What's Done in Darkness (30 page)

“I was missing Christian,” Katrina went on. “So I wanted to go to the last place we were together that meant something. I went to the beach where he proposed. I stayed there for hours.”

“That must have been hard,” I said.

“Actually, I felt a sense of peace there.” A little smile came on her lips, and again I was suspicious. Perhaps because I had experienced my own recent loss, I was skeptical about a memory of something so wonderful bringing her joy at this point. My sense where Shawde was concerned was that every happy memory also brought with it pain. And that was what I was experiencing now, even a year after losing my father.

But people grieved differently. I found the memories—the happy ones especially—the hardest to bear. Those memories remind you of everything you've lost—at least in the beginning. Maybe it was exactly the opposite for Katrina.

Would I even be second-guessing her if I hadn't met with Shawde earlier today?

“You're stronger than I am,” I said. “Doing something like that, for me it would be hard. The happy places … I could hardly stand to go there right after my dad passed.”

“Everyone grieves differently,” Katrina said, a tad defensive.

“No, I know that.”

“Going to that spot on the beach was good for me. I know Christian was there with me. I felt him. And I know that he would want me to be remember him fondly.”

I nodded. Her explanation was reasonable. I shouldn't be suspicious of her simply because of what Shawde had said.

And yet Shawde's parting words, her warning for me to watch my back, suddenly struck more effectively than they had when she'd uttered them.

I was glad I'd made the decision not to bring up Shawde with Katrina. What if Shawde was right about her? Letting her know that someone else was accusing her of murder might actually put me in harm's way.

Not that I believed Shawde, but I had an unsettling feeling. Likely because of the stress of the last few days. But I suddenly knew that I couldn't be too careful. I would have to watch Katrina and see whether or not I believed she was being honest. And perhaps I needed to talk to my sister, find out what she really knew about Katrina's character.

“Any idea what you're going to do?” I asked. “Are you going to reopen the café anytime soon?”

“I know you came down here to earn money for the summer—”

“That's really the last thing you should be worrying about. This was an awful tragedy. And who knows what might happen. We left Mexico, but do you think they might want to question us again?”

“We're back in the States now. We're out of their reach. They can't obligate us to do anything.”

Shawde's words sounded in my head.
So you could be her alibi. Nobody brings a third person with them on their honeymoon. Nobody.

I pressed my fingers to my temple and massaged. My head was throbbing.

“Are you okay?” Katrina asked.

“Not really.” I shrugged. “How can either one of us be okay right now?”

Katrina got up and hugged me. “We'll be okay,” she said softly. “We'll get through this.”

Watch your back, Jade.…

I needed to talk to my sister. See what else she could tell me about Katrina. I didn't want to believe Shawde's story, but what struck me about her was just how adamant she'd been.

“I'm going to take a shower,” I said as I pulled out of Katrina's embrace.

“Sure. See you in a bit.”

As I showered, I wasn't thinking about cleaning my body as much as I was recalling everything Shawde had said to me. Although I had earlier dismissed her words, now I wasn't so sure. Could it possibly be true? Was I living here with a psychopath?

When I exited the shower, I saw that Katrina's bedroom door was closed. I assumed she was in there, and I went into my bedroom and closed the door. With her door closed and mine, I figured the risk of her overhearing me was minimal.

I called my sister and she picked up on the second ring. “Hey, Jade. How are you?”

“I'm not sure.”

“What do you mean?”

I hesitated. Then I asked, “How well do you know Katrina?”

“I know her pretty well. We went to UB for four years together.”

“But are you best friends? Close friends?”

“Well, we weren't really
that
close. We saw each other in the sorority house all the time, of course.” She paused. “Why?”

“I'm just wondering why you sent me all the way down here.” Shawde's story was getting to me, even her claim that some people had to have known what Katrina was up to and turned a blind eye. Certainly my sister wouldn't be complicit in any crime … would she? “Why did you have me come to Florida to work for her?”

“Because you needed a job. You needed an escape. It was perfect timing.”

“But if you weren't that close with her—”

“I still knew her. I've stayed in touch with her on Facebook.” Marie paused a beat. “Why are you asking me this?”

“Just wondering. Wondering how well you know Katrina.”

“There must be something else. Obviously, you're not just calling me because you're curious. Did something happen?”

“You mean other than the murder?”

My tone was snarky, but Marie didn't offer a retort. Instead, she waited a few beats and said, “I'm not really sure what's going on here, Sis.”

“Someone called me,” I said, sounding harried. “Actually, she did more than call me. She came all the way down here to see me. So I need to know. Is there something about Katrina that you never told me? Something I should have known before I ever got here?”

“Like what?”

“Is there anything about Katrina—anything at all—that would make you not trust her?”

“If I didn't trust her I wouldn't have sent you down there.”

My sister's words put my mind at ease. I knew she wouldn't have sent me down here to be with a deranged person. But still, Shawde's story haunted me. The reality that I couldn't simply dismiss her as crazy led me to wonder if there was a grain of truth to her claims.

I told Marie everything that this woman had told me. About Shemar, Katrina's parents, and now of course Christian.

“She contacted me, too,” Marie said. “I got a message on Facebook from someone asking me to call her, but I didn't.”

“She said she'd spoken to some people who went to school with Katrina.”

“Williams. I didn't even make the connection with the names. Of course, it's been years since I was in college.” Marie paused. “I remember when Shemar died. It was a tragic car wreck. Why would his sister think it was more than that?”

“She seems pretty confident it was murder. But I know family often have a hard time accepting the truth.”

“There was something,” my sister said suddenly, her voice sounding distant, as if she was recalling a memory.

My back stiffened. “Something like what?”

“There was a girl. Another soror. She left, went back home. She'd been attacked, something like that. I remember there being some talk about Katrina somehow being involved. Maybe the girl was scared? I can't even remember the details.”

“Think,” I pressed, my pulse quickening. “This could be important.”

“I don't really remember. I just remember there being some sort of rumors about Katrina and that this girl had been scared.” My sister paused, and I waited. “At the time, a girl in our sorority had been murdered.”

“Someone was murdered!”
Another murder that involved Katrina?

“You may remember the story. There'd been a rapist on the loose. The Bike Path Rapist. Some people had been attacked at UB. Then this girl from our sorority house had been murdered, and people were even more scared. We were all on edge. So when Angelina—yeah, I think that was her name—when she left to go back home, a lot of us felt that it had to do with the murder of our soror. That anything to do with Katrina intimidating her had just been speculation. Katrina was a bit of a hardnose. She was sorority president, and she was very by the book. So she did rub some of the girls the wrong way. Some girls talked about wanting to drop out of the sorority because of her.”

“So your soror was murdered? Did they ever find her killer?”

“Yeah. It was crazy. Another soror killed her and then tried to kill someone else. It had to do with a boyfriend, and this girl being jealous. Totally insane, obviously.”

“So it had nothing to do with Katrina?”

“Nothing at all.”

I frowned. “And that's all you remember about Katrina?” I asked. “Nothing else?”

“No. Not that I remember. But you know, her best friend was Rowena. I can get in touch with her and ask her if she remembers anything else.”

“Oh, would you?” Someone else who'd been close to Katrina, that could be good. “She might remember the details you don't, and that would be great.”

“Why? Are you worried? You believe this woman? Because I have to say, the idea of Katrina being some sort of crazed murderer…” My sister's voice trailed off, and she chuckled.

Her chuckle put me at ease. If she thought the idea was ludicrous, clearly I had no reason to worry. It was highly likely that Shemar's death had been what it appeared to be. A tragic accident.

“I'm not worried, but I would love to have as much information as possible. If I know for sure what happened, then I can deal with it. That's all I want to know. If everything was kosher, then I don't have to cause myself any added stress by letting Shawde's words haunt me at night.”

“I'll give Rowena a call. See what she remembers.”

“Great. And call me back as soon as you know something.”

 

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

SHAWDE

The hours that passed seemed endless as Shawde waited for
something
. She wanted the phone to ring, to finally hear from Gordon. There were so many damn hotels in Key West and she had been painstakingly going through the list of all of them, but it was taking hours. And so far, she'd had no luck locating Gordon.

The problem was, Gordon could have already checked out—especially if he'd gone to Mexico to continue his surveillance of Katrina there.

With all her heart, Shawde wanted to believe that. But she had a bad feeling in her gut, one she couldn't shake: Something had happened to Gordon.

“I can't take this anymore,” Shawde uttered, and bounded up from the bed. She went over to the suitcase on the floor and fished out her swimsuit. She wasn't down here for a leisurely vacation, but several laps in the pool would help ease her tension, just as it had when she'd used to swim in college.

She was stripping out of her dress when her cell phone rang. Quickly tossing her dress onto the floor, Shawde sprinted over to the night table and scooped up her iPhone. PRIVATE NAME was flashing on her screen.

“Gordon,” she rasped, and quickly answered the call. “Hello?”

A beat passed. Shawde almost thought no one was going to speak until she heard: “Is this Shawde Williams?”

“Yes,” Shawde said in reply to the woman's query. “Yes, it is.”

Another beat. Then, “Monica said you wanted to talk to me. I'm Angelina.”

Shawde's heart nearly stopped. She'd hoped for this call, prayed for it, but never expected it to transpire. “Angelina.” Shawde sank onto the bed. “I'm so glad you called.”

“You're really Shemar's sister?”

“Yes. He was my baby brother.”

“God.” Angelina made a sort of strangled sound. “I still think about him. Every day.”

“Thank you,” Shawde said. “That means a lot.”

“I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry he's gone.”

“It's not your fault.”

“But it is,” Angelina insisted. “If I hadn't talked to him, I know he would still be alive.”

“You think Katrina killed him?”

“I
know
she did,” Angelina said. “And after seeing on the news what happened in Mexico, I can't stay silent. Not anymore. She will keep killing until someone stops her.”

Tears sprang to Shawde's eyes. Finally someone was validating her long-held belief that Katrina was a murderer. The heavy burden of everyone's doubts over Shawde's sanity lifted from her shoulders, giving her much-needed release.

“I know you were attacked,” Shawde said. “And that you believe Katrina was behind it. Possibly she was working with Rowena, who I've heard was her best friend.”

“Yes. And I spoke to Shemar after it happened. He was livid. He wanted to confront her. I told him not to, but I'm sure he did. And I think that's what got him killed.”

“But something else was going on, wasn't it?” Shawde asked. “There's a reason you and my brother were talking
before
your attack? Monica mentioned you were going to report Katrina to the sorority board. What was that about?”

Shawde heard Angelina's deep intake of breath. “Actually, I wanted to go to the police about my suspicion.”

“What suspicion?”

“There was another murder. Another girl, not a part of our sorority, named Carmen Young. Of course, when she was killed, we thought it was the Bike Path Rapist. Until I learned something from my then boyfriend, a guy named Ned. A friend of his knew Carmen, knew that she had tried to pledge our sorority, and was denied. She lodged a complaint against Katrina with our governing body, the National Pan-Hellenic Council, and had a whole list of grievances. I heard there was an investigation. Then the complainant died, and the matter was dropped.

“I don't know why, but I went to Rowena about it. She was the vice president, and I figured she needed to know. Katrina had a tendency to be rough on some of the girls, and I figured Rowena would support me, help me go to the Pan-Hellenic Council so we could get facts about the grievance to possibly bring to the police. If Katrina had nothing to hide, what would it hurt for them to ask her some questions? I expected Rowena to agree with me, but she instead became livid. She said I couldn't go around making wild accusations without any proof. I was stupid, because I told her that if she wasn't interested in pursuing the matter, I would do it on my own. It wasn't that I
believed
Katrina was a killer, but I wanted to rule it out, ya know? I didn't realize then that Rowena was in bed with Katrina, figuratively speaking. Next thing I know, I'm being attacked. It wasn't a man. As I fought with my attacker, I realized it was a woman. And that's when I grasped the seriousness of the situation. Rowena had tried to kill me to silence me for good.”