Murderous Lies (21 page)

“It was my fault,” Kelsey said. “I was about ready to pop out the boys, and I was too scared to have sex anymore. He had to get it somehow. If those girls had just given him what he wanted, he wouldn’t have had to kill them.”

“No. You don’t really believe that. You must know he was wrong to do anything. That’s why you’ve been drugging him since and keeping him away from other women.” Rose wasn’t sure if challenging Kelsey this way was the right thing to do, but she had to get her to start thinking about things rationally.

Rose could understand her logic in some ways, even if she didn’t like it. Kelsey had spent so much time protecting Bill from discovery, and obviously she was afraid he’d get caught now and sent to prison. In Kelsey’s mind, over the years, she’d been justifying why Bill did what he did to Sage and the other women, but deep down, she must still know how wrong it was.

“You’re wrong, Rose. I’ve been drugging him so he wouldn’t run off and leave me,” Kelsey clarified. “I don’t care about anyone else. I need him. I can’t live without him.”

Rose closed her eyes. There seemed to be no point, and Rose didn’t know how else she could stop Kelsey. Obviously reasoning with her wasn’t the answer. Even if Kelsey hadn’t tied her up, Rose doubted she could overpower her. If Kelsey beat Jimmy to death, even if the man did get in a couple good punches, Rose didn’t stand a chance.

“What are you going to do to me?” she whispered, tears gathering in her eyes as she realized the helplessness of her situation.

The sound of Kelsey’s shoes pounded quickly on the flooring, and then pain busted out over Rose’s cheeks as Kelsey backhanded her.

“I have to beat you to death, Rose. That’s the only way to make them believe Max did all the murders. With me as an eye witness to his leaving the house early in the morning when you don’t show up for work, the cops will come and find your body, and they’ll know what happened. Unlike with Julie and Jimmy, there’ll be proof that Max did this.”

Though Rose’s face pounded with pain, throbbing with the beat of her heart, she was relieved that Kelsey still wanted to talk. “Proof how?”

She smiled. “I dug through your trash this afternoon, found used condoms. I’m glad you finally broke down and had sex with him. The DNA spread on your stomach will be enough to send him away forever. Then Bill will be safe again.”

Kelsey really had thought this through. She just waited for an opportunity to get Rose alone to enact her plan, once it became apparent the police weren’t arresting Max for Julie and Jimmy’s murders. Rose’s body began twitching and she shuddered uncontrollably. How could she have not seen this? She trusted Kelsey like family.

Once again, Kelsey took a step forward, slamming her fist against the opposite side of Rose’s face.

Her jaw made a loud pop, and Rose whimpered. The metallic tang of blood flowed across her tongue. “Please don’t do this.”

Kelsey punched in an uppercut motion, grunting as she swung. Her fist caught Rose under the chin.

Stars crackled in Rose’s vision and she felt like she might throw up again.

“I have to.” Kelsey threw another punch and landing it on Rose’s left eye.

A snarling and hissing sound started up, and Rose looked down at the source. One eye’s vision was blurry from the blood dripping down from somewhere over her eyebrows, but Gizmo was clearly visible.

He hunched his back in an aggressive posture, as though he understood Kelsey was hurting his master.

For her part, Kelsey noticed him too. “Get out of here,” she yelled, kicking him.

Gizmo yowled and swatted back at her, not getting his claws into her leg, but coming close. He leapt to the tabletop, snarling with rage.

His display didn’t really faze Kelsey, who simply pulled her fist back for another strike at Rose.

However, Rose was shocked. Gizmo had never shown aggression before. She didn’t even know the cat knew how to hiss and strike out.

One more hiss, and Gizmo climbed onto Rose. Rose felt his back end bunch up, and then he launched off her shoulder.

He hit Kelsey’s head, digging his claws into her and biting at her cheek.

Kelsey shrieked and tried to knock the cat off her, but Gizmo latched on with his claws, still biting.

It was over in seconds. Kelsey yanked Gizmo off by grabbing the scruff at his neck. Long furrows of scratch and teeth marks marred her face, and she shook Gizmo around like a ragdoll.

“Fucking filthy beast!” She carried him to the back door and threw him as hard as she could, slamming and locking the door. Turning back to Rose, Kelsey let out a growl that could have matched Gizmo’s. “No more interruptions.”

Her cat had bought her an extra few seconds, but he was too small to actually hurt Kelsey. Knowing it was likely hopeless, Rose began screaming as loud as she could for help.

Kelsey paced toward her and laughed. “It’s after one in the morning. No one’s coming to your rescue.”

She grabbed onto Rose’s head, holding it steady, and repeatedly punched her face.

***

“W
hat the hell do you want, Max?” Calvin’s voice was querulous. “It’s been one hell of a day and now I have a ton of messages from you and Rose to deal with. What is it?”

While Max was happy to hear the bastard’s voice, because it meant he wasn’t dead, rage filled him at the same time. “You haven’t talked to Rose?”

“No. I’ve been dealing with Jimmy’s death all day, and I had to go with Officer Jet to meet with his superiors. If you haven’t noticed, and if it isn’t you, we have a serial killer on the loose again.”

“Damn it.” Max beat on the steering wheel, pressing the accelerator to edge the speedometer higher. “I’m about twenty minutes away. I need you to go check on Rose right now.”

Something in Max’s voice must have alerted Calvin, because he said, “I’m headed to the car right now. What’s happening?”

Max quickly filled him in on their suspicions about Bill Tanning, and the fact that Rose wasn’t picking up her phone even though she’d promised to call. “I was supposed to stay in Portland area tonight. I’m wondering if Bill somehow found out. You’ve got to get over there. Break the door down if you have too, but help her.”

“I’m almost there,” Calvin answered. “Wait a minute? That’s weird.”

Max’s heart felt like it sunk to his stomach. “What’s happening?”

“I think that’s Gizmo running down the road. Rose doesn’t let him outside, does she?”

“Shit.” Max accelerated again, crossing into the oncoming lane of the highway when he turned a corner, but determined to get to Rose. “Gizmo is only an indoor cat. He doesn’t like it outside. She’s in trouble. You need to go in there guns blazing, Calvin. Save her.”

“I’ll do my best.”

The phone disconnected, and Max dropped it into the passenger’s seat, focusing on his driving. It sounded like all the cops had a busy day, and no one would be on this stretch of road looking for speeders. The kind of man who could kill Jimmy and also brutally beat all those woman would be tough to deal with. Max needed to get there and back Calvin up.

T
he pounding blows wouldn’t stop, and Rose wished she could pass out. She stubbornly clung to consciousness, feeling every renewed punch. For variety, Kelsey moved from her face down to her body, raining blow after blow onto her.

Rose had long since given up struggling against the ropes holding her. It was over. Even though Max had to know something was wrong, the police hadn’t arrived and Rose didn’t know how much longer she could last. She was fairly certain her cheeks and nose were fractured and her jaw was out of place. She kept waiting for Kelsey to pull a two by four from somewhere and finish the job like she said she did with Jimmy.

The sound of a car door slamming reached Rose when Kelsey took a short break to rub her bloody knuckles. Through swollen eyes, Rose glanced at Kelsey, wondering if she’d heard the sound. The other woman showed no indication she had.

Someone pounded on the front door a few moments later. “It’s the police. Open up.”

Calvin! Rose wanted to cheer, but Kelsey slapped a hand across her mouth.

“If you make a sound, after I finish you off, I’ll drive around the lake and kill your mother. You’re always talking about how loose security is there. I’m sure it won’t be a problem.”

Rose closed her eyes, nodding her agreement. It didn’t matter whether she called out or not. Calvin was persistent. He wouldn’t leave until he knew what was going on. Especially not if Max had called him.

He pounded again. “I’m coming in.”

Wishing he hadn’t warned Kelsey, Rose watched as Kelsey grabbed her gun from the counter and paced to the archway leading from the kitchen to the living room. She stood with one leg slightly in front of the other, gun trained on the doorway.

Not wanting Calvin to walk into an ambush, despite the threat to Ginger, Rose screamed at the top of her lungs. “She’s got a gun!”

Flipping a glare her way, Kelsey returned her attention in front of her and squeezed off two rounds.

Rose held her breath, trying to hear what was going on. Kelsey must have shot blindly through the doorway, hoping to hit Calvin that way. She didn’t hear the sound of his body slumping onto the porch or him crying out in pain, so Rose prayed the shots missed.

Knowing help was on the way rejuvenated Rose’s determination to live. She began struggling once again at the rope. The pain it caused on her back and shoulders was now nothing compared to the pain in her face and body. She tugged as hard as she could, and the rough rope scrapped her hands and arms.

Without warning, the back door bust open. Calvin strode through, gun flashing in the overhead light.

Kelsey whirled around.

“Drop your weapon,” Calvin ordered.

Rose gasped with pain, tugging harder. Where was his back up? Calvin appeared to be alone. He must not realize how desperate Kelsey was, but Rose had a feeling she wouldn’t drop her gun. “She’ll shoot you,” Rose said. “She’s crazy. Shoot her first.”

Kelsey raised her gun and laughed. “Are you going to kill me, Cal? That would be a bad idea. I can get you what you want. If we put Max away for killing Jimmy and Julie, and for beating Rose to within an inch of her life, you can pick up the pieces and have Rose all to yourself.”

Did she actually think that would work? Calvin must know Rose would never go for that, even if he did want to pin the crimes on Max.

Calvin’s gun wavered slightly and he glanced at Rose. “How do I know you won’t kill her anyway? I can’t be with a dead woman.”

What? He was considering taking her deal?

Rose struggled harder against her bonds, crying out with pain. It didn’t matter. She had to get free.

Kelsey chuckled. “I’ll only come back and kill her if you don’t hold up your end of the deal. I get to keep my life with my husband, you make sure Max goes away for life, then live happily ever after with your Rosie.”

Calvin nodded, holstering his weapon. “Done. Untie her.”

“No,” Rose screamed. “I’ll never let you guys get away with this.”

Kelsey turned, pointing her gun at Rose. “That’ll be a problem.”

Calvin narrowed his eyes, shaking his head hard at Rose. “No it won’t. We’ll force feed her alcohol until she forgets about what happened tonight. If she blacks out, she won’t remember the details and will believe us when we say it was Max. Go get some of Bill’s stash and let’s get her loaded.”

Rose panic subsided slightly. Calvin was just playing along. He wasn’t seriously taking Kelsey’s side. She wondered how long it would be before Kelsey figured that out.

“I have something better than alcohol,” Kelsey said. “If we mix the tranquilizers I have with alcohol, she’ll be sure to forget everything. I’ll be right back.” Kelsey walked through the back door, smiling back at Rose before exiting. “See? Everything’s going to work out. We can still be friends.”

As soon as she left, Calvin rushed to Rose’s side, taking a knife from his utility belt and swiftly cutting through the ropes. “You look like hell.”

“Well, she’s been beating me for nearly an hour. I feel like hell.” Her voice came out sounding distorted, and her jaw pain flared to life, reminding her it might be dislocated.

Calvin pulled her arms in front of her, gently massaging her wrists. “We have to get you to my car before she comes back.”

Rose nodded and attempted to stand. Pain jagged through her stomach and chest, taking her breath away with its intensity. She fell back into the chair. “Damn it. I’ve never hurt like this in my life.”

Calvin bent, swooping her into his arms and headed for the front door.

Rose bit down on her bottom lip, trying to contain her whimpers. What she really wanted to do was scream. Each step he took felt like she was being punched all over again.

He finally made it to the front door, fumbling with the knob while holding her.

“I’ll get it,” Rose gasped through her moans. She reached for the handle, finding it difficult to grasp anything in her battered hands.

The crack of a gun went off, making Rose’s ears ring. A hole appeared in the wall beside the door.

“That was a warning,” Kelsey sneered from behind them. “I guess Calvin wants to do things the hard way.”

Calvin turned slowly to face her. There was no way for him to reach his weapon, holding on to Rose.

She wiggled in his arms, trying to signal him to drop her, but he held tighter.

“I’m not going to let you hurt her anymore.” Calvin’s voice was low and steady. “We can still blame this on Max, but you don’t touch Rose anymore. She’s mine.”

Kelsey’s eyes narrowed. “You think I’m going to believe you now? I gave you a chance to get everything you’ve been wanting for years, and you try to sneak off.” Kelsey gripped her gun tightly, pointing it at Cal’s head. “Put her down, nice and slow, and don’t even think about drawing your weapon or I’ll kill you before you can even touch the holster.”

Calvin walked to the couch, which had the added benefit of getting them out of the direct line of fire, since Kelsey still stood at the back door. “Take the gun,” he murmured into her ear as he bent to lay her on the couch.