She was strong for her age. Strong for any age. She picked up Nikki’s bound feet and dragged her with relative ease to the grave. Nikki went limp until Lila stood near the edge, and then she bucked her body and kicked. The attack seemed to catch Lila by surprise. She was used to a more fragile victim. She teetered on the edge and then fell backward into the grave.
Nikki scrambled away, slipping her hands free of the cord, ripping off the gag, and then she set to work on her ankles. Before she could free herself completely, Lila hoisted herself out of the grave. Grasping the gun in both hands, she staggered to her feet, looking desperate and demented in the moonlight. Nikki ducked and rolled, trying to make herself a harder target to hit.
Adam seemed to appear out of nowhere. In actuality, he’d slipped through the back gate without either of them noticing. He picked up the shovel and whacked Lila Wilkes on the back of the head. She hit the ground with a soft thud.
He was beside Nikki in a flash, untying her ankles and then taking her face in his hands. “You okay?”
“I am now,” she said. “How did you know where to find me?”
“Dr. Nance left us the address.”
“What?”
“1447 Oak Lane. He led me straight to his killer.”
Chapter Sixteen
Nikki spent the rest of the night and most of the next day in the hospital undergoing a round of tests to make certain she’d suffered no internal injuries from the accident. Adam stayed with her the whole time and they both gave their statements to Tom Brannon at her bedside.
That afternoon, Adam drove her home and fussed over her until she finally said, “Enough. I feel fine. Let’s go sit outside and get some fresh air.”
They sat on the back steps taking in the lush scent of the roses as they watched a glorious sunset. After a while, they talked about everything that had happened.
“Turns out, Lila Wilkes, aka Sally Johnston, spent some time in a mental health facility when she was a teenager,” Adam said. “That’s probably why she was so fascinated with the Ruins.”
“As much time as I spent out there as a kid, I never once saw her,” Nikki said.
“She was careful. She went in and out of Dr. Nance’s house without Dessie ever seeing her. She was probably in a lot of other houses, too. She kept tabs on everyone. Tom Brannon showed me photos of the stacks and stacks of journals they found in her house, detailing everything she’s done. She’s still quite proud of herself and seems to be enjoying all the attention.”
Nikki shivered. “It’s chilling to think how she watched us for years. How she literally got away with murder right under our noses. And everyone called her an angel. No one suspected a thing. Why do you think she did it?”
“Other than being criminally insane? She craved the attention, especially as she got older. She won praises for caring for the elderly and more praises still for planning their funerals. I guess you could say she found her niche.”
Nikki gave him a look. “The woman is a cold-blooded killer. She stabbed her boyfriend in the eye with an ice pick.”
“I’m not making light of what she did,” Adam said. “Far from it.”
They were sitting close, touching comfortably. Adam put his hand on her knee and she laid her head on his shoulder. “This town has been through so much in the past fifteen years. We never got over Riley’s disappearance and now this. Our most beloved citizen murdered by our second most beloved citizen. A woman who was never who we thought she was. My grandmother knew all along and she never said a word.”
“She didn’t know. She suspected. She had no proof. She kept silent to protect you.”
“That’s something I’m still trying to digest,” Nikki said. “I always thought I was just an annoyance to her. A burden. Turns out—”
“She loved you.”
Nikki blinked back hot tears. “I wish I’d known.”
“You know now. You can’t go back in time, Nikki. You can only move forward.”
She sighed. “What happens now?”
“Things will get back to normal eventually. Dr. Wingate will probably be investigated. As for Dessie and Clete...” He shrugged. “Maybe they’ll make a go of it. Dr. Nance’s will seems to be legit. Dessie gets the house and enough cash to live comfortably. Your school loans will be taken care of. The rest goes to research. He was a good man, Dr. Nance.”
“A very good man.” She turned to search Adam’s features. “But I meant, what happens to us? There’s nothing keeping you here now that you’ve solved Dr. Nance’s mystery.”
Adam squeezed her knee. “I wouldn’t say nothing.”
“You know what I mean. I assume you’ll be heading back to Dallas in a few days. You’ll get your old job back and your life will return to normal, too.”
“You make it sound like normal has to
