by B. J Daniels
She looked down the table at Kayla. She’d pushed back one of her long black sleeves. Lizzy could see the faint lines where she’d cut herself repeatedly. It made her flinch inside, her heart going out to the awkward, shy girl Kayla had been and the awkward, lonely woman she must be now.
As she glanced around the table, she saw what a sad bunch they all were. Lizzy questioned if any of them would have crossed paths if they hadn’t been thrown together in the small private school.
She thought of the diary page Stephanie had given her. There were still some secrets that hadn’t surfaced. Not yet anyway, if what Ariel had written in her diary was true. Either way, Lizzy was more convinced than ever that there was still a murderer among them here at the reunion.
The missing knife from Brad’s mother’s kitchen, the ski rope from the garage... Whoever had climbed into the back of Ariel’s car was at the party that night in plain sight. One of her classmates was a killer, Lizzy thought. Stephanie? Or was someone setting her up? Someone at this table who’d attacked her in the barn and left the diary page.
The gun and the rope found at Stephanie’s house seemed damning. But what about the missing knife from Brad’s mother’s house? Was that what was used that night to threaten Ariel and not a gun at all? It was almost as if the killer was trying to confuse her, Lizzy thought.
As if also contemplating who might be a killer at the table, Josh said, “That was all very enlightening, Christopher, but you left out the most important question. Which of us killed her?” He looked around the table. “Who hated her the most?”
“I know what we should do,” Brad said. “We should all write down whether or not we killed her on a slip of paper, put it in a hat anonymously and see for sure if the killer is in this room. Let’s do it,” he said, with some of the others agreeing.
“As if the killer would be truthful since the sheriff here would just run the fingerprints on the slip of paper admitting the murder and compare our handwriting,” Tyler said with a shake of his head. “What I want to know is the killer’s motive.”
“I thought we pretty well covered that,” Josh said.
“No, it was one thing to hate her,” Brad said. “It was a whole different ball game to kill her.”
“Not just kill her but plan it,” Christopher said. “I’ve given this a lot of thought. You all knew Ariel. The killer had to have a weapon. A knife. A gun. A Taser. Otherwise, Ariel would have fought like the beast she was.”
“Maybe she did,” Ashley said.
“But wait,” Jennifer said. “How did they get to her to begin with?”
“They could have texted her to meet them at the pond,” Kayla said.
Lizzy realized that they’d all given this a lot of thought.
“No, I can’t see that happening,” Josh said. “The night of the graduation party the wind was howling. Ariel would have had to have a very good reason to agree to that. The pond?” He shook his head. “Unless it was to buy drugs maybe.”
“She didn’t buy drugs,” Ashley snapped. “You should know that since that’s more up your alley. Or used to be.”
“Josh is right,” Jennifer said, speaking up. “She wouldn’t have driven out to the pond for any of us.”
“Also, Ariel texted me as she was leaving the party,” Ashley said. “She wanted me, Jennifer and Stephanie to meet her and it wasn’t at the pond.”
“So the killer either followed her...” Tyler let out a curse as if it just came to him. “Or was already in the back of her car when she left the party.”
Brad looked down the table at Lizzy, but didn’t tell what he already knew about the rope and the missing knife. For now, apparently, it would be their secret.
“Maybe she picked up someone after she left,” Kayla suggested.
“What? Like a hitchhiker?” Stephanie said. “And at that hour?”
“She could have planned to meet someone we didn’t know about,” Jennifer said.
Brad was shaking his head. “I agree with Tyler. It makes a lot more sense that the killer was already in the back of her car, hiding.”
“Wouldn’t she have noticed?” Jennifer said. “I suppose a man could hide in the back of an SUV like the one she drove.”
“Who says it was a man?” Brad said.
“Ariel always kept that blanket in the back,” Stephanie said. “If the person was hiding under it...”
“And in the mood she was in when she left, I doubt she would have looked in the back seat to see if someone was hiding there,” Brad said.
“But how did the killer force her to go to the pond?” Kayla asked.
“Ariel would have had to be persuaded, that’s for sure,” Josh said with a laugh. “That’s why the killer would have had a weapon, which means premeditation.”
Brad nodded in Josh’s direction. “Exactly. Ariel was tied to the steering wheel,” he said, as if that answered everything. “She didn’t have old ski rope lying around in her car or tie herself to the wheel and she would have put up one hell of a fight if anyone else had tried.”
Lizzy groaned inwardly as she listened to all the details come out. But she had to admit, it was interesting hearing them try to figure out how it could have happened when one of them knew the truth. She could only hope that person would give him or herself away.
“At that point, Ariel had to be knocked out. Or at least dazed enough that she couldn’t fight back,” Jennifer said. “The killer must have hit her or—”
“Immobilized her with something like a Taser,” Josh said.
“This is so much better than a silly slideshow,” Stephanie said and shuddered. “What a coldhearted bunch you all are.”
Everyone seemed to ignore her.
“You know what? The killer could have given her a drug. Maybe a roofie,” Tyler said, also clearly getting into this. “She would have been watching it all happening but wouldn’t be able to do a thing about it.” He seemed to relish the thought of Ariel even more helpless than being tied to the steering wheel as she drowned.
“Or just coldcocked her,” Brad said.
The room had gone quiet for a moment. Lizzy felt the change even before Josh spoke.
“Ariel wasn’t the first person to die from our class,” he said. “Have you all forgotten about Whitney?”
“It’s not the same thing,” Ashley said quickly and rubbed her bare arms as if feeling the chill. “Whitney’s was an accident.”
“Was it?” Josh asked and shrugged. “Ariel hated her from the moment she laid eyes on her. Whitney was prettier, richer, had a bigger house, a better car. Ariel would have driven her out of Progressive—if Whitney hadn’t died first.”
The room had gone deathly quiet again. Lizzy held her breath, thinking again of what she’d read on the diary page she’d taken from Stephanie. She glanced down the table toward the woman. Stephanie had her head down, looking at her plate, her face pale, her lower lip quivering.
“We’re lucky that even half of us are still alive,” Josh said. “It isn’t like we were the cream of the crop. Hell, it’s amazing that by our ten-year reunion some of us aren’t in prison.”
“I don’t think that’s funny,” Ashley said.
“But true,” Tyler agreed. “Once Lizzy finds the killer—zip, off to prison, another member of one of Progressive’s graduates gone. That’s if we survive this weekend. You don’t really think that Ariel was the only one who made enemies in our class, do you?” He laughed. “I look around this table and I—”
“I’ve had enough of this,” Ashley said as she shoved back her chair and rose from the table. “This was supposed to be fun.”
“Fun?” several people cried.
“Ariel was murdered,” Christopher snapped. “That’s why we’re all here. Would you have really come to this if it wasn’t for Ariel’s body being found? None of us have anything in c
ommon except that we were in the same class at a private school.”
“That’s right,” Tyler said. “You and Josh were there on scholarships.”
“Tyler—” Ashley looked appalled.
Christopher laughed. “And Ariel never let me forget it.”
“I was fine with it,” Josh said. “How else would I have had the honor of meeting all of you?”
Silence fell over the room for a moment.
“I think we’re all here because we’re afraid,” Kayla said in a small voice. “We’re all scared that whoever killed Ariel isn’t finished.”
“Most killers don’t wait ten years to strike again,” Josh said.
“They do if they think they’re about to be caught,” Jennifer said and looked around the table, her gaze slowing on both Ashley and Stephanie.
“Or if they still have grudges,” Tyler said.
“He’s right,” Christopher said. “This reunion has brought it all back, all the pain and suffering and not just at Ariel’s hands. So why not kill again? What’s one more in the grand scheme of things, right? Ariel died a horrible death. You’re all so busy figuring out how it happened that you seem to have forgotten that.”
“You’re just trying to scare us,” Ashley said with disgust.
Lizzy felt her stomach turn. They were getting very close to the truth of what had actually happened to Ariel the night she died. She felt a shiver as she reminded herself that someone in this room knew exactly what had happened and was now having way too much fun playing along.
* * *
AH, TOGETHERNESS. HERE they all are, all having fun at my expense. Well, at least one person at that table knows exactly how I died. But the rest are getting very close. Too bad they can’t figure out who at that table they can trust—and who they can’t.
That has always been a problem. Even in high school. It was hard for me to tell who was really my friend and who would stab me in the back. That’s why I don’t feel sorry for any of them. Ashley, Jennifer and Stephanie have proved what kind of friends they were. And then there’s Lizzy.
I’d almost feel sorry for the new sheriff—if Lizzy hadn’t betrayed me by wanting Shade. Wanting Shade and getting him are two different things though. I’ve managed to keep the two of them apart without even trying. Now I don’t see that they have much of a chance for happiness.
Sorry, but I agree that my killer isn’t finished just yet. I suspect that more of my classmates will be joining me before this night is over. I feel it. Strange to have that kind of knowledge now when it does me no good at all.
I suddenly have the oddest feeling that once my killer is caught this will be all over for me, as well. The thought terrifies me. Then I really will be dead and gone. It really will be over.
Fortunately, it appears that Lizzy has no clue who at that table is not just capable of murder but quite good at it. So good that the killer can’t stop.
CHAPTER TWENTY
“I DON’T KNOW about the rest of you,” Christopher said, getting to his feet. “I could use a drink and, Shade, didn’t you say something about a bonfire?”
“We were going to roast marshmallows and tell ghost stories,” Ashley said and groaned. “But I feel like that’s what we’ve already been doing.”
“S’mores and ghost stories,” Tyler mocked with a laugh. “Well, I’d much rather do that than this.”
“I agree,” Jennifer said, also getting to her feet. “Let’s get this all cleaned up and go outside. It’s a nice night and we might not have too many more of them before winter.” Everyone began to rise and help clear away the dishes.
Shade cornered Lizzy. “Are you all right?”
“Fine.” It came out too quick and he knew it.
“You looked upset earlier when you came downstairs with Stephanie. And I don’t know about you, but that discussion at dinner made me nervous.”
“Me, too. It really brought it home, didn’t it?” She met his gaze and he felt his heart ache. He reached over to brush her hair back. He felt a shiver move through him as his fingertips brushed her warm skin. Being this close to her up here on the mountain... It was pure hell not being able to hold her with all these people around.
“I need to go out and start the bonfire so the fools don’t burn down the new barn, but I don’t like leaving you alone,” he said.
Lizzy smiled, clearly seeing how hard this was on him. “I’m not alone. I’ll be fine.” She glanced toward the kitchen now full of people loading the dishwasher. “Everyone’s pitching in—as per plan.”
“Come out to the fire when you can?”
She nodded and touched his hand as if needing the human contact right now as much as he did.
He grabbed her fingers, squeezing them for a moment as he held her gaze. “Don’t be long, okay?” He let go with reluctance and went to get his coat from the hook by the door before heading out to the firepit. The ranch provided warm coats on the hooks by the door; nights were often cold up here, even in the summer.
He saw that Christopher was already gathering up some kindling for the fire.
“Looked like there were enough of them in the kitchen to handle cleanup,” the man said. “I thought I’d help out here.” He looked toward the lodge. “I couldn’t take any more of that in there. We’re all a bunch of hypocrites. Do you think they were right about what happened to Ariel?”
Shade shook his head. “I have no idea. It’s all speculation.”
Christopher held his gaze. “Is it?” He let out a huff. “Or is the killer in there laughing at the rest of us for being such fools?”
“It makes me uneasy, too,” Shade admitted.
“I don’t know what I’m doing here,” Christopher said. “I guess I’m like the rest of them and wanted to see what would happen when all the suspects were in one place together after ten years. I should have known it would be ugly.”
“You didn’t help matters.”
Christopher laughed and Shade saw that he wasn’t as drunk as he’d been pretending. “I thought maybe if all the secrets were out...” He shook his head. “How could I make any of this worse, really?”
Shade was thinking the same thing as he put newspaper under the kindling and then added some split logs on top before lighting the fire. Flames leaped as the newspaper licked at the dry kindling. “And nothing may be resolved when this reunion is over.”
“I think that’s my greatest fear,” Christopher said. “I want Ariel’s killer to pay. If I knew who it was...”
Shade didn’t like the sound of the threat. He’d been all for having the reunion, getting old friends together, not necessarily finding out who Ariel’s killer was. But now he couldn’t shake the unsettling feeling that it all really had been a bad idea. There were too many old resentments, too many remembered slights, too much animosity. They could unite in their feelings for Ariel, but there were also old grievances among them, as well.
He recalled the look on Stephanie’s face when she’d barreled into the lodge, looking as if she wanted to murder Ashley. He wondered what that was about. He suspected Lizzy knew and it was bad. That’s why she’d been so pale and upset when she’d come down the stairs earlier. He regretted again telling her about Hannah and Maisie. She had enough to worry about.
Worse, now he had no idea where they stood for the long run. Maybe Lizzy didn’t even know how she felt about what he’d told her. He’d certainly been knocked off his boots by the revelation. He could see where Lizzy might want to reconsider a relationship with him, especially since they hadn’t even had their first date yet. The chemistry was there. They’d both felt it, he was sure of that. But would it be enough?
He realized he hadn’t been listening. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
Christopher tossed a chunk of wood on the fire and stared into the flames for a few moments. “I’m serious. If we find out who
killed Ariel this weekend...and I have my way, that person will never get out of these mountains alive.”
Shade stared at him, thinking of Lizzy. The sheriff would never let Christopher take the law into his own hands. Not if she could stop him.
* * *
LIZZY FELT AS if she was in over her head and not just with the investigation of Ariel’s murder. She’d been sheriff for only a matter of days. Did she really think she could solve this murder quickly—especially since she was so close to the suspects herself? What she’d learned was that she’d never really known these people or what they were capable of just because they’d shared the high school experience so intimately at Progressive.
Look at Josh. No one had expected him to become a highway patrolman. He was the one they all thought would be behind bars by now. And now it would seem that one of them was a murderer.
If that wasn’t enough to throw her, there was Shade’s news. She’d known he had a past. She had one, too, only much more limited if the stories about him were true. But to find out that he had a two-year-old daughter whom he would soon be raising? That had come out of left field. She hadn’t even had time to consider how she felt about any of it.
The only thing she knew was how she felt about him. She still wanted that date. Just as she’d wanted the kisses and more. She wanted to get closer to him, she realized as she went into the kitchen to find that the work was done. The dishwasher whirred and the mood was lighter as everyone got ready to go out to the campfire. She watched them help themselves to the warm heavy coats on the hooks by the front door—compliments of the guest ranch—since the October weather was cold at night.
As Stephanie passed her, the woman grabbed her arm and held her back from the rest. “What are you going to do?”
