The Perfect Couple (Last Stand #4)(97)
Author: Brenda Novak

She held out her hand to look at the ring he’d bought her yesterday.

She wanted to believe it was proof of his love. But his other actions proved the opposite. Before driving off with Zoe, he’d told her Tommy would be calling, that she was to "spend some time with him and be open-minded and cooperative."

How could he be so unconcerned with how she’d feel about being with Tommy? When Colin was planning to participate it was different. At least she’d convinced herself it was different. But this…this signaled a change in their relationship, and not for the better. He used to be possessive, angry if any other man even looked at her.

She thought of the remains in the outhouse and Rover and Sam. And what he’d done to them…

Look where she’d let him lead her. All in the hope of making him happy, of being everything he could ever want her to be, of securing his love.

She was crying too hard to see the road, so she took the next off-ramp and pulled to the side. Then she called Sheryl.

Her stepmother-in-law answered on the third ring. "Hello?"

"Sheryl?"

"Tiffany? You sound strange. Are you okay, honey?"

Self-loathing threatened to choke her. "No, no, I’m not okay," she said. "I’m not okay at all."

"Why not? Where are you?"

"It doesn’t matter. I just…called to–to tell you…" She pictured the man she loved more than she’d ever loved anyone or anything, wearing the smile that dazzled her every time she saw it–and almost lost her nerve.

"What is it?" Sheryl prompted.

Grabbing the steering wheel, she hung on. "Colin killed Paddy, Sheryl."

"What?"

Now that she’d begun, the rest came easily. She blurted it out as if she’d been carrying it for so long she couldn’t carry it another second, gulping for breath amidst her tears. "He–he buried him somewhere out in the woods. I don’t know where. I didn’t go with him. But I saw Paddy. I saw the blood. I saw him clean it up. Then I–"

A soft, heartbroken wail interrupted. "No!"

"I’m sorry," Tiffany whispered.

"Tell me it isn’t true," Sheryl begged.

Tiffany wished she could. What had she allowed herself to become?

What had she allowed Colin to become? Or had he possessed the soul of a killer all along? "It’s true," she said. "And there are others." She did her best to describe Colin’s other pets, but Sheryl didn’t seem to care about that.

"Why?" she asked, but she was pleading for an explanation no one could give her, least of all Tiffany. She had no idea why Colin found joy in the things he did. As much as she loved him, as much as she admired him in so many ways, she’d never really understood him.

"Why does anyone do what he’s done? Because…something’s missing." Realizing that she’d parked near a steep precipice, Tiffany got out and peered over the edge.

"Oh God," Sheryl wailed. "Oh God."

Tiffany moved closer to the drop-off, watching as some of the dirt beneath her toes crumbled and fell away. Maybe she hadn’t loved Colin as much as she’d always thought. Maybe she was in love with the idea of being loved. She’d done everything she’d done to make someone finally care about her. But it hadn’t worked because Colin was incapable of caring about anyone.

Suddenly, she started to laugh.

"What is it?" Sheryl said.

"He was right about me."

"What do you mean?"

"I am stupid."

The tenor of Sheryl’s voice changed. "Tiffany, what about the missing girl?"

"Samantha Duncan?" The wind, cooler now that evening approached, ruffled her hair. It was beautiful here. One of the most beautiful places on earth.

"Where is she?"

"Colin has her and her mother. He’s taking them to a cabin in Chester."

"Where in Chester?"

"I don’t know, but his friend Tommy Tuttle does."

"Colin’s not going to…to kill them, is he? He killed Paddy because…because they had some sort of argument, right? It wasn’t a cold-blooded, calculated murder."

"He killed Paddy because Paddy figured it out, because Paddy guessed the truth. And he killed that other kid, like I told you. He’s going to kill again unless you stop him."

"This can’t be real," Sheryl muttered. "This can’t be happening."

Tiffany understood. The world had taken on a surreal quality for her, too. It’d just been surreal for so long she’d stopped noticing.

But she was noticing now. She wouldn’t be going back to her nice home in Rocklin, wouldn’t be telling anyone she was married to a successful lawyer, wouldn’t be flaunting her new diamond ring or hoping and praying that going without the next candy bar would finally make her perfect enough to satisfy her husband.

She wouldn’t have any of those things. But neither would she die a slow death in prison.

"Call the police," she said and snapped her phone shut. Then she got back in her car, floored the gas pedal while it was still in Park and popped the transmission into Drive.

Crazy thing was…she wanted Colin even as the car plummeted into the ravine.

Sheryl Bell’s call came while Jonathan was driving back to Sacramento. He hadn’t wanted to leave Paddy’s cabin–it was where Zoe’s trail had gone cold–but he’d given Glen a ride back to Nyack. Now he wasn’t sure what else to do. He had no clue where Colin might’ve taken Sam and Zoe, no clue where to go next. Ever since he’d gotten back into an area that had cell-phone coverage, he’d been calling Colin and Tiffany’s home phone as well as Colin’s cell phone–incessantly–but neither of them picked up.

He’d tried Jasmine, too, but she couldn’t tell him any more. He needed to find them fast, she said. But he’d already known that.

"I can tell you where Colin is," Sheryl announced the minute he said hello.

Jonathan slammed on his brakes. "Where?"

"Chester, up near Lake Almanor."

That had to be two hours away, at least. Probably three, what with the winding roads. Jonathan tried to work out the best way to get there. Up through Reno? Had to be. It’d take forever to go around the other way….

"Why Chester?" he asked.

"He’s planning to stay in a friend’s rental house. It’s such a dump it’s been empty for months."

"Who told you this?"

"Tiffany."

"Tiffany?" he repeated in surprise. "I assumed she’d be with him." He was positive she’d been in on everything up to this point. She’d given Colin an alibi for Paddy’s murder, hadn’t she?

"No."

Jonathan turned around at the next exit. He had GPS on his phone, but he could drive as far as Reno before he had to use it. "Where is she, then?"