What she found, p.20
What She Found, page 20
Even if I tell them about Derek, they may not believe me at this point. I’ve never done anything to hurt them. Why won’t they believe me?
“Someone has Reese?” Matt asks. “How did that happen? How do you know?”
Another car pulls up past the kitchen window. Wesley’s car stops behind Cassy and Matt’s.
“I got a note. It’s just like the one Cassy found. It said to come back here, no police, or…” I wring my cold, sweaty palms, shaking my head. I can’t say it.
“Or?” Connor asks.
They need to know what’s at stake.
“They’ll kill him,” I whisper. “But I’m not going to let that happen.”
Cassy’s eyes open wide, and she turns to Matt, whispering something to him. I need to see whose cell phone I have in my pocket, but I have to do it somewhere private. “I have to use the washroom.” I shuffle off to the bathroom by the cellar.
I hear their whispers from the kitchen until I close the door and lock it behind me. I press the power button on the phone, staring at the gray screen.
Come on. Turn on.
I hold the button longer, but nothing happens. I have to charge it. I have to get my charger, but if I go out there, they might not trust me to be alone again. I can’t let them see me.
I slip out of the powder room, into the dark living room to the couch, keeping close to the wall.
“I’m calling the detective,” Connor says from the kitchen. “This is out of control. You really think she’s the one behind this? It’s just hard to believe that even if she knew about them, that she’d go to these lengths for revenge.”
“You were the one who told us about her visit to the golf course,” Cassy says. “I don’t think she’d hurt her, but she might have done something.”
I dig through my purse and grab the charger cord.
They thought this about me all along—that I’m losing my grip on reality, forgetting things. They’ve never trusted me. Not really. But they expected to have my full trust. Have we ever really trusted each other?
I inch along the wall and ease the powder room door closed, clicking the lock behind me, and exhale.
“I’m calling him.” Connor’s voice gets closer as I plug the charger into the socket and the cell phone. Does he mean Donohue? Yes, please do.
“The message said no police,” Matt says.
A screeching comes from the kitchen, a chair against the floor. They must be sitting at the table, waiting for me. I don’t have much time.
I press the power button on the phone, and as the screen lights up, I twist the faucet to cover the soft chimes signaling it’s on. The battery symbol is red, flashing at five percent against a standard background.
Come on. Come on.
I tap the messages and sit on the toilet seat, scrolling through several, reading from the top.
The first is an attachment. A video from a number I don’t recognize.
Unknown Number: File M.214. Watch now.
Phone Owner: Got it
The date and time match our night here. Just after midnight. This is when Karina arrived last time.
Unknown Number: Let me know when you get here as soon as you can.
Phone Owner: I will. Remember to stay hidden. They may come to check out the car.
Karina’s car?
The kitchen door creaks open.
Unknown Number: I will. Remember the plan and honk one of their car horns if you need me.
Phone Owner: I’m almost at the house. My feet are killing me.
Is this a pay-as-you-go phone? Karina’s? The next text is from her, too.
Phone Owner: What if he won’t send the money?
The money?
The screen dims, and I touch it, lighting it up again at six percent.
“Where is she?” a voice calls. Is that Wesley?
Unknown Number: He’ll send it. He’ll never let her find out the truth.
The money… Arland is the only one of us with real money. He won’t let who find out the truth? Liz? Was Karina working with someone to blackmail him?
“Tabbie?” Wesley calls.
“Out in a sec,” I call.
There’s more texts, but my time’s running out. I scroll up and click play on the video.
“Are you okay?” Wesley asks.
“Just a minute,” I call out, looking up from the phone.
I turn back to the video, and someone’s lying on a bed, naked, in a bright hotel room. A man. Tied up.
It’s Arland.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
A dark shadow on the screen catches my attention. Someone in a black dress, black heels walks in front of the camera, but she’s wearing a mask. Long dark hair. Cherry-red lips. It’s Karina. It’s the same outfit she wore that night. It’s the same rings on her fingers. The same gold, spiral ring from my pocket.
Was she blackmailing Arland, coming here wearing the same thing as she did in the video, ready to tell Liz about their tryst? Prove it to her unless he paid?
The kitchen door creaks open again, and a slam follows.
“Hey, back off, man,” Wesley says.
I unplug the phone and turn it off, slipping it back in my pocket as a rumbling crash comes from somewhere in the kitchen.
What’s going on? I stand and take a step toward the door.
“You!” Arland shouts, and more rumbling follows.
My heart pounds as I hover my hand over the knob.
Who would Karina have worked with to blackmail Arland, if not Derek?
But would he film Karina having sex with Arland? Or let her have sex with Arland at all?
No. He cared about her. I ache just thinking it, so I know it’s true.
So then, who? And what happened after she confronted Arland?
“You brought this on yourself,” Connor shouts.
Brought what on?
The affair.
Arland knows.
Did Liz tell him?
“Tabbie?” Cassy calls in a panic, and I open the door.
She grabs my arm, staring into the kitchen as Arland pins Connor against the wall by the window, his hands wrapped around Connor’s neck as Matt and Wesley work to pull him away.
Connor’s shoes scuffle against the floor as he reaches his hands out to Arland. He’s strangling him.
Derek was strangled.
“Arland, stop!” I scream and shake Cassy away, dashing into the kitchen. I pound on his back with hollow thuds. “What are you doing? You’re choking him!”
Arland stumbles back, shaken out of his intense trance and stares at me blankly, panting, as Connor coughs, fighting for breath. I step beside him and rub his back as he bends over. Wesley grabs his arm and props him up, and I do the same to the other side, opening his lungs for full breaths.
“He was…” Arland mutters, staring at him. “He was having an affair with Liz.”
“What?” Cassy gasps, turning from Arland to Connor.
Matt stares at Arland, frozen in shock as Connor continues to cough.
“Where’s Liz?” I scan the room once more.
Arland takes another step back and glares at Connor. “I should kill you! How could you do this to me? To her?”
“To her?” Connor wheezes. “I don’t know what she told you,” he takes a quick breath, “but you know it takes two, right?”
Arland charges him, and Matt pushes him back, bouncing off his chest as Wesley turns around and holds up his arms, ready to keep him away.
I step between them, catching Arland’s attention. “Why did you come here? How did you know we were here?”
“I didn’t,” he shouts, pushing Matt away again, and taking a step back. “I got a text. It said to come here, and everything would be explained.”
“Where’s Liz?” I repeat.
“Dropping Ryan off at the airport. Was it you?” He stares down his nose at me. “Did you bring us here?”
“She didn’t do anything,” Wesley says.
“How do you know that?” Matt asks, getting in his face. “You don’t know her!”
“I didn’t text anyone,” I holler over them all. “But I found this.” I hold up the cell phone as another vehicle turns down the driveway.
“That’s probably Liz,” Cassy says, striding to the window. “Yeah.”
I turn to Wesley, and we exchange a look. I know he’s ready to do his best to restrain Arland again.
“If you didn’t bring us here,” Matt asks, “who did?”
Liz walks in, scanning the kitchen before closing the door behind her. She tucks her hair behind her ear, her eyes darting back and forth as Arland joins her side. She wraps her arm around his waist as he drapes his arm across her back, pulling her tight to his side and leaning down, close to her ear. “You got the text, too?”
She presses her lips together, staring wide-eyed at the toppled chairs. When our eyes meet, she looks away.
She knows what’s happened here. She knows what Arland’s done. What he could still do.
“Liz,” I say, and she still won’t look at me. “They told you about the note, didn’t they?”
“I told her everything,” Arland’s voice thunders through the room, “and she told me everything.” He turns to Connor. “You took advantage of my wife during a vulnerable time for us, and you knew it. You knew what you were doing. You’re a scumball.”
“Is that what she said?” Connor chokes out and takes a quick breath. “Is that what you told him, Liz?”
“I told him the truth,” she says, her voice shaking as she lets go of Arland, “and I brought you all here to tell you the truth.”
She’s going to get Arland going again. This wasn’t what I wanted when I told her she had to tell him. This wasn’t what I meant to happen.
“We already know,” Cassy says, staring at her with a furrowed brow. “We know what you’ve done. You brought us here to tell us you had an affair? You texted us from an anonymous phone number—for that?”
“But I didn’t get a text.” I turn to Liz. “I got a note. A note that looked like the one I supposedly wrote. Did you leave me that note?”
Liz takes a step forward, avoiding my stare, and Arland reaches out, squeezing her shoulder. “Tell them,” he says.
“Connor and I had an affair, yes.” She fiddles with her fingers, picking at her nails in front of her, staring down at them. “It was my fault. I was weak. I never should have let it happen.” She turns to Connor and shakes her head. “But you wouldn’t let me go. I tried to stop it, but you wouldn’t let me.”
He cranes his neck back and frowns. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Connor forced her into it? That’s not what she told me.
“Connor and Tabbie,” Liz says, staring at Cassy, “they’re the reason Karina came here. It was part of Tabbie’s plan to get back at her for the affair she was having with Derek.” She turns to Matt. “They lured her out here to kill her, and they were going to pin it on us.” She turns back to Arland, and he keeps his hand on her shoulder, but his wide eyes tell me it’s news to him.
“What?” Connor shouts.
Wesley draws his head back with a frown. “What are you talking about? You’re lying! Connor wanted to end things with you! He felt guilty! He didn’t force you to be with him, and he didn’t do any of this!”
Liz shakes her head, standing tall, and rests her hands at her sides.
So this is what she wants. To pin it on us. She’s the one who’s been framing us. Karina’s ring. The note. It was her. Her and Arland?
“Why are you lying?” Connor shouts and turns to look at everyone. “She’s lying! Tabbie and I don’t have some master plan!”
“I was at his place,” Liz says, “and I found Karina’s phone. I knew it was him, and then Arland told me about Tabbie’s note, and I put it together. They’re working together.”
Her phone… Donohue said the phone had been turned on. “You had Karina’s phone. You turned it on at Connor’s before you came here, didn’t you?” I scoff, and they all turn to me. “She really thinks you’ll all believe her.” I look at Liz, and she bats her eyelashes, staring at me, and a small crease appears on her forehead before she shakes her head and looks to the others. “I know what you’ve done, Liz. And I think I know why you did it.”
I know what I need to do—the only thing I can do that gives me a chance to be believed—to get Reese back.
Chapter Thirty
“This,” I hold the cell phone up, “was down in the cellar. It was Karina’s. Someone was messaging her, working with her to blackmail Arland. They sent her a video to this phone. It’s a video of Arland on here.” I glance over at him, and the fear in his eyes goads me on. Tells me he hasn’t told Liz what’s on the phone, but he knows what’s coming. “He’s naked, tied to a bed, and Karina is there.”
Liz’s face loses colour as she stares at the phone in my hand. She knows. She has to know.
“Karina filmed it to extort him. She came here for money, and you found out about it.” I jab my finger in Liz’s direction. “Everything you’ve been blaming me for, wanting revenge for Derek’s affair with Karina—it’s been you.”
She turns back to Arland, but he’s staring at me in horror. Matt doesn’t make eye contact with me; Cassy’s staring at Liz with the same shocked look, and Connor’s shooting daggers at Arland. Wesley makes eye contact, and I hold the phone out to him.
“Watch it. See for yourself.”
“I believe you,” he says without reaching for it.
“How did you… What is that?” Liz’s voice shakes as she stares at me, desperate for answers I’ve already given.
She’s playing dumb. She knows.
“You think you can salvage something from this, but it’s all over. What did you do to Karina?” I ask her.
She covers her mouth with her hand, her fingers trembling. Not going to speak? I will.
“I believe Karina showed Arland the video, and then asked for money. Maybe he gave it to her, maybe not, but Karina didn’t leave this house, did she, Liz?”
Derek was desperate to find her… Was this why? Was he her partner? The other person messaging this phone.
“This is crazy,” Cassy says, turning to Matt.
I’m not waiting around to be believed anymore or to explain myself.
“No more making me out to be an incompetent liar.” I hold up the phone. “This is it. This is what we’ve all been waiting for. The truth. And I’ll play it for everyone right now if someone doesn’t tell me where Reese is.”
Chapter Thirty-One
“Did you know?” Arland steps to the side, staring down at Liz, shaking his head. “You knew about Karina?”
“Of course she did!” Connor says, “and she was going to make us take the fall for whatever she did.” He turns to Liz. “You were never going to leave him, were you? You really would do anything to be with him. What did you do, Liz?”
Now they’re finally believing me? It’s too late for me, but it can’t be too late for Reese.
Arland grabs Liz’s arms and turns her to face him. “Just tell me.”
“I didn’t understand how you could know about Liz and me and still be on her side, but it was Karina. It was your own affair.” He turns to Liz. “This is what you’re choosing. Him. Liar. Cheater. You two deserve each other.” He turns to me, softening his tone, “Tabbie, I’m so sorry.”
“I didn’t know Derek was seeing Karina.” Arland turns to me, his arms dropping away from Liz. “I didn’t understand how you could have been involved…”
“I wasn’t, but someone else was. Someone was working with Karina.” Someone killed Derek. I round the table and step up to Liz, face to face, staring her in the eye. “Did you kill Derek?”
“What?” she whispers and shakes her head. “What do you mean—kill Derek?”
“Derek’s dead?” Connor asks from behind me.
“Tell me now.” Spit flies from my mouth, and she flinches.
“No! No, I didn’t do anything to him!” Her voice shakes, her eyes filled with fear and confusion.
I take a step back, still gripping the cell phone.
Don’t stop until you find it.
Was this cell phone what Karina meant in her note? The video?
I tap the screen, shaking with adrenaline, and select the messages, tapping the number Karina was speaking to. “Let’s see who did.”
No more games.
I tap the speaker phone option mid-ring, and my hand shakes as I hold it up for everyone to hear the voice on the other end.
A cell phone rings amongst us, and I take a step back from the group.
It’s one of them.
Chapter Thirty-Two
I scan the faces of my former friends, and Wesley’s the only one staring back at me. He doesn’t blink those light green eyes, filled with depth and complexity, as I take a step toward him, and the trill of the ring gets louder.
Did you kill Derek? Did you take Reese?
He shakes his head as if reading my mind, and Cassy turns to Matt, staring down at his pocket.
“Matt?” Cassy whispers. “That’s not your ringtone.”
Matt?
“What’s going on?” Liz asks me.
She does know Karina was working with someone.
“This is the number that was texting Karina’s cell phone that night. The number that sent the video of Arland to her.” I turn to Matt. “You’re the one.”
He has the other phone.
He stares at me, his chin quivering, his hands balled in fists.
“You killed Derek.” I choke out the words, tears in my eyes, shaking my head. “How? How could you?”
I take a step toward Matt, and Cassy shakes her head too. “No. No, he wouldn’t. Did someone plant that phone on you? That’s not your phone.”
“Why did you do it?” I ask him.
His Adam’s apple bobs in his throat as he swallows, staring at me, eyes glossed over.
He’s not denying it. How could he do this? Was it the drugs?
