The Opposite of Dark

by Debra Purdy Kong

  Rhonda stood up straight. “That explains the blood on his shirt and the cop cars out front. The shithead didn’t act like he was hurt, though.” She brushed away the tears. “He even told me where I might find you.”

  “Lalonde needs to be told, Rhonda.”

  “No!”

  “It’s all right, I found the money. We’ll get her back.”

  “Thank god!” She embraced Casey. “What tape was Darcy talking about?”

  “A chat between Dad and Darcy that made it clear Darcy arranged the botulism poisoning. He’d promised Dad an antidote if Dad told him where the money was.”

  “If Marcus had told him none of this would have happened!”

  “He still would have died. Darcy didn’t have an antidote. Casey started to ease away from Rhonda, but her friend wouldn’t let go.

  “I wish I’d known about the impostor,” Rhonda mumbled. “Thought Marcus pretended to forget the past to get rid of me. And when I saw Lillian’s picture on his night table, I . . . I couldn’t handle that.”

  Casey pushed herself away from Rhonda. “You were in his bedroom?”

  “Once, briefly,” Rhonda’s eyes flashed with anger. “No way in hell would I let Lillian have him again.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I fought back.” Rhonda reached for Casey’s hands. “Summer’s Sunday practices are two hours long, so I had time to change into something nice and go see him.” Her lips quivered and her eyes couldn’t quite meet Casey’s. “I always returned in time.”

  Casey didn’t want to hear this. She tried to step back, but Rhonda’s grip was firm. “Rhonda, we need to focus on Summer.”

  “You have to hear! That man died because of me.” She squeezed Casey’s hands. “The harder I tried to be close to Marcus, the further he pushed me away. So I had a dress made in his favorite color. Wore it that night so he’d see how sophisticated I could be.”

  “Stop it!”

  “He tried to convince me he wasn’t Marcus. Said he was engaged to some European woman. Then I remembered the invitation Lillian sent.” Anguish twisted Rhonda’s features as she released Casey. “She’d thrown his betrayal in my face. Only it wasn’t betrayal, was it? He really wasn’t Marcus. Marcus loved me. I know that now.”

  Sweat trickled down Casey’s sides. Her cheeks burned. “Rhonda, please don’t say anything else. We’ve got to think about Summer.”

  Rhonda gazed across the courtyard. “I honestly believed he was Marcus, and when I thought of all the pain he’d caused you, me, and Summer . . .”

  “Not now!” The strength drained from Casey’s legs and she grabbed the table. Sand clung to her damp palms. A fake geranium fell on the floor.

  “Yes, now! You’re like me. You always need to know why. That’s what Europe was about, right?” Tears dropped from Rhonda’s chin. “Marcus was making supper when I arrived and didn’t want to talk, but I shoved my way in.”

  “Shut up!” Casey covered her ears.

  “We went into the den,” she murmured. “He said he’d be leaving the country for good.”

  Casey lowered her hands. “Rhonda—”

  “I asked to use the bathroom and snuck into his bedroom for the second time that month.” Rhonda’s tears trickled down her face. “I saw photos of a woman and Lillian, of course, and wondered how many other women he’d had, and . . .” She dragged her hands down her face. “I don’t know.”

  Casey’s heart was trying to pound its way out of her chest. Bile burned her throat.

  “I don’t remember going into the kitchen . . . picking up the cleaver. I don’t remember anything until I was in my car, hands on the steering wheel, and then I saw the blood.” Rhonda wiped her hands on her jeans, as if it was still there.

  Tears welled up in Casey’s eyes. This was all wrong.

  “I went back inside to wash and change clothes,” Rhonda went on. “I was going to clean the cleaver and leave it, but Summer’s practice was almost over, so I brought it home.” She looked nervously at Casey, as if aware of her own irrationality and her helplessness against it.

  “How . . . how often did you come here?”

  “Three times. I wanted so much to be with Marcus again. To be his glamor lady.”

  Glamor lady? She thought of the appliquéd picture in Rhonda’s living room. Oh god, the blue sequined dress was an exact replica of the one in the photo. How could Rhonda have lost it like that? How could she have let rage and jealousy drive her to murder? Something else occurred to Casey, a thought that horrified her almost as much as Rhonda’s confession. By finding the dress and hat, she’d probably provided the last bit of evidence needed to convict Rhonda.

  “Where’d you get the money for the outfit?”

  “Bank loan.” Her quivering smile unnerved Casey. “Told them I needed to renovate.”

  “But the dress was at Mother’s place.”

  “I took your lock picks while you were at the hospital.”

  “You remembered how to use them?”

  “Pretty much, though Lillian’s lock gave me problems.” She wrung her hands together. “I followed three young guys into the building. They never gave me a second glance.”

  “When exactly were you there?”

  “After eleven, while Summer was asleep. I called ahead to see if Lillian and Darcy were there, but no one answered. If they had, I would have told her that you needed to see her urgently. Lillian would have bought it.”

  “You took a huge risk.”

  “I’ve always taken risks where Lillian’s concerned.”

  Casey swiped at the tears trickling down her cheek.

  “Before I wore it that night, I kept the dress in a locked trunk under boxes in the basement.” Rhonda wiped her face with the back of her hand. “I was going to burn everything when I could, but when Lillian threatened me, when she said she’d tell Summer the truth about her birth, well, she deserved to be blamed. Your plan to search her place gave me the idea. After you went there, I tried to get hold of Lalonde to let him know you were searching for the dress there, but he wasn’t available so I talked to his assistant.”

  Krueger. “Oh, Rhonda.” This was insane.

  “My alibi the night of the murder is shaky. I did talk to people at the pool, but then I left. Most of the parents do because the practices are so long.”

  “Oh, god.” Casey tried to take deep calming breaths, but it wasn’t working.

  “Don’t worry, hon, you won’t have to lie for me. I told you all this because I think Lalonde’s interviewed all of the team’s parents now. One of the moms I’m friendly with called yesterday to let me know he’d contacted her. He probably suspected me all along.” Frightened eyes blinked at her. “He’ll prove I was the killer, won’t he? I mean, there’s no way around this.”

  Casey didn’t have the courage to confirm it.

  “I’m sorry I killed Gustaf Osterman,” Rhonda mumbled. “For his family’s sake, I truly am sorry.”

  Casey knelt down, lifted the tile, and looked up. “You knew Mother was innocent, yet you called the police and tried to keep her from leaving.”

  Rhonda’s expression grew harsh. “If there was anything I could do to make Lillian’s life more difficult, I would. It’s only fair since she tried to ruin mine. Besides, I’m sure she has crimes to hide, given the losers she associates with.”

  Mother had said Rhonda would hurt herself more than anyone else could. She must have figured out the truth. Casey turned the key.

  “Holy crap,” Rhonda said, watching the panel open.

  Casey removed the first briefcase and slid it to her. “We need to make a plan. Once Darcy takes the money, he won’t let you and Summer walk away.”

  “I can’t involve you more than I already have.” Rhonda opened the case.

  Casey was frightened for Summer, not only for the danger she was in, but also for subsequent events that would destroy her happiness once Rhonda was arrested, with one awful truth after another exposed. The t
ruth that would eat at her. Whether Rhonda realized it or not, she was going to cause Summer more pain than any enemy ever could.

  “You’ll look after Summer, won’t you?” Rhonda’s voice shook. “Buy her a puppy. God knows she’s earned it.”

  “Rhonda, you’ve got to let me help you! Darcy’s killed more than once.”

  Her fearful eyes met Casey’s. “What can you do?”

  It took five minutes to come up with a plan that could work if no glitches cropped up, but the potential for glitches was great. Still, what the hell choice did she have? After ensuring that each briefcase contained the money, Casey and Rhonda carried them outside. Casey scanned the yard. No officers were around and the police cruisers were gone.

  After they placed the cases in Rhonda’s station wagon, Casey said, “Remember to back the car into the parking space.”

  “What about the tape?”

  “It’s in my safe-deposit box, but the bank’s now closed. Use one of your old Mozart tapes from home.”

  “And if he wants to play it?”

  “Hopefully, he won’t get a chance to see it, let alone listen. But you have to stay calm for Summer’s sake, okay?”

  Rhonda trembled. “Whatever it takes.”

  Watching her drive away, Casey stood there, thinking and worrying. They needed help. She headed back inside and called Detective Lalonde.

  Before she could explain what was going on, he said, “Are you still at the house, Casey?”

  “Yeah.” Lalonde had never used her first name before. “Where are you?”

  “Outside Mrs. Stubbs’s home.”

  “Did you find Theo and Darcy?”

  “No. Do you know where Mrs. Stubbs is?”

  “That’s why I called. She’s on her way to rescue her daughter.” Casey’s legs started shaking again, so she sat on the floor. “Darcy kidnapped Summer and Rhonda was determined to get her back on her own. I talked her out of it by coming up with an alternate plan.” Casey told him their plan.

  “I can think of a dozen reasons why something could go wrong,” Lalonde said. “You should have called me sooner.”

  “I just learned about this, Detective. What was I supposed to do?”

  “Can you call her back and tell her we’ll deal with him?”

  “She doesn’t have a cell phone, and she’ll panic if you guys show up in my place. But if you’re there without either of them seeing you, then we have a chance.”

  As Lalonde swore and started lecturing her, Casey cut in. “There’s something else you should know.” She swept a tear away. “Rhonda just confessed to killing Gustaf Osterman.”

  “I see.”

  He didn’t sound surprised. “You already knew, didn’t you?”

  “We confirmed it this afternoon. One of the people I interviewed this morning was a neighbor who’d been out of town when the murder happened that Sunday night. We’d talked to her when she returned, and she told me her children had been house-sitting. The daughter had been out that evening and the son had returned to the University of Victoria Saturday morning, or so she thought.”

  Casey feared what was coming, but she had to know, “Meaning?”

  “Yesterday, the mother phoned her son and at some point in their conversation, she mentioned my chat with her. That’s when her son confessed that he’d held a huge party in his parents’ home Saturday night and spent most of Sunday recovering. He wound up catching the last ferry to Swartz Bay that night.”

  Casey fought back the tears. “Did he see Rhonda?”

  “No, but he saw her station wagon pull into your father’s driveway. The boy was on his way back from walking the family dog just after seven-thirty. The kid knows cars and he was able to describe Mrs. Stubbs’s vehicle in detail.”

  Casey closed her eyes. God, it really was over. “Rhonda originally hid the clothes in a trunk under some boxes in her basement. Her voice caught. “You might find more sequins there.”

  “Thank you.” Lalonde cleared his throat. “I have more bad news, I’m afraid.”

  She wasn’t sure she could take much more. “What is it?”

  “It seems that your mother lost control of her car on the Sea-to-Sky Highway between Squamish and Whistler. According to witnesses, she was speeding when she missed a curve and hit an oncoming truck. The impact sent her over an embankment. By the time anyone could reach her she was gone.”

  “What?”

  “She died. I’m sorry.”

  The floor blurred around Casey.

  “Are you there?” he asked.

  “Yeah.” Anguish burned her throat. “Darcy and Theo are responsible, I know it.”

  “They’re responsible for many things.”

  “Both my parents are dead because of their relationship with those two,” she said, struggling to stay in control.

  “Charges will be laid, I promise you.”

  But it wasn’t nearly enough. Casey hung up and started to cry.

  Thirty-two

  CASEY PARKED ON McLean, just west of the community center’s tennis courts. She stepped out of the car and scanned the area for Lalonde. No sign of him, but then, he and his team wouldn’t be obvious.

  She removed the tire iron from her trunk and hid it under the jacket she was carrying. Casey walked down a lane toward Britannia’s parking lot. She felt shaky especially with the news about Mother and Rhonda’s confession, but getting Summer back was too important to let emotion overwhelm her again.

  To Casey’s right, a concrete wall prevented her from seeing the tennis courts on top of a small hill. Buildings on her left partially blocked her view of Venables Street.

  Darcy would either have to drive along this lane to enter the parking lot or turn off Venables onto Cotton Drive, a short road leading directly into the center’s lot. Either entrance would be easy to watch from several vantage points, which was why she and Rhonda had agreed to arrive early.

  The tennis courts were vacant. The rain had stopped, but the gray damp air chilled her. Casey stayed close to the wall and peered around the corner. The parking lot served Britannia Secondary on the south side, the ice arena and indoor pool on the east. No sign of cops yet. Between rows of parking stalls, a variety of bushes and small trees had been planted. Several bushes were large enough to hide behind if she crouched.

  The lot was two-thirds full. Sports weren’t the only events held at this complex. The center also offered activities for families, teens, and seniors, as well as a day care. If Darcy pulled a gun here, someone could get hurt.

  Rhonda’s station wagon was plainly visible. As arranged, she’d backed into a parking space fairly close to Cotton Drive. For now, the stalls on either side of her were empty. Behind the steering wheel, Rhonda didn’t move. She was probably staring at Cotton Drive, waiting for the first glimpse of Summer. All of the other vehicles in the lot were unoccupied, yet this could change any moment.

  Casey walked toward the bushes separating the station wagon from the vehicle behind it. She didn’t try to make eye contact with Rhonda. Rhonda wasn’t supposed to acknowledge her at all.

  The largest bush was behind Rhonda’s car and a little to the side. Casey knelt down and through a gap in the foliage, spotted the Cotton Drive entrance. If she scooted to the other side of the bush, she’d be able to see the lane entrance. Darcy wouldn’t be driving his Porsche and he wasn’t likely to approach Rhonda on foot. On the other hand, anything was possible with that freak. If he refused to get out of his car, their plan would collapse.

  A green Jeep Cherokee entered the lot from Cotton Drive. The vehicle stopped a moment before cruising toward the station wagon. Blue eyeglasses and tight blond curls made Darcy easy to identify. Summer sat beside him. Darcy backed into the stall on Rhonda’s right. It looked like he wanted a quick getaway too.

  Casey ducked down and heard a car door open. Peeking through the gap, she watched Darcy step out. The left shoulder of his shirt was covered in blood. Judging by the scowl on his face, pain wasn’t
helping his mood. Leaving the driver’s door open, he kept his gun lowered. From this angle, Casey couldn’t see Summer’s face.

  Rhonda was supposed to keep Darcy busy examining the contents of each briefcase while Casey crept up from behind and struck him with the tire iron hard enough to knock him out. Casey started to move when a moist salty hand clamped over her mouth. She gagged and tried to suck in air. Someone began massaging her neck.

  “Did you find the money?” Theo whispered.

  As his hand slid away, Casey turned her head. She hoped Lalonde was watching this. “How’d you find me?”

  “How do I always find you?”

  Casey shook her head. God, she must have been too preoccupied to notice the tail.

  “Where’s the money?” he asked.

  “Rhonda’s about to give it to him.” Her voice was hushed as she watched Rhonda open the back of the station wagon. “She killed Gustaf Osterman—thought he was Dad.”

  As Theo raised an eyebrow, Darcy began speaking again.

  “You must have been shocked to learn of Casey’s new-found wealth,” he said to Rhonda.

  “There isn’t a secret on this planet that could shock me right now.”

  Casey spotted the pistol in Theo’s hand.

  “Open the case,” Darcy ordered, pointing to the one nearest him.

  “I want Summer in my car first.”

  “Do it!”

  She opened the briefcase and Darcy examined the money. “Good, now pull all of them out and open each one,” he said. “I’ve worked too hard and waited too long to be cheated.”

  As Rhonda did so, Theo whispered, “If they end up in his car, we’re lost.”

  Summer stepped out of the Cherokee. Darcy looked up at her.

  “Darcy!” Theo jumped up.

  Casey followed suit. “Summer, get down!”

  Darcy spun around and aimed his weapon at Casey. “Try anything, Theo, and I’ll kill her right here.”

  Rhonda shoved Darcy, knocking him off balance. The gun fired. Rhonda screamed, but no one was hit. Darcy tried to regain his balance as Theo tackled him. The gun flew out of Darcy’s hands, landing between the two vehicles. Summer scrambled into the station wagon while Rhonda grabbed the gun, then slid behind the wheel.