Playing With You (22 page)

Ricki stripped out of her clothing and tossed it all into the hamper. When she was naked, she turned on the shower as hot as it could go. When steam was rolling out of the glass-enclosed shower, she adjusted the temperature just enough that it was bearable and stepped under the spray.

She closed her eyes as she let the water pound down on her, trying to wash away the dirty feeling she’d been left with after all that had happened and all that she’d learned about the woman who she’d thought was her friend. It had seemed like she’d known Deena forever. Turned out Ricki didn’t know her at all.

After Ricki soaped her body with bathing gel, she started washing her hair. As she shampooed it she thought she heard Xena barking, but when she slid the door aside and leaned out of the shower, she didn’t hear anything else. She stepped back under the spray and closed the door. She rinsed out the shampoo then worked conditioner through her hair and rinsed that out, too.

She felt marginally better when she finished showering and stepped onto the fuzzy royal blue rug as she grabbed a pristine white towel off of the bar beside her. She started to dry off when a crawling sensation skittered down her back. She sucked in a lungful of air and coughed.

Smoke. She smelled smoke.

It wasn’t a just faint smell, it was strong and growing stronger.

Heart thundering, Ricki took the towel, ran water over it in the sink, then grabbed her robe off its hook. She jerked the robe on as she ran to her bedroom door. The smell of smoke was strong and blood rushed in her ears. She remembered what she’d learned about touching a doorknob to make sure it wasn’t too hot which would mean the fire was right outside the door. The knob felt warm when she brought her fingers to it but not hot.

She wrapped the wet towel over her nose and mouth and opened the door. Thick black smoke billowed into the bedroom. She dropped to her knees, terror ripping through her. She could hear the roar of the fire now and heard the explosion of glass breaking from the heat.

“Xena!” she cried out, muffled behind the wet towel. She was going to lower the towel and shout to Xena again but was afraid the dog would come rushing to her through the fire. She prayed Xena had gone out the doggie door and was outside waiting. But she didn’t hear any barking.

More explosions and then the fire was coming toward her, as if it had sprung down from the ceiling and up through the floorboards at the same time. She lunged to her feet and back through the door of her bedroom, slamming the door behind her.

She hurried to her window that looked out onto the backyard. Her hands trembled as she unlatched the window and shoved it up. Cool night air mixed with smoke rushed in. Her feet tangled in her robe as she crawled over the windowsill and she tumbled to the ground.

Air rushed from her chest as she landed hard on her back. She rolled over and started to get to her feet when something slammed into the back of her head.

Blackness…silence…nothing.

Ricki groaned as she stirred. Her head throbbed and her brain felt as if it was wrapped in a cocoon. She tried to think where she was and what she was doing, but nothing made sense.

Sirens closed in, the sound screaming through Ricki’s head. She heard a roaring sound, like the roar of a big fire, cracking, and glass shattering.

Everything came back to her in a rush. The fire! She tried to open her eyes, only to discover that something was over them and she couldn’t see. She tried to sit up but realized then that her wrists were bound in front of her with some kind of heavy tape. Duct tape, no doubt. Her ankles were secured together, too. When she opened her mouth to scream, nothing came out because tape covered it, as well.

Her mind searched for answers. What had happened? What the hell was going on?

It came to her as clear as anything.
Deena.
She had to be responsible.

Ricki thrashed, trying to break free when she felt something cold and unforgiving pressed to her throat then felt a sting as if something had cut her flesh. She stilled.

“I want you to get to know me, Ricki.” Deena sounded so calm that it took Ricki by surprise. “I want you to see what I’m like.”

Deena put her hand over Ricki’s mouth. “I’m going to take the tape off but if you scream, I’ll slit your throat now. Understand?”

Ricki nodded, her head rubbing over the ground beneath her. She felt suddenly hyper aware of every leaf, stick, and rock poking into her body. The smell of smoke was thick and heavy and now the air was also filled with the shouts of firefighters and law enforcement.

Deena ripped the tape from Ricki’s mouth. Ricki gasped and her breathing came out ragged and harsh from fear.

“That’s better.” Deena studied her and smoothed Ricki’s hair gently and lovingly, seemingly oblivious to everything that was happening with the fire.

“Don’t kill me.” Ricki hated that her voice shook. “Just let me go.”

“Move too much and you’ll slice your own throat open against this blade.” Deena’s voice was still calm. She pulled the tape away from Ricki’s eyes.

Ricki winced and as she blinked she saw Deena’s crazed expression. “You’re mine. You will always be mine.”

In the background the fire crackled and roared. A very little light made it through the trees they were in. Ricki realized they were next to the playhouse hidden in the thicket of trees a good distance behind her house. No one would think to look there for her since the playhouse couldn’t be seen, even if someone was close to the trees. They would think she was in the house.

“Whatever you want.” Ricki swallowed and felt the knife against her throat, praying that Deena wouldn’t slice it. “I’ll do whatever you want.”

Deena’s brows narrowed. “You’re only saying that now because you don’t want me to kill you.”

Ricki didn’t dare shake her head. “I mean it.”

“No you don’t.” The crazy look in Deena’s eyes intensified and she pressed the knife tighter to Ricki’s throat. “You’re lying.”

“Please.” Ricki was having a hard time getting any words out. “I’ll do whatever you want.”

“I can see it.” Deena glared at Ricki. “You don’t really love me. If I let you go, you’ll do something stupid like go to the police.”

“No, I won’t.” Ricki held her breath. “I promise.”

“I want you to know exactly what you pushed away.” Deena leaned her face closer to Ricki’s. “You had your chance at the spa but you rejected me. Now you’re going to pay for that.”

Ricki’s heart slammed against her ribcage and her entire body shook as she faced the possibility of death. Unless some miracle happened, she was going to die.

Deena’s face glowed eerily in the firelight that made it through the trees they were hidden in.

With an evil smile, Deena gestured to the old wooden playhouse with a jerk of her head. “I’ll put your body in there with all of those spiders you told me about and it’s likely you won’t be found for at least a day or two.” She looked around them. “You were right. This place is pretty well hidden.”

“Did you start the fire?” Ricki’s voice was hoarse as it came out.

“Of course.” Deena rubbed her thumb over Ricki’s lips. “Poisoned that stupid dog, too.”

“You poisoned Xena?” Fury filled Ricki and she fought against her restraints. “You bi—”

Deena covered Ricki’s mouth with her hand and pressed the knife to her throat again. “Don’t say anything you’re going to regret.”

Ricki began to wonder if someone might find her before Deena killed her, but knew it wasn’t likely. Everyone would be too busy with the fire to pay attention to a bunch of trees at the back of the yard, far enough away from the house that they weren’t in danger of catching fire.

Any hope of salvation was fading fast. Still, she continued to fight against the tape binding her.

When Deena moved her hand away, Ricki stared at her. “So you really killed those two women, Celia and Maria.”

Deena’s eyes widened, clearly startled. “How do you know that?”

“There’s a manhunt going on for you,” Ricki said with some satisfaction. “Garrett figured out that you and Diane Donatello are one and the same. You lost weight and chopped off and dyed your hair. You probably had collagen injected into your lips and you’re wearing brown contacts, too, right?”

“That fucking bastard.” Deena’s skin went from pale to red in an instant. “Thanks for the warning. Once I’m through with you, I’ll leave town again.”

“It won’t do you any good.” Ricki narrowed her gaze at Deena. “They
will
catch you.”

“No.” Deena shook her head. “I’ll make sure they don’t find me.”

“Everyone’s going to be looking for you,” Ricki said. “There’s no place you can hide.”

“My treasures.” Deena put her hand to her mouth. “Celia. Maria. How will I get them?”

“How will you get them?” Ricki furrowed her brow, confused. “They’re dead.”

Deena rocked back on her heels, moving the knife away from Ricki’s throat. “I kept pieces of them in my treasure chest to remember them by.” Deena almost seemed like she was somewhere else entirely. “A lock of Maria’s hair and one of her fingernails is in the music box, and I have an urn with some of Celia’s ashes. I need them.” Deena looked distraught. “I have to get them.”

“The police are supposed to be at your house by now,” Ricki said as she shifted and worked at the tape binding her ankles and her wrists, which she knew was probably hopeless but she tried anyway. “They’ve probably already found your
treasures
.”

The malice in Deena’s eyes as she turned her gaze on Ricki chilled her to the bone. She’d gone too far and Deena was going to kill her now.

“I guess I’ll have to start collecting new mementos.” No matter what Deena said, Ricki knew she was upset about losing the pieces of the women she’d been obsessed with. Deena looked Ricki over. “Now what should I keep of you?”

“You don’t need to kill me.” Ricki tried to keep her voice from shaking. “Please.”

“You rejected me.” Deena looked positively evil in the red glow of the fire. “I told you how much I love you and you rejected me.” She shook her head. “If I can’t have you, Garrett McBride certainly never will.”

Deena raised the knife and reached for Ricki’s hand. “One of your fingers will do for my keepsake.”

Garrett’s heart felt as though it had been crammed into his throat when he saw the fire.

He was a good distance away when he saw flames licking the night sky and smoke billowing like ominous clouds, but he knew without a doubt that it was Ricki’s house.

Not giving a damn if he was caught speeding, he drove like a madman to Ricki’s neighborhood and tore down her street.

Her home was engulfed in flames. It looked like no part of the house was untouched—all of it was burning.

Emergency vehicles crowded the street as crews fought to contain the fire and police kept the neighbors away from the scene.

Garrett parked as close as he could, then jumped out of his truck and ran toward Ricki’s home, panic surging through him.

Off to the right, Eric McBride was in full gear and was shouting orders. He was one of Garrett’s cousins, a lieutenant for the Prescott Fire Department.

“Where is she?” Garrett rushed up to Eric. “Did Ricki get out?”

Eric turned to Garrett and had to raise his voice over the noise. “We don’t know if anyone was home. We searched all that we could of the house before we had to stop.”

“She was home.” Garrett swallowed down pain rising in his chest. “I talked with her not too long ago.”

“Her car was in the garage.” Eric gestured to the garage that was in flames, too. The Prius was at the foot of the driveway. “We pushed it out before the fire got to it to make sure the tank wouldn’t explode.”

Garrett started toward the house, but Eric held him back. “There’s no way you can go in that house, Garrett.” Eric’s face was hard. “If anyone was in there, they couldn’t have survived.”

An ache built up behind Garrett’s eyes. He dragged his hand down his face, unable to believe that Ricki could be inside the inferno. That she could be…dead. An overwhelming sense of fear and loss nearly consumed him. But a part of him refused to believe that she was in that house. No, she couldn’t be dead.
She couldn’t.

“We did find a dog.” Eric nodded toward a lump on the sidewalk, covered with a blanket. Only the dog’s head was exposed.

“Xena.” Garrett started toward the retriever. “Is she alive?”

“She’s unconscious.” Eric strode beside Garrett. “We found her lying in the backyard. She woke up and appeared disoriented, but not like she came from inside the house and suffering from smoke inhalation. It’s more like she was drugged.”

Garrett reached Xena and bent down beside her. Xena opened her eyes, saw Garrett, and started to push herself up.

“Shhh.” Garrett worked to calm Xena even though he wasn’t feeling one damned bit calm himself.

The dog struggled and then surged to her feet. She bared her teeth and growled before she took a step forward. She wavered and then started toward the house.

“No, girl.” Garrett was afraid Xena was going to try to get into the burning house to find Ricki.

Garrett reached for Xena’s collar but she took him by surprise and bolted toward the house. She started barking wildly as he ran after her. Two firemen tried to stop Garrett but he pushed his way into the yard as he followed Xena who rounded the house and ran into the backyard.

The blistering heat of the fire singed Garrett’s skin as he went past the house while following the dog. “Xena!” he called out. “Come here!” But the roar of the fire drowned out his voice.

When he reached the backyard, he saw Xena bolting away from the fire, heading for the trees at the back of Ricki’s property. Garrett tore after her.

* * * * *

Ricki screamed, her eyes wide with fear as Deena grabbed one of her pinky fingers and raised the knife to chop it off.

With everything she had, Ricki fought and screamed, trying to jerk her hands away from Deena’s grasp.

“Shut up.” Deena jerked her arm back and elbowed Ricki in the nose. “And be still.”

Ricki cried out from the burst of pain that shot through her nose and blood immediately began flowing over her lips. She didn’t stop screaming or struggling.