Tonight You're Mine (35 page)

Nicole thought of Alicia's words: “God made me pay…I tried to make amends, but it didn't work because I was still lying, still hiding.”

“Oh, materially she did all the right things,” Ray continued sarcastically. “Saw that I was well dressed, sent me to a good college. But Rosa! The woman is a sadist. She hated me. She tortured me in a hundred little ways. One day I gathered all my courage and told Alicia. I even showed her the bruises on my arms from Rosa's vicious pinching. You know what your wonderful mother did, Paul? She averted her eyes and said, ‘You probably got those playing. Don't be so imaginative, Juan.' She knew, but she didn't care. All her attention was focused on her golden boy, the legitimate one, the talented one. I abhorred you, Paul. I always have.”

Nicole closed her eyes, still unable to believe what she was hearing, yet knowing it was true. “You were in Basin Park the night my father went there to kill Zand and Magaro.”

Ray gave her a coy look. “Oh, you remembered! Or did you really know about your father all along?”

“I just remembered this afternoon.”

“How convenient that you'd remember today of all days. Yes, I was there. I simply picked up your father's gun and killed them.”

“And the hanging and the hoods?”

“He'd brought the rope and the hoods, too. Didn't you see that in your dream? I think he wanted to make it look like a ritual killing. I just followed the plan, only
I
knew people would think it was the kind of macabre thing Paul might do.”

“The shirt,” Paul rasped.

“I had access to your clothes, so I wrapped the murder weapon in your shirt. I knew you didn't have an alibi. You were lying around in your music room, listening to yourself on that damned tape and pining over Nicole. Alicia was in the hospital. She couldn't provide an alibi. Dear Rosa was closeted in her room, as usual, reading those smutty romances and drinking.”

“So you left the house and no one knew,” Nicole said.

“I left the house
every
night. It was the only time I had to do what
I
wanted, my only freedom. I knew where Dominic's secret key was under the urn. I hung out with Zand and Magaro. They liked me because occasionally I'd bring them a bottle of wine I'd sneaked out of the house. When they were high, they told me what they'd done to you, Nicole. Magaro kept giggling about calling you ‘little bird.' He thought that was hilarious. I pretended to think it was funny, too. That's why they didn't panic when I came up to them that night. They thought I was just some seventeen-year-old fan. They called me Ray, but they had no idea who I really was or where I lived. They just enjoyed having me around, seeming to worship them.” Ray laughed harshly. “All along I thought they were a couple of pigs.”

Nicole still held the gun in her pocket. She took a small step closer to the altar. “Ray, you said you killed them because of me.”

“Yes. The beautiful Nicole who never looked twice at me because she was too dazzled by Paul. But I looked at you. I wanted you more than anything I've ever wanted in my life except Dominic's destruction.”

“You didn't know me. You only wanted me because I was Paul's.”

“That was part of it. The rest was just
you
. I loved the way you looked, the way you moved, the way you talked. Everything.”

“So you punished those who hurt me and tried to destroy Paul at the same time. But what about now?” Nicole's vision darkened for a moment as an awful thought struck her. “Ray, did you murder my father?” she asked shakily.

He blinked at her. “Nicole, I
told
you it was suicide.”

“You told me a lot of things.”

“Yes, but
that
was true. Suicide isn't as easy to fake as it is on television. And I had that damned Waters along with me. He would have picked up on the fact that it wasn't really suicide, even if I
had
murdered your father and tried to cover it up.”

“But you sent Dad the letters and the photo of Paul?”

“Yes. When I heard you were back in San Antonio, I knew fate had brought you back to me. But there were so many people around you. I was trying to figure out what to do about your husband when he did it for me.” Ray laughed. “Stupid fool. But there was still your father. You were crazy about him. So I decided to slowly make him fall apart by reminding him of what he'd done.”

“He didn't kill Zand and Magaro!” Nicole shouted.

“No. But he was there that night. He saw someone else. He looked right into my face, Nicole. He didn't know who I was, but he knew I wasn't Dominic. But did he come forward after Paul's arrest? Did he admit the gun was his? Did he say he'd seen someone else out there? Did he do
anything
to deflect suspicion from Dominic? No.”

Nicole felt sick. Ray was clearly unbalanced, but he was right about her father. Clifton Sloan wasn't a murderer, but he hadn't done anything to save Paul.

“I couldn't murder him because
no one
would believe you would kill him,” Ray said. “I hoped he'd just crack up and admit what he'd done. That would certainly have damaged your love for him. Instead he killed himself. That turned out to be fortunate, though. It got rid of him and brought me into your life.”

“Yes, how fortunate,” Nicole said weakly. “But if he really did commit suicide, why didn't he leave a suicide note?”

“He did. It was a full confession of what happened fifteen years ago. I didn't want suspicion shifted from Dominic. Fortunately, the note had slipped under the desk. I found it and tucked it in my pocket when Waters wasn't looking. It's easy to fool Waters about little things.”

A note. Her mother had been crushed because Clifton hadn't even left a note to explain why he'd done such a terrible thing. His confession would have been shocking, but at least it would have been an explanation, because Nicole was certain her mother didn't know what had happened that night fifteen years ago. But Ray had hidden it. Hatred for him rose up in her like gall. But she wouldn't show it She couldn't. Right now she had to concentrate on trying to save herself and Paul.

Nicole took a deep breath and another small step forward. “You said no one would believe I killed my father. But your goal was to make everyone believe
I
killed those other people?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“So you'd turn to me because I'd be the only one who believed you. Then I would become your protector and you'd fall in love with me.”

“But you didn't count on Paul returning.”

Ray hesitated, a fretful look passing over his face. “No. Oh, I knew he wasn't dead. Rosa told me she'd caught glimpses of him at the house over the years. She still hates me, but she's also afraid of me.” He smiled with satisfaction. “You see, she's always suspected
I
was the one who killed Zand and Magaro. She knew Paul didn't have the guts to do it. But she wouldn't say anything because I knew her immigration papers were faked. She made a big mistake telling me that. But Dominic coming back turned out my way, too. No one else believed you when you claimed he was in San Antonio. Everyone thought you'd flipped after Roger left you and your father committed suicide. But
I
believed you. You appreciated me for that.”

“Yes, I did.”

“And it tarnished Dominic's image in your eyes. You were suddenly afraid he
did
murder Magaro and Zand and had come back to murder you in revenge for what happened to him.”

“Yes. But only for a while.”

Ray's smile faded. “So I saw for myself last night. You know, it always bothered me that you kept such a physical distance between us. You never even kissed me, but I told myself you had too much propriety to throw yourself in another man's arms when your husband had left less than two months ago.

“Then I saw you with Dominic here at the mission, and I knew I was wrong. You didn't have any trouble throwing yourself in
his
arms, not even after all this time, after all your suspicions of him. I'll bet you never even gave
me
a thought.”

“That's not true, Ray.”

“After all I did for you. Hell, I even offered to invent an alibi for you for the Smith woman's death. But it didn't make any difference. You didn't care about me. No one has
ever
cared about me.”

“That's not true. I
did
care. If it weren't for Paul—”

“If it weren't for Paul, what? You would have been in
my
bed before long? You would have married
me
after your divorce?”

“I don't know, Ray. I couldn't see that far into the future.”

“I can.” The flickering candles cast shadows on Ray's face, making him look gaunt and hollow-eyed. “It wouldn't have happened. You would have used me to help you. Then you would have forgotten I existed.”

“That's not
true
.” Nicole took another small step forward, as if she were genuinely agonized by Ray's words. “I would never have forgotten what you did for me, and our relationship could have become romantic.” It sickened her, but she had to add the following sentence. “It still can.”

Ray sneered at her. “Do you think I want you
now
, after what I saw last night?”

“What did you see, Ray? Me hugging someone I hadn't seen for years, someone I once loved, someone I realized hadn't done anything to hurt me? Is that such a terrible thing? Besides, how did you know I was meeting Paul here?”

“When you had your little fainting spell after I told you about the Smith woman, I saw the postcard with the mail and read it. I watched that night to see what you'd do. I know you so well, I even figured you'd go over the back fence. But as for your simply hugging someone you once loved, you must think I'm a fool. You didn't just
hug
him. You kissed him. Passionately. It was like something out of some damned corny movie. It nauseated me. And I stopped caring about you, Nicole. Right then and there, I stopped caring.”

His coldness in the office earlier that day when Waters was questioning her so relentlessly. He'd been furious. Then later he'd decided that in order not to make her suspicious of him, he'd better smooth things over, so he'd called and lied to her about the officer seeing her moving around in the living room. She knew now it was a lie because she remembered that between ten and twelve, when Avis was killed, she'd been in bed.

“So, Ray, what's the plan?” Nicole asked. “What are you going to do with us?”

“You'll both be found here, dead. Dominic, of course, managed to lure you here.”

“How could he do that if I'm supposed to be afraid of him?”

“We have Carmen to attest to the fact that you'd stopped fearing him. Or, since she's now convinced you're off your rocker, she might claim you came out here to kill Dominic. In any case, there will be a record that a call was placed to your house from here. Obviously it was from Dominic. We also have the cab driver who will testify that he brought you out here.”

Nicole was close enough now to see that Paul's eyes were red-rimmed. He looked shockingly pale and exhausted. Obviously Ray had grabbed him last night, after she'd left. He'd been a prisoner all day. And he'd been beaten. Badly.

Her hand clenched around the gun in her pocket. “Ray, you never finished telling me what your plan for us is.”

“Dominic will kill you, and I'll kill Dominic. I'll probably get a commendation for it.”

“Paul will kill me with
your
gun? That won't work.”

Ray looked disgusted. “
No
, Nicole. The gun I'm holding to Paul's head, the gun that will kill you, isn't mine. It came from the Dominic house. And by the way, you might as well take your hand out of your pocket. I know you have your gun in there, but it isn't loaded.”

Color drained from her face. “You unloaded it?”

“Yes, today. I pick locks, remember? I was in your house.”

Anger soared in her. “You thought of everything, didn't you? You even planted the money in Dooley's apartment.”

“I didn't
plant
it. A couple of years ago I destroyed evidence and saved Dooley from a murder charge. He owed me, but I paid him anyway. I told him I wanted you killed, and I told him what lie to tell Jewel about how he got the money. I had him follow you. He let me know you were on the River Walk. I ordered him to rough you up and get your purse, that's all. Later he was to go to your house and murder you. Meanwhile, I smashed that padlock and let Jesse out. When I took you home, I searched the house to make sure all was safe, remember? Only while I was in the basement, I unlocked a window and pulled a chest underneath it.”

“But why did you put a patrolman outside? That only made things more dangerous.”

“That was unfortunate. Erwin, the officer who questioned you after your attack on the River Walk, likes to make women uncomfortable to their faces, but underneath he has this disgusting soft streak. He dispatched Abbott. He spotted a man walking toward your house. He was starting to get out of the cruiser, so I walked up to him like I had nothing to hide, and I killed him. I had no choice. Then I came into the house via the window and waited for Dooley. It was always my plan to kill him before he got to you. Simple.”

“But you didn't count on Newton Wingate seeing you.”

“He saw
someone
talking to Abbot. Someone with long dark hair. So did those kids who spotted somebody messing around with Roger's car. Long dark hair. Like Dominic's.”

“A wig.”

“Sure.” He sighed. “The only thing that went wrong was Jewel. That idiot Dooley told her who
really
gave him the money. She stuck to the story, but I could tell she knew the truth by the way she looked at me when Waters and I questioned her. I tried to kill her, but I wasn't successful.”