“Are you serious? Look at her.” Katherine was climbing onto a table with the help of her new male friend. Moments later, she began dancing provocatively for a cheering crowd.
“I didn’t even know she could dance. She always said she had two left feet.”
To Lana, Bruce looked concerned, and a touch scared.
“She’s become a totally different person in a few hours’ time. As soon as we got Rachel’s suitcases up to the room, she tore them open and began trying everything on. She’s never been interested in fashion, makeup, or jewelry before. And as soon as she put on Rachel’s clothes, her personality seemed to transform, in a nasty way. I don’t know if it’s pent-up grief or jealousy, but it’s scaring me. I want my girlfriend back.”
As if called, Katherine sprung off the table and rushed over to them before grabbing Bruce and kissing him passionately.
Bruce pulled back from her embrace, clearly stunned.
Katherine laughed. “What’s wrong? I thought you liked women to take control!” She shot him a wicked smile, then sashayed her way back to the dance floor. Self-confidence oozed off of her.
“Do you think she hurt Rachel?” Lana asked.
“I want to say no, that Katherine could never have hurt her sister, but I really don’t know what to think right now. I’ve never seen her like this,” he said, his eyes never leaving his girlfriend.
As Lana watched him watching Katherine, a thought sprung into her mind. “Bruce, were you and Rachel ever romantically involved?”
His head whipped around. “Why would you think that?”
“Because Rachel seemed to have flirted with—or dated—pretty much every male who came within her vicinity.”
He ran his hands over his face. “You’re right about that—Rachel saw every man she met as a potential suitor. I am not proud of it, but Rachel and I did kiss once at a party. I was drunk and obviously not thinking clearly because Katherine is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“Does Katherine know?”
“No!’ Bruce grabbed Lana’s shoulders and turned her so he could look her in the eye. “I shouldn’t have said anything to you. Please, I don’t know what the truth would do to her. She was so worried about me and Rachel meeting because her sister tended to steal her boyfriends away, then dump them soon after.”
Lana frowned up at him. “So why did you kiss Rachel if you knew what it would do to your girlfriend?”
Bruce released his grip and looked away. “When I first met Rachel, I didn’t understand why Katherine was so concerned. She was kind, considerate, and didn’t seem to be interested in me whatsoever. But a few months later, we were all at a mutual friend’s birthday party, and Rachel cornered me. Katherine had a headache and had left early, but I wanted to stay a bit longer. Rachel was so flattering and funny, and she kept bringing me more beers. Before I knew it, she was leading me to a back room, and we were on a bed, kissing. It’s like she had hypnotized me.”
“How could you, Bruce? Poor Katherine. I can imagine she would be extremely upset if she found out. Did you sleep with Rachel?”
“No way! That was the creepy part. She pushed me onto the bed and told me how she could make me so much happier than Katherine ever could. It sobered me right up. It was pretty clear that she was only kissing me to hurt her sister. Ever since then, I’ve avoided Rachel at all costs. Katherine means so much to me; I don’t want to lose her.”
“What do you think she would do, if she ever found out?”
“Scratch Rachel’s eyes out for starters,” Bruce responded and then paled. “I didn’t mean that literally. No matter how strangely Kat is acting, she would never have hurt her own sister. She simply isn’t capable of it.”
“No, of course not,” Lana soothed. Yet she couldn’t help but wonder what the truth would have done to Katherine. Was grief making her act so strangely? Or was jealousy driving her mad? Lana had to find out more about the sisters’ fight she had witnessed from her hotel room.
“You aren’t going to say anything to Katherine, are you? Seeing as how Rachel’s dead, there’s no reason to come clean.”
“I guess you’re right.” Lana watched Katherine down another drink before springing back onto the table. Bruce had enough on his hands to worry about right now. Besides, she was more concerned about Randy’s freedom than the future of Katherine’s relationship.
25 Emerging From the Shadows
December 20—Day Three of the Wanderlust Tour in Rome, Italy
Heather and Katherine walked arm in arm on their way back to the hotel, giggling and singing as they stumbled across the center of Rome. The rest trailed after them, though in a less exuberant fashion. Lana considered cornering Katherine and trying to find out more about her fight with Rachel, but she quickly ditched the idea. Katherine was far too drunk to talk coherently. She had been receiving free drinks all night, and Bruce had to fight off one of her admirers when they wanted to leave.
The next morning, Katherine was downstairs in the breakfast hall, nursing a coffee and a hangover, when Lana entered the room. She scurried over and sat down across from Katherine, seizing her chance to chat freely before the others arrived.
“Hey, how are you holding up?”
Katherine grimaced and held her head. “I don’t know what came over me. I never drink that much. I don’t know if it was the clothes, jewelry, or music, but it was like I was possessed by my sister. It scares me a little because I liked it,” she whispered, staring at Lana with red-rimmed eyes. “What does that say about me? I despised Rachel.”
Lana laid a hand over hers. “Oh, hon, you two may not have gotten along, but she was your sister. Like it or not, you do share the same set of genes.”
Katherine blinked back a tear. “I wish my parents thought the same way. I wasn’t as perfect as Rachel, but I deserve their love, too.”
She took a swig of her coffee as Lana struggled to think of the right thing to say. Before she could, Katherine continued.
“Part of me is glad that she’s gone. And that’s what’s making me crazy. You’re not supposed to be happy when your sibling dies, are you?”
“No, I guess not,” Lana admitted. “But it’s not like you two had a healthy relationship.”
“I wouldn’t have hurt her, but it is freeing, knowing she is gone,” Katherine added. “Did you know that my parents introduce us as Rachel and her sister? Can you imagine how humiliating that is? For the first time, I’m not ‘the sister of’—I’m just Katherine.”
Lana could feel her eyes welling up. How could Katherine’s parents treat her so cruelly? “Are they doing alright?”
“I have no idea—Mom hasn’t returned any of my calls.”
“I’m so sorry. Maybe they’ll come around once they’ve had time to digest this news.”
“They have spent the past twenty-five years pretending I don’t exist. I doubt that will change.”
“At least you have Bruce.”
Katherine laughed bitterly. “That’s not really a consolation right now.”
“What is going on between you two—did you have a fight?”
Katherine bit her lip as she looked away. “No, we didn’t. I’m not good with confrontations, but it might be cathartic if we did.”
“I saw you and Rachel fighting outside of our hotel after she and Randy had that argument in the lobby. What were you two arguing about?”
“What are you talking about? I didn’t see her after she stormed out of our hotel.”
Lana’s eyebrows furrowed. “That’s not true—I saw you two fighting outside of the hotel a few minutes before Randy left for the train station.”
When Katherine began shaking her head no, Lana added, “I saw you slap Rachel. Please don’t deny it.”
Katherine’s eyes narrowed momentarily before her shoulders slumped. “What does it matter now? Rachel is dead; she can’t hurt me anymore.”
Lana sucked in her breath. “Were you afraid that she was going to steal Br
uce away? Is that why you hit her?”
“Yes.” Katherine’s voice cracked. “When you saw us fighting on the sidewalk, she had just told me about her and Bruce kissing at a party and how little it would take to steal him away. It really hurt to hear that he’d done that to me, but I know it wasn’t his fault. Rachel seduced him, just like she did all of my other boyfriends. She had to have him because he was mine. It was just a game to her. I wanted to kill her.”
“Did you?”
“No, I slapped her instead. I couldn’t have truly hurt her even if I’d wanted to. We were sisters.” Katherine sighed. “Now that she is gone, Bruce is all mine. I’m just not sure if I want him.”
“Don’t say that! You two are great together. Please don’t make any rash decisions right now. Give yourself time to adjust to Rachel’s death.”
Katherine ignored Lana’s remarks, instead choosing to down her coffee.
“Why do you think she was so obsessed with Randy? I mean, Rachel seemed like the kind of girl who could have gotten any man she pleased. Why did she focus all of her attention on the one who wasn’t interested in her?”
Katherine pursed her lips. “Precisely for that reason. Most men would have done anything to be with Rachel. She’d received countless marriage proposals, but laughed them all off. Rachel wasn’t interested in having a healthy, loving relationship. She wanted to be in control and manipulate others, and she was certainly not interested in being tied down to one man. I honestly don’t think Rachel knew what real love was.”
She rose, signaling the end of their conversation. Lana didn’t push. When Katherine grabbed her cup off the table and turned away, the door to the breakfast hall burst open.
“There you are!” Bruce called across the room, alarm in his voice.
“Speak of the devil…” Katherine murmured.
He ran over to her. “I was so worried when I woke up and saw you were gone.” He went to wrap her up in a hug, but Katherine stiffened and stepped away.
“Sorry, I need a little space this morning. My head is killing me.”
Bruce looked like a scolded puppy dog. “Oh, okay.” He started to turn away when he noticed the empty coffee cup in her hand. “Can I get you a refill?”
Katherine startled but handed him the mug. “Sure, that would be great.”
“When I get back, could I massage your shoulders? I know that helps with your headaches.”
Her expression softened as she tentatively took his hand. “I would love that. Thank you.”
Bruce pulled her hand to his lips, kissing it softly. “Anything for you, my love.”
Lana smiled at the young couple, glad to see they hadn’t shut each other out completely. There was hope for them yet.
26 Alex to the Rescue
When the breakfast room door opened again, a familiar voice called out, “Lana!”
“Alex! Boy, I sure missed you. How are you doing, darling?” Lana asked as she fell into his arms.
“Better now,” he said, nuzzling her neck.
“Hey, Alex!” Bruce waved them over to his table, where Alex shook his hand and pecked Katherine on one cheek.
“You hanging in there?” Bruce asked.
Alex ran a hand through his wavy hair. “I guess. I’m really worried about Randy. The police don’t seem to be searching for other suspects.”
Lana took his hand and threaded her fingers through his. “What did your boss say?”
“He is going to cover my sessions so I won’t lose my job.”
“Thank goodness!”
Alex looked to Bruce and Katherine. “Do you mind if I steal Lana away for a few minutes?”
“Of course, take all the time you need. We’ll wait for you down here,” Bruce said with a wink.
Once they were back in Lana’s hotel room, Alex sat down heavily on the bed, pulling her down next to him. “I missed you so much. But despite what Bruce thinks, I am not feeling romantically inclined right now. I can’t stop thinking about Randy.”
“I understand completely,” Lana said and kissed him on the forehead.
“What have you found out so far?”
“Nothing that indicates one of them had a strong motive for murdering Rachel, I’m afraid.” Lana puffed out her cheeks. “It’s such a strange idea, investigating Randy’s friends like this. Deep down, I hope that it wasn’t one of them, but a stranger, who did this.”
“I understand completely. Randy’s known all of them for years, well, except for Jake. It’s hard to believe any of them could do this. Yet, the police maintain the person who harmed Rachel was wearing a Straight Up Climbs jacket,” Alex said.
“What if Randy did pull Rachel away from that hotel’s awning, but someone else killed her?” Lana reasoned.
“Then we are out of luck. Besides, Randy says he didn’t see her during his walk to the station. As strange as it sounds, we better hope one of his friends did it, if we want to set him free,” Alex said grimly. “Otherwise we’re probably never going to know who did this.”
He took her hand and kissed her fingertips. “I need to know what you’ve found out. Someone hurt Rachel, and I refuse to believe it was my baby brother.”
Lana pulled away from her boyfriend and sat up straighter, determined to tell him everything. “For starters, I don’t think Craig could have done it. He was in a church at the time, on the other side of town from where Rachel was killed. I saw the pictures he took and checked the time stamps.”
Alex frowned. “I doubt Craig would have had a motive to hurt Rachel. As far as I know, they barely knew each other.”
“Apparently they knew each other quite well. Believe it or not, Craig said that he and Rachel went out a few times after Randy broke up with her. But he thinks it was so she could keep tabs on Randy. She dumped him pretty fast, once Craig stopped sharing information about Randy with her.”
“Ouch. Being used like that must have hurt.”
“It must not have bruised his ego too badly because they recently met up in a bar and talked long enough for him to tell her about Randy’s wedding.”
“What!” Alex’s face clouded over. “So he is the reason why Rachel knew where the wedding was taking place. I can’t believe it. Craig is one of Randy’s oldest friends.”
“I am afraid he wasn’t the first one to inform her. Craig said she already knew it was taking place in Italy on December 24. During our interview with the police, Jake told the officers that he and Rachel were dating. When I confronted him about it, Jake admitted that he had told Rachel.”
“Does friendship hold no meaning anymore? How could Jake do that to Randy?”
“He claims that he didn’t know Randy and Rachel had ever dated, and I have to say that I believe him. I’ve known Randy for a year now and never heard of Rachel or of him having had a stalker before.”
“Whether Jake meant to betray Randy or not—he did tell Rachel. If he had kept his mouth shut, Randy would be in Il Pino with Gloria right now instead of in a jail cell. I can’t believe Craig blabbed, as well! I’ll deal with them both later. Who is next?”
“Wait—Il Pino? Is that where Gloria’s grandfather’s vineyard is?”
“Yes.”
Lana cocked an eyebrow at him. “You knew the name of the mystery village the whole time?”
Alex held up his hands. “Randy’s secret, not mine. He was desperate to keep it under wraps so he only told those who needed to know. And with reason, it seems. Who’s next on your suspect list?”
“Bruce. He doesn’t seem the murdering type, either. And I don’t think he had enough of a motive to actually want to kill Rachel.”
“Did he have any motive? Rachel is his girlfriend’s older sister, so technically they are practically family.”
“Bruce and Rachel kissed at a party long ago, and he is terrified that Katherine will find out about it.”
“Geez, I would have thought his girlfriend’s sister would have been off-limits.”
“He claims Rachel seduc
ed him when he was inebriated, otherwise he would have fended her off. But it doesn’t really matter; he and Katherine were at dinner when Rachel was killed. Their waiter even took a picture of them. Based on the time stamp, they would not have had enough time to get to the Trevi and back again. At least, not without anyone noticing.”
“I bet Katherine would go through the roof if she ever found out about it. If Bruce was afraid she would leave him if Rachel told her, he might have thought that silencing her was the only way to save his relationship.”
“If he did, he wasted his time. Katherine already knew. A few minutes before Randy left for the train station, Katherine and Rachel got into an argument outside of the hotel. Rachel gloated about their kiss and threatened to steal Bruce away.”
“Man, Rachel was so mean to her. But did Bruce know that Rachel had already told Katherine?” Alex asked.
“Good question. That’s worth checking out. Yet as mad as Katherine is about Rachel and Bruce, I can’t believe she would have killed her sister. She’s too meek for starters. However, she has been acting strange since Rachel died, and I don’t know if the cause is guilt or grief.”
“That photograph proves they were both at the restaurant at that moment, but maybe one or both left and came back? From what Randy has told me, Katherine has been living in Rachel’s shadow since birth. Maybe she saw her chance to get rid of her sister, once and for all?”
“I guess we could ask the waitstaff if they remember Katherine or Bruce leaving for a half hour,” Lana said carefully. It was a long shot, but she understood his desire to identify another potential killer, if only to encourage the police to keep looking for other suspects.
“That leaves Jake or Heather.”
Lana nodded. “They both lied to me and the cops about where they were when Rachel died. I saw them when I was trailing after Randy, and I swear they seemed to be following him, too. But I lost them, just as I did Randy and Rachel. Craig said Jake and Heather showed up late for dinner, which means both were probably in the vicinity of the Trevi when Rachel died, so they could have done it. I don’t know if that means they are involved with the murder, but it is suspicious.”
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