Playing With You (21 page)

Deena looked away. When she returned her gaze back to Ricki, she said, “Maybe that’s for the best.”

Sick to her stomach, Ricki turned and pulled out her skirt, blouse, sandals, and other belongings from the locker, as well as her gym bag. She gathered them up in her arms before walking away from Deena to change in another part of the locker room.

When Ricki was alone, she dressed quickly, no longer feeling relaxed and happy. As she stuffed her bathing suit into her gym bag, her whole body felt tight and her head ached again. The day was ruined, but it was better that she know than to continue oblivious to Deena having feelings for her.

After she had slung her purse and her gym bag over her shoulder, Ricki pulled her cell phone out of the outside pocket of her purse. She wanted to talk with Garrett. She wasn’t ready to tell him what had happened, not now, but she needed to hear his voice.

The phone service was on roam and she grimaced. She’d forgotten that the way this spa was situated in Sedona, and because of the elevation, she couldn’t get good service. Once she got out of the spa and down the road, the signal should be clear and she wouldn’t have a problem calling then.

Her head ached even more as she clenched her jaw. Would she run into Deena in the lobby? She remained tense and wary as she paid for her share of the services and then walked stiffly out of the building to her car.

The early evening was perfect outside but she couldn’t enjoy it feeling the way she did. She unlocked her Prius and climbed in before pressing the start button and bringing the quiet hybrid vehicle to life. She glanced back at the doors to the spa and her heart dropped to her stomach when she saw Deena standing there, watching her.

Deena looked almost sinister as she stood there, staring at Ricki. Like a dark cloud had passed over her, swallowing everything good about her. It all made Ricki even more relieved that Deena wasn’t returning with her.

A shiver ran down her spine even as she felt a combination of guilt and anger. She felt guilt because she was leaving Deena here and anger because Deena had ruined what Ricki had thought to be a great friendship.

If Deena had told Ricki how she felt without touching Ricki so intimately and kissing her, it would possibly have been different. Ricki could have said she was flattered and that she cared for Deena as a friend, but that was all.

Instead, Deena had gone too far and Ricki wasn’t ready to forgive her for that.

Ricki looked away from Deena and the chill in her eyes as she drove her car out of the spa’s parking lot, and headed for the main road. She made it to the road and was well on her way out of Sedona when her phone rang. She dug it out of her purse and saw that it was Garrett.

A measure of relief made her relax. A little. All she needed was to talk with him and she knew she’d feel better.

“Hi,” she said as she answered the phone.

“Are you all right?” Something in Garrett’s voice sounded tense, concerned.

All things considered she was fine, but she wondered what Garrett was so worried about. “I’m okay. What’s wrong?”

“Where are you?” he asked. “Is Deena with you?”

“I’m leaving the spa.” Ricki glanced at the empty passenger seat. “Deena is finding another way back to Prescott.”

“Thank God.” Garrett let out an audible breath. “Just keep driving back to Prescott. Don’t stop for anything.”

“What?” Ricki frowned. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“I think Deena’s a suspect in two murder cases in Tucson,” Garrett said and goose bumps broke out over Ricki’s arms. “If what I believe is true, her real name is Diane Donatello and she may have killed two of her roommates.”

“Deena?” Ricki couldn’t comprehend that Deena wasn’t who she’d said she was and that she could have killed anyone. “Are you sure?”

“Pretty sure,” Garrett said. “Do you remember the woman in the photograph that was in the broken frame?”

Ricki nodded. “Yes. I thought the woman could be Deena’s sister. Other than a few differences, they look a lot alike.”

“The woman in the picture is the suspect,” Garrett said. “And I’m pretty damned sure that Deena is one and the same. She’s made some changes and enhancements to her appearance, but I’m certain it’s her.”

More goose bumps broke out on Ricki’s skin as she gripped the steering wheel. “I saw on a news report this morning that the body of a woman named Celia was found in the Santa Catalina Mountains in Tucson.” Ricki’s eyes widened. “Deena told me in the past that she’d lived with someone named Celia who disappeared. Deena also told me that a roommate of hers named Maria was murdered.”

“That’s Deena.” Garrett had a bite to his tone. “I was afraid you would be her next target.”

Ricki swallowed. “Me?”

“You said Deena’s finding another way back to Prescott,” Garrett said. “I’m happy as hell that’s true, but what happened?”

“She came on to me.” The words sounded as surreal as she’d felt when Deena had touched her, kissed her. “She told me she loved me. I told her I couldn’t be around her anymore.”

“Shit.” Garrett growled the word. “Thank God you’re alone. I’m almost to Sedona now. Which route did you take?”

“We took 89A, the scenic route.” Ricki hadn’t been paying attention to the scenery now like she had on the way from Prescott. “I’m going home the same way back.”

“I went down I-17,” Garrett said. “I’m going to head through town and take your route home and catch up. I’m a good thirty to forty minutes behind you. As for Deena, we’ll let the police find her.”

“Police?” Ricki’s mind was reeling. “I just can’t believe it.”

“If she’s guilty, she’s a sick woman,” Garrett said. “She has a history of violence as well as being a murder suspect. Tell me where you last saw her and I’ll call it in.”

Ricki checked her rearview mirror and saw that she wasn’t being followed as she gave him the name and location of the spa. “Deena was just standing and staring at me when I drove away.” Ricki shook her head as she pictured her former friend. “The look in her eyes was almost frightening. I was glad she wouldn’t be riding back with me.”

“You should be safe now,” Garrett said. “Just keep driving. The police should locate Deena before she finds a way out of Sedona and heads back to Prescott.”

“Okay.” Ricki let out her breath. “I’ll be home within an hour.”

“I’ll see you there, honey.” Garrett sounded much more relieved. “I love you.”

She smiled at the tender note in his voice. “I love you, too.”

A woman who was about five-foot-one with a short, elegant haircut, came out of the spa and Deena studied her. Earlier two women had left together and Deena had ignored them. But this woman was alone as she headed out to her car. Deena looked around as she followed the woman to make sure no one was watching, and then Deena slid her hand into her purse. She had a few things she’d planned on using on Ricki if she’d needed to, but they would come in handy now.

Deena waited for the woman to open up the driver’s side door of a silver Mercedes before she walked casually up to the woman and put on a smile. “Excuse me.”

The woman turned and with a mildly interested look, she raised her eyebrows in question. She exuded wealth and confidence, as well as a touch of impatience. Definitely not Deena’s type. Deena liked her women innocent, sweet, accommodating, and not so damned thin and petite.

“My car won’t start and I don’t have my cell phone.” Deena gave a dramatic sigh. “BMW’s are supposed to be built to last but I’m ready to trade this one in even though it’s less than a year old.”

“I’m sure you can use a phone in the spa,” the woman said, a haughty tone to her voice.

Deena looked over her shoulder, her hand still in her purse. No one was around. “They’re so rude in there.” Deena moved closer to the woman so that she was a foot away.

The woman frowned. “Rude?”

Deena gave the woman a hard smile as she pulled a stun gun from out of her purse and pressed it under the woman’s ribs.

Her eyes went wide and she gave a small cry as her body jerked and her legs gave out on her, and her purse dropped to the ground. Deena caught the woman to her then laid her down.

Again Deena looked over her shoulder and saw no one. She opened the driver’s side door and popped open the trunk with a lever before dragging the woman behind the car. Fortunately the back of the car was facing away from the spa doors and the woman didn’t weigh a whole lot.

It took Deena only a few moments to use the zip ties she had in her purse to bind the woman’s wrists and ankles. She took the small roll of duct tape she had in her purse and wrapped it around the moaning woman’s mouth and eyes.

Voices came from the direction of the spa and Deena’s heart beat a little faster. She was behind the car and if she hurried she could throw the woman in the trunk and not be seen. Without too much effort, she heaved the petite woman into the trunk and closed the lid.

She put a smile on her face as she picked the woman’s purse up off the ground and tossed it inside the car. It landed on the floor with a thunk. She set her own purse on the passenger seat.

For a moment she gripped the steering wheel and tried to control the rage rushing through her. From the time she was young she would go nuts if something didn’t go her way. Her parents had sent her to specialists and when she was older she’d sought therapy.

She hated the rage and what she had done. All rationality went down the tube. She couldn’t stop the compulsions. Maybe she was sick, but it was what she was. When it took over, she couldn’t stop herself.

And now she had to get Ricki. Had to. And it didn’t matter how.

The women who were heading toward a Lexus didn’t even look Deena’s way. She started the car, drove out of the parking lot, and away from the spa. It would be getting dark soon so she turned on the headlights.

Ricki had told Deena that the way she normally drove to and from Sedona was on the 89A but Deena wasn’t going that way. She’d take the other route, as it was easier to speed on I-17. She was twenty minutes behind Ricki so she had some time to make up.

Deena guided the car down the road, away from the spa. She thought about the woman in the trunk she had bound, and felt an adrenaline rush. Rich, haughty bitch.
Wrong place wrong time
, she thought, feeling no sympathy for the woman. She would figure out what to do with her later.

Deena’s mind shifted to Ricki and the hard anger that felt like a block of ice in Deena’s chest.

How dare Ricki rebuff Deena’s advances? How dare Ricki turn her away?

Anger built up to the point there was pressure behind Deena’s eyes. She deserved love, and she deserved Ricki. Not that bastard, Garrett McBride—he didn’t deserve Ricki.

Deena gripped the steering wheel and dug her nails into the leather binding. If she couldn’t have Ricki, no one would.

By the time Ricki reached home, it was dark outside. Garrett had been delayed for a short time, so he wouldn’t be getting to Ricki’s for another hour to an hour and a half. Apparently he’d had to talk with the police, giving them all of the information he could, as they started their manhunt for Deena—or rather, Diane Donatello, which was apparently her real name.

It wasn’t going to be easy to get used to that, or the possibility that Deena could be a killer who’d murdered two women she’d said she cared for. Ricki had seen the pain in Deena’s eyes as she talked about the two women and having lost them. To believe that she was responsible for their deaths was almost unfathomable.

Ricki parked her car inside the garage, climbed out of the vehicle, and slammed the door shut behind her. The force she put into it came from her increasing anger. As she drove back to Prescott, she’d had a lot of time to work things over in her mind and ultimately what she felt was used. She could see now how Deena had orchestrated every meeting, every event. Ricki had been completely manipulated and had never seen it coming.

She paused for a moment, staring at the car, but not really seeing it. Well, now karma was going to come around and Deena would get what she deserved. If she were indeed responsible for the deaths of her friends, she’d be in prison for a long time. Arizona was a death penalty state, so Deena could be facing even more severe punishment. That was not a place Ricki wanted to go in her thoughts.

According to her last conversation with Garrett, the Prescott Police had been alerted and would be going to the house Diane had rented, if they weren’t already there. In the morning Ricki would need to go to the police station and give her statement that included any and all information she could give them. By then Deena would probably be in jail.

Garrett had said he’d have one of his brothers, all of whom were in some branch of law enforcement, stop by and stay with her while she was waiting for Garrett to arrive, but she insisted she’d be fine. It would only be for a little more than an hour that she’d be alone. She’d keep the doors and windows locked and her cell phone at her side. And after all, the search for Diane had turned up empty when all of the shuttle companies had been contacted, so it wasn’t likely she was on her way back to Prescott yet.

Besides, Ricki had Xena, who was a great watch dog and fiercely protective of Ricki.

Ricki pressed the button to lower the garage door. When it was completely down, she grasped the knob to the door that led into the house. She smiled as she pushed open the door and was immediately greeted by her golden retriever. Xena jumped up, putting her paws on Ricki so that she could receive the big hug that Ricki always had for her.

Xena bounded around and gave two short barks, telling Ricki that she was excited to have Ricki home and that Xena was more than ready for her treats.

“You know I spoil you, don’t you?” Ricki smiled as she got out a large chicken jerky treat. Xena sat and waited patiently for Ricki to offer it to her. After the treat, she gave Xena a big rawhide bone to keep her busy while Ricki took a shower.

Everything had been wonderful today, up until Deena had touched and kissed her. At the time it had felt more than uncomfortable and had made her angry. Now not only was she angry but she felt dirty after finding out that Deena was really a woman named Diane who may have murdered her roommates.