Murderous Lies (23 page)

He shook his head. “I can’t face her. I really am a murderer now.”

She sighed and sat next to him, putting her arm around his shoulder. “No one thinks that.”

“Don’t they?”

“Well, speaking for myself, if it was a choice between Kelsey or Rose, you made the right decision. If Kelsey had reached Calvin’s gun, she wouldn’t have hesitated to shoot Rose in the head.” She stood back up. “If you’re sorry for stopping that, by all means, continue calling yourself a murderer.”

Max continued staring at the cross long after Veronica walked out. It was good to hear that someone else thought he did the right thing, but Veronica hadn’t really known Kelsey. Not as more than the waitress who worked at Francine’s. It might be different for Rose.

As scared as he was, there was only one way to find out.

***

M
ax slunk in through the doorway, and Rose’s heart ached for him. He looked dejected and afraid.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey yourself.” Rose patted the bed beside her. “Come here.”

Max scuffled across the floor, barely picking up his feet as he walked.

“Are you okay?” she asked. “I’ve been waiting for you.”

He folded his arms and hugged them against his stomach. “I guess you heard about Kelsey?”

“A nurse told me right after. Are you okay?” she repeated.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “I feel horrible. I’m a killer now, just like they always accuse me of being.”

Rose struggled to sit upright, bumping the button on the bed controller to raise her head. “Don’t say that. Please don’t say it.”

“But it’s the truth.”

Rose looked away from him, uncertain how she could convince him that he wasn’t responsible. “Kelsey made the choice to kill people. If you hadn’t shown up when you did, Calvin and I would both be dead, and you’d probably be sitting in jail trying to figure out how she framed you and got away with it. She had everything planned, you know. She dug DNA evidence out of our trash. She wasn’t some innocent girl that her bastard of a husband decided to beat to death like Sage was.”

Max nodded. “I know that, but I can’t help but worry that you...”

Rose reached out despite the pain, capturing his hand. “All I want is to move into that little apartment in Beaverton, move my mom somewhere nice, and put all this behind us. I want you.”

Gently, Max squeezed her fingers. “That’s what I want too, but I worried you’d change your mind. We haven’t even talked about the lease I signed or my job and I was afraid that you...” He broke off again, avoiding eye contact.

“You were afraid I’d change my mind again, just like I did when I decided not to marry you before.”

Max’s chin dropped to his chest, but he didn’t argue.

“I was a teenager. I didn’t understand what’s really important in life yet.” She paused, tugging on his hand until he finally looked up, his blue eyes dancing with emotion. “That’s you, Max. I love you, and nothing will ever change that.”

He collapsed onto the edge of the bed, pressing his head against her stomach. “Oh, Rose. I need you in my life forever. I love you.”

Pain flared at his touch, but Rose blocked it out. She stroked his hair back from his forehead. “Tell me about our apartment. I think you should move all the stuff before I get out of the hospital. After all, you’ll need furniture when you start your job next Monday. I won’t be fit to work for a while, so I may as well be with you.”

“Before we talk about that, let me tell you some good news.” He scooted up the bed, kissing her lips softly, but with so much tenderness and love, that Rose’s heart soared with happiness. He was going to be okay.

“What’s that?” she asked once he pulled away.

“I found Gizmo. He was hiding out in the bushes behind the house. When I went over this morning, there he was, begging to be petted.”

“He’s okay? He must have been starving.” Still, Rose was happy to have him safe. It had been a worry. She hadn’t known if the old tom cat could survive outside.

Max shrugged. “I think he learned to catch mice or found someone to feed him. Sure, he rubbed against my legs and begged for a bowl of that fancy cat chow you insist on giving him, but he wasn’t all that skinny. I think he’s going to be fine.”

Rose grabbed Max’s neck, pulling him down to her for another kiss. “Now there’s the sign of true love.”

Half his mouth hitched up in a smile, but he looked confused. “What is?”

“My baby is now your baby, just like I said would happen.”

Max laughed. “He sure is, love. We’re a true family now.”

S
ix months later

Rose practically skipped down the sidewalk on her way into the apartment. A new job! And a perfect one at that.

When she unlocked the door, Max’s happy humming from the kitchen was the first thing she heard.

Gizmo sat on the cat perch Max had made for him beneath the front window. The cat must have had his dinner already because his ear twitched when she shut the door, but he didn’t jump down to greet her.

That was the bad part about sharing her cat. He loved Max almost more than her these days.

Max stepped into the living room, a spatula in his hand. “Hey, there. I’m making hamburgers. You hungry?”

“Starved,” she said, stepping into him and wrapping her arms around his neck.

Max bent, taking her mouth with his.

Even after living together this past half year, Max’s touch still made her pulse race as if she were a teenager. “I love you, Max.”

He pulled back and winked. “Love you. Did you stop and visit Ginger on your way home? Is she still improving?”

Nodding emphatically, Rose let her happiness break out in a wide smile. “She’s so good. Trinity is the perfect place. She actually knows who I am now, and she no longer carries that doll. The counselor said she’s making a lot of progress about facing reality. I don’t think she’ll be ready to leave there anytime soon, but she’s almost the mom I remember.”

Max grabbed her in a bear hug, pressing his stubbly cheek into hers. “That’s the best news, honey. What about your math test? Did you pass?”

She shrugged. “I think so. Won’t know until next week for sure, but I felt good about it.”

“That’s all great news.” Max released her. “If only I could have gone with you to the group counseling session in Clarkston, everything would have been perfect.” He frowned slightly before turning to walk into the kitchen.

She followed behind him, suppressing a sigh. Ever since Bill’s arrest, once a month the family members of his victims met in Clarkston with a group counselor. It was supposed to be healing, and in a way it was, but it was also terribly depressing. It had been a relief to stop and visit her mom on the way home, just to remember that life was improving, even if she’d never entirely get over losing Sage. “I wish you could have come, too. There are family members attending from almost all Bill’s victims. Everyone except Julie’s family.”

“I’ve talked to her sister on the phone a few times,” Max said, turning the hamburgers over. “She’s holding up pretty well, but is relieved Bill got three consecutive life sentences with no chance of parole.”

The rage Rose always felt thinking about it came to the surface. “If Kelsey had just told the truth, the killings might have ended after Sage.” She blinked back a few tears, not wanting to cry again so soon after group. She’d cried enough there.

Max took a step closer, grabbing her hand. “Did you talk in group today or is it still too hard?”

Rose chewed on her bottom lip and leaned her head against his chest. “I talked. It was time. Everyone else has been sharing, and I felt bad not contributing. It was hard rehashing what Bill said happened to Sage, but the counselor thinks it will help everyone in the group if we all tell our stories.”

During Bill’s trial, Rose’s real worry had been he would find a way to turn things and get himself off the hook at Max’s expense. The people in Clarkston were definitely still willing to believe Max was a murderer, even now that they knew better. Thank goodness people in Beaverton didn’t know anything about the past and didn’t seem to care.

The truth of Sage’s last night had come out after Bill made a plea bargain in order to have the death penalty taken off the counter as far as his possible sentence. As part of the deal, he told the details of each of his victims’ deaths. The morning Sage died, Bill had found her walking along the road, headed home, and offered her a ride. She was upset because Max rebuffed her, and told Bill she felt wild and wanted him to take her somewhere private.

As hard as that had been for Rose to hear, at least Sage hadn’t gone through the horror of having him forced on her like the other girls had. But he’d still ended the night by beating her to death.

Rose blinked back more tears.

Max squeezed her hand and then wrapped her in his arms, stroking her back softly.

“It was pretty hard to talk about,” she said, when she finally felt able to speak.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to support you.”

She breathed in deeply, his scent flooding her senses, which always included a hint of motor oil these days. “You always support me, so don’t worry about it. I know you had to work.”

“The thing that is still unbelievable to me is how Kelsey is the one who killed Jimmy,” Max said. “Not to mention she actually helped with Julie.” His voice came out slightly roughened, choked with emotion.

Rose knew he still had a hard time with the fact that he’d been the one to kill Kelsey, even if it had meant saving Rose’s life.

“Kelsey was even sicker than Bill,” she said, taking her turn to rub his back soothingly. “She’d been drugging Bill heavily, ever since Sage died and she figured out what he did. She was determined to keep him out of prison, even if that meant killing me.”

“It was like she went completely crazy after I got out of prison. I think she realized that I’d keep digging until I found the truth. She couldn’t let that happen.”

According to what Bill said during the trial, Kelsey’s first idea had been to keep Max away from Rose with the dead rat threat, hoping the whole town would stay united against Max. When that didn’t work, she had to come up with another plan. Bill claimed that her first idea was to send Max back to prison by killing Jimmy.

The only problem was, she had kept Bill informed of all the gossip, and he knew Julie was working with Max to catch the killer. The night he killed Julie, he didn’t swallow the tranquilizer pill Kelsey gave him, but she hadn’t realize it. After she went to sleep, he headed to Julie’s. While he was having his way with her, Kelsey barged in, but after a bit of encouragement from him, she decided to help him kill Julie and then they destroyed her computer after finding the hidden camera.

Nausea turned in Rose’s stomach just thinking about it. Over the years, she’d taken care of Kelsey’s kids, shared secrets and worries with her. She was her best friend—almost a sister. It was still unimaginable to Rose, even after Kelsey beat her face in and tried to kill her, that the caring woman who had once been her friend could have done that.

Bill also admitted that the night he killed Julie wasn’t the only time he skipped out on taking his pill. He told the courtroom how one night he broke into Rose’s house, intending to kill her, but Kelsey showed up with her shotgun and threatened him into leaving.

It had been hard for Rose to hear that. She heard Bill in her house that night, the night Kelsey pretended she had a bad dream. Kelsey must have known all along that Bill was in her house, intending to kill her. And eventually, Kelsey decided that was the best plan.

A few of her tears leaked onto Max’s shirt, and Rose wiped her face. “I can’t keep thinking about this. It’s too sad. I don’t think I want to go to the group sessions anymore.”

“You don’t have to if they’re not helping.” Max kissed her forehead. “You seemed so happy when you first walked in. I’m sorry I asked about it.”

“It’s okay.” She laughed. “I probably would have been upset if you didn’t ask.”

“Well, that’s true.” Max released her and turned back to the stove, turning the hamburgers again. He glanced over at her, his blue eyes searching her face intently. “Are you going to be okay?”

She nodded. “It’s a relief to know Sage’s end wasn’t quite as horrible as I imagined it, but it was still awful and I don’t like thinking about it.”

“I know, but Bill is finally paying for his crimes.”

“There is that,” she agreed. “It’s something, at least.”

“Is there anything good going on in Clarkston?” he asked.

“Actually, there is. Kelsey’s mom agreed to keep the twins full time,” she said, drumming up a smile. “I’ve been worried what would happen there. It would have been a tragedy if the boys had to enter the system and were separated.”

“That’s true. A silver lining of sorts.” He turned the stove off and moved the pan from the hot unit. “I’m glad you told me about the session, but what do you say we change the subject?”

Rose nodded, knowing the grateful smile she flashed him probably looked pathetically desperate. “Please. I had a great afternoon after stopping to visit Mom. I’d like to keep that going. Between your job and my schooling, we never have enough time together, so let’s not waste our evening with this sadness.”

“I agree completely,” he said. “And on that note, I have something to talk to you about. It might not be considered exactly happy news as far as you’re concerned, but I’m happy about it.”

He flashed a grin that put Rose on guard. Max looked like he was up to something. “What?”

“My mom called today. Would you be up for company this weekend? She’s finally ready to visit.”

Rose automatically forced a smile, just like she always did when they discussed Sally. Max was right, not exactly happy news, though she
was
happy for him. Sally was old fashioned about some things, and had treated Rose badly any time they had contact. Sally said they were “living in sin,” and she couldn’t condone their behavior. It irritated Rose for Sally to be so judgmental. After all, she’d gotten knocked up as a teenager and then was an unwed mother, but it seemed she held her son to a higher standard of virtue than she had for herself.