3 Mascara and Murder (8 page)

“Are you saying that you killed her?” Phillip demanded as his head drooped some. “I didn't even have the chance to know that she was my daughter, and you killed her?”

“She wasn't your daughter!” Katherine snapped back as she spun on him. “She was just some filth, left over from your cheating ways. That does not make her your daughter. I'm your wife, who has endured your endless infidelity and weakness as a man. I raised your children, each one more refined and successful than the last. Those are your children, not this piece of trash that showed up just to try to win the lottery!”

“Katherine,” Phillip hung his head further, tears forming in his eyes as he realized just how diabolical his wife was, or perhaps, just how torturous his infidelity had been for her. Bekki didn't care to know what either was thinking, she just wanted the official words.

“So she had to die,” Bekki prompted Katherine, knowing that she was goading a murderous beast.

“Yes, of course she did,” Katherine sighed. “I found the note she had written
to Phillip and I confronted her. She wanted money from him, or she was going to ruin our entire family. Why should she get any of our money? So, like I always do, I took care of the problem.”

Phillip was openly weeping, stunned by the truth that his wife had murdered his own child, a child he had never had the chance to know.

“Katherine, you horrible woman,” he muttered. “She was practically a child.”

“It was your mistake,” Katherine snapped back. “You were the one that kno
cked up the nanny, not me. Why should I pay for your mistake? No, she had to die, and as usual I had to do everything myself.”

She sighed as she looked over at Bekki. “And because you were so damnably nos
ey, now I have even more work to do.”

She stood up from the couch and withdrew a knife she had hidden in the couch cushions as she did.

“No!” Phillip shouted. “Katherine don't hurt her, enough is enough, this has to stop!”

Bekki felt her heart le
ap into her throat as she backed away from Katherine. She was confident in her fighting skills, but she was not prepared to use them, she had thought things would go much simpler than that.

“Put down the knife,” Nick commanded from the doorway of the sitting room. He had his gun pointed directly at Katherine.

As relieved as Bekki was to see him, she was sure that he would be furious with her. Katherine reluctantly dropped the knife to the carpeted floor. She sighed as the police officers rushed forwards to cuff and search her.

“You see,” she said to Phillip who had sunk to his knees on the floor. “You see what you have done to me?”

Nick walked over to Bekki, who had lowered her eyes to the floor. “Are you okay?” he asked her gingerly.

“Yes,” she replied and stole a glance at him.

“What is it?” he asked as he studied her.

“You're not angry?” she asked with surprise.

“Bekki,” he laughed and gave her hand a light squeeze. “I do know some things about you, you know. I'm guessing you have all of that on tape too?”

“Yes I do,” Bekki said proudly.

“Well, then there's only one thing left to do,” Nick said with a wide smile.

“Go get Sammy!” Bekki squealed happily. As the
y rode over to the police station, Bekki couldn't contain her excitement. They had solved the crime, and in doing so had disrupted an entire family, but at least Lucy had some kind of justice. When they went into the police station Nick led Bekki back to the holding cells. Nick let Bekki be the one to unlock the holding cell. Sammy was sitting on the small, metal bench inside, and barely looked up when she heard them walk up to the cell. But when she heard the key in the lock she looked up swiftly.

"Bekki?" she said hopefully.

"It's me," Bekki grinned and unlocked the cell door. She slid it open, but Sammy didn't move. "This is it, Sammy," Bekki smiled at her friend. "You're free. Katherine Windward confessed to killing Lucy, and you are no longer a suspect."

Sammy stood up hesitantl
y from the bench. She was at the point that she believed she was never going to be free again. She had convinced herself to accept the fact that sometimes bad things happen to good people.

"Are you sure?" she asked Bekki, her eyes wide.

"I'm sure," Bekki replied, her own eyes wide and honest in return.

Sammy wrapp
ed her arms around her friend and hugged her tightly. "Oh thank you Bekki," she gasped out. "Thank you so much, I didn't think I was ever getting out of here."

"H
mm," Bekki shook her head slightly. "You really don't have the right look for prison, Sammy. If you wanted a vacation you could have just asked, you didn't have to go to all this trouble."

"Ha ha," Sammy replied with no amusement in her tone. "Now get me out of here before your crazy boyfriend locks me up!" she offered Nick a playful glare with just a hint of real animosity.

"As you wish," Bekki laughed and ushered her right out of the police station. As soon as Sammy was out she dropped to her knees and began kissing the sidewalk.

"Oh gross!" Bekki complained. "Stop that at once, you'll have the whole town thinking that you're nuts!"

"I am nuts," Sammy said as she stood up again. "That's what hard time in jail will do to you."

"You were in a holding cell," Nick reminded
them both as he stepped out onto the sidewalk with them. "But you are right, Bekki is the reason you are free."

"And Nick," Bekki said firmly. "He helped me as much as he could."

"I really don't care who it was," Sammy said, still seeming a little panicked. "I'm just glad to be free."

Once
Bekki and Nick got Sammy back to her house and settled, Nick offered to drop Bekki off at home. She accepted the ride but when he pulled into her driveway she turned to face him.

“I want you to come in,” she said quietly.

“Are you sure?” he glanced at her suspiciously. “Because I've been told that some people are not ready…”

Bekki hushed him with a warm kiss that lasted much longer than she had expected it to. Nick didn't resist any further. He ushered her into the house and they found their way pretty swiftly into Bekki's bed. With their clothes strewn in all directions, they finally had the reunion they had both been waiting for. For once, Bekki didn't pull away, she didn't shut down her emotions, she let herself feel just how much Nick loved her, heard him whisper it in her ear, and even said it in return. She was surprised, as she had thought living life sheltering her emotions, her heart,
from getting hurt was living a free life. But the truth was, letting herself feel emotions again, letting herself accept them from others, was what made her feel as if she could fly.

They spent hours together in bed, sometimes holding one another, sometimes exploring, sometimes sharing the ultimate pleasures of life
.
But as the sun set, Nick tugged her up out of bed. He draped the sheet from the bed around her shoulders, and pulled on his boxers. Then they stepped out onto Bekki's back porch.

As they stood on the porch looking out at the stars spread across the sky, Bekki could feel his hand gently caressing her lower back, massaging away the tension of the very eventful last few days. She had never felt any man touch her with such an impact as Nick had. Just a light rub was all she needed to feel completely relaxed and safe in his presence. She had been so fearful of falling in love again, but the truth was, if she really admitted it to herself, she had never fallen out of love with Nick. He had been the man that she compared all others to, and no one else had ever come close to holding a candle to him.

As Nick pressed his lips gently against her cheek, she was reminded of the look in his eyes when he saw Trevor attempting to kiss her. It made her chest tighten to think that Nick had been hurt, in the way that she had felt when she discovered that Trevor was cheating on her. She realized in that moment that it wouldn't matter how long she waited. She was always going to be afraid of getting hurt again, because once you are hurt, it is not something that can completely heal. So she had a choice to make. She could continue to hold Nick at arm's length, never allowing him to truly be part of her life, or she could give in and see where it led. It was as much about what she wanted, as it was about what he deserved. He deserved a chance to prove himself to her, to show her that he truly meant it when he said that he loved her. If she kept that from him, then neither of them would ever know what might have been.

The one thing she knew for certain was that she had to choose. She couldn't continue to string him along, under the premise that one day she might trust him. She had to decide whether she was all in, or not in at all. That meant risking hurting Nick, but it also meant preventing him from being heartbroken in the future, after he found that she was unwilling to let him in the way he so deeply desired to experience with her.

"Bekki," he murmured beside her ear. Her heart skipped a beat. "Shh," he murmured as if he could hear every thought that was rolling through her mind. "These stars belong to us," he said quietly and glanced at her as she turned her head slightly to look at him. "That's something that will never change. I promised you I would be patient, and that's not going to change, but …"

Bekki braced herself for the
but, she doubted that it could be anything good.

"Yes?" Bekki asked, meeting his gaze as she turned in his arms so that they encircled her and drew her close against his chest.

"I can't see you with someone else," he said, his voice trembling slightly. "I know that men today are supposed to be evolved and different. I know that I'm supposed to be secure, and fine with the fact that you have other interests, but Bekki I can't stand seeing you with Trevor. If he's your friend fine, but please, if it's not me, don't let it be him. He hurt you once, and I still hate him for it. I don't want to see him hurt you again."

Bekki's eyes misted with tears of gratitude as she stared into Nick's dark green gaze.
He could be so selfless. Even as he admitted to his need for her, he wasn't trying to claim her, he was just trying to protect her from what he was certain would lead to more hurt that he didn't want her to experience.

"Nick," she laughed slightly as a single tear slipped past her long lashes and trailed down her cheek. "Don't be silly."

"I'm not," he said with a frown, a flicker of frustration coloring his eyes as he tried to understand her words. She leaned up and abruptly but softly pressed her lips to his. Nick offered a quiet moan of surprise at the sudden act of affection. When she pulled away she gazed up into his eyes.

"It's always been you Nick," she admitted in a hushed whisper. "It's only ever going to be you."

The End

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