Killer Takes All

CHAPTER 65

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

3:30 a.m.

Stacy sat bolt upright in bed, awakened by the truth. “Oh, my God,” she said, bringing a hand to her mouth. “She lied.”

“Go back to sleep,” Spencer mumbled.

“You don’t understand.” She shook him. “She lied about everything.”

He cracked open his eyes. “Who?”

“Alice.”

He frowned. “What are you talking about?”

Her head filled with the memory of the day she had carried Leo’s mail to his office. Valerie had asked her to do it; she’d set it on the top of his laptop computer. Her focus had been on the mail itself, on the Gallery124 invitation.

Not on the computer.

No longer. With her mind’s eye, she could see it clearly. Titanium case, a distinctive apple-shaped logo at its center.

“Alice told me she found Cassie’s computer and knew it was wrong because no one in their family used an Apple. But Leo did. It was on his desk.”

“You’re certain about this?”

“Yes, positive.”

“It’d be really easy to verify.”

Stacy struggled to come to grips with what she was thinking. Could it have been Alice all along?

“The law books,” Stacy said. “The DSM-IV. She was studying, covering her ass. Just in case.”

He sat up. “You realize what you’re suggesting, right? That the teenager was an integral part of the plan.”

“I’m not suggesting that at all. I think the plan was hers alone.”

She had his full attention now, she saw. All traces of sleep had fled his features. “Alice planned every move, by herself?”

“Yes.”

“She brought Troy in.”

“Yes.”

Stacy shook her head. It hurt. She didn’t want it to be true. Didn’t want Alice to be that person.

He was silent a moment. “Do you really think a sixteen-year-old could have pulled this off?”

“She’s not an ordinary teenager. She’s a genius. An experienced gamer. I imagine a brilliant strategist.”

I’m smarter than both of them. Did he tell you that?

“She made a point of telling me how smart she was. She was very proud of her IQ. Arrogant about it, really.”

He rubbed a hand along his jaw. “But why’d she do it, Stacy? The money? We’re talking about both her parents, for God’s sake.”

“The money was secondary. She wanted her freedom. She felt she deserved it. They were holding her back. Overprotective. She said so. They kept her from going to university, insisted on having her home-tutored.”

“You overheard her and Kay fighting, saw Kay trying to kill her.”

Stacy shook her head. “No, I saw them struggling. Heard Alice’s shouted accusations.”

“Which confirmed what you already believed.”

“Yes.” Stacy dragged a hand through her tangled hair. “Kay was most likely trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Trying to calm Alice, bring her to her senses. Why didn’t I see it until now?”

“If what you’re thinking is true.”

Stacy met his gaze, determined. “It is.”

“You’re going to need proof. More than catching her in a lie that’s based on a memory you recalled while asleep.”

She laughed, the sound tight. Angry. “I’m not going to let her get away with this.”

“So, what are you going to do, hero?”