Shocking Pink (40 page)

H
ours later, Nick drove through Thistledown, heading for home. He opened his window to enjoy the cool evening air, thinking of David Sadler and his interrogation earlier that afternoon. The man had remained adamant about his innocence. Not only that, as he had all along, he kept talking about Leah Robertson’s murder and about Andie, Raven and Julie’s involvement in that crime. He’d insisted, again, that at least one of the girls had been in that house watching him and Leah, and that he believed that girl knew who the real killer was.

Nick drew his eyebrows together. Sadler claimed he hadn’t left the noose and scarf for Andie. Nick found that weird. Illogical. Why admit to breaking into her house and leaving music playing, but not the noose and scarf? And why keep focusing on the past and the role of the three girls in Leah Robertson’s death?

Sadler’s story was getting to him. Something wasn’t right about this whole thing. He smelled fish.

Everything kept coming back to Andie, Julie and Raven. Only now, Julie was dead. That left only two.

Nick smiled grimly. Maybe the time had come to pay a little visit to the third member of that little triumvirate. He had passed Rave Reviews, Raven Johnson’s design firm, a couple of miles back. Though late, light had spilled out the windows and he’d noted a car parked in the lot beside the building.

He pulled a U-turn and went back. He reached the building and swung into the drive. Somebody was there, all right. And whoever it was, they drove a forty-thousand-dollar BMW. He parked beside it. Definitely not a secretary, he thought, climbing out of his Jeep and heading up the walk.

A sign in the window pronounced the business closed; Nick rang the bell, then rapped on the glass. Once, then again when no one appeared at the door.

A couple moments later, Raven emerged from the back of the store and came to the door. She looked agitated. Her eyes were red, as if she had been crying.

He flashed his shield, though he hadn’t a doubt she knew who he was.

She cracked open the door. “Yes?”

“Hello, Raven.” He smiled. “I wondered if I could have a couple minutes of your time?”

“What’s this about?”

“David Sadler.”

She hesitated, then opened the door and let him in. He stepped inside, moving his gaze over the interior of the shop. Lots of high-priced froufrou. The kind of place a cop only went in to make a call.

“How can I help you, Detective?” Though she smiled, he sensed real animosity directed toward him. Real anger.

Because of Andie.

He pictured the house, the front door, the security system’s keypad and its blinking green light. “I was wondering how often you and David Sadler spoke during the week preceding the murder. How deeply you were involved with the development, and if you knew how many other people besides yourself and Mr. Sadler had continuous access to the properties.”

She folded her arms across her chest. “I’ve answered all those questions before, Detective.”

He smiled again. “Yes, I know. But there are a few points I’m not clear on.”

“Such as?”

Nick pictured the house’s entryway once more. “Well,” he murmured, thinking on his feet, “it seems there’s both a primary and secondary code for the model’s security system. The primary code was David’s, everyone else with access—” he paused for effect “—people like you, used the secondary code.”

For a moment, a mere heartbeat of time, she was quiet, her expression blank. That tiny space of time spoke volumes. “I wouldn’t know anything about that,” she said. “I’m sorry you’ve come out of your way tonight.” Raven checked her watch. “If you have any further questions, call my attorney and we’ll come down to the station.”

“Your attorney?” Nick cocked his head. “Is there some reason you feel you need a lawyer present to answer a few questions?”

“Of course not. But one can’t be too cautious.” She forced a stiff smile and reached for the door. “If there’s nothing else, it’s been a long day. And in case you’ve forgotten, I’m still grieving the loss of a dear friend.”

“Of course,” he murmured. “I’m sorry to have disturbed you tonight.” He started through the door, then stopped, meeting her eyes once more. “There is one more thing,” he said. “According to the alarm company’s monitoring service, the night of the murder, the alarm was disarmed and rearmed twice. Once with David’s code. Once with the secondary code.”

Nick studied Raven while he spoke. Except for the tiniest flicker behind her eyes and a slight elevation in her breathing, she seemed totally unaffected by what he was saying. Raven Johnson, he decided, was one cool customer.

“You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you, Ms. Johnson?”

“How could I, Detective? I wasn’t there.”

“Of course.” He smiled again. “Sorry to have troubled you. Good night.”

R
aven Johnson did exactly what Nick had hoped she would: she waited about five minutes, which was enough time for him to drive a few blocks, U-turn and come back, before she headed straight out to the Gatehouse development. He guessed that the alarm system’s instruction manual was kept there—that she had to see if he had been lying.

Nick whistled under his breath as he followed her at an inconspicuous distance. He didn’t know if he had been lying or not; inspiration had struck and he’d run with it. What he did know now, however, was that Raven Johnson had played a bigger part in Julie Cooper’s murder than just that of the grieving friend.

Nick turned into the Gatehouse development. Raven should have arrived several minutes ago, enough time to go inside to wherever the model’s important paperwork was stored and begin tearing through it.

The house lay dead right. He turned. His headlights sliced across the road; the yellow police tape stood out shockingly bright against the black night. Nobody had taken it down yet. He flipped off his headlights and slowed to a crawl, finally easing his vehicle to a stop beside Raven’s.

He climbed out, drew his weapon and started for the house. He peered into Raven’s car as he passed. The driver’s-side door wasn’t quite closed, she had left her purse on the front passenger seat. She had obviously been in a hurry.

Nick, on the other hand, was in no hurry. He made his way stealthily toward the front door, pausing every couple of moments to listen.

He reached the door and let himself in. He glanced at the alarm’s keypad and saw that the system was on but unarmed.

The house was dark save for the kitchen. He heard the sounds of someone moving about, opening drawers, shuffling papers. His lips lifted.
Bingo, baby. Gotcha.

Weapon out, he made his way down the hall. When he reached the kitchen, he saw that he had congratulated himself too soon. The kitchen was empty. The contents of a drawer had been spilled across the floor. The back door stood wide open.

“Dammit.” He lowered his gun and hurried for the door, forgetting stealth, wanting to catch and question her before she got away and he lost his advantage.

From behind him came the sound of a door flying open. Nick realized his mistake and spun around. He saw Raven, her face twisted into a mask of hate and rage, saw too late the length of plumber’s pipe in her hand. Pain shot through his head, followed by a blinding white light.

His world went black.

N
ick came to. He moaned, feeling as if his head was on fire. He tried to move and found he couldn’t. He opened his eyes slowly, blinking to focus them. When they did, he discovered why his arms and legs refused to cooperate: his wrists and ankles were bound with silver electrical tape.

Then he remembered. Raven. The louvered pantry doors. The pipe.

He moaned again. How could he have been so careless? So stupid? He hadn’t called for backup. Nobody even knew he was here. Those were the kinds of mistakes only a rookie would make. A dead rookie.

Dizziness overcame him, nausea with it. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply through his nose, using both to steady himself. He was in deep shit here, he couldn’t be dizzy and sick. Not if he was going to get out alive.

Raven entered the kitchen. She carried a shovel and a roll of heavy-duty plastic. Light-headed again, he drew in another deep breath, struggling to hang on to consciousness. Not to puke. He couldn’t go back under now.

“Hello, sleepyhead,” she said, her lips twisting into an imitation of a smile. “I see you decided to come around.”

“Barely,” he croaked, his mouth and throat dry and bitter tasting.

She laughed. “An honest cop. Imagine that?” She leaned the shovel against the counter, then tossed the roll of plastic to the floor. She followed his gaze, smiling again. “Curious, I see. That’s good, for you, anyway. It means you still have your faculties.”

“Lucky me.” He coughed and tasted blood. He must have bitten his tongue when he hit the floor. It hurt like hell. “So, are you going to fill me in or make me wait until the party starts?”

“Why not?” She lifted a shoulder. “Earlier, did you happen to notice the big hole in the backyard?”

“Sorry, I was a little busy.”

She stared at him a moment, her lips twisting into that freakish smile. “You’re funny. No wonder Andie thought she liked you.”

She turned. Nick saw her purse on the counter.
She had been out to her car. How much time had passed?

She took out her cell phone and laid it beside her handbag, then dug around inside, coming out with a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. She lit one and drew deeply on it. “Anyway,” she said after blowing out a stream of smoke, “the hole’s a pool. Or rather, it’s going to be. They’re scheduled to pour tomorrow.”

“And?”

“And you’re going to become a permanent part of that pool.”

He realized what she meant and silently swore. “The way your mother became a permanent part of your patio?”

“Exactly.” Raven took another drag on the cigarette. “My dad wasn’t so dumb.”

“No? He got caught.”

“Only because he underestimated me.”

“The way Julie trusted you.”

Her cheeks flamed red. She narrowed her eyes. “Julie was a traitor. She was disloyal to me, to our family. She got what she deserved.”

“The way I’m going to get what I deserve?”

She took another long drag on the cigarette and smiled. “Yes.”

“What’re you going to do with the plastic?” he asked, hoping that if he kept her talking long enough he’d be able to come up with a way out of this. “Wrap me in it so I don’t start to stink?”

“You’ll be under the cement, you won’t stink.” She dropped her cigarette in a disposable coffee cup that someone had left. He heard the tip sizzle as it hit the liquid. “Carpet runners,” she explained. “They’ll make it a lot easier to drag you outside.”

He breathed deeply through his nose, fighting another wave of dizziness. “Do you really think you’re going to be able to dig a hole big enough to dump me in, get it covered and smoothed over, all before the workmen arrive in the morning? I don’t think so. If I were you, I’d take off now. You could be in St. Louis and on a plane for Rio before anyone found me.”

“Nice try, Detective. But I have no intention of leaving Thistledown. This is my home. By the way, I’m not digging a hole for just one.” She glanced at her watch. “Time to get your little girlfriend out here.”

Andie. Dear God, no. Not Andie.

He couldn’t hide his alarm, and she smiled. “That’s right, Miss Andie Bennett. Traitor. Disloyal whore. I’m sure she’ll come running when I call and tell her you’re in trouble.”

“Don’t do that,” he said, desperate, willing to beg if it would save Andie. “Please. She didn’t do anything.”

“Wrong again.” Raven met his eyes, hers narrowed to angry slits. Bright spots of color stained her cheeks. “Did you really think I’d let you steal her from me? Did you really think I would let her go?”

She was completely insane. Obsessed with Andie and the notion of loyalty.

“I didn’t come out here alone, you know,” he said, struggling against the tape, trying to mask his total panic. “My partner will be here any moment. I called in my whereabouts, in a few minutes this place is going to be crawling with cops.”

She laughed. “That’s bullshit, Detective, and not nearly as clever as the bit about the two codes. That was good.” She picked up the piece of pipe. “If anyone was going to show up, they would be here by now. No, you’re all on your own.”

She crossed to stand over him. “Say good night, Detective Raphael. I have a call to make.”

And then she swung.

A
ndie pulled up in front of the Gatehouse model, parking her car beside Nick’s Jeep. She climbed out and looked up at the dark house, heart thundering. Raven had sounded so strange when she’d called. Her voice had been high and frightened-sounding, the cell-phone connection weak and crackling.
“Something terrible’s happened,”
she had said.
“To Nick. You have to come right away. He needs yo—”

Raven’s cell phone had gone dead. Panicked, without pausing for second thought, Andie had raced out here, driving as if the devil himself had been after her. Now Andie wondered if that had been wise. Maybe she should have called someone to come with her. Maybe whatever had happened would be more than she could handle alone.

Maybe David Sadler was telling the truth. If he hadn’t killed Julie, a murderer roamed free.

At the direction of her thoughts, Andie scolded herself and hurried up the walk. David Sadler was the one who’d killed Julie. And Leah Robertson. He was where he should be, safely behind bars.

Andie opened the front door and stepped inside. The house was eerily quiet, dark save for a light from the opposite end of the hallway. She thought of Julie, of what had happened to her here and a wave of nausea rolled over her.

She forced it back, keeping her gaze averted from the living room and trained on the long hallway before her. “Raven?” she called. “Nick?” She took a step deeper into the house. “Rave,” she called again. “It’s me. Where are you?”

“The kitchen.” Raven appeared in the lit doorway and motioned for her to come. “Quick. Nick’s hurt!”

Alarmed, Andie ran. She reached the kitchen, crying out when she saw him. He was on the floor, wrists and ankles bound by tape, hair matted with blood.

“Nick… My God!” She ran to him, kneeling down at his side. He opened his eyes. In them she saw horror. But he wasn’t looking at her. He was looking past her.

Andie twisted around. She saw Raven. And the pipe. A scream flew to her lips.

A moment later she saw nothing at all.

Andie awakened to the sound of digging. Her entire body ached. Her mouth was dry and gritty, as if she had eaten dirt. She breathed deeply; the effort hurt. A smell filled her head. Heavy. Fecund. The smell of damp earth, she realized.

She opened her eyes. She lay on her side on the ground, in some sort of dark pit, her cheek against something…slick. Unnatural. Plastic, she realized. At the same moment she realized her wrists and ankles were bound.

Like Nick’s had been.
A sound of fear slipped past her lips.
Where was Nick?

The digging noise stopped. “Hello, Andie.”

She lifted her gaze. Raven stood a few feet away, a shovel in her hand. “Raven?” Andie whispered, disbelieving. “What…what are you doing?”

Her friend smiled. Andie found something about the way her lips stretched over her teeth grotesque. “Taking care of my family.”

“Taking care of… I don’t understand.”

“Don’t you? You betrayed me, Andie. You were disloyal. Just like Julie. Just like my mother.”

As if stirred by the memory, Raven went back to digging. Andie stared at her, horrified, not quite able to grasp what was happening.
Who was this woman? Not Raven Johnson, her best friend. Not the woman she had known and loved since she was eight years old. It couldn’t be.

Raven spoke again, suddenly, startling Andie. “I didn’t want to kill Julie. But I had to. She was a disloyal little cunt.” Raven paused in her work to look at Andie. “I’m sorry to use that language, but it’s appropriate. She chose that piece of slime, David Sadler, over us. Over me.”

Terror took Andie’s breath.
Raven had killed Julie?

“She had even begun to ask questions. Can you believe that?” Raven shook her head, as if she could hardly even grasp the concept of what she was saying. “Questions about Mr. and Mrs. X. About my being in the house with them, day after day. Hiding in the closet. Watching them.”

She stopped and met Andie’s eyes once more. Because of the dark, Andie couldn’t see her clearly, but she felt the other woman’s gaze like the icy hand of the grave. “You see, Andie, she’d figured out that I’d killed Mrs. X.”

Andie bit down hard on her bottom lip to keep from crying out. To keep from giving in to terror and falling apart. How could she have been friends with Raven all these years and not really known her? How could she not have seen the monster lurking just beneath the mask?

She hadn’t wanted to see, Andie realized, thinking back. Signs of her obsessiveness had been there. Of her extreme dysfunction. Her twisted values. Signs Andie had chosen to ignore. Because she’d loved Raven, loved the person, the girl, she had thought Raven to be.

Nick moaned and stirred, obviously in pain, but alive. She squeezed her eyes shut, saying a silent prayer of thanks. When she hadn’t been able to see him, she’d been afraid, so afraid that Raven…

Andie couldn’t even finish the thought. She had to convince Raven to release her. There had to be a way.

Raven paused in her work again, panting with exertion. She wiped the sweat from her brow. “To get rid of David, I needed Julie. She had to die. But still—” Raven’s voice thickened with emotion “—I wouldn’t have done it if she had been loyal. I gave her a choice, Andie. She chose him. She broke my heart.”

A choice, Andie realized. She had one chance; that was it. If she couldn’t pull this off, she was dead. So was Nick.

“You have this all wrong, Raven,” Andie said, voice quivering. “I choose you over
him.
He’s nothing to me.”

Raven laughed bitterly. The sound crawled along Andie’s nerve endings, ugly and dark. “That’s not what you said the other day. ‘We depend on each other too much,’ you said. ‘I love him and want to be with him, no matter the consequences.’ Well, here they are, Andie Bennett.
The consequences.
”

“That’s not true!” Andie cried. “I didn’t choose him! Check your answering machine. I called at least a dozen times tonight. To apologize. To beg your forgiveness. I was crazy the other day, Raven. Blinded by grief. Confused. He tried to trick me into loving him, to steal me away from you. He almost succeeded.”

She ended the last on a sob and looked up at Raven, pleading. “I love you. We’re family, Rave. Family always sticks together, no matter what.”

Raven shook her head, though Andie could see that she fought tears. “Why should I believe you? How do I know you’re telling the truth? All you’ve done is lie to me, let me down.”

Raven sucked in a shuddering breath. “I left the noose and scarf on your bed, Andie. To punish you, because I was angry at the way you were shutting me out. And it was a test. You failed. You ran to
him.
That nothing. Not to me, your family, the one you had always turned to. I knew then, but I prayed I was wrong. The way I prayed with Julie. That you would see the light.” Her voice broke. “You really hurt me, Andie.”

Andie started to cry.
This was it. Her and Nick’s last chance.
“I have seen the light. Check your machine. You’ll see all my calls. You’ll hear how I begged you to forgive me and take me back. You’ll see. I made a mistake, Rave. I’m sorry.”

Raven glanced at her wrist, at her watch. She shook her head, looking upset. “I could retrieve…but my cell phone’s…the time, there’s no time.”

Andie seized on Raven’s hesitation. “We can do this together, Raven. Take care of him together. Like we’ve always done everything. A team. A family.”

When Raven only stared at her blankly, a sob of defeat rose to her lips. She hadn’t done it. She and Nick were lost.

Then Raven was kneeling in front of her, working at the tape that held Andie’s wrists, peeling it away. Andie began to tremble; her heart beat so wildly she could hardly breathe. She tried to control both, to keep her head, afraid Raven might notice and realize she had been tricked.

“We’ll have to hurry,” Raven said. “There’s not that much time left.” She tipped her face up to the still-black sky. “We need to finish up here, clean up the kitchen, then dispose of Raphael’s car.”

She caught Andie’s hands. “You’re trembling.”

Andie swallowed hard. “I’m just so happy we’re back together.”

“Me, too.” Raven brought Andie’s hands to her mouth, then dropped them. “Undo your ankles, then come help me. The hole’s almost deep enough.”

Andie nodded and began working frantically at the tape that bound her ankles. She hadn’t heard anything from Nick in a while, and afraid for the worst, she glanced his way. His eyes were open. He was looking at her.

Afraid to signal him in any way, she tried to communicate with her gaze. To let him know how she really felt, to tell him she hadn’t meant any of those things she had just said.

“Andie? What are you doing?”

“Finished,” she said, tearing the last of the tape away and jumping to her feet. Her head screamed protest and she swayed.

“Are you all right?”

“Fine,” she managed to say. “Just a little dizzy.”

“Feel well enough to dig?” Andie nodded. “Good. You finish the hole, I’ll drag Raphael over. I think he’s still out.”

Andie crossed to her, scrambling for what to do next. Raven was bigger than she was. She was stronger. She, unlike Andie, wasn’t reeling from a blow to the head.

Andie took the shovel and glanced around with what she hoped was nonchalance. “Where’s Nick’s gun?”

Raven looked sharply at her, and Andie wet her lips. “After all, we can’t bury him…alive. That would be too cruel.”

“Why do you care?”

Andie pretended to bristle at her friend’s suspicion. “Right’s right, Raven. You know that.”

A smile touched Raven’s mouth. “You always were the kind one, worrying about everybody. Taking care of us all. If it’ll make you feel better, fine.”

“Thank you.”

Her smile disappeared. “But don’t think I’m handing the gun to you. Sorry, Andie, but until I’ve heard those messages, I can’t completely trust you.”

“Of course. I don’t blame you.” She shifted her grip on the shovel. The handle was warm against her palm. She looked at it, then back up at Raven, her stomach rising to her throat. “We better get busy. Time’s running out.”

Raven took one last measured glance at her, then nodded, turned and started for Nick.

Last chance. She had to do it.

Andie hoisted the shovel; she swung.

The blade connected with the back of Raven’s head with a sickening crack. As if in slow motion, Raven turned, her expression one of surprise. Blood spilled down the side of her head and face, turning her angel hair dark. She took a lurching step toward Andie, reaching her hand out.

“Andie,” Nick shouted from behind her, “watch out! She’s got the gun!”

Only then did Andie see it. The steel barrel gleamed cold and bright in the moonlight. With a sound of fear, Andie took a step backward, the shovel slipping from her grasp.

“Liar,” Raven managed to get out, pointing the weapon. “Cheating whore. How could you…I always…I loved—” She crumpled.

Andie brought her hands to her mouth. For a moment, she stared at the woman she had called friend, then with a cry, ran to Nick. She knelt beside him. “Thank God…thank God…” She clawed at the tape at his ankles, freeing them. “I thought—”

“I’d lost you,” he said, struggling to sit up. “I thought I’d never get to tell you—”

“Oh, Nick…” She moved her hands frantically over him, his face, the back of his head, his chest and arms just to make sure he really was all right. “I was so afraid…I thought you were, that she’d—”

“Shh… I love you, Andie. I love you so—”

A howl of pain and rage filled the night air. Andie spun around. Raven was on her feet, the gun in her hands. “I won’t let you go!” she shrieked. “I won’t!”

Andie launched to her feet and dived at Raven, taking her by surprise. The gun flew from her hand. She and Raven hit the ground. Andie saw stars, the wind knocked out of her.

Andie fought past both, struggling to her knees. She scrambled to her right, looking for the gun, though she had no idea where it had landed. Raven grabbed her feet and pulled her back, panting with the effort. Andie twisted and kicked. Her foot connected with something; she heard Raven’s grunt of pain.

A moment later, she was free. Andie got to her feet, sobbing. She had to find the gun. She had to—

“Andie! Out of the way!”

Raven had the shovel. Andie fell backward, bringing her arms up to cover her face. An explosion split the night air. Then another. Raven reeled backward, the shovel over her head, her expression one of shocked disbelief. She teetered on the edge of the hole, the graves, she had dug for Nick and Andie, then toppled in.

Andie turned. Nick was on his knees, gun clutched awkwardly in his still-bound hands. Their eyes met, and relief, like the light of day, spilled over her. Getting to her feet, she stumbled to Nick. She freed his hands, then fell into his arms, trembling, clinging to him.

“It’s okay, baby. It’s over.” He tightened his arms around her. “It’s over.”

She nodded, pressing closer to him, realizing how near they had both come to death; realizing, too, how grateful she was to be alive. And loved.

Nick started to speak. She stopped him. She wasn’t ready to talk—not about what had happened or what would come next. “Not yet, Nick,” she whispered. “Just hold me for a little bit longer.” She lifted her face to his. “Okay?”

He held her gaze. “Forever, Andie. If you want, I’ll hold you forever.”