It had been years since Allegra had run full out. Probably since high school. But she had lettered in track—middle distance and 100 meter sprints—and even if she had let herself go a bit, she knew she had at least one good effort left in her.
Three steps in stiletto heels was far enough to prove she would never make it in time, so Allegra kicked them off, tossed her purse and bags under the display table outside of New Sage, and rummaged around in a bin full of hot pink canvas mules for a pair that fit. A pang of guilt over shoplifting fluttered through her mind, but right now she had more important things to worry about.
Allegra slipped the shoes on and ran like the hounds of hell were on her heels: across the street, down toward the church, and into the woods.
She took EV’s shortcut, lengthening her stride to eat up the distance as fast as her feet would carry her. Cutting across country this way was not quite as quick as driving, but because the road to that side of town was a series of switchbacks, Ashton would have to go slow. It would be close.
Twice on the way to EV’s house, distraction and speed nearly cost Ashton precious control of his car on a curve, but he pulled it out at the last minute. Confession is good for the soul—it was the one clear thought running through his mind while he hid his vehicle in the trees at the end of the cul-de-sac. When he was sure it couldn’t be seen, Ashton doubled back to test EV’s back door. It was open—almost no one locked their doors in Ponderosa Pines.
Because nothing bad ever happened here. Until now.
When he saw the crime scene photos spread across her dining room, Luther’s staring eyes sent a shudder through him; but it was the garish puddle of red spreading out from under Evan’s head that had Ashton riveted. The stark images turned his stomach.
He’d done that.
To another human being.
The gun hung forgotten at his side while tears ran down his face. He stood like a statue even when Chloe preceded EV through the front door.
Barely inside the room, Chloe caught sight of Ashton and quickly noticed the gun in his hand. Her knees turned to jelly; her heart kicked into a gallop; and her feet refused to carry her another inch.
“What the—” The words died in EV’s mouth when a wide-eyed Chloe leaned to the side so EV could see, and pointed to the man who shouldn’t have been there.
“Holy sh—” Chloe elbowed EV hard in the ribs and mouthed, “Do something!”
“Ow,” EV muttered absently; her brain busy running through various scenarios. Finally, she asked the question that seemed most logical: “What are you doing here, Ashton?”
“I didn’t mean to do it.”
“Of course not.” EV fought to keep her voice calm and soothing.
“We know Evan and Allegra were sleeping together, but why Luther? What did he do?” Chloe gave in to curiosity. Who knew what might happen in the next few minutes; she could at least die without that question on her mind. If they could keep him talking, some miracle might bring help.
Before he could explain exactly what Luther had done, Allegra burst through the door shouting, “I think Ashton killed Luther and Evan, and is on his way here! He has a gun!”
Not a miracle.
EV waved a hand with exaggerated impatience to show Allegra she was too late.
“Hello, Allegra.” Ashton’s face reddened; his voice turned cold. “Why don’t you come see what I did to your lover.”
The situation had just gone from bad to worse in the space of a heartbeat.
Chloe edged closer toward the kitchen island, thinking it might provide some protection if the gun went off. She dragged EV with her, inch by slow inch, while Ashton preoccupied himself with his wife.
Allegra swallowed hard but refused to look at the copies of the crime scene photos. Instead, she focused all of her attention on Ashton.
“It meant nothing.”
“Don’t lie to me again.” Ashton’s voice rose.
Chloe drove her elbow into EV’s ribs for the second time. “Do something, now!”
“Ashton,” EV said, her tone the same she would use on a child who needed to calm down. “Why don’t you tell us what happened,” she urged. “You’ll feel better if you get it off your chest.”
Catching Allegra’s eye, she tried to communicate to the woman that being quiet was in her best interest.
“Start with what happened to Luther so we can understand, and help you.”
The next minute felt an eternity long. The tension in the room was palpable while Ashton considered her request. Finally, he nodded twice and began to speak.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“It all started the night of the town meeting. Allegra and I have been…well, we haven’t been communicating on a deeper level for a few months now, if you know what I mean.” As sexual innuendo goes, this was probably the mildest one ever, but it fit perfectly with Ashton’s normal speech patterns. Always proper—even pedantic at times—but with a touch of drama.
He waited until both EV and Chloe nodded their understanding before continuing.
“My mind was a whirlwind of conflicting thoughts as I watched the two of them over the course of the evening. Until that night, I hoped I had been mistaken; that I had taken the admiring looks between Evan and Allegra for something more than what they were: the innocent glances between two people who agree on an issue. My wife is an attractive woman, and I could never blame a man for thinking so. But as the night wore on, unless it was my imagination, Allegra’s eyes seemed to seek Evan out with a hunger that she should be keeping only for me, her husband.
“Still, I couldn’t accuse her without evidence, so I watched and waited a few days until one night, when she fell asleep before me.” He glanced back and forth between them, his expression equal parts pleading and anger.
“I’m not as stupid as people think. It only took me a few minutes to crack the password on her cell phone—password is not a safe password, Allegra—and there it was, in black and white. Texts, emails, phone logs—proof.” He turned to his wife, disdain written all over his face.
“Did you think you could pull the wool over my eyes forever? No, it was time to face facts; my wife was having an affair with the sleaziest scumbag in town.”
He scrubbed a hand over his face. “ I felt like I was choking on the anger and everything went hazy. I had to get out of there, so I walked and walked until I ended up on Winding Road Lane. Half of me wanted to kill you, Allegra, but I knew that even though you might cheat, you would never leave me."
She paled, but didn't offer an excuse or an apology.
“When I felt calm enough, I started to turn back and realized how far I was from home. Then I heard voices coming from the church. I promise you I intended to turn away, but a name caught my attention. Without thinking twice, I slid into the shadows and listened."
Ashton turned away and continued his story.
“I heard the two of them plotting, and when one of them left, I was stunned. That's why I was still standing there, minutes later when a white cat streaked past me to leap through the window. I could hear Luther whistling while he worked. I heard him climbing the stepladder, then a muted cry followed by a thump. I was still standing there while Luther died.”
His shoulders hunched and rounded as he told the rest.
“You have to believe me—I had no idea what happened. If I had known, I would have tried to help. I swear I would have. No matter what you might think of me, I didn’t kill Luther. It wasn’t murder; it was some kind of accident. The cat must have slammed into the ladder. You know how rickety it was, everyone who’s used it knows that.”
Gently, since she was in a position to know the facts, EV assured him, “There was nothing you could have done for Luther. Nothing anyone could have done.”
Her words had no effect; Ashton waved the gun around while the three women huddled together. Allegra had joined EV and Chloe behind the island.
Seeming unable to speak, Allegra bowed her head in shame. Every so often, she shook wit
h silent tears.
“I had no beef with Luther. It wasn’t his fault his brother couldn’t keep his hands to himself. I never wanted Luther dead. But when everyone thought he was murdered, it gave me ideas. I’m a lot smarter than people think I am,” he repeated.
“You hear that, Allegra? I’m not an idiot. You’re the stupid one. He joked about it. Did you know that? You were nothing but a joke. He laughed about dancing in the sheets with someone else’s wife. I heard him telling Luther about the blackmail notes, and figured I could use the situation to my advantage.”
Tears clogged Ashton’s voice. “He was holding one of the notes when he…when I hit him. After it was all over, I took it and used it to forge one for Luther. Then I dropped it in the box at Evan’s funeral. I figured if everyone thought the blackmailer killed them both, I’d be off the hook. All I meant to do was scare him into staying away from my wife, but then I heard them talking on the phone and my brain just clicked off. Everything went red and then…then Evan was dead.””
Chloe caught EV’s eye; this was the answer to why an empty envelope was among the items found at the scene of the crime.
“How did you get into his house?” Chloe tried to distract him, to buy more time. Maybe he would calm down enough to put the gun down before anyone got hurt, or worse, killed.
“This is Ponderosa Pines; nothing bad ever happens here. He left his doors unlocked just like everybody else does. There he was, so busy celebrating over fighting with EV, and then breaking my wife’s heart, he didn’t hear me when I walked up behind him. But I could hear you, Allegra, crying and begging him for one more chance to be together.”
“Let me get this straight.” EV’s words fell like desert dust. “You killed him—not just because he was sleeping with your wife—but because he broke up with her and made her cry?”
The man was batcrap crazy with a side of loose screws.
Chapter Thirty
When the call came in from Allegra, Nate had been in the unenviable position of standing between two invective-spitting sisters. Talia Plunkett and Lottie Calabrese were either going to make up or kill each other, and at this point, Nate wasn’t sure which one he preferred.
Having been raised by peace-loving parents who instilled them with a sense of propriety, the two women broke off the argument long enough to let him answer the phone.
“Hello.”
“Ashton’s headed toward EV Torrence’s place and he’s got a gun.”
“Allegra?”
“Yes. I’m going after him. Chloe and EV are on their way home. Hurry,” she hung up.
Nate turned to Talia. “You two are going to have to work this out without me.” He punched speed dial on his phone. “I need backup at EV Torrence’s place; Ashton Worth is over there and he’s looking for trouble. Watch yourself, Burnsoll, he’s armed.” Nate’s uniformed butt barely touched his car seat before Talia and Lottie, fight forgotten, made a beeline for Lottie’s Prius.
* * *
Struggling to keep her tone quiet and even while every nerve in her body vibrated, Chloe filled the silence. “Ashton, Allegra’s crying can’t you hear her? She frightened and needs you to console her. Don’t you, Allegra?”
When Allegra continued to shudder, Chloe gave her the elbow, and followed it up with a tiny shove. Getting in between a homicidal maniac and his emotional trigger was just about the last thing she wanted to do today, and she silently cursed herself for not calling Nate the minute she and EV knew Ashton was the killer. If pushing Allegra into the fray was what it took to stay alive, she was all in with that.
“No. No. No. She doesn’t need me, that’s clearer than ever, now.” Ashton’s voice quavered. “There’s only one thing left to do.”
“But she does need you. Look at her, Ashton. Look at her.” He turned his head away.
“Talk to him, Allegra. Right now,” Chloe hissed at the woman. “Before he kills us all. This is your mess; now you clean it up.”
When Allegra finally opened her mouth, what came out was completely unexpected, “Shoot me, Ashton. Please just kill me. I can’t bear to live knowing all the pain I’ve caused.” Allegra stumbled away from the scant protection provided by the kitchen island, taking several tentative steps toward her husband.
“No. Don’t come any closer,” he all but shrieked at her. The gun rose upward to slam, barrel first, into his temple. His finger slid onto the trigger.
“Stop!” Allegra cried out. “Don’t, please Ashton, please. For me.”
“Why? You don’t want me, haven’t wanted me for a long time. I’ve killed someone, Allegra. There’s no coming back from this. I’ve lost everything. Everything. Don’t come any closer.”
Ashton’s finger twitched, began to squeeze, but Allegra kept walking.
Chloe dropped to the floor, grabbed EV’s arm, and dragged her down, out of the line of fire.
The next thing they heard was the crash of breaking glass as Nate burst through the window and slammed into Ashton, knocking the gun free from his hands. Dalton used the door, but it was all over before he cleared the frame.
All the fight gone out of him, Ashton sobbed while Nate secured his hands behind his back and left him to lie among glittering shards of window glass before rounding the island to see for himself whether Chloe was hurt. His words were terse, his voice strained, when he ordered Dalton, “See to Allegra.”
He pulled first EV then Chloe to their feet, and checked them for damage before giving Chloe a shake. “What were you thinking? You don’t chase after criminals; you could have been hurt.”
“Technically, he chased after us,” Chloe tried to pull Nate’s hands away, but he held her firmly and enveloped her into a tight hug. A chill that had nothing to do with recently being cornered by a madman with a gun ran up her spine. Chloe pressed her head to Nate’s chest, felt his heart racing in rhythm with her own. “I’m fine,” she said softly, looking up into the ocean blue of his eyes. “Nice tackle, by the way.”
“Are you sure you’re not hurt?” he asked, concern still coloring his face. “If anything had happened to you…” He pulled her close again before giving her another shake. “Chloe, you know you’re the one…”
“You’re the one who’s bleeding, Nathaniel.” EV gently pointed out before reaching for the first aid kit she kept in one of her kitchen drawers. Chloe could have killed her for interrupting at that particular moment. Nate had been about to say something interesting. Half a dozen shallow nicks testified to Nate’s trip through the window. With whatever moment they’d been about to have now passed, Chloe cleaned and treated each one with gentle hands while EV turned her own attention to Allegra.
A small gash on Allegra’s cheek dripped a stream of red, but EV was more concerned for the woman’s emotional state. Her shaking hands felt chilled, her face so pale that the drops of blood stood out in startling relief.
EV gave Dalton’s arm a squeeze before pulling Allegra away from him to settle her on the sofa with a crooked afghan. Using her voice as a soothing balm, EV reassured Allegra while she gently cleaned the cut, closed it with a butterfly bandage, then moved on to similarly treat Ashton.
As much trouble as he had caused, Ashton made a pitiful sight with tears and snot running down his face.
In the ensuing hours, a flurry of activity followed Nate’s spectacular takedown, making it impossible for he and Chloe to get a moment alone. She was starting to realize that EV might be right; her feelings for Nate were not as firmly planted in the friend zone as she’d been claiming. Still, it didn’t change the fact that he would hightail it as soon as he could. Regardless, now was not the time to sort out her feelings; people were still milling about, and probably would be for at least another couple of hours.
As if on cue, Talia and Lottie arrived with much skidding and screeching of tires, and stayed long after the state troopers had taken Ashton off to jail. To her surprise, Chloe was happy to see both of them, and greeted each with an uncharacteristically warm hug.
It turned out that Nate had been standing outside the window recording Ashton’s confession, and had only taken action when he threatened to kill himself. Once in police custody, Ashton clammed up. But the standard pat down turned up an envelope with Allegra’s name on it, containing a lengthy, tear-splotched confession written in his own hand.
Even as he was being hauled into custody, Ashton maintained he had never intended to harm EV or Chloe. No one was buying it.
Allegra, it was decided, would spend the night in EV’s guest room while Nate searched her house for evidence to support Ashton’s confession and ensure a conviction. She, along with EV and Chloe, scheduled a meeting with Dalton for the following day to make their official statements.
Before leaving, Dalton turned to EV. “You still owe me a night of dancing. Friday. I’ll pick you up at 8:00.” Then, before she had time to deflect, he pulled her against him and planted a searing kiss on her lips while Chloe hooted and cheered. Dalton’s face was red, but his grin was a mile wide when he turned to leave.
He never saw EV brush a hand over her mouth as she watched him walk away.
If EV thought the withering look she turned on Chloe would have any effect, she was sadly mistaken.
* * *
Once her heart rate slowed enough to think clearly, curiosity threatened to overwhelm Chloe. Had Allegra suspected Ashton? What did she know? Most of all, how long before Chloe could ask without being considered thoughtless? That elephant was so big it would take up way more than just the one room.
Her eye fell on Lottie. Lottie, who had not said a word about being the tipster while Nate was around. Chloe’s nose wrinkled at the smell of a good story. First chance she got, she’d pry. Turned out she didn’t even have to do that much.
Talia, tearful with relief at learning her Luther had not been murdered, bustled about the kitchen with a broom and dustpan. Everyone noticed, but did not remark on the fact that she continued sweeping long after every piece of glass was gone. Lottie finally grabbed the broom, tossed it away, and pulled her into a fierce hug.
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