Authors: Marilyn Campbell
"Okay, Drew. I'll admit I'm bugged. Teri is my dearest friend. She's going through a tough time right now, and the last thing she needed was some smooth-talking cowboy screwing his way into her life." She felt the anger building again and fought it back. "She needs space, and time alone. She told me so herself. You should have let her be, instead of manipulating her while she was too bewildered to see what you were doing."
"Whoa, there—you make it sound all one-sided. It's not. Teri and I both tried to ignore the attraction we felt, but that just didn't work for very long."
"Then—as the one who
didn't
just lose your spouse—you should have gone away."
"I couldn't do that. I'm in love with her. And she loves me."
"
Hmmph
.
Love
is an easy word for men to use. The problem is, you think it has to do with what's between your legs instead of what's between your ears."
"Selena, please try to understand. I know you're not upset just because of me. Teri thinks your...
distrust
of men might be because of an experience you had with someone else. I'd like to help if you'd let me."
Her chin lifted abruptly and her eyes narrowed to slits. "You made Teri tell you about our private conversations? How dare you!" She could barely hold back the red haze.
Drew delayed his response until after the waitress placed their meals in front of them. "I didn't
make
Teri tell me anythin'. She's worried about you. And you're worried about her. And I'm the one caught in the middle of all this worryin'. You don't have to like me, but you're goin' to have to accept my bein' around if you're goin' to stay friends with Teri. It took me a long time to find someone like her. I'm not lettin' go."
He continued talking, but all Selena heard repeating in her head was,
"if"
she was to stay friends with Teri. She knew it! He was planning to stop Teri from seeing her so he could keep her all to himself. She couldn't allow that to happen. There had to be a way to stop him before it was too late. Struggling to control the violent hatred, she ran through the useless inventory in her purse, then began looking around the restaurant for a weapon of some kind.
Drew stopped his threats long enough to eat. She picked up her steak knife, cut her meat, then lowered the knife to her lap, where she slowly wiped it on her napkin. A moment later the serrated knife was in her purse, but she was afraid it wasn't sharp enough to slice his throat. She had to keep thinking. In the meantime, she reminded herself that she needed to ease his mind about her.
Looking contrite, she forced her voice to sound sincere and a little weepy. "I guess I'm the one who owes
you
an apology. You're absolutely right. I was letting my personal experiences cloud my judgment. I've been under a lot of stress lately. I can see you really love Teri and you'd never do anything to hurt her." She stretched her hand across the table. "Friends?" Drew grinned, obviously pleased with himself for fooling her, and shook her hand.
"Friends. And now that we're friends, I'd like to talk to you about somethin' else. I told you Teri's worried about you. She's afraid you have a problem. Well, I had a problem myself for a time, so I understand how it can happen. Some of the things Teri told me about you are a little too familiar to me."
Selena raised an eyebrow at him. What could Teri have told him? Did he suspect her?
"You don't have to talk about it tonight. Just know that when you're ready, you can talk to me. I think I know what you're goin' through. Maybe I can help."
Selena held her breath. It sounded as if he knew things he shouldn't. Suddenly she knew how Drew had forced Teri into obeying him. He had apparently threatened her with revealing secrets he had figured out about Rico and Kidder. She felt the panic bubbling inside her. She had to get out of here. He had to be silenced immediately. "Drew, I'm not feeling well. I need some air. Could you take care of the check, and I'll see you outside?"
"You do look flushed all of a sudden. I didn't mean to upset you. Go on out. I'll be there in a minute."
As she hurried through the maze of tables, her gaze darted back and forth. There had to be something better than the knife in her purse. In the foyer the hostess was herding a large party into the dining area and Selena's mind flashed on the image she had seen while they were waiting. Quickly Selena searched around the reservation podium until she found what she was looking for, then rushed outside before anyone noticed her.
She dropped her purse off in her car and waited beside it in the parking lot for what seemed like hours. Juliette's voice was in her head, telling her to go home, warning her not to take any chances. But the red haze was stronger than Juliette's voice, and she prepared for her chosen role. Behind her back the fingers on her right hand grasped the handle of the hammer and her left hand clutched the knife.
When she saw Drew leave the restaurant, she called out, "Over here," and waited for him to come close. "A model friend of mine wants some new photos for her portfolio. I told her about you, but I didn't have your number. Do you have an extra card I could have for her?"
As she had figured, he was flattered and quickly pulled out his wallet to oblige. She glanced around the parking lot and made sure they were unobserved. Juliette was wrong. Luck was smiling down on her. The moment his attention was directed inside his wallet, she brought the hammer up and swung it toward his head.
The blow caught him by his ear. He staggered, the pain registering with the shock, but he didn't fall. Before he had the chance to protect himself or run, Selena swung again, this time aiming for the other temple. He swayed in place, his eyes rolled back in his head, and he collapsed.
But that didn't mean he was dead. Again she looked around to make sure they were still alone, then rolled the body over onto its back and dragged it by its feet so that it was lying between her car and the next one. She crouched beside the body as she shoved his wallet into her purse, then checked for a pulse at his throat. It was weak, but she could still feel it. Setting down the bloodied hammer, she raised the knife above her head and brought it down into the spot where she figured his heart was.
But the knife barely tore the shirt. Behind her, voices carried from the front of the restaurant and she knew she had to get away. Frantic now, she ripped open his shirt and stared at the tiny prick the knife had made.
Juliette's words came back to her.
Drive a stake through his heart.
Holding the knife point against his chest with her left hand, she picked up the hammer with her right and drove the knife through the chest wall. As the blood frothed from the wound, the voices got louder and she tried to extract the knife.
She pulled and pushed, but it was stuck. As fast as possible she tried to wipe any fingerprints off the handle with his shirt, but everything was covered with blood, and there was no more time. The voices were coming right toward her. She grabbed the hammer and her purse and jumped into her car. With her car's tires spraying gravel, she pulled out of the space and sped away in a cloud of dust.
She knew the people would see the body. She had to hope he was dead long before they could get help. She had to hope none of them caught her license number. She had to hope no one had seen her before she got inside her car. She had to hope no one inside the restaurant had paid enough attention to her and Drew during dinner to identify her later. It was all too much to hope for.
You should have listened to me. You weren't even wearing a disguise!
Selena turned her head to the passenger's seat and was surprised to see Juliette there. She didn't remember bringing her, but just seeing Juliette helped Selena calm down a little.
"I couldn't help it. He knew things. I had to stop him before he told on me." She looked down at her bloodstained clothes and hands and realized she was spreading the mess all over the car's pretty white interior. "Now look what I've done. I can't go back to my apartment like this. I'd never get past the garage attendant or building manager without them seeing me. Juliette! Help me. I can't think."
You must protect Teri. Go to her. You'll have to explain now. She must understand in order for you to protect her.
Selena frowned. "That's what you said about Mommy, and she never understood."
Then you know what you must do.
When Selena reached Teri's house, everything was dark, but her car was in the driveway. It looked like Teri was already in bed. Knowing how tired she had been lately, Selena hated waking Teri up. She had no choice about that under the circumstances.
Before getting out of the car, Selena moved Juliette to the backseat to make room for Teri, then she headed for the studio. Using Rico's keys, she let herself in. Quickly she stripped off the stained clothes and bagged them, for disposal later. Though the small bathroom had no shower, she was able to get herself clean, and the rack of costumes offered a variety of things to wear. She laughed at the thought of putting on one of the fancy Victorian ball gowns for their journey, but it wasn't practical. She ended up choosing a loose peasant blouse with an elastic neckline, and a long skirt.
After she was presentable, she soaked a towel in cold water and took it and her bag of ruined clothes to the car. She put the hammer with the clothes, then tucked the bag into the corner of the trunk. Turning her attention to the interior, she tried rubbing off the blood with the wet towel, but soon realized that the brownish stains would probably never come out of the white leather upholstery or beige carpet. They'd have to be replaced.
"I'm so glad you decided to come along, Juliette. You'll finally get to meet Teri."
Don't be long. We have to get away.
The reminder renewed Selena's fear, and she hurried to the front door of the house. Again using Rico's keys, Selena let herself in.
When she saw how peacefully Teri was sleeping, she had to remind herself that they had no choice. There was no way of guessing how soon the police might be looking for her car.
Lightly shaking Teri's shoulder, she sing-songed, "Teri. Teri, time to get up."
Teri heard a familiar voice in her dream, but it didn't seem to fit there. And it didn't make sense because she felt like she'd just fallen asleep. A moment later she realized she wasn't dreaming. Someone
was
trying to wake her up. Her eyes blinked open, but all she could see in the dark was a huge shape hovering over her. She opened her mouth to scream, but was immediately silenced by a large hand.
"Hush. It's only me. Selena."
Teri blinked again, this time to clear her head. As soon as her mouth was freed, she asked, "Selena? What are you—" The hand covered her mouth again.
"I'm going to turn a light on now, okay? I know how frightening the dark can be."
Teri sat up and was still trying to sort the dream from the reality when the lamp on her nightstand lit up the room. "Selena, what are you doing in my house?" Teri could not begin to imagine what her presence there might mean, but none of the possible reasons seemed good. Selena had her back to her as she walked around the room, touching this and that.
"Selena! Answer me! And why are you dressed in that costume?"
Selena turned to her slowly, and when Teri saw her eyes, she instinctively inched backward until she was pressed against the headboard. The odd glow in Selena's narrowed eyes seemed to pin her in place. Teri didn't need any other evidence to know something was very wrong. When Selena finally answered, her voice was neither a breathless whisper nor a childish whine. It was deep and flat, as if she had lost all emotion... as if it were another person speaking.
"I used my key." She flashed the keys that were still in her hand.
Teri knew she had never given her a key, but the key ring looked familiar. "May I see those keys, Selena?" Her quivering voice betrayed her suspicion.
Selena stepped forward, letting the keys dangle before her as she held onto the blue plastic penlight attached to the ring.
Teri's mind wanted to deny what her eyes told her. "They... they look like..." Her heart began to pound even before it was confirmed. She reached out to take the keys but Selena snatched them away before she could touch them.
"Yes, Teri. They're Rico's."
Teri couldn't get enough air into her lungs. Her head began to spin, but she fought the momentary weakness, telling herself there had to be a simple explanation. "How did you get his keys?"
Selena smiled, a secret, know-it-all smile, and started wandering around the room again. "Juliette said I have to explain
everything
to you. You must understand in order for me to protect you."
Teri bunched the bed sheets close to her chest, as though that might keep her from being quite so vulnerable. More questions. Who was Juliette? What did Selena have to protect her from now? Selena sounded calm but Teri felt certain if she started getting hysterical, Selena would follow suit. Quietly, she dared to repeat herself. "The keys, Selena...
why do you have them
?"
"Do you remember the day you asked me to get Rico out of your life
permanently
?"
Teri's eyes opened wide. "Selena, that was a joke. And I didn't really ask you—"
Abruptly Selena giggled and the little girl voice took over. "Oh, Teri. We don't have to lie to each other. Get ready. This is going to make you laugh like you did that day." She paused to make sure Teri was ready for her next words. "You were right—sex with me
did
kill Rico."