You Owe Me a Murder(81)

She’d never expected me to put it all together. And I might not have if I hadn’t gotten Emily’s letter. Everything happens for a reason, and if so, then there was a reason Nicki wanted me to kill that woman. When I thought it was her mom, then I figured it was because of her drinking or because Nicki wanted her money, but if it wasn’t her mom, the reason had to be something else. Then the pieces fell into place: the relationship Nicki had mentioned on the plane with a married guy, the woman in the street talking about a scandal, the woman telling me at knifepoint about her cheating husband.

Nicki’s lip twitched, almost snarled. “Well, aren’t you a clever bunny?”

I tsked. “Now, don’t be cranky. It’s not my fault that the reason you did this was simple, common, basic revenge. It’s not even original.”

“Shut up,” she said.

“You weren’t in Vancouver visiting your dad, were you? You went there to find that guy.”

There was a whoosh as a train went under the bridge we stood on, disappearing around the corner. “Did you bring me here to remind me of Connor? To make me feel bad?”

“Do you? Do you feel bad?” I cocked my head. “I don’t think you do, but you’re right, being here isn’t an accident. It’s to make you remember. You went pretty far to get what you wanted, but it still didn’t work. Connor’s dead and that guy still doesn’t care about you at all. Even now, when he’s divorced.”

Nicki’s face cycled through a range of emotions. She jumped up so she was standing on the low bridge wall. She walked back and forth as if she were on a stage. I could see her wrestling her feelings back under control. She was up there because she wanted to be in power, but it was in appearance only. “Let’s hear it for the girl genius, ladies and gentlemen.” She gestured theatrically in my direction. “She finally figured out it wasn’t all about her.”

I stared at her as if she bored me. “Don’t they say sarcasm is the lowest form of humor? Just be honest. Did you do something to that guy in Vancouver?”

The corners of her mouth curled. “Confessing to anything, even without you recording, strikes me as foolish. Let’s leave it with the idea that he’s not likely to bother me anymore.”

I crossed my arms over my chest as I looked at her. “You have a way of getting rid of things that bother you.” I wondered if the baby had even died of crib death or if there was another victim to add to her list.

Nicki kicked a loose stone, sending it flying into the empty space behind her, and watched it fall. “The good news is that you do seem to grasp what I’m capable of. I guess we’ll have to leave it as a draw.”

“What does that mean?”

She shrugged. “You go home. I stay here.”

I shook my head. “I don’t think so.”

Nicki rolled her eyes. “Oh, now you’ve got some big plan? Now you’re the one in charge?” She put her hands on her hips, but she didn’t fool me. There was a slight tremor in her arms. She was scared.

“I was always in charge of what I chose to do—?I’d just forgotten. I’m going to the police. I’m going to tell them about what I did last night. That woman will have made a report. I’m certain she knows your real name. The only way I would have known about her and her house is through you. The police will find a picture of you, Alex can confirm you pretended to be Erin, and if you were stupid enough to do something to the husband in Vancouver, then I’m pretty sure that will be the end of it for you.”

“You aren’t going to say a thing.” She pinned me in place with her eyes, looking down her nose. “Unless you want to end up in your own world of hurt. I’ll tell them that we bonded over stories of murder and mayhem. At the end of the day I still have no reason to have murdered Connor, but you do.”

I felt myself take a deep breath. “I don’t care. I’ll take my chances.” It started to rain again. No one was out in this weather.

Her face was flushed an angry red. “Don’t be stupid.” Spittle flew out of her mouth. “You’ll ruin it for both of us.”

“Doing the right thing doesn’t ruin anything.”

Nicki kicked the wall in frustration, sending a spray of small rocks into my chest. “I can’t wait to see you try to explain this.” She dangled my list in front of me and I shrugged.

“I’ll explain it the best I can and people can believe me or not. It doesn’t matter anymore what people think of me. The ones who matter will know the truth.”

She wadded up the list and threw it at me. It bounced harmlessly off my chin and skittered to the ground. Nicki looked disappointed, as if she thought it was a grenade that had failed to detonate.

“In case you’re wondering,” I said, “you aren’t one of the people who matter.”

I could see her drawing saliva. She lurched forward to spit on me, but the movement put her off balance.

Time seemed to slow down. One Mississippi.

Her eyes widened as she realized she was teetering. Two Mississippi.

I lunged forward and grabbed ahold of her wrist, pulling her toward me, away from the edge. Three Mississippi.

She snarled at me and yanked her wrist free, smiling as she tipped back. Nicki plunged off the bridge. Her scream was drowned out by the blast of a train as it shot out of the tunnel below.