“He’s simply a loose end we need to sew up,” I answered. Remembering what Jack instructed me to say, I changed course. “We think we discovered the murder weapon. We found it in one of the gift shops, if you can believe that. Jack is confirming it right now. If everything holds together, we’ll be able to say definitively that Shayne was murdered.”
Christine abandoned her knitting for what had to be the first time since I’d met her. “Are you serious?”
I nodded. “Half of our group never believed we were looking for a real shark. The other half wanted it to be true, but it looks as if that’s going to fall by the wayside.”
Instead of reacting with worry or excitement, J.D. blew up. “No way! The police said from the start that it looked like a shark attack. A big shark. That’s why I moved up the publication of my book. If a person did it, that won’t help my book launch.”
“Oh, well ... .” I hadn’t even considered that. “I don’t know what to tell you. The odds of it being a mega-shark were always pretty thin. Hopefully I’ll have more answers as soon as Jack is off the phone. He’s talking to our boss right now.”
“Well, this just bites the big one!” J.D. snapped. “I had big plans for that book. If police prove it was a person instead of a shark that’s going to suck. I can’t freaking believe it. I have the worst luck sometimes. I swear.”
I couldn’t help myself from poking him. “I thought you were the miracle man who spun golden words from thin air.”
J.D.’s frown was pronounced. “Haven’t you done enough to ruin my night? Do you have to make things worse?”
He had a point. I sipped my rum runner and then craned my neck to see around Summer. “Where is the bathroom?”
Summer pointed to the building to my right. “There.”
“Great.” I hopped off my stool. “I’m going to leave my drink here. I’ll be right back.”
Summer waved haphazardly. “I’ll keep your seat.”
“Great.” I shifted my focus to Jack as I trudged toward the bathroom, waving my hand to get his attention. He was clearly too focused on his phone — and mine, because he was using it to take photos — to notice where I was going. He didn’t so much as glance in my direction, instead fixating on his task.
Ah, well. He probably wouldn’t even notice I was gone. And, if he panicked Summer would tell him where I had gone.
I let myself into the small building that housed the bathrooms and glanced between the signs before heading to my right. I’d almost walked through the opening to the women’s bathroom when a hand grabbed my shoulder from behind and spun me, causing me to widen my eyes as I faced the one person I’d been looking for all day.
“Clark!” Oh, crap. I found him ... and at the worst possible time. “What are you doing here?”
“I was just going to ask you the same question,” he growled, his hair standing on end, as if he’d been swiping his hands through it the entire day and he no longer had control of how it looked. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done to me?”
“Me?” I was nervous, and I tried to take a step away from him. If I could make it inside the bathroom there was every chance I could lock myself in a stall and call Jack. Of course, after a few seconds of thinking that through I realized Jack had my phone. Still, I could hide until Jack decided to look for me. Summer knew where I was. She would send Jack ... just as soon as he stopped patting himself on the back for discounting a Megalodon as a killer.
“Who else would I blame?” Clark was beside himself. “You’ve been digging and telling people about Elsie and me. It’s your fault.”
I was frightened, a little off my game, but there was no way I would take responsibility for that. “You dated her,” I snapped. “You fought with her online. You killed her.”
Clark’s mouth dropped open. “I did not!”
“You did. We know how you did it, too. We saw the huge Megalodon teeth in the gift shop. They’re the exact size of the wound patterns. Did you see the teeth and get the idea, or did you kill her first and then stumble across the teeth and decide that was the best way for a cover-up?”
Clark made exasperated gestures with his hands. “I didn’t kill her. Stop saying that. Why would I kill her?”
“You were upset that she broke up with you.”
“That was more than a decade ago.”
“Yes, but you had plans,” I supplied, warming to my topic. “You thought she was going to play the dutiful housewife while you went out and provided for your family. It must have chafed your butt that she had that family with someone else.”
He sputtered, his cheeks red with distress. “I didn’t kill Elsie! As for breaking up, I was the one who wanted to end it. I tried to dump her before we even got out of high school. I started dating someone else ... although that ended in tragedy.”
Something clicked in my mind. “You’re talking about Nancy Nelson. We know all about her, too. You were seen with her the day she went missing and then her body was found in a bayou with alligators. That’s how you got the idea for what you decided to do to Shayne.”
I took another step back but the angle was wrong. I smacked into the wall instead of gliding through the open doorway. Well, crap.
“I didn’t kill her.” Instead of advancing, Clark dropped his hands to his sides. “I liked her. She was fun and totally sane. Do you have any idea how crazy Elsie was? I mean ... she was nuts. She made things ten times more difficult than they had to be.”
I was taken aback. “You didn’t kill Nancy?”
“No.”
“The cops think you did.”
“The cops are morons,” Clark spat. “They questioned me for weeks. They never believed a word I said. That’s why my father insisted I stop talking to them. He got a lawyer and told me to keep my mouth shut.”
He sounded sincere. Most good liars have the ability to fake sincerity, though. He could’ve simply been playing his part. “If you didn’t kill her, who did?”
“I think it was Elsie.”
I wasn’t expecting that response. “What?”
“You heard me.” Clark increased the distance between us, allowing me room to breathe as he paced the small hallway. I now had an avenue of escape, but I didn’t take it because I wanted to hear his theory on Nancy’s death. “Elsie was upset. I’d broken up with her the previous day, although no one knew it.
“She kept bugging me, begging me to get back together,” he continued. “One second she would be sweet and nice, promise me the world and that she would be a better girlfriend. The next she would be threatening, a territorial animal who promised she would rip out my throat if I didn’t change my mind.”
Sadly, that sounded just like her. I had never met the woman, but from what everyone said, she was a disgusting piece of work. “Did she know you were seeing Nancy?”
“I wasn’t technically seeing her,” Clark hedged. “I walked her home from school, talked to her a bit, and we hung out because she lived three doors down from me. I was gearing up to ask her out on an official date. I liked how easy she was to get along with. That’s what made me realize that my relationship with Elsie wasn’t normal.”
“Definitely not,” I agreed. “Just for the record, you’re never going to have a real relationship if you keep up this nonsense that women are supposed to be seen and not heard.”
“I don’t care about that.” He waved his hand. “That’s to sell books. I like my women feisty.” His eyes landed squarely on me. “If you weren’t such a pain … .”
Oddly enough, that didn’t make me feel warm and gooey all over. “I have a boyfriend.”
“Yes, and he would kill me for touching you. You don’t have to worry.”
I relaxed, though only marginally. “How would Elsie have killed Nancy?”
“She had plenty of opportunities. My guess is she was watching my house, saw us walk home together, and then approached Nancy after. But I have no proof of that.”
“Did you tell the police?”
“I didn’t have proof and, truth be told, Elsie frightened me. At that point, I simply wanted to get away from her. The relationship continued, but in name only. I pushed her away, hoping she would find someone else at college. That’s what happened, and you have no idea how relieved I was.”
“You fought with her online,” I pointed out. “Why would you do that?”
“Because the fear faded the older I got. I realized what she was — a manipulator — and I saw her hurting others. I wasn’t about to let that stand, not a second time.”
It made sense. Kind of. “Why not just tell the police all of this? Elsie isn’t around to terrorize you any longer.”
“The way she died echoed Nancy’s death. You were right about that. I’m afraid the cops will think I held onto a grudge for twelve years and then tried to pay her back with a murder in shark-infested waters. I’ve been talking to an attorney. We’re making plans to sit down and talk to investigators together, but I still have to get all of my ducks in a row.”
“Oh.” I licked lips. “Well, that sounds like a good plan. I wish you well in your future endeavors.”
Instead of responding in kind, Clark glowered. “That doesn’t change the fact that you’ve made things difficult for me. You’ve been pointing the finger all day.”
“You can’t possibly blame me. After we heard that alligator story you seemed the best possible suspect.”
“You’ve been telling anyone who will listen that you’ve been looking for me,” Clark argued. “Everyone knows you’re here investigating Elsie’s murder, so they assume I’m the guilty party. How do you think I’ll be able to recover from that?”
It was a fair question. I didn’t have an answer. “I don’t know. Tell them I was wrong.”
“It’s a little late for that.”
“Hey, if we find the real culprit you won’t have anything to worry about,” I pointed out. “That person’s face will be splattered all over the news and you’ll be able to paint yourself as a victim of the system you hate. You can write a prepper book about a man who gets a new lease on life after being falsely accused. When the end of the world comes, people will realize he’s a hero, not a zero.”
Clark worked his jaw. “I hate to admit it, but that’s a good idea,” he said finally. “I’m going to steal it.”
“That’s the least I owe you.” I waited a beat, but when he didn’t move to leave I pointed at the bathroom. “I don’t want to be a pain, but I came in here for a reason and I’m not comfortable going knowing you’re out here.”
“I just told you I wasn’t a killer.”
“And I believe you.” Mostly. “I still would prefer it if you weren’t here when I did my business. I don’t think it’s too much to ask.”
“Fine.” Clark morosely trudged toward the glass door that led outside. “I’ll be waiting in front of the building. I want you to tell your boyfriend I’m not a killer. He freaks me out more than you, if you can believe that.”
I could totally believe that. Jack was intimidating. “I’ll be done in a few minutes. I ... .” I forgot what I was going to say when the door behind Clark opened and Christine strolled inside, her knitting project clutched tightly in her hands.
It took her a moment to register what was going on, and when she did, her mouth dropped open.
“Holy crap! He’s here!” Her voice ratcheted up a notch. “He’s here! He’s here!”
Whoops. Keeping Clark’s presence under wraps was going to be more difficult than I’d envisioned.
Twenty-Eight
Christine’s appearance threw me for a loop. The shrill noises emanating from her set my teeth on edge, and I wanted to quiet her by whatever means necessary.
“Chill out,” I ordered, frustrated. “There’s no reason to get all worked up.”
“You were supposed to leave,” Christine barked, her eyes on Clark rather than me. “You weren’t supposed to stay. You were supposed to go.” She flapped her arms for emphasis, the knitting needles flying in eight different directions. “Why are you still here?”
“Because I have things to do,” Clark replied, annoyance evident. “Why do you even care?”
“You were supposed to leave.” Christine was adamant. “You were supposed to run so the cops would follow.”
I was confused and leery. “What are you talking about?”
She didn’t look at me, instead focusing on Clark. “You were supposed to go,” she said again, her eyes sharpening. “You were supposed to go and I need you to go. You weren’t supposed to be here ... and you need to not be here now.”
The shift in her demeanor was alarming. It was almost as if she’d become another person as she steadied herself. Instead of explaining what she was talking about, she simply reacted.
I realized what she was going to do when it was too late to make a difference, no time to reach out an arm and stop her. She raised her hand, one of her knitting needles clutched tightly, and jabbed it into Clark’s chest. He didn’t realize what was happening until the damage was already done. His eyes widened and he reached up to grab at the knitting needle embedded in his chest.
“What the ... ?” He didn’t finish his sentence, instead listing to his right and hitting the floor with a hard smack.
My mouth dropped open as I slowly shifted my eyes to Christine. Part of me was convinced this had to be a dream, that I would wake up any second and start the day over. When Christine turned her eyes to me, I found madness waiting.
“What did you do?” I started to move toward Clark, some wild notion that she would see the error of her ways and help me bubbling up, but she shoved me hard before I could get to him, slamming me into the brick wall at my back and raising the second knitting needle to make sure I realized she meant business.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she drawled, her eyes serious as she looked me up and down. “I can’t let you help him. I need him dead.” Her affect was flat, as if she were already disassociating herself from what she’d done.
“He needs help,” I said quietly, collecting myself. Clark’s breathing was shallow, blood soaking his shirt. “He could be saved. I need to call for help.”
“I don’t want him saved.”
“But ... .”
“I don’t want him saved!” she shrieked, her eyes flashing. “Is your hearing bad? Do you have trouble comprehending the words coming out of my mouth? Do you need me to write it in crayon for you?”
The words were harsh; the emotion behind them harsher. Christine was clearly so much more than I’d thought. I needed to figure a way out ... for me and for Clark ... and I had to do it fast.
“I understand.” I held up my hands in a placating manner, reminding myself that she wasn’t a trained assassin. I could take her if it became necessary. She had a knitting needle, but I had something more. I was hopeful I could talk her down before magic became necessary.
I licked my lips and collected my thoughts. “You killed Shayne Rivers, didn’t you?”
Christine blinked several times. “Obviously.”
“Why?”
“Why do you think?”
Was that a serious question? I couldn’t be sure. “I don’t know.” I opted for honesty. “I can’t figure it out. Was it because you wanted to help your husband launch the shark book he’s been planning?”
“Partially.”
“What was the other part?”
“You never met Shayne so you can’t fully understand how evil she was.” Christine took on a far-off expression as she shook her head. “She was truly evil. You have no idea how horrible she was.”
“I’ve heard a few stories. I’ve heard about the things she did, the people she hurt. You weren’t on the list of victims. Never once did I hear your name mentioned.”
“That’s because she usually ignored me,” Christine supplied, scratching her cheek with the other knitting needle. She seemed confused, as if too much was happening for her to grasp the full magnitude of her a
ctions. “She paid absolutely zero attention to me until that night.”
“And what happened that night?”
“I heard her on the beach,” Christine explained. “She was talking on the phone. I’m not sure to whom. She had a plan, though. She was going to write a series that was almost exactly like my husband’s biggest-selling series.”
“The shark series?”
“That hasn’t hit yet.”
“Of course.”
She rolled her neck, the cracking sound almost deafening in the small space. “She wanted to ruin J.D. Not because he’d ever done anything to her, but because she enjoyed ruining people. She made no bones about it. She had a good time screwing with people.”
“I believe that,” I said. “Everyone I talked to said she was a horrible person and was only happy when being cruel to others.”
“It wasn’t just that she was cruel,” Christine countered. “I can handle cruel. I’ve dealt with cruel before. She was much more than that. It was that she played the victim while victimizing others. That’s what I couldn’t stand.”
“You confronted her, didn’t you?” I tried to picture the scene in my head. “You couldn’t let her ruin your husband. That was the last straw.”
“I waited until she was off the phone,” Christine agreed. “She didn’t look happy when I called out to her. She called me names, made fun of J.D.’s weight, and then said we were going to end up back in the trailer park when she was done with us.
“I didn’t really mind the trailer park,” she continued. “I didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. J.D. wanted out so badly, though, I knew the idea of going back would kill him. I couldn’t let her hurt him so ... I hurt her.”
She was so calm during the recitation that it sent chills down my spine. “What happened?”
“It was fast. I had my knitting needles in my hands and I just ... .” She mimed stabbing the needle into an invisible person, indicating she’d done the same to Shayne that she’d done to Clark. The needle was sharp but not very big. That left a few obvious questions.
The Megalodon Mix-Up Page 26