“We?” Ronan asked. He knew Ten had seen a vision of Heidi holding a bloody knife, but Lisa was making it sound like all three girls had a hand in this murder.
“Jenn and Heidi hated that bitch as much as I did. We all wanted her to pay.” Lisa laughed again.
“You had to settle for Plan B, right?” Ronan coaxed. Jesus Christ, all three of them planned this out, and then carried through the murder of their friend.
“That’s right. We knew the only way to get her out of the house was to involve Kyle. Jennifer called and told Skye we’d pick her up at midnight so she could see him. She jumped at the chance, just like we knew she would. Jennifer drove. Heidi was in the front passenger seat and I was in the back. Skye was walking on air when she left the house, like this was some fucking fairy tale and not her last night on earth.”
“You didn’t go to Kyle’s house.” It wasn’t a question. Ronan already knew the answer. He wanted to keep Jennifer talking.
“No, we’d planned out that the Salem Towne Forest would be deserted. Who the fuck was out walking in the woods in December with a foot of snow on the ground?” She cackled at her own cleverness. “We told her Kyle was waiting for her.”
“Who stabbed Skye?” Ronan asked breathlessly.
“That’s the best part!” Lisa crowed. “We ALL did! Just like the Roman senators did in Julius Caesar!”
Ronan was stunned. Three teenage girls ganged up and killed another, and they’d gotten the idea from a play? It was madness. “You all used identical knives?” No one had ever considered Skye had been murdered by more than one person because all of the stab wounds were identical.
“We used steak knives from Heidi’s house. She never ate beef again after that night!” Lisa howled with laughter.
Heidi’s knives, Jennifer’s car, Lisa as the ringleader. All three girls had been in it up to their necks. “What did Skye do when she realized Kyle wasn’t waiting for her in the woods?”
“She screamed and cried for us to stop. Told us we were her best friends.” Lisa shrugged. “When we didn’t stop, she cried for her parents and God. That fucker wasn’t there to help her.”
“And when she was dead?” Ronan didn’t want to hear the answer to the question but needed to know.
“We made a blood pact. All three of us swore to kill the others if anyone told the cops what we did that night. Up until last week, they all kept their promise.” Lisa lifted her chin in a triumphant gesture.
“You killed Jennifer and Heidi too.” Again, not a question.
Lisa nodded. “I hated to kill Heidi. She was near to being gone anyway.”
“Neither of them told us you were responsible. They both blamed Kyle.” Ronan was sick to his stomach. He imagined Lisa had heard this before.
“They told me the same thing, but it didn’t matter. We’d sworn a blood oath. Blood for blood.” Lisa started to laugh again. “You want to hear the best part, Detective?”
He almost shook his head no. “What’s the best part?”
“The gun that you just took from Kyle is the weapon that killed Jennifer.” She started to laugh again. “I broke into his house last week when he was at some pathetic AA meeting and stole it out of his dresser. I replaced it after the deed was done. I knew the cops would eventually work their way back to Kyle, since he fucked Jennifer after Skye died!” Lisa howled. “Skye was dead, and I still wasn’t good enough for you to fuck!” Without waiting for Ronan’s next question, she steadied her hand and fired. “Die, Kyle! You fucking waste of space!”
Ronan dove at Kyle, slamming into his body and hitting the ballroom floor with a grunt. Another gunshot rang out before Ronan could catch his bearings.
At the sound of gunfire, the remaining crowd started screaming and running for cover. Ronan was kicked twice and had his hand stepped on. After what seemed like forever, the room stilled.
Chancing a look up from his position on the floor, Ronan saw Jude kneeling down behind him with his gun drawn and pointed at the stage, covering him and Kyle Danner. Fitzgibbon knelt beside Lisa on the stage. Where the hell was Tennyson? “Ten!” Ronan roared.
“Here!” Ten waved from the entrance to the ballroom, only his head was visible. “Carson’s on the phone with 911. Truman and Cope are safe too. What about you?” Ten had been in complete control of himself until he asked about Ronan.
How was he? Ronan was lying face down on top of Kyle. He moved up to his knees and noticed his white tux shirt was soaked in blood. “Oh, Jesus!” He started patting himself down for bullet holes. He knew he was in shock and probably wouldn’t feel the pain.
“Ronan?” Kyle whispered. “Am I going to die?”
Ronan looked down at Kyle, whose skin had gone an ashy grey. A pool of blood was spreading out behind him. Jesus, Kyle had been shot, not him. He snapped instantly into cop mode. “You’re going to be just fine.” He pulled back Kyle’s jacket to see he’d been hit in the upper left side of his chest. “This is going to hurt like a motherfucker.” Ronan used both hands to press down on the wound.
Kyle howled in response. “Don’t let me be her last victim,” Kyle pleaded.
“You’re not going anywhere. Stay with me!” Ronan commanded as Kyle’s eyelids fluttered and closed.
“Ronan!” Cisco shouted as he came into the ballroom. EMTs rolled a gurney through the door.
“Here!” He held up a hand to signal to Cisco. The ballroom dance floor was empty now, save for him, Kyle, and Jude.
The medics ran to Ronan, shooing him out of the way to work on Kyle. He didn’t have a minute to catch his breath.
“Ronan?” Fitzgibbon called in a voice he knew well. Back in the old days, it was the tone Kevin used when Ronan was in deep shit.
“Yes, Captain.” He bounded up the three short steps to the stage to see Lisa McRoy’s right shoulder bloody. She was whimpering as Fitzgibbon used his balled-up jacket to put pressure on the wound. The handgun was fifteen feet or so behind them. Kevin must have kicked it out of the way.
“You tricked me!” Lisa screamed, wincing after the effort.
Anger like Ronan had never felt before welled up in him. He wanted to go at Lisa hard, but knew he had Tennyson and Everly depending on him. “No, Lisa. I prompted you to tell a story you’ve been dying to spill for thirty-five years. You tricked a lifelong friend into leaving the safety of her home so you and your jealous friends could kill her in cold blood. Over what? Some teenage boy with acne?” Ronan shook his head. “I’m done here. Have you got this, Kevin?”
“You bet.” Kevin stepped aside as a second team of medics moved in to help Lisa.
“I’ll write my report in the morning,” Ronan said as he approached Cisco.
“I’m stunned,” Cisco said, the look on his face said as much. “Who knew reading Shakespeare would give teenage girls the idea to commit a murder like this?”
“This is what jealousy does to people.” Ronan took a deep breath. The medics had taken Kyle out of the ballroom, but a puddle of his blood remained. “I’m going home with my husband. I’ve had enough.” Ronan meant it. He’d had enough of blood and jealousy. Of rage and wounded pride. He was going home to be with the people who loved him the most.