Paint It All Red (Mindf*ck #5)(45)

I sigh long and hard, thinking about how life can be so cruel to such a good man.

“Robert never charged them. He was just a damn good guy. Which is probably what made Jasmine fall in love with him and leave behind a man who was only capable of loving himself. And let’s face it, that man moved on to another woman, but the only person to ever sting him with rejection was the one who loved a man so beneath him that it was disgusting. You hated Robert Evans, but you hid it well.”

I study his eyes as they continue to burn with hatred for me while I unravel his masterful disguise.

“You hated him so much, but you pretended to be his best friend even as you led the investigation in the direction of him—to punish him for taking a woman from you. From a man like you. How dare he, right? Am I missing anything, Christopher Denver?”

The monitor beeps faster and faster, letting me know his anger continues to rise.

“I should have noticed the way you put all your accolades up higher on the walls than your son’s. I should have paid attention to all the videos you had readily available of the trial. And all the numerous videos you had of Jasmine Evans. You knew her voice immediately.”

I pull out a copy of the same file I prepared for Collins. “Your wife died after running her car off a bridge. She died when your son was small. No one questioned the suspicious bruising she had. They all chalked it up to the accident. But it wasn’t an accident, was it? You punished her regularly for Jasmine choosing Robert over you, and she finally ended the pain the only way she knew how.”

I flip the page.

“Your first murder was on the anniversary of your breakup with Jasmine. It was the same day of her first date with Robert, something the profile had suggested to be his trigger instead of yours.”

I flip the page again, and I start reading off the facts I’ve gathered since piecing together Olivia’s involvement.

“You mentioned your son had to be forced to show up on holidays, but I didn’t do the math until later. After all, family squabbles are not uncommon. I just didn’t realize his depth of hatred toward you until I finally pieced it all together. Jake stayed with the Evans family more than he stayed at home, because even back then, he hated you. But he didn’t know for certain you were a monster until last year. When he finally figured it all out around last Christmas.”

I hold up the file, and his eyes try to read into what I’m saying. He thought he was too brilliant to ever be discovered.

He’s clueless. His hubris is his own downfall.

“You see, you thought you were smarter than everyone. After all, you’d gotten away with countless murders. You didn’t stop after Evans went to jail for the murders you’d committed. After that, you killed another girl, almost as though you were taunting the sheriff, using your same MO. But then you borrowed from other serial killers across the country after that, stealing their style and linking those kills to their names. Anyone who had a similar victimology to yours. You still wanted to punish Jasmine Evans even after all this time.”

I turn the page again, flipping through the countless credit card hits that put Jake in this town for two solid weeks, right about the time the first phone call was made to Olivia from this very house.

“But you never realized your son was smarter than you,” I say, taunting the man who grows more furious by the moment. “You never realized he crafted an even more elaborate, masterful plan than yours had ever been.”

He still hasn’t figured out the best part yet.

“Olivia was a microbiologist for a prestigious lab last year when your son gave her a call. It was right about the time he spent two solid weeks in your home, probably finding every bit of proof he needed to solidify his resolve. I’m sure he called Lana—she hates being called Victoria these days.”

His eyes shift as he starts trying to assemble the pieces I’m laying down.

“You suspected Victoria had survived, didn’t you? You even hinted as much to us. But you didn’t know for certain. Even before Jake found out the truth, he never trusted you with that secret. His loyalty was to her and her alone,” I go on, watching the utter fury continue to build.

“You assumed Olivia was a sweet girl who loved you for trying to ‘save’ Robert Evans. After all, you defended him. Very poorly, I might add. A man as smart as you should have worked a little harder to get his best friend out of the murders he didn’t commit. But you weren’t really his friend, were you? I’m sure Jake learned the same thing when he watched that trial footage all over again with a clear head and from a distance.”

I flip the page once more.

“But why would Olivia quit her coveted place at the lab—something she’d worked so damn hard to achieve—to come play nursemaid to you when you got a strange sickness? Weekly deposits started going into her account from your son when she came to help you. Weekly deposits also came from you. Why get paid twice?”

I smirk as I lean forward, watching the realization spread over his paling face.

“Microbiology… It’s a fascinating field. You learn all about parasites. The right person could use that knowledge to slowly kill a man. To strip away all his power over a year. To make him gradually sicker in a way the doctors—who aren’t specialists in that field—could never understand. Especially if someone used an exotic parasite or something. I’m not saying that’s what she did, but she’s brilliant enough to have figured out a way to kill you slowly without anyone detecting the cause, all while taking care of you when the doctors gave up and just handed you half the drug store.”