Convicted (26 page)

"You just wouldn't see them for what they were, would you?" Allegra questioned. "No matter how hard I tried to show you."

All the pieces fit together like a puzzle after hours of bleary-eyed concentration. "You took my purse that day. You put it in his office and wanted me to find it, didn't you?"

"But you wouldn't look."

"So you put it in his house where you knew I'd find it someday."

"It worked, didn't it?" Allegra asked, for the first time focusing on Lisa. "You ran out of there like a scalded dog, didn't you? Right to where I was waiting for you."

"You tried to hurt me," Lisa accused. She swallowed heavily, fighting the urge to choke on the sick feeling of betrayal.

"Only a little bit. I only ever wanted to scare you," Al said with her old guileless smile. Her voice changed, but remained eerily familiar. "I see everything you do. Remember?"

Where would it end? "You made the phone calls? You stole my laundry?"

"Oh, you were so easy," Allegra said. "So wrapped up in your daydreams. It was easy to misplace your stuff for you. Do you want to know what my favorite trick was? The light bulbs. I could tell that was just driving you crazy!"

Lisa wanted to slap the laugh right out of her sister. "And you hired those boys to mug me in the parking lot?"

"I thought that would be a nice touch."

"It's been you all along," Lisa muttered, not wanting to believe.

Allegra waved the accusation away as though it were smoke. "It's all going to work out. He'll go back to jail. I paged Terry to come. So it's going to work. He'll go away, and Terry will never forgive you, and things will go back to the way they were before. I'll move back in. It'll be great!"

Lisa shook her head. "You need help."

Allegra let out a low, guttural sound. "I do. I do. Maybe I do, yes. But so what? I just want things to be the way they were--"

Lisa shouted, "Things will never be the same again!"

Allegra winced. "You just won't believe me, will you? He's not right for you. Lisa, when you find the right man, I mean the right man for you, I'll be so happy and proud to be your maid of honor. But he's not right for you and I can prove it!"

"I don't want any more proof." As Lisa turned to go, Al's hand flew out to grab her hair. With a cry of pain, Lisa fell back.

"Don't walk away from me." Allegra emphasized each word with a tug that made Lisa squirm in pain. "Come on. I have to show you."

Lisa resisted, but despite being thin, Allegra was strong. She let go of Lisa's hair, but grabbed her wrist in a pincer grip instead. She pulled Lisa nearly off balance while bending to pick up the pile of videos. Then Allegra began pulling her out the door and down the hallway.

"Al, let me go."

Allegra shook her head. "I want you to see. I want you to 'get it.'"

"You don't have to do this," Lisa said.

Her sister only tugged harder. "Yes, I do."

"This can end now." Lisa dug in her heels and managed to get her sister to stop, if only briefly.

"No," Allegra said with a shake of her head. "It can't. It's not over until it's over."

"And when will that be?"

Allegra shrugged, tugging Lisa's arm upward with the motion. "We'll see, I guess."

Terry parked in the back next to Lisa's car. He got out, then opened Deacon's door. He didn't remove the handcuffs, and he didn't help Deacon out of the back seat.

"She's in there," Deacon said.

Terry glanced around. "This doesn't feel good."

"Of course it doesn't feel good," Deacon snapped. "She's in there with that lunatic!"

Terry reached for his radio. "I need to call for back up."

Deacon forced himself out of the back seat through sheer will power alone. Standing, he felt less immobilized, though he still could do nothing without the use of his hands.

"Take these off," he demanded.

Terry looked at him. "No."

Deacon kicked the car. "You're wasting time! Let's just go in there and get that crazy bitch!"

Terry shook his head with another glance at the dark building. "I can't risk that. We need back up."

"Coward," Deacon muttered.

The next instant he found himself slammed onto the hood of the car. Terry's scowl was inches from his own. Even as his muscles screamed in protest, Deacon didn't show the pain. He braced himself for a punch that didn't come.

"I love her, too, asshole," Terry breathed before letting Deacon go. He wiped his hands on his dark blue pants as though touching Deacon had made him feel dirty. "Which is why this needs to be done right."

"Uncuff me, then," Deacon said. He added, "Please."

Terry shook his head again. "You think I'm an idiot?"

Deacon didn't answer. The challenge in his eyes was enough reply. Terry sighed, then reached for the cuffs. Deacon rubbed his freed wrists, then clapped Terry on the shoulder. "Thanks."

"Don't play the hero," Terry warned. "You'll get both of you killed."

"What you don't see, you can't stop," Deacon said. "You call for back up."

He waited until Terry had bent again into the cruiser, and he ran toward the building.

Allegra knew just where to find the surveillance equipment. Relying only on the light shining in from the window, she pulled Lisa through Doug's doorway and into the center of the room, then tugged her toward the small closet to the right of the desk.

"I thought you were afraid of the dark," Lisa snapped, trying to free her wrist from Allegra's grip.

"I am," Allegra said with a shudder. "But I've had to learn to face my fears, Lisa."

It was the first sane thing her sister had said, but Lisa could take no comfort in it. There was still too much craziness to wade through.

Allegra continued airily, as though she wasn't struggling one-handed with the closet door while she bruised Lisa's arm with the other. "I left it all in the note."

"What note?" Lisa stopped tugging, recognizing the gesture as futile.

Allegra paused to look over her shoulder. Her eyes flashed in the light from the window. "The note I left you. It explained everything."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You saw it! I know you did!" Allegra smacked the stubborn closet door. "It's what made you go to Mom and Dad and try to convince them I'm a nutcase!"

You are a nutcase.
It almost flew out of Lisa's mouth, but a sudden, unbidden memory of her sister as a baby stopped the evil words. Allegra had been a sunny baby, and Lisa had loved to tickle her belly until she laughed. "She loves you," her mother had said, watching the girls play together. "She loves her big sister."

Love for her sister washed over Lisa in a wave so fierce it nearly forced a sob from her throat. What had gone so wrong? "I didn't get a note."

"In the pantry," Allegra said. "I left it for you."

"The cans?" Another puzzle piece slipped into place.

"I was very careful," Allegra said, finally tugging open the door. "I marked out the letters I didn't need."

Lisa thought of the rows of cans, so precisely lined up. There had been a message there, but she had not received it. She guessed it didn't really matter what the message said.

"Let's get out of here," she told her sister gently. "We can go home, Al. Just you and me. And we'll talk."

"Just a minute," Allegra muttered, never letting go of Lisa's wrist.

Lisa dug her feet into the carpet. "Stop this! You're hurting my wrist!"

Even in the dim light Lisa could see Allegra roll her eyes. "Just a minute."

She didn't let go. The bones in Lisa's wrist ground together painfully. "Let me go. I'll watch what you want me to watch."

Allegra turned from her fumbling with the closet door. "You'll run away."

"No. I won't."

"You're lying."

Lisa let out a growl of desperate exasperation. Her initial fear had fled. She was used to Allegra being a pain in the ass. She could deal with this.

"I'm not the liar," Lisa said.

Allegra nodded as though thinking. "Not telling the truth isn't the same as lying."

"Whatever," Lisa said calmly. "I wasn't accusing you. Just let go of my wrist."

Her sister did. Lisa rubbed the bruised flesh, but stood her ground. Allegra watched her warily for a moment before turning back to the closet.

"Watch," she said, finally pulling open the door to reveal a set of floor-to-ceiling shelves. Several vcrs were lined up along one shelf while the rest had been used for office supplies. A small and ancient television set rested next to the vcrs.

Lisa's eyes had adjusted to the dim light, and she had no problem seeing her sister slip one of the video tapes into the first machine. Allegra twisted the tv knob.

Lisa blinked against the bright gray light flaring from the machine. After a few seconds of static, a picture appeared.

"Oh, crap." The tape showed her and Deacon the day they'd let themselves get carried away. Her cheeks flushed hot as she watched her video self let him kiss her. "Al, turn that off."

"Why?" Allegra tapped the screen with her finger. "Don't you like to watch?"

"No, Al. I don't." Lisa reached forward to snap off the set, but Allegra stopped her.

The pictures of her and Deacon kissing were replaced by a blank screen as he reached over on the tape and hung up a shirt to cover the camera lens. A second later, the tape showed Deacon at his desk. The helmet and jacket sat on the architect's table, almost out of camera range. He bent over his work, scribbling on his pad of paper with a look of concentration apparent even in his profile.

A woman entered the office, and Allegra breathed "See?"

Lisa wasn't sure what her sister wanted her to see. The woman was tall, dark haired, with a lively smile. She wore a casual outfit and carried a straw shoulder bag. Nothing about her seemed out of place.

Deacon looked up, then got to his feet. He and the woman embraced, and the woman kissed his cheek. Deacon smiled at her as though he clearly knew her. He put one hand on her back and they left the office together.

"He doesn't love you," Allegra said triumphantly.

"That's his sister," she told Allegra. "She came to take him home when his motorcycle needed some repairs."

"No." Allegra's tone said she would take no disagreement. "No. It's his lover. And he loves her, not you. Don't you see, Lisa? Don't you?"

Allegra's voice had taken on a slightly desperate quality that matched the increased frequency of the ticking-off motion of her hands. The tv screen went briefly blank, then on again to show a tall figure with dark hair entering Deacon's office. Because the interior lights had not been turned on, it was difficult to tell who the figure was, but Lisa knew it was her sister.

On the tape, Allegra reached for the dark shape draped over Deacon's chair. The leather jacket. She picked up a round dark shape and slipped it over her head. The helmet. The figure turned to face the camera, but Lisa could tell Allegra didn't know about the surveillance device. On the tape, her sister left Deacon's office. Then the screen went staticky again.

"When did you find out about the cameras?" Lisa asked.

Allegra shrugged, her eyes shining glassy in the white light. "I was going back into the office to put his stuff back."

"Why?" There was more to her question than just about the helmet and jacket.

Allegra gave her a familiar look--the one that meant she thought Lisa was being incredibly dense. "So they'd find it here. Duh. So even if he said he didn't have the helmet and stuff, they'd find it here and not believe it had been stolen. So they'd believe he was the one who attacked you, Lisa!"

"Why?" Lisa repeated. "Why did you do all this, Allegra? What did I do to make you hate me so much?"

Allegra looked stricken. "But I don't hate you, Lisa! I love you! I did all this because I love you!"

Deacon navigated the familiar rows of greenery easily. He headed for his office and the light which shone forth. A shout hovered on his lips, but even as he flung open the glass door into the building he could see inside. His office, though well-lit, was empty.

He spotted the helmet and jacket he'd thought stolen on the floor. "That bitch," he muttered, not bothering to touch them. She'd been trying to set him up.

If they weren't in his office, where were they? He strained his ears, listening for any sign. He thought he heard a raised shout, but couldn't be certain if it was inside the main building or out in the parking lot.

He had no idea how long it would take for Terry's backup to get there, but one thing he did remember about the City of St. Mary's Police Department. It was prompt and efficient when it came to covering crime scenes. Even so, there wasn't time to spare, not when Allegra might be hurting Lisa. Or worse.

He hurried through the nursery area and went back inside the main building. Everything in here was dark, lit only by the EXIT signs posted periodically along the corridor. Even the outside light had been brighter than in here. With one hand on the wall to help him guide his way, Deacon started running toward the main office.

He heard shuffling and a thumping. Heart pounding, he stepped into the main office. Along the back wall, Doug's office door stood open. A flickering light came from inside and he heard voices.

Without stopping to think, Deacon launched himself around the front desk and toward Doug's office door. In seconds he burst through it, fists up and ready to fight. He saw two figures outlined in the flickering light coming from a small closet, but from this angle he could see little more.

Two figures--locked in a clinch that could be embrace or battle. He had no time to think, no time to decide. He reached for the closest one, grabbed it by the shoulder, twirled it around.

Beneath the swirling hair he saw a familiar face. "Lisa!"

"Get your hands off her," Allegra shouted.

Deacon pushed Lisa out of the way just as Allegra kicked out at him. Her foot connected squarely with his thigh and he stumbled back. Allegra came after him, fists swinging.