In Too Deep (44 page)

“Jesus,” Liz whispered, suddenly realizing that her intuitions about her sister had been right. Jay hadn’t killed. She couldn’t.

“Now it’s time to end this little game,” Kristen said, regaining their attention once more. “It’s time for me to say farewell to all this. To kill both of you, to pin all of it on you, Liz, and then I’m off to retire in the tropics.” She grinned.

“You’ll never get away with it,” Erin declared with disgust.

“Oh, but I will. You see, no one knows the truth other than our little circle here.” She looked to Liz. “Your little private eye found me, though.”

“No.” Liz remembered that she hadn’t heard from Shane Wilson in days. Too long.

“Oh yes. She was so easily seduced. All I had to do was let her fuck me, and she told me all I needed to know about you two.”

“Where is she?” Liz asked, already fearing the worst.

“She’s fine. In fact, I left her sitting in your grandfather’s old chair. All nice and comfy.” Her wickedness escaped her again in shrill laughter.

“You bitch!” Liz shouted with rage as she lunged at Kristen with Erin tugging on her, trying to hold her back.

“Yes, I suppose I am,” Kristen said with another evil grin. She raised the gun and fired a shot at Liz, tearing a hole through her arm as the bullet passed through and embedded in the refrigerator.

“Fuck!” Liz screamed out, immediately staggering back, gripping her arm.

Erin rushed to her in panic, shielding her from further bullets as they both sank to the floor. It was all too much. The ambush, the gunfire, the shrill laughter. All of it so reminiscent of the other horrible night that she had lived through not so long ago.

“Did that hurt?” Kristen mocked in a high pitched voice. “Oh I’m sorry. I must’ve missed. But this one won’t.” She raised her arm again to fire. Erin tugged on Liz’s arm and they both crawled quickly further into the kitchen, trying to hurry before Kristen fired again.

“No!” Jay shouted as she tackled Kristen’s arm.

Kristen wrestled with Jay, unable to get a shot off. She freed the hand with the gun and coldcocked her with the butt of the gun. Jay fell to the floor in a daze, trying to gain the strength to stand back up and fight Kristen.

“Shit,” Kristen said, eyeing her. “Goddamn little hillbilly!” she shouted as she kicked the Jay in the gut, then watched with pleasure as she doubled over.

Jay coughed and wheezed as her lungs screamed. She scurried away from Kristen as best she could, unable to handle another assault.

Erin had been shielding her lover in the corner of the kitchen, trying to stop the rapid loss of blood. Liz was trembling, her face ashen. Erin had managed to grab a large knife from the kitchen counter while Kristen was busy with Jay. She stood now to face off with Kristen Reece. She squared her shoulders and waited, careful to place her body between her lover and the attacker. She wasn’t about to leave Liz to save herself. She was going to try to fight for them both, or die trying.

“Now I’m going to have to kill all of you.” Anger shook Kristen’s voice as she watched Jay scamper away from her. She cocked her head in thought and then continued in a lighter tone of voice, looking toward Liz. “Actually, that works out better for me. Detective Jacobs knows I’m alive, and this way I can wipe my hands clean of it all. Blame it all on you, Liz, and your crazy sister. Make it look like Jay killed you and then herself.” She finished her thought with a smile.

She laughed again as she saw Erin approach her with the knife. “I suppose you’re going to tell me to drop the gun and fight you fairly?”

“You don’t have the guts to do so,” Erin responded through clenched teeth. She heard Liz groan behind her, heard her moving, but she wasn’t about to turn her attention away from the woman who threatened their lives, their love.

“You’re right, she doesn’t,” Liz whispered as she staggered to stand beside Erin.

“Such harsh words.” Kristen let out and then laughed as she clutched her chest. “You’re breaking my heart.”

“I’m sure we are,” Erin replied, her gaze shooting daggers into Kristen. “Because she doesn’t want you. She doesn’t love you.”

“Shut up, you little bitch!”

Erin had struck a nerve and she kept on, taking a step closer as she spoke. “She loves me, not you.”

“Fucking whore,” Kristen spat.

“How could she love you, Kristen? You’re evil. You killed all those people and then tried to frame Liz. How could she love you?”

Kristen glared at her. “That’s right, I did. And I’m going to get away with it too.”

Liz raised her good arm back over her shoulder just as Kristen finished the words. She yelled for Erin to get down.

Erin flung herself to the floor as Liz yelled, and watched as a knife turned end over end as it flew through the air with rocket speed. She covered her eyes, not looking to see if the knife hit its mark.

A shot rang out. Then another. Erin flinched, waiting to feel the pain, but none came. She opened her eyes slowly and looked around. Kristen lay in a twisted heap on the floor. The knife wavered in her chest as blood ran out from two holes beside it. Erin looked back toward her lover, unsure where the other two holes had come from. Liz stood bracing herself against the kitchen counter, holding her arm. She looked to Erin and nodded that she was okay. Erin hear someone moving behind Kristen and pushed herself up into a crouch, ready to react if she needed to. She watched the kitchen floor intently as someone stepped into view.

“You two okay?”

Erin looked up and nearly collapsed with relief when she recognized Patricia. The detective nudged Kristen’s lifeless body with her boot and then lowered her gun.

Erin immediately went to her lover to make sure she was all right. Liz was trembling, but okay. Erin turned to Patricia. “We need an ambulance.”

Patricia nodded and flipped open her phone.

“I need to go check on Jay,” Liz said softly. Erin nodded as Liz passed her and walked unsteadily over to her sister.

“Jay?” she whispered, reaching out to touch her arm. Jay stood suddenly, almost as if she were afraid. She looked around wildly and touched her head. A large knot had already formed where Kristen had hit her.

“Jay?” Liz tried again, needed her to focus.

Jay looked at her sister and saw the blood oozing down her arm. “I’m sorry, Lizzie. I’m so sorry.”

“Shh. Never mind.” She looked back to Erin and Patricia and then dug in her pocket. “Here.” She shoved a large folded stack of bills into her sister’s hand, then took her by the hand and led her into the bedroom, where she snatched up her satellite phone from the night table. “Take it,” she said, handing it to Jay. “Take it and go.”

“What?” Jay said, shaking her head in confusion.

“Go, Jay. Get out of here now.”

“But—”

“No!” Liz said, a little louder. “Get out of here. Go to Mexico. I’ll call you on the satellite phone to make sure you have what you need.”

“But after what I done—”

“You didn’t kill. You only did what you thought was right.” She looked back toward the kitchen and saw Patricia and Erin bent over Kristen. “The police won’t understand that, Jay. They’ll lock you away forever.”

Jay stared at her in silence.

“Just promise me you won’t ever let anyone talk you into doing anything bad ever again. No matter what.” When Jay nodded, she said, “I’m going to get you some help, but not here. You’ll never get it here. Now go.”

She motioned for Jay to go out the patio door from the master bedroom.

Jay took a step, then hesitated. “I love you, Lizzie,” she choked out.

“I love you too, Jay,” Liz whispered as she watched her sister slip out the door and into the night.

*

Erin moved her hand from Kristen’s neck. “No pulse.”

She looked at Patricia, who appeared as shaken as she herself felt. “Please tell me you heard what Kristen said.”

“I heard enough.”

They both stood, and Erin nearly sobbed with relief. “What were you doing here?” she asked, grateful beyond words, whatever the answer might be.

“I needed to talk to you both about Jay. But your phone was off the hook and I got worried.”

Erin started to voice her profound thanks but she stopped short when she saw Liz stagger back in from the bedroom.

“Oh my God,” Erin exclaimed, running to her. “Lie down,” she insisted as she eased Liz down to the floor. “Just relax. They’re almost here,” she encouraged her softly.

Liz looked up into the face of the woman she loved. She felt cold and weak and she couldn’t quite focus on Erin. “I love you,” she whispered just before her vision tunneled into blackness.

Two months later

Utopia, Arizona

Patricia leaned against the red wood railing on the deck of her new vacation cabin. It was a cool, crisp November morning up in the pines of Utopia, Arizona. She snuggled her thick terrycloth robe closer to her body as her lungs filled up with the fresh mountain air. She looked down at her deck chair. A notebook stared back her, her favorite pen clipped to it. It held the manuscript she was writing, a novel based on the events of the serial killings and the people involved. Only unlike the real events, the book was fiction, something people could enjoy as entertainment.

She sipped her coffee as those events replayed in her mind. She almost wished the misery she had lived through
had
been fiction. Fiction was a whole lot easier to deal with. But then, she supposed, that was why she wrote. To help her deal with life and the curveballs it threw her way.

She looked down into the ravine that ran below her cabin. A young deer stood perfectly still, as if it sensed her presence. Then, as it gained confidence, it began to move once more. As she watched the deer continue to walk through the ravine silently searching for its breakfast, she thought about Jay Adams.

The police still had no idea of the woman’s whereabouts. Patricia was convinced Elizabeth Adams knew exactly where her sister was, but she also knew she would never tell. While Patricia didn’t approve, she could understand her reasons.

After the shootout with Kristen Reece, Erin and Liz had told the police everything. It seemed that Jay, along with Tracy Walsh, had been manipulated by Kristen, but it still didn’t excuse her of wrongdoing. She had a lot of questions to answer, and the department would continue to search for her.

Erin had been cleared of any charges and given only a slap on the wrist for withholding the information about Jay. Patricia suspected the department was avoiding bad press by playing down her behavior. Losing her job was seen as punishment enough.

Patricia drained the last of her coffee. A pang of loneliness pierced through her as she thought of Erin. As the deer ran off, frightened by her movement, she realized that she hadn’t heard from Erin lately. She hoped, with all her aching heart, that Erin was happy.

*

The Aegean Sea

Just off the Isle of Lesbos, Greece

Erin stood staring out at the incredible teal green sea. It was late afternoon and the breeze was blowing cool. She hugged herself and focused on the Isle of Lesbos in the distance. They were due to dock there that very evening. They had been on the chartered yacht for days now, and while she found comfort in its secluded safety, she was looking forward to setting foot on solid ground. While she felt safe on the water and secure in the arms of her lover, the nightmares still came, somehow finding her out at sea. As hard as she tried to put all of the negativity behind her, its darkness still festered, a black lump in her gut. Would she ever be okay? Would she ever be able to deal with all that had happened?

She hoped with all she was that it was possible. A smile found its way to her lips as she thought about her beautiful lover. The woman who loved her so passionately. The woman who had taken her away from all that troubled her. Protecting her, adoring her.

She was grateful for all that Liz had done for her. She couldn’t imagine her life without her now. She gripped the rail of the yacht as memories floated in off the waves. So much had happened. She could barely sort it out in her head. The last couple of months had been trying, but she and Liz had still managed to emerge hand in hand and ready to start their new life together. The police were finally leaving them alone, finally accepting that there was no case against either of them. She had lost her job, but after all that had happened, she knew she would never choose to go back even if she could. She was scarred now, and resentful. The department would never look the same in her eyes.

She ran a finger over her left hand, rubbing where her wedding ring had once rested. Her divorce from Mark still wasn’t final, but they were no longer fighting over the settlement, which meant it was only a matter of time.

“Hey, beautiful,” Liz said as she walked up behind her. “Cold?” She slid her white blouse off and placed it on Erin’s shoulders.

Erin hugged the shirt to her and inhaled her lover’s wonderful scent, a scent that always sent shockwaves of lust through her no matter how often she smelled it. Her thoughts instantly strayed to the things Liz had done to her just that morning, and she blushed as she slipped the shirt on.