What's Done in Darkness (35 page)

“I have to get to her. You don't understand. Shawde said that she believed someone close to Katrina had helped her commit her crimes. My sister contacted Katrina's best friend, talked to her about Shawde's suspicions. What if this friend was Katrina's partner in crime?”

“Let's not assume the worst, okay? Concentrate on the fact that your sister is going to be fine. That's what's important right now.”

But would she?

Marie had talked to Rowena, Katrina's best friend. Now Marie had been in a car crash, just like Shemar had.

And I couldn't help thinking that my desire to learn the truth had almost gotten my sister killed.

 

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Ten minutes later, Brian was driving down the street toward A Book and a Cup when I saw the crowd. Reporters. Even more than the day before.

“Damn,” I said. “The reporters are back.”

Though I shouldn't have been surprised. With Shawde's allegation in the news this morning, it made sense that the members of the media were at the coffee shop bright and early waiting for the first sighting of Katrina.

Brian started to pull up to a spot several feet away from the front of the shop, but I said, “Keep going. Turn left into the alleyway. I use the entrance at the back to get upstairs.”

As he drove by the front of the coffee shop, I could see no action inside. The lights were off, and the CLOSED sign still hung in the door.

“Looks like Katrina didn't open up shop. I bet she's seen Shawde on the news.”

“Are you worried?” Brian asked. “Because I can go up there with you.”

I faced him as he turned into the alleyway. “No. She has no clue I spoke with Shawde. Besides, if she sees me with you … she's already proving to be far crazier than I ever imagined. I don't want to freak her out.”

“I can take care of myself.” He pulled past the Dumpster behind the café, where he had appeared the night before.

“I'm sure you can. But I don't want to have to spend any time explaining anything to Katrina. I have to get home as soon as possible.” Somehow, I was remaining calm. I had to—because the moment I feared the worst I would fall apart.

“All right,” Brian said. “Go in and get your stuff. I'll wait down here for you.”

“You're going to wait for me?”

“Yeah. I'll take you to the airport.”

“You don't have to do that,” I told him.

“I want to.”

“I might be a while,” I told him. “I'm gonna look up flight options, see if I can book something while I'm here.”

“I'll wait. I've got nothing better to do.”

Under normal circumstances, I would have made some type of offhanded remark. But with the gravity of the situation—both my sister and the truth that was becoming clear about Katrina—my heart was too heavy for any lighthearted ribbing.

“It's gonna be okay,” he said as if reading my mind, then gave my hand a supportive squeeze. “Go get your stuff.”

I reached for the door handle and started out of the car. But suddenly Brian circled his hand around my wrist, stopping me from leaving.

“What?” I asked.

“You don't have my number,” he said. “My cell number.”

“Oh. Right.”

“Call me,” he said. “Then you'll have the number, and I'll have yours. In case she gives you any problems and you need me to come up.”

Despite the pain in my heart, I offered him a soft smile. I was glad to have him with me. I didn't quite feel so overwhelmed and alone.

He recited his cell number, and I called it. When his phone rang, Brian swiped the touch screen to reject the call.

“All right,” I said. “You've got my number.”

Then I exited the car and walked past the Dumpster to the entrance at the back of the building. I unlocked the door and went upstairs. All I needed was my ID so that I could catch a flight. I wasn't going to worry about clothes or anything else.

I took the stairs two at a time, then unlocked the apartment door. As I swung it open, I saw Katrina standing near the front window. The blinds were mostly closed, and she was using a hand to open one slat a little wider so that she could look outside.

“Hi,” I said, stepping tentatively into the apartment. I raised a hand in greeting when she turned to face me.

“You're here.” Katrina sounded surprised. “I thought you weren't coming back.”

“Because of the media downstairs?”

She let the blind drop and moved away from the window. “It seemed weird to me. The media suddenly here in full force, and you gone before the sun even came up.”

I swallowed. And then something occurred to me. She might assume that my being gone and the media being here were connected. Certainly she had seen the news by now. Did she suspect I'd been in contact with Shawde?

“No. I—I just—I was feeling antsy so I decided to go out last night. I met someone,” I added with a sheepish grin.

“How did you get past the media just now?” Katrina asked. “I didn't even see you walking out there.”

“Oh. I saw them from way down the block. So I cut through the back alley.”

I continued walking, heading toward my bedroom door. That's when I noticed that it was ajar. Hadn't I closed my door when I left last night?

“Did you go in my room?” I asked.

“I was checking to see if you were in there.”

“Oh.”

I walked into my room, quickly scanning it to see if anything was out of place. Everything looked the way I had left it.

And then I noticed my open laptop on the desk. Hadn't that been closed when I left?

That itself wasn't a glaring red flag, but the fact that my screen was on definitely was.

“So, you met someone?” Katrina asked. She was in the doorway of my room. “What's he like?” She raised an eyebrow. “Or was it a she?”

“A she?” I forced a laugh. But I was worried. What had Katrina been looking for on my computer? Facing her, I said, “You were on my computer?”

She didn't answer, and I took a step closer to my laptop. The contents on the screen came into view. It was the story about Shemar's accident.

I squeezed my eyes shut.
Shit!

“If you had questions about my college boyfriend, you could have just asked.”

My pulse began to race. Damn it, what was she thinking? That I was looking into her past, that I believed she was a killer?

“I'll ask again. Was the person you met last night a man or a woman?”

Slowly, I faced her again. “A man.”

“Right.”

She didn't believe me. And it didn't take me long to connect the dots. It was a pretty good guess that she thought I'd met with Shawde.

Her next words confirmed that fact. “Let me guess. Shawde Williams spun a story about how I killed her brother. Of course, the police didn't believe her. But now Christian's dead, and I'm guessing she thinks that's proof that I'm some sort of crazed killer.”

I walked toward the drawer that held my pouch with my ID. “What's your story?” I found myself asking. “That you're the unluckiest person on the planet?”

Katrina laughed—but there was an ominous tone beneath it that gave me a chill. “What are you trying to say?”

I didn't answer, just grabbed my pouch. Then I closed my laptop, unplugged it, and stuffed the items into a tote bag.

I started out of the bedroom, but Katrina blocked my path. “Where are you going?”

I didn't have time to get into this with her. I was finally seeing her without blinders on—the way Shawde and Melody saw her. “My sister was in a car accident,” I said, trying to keep my voice even. “I have to head back to Erie.”

“Oh. How unfortunate.”

She sounded sarcastic, like she was taunting me, and in that moment I was certain that someway, somehow, Katrina was behind what had happened to Marie.

“Yeah, it is,” I said, my tone a little clipped. But she was pissing me off. “I have no clue
how
the accident happened,” I went on, stressing the word. “But obviously, I want to be there for her.”

“Of course.” Katrina's tone was overly sweet. “Please, send her my love.”

I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying anything. And as I stared at Katrina, I saw something in the depths of her eyes I had never seen before.

Evil.

There was no other way to express it. Her gaze caused goose bumps to pop out on my skin.

How had I not seen her sinister side sooner? Because she was a chameleon. A psychopath. She knew exactly how to play whatever role she wanted to.

“Rowena!” Katrina called.

My eyes widened in confusion.
Rowena?

And then I saw the door across the living room slowly open. Another woman appeared. An attractive black woman with caramel-colored skin. She was about my height or a little taller. Maybe five foot six.

And it was like time stood still. I was frozen to the spot, an unfamiliar sense within me on high alert.
Why is Rowena here?

“What's the matter, Jade?” Katrina asked. Again her voice was taunting.

My eyes flitted from Rowena, who was slowly walking toward us, back to Katrina. “What is this?” I asked.

“Oh, you don't know Rowena? You seem to know everything else about me. Jade, this is Rowena. My best friend from UB. Rowena, remember Marie Blackwin? This is her sister.”

“Jade Blackwin,” Rowena said, and her smile didn't reach her eyes. “So nice to finally meet you.”

 

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

“Wow, you really look like your sister,” Rowena went on.

I said nothing. I couldn't speak. The unfamiliar sense intensified. And I understood now what it was. A feeling of foreboding. It swept over me like a giant wave engulfing me, suffocating me. Why was Rowena here? And what was she holding behind her back?

“Did you think you and Shawde could plot against me and I wouldn't find out?” Katrina asked.

“What—you think
I
had something to do with her being on the news?”

“And the Academy Award goes to…” Katrina glanced over her shoulder at Rowena. “She's good, isn't she?
What—you think
I
had something to do with this
?” she mocked. Then she turned back to me, leveling a stony glare on me. “Do you think I'm stupid? I saw what you were reading on your laptop.”

Did she
know
that I'd met with Shawde? Was that possible? “When I talked to my sister about Mexico, she mentioned that you'd had a boyfriend who died in college. That's why I looked it up. I was just curious.”

“Right. Of course you were curious. And you had no clue that Shawde was here in Key West. Honestly, you disappear last night and you expect me to believe that you hooked up with some random guy when you've been sniveling over Wesley since you got here?”

“It's the truth,” I said. I looked at Rowena, standing behind Katrina on her left, and wondered if I was going to be able to make it out of this room.

“And that's why you're grabbing your stuff and trying to leave?” Katrina asked. “Because you
don't
think I'm a killer?”

“I just told you that my sister's been in an accident. It's pretty serious. That's why I have to leave right away.”

“Rowena, do you have the needle?”

The hand of fear twisted my insides—hard. “N-needle?”

“You can't leave, Jade.” Katrina spoke matter-of-factly. As if she'd just told me something innocuous, like,
I need to get more vanilla bean
.

“What the fuck?” I blurted out. My heart began to thump, wild and frenzied.

“I let you come down here,” Katrina said. “I gave you a place to stay. And you betray my trust by conspiring with Shawde?”

Was she honestly making herself out to be some sort of victim? “As if you did me any favors. Because of you, people probably think I was in on a plot to kill Christian.”

“Everything's on the line for me,” Katrina went on, not acknowledging what I'd said. “I'm not about to let you fuck things up for me. Just like I couldn't let Gordon fuck things up for me.”

My body trembled. She
had
killed Gordon. “You murdered Gordon, too? Oh my God.”

“Me?” Katrina asked, feigning innocence. “You think I was able to beat him and dump him in the water?” She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. “Everything can be attained … for a price.”

“Like Christian,” I said. “You paid someone to kill him, too?”

Katrina turned to Rowena. “Get on with it, Ro.”

Rowena began to lift her hand, then halted it, as though unsure.

“What are you doing, Ro?” Katrina demanded.

“Kat, look how many people are outside! Maybe this isn't smart.”

“It
has
to be done,” Katrina said. “You know what's at stake. Do you
want
me to die? You want that drug lord coming after me?”

“Of course not,” Rowena said.

“Good. Then we have to do this. Jade's the only one who can open her big mouth. With her gone, I can get the money Christian left me in his will. Then the problem will go away.”

Barely breathing, I tried to make sense of what I'd heard. “Drug lord?” I asked. “Will? You
did
marry Christian for his money! Because what—you were into drugs and you owe some drug lord money?” I shouted the last words.

“Are you hoping someone down there will hear you?” Katrina asked, smirking at me.

I swallowed. That had been exactly what I was hoping. “You used Christian, had him killed so brutally! How could you?”

“I did like Christian,” Katrina said, and I actually saw a hint of remorse in her eyes. “But what was I supposed to do, just let myself get killed? I found a way out, and I took it.”