by Leanne Davis
Maybe, however, he’d wonder why she didn’t text him in the way that was usual for her and expected. He’d question the difference where others might not. She prayed he would and that he’d check her multiple phones GPS locations and connect the dots. It was a miniscule hope, but all she had. She swallowed hard. Shit. This was so freaking scary. She wasn’t sure how to proceed. She felt like she was trying to catch a cat, who was sniffing around her trap, but if she pulled it too soon, the cat would run off forever. You had to do it just right, or lose any other chance. There would be no second opportunity. But she was quickly understanding the situation was going to escalate fast and she most likely couldn’t rest for long.
Switching gears, she tried a benign question. “You and Ryder have worked together for a long time, huh?”
Crystal smiled, glancing at her and then away. “Yes. Eight years. We started at the same time. We even trained together. And we’ve always assisted each other.”
“Really, like two perfectly aligned halves of a whole, huh? I mean, work-wise.”
Her lips tightened. “Yes, we work well together. Because we get along so well.”
“Yep. You sure do. It must be hard to see him suffering so much again, twice now and for the same reason.”
“Yes, it’s unprecedented. He’s been through so much.”
Chloe let a few moments pass. She sucked in a breath for courage. They were way off the beaten track now. It was obvious they weren’t headed to her parents, so whether she called Crystal’s bluff or not, Crystal was about to blow it wide open. Darkness was closing in. They were past the point of anyone else helping her. She had to provoke Crystal and see what she could get the woman to admit. See if she could goad her into revealing where Tara was. All this feel-good shit would get nothing but more fake answers out of Crystal before suddenly Chloe would be as dead as Tara just might be. She faced Crystal, set her shoulders back to prepare for the battle of her… and Tara’s lives. She gripped her purse… ready for battle.
“Yes… twice now. Always for other women, huh? Other women who don’t spend half as much time with him as you do. You know him so well, and yet, twice he picked other women to have sex with. Women that don’t know him like you do, huh? There you were. Right there. Attractive enough too. I mean, you have long hair, a trim, athletic body. Why not you, huh, Crystal? What is it about you that blinds Ryder Kincaid so that he fails to see you as a woman? It would have been so perfect, wouldn’t it? You share this job, and his passion for fish and wildlife. I know you like to fish and hike and explore and you could do that together all the time. You know all the most remote and pretty spots for about a hundred-mile radius, right? Including that pretty, little swamp, that is so far off the beaten path. Most people don’t even know it exists. It would take years before anyone spent enough time up there to find anything in it, huh?”
Crystal’s gaze switched to Chloe as she continued her monologue. Her tone clashed between calmness and sarcasm. Crystal’s jaw tightened, along with her grip on the wheel. She accelerated her truck.
“You caught on about the ring.”
“I caught on about the ring,” Chloe repeated, without tears in a monotone, sounding resolute. Where fear once gripped her, now a sense of rightful purpose did. She suddenly felt in complete control of her body parts, her voice, and most importantly, the situation.
Her smile tilted up, still calm and sweet, almost normal. Crystal smiled. “I wondered. I couldn’t get a read on you, which is rare for me. I didn’t expect I’d need to use the damn ring as evidence, otherwise, I would have been so much more careful. I realized you might remember I mentioned the ruby ring, and worried about the remote chance you’d discover the ruby ring wasn’t found with her body. Because of course I took it. Pocketed it. Enjoying a trinket from my handiwork. But I honestly didn’t think it would ever come up. It was a careless slip on my part, but I never dreamed you’d connect it all.”
“Why did you leave her in the swamp with all her jewelry on?”
She shrugged. “Oh, novice mistake. I didn’t consider it could be used to identify her remains.”
Chloe flinched. God this was so hard and gruesome… and it was her sister. She had to continue, however. “And I so conveniently handed you a suspect. Someone to blame this all on. Pin your murder on a helpless man. So you planted the ring, knowing Ryder would recognize it. That even if he weren’t there, they’d seize it because it was a dead woman’s item, a trinket.”
“Yes. Easy enough. I asked to be there for support, wandered in, took my chances and planted it. Piece of cake, really.”
Her hands started to shake. Holy shit. She was right. This was real. Crystal murdered her sister. Heartbroken and in shock, Chloe drew in a sharp breath.
“Why? Why did you murder Ebony?”
She glanced her way. “It was kind of an accident.”
“Kind of?”
She sighed, turning her truck off to a remote side road covered in gravel. Deeper into the dark woods they drove. Daylight was fading as it approached five o’clock. Shadows grew longer and darker in the woods. Chloe gulped internally, realizing that the driver inside the truck was the real monster, not anything outside.
“How do you kind of accidentally murder someone?”
“She confronted me. Asked me about Ryder. Accused me of making moves on him.”
“Were you? She never mentioned it to me.”
“She might have caught me taking something from their house. She probably didn’t realize before then. She tried to spin it by saying I was spreading lies about her and hogging all of Ryder’s time by finding excuses to be around him…”
“Were you?”
She smiled. “He likes me. Despite what you think. He just didn’t realize we could have something more. He gets stuck in his routine and thoughts, he just needs more time to see me as something beyond his work partner.”
“Sure. Yeah. Wait it out and he’ll love you, the murderer who shot his wife to death. That’s a match made of her blood and your hell.” She sucked in a long breath of air for courage. “How did you end up shooting her?”
“I told you, she confronted me. She started saying terrible things and threatening to tell Ryder and embarrass me in front of him. It would have been so humiliating. She left me no choice. She was yelling loudly and I just wanted her to shut up and I couldn’t let her tell Ryder what she believed. He’d listen to her before he’d listen to me.”
“Because she spoke the truth and she was his wife.”
“Stupid mistake.”
“This had nothing to do with her being black or my twin. This was about Ryder. That’s why Tara is missing now, isn’t it?”
Heavy sigh. “Yes. He kept talking about how kind she was. He was so happy to have someone he could be with all the time. On and on he went about Tara, saying she could help him get over Ebony. And fuck. I was right there. For the entire three years. There I was to support and care for him. And what does he do? He finds a fucking blonde, white girl to—to fill a place I should be in. I feared it would be you—”
She shot Chloe an evil glare. For the first time, Chloe saw the killer inside Crystal that she so convincingly concealed.
Crystal smacked the steering wheel hard with her hand until it hurt and pulsated, but Crystal was too far into her tantrum. “I thought black girls were his thing. I never, ever dreamed someone like Tara would be the one that he fucking fell in love with. And replaced Ebony with. It was taking him forever to get over her. I could have waited that out. I knew it was a shock to him and Wyatt, so I patiently waited. I was always going to be there for him, whenever he eventually saw that I was the one who always had his back.”
“And yet he never once noticed you, did he? Why not kill him then? Why my sister? She didn’t do anything to you. She did nothing but love the same man you did.”
“Because I wanted him. I couldn’t ever hurt him!” she screamed and Chloe jerked back with real fear for the first time.
“But you did hurt him. By taking Ebony away from him.”
“It’s not my fault she refused to just let me be his friend.”
“Bullshit. She wasn’t the jealous type. You were doing something to make her realize that. Of course she wouldn’t let you just come after her husband. No, I think you really killed her because you knew he would never leave her for you. Ever. He’d pat you on your empty head and tell you what a good friend you are, but he could never feel that way about you. Right, Crystal? I mean, look at Ebony and look at Tara. Two beautiful women. Stunning, actually. Ryder Kincaid loves only beautiful women. Not ordinary, plain, athletic tomboys. Not women like you.”
She really emphasized the last statement in a voice full of disgust as she yelled right back at Crystal. Fuck her! She killed Ebony… and for nothing. Over nothing. A crush gone wrong. Tears streamed from Chloe’s eyes.
“Why did you pretend to be stalking me?”
“Oh, that! That was sheer joy,” she said, sneering at Chloe. “And you all thought it was a man, so what better obsession than for the next woman to look exactly like his victim?”
“Oh, my God. That’s so sick.”
She shrugged, smiling. “Your opinion, but it doesn’t make you correct.”
“And Tara? Did you kill her too?” Fear struck deep in Chloe’s chest. Every bad thought and word she ever had towards Tara congealed into pangs of regret, and now, a deep-rooted fear. She swallowed the dry lump in her throat, closing her eyes and preparing for the news that Tara had been murdered too.
“Well, I would have. But you showed up. All fucking day you keep showing up and interrupting me. First, our little drive to get you the fuck out of there and then I can’t even get time off because Ryder calls me, begging me to come over and help him with this Lance thing. Well, shit, how could I deny him? He needed me. And you, of all people, provided the perfect alibi. I almost busted a gut holding the laugh in when I think of the irony. Now, at least someone understands it. Sees it. Appreciates it. You gave me the alibi I needed to kill Tara… and you.”
“You can’t kill me. Lance is in custody and I was there.” Chloe’s heart was beating wildly. Tara was alive still. Somewhere. Where, though? It didn’t matter, because she wasn’t where Crystal could hurt her.
“Oh, you’re the perfect candidate for suicide, honey. Being overcome by your sister’s death and it’s still so fresh, who knows when a person’s breaking point is?”
“No one will believe that. Three dead women from the same small town? Fuck you. No one will buy that. Everyone knows I would never commit suicide.” Terror rippled down her spine.
“Really? And did no one believe that a normal, functioning, mother to an infant son, and the wife of a man she appeared to love, would suddenly ditch both of them suddenly for no reason? With no word of warning? No panicked calls for help? Like that? Is that what you mean? That’s how people won’t believe, not even their most beloved family members. You did, Chloe. You believed a lie. And without even a twinge of doubt.”
Chloe shut her eyes to try and block out the pain from Crystal’s cruel words. All at once, she flicked her eyelids open. NO! That’s what this woman wanted. She intended to hurt her. And scorn her. And break her. “Fuck you. Ryder won’t buy the same MO again.”
“Oh, do you mean Ryder who is now grieving for his fiancée and trying to help his young son grieve for her along with his beloved aunt? He won’t have enough time to think clearly or figure it out. Look how long it took him to see clear of Ebony. He’ll do the same damn thing with the next one.”
“You’re really sick,” Chloe hissed. “How did you get her banking information? And the note? How did you get her to write that note?”
“Gun point. She was terrified. Scared. I think she thought if she did as I asked, I’d spare her. She thought the money was a payoff. But by the time she penned the note, I think she knew, however.”
Tears streamed over Chloe’s eyes as she pictured her sister’s last moments. Realizing what was about to happen to her. “Fuck you!” she screamed into Crystal’s face.
“Yes, but my plan worked. Impressive, right? Even those closest in her family were fooled. That would be you, dear sibling.”
Crystal stopped the truck. Chloe shuddered internally but hid it, reserving her indignant anger and trying not to freeze up. Not now. Not when she saw Crystal deliberately pulling out her gun from the holster on her side.
“You can’t use that. It’ll leave no doubt that it was you.”
“You pulled my weapon from me in a struggle and I couldn’t get it back from you in time. You ran out of my truck, crying and acting crazy. When I tried to confront you, you pointed the barrel at your head, threatening to kill yourself so I had to stay back. Then you ran here, and what could I do but follow you after I heard the shot? And then I found you.”
She sucked in a breath of air. “We’re at the fucking swamp, aren’t we?”
“Bingo. But no note this time. Different MO. You snapped and I couldn’t stop you.”
Tears rolled freely down her cheeks as Chloe replied, “And Tara? How will you kill her?”
“Oh, something much easier. I don’t really like violence. But I have to make sure it looks like our man in custody, poor, old Lance, did it. So with a gunshot. Good thing I have unregistered guns, huh?”
“Where is she?”
“That’s the funniest part, Chloe. She was inside my tool box the entire time we drove around this afternoon. I was dying to tell you and ready to burst inside. She was tied up right there, and stuck. While here you sat, so clueless and worried about her. And yet, she was right there.”
“Is she still?” Chloe’s heart sped up as she strained around and looked towards the back of the pickup. It had a black tool box attached to the cargo hold. There was a lock on it, and she had no doubt that only Crystal had the key. Ryder’s truck had the same device on it. No one would have suspected a thing, including her. She could only imagine how tight and hot the space must have been for Tara.
“I told you, you haven’t given me a fucking moment to explain. I feared she’d suffocate, but not yet, well, so far anyway. Last I checked was three hours ago. Then it became more of a thrill. At one point, Ryder was leaning on the edge of the box, and we discussed Lance and the latest updates in the case. Ryder was visibly upset and puzzled while he kept talking about all the places Lance could have taken Tara, and there she was! Right underneath him. Only inches from him. You must appreciate the irony. Oh, it makes me hurt just trying to hold in the laughter.”
“Jesus. You are hopelessly demented.”
“She’s securely bound and gagged, so there’s no escape for Tara Tamasy. Nor for you, Chloe. This will seriously compound Ryder’s misery and it’ll take a long time for him to recover, but I’ll be there. The entire time. I will become the greatest friend in the world. As he already mentioned once today. Anyway, you know what? You were never slated to die in my book. I was prepared to work around you once I was convinced he didn’t love you. So really, at that point, Tara saved your life. But ending it this way, I become his only go-to girl. Not you. Not Tara. Fuck. And not Ebony. ME! He will be mine alone this time. And I’ll act sooner this time and approach him before he heals, lest another little princess surfaces for him to get enchanted with. Never again. Next time, I will be the one he chooses.” She lifted her lips in a twisted version of a sneer and a smile.
Chloe stared at her long and hard as Crystal aimed the gun at her. “You expect me to walk over to the stinking swamp and just stand there while you shoot me?”
“Or we can do it right here. I don’t have any real preference.”
“Fuck you, Crystal. You should never have made the mistake of underestimating me.” Using the same demented smile of evil intention she saw on Crystal’s face, Chloe lifted her purse and clutched the gun in her hand before squeezing the motherfucking trigger.
Chapter Sixteen
CRYSTAL GLANCED DOWNWARD WHEN the bullet struck the c
enter of her chest. Her mouth dropped open as she stared, gradually lifting her head up, and her eyes were huge. “Y—you just shot me,” she whispered before slumping forward.
Chloe sat still for a prolonged moment, stunned. Suffering from shock, she gasped as her adrenaline high started to flag and she began to come down. She did it. She freaking did it. Blood was splattered all over the truck as well as Chloe from the close proximity of her shot. Crystal never expected it. It never occurred to her that she needed to search Chloe.
Chloe jumped into action and leaned across the seat, keeping the gun carefully aimed on the woman as she took Crystal’s weapon from her and put it inside her purse. Sliding around to the driver’s side, she opened the door and Crystal fell out like a rag doll from the force of gravity, dropping into a pile on the gravel parking lot. Chloe kept the gun aimed at Crystal’s side as she leaned down and felt her pulse. It was very faint. Chloe’s mouth gaped open and her eyes grew wide as saucers.
“Y—you… h—had… a… gun,” Crystal could barely manage to muster the strength as she whispered.
Chloe paused for one moment. “Yeah. Ebony always hated guns and refused to keep one on her person. I’m sure Ryder told you that, huh? I guess it never occurred to you that we were twins, and not identical in our thoughts and minds. All the shit you did to scare me lately? Why wouldn’t I have started packing my gun? You stupid, cocky bitch.”
Chloe proceeded to grab the handcuffs from the truck and locked them on Crystal’s wrists after pulling her hands behind her back. She clicked them shut, breathing hard from all of the clumsy exertion. They made it look so easy on cop shows. But it really wasn’t. Manhandling a body of dead weight, while trying to keep the gun trained on her without dropping it or making some other fatal mistake, like underestimating her victim, was quite a feat. When the victim returns alive, she always goes after the perp. She’d seen it one too many times in cheesy flicks so Chloe refused to fall for it. She frisked Crystal, finding all of her keys and pocketing them.
