by B. J Daniels
“Who didn’t? She was rich and spoiled. She got whatever she wanted.”
“But that’s not why you killed her.”
“No?” Jennifer mocked.
“It was about Whitney Clark.” She saw at once that she’d hit upon the truth—just as she’d suspected that night up at the guest ranch. “I guess I never knew you and Whitney were that close.”
“We’d known each other before she came to Progressive,” Jennifer said. “We were best friends. But Ariel was jealous of her. She didn’t want her in our group. Told me not to talk to her.” Jennifer shook her head, but her eyes had narrowed, her lips parting in a sneer. “I hated Ariel when she turned on Whitney. I hated her worse for making me choose.”
Lizzy saw it now. “You chose Ariel.”
Jennifer looked away, her eyes filling with tears. “I hurt someone I cared about to stay in that group.” She shook her head. “I regretted it and was going to talk to Whitney...”
“But she died in the hit-and-run before you could.”
The woman nodded.
“Why kill Ariel graduation night?” Lizzy asked.
Jennifer smiled. “I guess I’d finally had enough of her. She announced at the party that she was going back east to college, her parents had saved money for her and were paying for all of it. I’d been turned down for a scholarship to the University of Montana in Missoula. It seemed so unfair. Ariel was always throwing around money, lording it over me.”
“Something else must have triggered it at the party,” Lizzy said.
Jennifer hesitated for a moment. “Ashley told me about Ariel blackmailing Tyler. She said it was all in some diaries that Ariel kept. I couldn’t believe it. They’d all kept quiet about Whitney’s death? But Ariel was the worst. She’d actually used it to get even more money. Her greed appalled me. I wanted her to pay for everything she’d done.”
Jennifer chewed at her lower lip, the sneer gone as her eyes shone with bitter, angry tears. “She could be such a bitch.” With a swipe at her tears, Jennifer shook her head. “I think at first I was just going to scare her. But then...” She shook her head again. “She was so sure I wouldn’t kill her.”
“You found the ski rope in Brad’s garage. You helped yourself to a knife in the kitchen, cut a couple lengths of rope and then climbed into the back of her SUV to wait. And once she drove far enough from the party, surprise her.”
Jennifer’s laugh was almost a sob. “I thought it would be nice if she begged for her life. But you know how she was. She said she’d rather die and mocked me, calling me names. Saying if I betrayed my friend Whitney, it wasn’t her fault.”
Lizzy saw the woman’s pain, heard it in her voice.
“You tried to kill Tyler because he was the one driving the hit-and-run vehicle. But the others?”
“They knew. I found it all in the diaries after I killed Ariel. I went to her house. I’d been there so many times, I could just walk right in. I found the diaries.”
“The diaries you later hid in Kayla’s house.”
She nodded as if lost in what she’d read in those pages. “They all knew and they kept quiet. Whitney deserved so much better than that.”
Lizzy could see it all now. “You tried to frame Stephanie for Ariel’s murder. And Kayla...you just used her?”
“She would have talked if I hadn’t killed her. I found her after Brad had shot her and told her to go hide in the cabin where I had you drugged and bound in the bathroom. I told her to kill anyone who entered. Except for me.”
“And you would have killed me and Shade if I hadn’t picked up his gun and aimed it at you. I thought you were in shock, but you knew exactly what you were doing.”
Jennifer chuckled, but it held no humor. “At that point, I figured I had nothing to lose. I could kill you all. But in retrospect, I needed you and Shade alive so you could tell them that it was Kayla who shot Shade. She was so scared, she would have shot anyone who came through that door and I knew it. She almost killed me.”
“You played the victim very well. Right up until you grabbed my deputy’s gun and killed Kayla.” Lizzy realized what had been bothering her all these months. The piece that hadn’t fit in the puzzle.
“She would have killed you and Shade if I hadn’t stopped her,” Jennifer said.
Lizzy shook her head. “How did you get to the cemetery that night after you killed Ariel?”
“I moved my car at the party. All I had to do was walk from the pond, staying in the trees. I really did see Snake on his motorcycle. He gave me a ride to the cemetery and later Ashley gave me a ride to the gas station near Brad’s where I’d left my car. I told her the same story I told you.”
“Ariel called Kayla before she died.”
Jennifer laughed. “She butt-dialed Kayla. I didn’t realize what was happening until I heard Kayla’s voice and dug out Ariel’s phone before I pushed the car into the pond. Fortunately I put my hand over Ariel’s mouth in time or Kayla would have heard the whole thing.”
“Were you the one who set up the meeting at the cemetery or was that Ariel?”
“Ariel. She sent the text as she was roaring away from the party. I didn’t realize it until I was walking back to my car. That’s why I was twenty minutes late getting to the cemetery. By the time I got there, Ariel was swimming with the fishes.”
Lizzy shook her head. “So Kayla wasn’t in on any of it. Brad shot her when she came out of the dark toward him, thinking she was the killer. She stabbed him with a knife from the kitchen she must have gotten when she was in there making herself another cup of tea earlier that night. You really did set something in motion, poisoning Stephanie after framing her, trying to kill Tyler. What a busy night you must have had going after Christopher and Ashley, then making it look like you yourself had been attacked by Kayla.”
“I definitely got my exercise that night. It’s amazing how easy it was though.”
“You realize that I’m going to arrest you, right?”
Jennifer scoffed. “You have no proof. It would just be your word against mine and based on what?”
“You have Ariel’s ringtone and her purse.”
“You could never get a conviction on such flimsy evidence.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“I’m sure because it will never come to that. I was willing to die up on that mountainside if that’s what it took. I guess instead it will end here.” Jennifer’s voice sounded strange to Lizzy’s ears. She watched the woman reach inside the shoulder bag and pull out the gun. “I spared you once, but not this time.”
Lizzy had her own purse gripped in her hand, but tonight of all nights she’d left her gun at home. She flung the purse at Jennifer’s face and dived for the first open stall.
CHAPTER THIRTY
SHADE COULDN’T BELIEVE what had been a beautiful spring night was now clouding up to rain. He told himself it wasn’t an omen as he parked behind the restaurant and started in the back door. He couldn’t wait to see Lizzy. It had been way too long.
The report of a gunshot at first made him think he was having a flashback. But before he heard a second shot, he was running toward the sound. He hit the ladies’ bathroom door with his body and barreled inside. He rushed toward the woman with the gun poised to fire into one of the stalls—Jennifer Fox.
Suddenly a foot lashed out of the stall.
Shade had a pretty good idea who belonged to the strappy high heel that struck her in the face. Jennifer stumbled back, and the shot went wild. She didn’t have time to fire again before Lizzy lunged out of the bathroom stall at her. She grabbed the gun that was still held high in the air and twisted it out of Jennifer’s hand. She shoved her back against the sink, and Jennifer lost her balance and started to fall. Shade reached the two of them and grabbed hold of Jennifer before she went down.
“You are under arrest for the murders of...�
� Lizzy was breathing hard and she unloaded the weapon into her hand. “Christopher Drysdale, Kayla Harrison, Ashley Houston, Stephanie Curtis Tanner and Ariel Matheson. You have the right to remain silent.” Lizzy stopped long enough to make a call to the sheriff’s office for backup before she continued with the Miranda warning.
The restaurant owner, some of the staff and several diners had come to see what was going on. Shade shooed them out as he held on to Jennifer.
She glared daggers at him as she spat out, “I should have killed you and Lizzy when I had the chance.”
Several deputies pushed their way in. Shade turned Jennifer over to them.
“The only place you’re going is prison,” Lizzy said. “For a very, very long time. That’s if you don’t get the death sentence.”
Jennifer shot her a hateful look as she was led out in handcuffs. “Ariel never liked you,” she called back. “She made fun of you all the time. If she knew you were the sheriff...” The rest of her words were lost as she was taken away.
Shade looked at Lizzy and smiled. “Sheriff, you are one kick-ass woman.”
She smiled back at him and looked down at her high heel. “I think I broke it on her face.”
He laughed. “This is definitely not the way I thought our first date was going to go.”
Her new undersheriff stuck his head in the doorway. “Can you come down to the office and make a statement?”
Lizzy looked at Shade. “I will first thing in the morning. Book her for multiple murders. Tonight, I have a date.”
* * *
“WHAT DO YOU want to do?” Shade asked in the ladies’ room as the rest of law enforcement left the bathroom and everyone else went back to the dining room.
“I think along with my broken heel, I might have ripped my dress.” She turned to show him the tear up the back seam, exposing her panties.
“Not a problem,” he said and he took off his jacket to tie it around her waist. “Nothing showing that shouldn’t be.” He looked down at her broken heel that was barely keeping her upright. “I’ll understand if you want to cancel dinner under the circumstances.”
“Would you mind if we skipped it?” she asked and saw disappointment take some of the light out of his blue eyes before she added, “Skip dinner and get right to the good stuff?”
“The good stuff?” he repeated, his voice husky.
She smiled and closed the distance between them. “The good stuff.” Standing on her wobbly heel, she leaned up to kiss him. He caught her with an arm around her waist and practically lifted her off her feet as he deepened the kiss. They stayed like that until they heard the bathroom door open.
A woman stuck her head in. “I’m sorry, is this restroom still in use?”
Shade broke off the kiss without looking at the woman. “There’s a hotel across the street. Think you can walk on that broken heel that far?”
Lizzy grinned. “Watch me.”
Laughing, they left the bathroom to the woman and limped out through the dining area with the owner asking who was going to pay for the gunshot damage. “Call the undersheriff,” she said over her shoulder as they stepped outside, Shade’s arm protectively around her.
Rain fell in a torrent, pinging off the overhead metal awning like shotgun lead. Water puddled in the street and splashed up as an occasional car swished past. Shade looked over at her. “I’d say let’s make a run for it but—”
Before he could finish, Lizzy leaned down, pulled off her heels and took off running barefoot through the rain. She splashed through the puddles in the street, laughing as she was drenched from head to toe, until she reached the entrance to the hotel.
Shade ran after her and swept her up into his arms at the hotel’s front door. “You’re crazy, you know that?”
Crazy in love, she thought. “I’m alive. We’re both alive.”
His gaze locked with hers. “Yes, we are. Shall we make the most of it?”
“Definitely,” she said, and he pushed the door open and carried her into the hotel, the two of them looking like drowned rats.
* * *
THEY WERE BOTH laughing as they rode the elevator up to the top floor and padded down the hallway, leaving wet footprints to their room. When he opened the door, Lizzy caught her reflection in a mirror on the wall.
“I actually fixed my hair tonight for this date,” she said. Now it was straight and dripping.
“I think you look beautiful,” he said as he kicked the door closed with one lucky boot and took her in his arms. “But we have to get you out of these wet clothes.”
She grinned up at him. “I couldn’t agree more.”
He stepped into the bathroom. She heard the shower come on before he turned back to her. “Do you mind?” he asked as he gestured to her dress.
Lizzy felt her pulse leap. She shook her head and he untied his jacket from around her waist and let it drop to the floor. He reached behind her, his eyes never leaving hers, and slowly unzipped her dress. It, too, fell to the floor.
She unbuttoned his shirt and drew it off his broad shoulders, reveling in the muscles, and dropped it to the floor to join her clothes. Peeling his wet jeans off took both of them, which had them laughing again. Dressed only in their underwear, Shade drew her into the steamy shower and under the powerful warm spray of the two showerheads.
He kissed her slowly as he removed her bra and then slipped her panties off to drop them on the shower floor. His underwear followed until they were both naked, standing before each other. She ached to press her wet body against his but he held her at arm’s length for a moment, as if taking her in with his eyes.
“You are so beautiful,” he said, his voice hoarse. She leaned her head back as he kissed his way down her throat to her hard, aching nipples. He gently pushed her thighs apart.
With a start, she heard him remove one of the showerheads and shuddered as the warm water caressed first her breasts, then her stomach and then lower until she thought she wouldn’t be able to stand it. She leaned back while he held her hips with one hand and the showerhead with the other. She let out a cry of intense pleasure before he took her in his arms again.
It all felt like an erotic dream. Shade’s big hands lathering her body with bath gel. Her hands on him. And finally, her legs trembling from the most pleasurable shower she’d ever had, he turned off the water and carried her to the large king-size bed with its wonderfully silken sheets where he did what he called a proper job of making love to her.
Later, sated, Lizzy looked over at Shade. His eyes were bright as she leaned up on one elbow to study his handsome face. “I suppose I don’t have to tell you that I’ve never had a first date like this one.”
He smiled. “Me either.”
“It’s the best date ever.” Lizzy ran her finger down the length of the scar just above his hip and looked up into Shade’s blue eyes. He’d come so close to being killed. They both had and yet here they were.
“It’s over,” he whispered and drew her close to kiss her. “You and I are just beginning.” He pulled back to look at her. “That is, I hope we are.” Letting go of her, he rose from the bed. “I want you to know that I planned to do this earlier at the restaurant wearing clothing.”
He dug something out of his jacket pocket and turned to hold it out to her. She stared at the tiny velvet box, wet from the rain, and felt her eyes burn with tears. Naked, Shade dropped to one knee beside the bed.
“I never forgot you those ten years we were apart. The timing was always off. But now... I know it’s crazy quick. But all it took was that one kiss on graduation night.”
“You do realize you’re going to make it difficult to tell our children about this moment,” she said, her voice breaking.
“Elizabeth ‘Lizzy’ Conners, would you be my wife, a mother to my daughter and a faithful partner to me for the rest of your life?” He drew ba
ck the tiny box for a moment. “If you need more time—”
She shook her head. “Yes, I would love nothing more than to be your wife, to be Maisie’s second mother, to spend my life loving you.”
Shade broke out in a huge grin as he opened the velvet box. Lizzy let out a delighted gasp when she saw the ring. “It was my grandmother’s. Will gave it to me tonight.”
All she could do was smile, tears cascading down her cheeks, as he slipped it on her finger. It fit perfectly.
Shade climbed back in bed with her. Spooning her, he whispered in her ear, “I’m starved. What do you say to room service?”
* * *
THEY ATE BURGERS and fries with chocolate milkshakes and watched a movie cuddled in bed together. Shade had never felt this kind of contentment. He looked over at Lizzy. She was admiring her ring, her dark eyes bright with the same love that she showered on him.
The date had definitely not gone as he’d planned it, thank goodness. It hadn’t been awkward. It had been perfect. But Lizzy was right. They would have to change a few things when they told their children about the night he asked their mother to marry him.
He thought of Maisie and couldn’t wait for Lizzy to meet her. That was really the last hurdle, he thought.
Later, when he realized that Lizzy had gone to sleep in his arms, he retrieved one arm to turn off the movie and snuggled down in the bed next to her to get some sleep. He couldn’t remember ever being this happy.
But as he started to close his eyes, they flew open again. He remembered Lizzy trapped in that bathroom stall while a woman with a gun tried to kill her. He was marrying the sheriff.
A very capable, smart woman, he reminded himself. Would he have it any other way? He knew Lizzy wouldn’t, so that was good enough for him.
This time when he closed his eyes, he drifted into a peaceful, tender sleep.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
THE NEXT MORNING, Lizzy couldn’t believe how comfortable she felt around Shade—even naked. They’d made love again, slow and sensual, before first light, then had breakfast in bed.
