The invite, p.26
The Invite, page 26
“I didn’t know you take milk in your tea.”
“Makes it taste more like coffee,” Richie joked. He took a sip of tea and nodded. “This is good. Just the way I like it.”
They drank their tea in silence for a few moments, each lost in their own thoughts as the night closed in around the isolated house. The wooden beams creaked and groaned as gusty wind tore through the trees, and the rowboat that had been re-tied to the dock after it had been processed by the techs knocked rhythmically against the wooden posts. The lake that had been placid that afternoon looked like a boiling cauldron in the light of the moon, and the homes on the other side stood like silent sentinels at the entrance to the forest. To Richie, it felt like he and Angelina were the only two people in the world, especially since he already knew Mia wouldn’t be coming back to join them.
Angelina glanced at her watch, then looked up at Richie, her eyes glowing with emotion. “I really do love you, Richie,” she said quietly. “I always have. But I know you will never be mine. I knew it as soon as I came downstairs.”
“I love you too, Angie, but it’s like you said, we are too damaged.”
“So damaged that we can never be whole?”
“Do you think you’ll ever be whole?” Richie asked.
“Under the right circumstances and with the right man, I think I could be.”
“And are these the right circumstances, am I the right man?”
Angelina looked puzzled, and Richie sighed. He couldn’t beat around the bush any longer. There wasn’t time.
“Why did you do it, Angelina?” Richie asked.
“Do what?”
“Murder Vince, hurt Mia.”
Angelina looked shocked, but there was no fear in her gaze, just resignation once she’d accepted that Richie had figured out the truth.
“I can guess why you killed Serena,” Richie said. “You thought she deserved it for what she’d done to Lexie, but why Mia and Vince? What have they ever done to you?”
Angelina smiled wistfully. “Vince was convinced Remy did it. He saw a picture of Thailand on his work phone and decided that Remy had found out the truth. He thought Remy planned the reunion to expose Serena, but things got out of hand, and he wound up killing her.”
“So you thought Vince’s death would point the police toward Remy, especially once you told them that Vince tried to warn you?”
Angelina nodded. “I didn’t realize Serena would have bruises on her neck. I assumed everyone would think it was an accident, and we would all grieve and get on with our lives. But once Sheriff DeVries labeled it a homicide and brought in the Feds, I had no choice but to try to deflect the blame.”
“And Mia?”
“I didn’t want to kill Mia, only put her on ice for a short while. I did it to protect you. She suspected you, Richie, because Vince had ketamine on him, and she knew it was yours. I think she saw you give it to him. But don’t worry,” Angelina rushed to reassure him. “I wiped off your fingerprints.”
“I never gave Vince ketamine,” Richie protested.
“So what did Mia see?”
“I gave him some weed for his vape. And how did you know Vince had ketamine in his pocket at the time of his death?” Richie asked.
“I put a baggie in his coat pocket, so the cops would think he overdosed.”
“Why do you think Mia suspected me?” Richie asked calmly. Inside, he was reeling from Angelina’s revelations.
“She told DeVries she needed to speak to him, and she ran as soon as she grabbed Remy’s stuff.”
“But that doesn’t mean she wanted to speak to DeVries about me.”
“Who else would she talk to him about?” Angelina asked, exasperated. “Noah was taken into custody, and Remy was in the hospital. And she was clearly afraid to remain here with us.”
“I bet she never suspected you,” Richie said bitterly.
“No, she didn’t.”
“And what about me? Did you think I’d suspect you?”
“I was so afraid you’d figure it out. You were always smarter than anyone gave you credit for.”
“Is that why you fucked me? So you could accuse me of rape if things went south?”
Angelina shook her head, and her eyes filled with tears once again. “No. I did it because I’d always wanted to. And I’m so glad I did. I wanted to have something beautiful, a night I could cherish once you were gone.”
Richie rubbed his eyes tiredly and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m not going anywhere, Angie.”
“But I am. I’m going to take Remy’s car and cross into Canada tonight. And if they catch up with me, I’ll tell them you threatened me, and I was terrified you’d finish what you’d started.”
“How did you figure it out about Lexie?” Richie asked. He finished his tea, pushed away the empty mug, then placed his hands on the island, where Angelina could see them. It was an act of surrender and proof that he didn’t plan to do anything to hurt her.
Angelina’s gaze slid to the mug, then back to Richie’s face. “It was Jake who first noticed it. We were scrolling through Lexie’s Instagram one night, and Jake said that her posts looked like stock photos. She wasn’t in any of them. Once he’d pointed it out, I realized it was true. Lexie hadn’t really posted any current pictures of herself.” Tears slid down Angelina’s face, and her mouth quivered with emotion. “Jake is a techie, so I asked him to dig a little deeper because I was suspicious. I had no reason to suspect any of you, but Serena was the last person to see Lexie, so I asked Jake to check the emails I’d received from Lexie. He compared them to the ones from Serena, and they all had the same IP address.”
“Was that all? That was enough to tip you off?” Richie asked. He tried to suppress a yawn and noticed the watchful look in Angelina’s eyes.
“Yes, but I needed proof, so I searched for Lexie. When I googled her, I got the usual stuff, links to her Facebook page, Instagram, X. There were a couple of posts she’d written during the pandemic when she’d started her own blog. Even stuff from school listing her as the winner of a scholarship and mentioning an award she’d received in her senior year. I kept scrolling, and eventually I came across an article from a Thai newspaper and used Google Translate.”
“What did the article say?”
“It said the American tourist who’d been found dead on Karon beach in Phuket had been identified as Lexie Hall. I couldn’t believe it. It didn’t make any sense that Serena wouldn’t know what had happened and would lie to us all this whole time. So I contacted the American embassy in Bangkok to make sure I had my facts straight. They confirmed that Lexie had died, but they said the cause of death was listed as undetermined. They had no reason to suspect foul play.”
“Did they ask for your name?”
“No, but I would have given them a fake name anyway.”
“Did you tell them about Serena?” Richie asked.
“What would be the point? What could they do, especially if there was no evidence of a crime?”
“But you thought a crime had taken place, and so you planned this reunion.”
“Yes,” Angelina admitted. “It wasn’t difficult to get a phone and a credit card in Lexie’s name. No one had reason to suspect Lexie was dead, and she’d used her birthday as a password on most accounts because it was easy to remember. Her only concession to security was to list it twice, so it was ‘6969.’ She told me about it. So I walked into Verizon, got them to reactivate her account, then called the credit card company from Lexie’s number and told them I lost my card. They asked me to verify the address and Lexie’s mother’s maiden name, which she always listed as Hall, and the customer service rep was happy to overnight the new card to Lexie’s last known address and provide me with a tracking number. I waited outside Lexie’s building until the FedEx guy showed up and asked him about my package. He handed the envelope to me and asked me to sign for it, which I did. The rest was even easier.”
“Where did you get a picture of Lexie?”
“She texted me a selfie from Thailand. I attached it to the invite and hoped none of you would realize it wasn’t a recent picture. The only thing I worried about was that you guys would make an excuse not to come, but who could say no to an all-expenses-paid weekend at a gorgeous lake house?”
“Why didn’t you just confront Serena?” Richie demanded.
“Because I wanted to see how she would react to getting an email from Lexie and if she would think Lexie was somehow still alive. I knew she’d come. She had to find out what she was up against. I was going to tell you all on Friday, but then I decided to let Serena sweat it a little longer.”
“But then you texted her from Lexie’s phone, and you two had it out after we’d all gone to bed.”
“Yeah,” Angelina said. “I did. The anger had been building up in me all evening. I had to see her face and hear her say that Lexie was dead, and I wanted her to admit that she’d lied to everyone. But mostly, I just wanted to know why.”
“And did she tell you?”
Angelina nodded. “She said I’d never be able to prove she drowned Lexie. Not if the police hadn’t been able to. I asked her why she’d kill her best friend, and she said she was always jealous of Lexie’s ability to get people to love her. Serena had wanted Noah, and she’d wanted Lexie’s friends. It was as simple as that. She saw an opportunity and took it. It was easy, she said. Child’s play. No one would come looking for Lexie, since she had no family and her friends would believe anything they read online.”
“So, how did she do it?” Richie asked. “Did she tell you?”
Angelina nodded again. She looked angry and balled her hands into fists. “They’d been partying with some Australian guys, but the guys eventually left, so Serena convinced Lexie to go for a midnight swim. Lexie was high, and she’d been drinking. She didn’t fight very hard when Serena held her down. And then she pulled her out of the water, arranged her on the beach, and took off with her phone, wallet, and passport. She was on a plane by the time anyone realized Lexie was dead.”
“So you went for Serena, you strangled her, then pushed her in the lake.”
“Yes,” Angelina said simply. “I never intended to kill her, but I lost it, Richie. She wasn’t even sorry. It was like Lexie was a bag of trash to be thrown away on some foreign beach.”
“So it was all about Lexie?” Richie asked. He had a feeling Angelina had left some vital detail out of her account.
Angelina sighed, as if surrendering the last vestiges of her pride. “Serena laughed at me, Richie. She taunted me and said I was a loser who fixated on people and couldn’t let go once they’d moved on. She said Lexie never wanted me to come to Thailand because she couldn’t deal with my neediness. She wanted to have a good time and thought I would try to control everything.” Angelina’s look of righteous indignation would have given Richie a chuckle at any other time, but now he just felt sick to his stomach.
“Serena made me sound clingy and pathetic, and not worthy of love. She said you’d never want me because I’d make you feel managed and suffocated,” Angelina moaned plaintively. “And at that moment, all I wanted to do was to wipe that self-satisfied smirk off her face. I mean, who the hell did she think she was? All she ever wanted was Lexie’s boyfriend and Lexie’s friends. And you didn’t want her either, so talk about pathetic!”
“So what happened?” Richie asked.
“I didn’t know what I was doing. I was so hurt, but then I realized that Serena needed to have water in her lungs for everyone to think she’d drowned, so as soon as she passed out I pushed her in.”
“Lucky for you she hit her head on the way down, or she might have come around and swum to the shore.”
“It wasn’t luck.” She smiled, seemingly at the memory. “I knew the boat was there. And if she didn’t fall in the water after she hit her head, I’d have gone down and pushed her.”
“And the phone you’d used to impersonate Lexie?” Richie asked.
“I threw it in the lake. I couldn’t afford for someone to find it and start to piece it all together.”
“You thought of everything,” Richie said, his voice laced with feigned admiration. “And you put on quite a show when you discovered the body.”
Angelina smiled, the vulnerability she displayed a moment ago replaced by an almost childish pride. “I had to.”
“And what about Remy? Were you going to frame him all along?”
“No. I was going to wait and see what the police were able to find, but then I panicked.”
“So you stole Mia’s sleeping pills and put them in Vince’s drink. And threw in the ketamine for good measure, in case Remy walked and you needed to frame me.”
“Yes.”
“But Vince was found outside,” Richie reminded her.
Angelina shrugged. “He probably went outside to vape and then the pills kicked in. Doesn’t really matter where he died, does it?”
“No, I guess it doesn’t.” Richie rubbed his eyes again. “I can barely keep my eyes open,” he said with an embarrassed smile. “You really wore me out.”
Angelina smiled wistfully. “I’m tired too, but I think it’s time I was going.”
“And you think I’ll just let you leave?” Richie asked, and got to his feet.
“You won’t be in any condition to stop me,” Angelina replied.
She stood up as well—and grabbed onto the counter when she swayed on her feet. There was a moment of confusion, and then her eyes widened in horror, and her gaze flew to Richie’s face.
“I switched the cups when you turned to get the milk,” Richie said. “Were you going to kill me too, or just knock me out?”
“I would never have killed you,” Angelina said, and Richie noted the past tense. Only then did it occur to him that they probably shouldn’t have had this chat in the kitchen.
The sleeping pills had begun to take effect, and Angelina’s movements had slowed just as her eyelids had started to droop, but the sudden realization that she was in danger had produced a surge of adrenaline, and suddenly she didn’t seem sluggish anymore. She whipped around, her eyes scanning the counter for a weapon, until they alighted on the knife block next to the stove. She lunged for the knives before Richie could get around the island to stop her. He was panting too, not only because he was in danger but because he now understood what Angelina was capable of. The sweet, shy girl everyone had thought harmless was a fucking sociopath.
Angelina grabbed a butcher knife and swung around to face Richie. She was breathing hard, and her eyes were open wide, her pupils dilated. She was struggling to stay alert. Richie had no idea how many pills Angelina had dissolved into the tea, but it had to be a few if she’d hoped to knock him out for several hours. The problem was that, once the fight or flight instinct kicked in, it could overcome the effects of the drug, at least temporarily. She would crash later, but at the moment Angelina was fighting for her life, and wouldn’t go down without inflicting the maximum amount of damage. Richie couldn’t waste precious moments calling 911. Besides, if he got the same kid as before, it would take a while for the baby cop to clue in and send help.
Angelina and Richie faced off, both entirely focused on each other and ready to spring into action. Richie prayed Angelina would come to her senses and put the knife down, but he could see in her eyes that this was going to be a fight to the death. As long as no one suspected her, Angelina had time and the chance to save herself. Once she crossed into Canada, she could avoid detection, as long as she had cash. A few thousand dollars could keep her afloat for months if she was careful, and then she could figure something out. She was resourceful.
Richie didn’t have time to consider any other possibilities because Angelina let out a blood-curdling shriek and charged. The sluggishness she had clearly been experiencing a few minutes ago had been replaced by manic energy and old-fashioned bloodlust. It was either him or her, and Richie knew that, now that he’d tricked her, Angelina was prepared to kill. He pivoted out of the way, but she moved with surprising speed, cutting him off as he danced toward the patio door and backing him into a corner. Richie had to get outside. He didn’t have his car keys on him, but he had the phone. He had recorded everything Angelina had admitted to, but would that evidence ever get to DeVries if Angelina killed him? He supposed they’d figure it out when they found his body, but it would be too late then, at least for him.
The forest was his only chance. It was cold and dark out there, but, if he could get away from this bright kitchen that was full of obstacles, he’d have a real shot. His grabbed for the door handle, desperate to unlatch it so he could access the deck, but Angelina slashed the knife across his forearm. Richie gasped, his gaze sliding to the long, narrow cut that had easily parted the fabric of his sweatshirt and the skin beneath. Dark red blood welled immediately and began to soak into the sleeve. Had Angelina cut his wrist? He wouldn’t have long if she’d managed to sever an artery. Richie put all his weight on the wall at his back and kicked outward, and his heel caught Angelina in the lower stomach. She cried out in pain but didn’t let go of the knife, and, instead of backing away as Richie had hoped, she threw herself forward.
Richie had nowhere to go. She had him cornered. He tried to maneuver out of the way, but Angelina wasn’t about to allow him to escape. She looked maniacal, a cruel little smile playing about her lips as she considered her next move.
“Angie, please,” Richie tried. “Just go. I won’t try to stop you.”
She shook her head, and her hair whipped about her face, making her look like some restless spirit. “I don’t believe you. Not anymore.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, she thrust the knife toward his belly. It was by sheer luck that the blade pierced Richie’s side instead of wounding him at the center, where it was sure to have perforated a vital organ. Richie let out a roar of shock and pain as the steel slid deeper and deeper into his unresisting flesh.
Angelina appeared shocked by what she had done; her eyes widened when she saw the blood that saturated Richie’s sweatshirt within moments. Desperate to stave off another attack, Richie took advantage of her momentary distraction and grabbed her wrist, digging his fingers into her flesh until she cried out and her grasp on the handle began to weaken. Still, she wouldn’t release the knife, and with a cry of fury she lunged forward again, this time stabbing Richie in the stomach.
