Marrying the Millionaire (37 page)

Anyway, the muscles in his
hairy jaws clenched. His heart twisted. “Don’t cry, Salina. I’m
sorry; I can’t do this,” he said in a shaky voice, shaking his
head. He tore his gaze away from hers to stare at the wall over his
shoulder.

Salina slid her hand
across the linen toward him, circled her fingers around her
father-in-law’s wrist, and returned his sullen gaze back to her
face. In a whispering tone, she reminded him, “You promised,
Russell. Please. I. Hurt. Bad. I want,” she squeezed her eyelids
together, “to die.” Her misty eyes slowly reopened.

“
God forgive me for letting
you talk me into this.” Russell’s shaky voice pierced the cold
room. Tears streamed down his face onto his dress shirt, now
dripping in floods. Cupping her hand, he hefted it to his mouth and
placed a tender kiss on her knuckles. His lips trembled.

A small opening formed at
Salina’s mouth as she whispered, “God will forgive us both,
Russell. I’m ready to die. Please, help me go to Heaven. Please.”
Russell reached into the medical bag and pulled out a syringe and a
tiny clear bottle. He stuck the tip of the needle into the bottle
and filled the syringe with the poison.

Giving his head a hard
shake, he lifted her arm from her side, inhaled harshly, and
pricked her skin with the pointed tip of the needle. “Thank you,”
she cried. Discontent hardened his face as he gently lowered her
arm to her side. “The letter. Don’t forget the letter,” she
reminded him.

Feeling like pure evil,
Russell lulled open Salina’s top drawer, pulled out the letter
addressed to his son, Richmond, then slid it into the pocket inside
his blazer. Tears puddled his eyes. He grazed her cheek with his
knuckles. Tender. Gentle. “I hope I never have to give Richmond
this letter.”

Salina’s breathing
labored. “The drug is working. Thank. You.” Quick, shallow breaths
rushed through the small circular opening of her pursed lips.
Already, Russell regretted poisoning her.

Bright headlights from
outdoors in the driveway streamed through the sheer drapes and
spilled inside the bedroom. Tires rolling over thick gravel
punctuated Russell’s ears. A car engine hummed.

Scared out of his mind,
Russell hastened to the window and stood to the side of the wall.
Wary, he stuck two fingers between the cracks in the blinds and
scissored them open to peer out the window into the dark
night.

“
Richmond’s here.” He
cursed. “You’re husband’s home.” Shock ladened his voice. His shoes
shuffled across the carpet as he rushed back over to the bed where
Salina lay dying. “Apparently, he changed his mind about going to
the wedding.”

Tears of grief drenched
Salina’s face. “Go out,” she inhaled harshly, “back
door.”

Mercy darkened Russell’s
tone as he grumbled, “Dear God. Look what I’ve done. This is
murder, Salina.” As Salina fought to breathe in her next breath,
Russell bent over and gently kissed her hot forehead. “I’m sorry
things had to be this way. Ask God to forgive me when you get to
Heaven,” he mumbled. Grief-stricken, he snatched his medical bag
from the bed, then hastened out of the room like a thief in the
night.

Russell had been smart
enough to travel by feet on the evening he’d murdered Salina.
Hiking through the woods with the black medical bag clutched in his
hands, his troubled heart thudded hard in his chest. Tears steadily
shot from his eyes, and he could barely see how to get back to the
main road.

Breathing raggedly, he
finally reached the end of the woods on the other side of the
forest. Coming to a stop at the end of the road not far from
Spaulding Drive, he began walking along the edge of the road when
suddenly Leroy’s red pickup truck pulled up beside him.

The passenger side window
rolled down, revealing Leroy’s face. “Need a ride?” his longtime
best friend asked him. Miserable as hell, Russell hesitated.
Leroy’s eyes darkened, as if he’d known what Russell had just
done.

Nodding his head, Russell
yanked open the door to Leroy’s truck and hopped in the passenger’s
seat. Placing the medial bag between his thigh and the door, trying
his hardest to hide it, Russell prayed Leroy hadn’t seen
it.

“
You know,” Leroy said,
steering the truck down the road, “you look like crap tonight.”
Clenching the steering wheel, Russell felt like Leroy knew that
he’d just murdered Salina. Bile scratched the back of his
throat.

“
Thanks.” Russell’s nerves
jittered inside his head. He’d messed up big time, and he knew it.
Salina was probably dead by now, he thought, feeling as if the
world had dropped on his head.

Driving down the street,
Leroy stated, “Sitting at home by myself tonight...I got to
thinking…about all those questions you kept me asking me regarding
poison and whatnot. About how to kill someone and make sure they
die peacefully. Please tell me you weren’t asking me all those
questions because you’re thinking about killing Salina like she
asked you to.”

Russell’s head snapped
from the window to look at Leroy. “How do you know that Salina
asked me to help her?”

“
Because, friend, she told
me she was going to ask you to kill her because I refused to do it
myself. We can’t take life into our own hands, Russell. Death is up
to God; not up to man. What’s in the bag you’re trying to hide from
me?”

“
Nothing.”

Leroy slammed his fist on
the steering wheel. “Goddamn it, Russell! Salina told me she’d
invited you over tonight. While sitting at home, I put two and two
together. Please tell me I got here in enough time to stop you from
making the biggest mistake of your life?! Tell me I’m wrong about
what I’m thinking.” When Russell didn’t respond, Leroy shook his
head. “Dear Lord. You did it. Didn’t you?”

Tears dropping in his lap,
Russell nodded. “She asked me to. She was going to die
anyway.”

Leroy suggested, “We have
to turn around and try to save her. I need to call my
granddaughter.”

Russell swiped at the
tears coming out of his eyes. “For what?”

“
If we’re caught at
Salina’s house, that’s going to make me an accessory to her murder.
Kayla needs to know that I had nothing to do with this.”

When Leroy took out his
cell phone to call Kayla, Russell panicked. Once he heard Leroy
tell Kayla he had something important to tell her, Russell tried to
snatch the phone from Leroy. When Leroy went to grab it back from
Russell, he lost control of the truck.

The truck started spinning
in circles, then it crashed into a huge tree. Russell momentarily
blacked out. The sound of the blasting horn and the smell of smoke
eventually woke Russell up. When he realized what’d happened, he
reached over and placed two fingers to Leroy’s jugular vein, but he
didn’t have a pulse. Leroy had died.

Russell hollered. He felt
as if he was losing his mind. Conjuring up another sick idea inside
his warped brain, Russell jumped out of the truck and ran as fast
as he could to Leroy’s house. Wanting to make it look like Leroy
had killed Salina, he planted the syringe and a picture of Salina
inside the safe they’d often talked about. Afterward, he’d gone
home, took a shower, and went to bed. For years, he’d pretended
like he hadn’t done a damn thing. That is, until now.

Russell’s shoulders shook violently as
he lifted his gaze to meet Richmond’s icy eyes.

Russell’s story had broken through
Kayla’s fragile control, and she burst into tears.

Richmond’s finger shot up in the air,
and he pointed it straight at Russell. “Stop lying! Salina would
never ask you to help her to commit suicide. Stop lying before I
smash your fucking brains out!” Richmond’s fist clenched and
unclenched.

Sobbing worse than a child, Russell
extended a CD, a book, and an envelope to Richmond. “Here’s the
letter Salina wrote to you regarding her wish to die. She also left
a recording for you. I don’t know what’s on there because I never
watched it. She told me to give it to you if you ever found out
what I did to her. The book is my diary. My confession. Give it to
the police. I’ll be waiting at my house for them to come and arrest
me. I was wrong for taking matters in my own hands. I’m so sorry.
So. So. Sorry.”

Chelsey stood behind Russell, peeking
her head from around his shoulder. Holding on to Russell’s arm, she
said, “Russell isn’t lying, Richmond. One day while helping out at
the estate, I overheard Salina ask him to help her commit
sui—”

Richmond pointed a sturdy finger at
Chelsey. “Shut up, Chelsey! Salina did not commit suicide! Leroy
killed her! Get out of my house, Russell! And take your gold
digging ass girlfriend with you!”

“
I’m going to leave the
letter, CD, and diary on the kitchen table.” Russell’s shoulders
slouched as he headed toward the family room. Placing his hand on
the sliding glass door, he paused and looked back at Kayla. “By the
way, don’t trust Carson. Thinking you’d figure out my secret, I
paid Carson to break you and Richmond up. He’s only pretending to
want you back.”

Kayla’s mouth dropped open.
Stunned, resentment for Carson and Russell boiled her blood.
Carson is nothing but scum.
She folded her arms across her chest. “Well, you wasted your
money because I’d never get with Carson anyway.”

Russell’s lids lowered over his eyes.
“I know.” He lifted his lids. “For the record, I don’t think my son
could’ve found a better woman than you. As much as I loved Salina,
I think you’re just as good of a woman as she was. I wish nothing
but the best for you, Kayla.” Russell pulled open the door and
stepped out onto the deck.

Kayla sighed.
Jerk.

Richmond marched behind Russell,
screaming, “If what you said is true, Russell, you’re going to jail
for killing my wife! I’m going to prosecute you to the fullest
extent and have your ass locked up for the rest of your old
life!”

At the sound of the sliding
glass door shutting, Kayla’s knotted stomach gurgled with
grief.
I have no idea what to say to
him.
Relieved that her grandfather hadn’t
been the person to kill Salina, she felt beyond sorry for Richmond.
How in the world was he going to ever get over Russell killing his
wife?

“
Richmond,” Kayla uttered,
walking into the kitchen where he stood. Feeling as if she betrayed
him, too, she glanced up at the blank stare on his stressed face.
“I’m so sorry that you’re hurting.”

Richmond sniffed. Placing his hands on
his hips, his eyes narrowed with malice. “You’re no better than
Russell, you know?”

Refusing to make the situation worse,
Kayla nodded. “I apologize for not telling you that I suspected my
grandfather killed Salina. But in honor of his memory, I felt I had
to be for sure before I told you.”

Richmond punched the wall so hard, he
put a dent in it. “You should’ve told me! You were going to let me
marry you, knowing it was a possibility that your grandfather
killed Salina. As your fiancé, I deserved to know the truth. If you
loved me like you claim you do, you wouldn’t have been able to keep
such a hideous secret from me.” Scowling down at her, he clutched
her shoulders tight. “You didn’t love me. Like all the other women
around here, you just want me for my money.”

Sobbing, Kayla shook her head. “You
know that’s not true, Richmond. I tried telling you, but every time
I did, something came up. Like tonight. I tried telling you twice
tonight.”

His eyes were cold. He bared his
teeth. “When did you try and tell me? Before or after you sucked my
dick?”

Kayla’s mouth parted wide. She hauled
off and slapped him. As soon as his face started swelling, she felt
horrible. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hit you.”

“
Just leave.”

“
Come on, Richmond. Don’t
do this. I said I was wrong. I said I was sorry.” She cupped her
hand in a prayer symbol. “I’m begging you to let me stay here and
help you get through this. I love you, Richmond.”

Moisture gathered in his irises. “I
said we’re done. I don’t ever want to see your lying face again.
The wedding is off. You can keep the ring. If you pawn it, you’ll
get at least half a million for it.”

Kayla’s fingers shook as she slid the
ring off her finger and slammed it on the counter. “I don’t want
the ring if I can’t have you. I. Love. You. Call me when you
realize that you mean more to me than anything in the world. Until
then, don’t bother.” Devastated, she spun and rushed out the front
door.