Stirred (50 page)

“Is what they’re saying true?” he asked. “Did you and Mr. Bennett get married?”

I couldn’t help but gasp. “Why would you think that?”

“It’s all over the news, including photos of each of you going into the county courthouse downtown. Considering the way you were both dressed, I’d say they assumed correctly.”

“Well, it’s really none of anyone’s business but ours, Detective. So if that’s the only reason you called—”

“You’re skating a very dangerous edge here, Mrs.—” He paused, then finished with, “…Eden. That young woman in the grave, she was identified through dental records as Trinitee Marsh, Mr. Bennett’s closest friend. Her cell phone records indicate Mr. Bennett as the last person she communicated with before she was murdered. And she was wearing something we’d been searching for. I’m sending a photo to you now,” he said just before my phone pinged with an incoming text.

I put Detective Reed on speaker and pulled up the text, inhaling sharply when I saw what Reed was talking about.

“That ruby ring was listed on Ms. Wylde’s insurance, but was not found in her house or on her body upon her death,” he explained.

“How did Trinitee Marsh get it then?” I wondered aloud. “And why would her killer leave something so valuable on her?”

“I think Mr. Bennett gave it to her, that he’s decompensating, and quickly. Eden, I know you understand what that means. God only knows how long until he breaks completely. And if you are married, well…then there’s not a whole lot standing between him and Declan’s money, except for you.”

I shook my head. “No. That’s not true. Sean’s not unbalanced, and he’s not out for my money. He’s innocent. And he loves me. He tells me everything.”

“Eden, Sean probably tells you just enough, only what he must to keep you satisfied.”

“No, Detective, that’s not—”

“Did he tell you about the blood on the clothes he wore the night of the murders, the same night Ms. Marsh went missing, the same clothes she loaned him? Did he tell you about the copy of Declan’s last will and testament we found in his apartment?”

I almost blurted out that Declan didn’t have a legal will but rather a living trust, which he believed would fully protect his assets. But I stopped myself and hung up without another word. Reed didn’t need that information. We could use that to fight any charges they might file against Sean.

When the phone rang again, I refused the call. After a third time, I threw my phone onto the bed. Unsure what to do, I grabbed one of the outfits Sean had bought me and was just lacing up the new hiking boots when someone knocked on the door. Thinking it was Sean and his hands were full of bags, I ran to it and swung it wide, ready to hurl my arms around his neck. But it wasn’t Sean. It was a young woman, an employee, I guessed, since she was pushing a cart with domed, stainless steel lids covering plates of what I assumed was food.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“Mr. Bennett ordered a light afternoon meal delivered,” the young woman said, though she was hardly more than a girl really.

I raised my arm and stepped back from the door. “On the table will be fine, thank you,” I said, then added, “I’m going to get fat with all the food that man keeps ordering.”

As the girl made her way to the dining area, my eye caught a twinkle of silver as it flashed in the light. It was a tiny amulet, like a charm, and it dangled from the girl’s boot buckle. I’d never seen anyone wear one that way, but, from what Sean told me, I assumed it was a fad now. The young woman laid the covered plates on the table and rolled the now-empty cart to the door. She stopped and turned to me with a slight smile, and a feeling of familiarity washed over me. It was strangely comforting, and I returned the gesture.

“Have we met before?” I asked. “You remind me of…I don’t know…someone.”

She took a step in my direction. “Yes, we have met, though it was a long time ago. I’m sure you wouldn’t remember.” She held out her hand. “I’m Ali, by the way.”

I took her hand in mine and kept staring at her. “Was it at a book event or something, a signing perhaps?”

Even though I loosened my grip on her hand, she kept hers on mine, taking a step even closer, a little too close, in fact, but I didn’t want to offend her by pulling away, and I was curious who she was exactly and where we’d met before. Ali stared at me just as intently, and her grin grew wider, taking on a certain smugness that instantly made me uneasy.

I tugged my hand from hers. “Well…thank you…for setting the, um…the food…I mean, the table. My husband will be back any moment, so…”

Ali shook her head. “No, actually…Sean
won’t
be returning anytime soon, at least not in one piece, not unless you do exactly what I tell you to.”

And just like that, my heart felt as though it had sunk deep into my belly. I took a step back. “Who are you? What’ve you done with Sean?”

Ali pulled out a cell phone and showed me a photo of Sean, unconscious and tied to a chair, blood dripping down from a deep gash on his forehead.

I gasped as tears pooled in my eyes. I covered my mouth with both hands and breathed, “No!” Then I locked eyes with the girl. “Who are you?”

Ali chuckled. “The last person you’d ever suspect. But you’ll wanna stay tuned and find out. And besides, it’s the only way to save Sean. God knows, he’d do it for you. That’s why he’s in this mess after all, because of you.
He
saved
you
. Now it’s
your
turn.”

Tears streamed down my face, and my hands shook, but I closed my eyes and nodded. “Yes. Whatever it takes. Just please…
please
, don’t hurt him.”

Ali smirked. “Be good and I won’t. Let’s go,” she ordered and grabbed me by the wrist.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

The girl pushed the food cart aside and swung the door open.

“To the falls,” she answered and yanked me from the room.

Ali jerked me by the wrist. “You say one wrong thing to
anyone
, give the slightest sign something is wrong, and I
will
hurt Sean. Do you understand?”

I nodded silently and brushed my tears away.

“Do. You. Understand?” she repeated and wrenched hard on my arm.

“Yes! I understand!”

The girl crooked her arm and threaded my hand inside her elbow like we were sisters on a stroll. “Then be wise and follow my lead,” she cautioned as she swept me into the lobby and toward the front doors.

I struggled to smile at the gal behind the reception desk, the same one who’d checked us in yesterday.

She waved with a bright grin and a cheerful, “Hi, Mrs. Bennett,” as her eyes tracked us through the lobby. “It’s pretty nasty out there,” she advised when she saw we were headed outside. “Wait! Here, take these, Mrs. Bennett,” she added and held out an umbrella and rain slicker when I looked back over my shoulder.

Ali tried to keep me moving forward, but I resisted and turned toward the receptionist.

“We keep these for guests, just in case,” the girl said.

I grabbed the umbrella with a gracious, “Thank you,” but couldn’t accept the coat with my other hand held fast at Ali’s side.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Ali pulled me along into the front vestibule designed to keep the weather out. “What did I just say?” she warned.

I yanked back, my teeth clenched tight. “It would be more obvious something was wrong if I hadn’t accepted her offer. Don’t you think?”

Ali narrowed her eyes at me, but didn’t reply. She snatched the umbrella away and opened it, then handed it back before pulling the hood up on her lightweight jacket and hauling me through the front doors.

I whooped in shock when a sheet of cold, hard rain slapped me from the side. “Oh my God, this is insane to be out here in this storm!”

“What? Your love isn’t worth a little discomfort?” she snickered and dragged me along through the valet roundabout and toward the empty parking lot for Snoqualmie Falls.

I struggled to keep hold of the umbrella with one hand as the wind whipped it around and threatened to turn it inside-out. “I thought you didn’t want to attract undue attention. No one is crazy enough to go to the falls in weather like this. This is stupid!”

Before I could even react, Ali yanked me close and wrapped her cold fingers around my throat. With one hand clinging to the wobbly umbrella and the other clawing at the girl’s grip, I stared into Ali’s eyes, where a great deal of hate festered. She gave me a single shake as her fingers tightened.

“Don’t. You.
Ever
…call
me
stupid, you callous, shallow whore,” she fumed with indescribable loathing. She held my gaze for an unbearable moment, then slowly eased her grip.

I was horrified by what I saw staring into this young woman’s eyes.

“Why are you doing this?” I asked. “Who
are
you?”

Ali sneered at me. “I am your darkest secret, the reaper for a life cruelly discarded, deemed worthless, unwanted, and unworthy.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I demanded.

“Unfortunately for you, you’re about to find out.” With that, Ali tore the umbrella from my hand and let the wind take it away.

I howled as the gusts drove freezing walls of rain at my face, soaking my thin sweater in an instant. With no protection overhead, I could barely see through the downpour, and I stumbled on broken tree branches that skittered across the parking lot. The rainwater had little time to drain and pooled into wide puddles, stretching across the narrow walkway that led to the observation decks overlooking the falls. Ali was singled-minded, seemingly oblivious to the wicked weather howling like a banshee around us.

As we got closer to the deck, I heard the falls thundering like a stampeding herd of crazed buffalo, and I balked, terrified at what waited for me on that deck. Ali pulled hard and shouted something at me, but whatever she said was lost as a gust of wind surged from the north and forced us off the path and into the manicured landscaping, where I scrambled to break free. But Ali held tight and shouted in my ear.

“If you want to see your husband dead, just try that one more time,” she warned, then climbed to her feet, hauling me up with her.

Her head turned from side to side, like she was searching for something…or someone. She pulled me along the last twenty feet or so, where the path opened up to the concrete observation deck. The earth shuddered beneath our feet from the force of the immense waterfall before us. The river pounded furiously over the cliff, the mist rising so high and thick, only the top of the falls were even visible, but I remembered how deep that canyon dropped below the deck, and the jagged rocks that jutted out beneath the railing before giving way to the angry, rushing river below. And my heart thrashed against my ribs in fear.

Ali and I both turned at the same moment when we heard a voice calling out through the storm.

“Frankie!” she shouted, her face lifting in relief. But only momentarily. “Holy shit! What happened?” she cried out once she saw the roadmap of cuts and bruises crisscrossing his face. “Where’s Sean?”

“Babe—”

“Oh my God. He got away. You let him get away,” Ali said, her voice eerily calm.

“I didn’t
let
him. He broke free and beat me with the damn chair.”

“And how the fuck did that happened when he was tied to it?” she asked, then immediately raised a hand. “You know what? I don’t give a shit. Just find him and bring him back here. Now.”

“No way. It’s been too long. We gotta get rid of her,” he said, nodding at me, “before Bennett calls the cops, if he hasn’t already.”

Ali shook her head. “No. He won’t call the police. He’s too afraid they’ll arrest him.”

I realized she was probably right, that help from the authorities was most likely a longshot. But I was relieved to hear that Sean was at least free. Now it was my turn to break away. With a deep breath, I gathered my nerve and struck at Ali’s hand gripping me by my sweater. She lost hold, and I turned to run, but Frankie, even in his battered condition, reacted swiftly and banded his meaty arm around my neck and shoulder.