn’t…”
“But he did.” Smug, Lucy mutters, “I was supposed to replace your handbag, but I just couldn’t seem to part with it.”
“So Grant knew you stole it?”
“Yeah, but he knows I’ll return it eventually. In fact, I have it with me. It’s now filled with a variety of pills and drugs you probably shouldn’t have, all compliments of men at the club.”
Defiantly, Stella stammers, “I don’t believe you.”
Bored, Lucy shakes her head. “You don’t have to.”
“Why have you kept this a secret all this time?”
“Because it was fun for a while, having an epic secret you didn’t know I knew. And laughing at your misfortunes.” Lucy snorts, “though it’s been comical to hear you lose touch with reality. Like when you freaked out about the lipstick in Grant’s travel bag. It was so easy to slide that in when I was looking for headache medicine.”
Lucy pauses, “but believe me,” she clamps her hands into tight balls, “I wanted to confront you. I wanted to beat the shit out of you, but that didn’t seem like the adult way to handle it.”
Stella’s almost afraid to ask, but gets the courage to whimper, “And what is the adult way to handle it?”
“Easy,” Lucy gives her a wink. “You’re going to pay for your actions. Which, in my mind, are punishable by death.”
35
Stella
Stella sits in silence, her eyes nervously darting around the room, trying to final a focal point. She directs her stare to the clock over the mantel as Lucy’s narrowed slits burn a hole through her.
They hear coughing and sputtering, signaling the girl's starting to wake, and annoyed, Lucy stands to check on her. Training the gun on Stella, she instructs her not to move from the couch.
“Emily, wake up,” Lucy kicks her with her boot. “You’re going to be okay.”
“I thought it was Elizabeth…” Stella murmurs in the background.
“Arghh … it hurts.” Her green eyes flicker open one at a time, then they slowly close, repeating the process over and over. “Why am I tied up?”
“Because you can’t seem to follow instructions.”
“I tried … I was so close.”
“But that’s not what we paid you for.”
Stella quickly rises, and Lucy growls, “I told you to stay seated.”
“What?” Stella ignores her. “Who paid who?”
“Am I talking to you?” Lucy cocks the gun at her. “No. So shut the hell up.” Turning back around, she squats next to the girl. “Can I count on you to finish the job?”
“I … I think so.”
“That’s not a very firm answer. You committed to this and gave us your word.”
“I thought it was just going to mean practicing my acting chops, not the actual act of murder.” She moans. “I was just supposed to pretend I was the mistress. You said to play that role, and I did.”
Indignant, she shifts her body so she can try to roll to one side. “I acted convincing and she really thought I was having an affair with her husband.”
“So you’re not really sleeping with my husband?” Stella turns to Lucy. “You paid this girl, Elizabeth, Emily, whatever the hell your name is, to kill me?”
The idea of this sounds far-fetched, even to her. Lucy hired someone to assassinate her?
“Her real name is Emily but we let her pick a stage name, and no,” Lucy snorts, “certainly not.” Rolling her eyes, she asks, “What do you think I am, some sort of sociopath?”
Stella’s shoulders sag, and she uses the counter to provide support. At least this is one piece of good news. Her former best friend hasn’t totally lost it.
“Grant paid her to do it.” Lucy’s apathetic as she sniffs. “It was his idea.”
“My husband paid her to get rid of me,” Stella says slowly, “and where do you come in?”
“Clearly I had to come to your rescue, or your detriment, and help finish the job. It was getting out of hand.” Lucy settles back on her butt. “I thought hiring a wannabe actress would be a good idea, but it looks like her time is limited.”
“She’s an actress?”
“Not a very good one, no paying parts except for this job. Grant came across her when he helped one of her friends with a manuscript. He asked for some unknowns and here we have it. This one will presumably stay anonymous since she can’t follow simple instructions.”
“So Grant left so he wouldn’t be culpable?”
“Bingo,” Lucy nods, “you’re catching on. He wanted to be out of town, with an airtight alibi.” She shrugs, “and across the country was the best way to do this.”
Stella feels a tingling sensation moving down her spine. “And does Adam know?”
“Know your husband wants you dead?” She gives a giddy laugh. “No, it wasn’t worth telling him. That seems like kind of a big deal.”
“He wouldn’t want you to do this.”
Her jaw clenches. “Do me a favor, Stella. Stop telling me what my husband would and wouldn’t want me to do.”
She steps over Emily. “You kept calling him yesterday, and that really set me off. You always seem to appear when you’re not needed or wanted.”
“I didn’t know you were getting back together.”
“That would be horrible, wouldn’t it?” Lucy runs a hand through her hair. “We have kids together, Stella. A family. And you barged in like that didn’t mean a damn thing. I can’t explain the importance of family or make your selfish brain relate to our lives. But you stormed in and took what you wanted, just like you did with Grant.”
Stella buries her head in her hands. “I wasn’t trying to hurt you.”
“No one ever is, are they? You get to act like you want without consequences.”
“You don’t want to help do this, Lucy. Come on, we can talk about this.”
“I’m not doing anything. Merely checking on the situation. I’ll release Emily back to the wild and she can finish the job and report back to her boss. I wasn’t trying to get in the way. The sooner, the better…”
“You can’t do this,” Stella pleads.
Snide, her fingers reach out to clench Stella’s chin. Turning her cheek side to side, she whispers, “Oh dear, Stella, I can do whatever I want. And right now, I want you gone.”
Yanking a pocket knif
e from her back pocket, Stella’s worried Lucy’s going to use it on her face. Instead, she leans down, cutting the rope wrapped around Emily’s wrists and legs.
Stella frantically looks around, edging away from the counter, her eyes trained on the two of them. Lucy is directing Emily on what to do, giving Stella a moment to make a run for it.
As if she’s shot from a cannon, Stella hits the stairs, not bothering to look behind her. A sharp thwack hits Stella in the back of the head, and dazed, she realizes the fierce pain is from the butt of the gun. “I wouldn’t do that…” Lucy screams behind her. “I told you I know how to use this.”
Rotating around, the two women glare at each other, neither wanting to break eye contact.
“Emily,” Lucy raises her voice, “I need you to grab Stella and bring her over to me.”
Stepping forward, Emily hesitates, her long hair matted with blood. “I don’t feel so well.”
“I’m sure you don’t, honey. But right now, we need to finish this and then I’ll help you.” She adds, “Go on, I promise.”
Moping over to Stella, she grabs her around the wrist, yanking her down the stairs. Touching her head gingerly, Stella lets herself be led by this waif over to Lucy.
The prescription pills are still lying on the counter, and Lucy directs Stella to have a seat on the bar stool.
“Keep going with the plan,” she yells at Emily. “I’ve gotta get something from my vehicle.” Lucy shoves her feet back into her shoes and heads out into the dark.
Emily fishes a dirty glass out of the sink. Filling it with water, she brings it over to Stella. Opening the bottle of sleeping pills, Stella realizes what their intention is. She’s to overdose on prescription medication.
Emily grabs Stella’s jaw, shoving a handful of pills in Stella’s mouth. “Open wide, these taste good.”
Chomping down on Emily’s finger, Stella bites her hard. Instinctively, she slaps her across the face, closing her mouth with a sharp jab.
“Swallow them,” Emily commands. “All of them, Stella.” She nudges a finger in to make sure the pills are still there, then pours some water down Stella’s throat, to the point she starts to choke and almost throws up. Yanking her hair behind her, she pulls Stella’s head back sharply and then forward.
The Perfect Stranger Page 19
