Four of a Kind

by Kate Kessler

  “She had a way of making people want to be with her.”

  “Yeah, she did.” His gaze met hers. “So do you. You make me want to be better.”

  Alisha laughed. “Liar.”

  “No, I mean it.”

  She shifted uncomfortably. “Okay. Thanks.”

  Luke laughed and then winced. “Ow. I think I just popped a stitch.”

  “Really?” Alisha reached for the call button.

  “Wait. I think I’m okay. Can you just check my stomach?”

  She peeled back the sheets. “Um, you’re only wearing a gown.”

  “Just lift the left side. What? You’re getting shy on me now?”

  He was right. It wasn’t like it was a sexual situation. He might actually need medical attention. Besides, he held the sheets against his groin, so it wasn’t like he was going to flash her. Slowly, she lifted the edge of the gown.

  “Oh, my God,” she whispered hoarsely.

  “That bad?”

  She’d never seen bruising like it. His ribs were wrapped like Uncle Jake’s had been last fall, but the damage looked so much worse. The idea of what kind of force they’d had to use against him made her throat tight and her eyes burn.

  “Hey, don’t cry.”

  “I’m not going to fucking cry.” She sniffed. “I don’t cry in front of people.”

  “I’m not just any people, am I?”

  She shook her head, blinking back the hot moisture that had formed behind her lashes. Then she inspected the bandages that covered the places where he’d had to be stitched up. “I don’t see any fresh blood.”

  “Good. Okay, cover me back up before Mom walks in and thinks you’re trying to molest me.”

  Alisha rolled her eyes. “Right, because I couldn’t resist you.”

  He smirked—but it was cute. “You can’t. Admit it. I am your Kryptonite.”

  “I think they must have kicked you in the head.”

  “They did.”

  Heat rushed up her cheeks. “Shit. I’m sorry.”

  “Hey, it’s okay.”

  “No, it was stupid of me.”

  “Kiss me and I’ll forgive you.”

  That seemed like a fair trade. Smiling, she leaned forward, lowering her head. Gently, she pressed her mouth to his.

  “Well, isn’t this cozy.”

  Alisha jumped back, heart thumping against her ribs. Standing just inside the doorway was Lucy, and she looked pissed. A sneer twisted her lips as she walked into the room.

  “Just what the fuck do the two of you think you’re doing?”

  Alisha’s temper flared. “None of your fucking business.”

  Lucy hesitated. Alisha took that opportunity to advance on her instead of being stalked as prey. “Nothing that Luke and I do has anything to do with you.”

  “How can you do this to Kendra? I thought you were her friend.”

  “I’m not doing anything to Kendra. And I’m not sure I want to be friends with someone who got a guy she’s supposed to like almost beaten to death.”

  “But you’ve got no trouble going after her ex-boyfriend.”

  “Ex is right,” Luke said. Alisha glanced at him. He’d pushed himself up against the pillows. It must have hurt like hell because he was sweating and his breath was sharp and shallow. “Kendra and I have been broken up for a long time. I’m sorry if she can’t accept that, but she’s the one who broke up with me.”

  “You know she didn’t mean it,” Lucy told him.

  “Whatever. It’s done.”

  She turned back to Alisha. “You’re a real piece of work, you know that? We just found out Tala is dead. She hasn’t even been fucking buried yet. The two of you going to go to her funeral as a couple?”

  “Yes,” Alisha and Luke chorused. Alisha flashed a smile in his direction.

  “Whatever,” Lucy said in disgust. “Maybe when he kills you, everyone will see what he’s really like.”

  Alisha straightened. “Get out.”

  “If you really think I’m a killer, why do you want me to get back together with your best friend?” Luke asked. “I’d think you’d care about her more than that.”

  Lucy glared at him. Her silence made it obvious that she had no argument against that logic. “Fuck you both,” she said finally, and stomped out of the room.

  Slumping in relief, Alisha turned to face Luke. “Well, that was . . .”

  “Look out!” Luke cried.

  Alisha whipped around just in time to catch Kendra as she launched herself at her. Nails raked her neck as fingers grabbed her hair and pulled hard enough to rip out the roots. Alisha shoved an arm up in an attempt to protect herself, and then she did what Jake had taught her to do. Her feet instinctively went into a fighter’s stance and she caught the other girl in the jaw with a right hook, which was followed by a left cross when Kendra staggered backward. That wasn’t enough, however. Kendra immediately came at her again.

  Alisha’s neck burned, and she could feel blood running down her chest from where Kendra’s nails had clawed her. Her head snapped back when Kendra slapped her, and then Alisha let her right fist fly again.

  Snap.

  Kendra cried out as she fell to the floor, hands clutching at her nose. Blood seeped between her fingers. Lucy ran to her. She shot Alisha a look of pure hatred. “You bitch!”

  “What is going on here?” Luke’s mother demanded as she walked into the room. As soon as she saw Kendra, she ran back out into the hall and yelled for security. Lucy pulled Kendra to her feet.

  “We have to go,” she said to her friend, but it was too late. Security got to them just as they reached the door and escorted them away.

  Alisha was stunned. She couldn’t believe what had just happened. She’d gotten into a fight—over a boy. God, how high school. She’d sworn she’d never do anything so stupid. She’d sworn she’d never do a lot of things, several of which had changed when she started hanging out with Luke. That should have scared her, but it didn’t.

  A nurse came and cleaned up her neck, then applied a few Steri-Strips and a gauze pad over the scratches. Two of them were quite deep, but she’d had a tetanus shot just two years ago after stepping on a nail, so she was good.

  Linda hugged her when the nurse left. “You poor thing. I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault,” Alisha told her.

  Linda looked at her son. “I don’t know what you ever saw in that girl.”

  “She used to be nice,” he said. Then, to Alisha, he added, “I’m sorry too. And it is my fault.”

  She was suddenly too tired to argue, but she shook her head—it hurt her neck.

  Alisha left a few minutes later. There didn’t seem to be a reason to hang around—and it felt awkward after what had happened. She walked out into the parking lot and looked around to make sure there was no sign of Kendra or Lucy before heading toward the car. Her right hand throbbed and her neck burned and she was beginning to wonder what was wrong with her that she seemed to attract fucking crazies.

  She hit the unlock button on the remote as she approached the car. She took one look at the driver’s-side window and stopped dead in her tracks. Someone—gee, she had a fifty-fifty chance of guessing who—had left her a note. It was written in a dark red lipstick, like Kendra often wore, and it was short and to the point. Alisha took out her phone and snapped a picture of it.

  DIE BITCH.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  There was a camp not far from the Falls, just outside the state park, so that part of Randy’s story was at least true. Neve went to the Granger house to ask Kendra about it—and to discuss the call she’d gotten from Linda Pelletier earlier demanding a restraining order against the girl. Elle Granger had retaliated with talk of filing charges against Alisha, who had apparently broken her daughter’s nose, and then told Neve she was not stepping foot in her house without a warrant.

  It wasn’t the first door to ever be closed in her face, but it pissed her off all the same. She
was just getting into her car when she got a call from Audrey, asking her to come by because of something to do with Alisha.

  When Neve arrived at the house on Tripp’s Cove Road, she found Alisha with a red mark on her cheek and a bandage on her neck.

  “Kendra Granger attacked her,” Audrey said.

  Yancy, Alisha’s mother, was there as well, standing beside her daughter’s chair. “The Grangers obviously think they can assault people and get away with it.”

  “Mom,” Alisha protested.

  “From what I hear, Alisha did a good job of defending herself. Kendra Granger’s nose is broken.”

  “Broken?” Alisha’s head came up. Her eyes were wide as they turned to her mother. “I didn’t mean to hurt her. I just wanted her off me.”

  Yancy’s mouth tightened. She turned her attention to Neve. “What are you going to do about this?”

  “Your best bet is a restraining order. Linda Pelletier asked for one against Kendra as well.”

  “Linda told Kendra Luke didn’t want to see her,” Alisha offered. “She kept coming to the hospital anyway, waiting for Linda to leave the room so she could sneak up.”

  “The girl’s definitely been exhibiting obsessive behavior where Luke is concerned,” Audrey offered. Then, to Yancy, she said, “I think a restraining order is the way to go. Certainly, it will be a faster way to keep Lish safe.”

  “I don’t need to be kept safe,” Alisha countered. “I just don’t want to have to watch my back when I see Luke.”

  Neve shook her head. “I told you staying away from him was your best option.” The girl simply stared at her. “Okay. Elle wouldn’t let me see Kendra to take a statement, so I’ll get one from you. I’ll give you a written receipt of the complaint. Then I’ll tell the Grangers Kendra needs to stay away from you. If that doesn’t work, you’ll need to go to the courthouse in Machias and get Protection from Harassment forms from the clerk. If you need help or have questions, I’ll do what I can. Now, tell me what happened.”

  She wrote down Alisha’s version of events.

  “Show her what was on the car,” Yancy urged, nudging her daughter’s arm.

  Alisha seemed reluctant as she picked up her phone and unlocked it. Neve understood far too well what it was like to be a teenager and not want to cause trouble, but she wondered if something else was keeping Alisha from wanting to talk. When the girl offered her the phone, she took it.

  “Is that lipstick?” she asked.

  Alisha nodded. “Same color Kendra wears a lot.”

  “Did you see her do this?”

  Alisha shook her head. “No. I found the car like that when I left the hospital.”

  “Why is Kendra so hung up on you?”

  The girl looked away. “She thinks I’m what’s keeping her from getting Luke back.”

  “They always want to blame who they think is the other woman,” Neve commented. “Never the man—or themselves. She ever act this way with Tala?”

  “Not that I know of.”

  “It could be,” Audrey began, “that Kendra saw Tala as a temporary rival for Luke’s affections. When they broke up, she thought she had a chance to get him back, and now she sees Alisha as a threat to that goal. It would explain her erratic behavior.”

  “Or,” Alisha added, “she killed Tala to get rid of her and now she’s completely losing her fucking grip.”

  Yancy swatted the girl in the shoulder. “Language.”

  Neve turned to Audrey, who was giving her that look that meant she’d thought the same thing. “Let’s just stick with what we know, okay? Conjecture never does well in court.”

  “Really?” Alisha challenged. “Because you have no problem believing Luke threatened Tala.”

  “I saw the text.” Neve tried to not sound argumentative.

  “And now you’ve seen the threat Kendra left for me.”

  “Yes,” she allowed. “I have. And the reason I haven’t arrested Luke is that I don’t have any concrete evidence against him. And evidence is what I need to put the right person in jail.”

  Alisha didn’t have a response to this, and for that, Neve was glad. Arguing with teenagers was not her strong point. Eventually she reverted to her father and just started shouting orders. Her mother was so much better at this kind of thing.

  “So you’ll take care of the Kendra problem?” Yancy asked. There was something in her eyes that made the hair on the back of Neve’s neck stand up. She and Lincoln and Jake all shared this kind of flinty glint to their eyes that seemed to say, ’Cause if you won’t, I sure as hell will.

  “I’ll talk to both girls and their parents,” she promised. Then to Alisha, she said, “I’ll tell them to stay away from Luke too, but that said, I want you to stay away from them. If you see them, walk away. Don’t give either one of them reason to engage.”

  “We have classes together.”

  “Avoid them within reason.”

  “You could take a few days off school,” Yancy suggested.

  Alisha shot her mother a dark look. “I’m not hiding.”

  Yancy actually smiled. “Didn’t think you would, little Gracie.”

  Her daughter blushed. Apparently, that was high praise. Neve’s only memories of Gracie Tripp were silvery-white hair, an intimidating gaze, and the fact that she always scooped the biggest cones of ice cream. Her father hadn’t trusted the old gal. Said she was “Bonnie without Clyde” after her husband died.

  Audrey walked Neve out. “Did you get in touch with Lincoln?” She asked.

  Neve nodded, shrugging out of her blazer. It was a warm day and she was done with feeling sticky. She was going to go home and have a beer. “I did. He didn’t know anyone off the top of his head, but he’s going to ask around.”

  “Listen, a drug like that would make it easier for a girl to be the killer.”

  Neve arched a brow. “Yeah, Nancy Drew. I thought of that.”

  “Fuck off. I’m just trying to be helpful.” It was said with a smile.

  Neve jerked her chin toward the front door. “What’s going on with Alisha and Luke?”

  “Not sure. And I’m not sure I like it, either.”

  “I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t matter if you did.”

  “You’re not wrong. She’s a Tripp through and through.”

  “Have you ever suspected…?”

  “No.” Audrey pointed a rigid finger at her. “And don’t you, either. After all she’s been through, the last thing Alisha would do is kill someone over a boy.”

  “I’m glad you clarified that. Otherwise I might mistakenly think she’d never kill anyone period.”

  She was given a droll look in response. “You know what I mean. Looking at her is grasping at straws. She had no motive.”

  “I can’t see that anyone had a strong motive at all,” Neve confessed. “It’s like that case we were discussing—the Virginia one.”

  “The Neese girl?”

  “Yeah. Those girls said they killed her because they didn’t like her anymore. How lame is that?”

  “It’s a better reason than some I’ve heard.”

  “I suppose. Still, no one seemed to really dislike Tala. I mean, there were those who didn’t get her or understand her gender identity, but I can’t find anyone who hated her.”

  “Except maybe Kendra.”

  “But she’s such a twit.”

  Now Audrey was the one with spastic brow. “Go watch some YouTube videos on the Neese case and then we’ll talk about unlikely killers. I once made the mistake of underestimating a girl and Alisha almost paid dearly for it.”

  That was true. Neve had been there to rescue Alisha and bring her abductor to justice, but Audrey had actually gotten shot. “I’d better get going. I told Gideon I’d be home after I stopped by here. Apparently a reporter actually came by the house today.”

  “That’s ballsy. I hope you catch a break in the case soon.”

  “Mm,” Neve replied. “If for no other reason than to keep Bertie
Neeley off the news.” With that quip, she walked down the steps and got into her car. Gideon had a beer and dinner ready for her when she got home, gorgeous man that he was. Later, when he was watching sports on TV, she sat down with her laptop and took Audrey’s suggestion of watching YouTube videos regarding the Neese case.

  When she was done, she set the laptop aside with an uneasy feeling in her stomach.

  She needed to have a good long conversation with Lucy and Kendra.

  Audrey was at the school when Jake called.

  “It’s a cyst,” he said.

  “That’s it?”

  “Yeah. I’m going next week to get it removed.”

  She closed her eyes. You never realized just how much you were trying not to worry until there was nothing to worry about. “That’s really good news. I made an appointment with my gyno for my annual as well.”

  “As far as I know cysts aren’t sexually transmitted.”

  “I needed to make the appointment anyway. It’s been a while since I had one, and since my mother’s cancer, it’s something I should be more diligent about.”

  “I’m not going to argue. And hey, great news about the waiting list.”

  Audrey preened, even though he wasn’t there to witness it. “I know, right? I just hope we can get Grace Ridge open in time to get them all in.” And really, as happy as she was that there were kids ready to come to her facility, the fact that there were so many was a little disheartening. There simply weren’t the facilities around to handle all the need. Maybe if she made this gig with the school a semiregular thing…

  “It will be open. For what we’re paying Gideon and his crew, they better have it fucking ready.”

  Gideon was a contractor, and he’d given them the best bid on the work. Plus, he employed local people, and Audrey—and Jake—trusted his work.

  “Well, it’s not going to benefit me to worry about it, so I’ll just focus on what I can.” She glanced up and saw Micheline standing in the doorway. “I’ve got to go. Call you later.”

  She hung up and slipped her phone into her bag. “Hey, Micheline. What’s up?”