Bouquet of Lies Part 41

"She's dead. I felt for a pulse," Randy said.

"G.o.d dammit," Jake responded. "You son of a b.i.t.c.h."

"What happened?" Uncle Carrick asked Randy.

"I was driving up when I heard a shot."

Jake didn't miss a beat. "There was a second shot. When you were inside."

"She shot her twice."

"I didn't shoot her!" Darla cried.

"It's okay," Randy called to her. "Everyone will understand."

"Why do you say that?" Darla asked.

"They have to know," Randy said.

Dan glanced at Darla. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

Randy continued. "I found her like this. She kept saying, 'Lacey came at me. Lacey came at me.' And then she said Lacey admitted that she killed their father and their grandfather."

"You're full of s.h.i.+t," Jake said, taking a step toward Randy. A uniformed officer pulled him back.

"Thank you." Randy nodded at the officer. "She dressed up like their mother to kill them. To disguise herself and to frighten Darla."

"You're nuts," Jake said.

"If Darla got committed, wouldn't Lacey be in control of Darla's share of the money?"

"But Darla married you," Jake pointed out.

"And that had to throw a wrench into her plans."

"The whole story's ridiculous." Jake shook his head.

"No. I think, if you check, you'll find a blond wig on the stairs. I noticed it trying to get the gun from my wife."

Dan found a wig and a mask tucked behind Darla. He raised them into the air.

"Lacey didn't count on the gun I gave her sister for protection," Randy said.

"I didn't shoot her," Darla said.

"Oh, sweetheart. I love you. But you did. And I'm afraid there's no escaping that hospital now. Or maybe prison," he added softly.

Lacey let a sigh escape from her lips and rose from Darla's lap. "That's about as much as I can stomach."

Randy's jaw dropped. His eyes grew wide.

Lacey offered a smile filled with hate and a whole lot of satisfaction. "Don't look so surprised. Sisterly love is stronger than any bulls.h.i.+t you can deliver."

Randy's eyes narrowed.

Lacey continued, "You really thought by killing me off, and getting Darla put . . . somewhere, that you'd get everything?"

"No. She shot you." Randy pointed at Darla.

"You shot me! After you knew I was still breathing. Too bad for you, I filled that gun with blanks. Blanks I found in Daddy's room."

"What?" Randy looked at Darla, his expression changed to a puppy-dog appearance of love. "Darla. I was only trying to protect you. Remember? We talked. We found those things in Lacey's room."

"I think you put them there," Darla said.

"See. Here's what you don't know about my sister," Lacey said. "She's really, really smart." She took Darla's hand and smiled at her. "People underestimate her. Have all her life."

Randy made a move for the stairs.

"Stay away from me!" Darla shouted.

"See what I mean?" Lacey said. "Smart."

Dan blocked Randy from reaching the two sisters. "I think you should cuff this guy," he said to the cops.

"Like h.e.l.l. I haven't done anything."

A cop came forward on Uncle Carrick's direction and handcuffed Randy.

"What is this?"

"You have the right to remain silent . . ." The arresting officer rattled off the familiar rights as he guided Randy down the stairs.

"You tell me what I'm being arrested for."

"Murder," Dan said, following behind.

"Who did I kill?"

"A woman named Honey Rhodes," Uncle Carrick said.

"Who? I never heard of a Honey Rhodes."

"That's because you thought you were killing our mother," Lacey informed him.

Randy's face froze in a weird sort of sneer. "You're out of your mind." His tone morphed to one soft as b.u.t.ter. "Darla. Darla, sweetheart."

"Don't call me sweetheart." She pulled her wedding ring off her finger and threw it at him. "I'm glad we never did it."

Everyone but Randy laughed as he was shoved out the door.

Thirty-nine.

DAN WATCHED THE officers press Randy into the back of the squad car.

"You're making a mistake," Randy growled.

Jake suddenly appeared beside him. "That's what they all say. Right, Officer O'Donnell . . . Dan?" Jake grinned.

The two men watched the car pull away. Jake waved.

Dan eyed Jake. The man was as happy as he'd seen anyone. Dan was happy, too, that things had worked out. But what if they hadn't? What if Randy had discovered that the gun was filled with blanks? What if he'd thrown Lacey down the stairs or killed her with his bare hands? What if he'd held the gun directly against her head when he fired it? Even with blanks in the gun . . .

As relieved as Dan was, he was upset more. Lacey had managed to pull this off, but what about next time? Not that she'd be facing a killer again, but what about the way she drove her car and her recklessness in general? He didn't want to always be worried about her in the back of his head. He didn't . . .

His cell rang. He checked. It was Lacey. He rejected the call.

"She might need you right now," Jake said. Obviously he'd seen his caller ID.

"I doubt that." Dan turned away.

"Hey, wait a minute."

Dan turned back. "That was some stupid stunt they pulled."

"Sometimes drastic situations call for drastic actions. You're a cop. You should know that."

"Lacey's not a cop."

"No. She's a regular person who found herself in dire straits."

"She should have confided in me."

"And what would you have done?"

"Stopped her."

"Now you know why she didn't tell you."

"But she should have."

"Yeah. In an ideal world she'd rely only on you. And you on her. Don't forget that part. And no one would ever screw up or do something the other person didn't like."

Dan frowned.

Jake continued. "You're a motorcycle cop. You think Lacey won't have to worry about that?"

"She didn't have to put herself in this situation."

"Randy put her in this situation. She dealt with it. Maybe Lacey was protecting you. Did you ever think of that? This isn't the dark ages, pal. Sometimes women have to save themselves. But not always. She'll need you. She needed you now. To talk to. To know you're still there for her. To comfort her. And what did you do? You hit reject. So really, you're just thinking about protecting yourself. Lacey's Lacey. She has faults like anybody else. And she's young. So a lot of things will change. But not who she is at her core. She's a good person. She's strong. She always has been."

"You sound like you're in love with her."

"No. I love her, but I'm not in love with her. There's a difference. I respect her. But Darla's the one I'm in love with. And that's tricky because she's really still a baby. She needs to grow up. I'm going to be there for her, though. And I'll do my best to stand back when I have to and let her find her own way. Love isn't controlling and smothering someone. It's caring about them more than you care about your own ego."

Jake walked away and Dan thought about what he'd heard.

Forty.

LACEY SAT ON Darla's bed, Darla's hands in hers, both girls freshly showered with hair still wet. They were dressed in pajamas. With all evidence of the day's events washed away, they looked into each other's eyes and Darla started to giggle.

"What are you laughing at?" Lacey asked, a bit of a giggle forming in her own throat in response.

"Everything. You. Me. Cadmium red watercolor blood. Outfoxing Randy. It's not funny really." She put on a stoic face for all of a second before she burst out again. "But I can't help it. Right now the whole thing's hysterical." She wiped a tear from her eye.

Lacey burst with laughter, too. "It is funny. It's so, so funny." She laughed harder and could barely get the words out. "Did you see the look on Randy's face when I stood up?"

Darla spewed more giggles. "I saw. 'Duuuuh! What happened?'" She mimicked what must have gone through Randy's head.

Lacey joined in. "'Duuuuh. I thought I put a bullet in her brain." She tried to sound like Tweety Bird. "I did. I did put a bullet in her brain.'" Lacey laughed some more. Her stomach contracted and started to hurt. She put her hands on it, but she couldn't stop the giggles.

Darla waved her hands at her sister. "'No, wait! Wait, everybody. Darla did it." She deepened her voice. "Darla you twit, tell them you shot your sister. You must have missed. How could you miss after all I've done for you?" She put on a serious face, then burst out laughing again.

Lacey laughed, too. Then, as she eyed the clock, she hugged her stomach and tried to catch her breath. "Three twenty in the morning. No wonder everything's funny."

Darla c.o.c.ked her head, swallowing air to stop from laughing. "Three twenty? Isn't it time for my nightmare?" She laughed again.

"Nightmares are over, baby."

Darla looked at her sister with a smile. "The biggest one, anyway." The smile disappeared. "I can't believe I thought he loved me."

"Why not? You're the most lovable girl on the planet." Lacey stroked Darla's cheek with her index finger.

Darla pursed her lips, covering a smile. "How long does it take to get an annulment?"

"Not long, I think. Let's call Henderson and find out." Lacey stretched for the landline on the table beside the bed.