Chapter 23
The Yips
“I…” I trail off.
“Say it, Alyssa. You killed them. Say it,” Katie demands, her blue eyes feverishly locked on mine.
“I may have… perhaps… done the thing that you say I did,” I haltingly admit, but Katie just continues staring at me. “Fine,” I say, throwing my hands up. “I killed them!”
She crashes into me, her arms wrapping around me. “Thank you,” she whispers.
“You’re welcome. Did they show you the picture of me in my costume?”
“Yes,” she says, releasing me and pulling her phone from her pocket. “I thought about saying you were here with me all night, but since they didn’t mention you, I didn’t want to put you on their radar, so to speak.”
“Thanks. It was quick thinking to tell them you thought I could be a man. How’d you know I shouldn’t come out?”
“Right before they knocked on the door, I was looking at the news, and they’d posted the picture.
I guess someone leaked it,” she says, turning her phone toward me.
As expected, it’s a close-cropped photo of us in the middle of The Rose Room’s crowded main floor.
A bit less than three-quarters of my face is visible in the image.
“I knew it was you right away. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me! Is this why you’re dating Mark?”
“Yes, but also no.” She tilts her head questioningly, so I explain. “It started out that way. I asked Vaughn to put together—”
“Vaughn has been helping you? Vaughn? And you didn’t even breathe a word of it to me? I was mad at you for a week! You could’ve told me!”
“Kay, you have to admit he’s a little more equipped to help than you are. And it seemed like it was better if you didn’t know.”
She folds her arms across her chest and huffs. “Fine. Continue.”
“After the verdict was read, I asked Vaughn to put together a list of people who could get me access to the team, and Mark was one of those people. Of everyone Vaughn suggested, Mark made the most sense. So I followed him,” I say, taking a seat on my bed.
Katie sits down beside me, and I explain how Mark and I really met.
Then, I tell her everything that’s happened since.
“And now you’ve actually fallen for him,” Katie states after I’ve finished.
“Yeah. I have.”
“Are you in love with him?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“What about him? Is he in love with you?” Katie asks.
“I don’t know,” I repeat. “Maybe.”
“And he has no idea what you’ve been doing?”
“I don’t think so. But…”
“But?”
“I told him about you, and he’s made a couple of comments since. They might not’ve meant anything, but…” I shrug.
“You are so screwed,” Katie tells me.
“Yeah. I’m fully aware.”
“So, what now?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you done now that the police are getting suspicious, or are you going to kill Rhys Steichen and Garret Fischer too?”
“Oh. I am absolutely going to kill them.”
“I want to help,” Katie declares.
“No, Kay. You can’t. You’re the most obvious suspect.
You need an alibi. You couldn’t have killed Joey Carmichael because of where he was killed.
They think someone on the team did it. You couldn’t have killed Matt Davidson because I made it look like an accident.
And you couldn’t have killed Brandon Miller because you were in video tutoring sessions the entire night.
You have to stay away from it. The media are probably going to show up and start hounding you for a comment soon, anyway. ”
“That just means that I can’t be there when you kill them. I can still help, though. I can’t just let you do this yourself. And nothing would make me feel better than killing Rhys Steichen and Garret Fischer.”
I sigh. She’s not wrong, and it’s not like I’m in any position to tell her she can’t be involved.
“You already helped by telling the police that they should consider that the person who killed Brandon might have been a man,” I try, hoping it will be enough and knowing it won’t.
“And by telling them you thought there were other victims. There were, by the way. Or at least Vaughn and I are pretty sure.” I pull the folder out from under my pillow and hand it to her.
She opens it and moves through the pages, scanning each one silently. After twenty minutes have passed, she says, “All of them?”
I nod. “Yeah. Maybe you can do something with that. Maybe some of them will be willing to talk now.”
“How did you find out about them?”
“There was an address book in Rhys’s stall in the locker room.
I took it, and when I was looking through it later, I found your old address listed in it.
” The color visibly drains from Katie’s face.
“I had Vaughn look into the other addresses in the book, and he believes these women were probably also raped.”
“And none of them reported it?” Katie asks.
“No. It doesn’t seem like it. I’m sorry, Kay.”
She shakes her head. “Maybe they’re the smart ones. If I’d never reported it, you and I could’ve killed all five of them, and no one would’ve ever even considered the possibility I could’ve been involved,” she says softly. “I should’ve—”
I take the pages from her. “You did exactly what you should’ve done. It’s not your fault the system is broken.”
“No, but I should’ve known better. It was stupid.”
“Hey,” I snap. “I’m not doing this so you can beat yourself up over some ‘should have’ bullshit.
You did the right thing. It’s not wrong to try to do the right thing first. You should’ve never had to go to trial in the first place.
They shouldn’t have raped you, and the legal system should’ve punished them after they did.
Those are the only ‘should haves’ that exist in this equation. Got it?”
“Yeah,” she agrees, but I’m not sure she believes me. “What was your plan if I hadn’t booked the tutoring sessions?” Katie asks, changing the subject.
“What?”
“On Halloween. You thought we were watching movies. You didn’t know I’d booked the sessions. What was your plan to give me an alibi if I hadn’t?”
“Oh. That. You’re not going to like it,” I say, but she’s still waiting for me to tell her. “I was going to call your mom and tell her you were having a rough day, and ask if she could come stay the night since I had plans.”
“You were going to call my mom? And say I was afraid of the dark? Alyssa! How could you ever think that was a good idea?”
“I wasn’t worried about it being a good idea. I was just trying to make sure there was someone available to say, ‘No officers, she was here all night.’”
Katie rolls her eyes. “I think I’m going to go back to not speaking to you,” she comments as she stands to leave.
“Hey, what are you going to do?”
“I’m not sure yet. Ask me tomorrow.”
“Hi Jeanette,” I greet as I step into the house, following behind Katie.
“Alyssa!” she says, hugging me as soon as she releases Katie. “It’s been forever since I’ve seen you.” The rebuke in her tone is clear, which is fair, I suppose. It’s been three weeks since I was last here. Between planning murders and being with Mark, I haven’t had a ton of free time.
“Alyssa’s been busy,” Katie says at the same time I say, “I know. I’m sorry.”
“Busy with what?” Jeanette asks.
“Her new boyfriend, mostly,” Katie replies.
“Oh! That’s right. You’re still seeing him?”
“Yes!” Katie answers for me. “I’m going to meet him on Wednesday.
We’re having dinner together. Finally. Apparently he has a very full calendar, what with the troubled youth and all,” Katie says, and I stop myself from rolling my eyes at her, but I can tell from the grin on her face that she knows I want to.
“That’s wonderful,” Jeanette replies as we follow her to the kitchen. “It’s good to find someone and settle down.”
“That’s not—” I begin, but Jeanette continues talking.
“Did you see the news today? There’s been so much crime recently.”
“Yes, mom. The police already came to talk to me.”
“Well, that makes sense. Two might be a coincidence, but three’s a pattern. What do you think is happening?”
I shrug as Katie says, “I don’t know, mom. It’s not like I did it. And I also don’t care. Maybe someone else they raped is getting revenge. I’m just happy they’re dead.”
“Katie,” Jeanette chides. “I wasn’t asking if you’d done it!”
“Are you sure? Because it kinda sounded like it. And for the record, I didn’t. But whoever did has my full support.”
“Jeanette, what are your plans for Thanksgiving this year? Do you need any help?” I ask before she can say something we’ll all regret.
“No, dear. I already took the day off. You and Katie just need to show up. Of course you’re welcome to bring your new boyfriend if you’d like. Just let me know. The more the merrier,” Jeanette says, launching into her menu plans.
“Tell me what you think of this,” Katie says, startling me as I’m pouring my coffee.
“What?” I ask, grabbing a rag to wipe up the spill.
“I was thinking I’d go visit Erica in California. I can do it under the guise of trying to get away from the reporters,” she tells me. There were two who made it into the building and knocked on our door last night, looking to shout questions at her. Anything for a sound bite.
I shrug. “Sure. Why not?”
“It’ll give me an alibi, only I’ll make sure the reporters know I’m there.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because then they’ll stop sniffing around here, and a couple of them are bound to try to get to me there. And when they do, I’ll talk to them.”
“And say what? They’re all going to assume you’re involved. That’s what all their questions will be about.”
“Yeah, only when Rhys and Garret die while I’m in California, it’ll give me a better alibi than anything you’ve done so far. Plus, I can talk to the reporters about how I’m sure there are other victims.”
I open my mouth to protest, but Katie continues talking.