But Tony didn’t know he did that.
Further, Ray had a type.
“Tony’s alibi for that?” I asked.
One of his shoulders went up. “I let him play. I get it. He needs pussy. But he also needed an alibi, and she was hot, but she was kind of a junkie. Give her good dick. Give her some money. Keep her in blow. Tell her what to do. She does it. Help her disappear. See ya.”
Easy as that.
“So the choice of Malorie and Alice wasn’t about tying them to the situation with Audrey,” I noted.
“Yeah, it was,” he replied. “Thought Bohannan would run around chasing his tail on that one, at least for a while. Thought that coven would get hauled in. Thought they’d look at the dads, because they’re obviously all assholes. Should have known Bohannan wouldn’t fall for that. Should have known they’d never suspect the women. Was counting on that with Betty. But, man, did that set off fireworks. Fuckin’ hell. Those bitches went for it, and they laid those assholes out.”
They certainly did.
“So you…didn’t know you were being taped?”
He grinned. “No way, but I looked hot fuckin’ that ass. I mean, Bob was old, but he was fit, and he loved it. And he had a tight ass, you know what I’m saying?”
I swallowed, and even though I didn’t know, I nodded.
Now the grin was sick that spread across his face.
“Almost gonna miss that guy. He wasn’t gay, not even bi, but he needed it. Would make him suck my dick to get it, and he did it. He’d gag every time, so obviously, I’d fuck his face.” He laughed softly at this treasured memory. “I’d tell Tony about it, and we’d laugh our asses off. Then he’d suck my dick, ’cause Tony didn’t like anyone but Shelly doing that to me. It was like he wanted to erase ol’ Bob, and he was good at it, so for a while, he did.”
My lips had gone so dry, they suddenly hurt, but I didn’t dare wet them.
“At first, I was freaked when that tape came out, but then I saw how it’d work for me. First comes the fuckwads who think fuckwad shit about shit like that, then come the social justice warriors who’ll shout ’til they’re sick how it’s my right to be the authentic me. In the end, I figured it’d turn my way.” He tipped his head at me. “You knew it too.”
I nodded again, though I didn’t know that. I just knew it’d blow over because it always did.
But it had turned his way.
“So, you didn’t pick Bobby because he was Malorie’s dad?”
He seemed confused. “Well…yeah. How else was I gonna find out what dormitory she stayed in?” He shrugged. “Like I said, he needed it. I took my time with him. I primed him. I figure the bitches he let fuck him gave him a taste, but no one fucks like a man.” He gave me another lewd look. “You know what I’m talkin’ about. Bet Cade Bohannan fucks like a goddamn freight train.”
I swallowed.
I didn’t want to answer that, but as his stare started to turn into a glare, I sent him another nod.
His expression cleared, he smirked, and whispered, “Bet he hits you every night. Doesn’t even give that first shit he’s banging super-famous pussy. That’s his due. You were put on this earth to get fucked by Bohannan.”
He got his earlier nod, this time, I decided I wasn’t going to respond.
He didn’t mind, he had the floor and was enjoying his performance.
I knew this because, without missing a beat, his voice resumed its chatty tone and he kept talking.
“By the time I let ole Bobby have another go, he’d be gagging for it. Ready to do anything. That meant he didn’t even blink when I asked about his girl, if she was coming home for Thanksgiving, where she stayed down there. Stared at my crotch the whole time he told me all about Malorie and her dorm in Berkeley. So desperate for it, I got what I needed, and the only way to shut him up was to pull my dick out and stuff it in his mouth.”
My stomach twisted.
Bobby led his daughter’s killer right to her.
“Why David?”
He smiled, huge, and if he wasn’t so fucking crazy, it would have been beautiful.
“You were so riled up. Tearing after Tony like that.” He chuckled. “That was gorgeous. Fucking amazing. I saw you show, called him in just to see if he could creep you. And yeah, he definitely creeped you.” He shook his head, but there was still humor in his face. “That wasn’t exactly planned. I mean, yeah, we were workin’ on something. We picked you to fuck with your head, rather than the daughter. Tony had a block about her. Probably ’cause she’s fucking magnificent, and he thought one day, when she was older, he might be able to get in there. ’Cause, like I said, I let him do that, you know. A man needs good pussy.”
I tried not to glare at him, talking about Celeste that way.
“Though, he didn’t know he’d be sharing Shelly’s with me, and eventually that was all I was gonna let him have. But anyway, we picked you to start dickin’ with. Then we had so much fun with you running after Tony like you thought you were Wonder Woman or something, we decided to dick with you a little bit more.”
And proof positive, it really, really, really was so damned stupid I chased Tony like that.
But…
Dick with me by shooting someone who meant something to me?
“That’s not what he was doing when he went to Cade’s house that time?” I asked. “Trying to creep me?”
“When he what?”
“When he…he…” I trailed off because he looked genuinely confused.
“When he what?” he bit off.
“I saw him, out my window,” I whispered.
For a second, he seemed thrown, tense, then he relaxed.
“Oh yeah,” he said. “Right. No, he was casing the pier for later. You saw him?”
I nodded.
“Wondered why things went wired around that time,” he mumbled.
And yes, he’d been paying close attention to the players.
He picked up the threads of his story.
“By the time we creeped you at the coffee shop, we were actually kinda done with the whole killing thing,” he shared, like killing people had become a chore. “I mean, I was down for it again, if that was needed. But Bohannan was obviously stumped. He hadn’t even looked at me. Sent his hotshot, big-man-in-town son to have a chat, dude didn’t even blink. I mean, props to him. I know he saw me fuckin’ some ass. He didn’t give me a whiff he had a problem about it. But he didn’t come close to making me.”
And Jess was going to suffer for that.
I knew it.
And I hated this man.
I hated him with everything that was me.
But thinking Jess stood and talked to the man who killed Alice, and he didn’t sniff anything on him…
That made me hate him so much more.
And the fact that it was me that led to Jess doing that.
That made me hate him most of all.
“And it was getting old. I mean, everyone freaks out about a murder for, like…a week. Then all they care about is Dale Pulaski’s ex showing her skill with a strap-on. Or that the sheriff is a racist, misogynist blowhard. They voted that fuck in, like, six times, and they just figured that out? Bullshit. Half don’t even fuckin’ vote, so straight up, they should shut the fuck up. Half of the other half are racist, misogynist blowhards, but they’d be super pissed you called them that. Dern was just ‘tough but fair’ and ‘the kind of man our town needs.’ Yeah, he’s that until you figure out what he really is, is incompetent. You just saw you in him, and you liked it. And the last half.” He blew out a breath. “Well, they were just plain screwed.”