The Golden Couple(105)

What is her husband saying? Before she can try to make sense of it, he makes a movement with his thumb, and she realizes he has taken off the safety. His index finger is curled around the trigger of the shiny black weapon.

They don’t keep a gun in the house. Matthew must have been planning this for some time.

Matthew lifts the pistol a bit higher, so that Marissa is at eye level with the little round tunnel the bullet will fly through. All she can see is that tiny circle; it’s as if the whole world has narrowed to its circumference.

“I could call the police … or I suppose I could try and stop him.” But instead of heading toward the noise, Matthew continues pointing the gun at Marissa. “No one would blame me for shooting the man who killed my wife.”

Marissa’s eyes widen. It’s far too late, but she sees everything clearly now. He’s going to kill her, frame Skip, then murder Skip, claiming it was self-defense.

Her husband is a master illusionist.

Their happy life together has been a mirage.

She has no idea how he lured Skip here, but it doesn’t matter.

Marissa cheated on her husband and thought he forgave her.

But he didn’t.

She only knew half of their story. Matthew has been operating from a different script.

“I need you to stand up, Marissa.” When she doesn’t move, Matthew reaches for her arm and yanks it roughly, pulling her to her feet. She gasps in pain. Her legs are so rubbery she nearly falls to the floor.

“I’ve wanted to hurt you ever since I found out you fucked our friend in my house,” Matthew hisses in her ear.

“Please,” she begs. “Bennett…”

“Let’s go greet Skip. You first.”

He steps behind her and, when she doesn’t move, digs the gun into her shoulder blade. She rises and walks out of the kitchen, down the hallway toward the study, then stumbles.

She is going to be sick. The thought of leaving her precious little boy is too much. Matthew will be viewed as the heroic, grieving widower. He’ll have full custody of Bennett.

She retches, then starts to cry.

“Get a grip, Marissa,” Matthew barks, jabbing her again with the cold metal until she resumes walking.

At the threshold of Matthew’s office, she sees Skip pulling himself through the broken window. He’s got his coat draped over the bottom to protect himself from the sharp shards, and his upper body is through the jagged hole while his lower body dangles outside the house. Blood drips down from a cut on his forehead. His eyes widen as Marissa and Matthew step into the room. Skip looks frantic.

He’s too late.

Matthew will shoot them both. The final scene he is directing will be complete. He even has witnesses in place who will testify to Skip’s obsession, and to Matthew’s seeming devotion to Marissa: Polly and Avery.

Marissa hears the noise of a distant siren, but if the police are coming, they’ll be too late as well.

“Walk toward the window,” Matthew instructs her. “I’ll shoot you now if you don’t.”

Skip shouts, “I’ll kill you if you hurt her!”

“Actually, it’s going to be the other way around,” Matthew replies.

Marissa keeps her eyes locked on Skip. There’s nowhere to run. She might be able to grab the letter opener from Matthew’s desk, but he will surely fire his gun before she has a chance to wound him.

She takes a step toward Skip, then another, as if she were walking down a gangplank.

Skip stops moving. “Look, Matthew, it was my fault, okay?” Skip’s voice is pleading. “Not hers. You don’t have to do this.”

“Keep walking,” Matthew orders.

Marissa takes another step.

Skip’s words tumble out: “Marissa picked you, not me.”

“Sure she did,” Matthew snaps. “Just like my dad prefers me to you. Just like Tina did, too.”

Marissa freezes; she can’t take another step.

“Things didn’t end up so well for Tina, either,” Matthew continues. “Do you know she thought it was you chasing after her when she was sitting on the pier alone that night? She looked so disappointed when she turned around and saw me. But not for long.”

Three things happen as Matthew speaks those horrible words.

Skip abruptly drops backward through the open window, vanishing.

Matthew shoves Marissa roughly to the floor and runs toward the window.

And a gunshot explodes, the sound so loud and powerful it seems to reverberate through Marissa’s soul.





CHAPTER FORTY-TWO


AVERY




THE BLUE LEATHER GLOVES aren’t my only clue. But the second I see them on Skip’s hands, everything else clicks into place.

There is no way Skip could have given his gloves to Ray and still be wearing them himself. But someone else could easily have purchased a near-identical pair and passed them to Ray along with the anonymous note. That same person could have ordered the yellow roses from Bloom, made the phone hang-ups, and even orchestrated the attack on Matthew.

I think I know who it is, but I need one question answered to be certain.

Never before has so much hinged on The Test.

“The night you and Marissa slept together—where did it happen?”

Skip looks bewildered.