“I’m sorry.”
“What is sodium hydroxide?” He’d reverted to the singsong voice again.
Now he was sitting on one of the barstools, and she could see the hunting knife where he had placed it on the countertop.
“Lye,” she said.
“Part two of question number one: What do sodium hydroxide and the human body have in common?”
She tried to think, and when the answer finally came to her, she lost her breath. Gasping, she tried to push the words out of her mouth. “Why?”
Manic laughter, and his eyes lit up like Satan’s might upon consigning another soul to the depths of hell. But all he said was, “All those science classes you took in college. I was right. You are a stupid whore. Tick tock. Tick tock. Ding, ding, ding! Time is up!”
“You sick son of a bitch! What do you want from me?” She screamed the words as loud as she could. If he was going to kill her, he’d better get started.
He jumped off the barstool and reached for the hunting knife. “You’re gonna die this time! No more minutes added to your miserable life, you fucking whore!” He came toward her then, the knife raised high above his head. Tessa cowered in the corner but didn’t dare to run. In one swift motion, her neck would be severed.
The reality of what he’d done hit her full force.
“You insane son of a bitch! You killed my daughters! And before that, you molested them!” Her breath came in short gasps. “You don’t deserve to live!”
“Wait, wait, wait! You’re not the leader, Tessa. I am. You’re just like Mommy, always wanting to be first.” The singsong childlike voice again.
Before she changed her mind, she tucked her head into her chest, rolled onto the floor, and grabbed his ankles, knocking him to the floor with her. The black boots were heavy, but she didn’t care. She was going to kill him or die. There was no other choice.
Twisting his ankle into an unnatural position, she turned her body with the movement to avoid getting entangled herself. Bits of glass cut into her arms, but in the adrenaline rush, she couldn’t feel any pain. Her strength seemed as if it were ten times more than normal. She had almost succeeded in twisting the foot she was holding completely around when his other foot smashed into her face.
Tessa felt a sharp snap, then felt warm blood oozing from her nose. She continued to hold his ankle as blood dripped onto her hands and his boot, causing her to lose her grip. His boot came down a second time, only this time it caught her on the edge of her left shoulder. Another snap, and a hot jolt of pain ran down the length of her arm. She tried to move her left arm, and a hot, icy pain traveled up her arm, to her shoulder.
She rolled onto her back; with her right hand, she used her shirt to wipe the blood from her eyes. “If you’re going to kill me, you sick, perverted piece of shit, then you better have the guts to look me in the eye when you do it!”
“You are stupid, Tessa. Aren’t you?” He kicked the back of her head.
She winced. She would not give the bastard the pleasure of hearing her beg for her life. If he was going to kill her, she wanted every single moment etched in his sick mind forever.
“Wait!” She needed to know; she didn’t care what he did to her after, but first she had to know. “Joel. Why did you kill them? Why? They were just little girls! Why?”
Tessa was sobbing now, and she didn’t care. Hot, salty tears burned the cuts on her face, yet all she could think of is what her precious daughters had gone through. Here. In this house. Right under her nose. The entire time?
“Answer me, goddammit! You at least owe me that much!” Struggling to keep from passing out, she forced herself to stare up at him, her gaze unwavering.
“They were just like you. And Jack. And Mommy. Never wanted to play games with me.” The plaintive, singsong voice of the child was back again. “I was trying to teach them how to play the game, just like Mommy taught me.”
Oh dear God!
Then it hit her. Liam! What had he done to Liam?
“Did you kill Liam?” she asked, her voice muffled from pain and the blood from her broken nose.
“That little bastard! Of course I killed him. What do you think I used the sodium hydroxide for? And I killed Jack, too! He actually came to the house. I was a bit surprised.”
The evil Joel voice again. “But it was the perfect ending for my new beginning. I already had a new identity set up, with more than enough money to lead a carefree life, just in case something went wrong. And when you decided to go to San Maribel, I knew that you were going to leave me and take the girls. I couldn’t allow that to happen.
“Then Liam showed up, and he had to be killed. And so did the girls. Jack’s appearance was just bad luck for him and incredibly good luck for me. And when you were convicted of killing me and the girls, I knew it was the perfect ending to that game of life. But then they let you go, so I had to come back and put an end to the game once and for all.”
Tessa rolled away from Joel seconds before he lifted the hunting knife, aiming it at her throat.
“Freeze!”
Joel’s bright green eyes sparked with fire. When he saw Officer Waterman’s gun aimed at him, he tightened his grip on the knife, and this time, he used both hands as he raised them high above his head, garnering all the force he could to stab her in the forehead.
Tessa’s world went black.
Epilogue
Eighteen months later
Sam reached for Tessa’s hand as the newly elected
