“How many?” Lily asked again.
Ford shrugged. “I don’t know. More than a half dozen maybe. Over a few years’ time. What does it matter? The statute of limitations is up anyway.”
“I should kill you.” Lily reached under the back of her shirt. Did she have a gun? “And rid the world of a parasite.”
Ford reached inside his jacket pocket. For his gun, I realized. Before I knew what was happening, a gunshot rang out. Ford fell to the floor screaming and clutching his left thigh. “She shot me. My own wife shot me.”
Lily had a small revolver pointed at Ford. “I’ll shoot you again if I have to. Reach into your coat and toss us your gun. Nice and steady. You know what kind of shot I am.”
Ford did as she asked. I stooped to pick the revolver up from the ground. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the housekeeper pop up over the kitchen sink, as if she’d hit the floor at the sound of the bullet firing. “Cole, do you know how to use that thing?” Lily’s voice was surprisingly steady.
“Yep.” A lie, but no one needed to know that.
“Keep it on Don. If he makes a move, shoot him.” Lily turned her gun toward Sharon, who seemed frozen. “Stay where you are or I’ll shoot you too.”
“Lily, don’t be silly.” Sharon put up her hands and moved slowly toward Lily. “It was my mother-in-law. Not me.”
“Back up,” Lily said. “Or I shoot.”
Sharon walked backward to the edge of the patio. At this point, we all knew the kind of shot Lily was. “Carlie, tell the housekeeper to call 911. We need an ambulance and the police.”
“I am the police,” Ford yelled, holding on to his leg, which was now spilling blood all over the floorboards of the patio.
“Not anymore you’re not.” I pointed the revolver at him. “And Carlie, tell them to send a car to Shelley Lancaster’s.”
Carlie slipped her phone into my pocket. Knowing she must have hit record at some point, I simply nodded. They would use the phone inside the house to call for help.
Sharon lurched toward the stairs. Richards grabbed her and twisted her arms behind her back. “Not so fast.”
He pressed his body against her and yanked his tie off with one hand. “Cole, tie her up.”
“Get off me.” Sharon struggled but she was no match for her tall, athletic husband.
“You’re going to tell the police everything you know.”
I did as he asked, tying her up with my best Boy Scout handcuff knot.
Carlie returned to the patio. “They’re on their way.”
“You’ll be sorry for this,” Sharon said. “All of you. We could have just left well enough alone.”
“Your mother looks my mother in the eye every day on the golf course. One mother to another. How could she take away someone’s child and look her in the face?”
“She was stabbed seventeen times,” Lily said. “Your mother-in-law must’ve been very angry.
“Once for every time the little slut gave it to my husband. Shelley made sure they hurt, too.” She glared at Carlie with cold, dead eyes. “I’d like to tell you she didn’t suffer, but that wouldn’t be true.”
“Or was it you, Sharon?” Lily asked. “You killed your husband’s lover, didn’t you? Tell the truth for the first time in your life.”
“Shut up,” Sharon snapped. “I already told you who did it.”
“Give me the gun,” Carlie said to me.
Frightened by the look in her eyes and against my better judgment, I handed it to her. “Carlie, stay cool,” I whispered.
Carlie crossed over to Sharon and pressed the barrel of the revolver against her chest. “You’re a vile human being. I’d kill you but I don’t want to go to jail. I have no interest in being your roommate. Because I’m positive you’re going to be locked up for being a conspirator to murder for a very long time. After that, the devil will welcome you downstairs for all eternity. I’d like to say it won’t hurt but I’d be lying. Or is Lily right and you did it and are now trying to pin it on your mother-in-law? I want the truth. Did you kill my sister?”
Sharon yelped as Carlie pushed the barrel of the revolver harder into her chest. “Shelley did it. For you, Thom. So you could have the life you were supposed to have. It was all her.”
“You just helped her clean up afterward?” Richards said. “And then tried to pin it on a kid?”
“As if you have any moral grounds to judge me,” Sharon said.
“You’re going to pay for what you did,” Richards said.
“It’s what you did, dear,” Sharon said. “You did this by screwing a teenage girl.”
“You’re going to jail,” Carlie said to her. “If it’s the last thing I ever do.”
“They’ll have to prove it first,” Sharon said.
“You couldn’t let her get away with sleeping with your husband, could you?” Lily asked. “She had to pay for what she’d done. Or did you really have someone else do your dirty work? Were you too chicken to do it?”
“Of course not,” Sharon snapped. “All I needed Shelley for was to hold her down. Stabbing was the easy part. She was such a stupid little bitch. Never saw us coming. And I loved every second of it.” Sharon glared at Carlie. “I’d do it again.”
“You’re going to rot in a jail cell.” Carlie gave her one more shove before handing the gun back to me.
“As for you, the statute of limitations may have run out on raping minors, but you’re going to pay for killing Thea Moore. You know how they feel about cops in prison.” Lily kicked her husband in the spot of his gunshot wound, causing him to howl in pain.
“You did it together?” Richards had
