She tried to wet her lips, but her mouth was bone dry. “You could still do the right thing, David,” she said softly. “You’re more of a man than either of our fathers were. If you left right now, no one would have to know about any of this.”
“I’m not stupid, Libby. The second I left here you’d be on the phone to the police.”
“But why now? If it’s revenge you’re after, it’s too late. My father is dead and he’ll never know about any of this.”
“Actually, the timing was perfect,” he said. “Your father knew what happened all those years ago. I couldn’t risk taking my revenge and having him finally come out with the truth. That would have ruined everything.” He smiled, sending a bolt of ice through her center. “So I did the next best thing. When we went to visit him two days before he died, when he was in and out of consciousness, you left the room and I told him everything. That I was deceiving you the same way he’d deceived this town and that I was going to kill you the same way he’d killed me.” He stared at her. “It’s bigger than him now. It’s about justice. Someone has to pay. It’s only fair to sacrifice the favorite child.”
Bile rose in her throat as he circled like a shark. The hunting knife lay on the kitchen table. “H-how did you find out about your father?” Her lips felt rubbery.
“He told me. I was fifteen. He’d beaten me up again, broken a few bones. I threatened to call the police. He told me that he could do whatever he wanted and no one would care, that he was responsible for eight murders and he’d pulled some strings so that someone else agreed to take the fall.” His face darkened. “He actually bragged about it.”
As David paced the kitchen, Libby twisted her hands, trying to loosen the duct tape. Her senses felt heightened. She could hear the rush of blood in her veins, the blinking of her eyes, the flickering of the lightbulb she’d been meaning to change for weeks now. She wasn’t one for regrets, but as she sat there, she thought of Nick.
What wouldn’t she give to take back those final words, when she told him that she never wanted to see him again? She couldn’t face the heartbreak of falling short in his eyes or being the source of his resentment. Still, Nick deserved the truth, which was that she loved him and that she always had. That she loved him too much to want him to be unhappy.
Libby sat up. She had to stay sharp. There would be a way to escape, and she just had to take a deep breath and figure it out. She watched David pace like a caged lion, and her gaze drifted to the glinting blade. Terror collapsed across her as she realized how alone she was.
* * *
Nick didn’t even remember the roads he’d driven as he pulled onto Libby’s street, gripped as he was by the steel hand of terror. All he could think was that she was in serious danger. He couldn’t entertain the thought that he might already be too late.
He cut the headlights and slowed in front of her house. Libby’s driveway was empty except for her vehicle, but a dark BMW was parked across the street. He couldn’t be sure whether the BMW belonged to a neighbor or the killer, but he knew he hadn’t seen it before. His heart thundered as he called Dom again.
“Dom. There’s a strange car parked across from Libby’s house. I need someone to run the plates.” He read the number to Dom, hung up and continued past the house.
He parked the car three houses away. The road was silent except for the faint chirping of crickets, and dark except for the stars and the bright light of an almost full moon. The police backup he’d requested hadn’t arrived yet. He wasn’t about to wait.
Nick made his way stealthily across the grass until he reached Libby’s house. The shades were all drawn, but light filtered through. He tried to peer through a gap in the living room curtains, but he didn’t see any movement. Crouching low, he darted around the house to the kitchen and felt a burst of adrenaline when he saw that Libby had neglected to draw the curtains in the back of the house.
He crept silently across the back patio toward the window, straining to hear voices. His heart thrust against his rib cage when he heard only silence. Then he saw her, sitting in a chair, her wrists and ankles bound, her head sagging forward on her chest.
He was too late.
Nick struggled to breathe, his breath coming in sporadic bursts as he pressed his hand against the side of the house to steady himself. He was too late, and beautiful Libby—his Libby—was gone. His body went numb.
He’d only wanted one more minute with her, just one minute to tell her that he loved her, that he would give up everything he owned for her. Then he would have been out of her life forever, just as she’d wanted.
Then she lifted her head. Blood surged through his veins. She was still alive! He wasn’t too late.
He saw a figure in the kitchen move through a shadow. Nick ducked and drew his weapon. She was still alive, but she had only minutes left. He had to act quickly.
* * *
Libby glanced at the clock on the wall. It was ten past midnight, and David was pacing the kitchen, peering out of the windows. “You’re nervous,” she observed. “David, you know this is wrong.”
“Shut up.”
She bit her lip. “You didn’t kill those other people, did you? That woman and that cop.”
“You know better,” he said as he lifted the edge of a curtain covering the window. “I was out of the country.”
She studied him as he stood by the window above the sink. “Have you done this before? I mean...have you ever killed anyone?” Her lips felt useless as she spoke the question.
He didn’t answer at first. He placed his hands on the sink and leaned forward as if he was going to be sick. After a few moments he spoke without turning his head to face her. “No.”
This was good, she thought. He was new at this. “Why would you kill me, anyway? I never hurt you. I kind of liked you.”
He snorted. “That’s why you hopped into bed with your ex-fiancé as soon as I left town? Because you liked me so much?”
Libby’s face grew warm. “That’s not your business.”
She paused. Had he spied on them somehow? That could explain why Reggie Henderson always knew where they were when he planted the signs. “You got me,” she said wryly. “You’re clever. What did you do, bug my office? My house?”
“No, I bugged your cell phone.” He said it nonchalantly, but she detected a note of pride. “You wouldn’t know it by looking at him, but Reggie was a genius at technological stuff. I tapped your phone so we could monitor your location and listen in on your conversations. Kind of like a wiretap.”
Her eyes grew wide. “And you heard...how did you know about me and Nick?”
His lips thinned. “I didn’t. Lucky guess.”
She eyed the clock and closed her eyes, praying that Nick wasn’t back in Pittsburgh already. Maybe he would regret the way they’d left off and return to try to smooth things over. She opened her eyes. A quarter past midnight.
Who was she kidding? Their argument was hours ago. If he had any desire to see her again, he would have returned before nightfall.
She clenched and unclenched her hands, trying to restore circulation. He’d wrapped her wrists dozens of times, and there was no way to break free. She had to keep him talking—it was the only way she could think to buy time. She’d managed to fight off Reggie. Maybe she could convince David that he didn’t have to go through with this.
“So Reggie planted that photograph in my files? You must have given him the code to my alarm, right? You hired Reggie Henderson to do your dirty work while you were out of the country. That was smart,” she mused. “Of course, allowing Reggie to take the fall for your crime doesn’t work anymore, seeing as he’s dead. You didn’t count on that, and that’s why you’re going to get caught.”
David paused. “Reggie was a disappointment. He performed adequately for a while, don’t get me wrong, but when he couldn’t finish...” He clicked his tongue. “It didn’t need to be any big deal. Day five. Life-or-death could have meant a lot of things. We talked ab
out it. I thought he should keep it simple. And I was right.” He looked Libby over. “What are you? Five foot six? Five-five? And you killed him?” He shook his head. “He got overexcited. He would have been a liability. Let’s just say I’m glad you took care of it for me.”
“You’re glad? But that leaves you without someone to blame for...” She stopped.
“For your death?” He sighed. “I thought so at first. But my alibi’s airtight. I’ve been out of the country. I stopped over to bring you some chocolates, and I got a nasty surprise.” He scratched his ear. “Or I didn’t. Maybe I rang the doorbell a few times and left. I haven’t decided yet.”
Libby’s heart skipped. “You’ve really thought this through.”
“Well, I have to, Libby.”
He shrugged, and his tone was as casual as if he was talking about priming a wall before he painted it. He was coldly logical. Emotionless, as if something had stripped him of all of his humanity. “I have to think it through, to make it perfect. It needs to be done, you understand. To right a wrong and restore balance. But I am not going to jail for it. No way. Even if they pick me up, there’s reasonable doubt. An old flame. Maybe an argument.”
Her mouth went dry. “You’re going to frame Nick?”
“If I have to,” he said. “Or at least use him to cast reasonable doubt on my own case.”
“But the cell phone records. You texted me—”
“Like I said, I’ll be the one to discover your body. I really think that’s what I’m going to do.” David smoothed her hair. Libby tried not to look as repulsed as the gesture made her feel. “You know, I did like you. Even when I knew I had to kill you, I liked you. I know this is scary. I don’t want you to be scared.” The intensity of his gaze made Libby’s stomach roil. He leaned closer. “No, on second thought, be scared. It’s sexier.”
Libby heard a rustle outside the window. She turned her head toward the sound and then turned it back, afraid that David would see her response.
He stopped. “Did you hear that?”
“No,” she lied.
He walked to the window. “Something walked past the window.”
Her pulse picked up speed. Was it possible that someone had contacted the police? The thought that someone might have realized she was in danger was almost too much to hope for, but she needed a reason to keep going. “It’s probably an animal. There are a lot of raccoons around here.”
He spun to face her. “It’s day seven. There’s no reason to wait any longer.”
Panic flooded her, squeezing the air from her lungs. “You don’t have to do this, David.”
“You don’t understand, Libby,” he said, leaning forward until his stale breath bounced off her face. “I’m a really bad guy. I want to do this.”
* * *
The house was surrounded by police officers, all waiting for the lights to go out.
Dom had arrived only minutes after Nick had, dressed in an expensive shirt and pants. He’d had someone at the precinct run the plates on the BMW parked across the street. It belonged to David Sinclair, the guy Libby was seeing. When he found out, Nick had to stop himself from breaking through a window right then and there.
Nick led a team of three officers to the basement door. “Don’t bother picking the lock,” he said and retrieved the key from its hiding place under a planter in the garden. How many times had he told Libby that she was inviting trouble by keeping a key outside? Now he was glad she’d never listened.
The door flew open quietly, and the officers stepped into the basement, flashlights poised above their drawn weapons. Nick ran to the gray circuit breaker panel and looked back at the other officers, giving them a nod. When they nodded in response, he flipped a switch, cutting electricity to the house.
“Go!” Nick shouted, and the police stormed up the basement stairs. Seconds later there was a crash as more officers broke through the front and side doors.
Nick felt a white-hot rage pumping through his veins. His muscles pulsed with pure energy as he pounded up the steps. He could think of nothing else but getting his hands on this bastard.
“In here!” Dom called, and his heart caught in his throat. Two officers were in the living room kneeling beside a bespectacled man, pressing him to the ground. “He tried to run.”
Nick towered over the killer. “Where’s Libby?”
The man was stunned. “Elizabeth,” he said softly, his eyes glassy.
Nick advanced on him, but Dom restrained him.
Then he heard her. “Nick!”
Libby.
He sprinted to the kitchen and shone his flashlight on the chair in the center of the room. She saw him and burst into tears.
“Libby.”
He darted to her side and cut away the duct tape on her wrists and ankles with a pocket knife. She moaned, and in the dim light he saw her rubbing her wrists. As he came to face her, she started to stand but then fell back in her chair.
“My feet are numb,” she explained through her tears.
“Oh, honey.” He took her into his arms, kissing her mouth, her cheeks, her lips. “Oh, Libby, I was so afraid I’d lost you.”
“Nick.” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and sobbed into his neck. “I was so scared I’d never see you again.” She threaded her fingers through his hair. “I thought you’d left me.”
“I couldn’t leave, Libby.” His throat tightened. “I won’t ever leave you. Never again.”
The lights came on, and he stepped back to look at the most beautiful face he’d ever seen. She had her hands against his cheeks, and she was smiling as the tears fell. “Nick,” she began, “I shouldn’t have kicked you out like that.”
“I shouldn’t have let you kick me out.” He fumbled at her, gripping her T-shirt in his fists. He’d just saved her life, and yet he’d never felt so inept. “Damn it. I can’t leave you. Do you understand? I can’t live without you.”
Her chin trembled. “I know you want a family. I did everything the wrong way, but I said those things because I love you. I want you to be happy, even if it’s without me.”
He took her shaking hands in his and pressed her knuckles against his lips. “That’s the problem. I can’t be happy without you. You make me want to be a better man, Libby, and to do anything as important as to have children without you, without my other half....” He shook his head. “I can’t imagine it. And I don’t want to.”
She leaned closer to rest her cheek against their hands. “I don’t want you to, either.”
He leaned in and kissed her, dwelling on the softness of her lips. His legs were shaking, and he fell to his knees. “We’ve wasted too much time. All of those years apart...I never realized until now how much I need you in my life.”
She stroked his face softly. “I need you, too, Nick. I like to imagine I’m fine by myself, and I guess I’ve gotten by.” Her lower lip trembled. “But life is so much better with you.”
His heart grew warm. “I have to tell you something. I’m scheduled to be transferred to Washington, D.C. I have to relocate to a large office, but I’ll request a transfer somewhere closer. New York City, or maybe Boston.” He looked into her eyes. “Nothing else matters. You’re all I’ve ever wanted. I love you.”
Thick tears streamed down her face. “I love you, too, Nick. I’ve always loved you.” She held his jaw in her hands, stroking her thumbs against the stubble of his cheeks. “We’ll figure something out.”
He slipped his fingers through her jet-black hair. “Maybe after I finish my paperwork and you’ve given your statement, I could take you somewhere nice for pancakes.” He grinned. “Or yogurt and granola, whichever you prefer.”
His heart ached to see her lips part in a broad smile. “There’s nothing I’d love more.”
Chapter 16
“That’s everything,” Libby said.
Nick closed the door to the moving van. “Beautiful day for a road trip.” Libby didn’t respond. She was looking back at her empty ho
use, smiling sadly. Nick wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “I’m going to miss this house, too.”
“I was so proud when I bought it. I planted all of those flowers in front, and I chose all of the room colors.” She rested her head against him.
“Are you sure you’re okay with this? I don’t want to force you into anything—”
She nodded. “Yes. I love this house, and I have lots of happy memories of my time here. Then, some not-so-happy ones....”
Six weeks had passed since Nick had rescued her, and although she logically knew that she was no longer in danger, she hadn’t slept well in the house since. Every creak made her heart pound and disrupted her sleep for the night. Moving to Virginia would be a welcome change.
She wrapped her arms around Nick’s waist. “I hope a nice couple buys it. This house is meant to be filled with love.”
Nick brushed his lips against her forehead. “Your new home has a lot of white walls that need painting and a big green lawn that needs a garden.”
Libby sighed. “Fresh starts are nice. And I’ll still be coming back a lot to see Cassie and Sam. I can drive by the house if I miss it.”
He pulled her closer. “Cassie and Sam and Dom, you mean.”
She laughed. “I stand corrected.” She’d never seen a couple click as quickly as Dom and Cassie had, and Cassie was right: he was a natural with Sam. “I’m already on the lookout for a wedding invitation.”
She sniffed as she thought about her sister and her nephew. Washington felt so far from Arbor Falls. “It’s just three years, not forever,” she whispered. “I like it here, and I’m not leaving forever, right?”
He rubbed her shoulders affectionately. “Just three years, and we’ll come back anytime you want to, whether it’s to see Sam or to grab pad Thai.” He took her hand. “Come on. We have one more stop before we leave.”
Nick helped Libby climb into the large van, holding her hand so she could step up. A few months ago she might have resisted such aid and informed him that she wasn’t helpless. Now she recognized the gesture for what it was to Nick: a desire to protect her, to be her hero every day, and not just under extraordinary circumstances. She’d always prided herself on being independent, but Nick’s sweet little gestures made her heart melt.
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