CHAPTER NINETEEN
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Brett parted the heavy drapes in the front window, immediately seeing red and blue lights swirling off the other houses on the street. Unfortunately, the colors weren’t from Christmas lights strewn around her porch. It was funny, really. When she bought these specific curtains from J.C. Penney several years back, she never suspected that she would need them to keep out the prying eyes of a serial killer.
Dusk had fallen, and Coen had only returned once to check on her. Once he saw that Simone had settled in under the guise of being a new teacher in town, he’d kissed her on the forehead. It was the first intimate gesture he’d made all day in response to her earlier declaration.
“Why the heck is she still here?” Louise whispered as she came to stand next to Brett. She shot a look toward the pretty brunette who was currently trading recipes with her mother. “Don’t you think she’s overstayed her welcome? I mean, some folks just can’t take a clue.”
“Don’t be rude,” Brett admonished lightly as she stepped away from the window. She was used to Louise and her need to keep their group of friends small. “Simone is going to start teaching the other second grade class at the first of the year. I’m the one who recommended she rent the house across the street.”
Brett didn’t like lying to her friend, but she’d made a promise to Coen for the sake of her own safety. She wouldn’t go back on that, and she’d seen the appreciation in his mannerisms last night when he found she’d kept select details from her family and friends regarding the case.
Coen’s job was to protect her. She wouldn’t make that any harder for him than necessary. They had an understanding with one another.
“I don’t know,” Louise said tentatively, shooting a doubtful look over to where Simone sat on the couch. “I’m getting a weird vibe from her, like maybe she’s a bit aggressive.”
Brett crossed her arms to stem the chills she’d had ever since abruptly returning from next door, but her attempt at holding in the heat did nothing to warm her. She intentionally steered the conversation away from Simone and toward a topic that had been worrying her for the last few days.
“Are you and Chad okay after what happened up at the campground?” Brett caught sight of Chad walking into the living room from the kitchen, followed closely by her father. The two men didn’t appear to be discussing anything, but her friend seemed agitated. She’d known him for years. That little telltale sign of him rubbing his fingers together gave him away. “He hasn’t been himself lately.”
Louise shot her right eyebrow higher than the other in disbelief.
“I know that we’re all on edge after Heidi’s murder, but it’s more than that. He seems sad and maybe a bit frightened, Louise.” Brett needed a cup of tea or something warm, because she couldn’t control these chills. “Let’s go into the kitchen.”
Brett led the way, wishing Coen would at least make an appearance and let her know what was going on next door. A state police forensics van had shown up hours ago, as well as two black sedans with government G42 plates carrying two suits who could only have been federal agents. They’d been wearing long, black trench coats one might see at a wedding or funeral and matching black leather gloves and dark scarves. The two men had the same basic haircuts, the same expressions, and identical mannerisms. It was as if they both dressed right out of the special agent catalog. She suspected that they even had matching weapons.
She immediately guessed that they were Feds, but Coen had mentioned the U.S. Marshals Service at one time or another. They just didn’t fit that mold in her eye. If she had to bet, she put her money on the FBI.
Had they found something so significant that SSI had called in assistance? Or did the fact that one suspect had already been murdered in his own jail cell mandate calling in the cavalry?
“You know I loved Heidi, but she shouldn’t have brought up during our wedding shower that time when I hooked up with the physics professor. It was in our senior year of college. It was so long ago, and I thought we’d put that behind us. Heidi could be so inappropriate at times. You know how she was, almost like a tough pill to swallow.” Louise’s eyes teared up until she had to wipe them away from underneath her lashes. Her bottom lip trembled when she tried to explain the dual emotions she’d been suffering through this last week and a half. “I shouldn’t say stuff like that. She’s gone. I still can’t believe she’s not here. She was so alive…animated. She could light up a room. I miss the way she could make the worst situation seem better than it was, even when she was the cause.”
“Why do you think Heidi did something like that? She mentioned it again the night before your wedding,” Brett reminded Louise, thinking back to when they’d all been in college. It had been so long ago, but the fresh betrayal of that secret cut deeper than it should in retrospect. It didn’t fade the small amount of time since her death. “Don’t get me wrong, I know Heidi loved you, but even you have to admit that she shouldn’t have done something that mean right in front of Chad.”
Brett filled the kettle with water before setting it on the stove and spinning the black knob, causing the igniter to click repeatedly until the flame caught. The mundane yet relaxing routine had some of the tension loosening in her shoulders. It was as if the holidays were here early with all the headaches of having family and friends over all at the same time. It was quite odd, actually. Shepherd Moss hadn’t murdered Martin himself, at least according to Coen. But someone else seemed to have killed for him, all with the intent to get to her. Yet she wasn’t as terrified as she had initially been up on that mountain range when she’d been by herself. Coen was mere feet away at most times, regardless that he was next door.
“Heidi wasn’t the same after she and Martin had their quiet little affair,” Louise shared, not bothering to take a seat at the counter. It was obvious she wanted to get back into the living room so she didn’t miss any new developments. “It all makes sense now after Mr. Flynn’s explanation last night. Everyone thought, including me, that Martin had been harassing Heidi after their breakup. But now that I think about it, it was almost as if she loved the chase. She enjoyed trailing him along, pushing just far enough to keep him after her.”
“You mean she liked the drama of their dysfunctional relationship,” Brett amended, feeling slightly uncomfortable that she was talking ill of the dead. Her father had always said that death didn’t erase one’s sins. “Heidi was always good to me, Louise, but she did have a mean streak when it fancied her.”
“It doesn’t matter, Brett.” Louise wiped her cheeks as more tears fell. There was even a spark of anger underneath her grief that Brett didn’t understand. “Think about this as if it were Chad instead of Martin. You were friends with him long before me and Heidi. He’s not a saint, but you’d mourn his death even though he had his faults.”
“Of course, I would.”
Brett wasn’t sure where this anger was coming from. Yes, she and Chad had been best friends in college, but that had been a long time ago. Why would she begrudge Chad’s happiness? He had a life with Louise now. They both ran in different circles, but they all made sure to get together at least once a month to catch up with one another. Being in their thirties was far different than when they’d been in their twenties, footloose and fancy free. Life, family, work…they had different priorities, but time didn’t take away the bond of friendship they had established early on.
It hadn’t been Brett’s intention to upset Louise. What had been said to have her react in that manner?
“Louise, what is—”
“Brett, your dad wants to know if—” Chad broke off whatever he was going to say when he noticed Louise crying. He shot an accusing glance at Brett, but she was at a loss for words. Something else was going on with Louise other than everything that had taken place, and Brett had somehow misread all the signals. “What happened? Are you okay?”
Chad took a step toward Louise in concern, but she rushed past him and down the hallway to seek privacy in the half-bath off the living room. The tea kettle started to stir, hissing a bit of air but not fully ready to share that piercing whistle. Brett reached over the stove and shut off the burner.
“Brett, what did you say to her?” There was a hint of an allegation in Chad’s tone that she was somehow responsible. “You knows she’s having a tough time with Heidi’s death.”
“I know perfectly well, Chad. Heidi and Martin’s deaths have affected everyone, but I’m missing something here.” It was as if years had passed instead of a week and a half. The man standing in front of her would never in a million years have thought she would be the one to step out of turn. “I assumed you hadn’t called me all week because you were taking care of Louise, but now I’m starting to wonder if it’s more than that. She came to me about Heidi’s relationship with Martin, calling me throughout the week more than usual, and—”
Brett broke off the rest of her sentence when she remembered Louise’s reaction to when Chad had called off the wedding. Normally, she would have been angry and yelled at Chad to get over the past. After all, they’d both made mistakes back when they were all in college. But Louise had broken down into tears instead of her usual fiery defiance. She’d been an emotional wreck, and Brett had chalked it up to wedding day jitters.
But what if it was more than that?
“What is it?” Chad asked warily, shooting a nervous glance toward the direction Louise had taken. “Do you remember something that might help?”
“Is everything okay in here?” Simone asked, startling both Chad and Brett with her sudden appearance. Her smile didn’t quite meet her eyes.
“Yes,” Brett answered, wanting more time alone with Chad to find out if what she suspected could possibly be true. Had Louise done something to Heidi? Had she killed her own friend? Had she purposefully put the blame on Martin to divert the possibility of someone eventually looking at her? “Everything’s fine, Simone. I was just making some tea. Can I bring you some?”
Simone’s gaze drifted toward the stove where Brett had turned off the burner. Her doubtful look had Brett hoping the woman wouldn’t ask too many more questions. Chad assisted her in her attempt to garner them more privacy by walking around the island and turning the kettle back on.
“We’ll bring you some,” Chad offered with a half-smile, coming to stand next to Brett. “Do you like cream and sugar?”
“Oh, I can get it,” Simone said as she walked farther into the kitchen. “You’ve been so nice in letting me stay here throughout the afternoon and evening. I feel so much safer with other people around after finding out about what’s going on next door. Do you think—”
“I think you should hand me your weapon, Officer.” Chad quickly stepped behind Brett before she realized what his intention had been all along. Brett still attempted to pull away in shock, unable to accept that Chad was holding a kitchen knife to her throat. What was he doing? She involuntarily reached up for his wrist, but abruptly stopped when he pressed the blade harder against her skin. “Now, Officer!”
Simone slowly bent at her knees, lifting her pant leg to reveal a firearm. She’d been carrying a weapon this entire time, yet somehow Chad had figured that out. None of this was making any sense to Brett. What was Chad doing?
“Put your weapon on the counter and back away.”
Simone deliberately took her time in following Chad’s demands, but eventually she set her firearm on the granite countertop.
“We can talk about this, Chad.” Simone never wavered in her tone, nor did she ever remove her gaze from his face. Her dark eyes recorded every movement Chad made. Her composed and cooperative response had Brett breathing a little better. This agent Coen had hired would handle this situation without anyone getting hurt. “The house next door is swarming with law enforcement. You won’t—”
“Get in the garage,” Chad ordered as he yanked Brett closer to him by using his left arm around her chest. “Now!”
“Chad, listen to me,” Brett whispered, afraid to move for fear the knife would cut her. “We can get Louise help. Whatever she did, we can—”
“You still don’t get it, do you?” Chad asked angrily, pushing her around the island so that Simone had no access to the living room. He grabbed the gun and then quickly traded the items in his hands so that his left was holding the knife against her throat and the right was pointing a gun toward Simone. He was giving them no choice but to walk toward the garage door on the other side of the kitchen. “Why did you have to be the one to find Heidi’s body? Were you just being nosey as usual? You just can’t leave well enough alone, can you?”
Simone hesitated before opening the door that led to the garage, almost as if she were contemplating making a move on Chad. Brett refused to even swallow for fear of the blade slicing into her neck. The knife was the one she used specifically to cut up watermelon when they were in season. It had an eight-inch blade that she regularly sharpened. Simone eventually chose to follow along for the moment, most likely biding her time until she could sense an opening. At least, that’s what Brett hoped she was doing.
“Chad, we can still fix this.” Brett stumbled as she was pushed ahead of him down the one step, but his hold on her prevented her from falling. Their movement activated the overhead light. “There’s no need for more violence. You don’t want to—”
“You’re not leaving me a choice here, damn it,” Chad muttered, panic having taken hold of his senses. Nothing Brett tried to say was getting through to him. This wasn’t her friend who she’d spent so much time with. This wasn’t the man she’d known for over eleven years. “Walk out the side door and don’t try anything, because I will cut her all the way to the bone.”
Cut her? Brett still couldn’t piece together why Chad would murder two people. It didn’t make any logical sense, not unless he was forced to do something so horrific by another.
“I-is Shepherd Moss forcing you to do this?”
“I said to go out the side door!” Chad jerked, and Brett figured he was looking over his shoulder to make sure no one was following them. Why would they? Her parents had no clue what was taking place, and Louise had locked herself in the bathroom. “Stop wasting time.”
“You’re not thinking this through, Chad.” Simone tried to reason with him even as she opened the door. Neither Brett nor Coen had bothered to clear that side of the house, so the bank of snow was rather high. “See? Where are we going to go, Chad? We can’t reach your car without one of the deputies seeing us. We’re not wearing jackets. We’ll all look out of place. We’ll all freeze to death in under an hour.”
The bitter wind had entered the garage the second Simone had opened the door, as if to back up her story. Brett instinctively tried to bring her feet together to stop their advance, but Chad was resolute about them leaving this house.
“Shepherd Moss is a monster, Chad. You don’t have to do what he says. He’s just trying to—”
“You don’t get it, do you? I killed Heidi, Brett. It was me. She was going to tell Louise that we’d been sleeping together, and I couldn’t allow her to do that to us.” Chad rested his forehead against the back of her head as he choked back a sob. “I thought you knew. But then you didn’t say anything to the police, so I tried to throw them off the investigation by pointing them toward Martin. They would have eventually figured it out, and I can’t lose everything. I just can’t.”
“Is that why you made Martin Eyles’ death look as if it was connected to the Shepherd Moss manhunt?” Simone asked, only to be forced ahead to walk through the knee-high snow. Would she run for it? Would she take off and yell for Coen and the others who were mere yards away? “I’m walking, Chad. Where would you like us to go?”
“Toward the woods in the back of the house.” The cold and darkness was about to swallow them whole when Chad’s immoral intentions were made known. The cold had nothing on the state of her heart. “I used Shepherd Moss as an excuse before, and I can do it again. I’ll be the one who survived, confessing that he dragged us out of the house and killed the two of you right in front of me. My grief will be very real, Brett. I never meant for all of this to happen, but I’m left with no choice. You have to die in order for them to believe he’s been here.”