“I had a wonderful guy once,” Grace continued in a soft, dreamy voice. Her lips twisted in a weird smile. “I had Rory.”
Yeah, and you killed him, Reva thought.
“He was so great, Reva. I was wild about him.” Grace stared at the bloody carpet for a moment. Then she squeezed her eyes shut. “But we had a fight while we were driving. We were both so angry, shouting at each other. I grabbed the wheel and—and—” Her voice broke and she began to sob.
It was an accident, as her mother said, Reva realized. A horrible accident.
And the guilt drove Grace crazy.
Grace flung her head back and stared at Reva, tears streaming down her face. “I wanted you to see what that kind of loss feels like!” she cried.
“But—but why Traci and Liza?” Reva asked. “I hardly knew Liza. And I didn’t even like Traci. Why did you think killing them would hurt me?”
“Because of the fashion show!” Grace wiped at her tears and smiled that weird smile again. “It was the first thing I ever saw you really want. You wanted it so much, you stole all the credit from your own cousin. Because it was so important. It was the first thing that ever meant something to you. So I decided to take it away from you. Bit by bit, person by person!”
Reva felt a sharp stab of disappointment. Grace is right, she realized. The show meant more to me than anything.
“You were scared, weren’t you, Reva?” Grace asked, almost pleadingly. “You did suffer!”
Reva thought of all the work she’d done to get the show ready. Designing the set. Choosing the models and the music. She remembered the feeling of excitement as it all started to come together.
And then she pictured the two strangled models. The customers racing from the showroom, screaming in panic. The fashion show—her fashion show—ruined.
And she had been scared, especially after Liza was killed. She thought somebody might kill her.
Well, somebody almost did, she thought, staring at her roommate.
“I saved you for last,” Grace told her. “I was going to let you watch everything fall apart. And then I was going to kill you.” Grace’s eyes filled with tears again and she hung her head. “But I failed. I failed. But Rory will finish the job for me.”
Oh, no, she’s back to Rory again. Watching Grace cry, Reva actually felt sorry for the girl. She’d gone totally off the deep end.
“Rory will kill you for me.” Still sobbing, Grace raised her head and gazed at the door. “There he is now!” she cried, scrambling to her feet. “Rory—I knew you’d come! Kill her! Kill Reva!”
It’s her imagination! Reva thought. Rory’s dead!
Isn’t he?
A movement caught her eye. Someone stood in the doorway.
“Kill her, Rory!” Grace shouted.
Reva spun around in horror.
Chapter 25
“YOU MURDERED REVA!”
“Kill her!” Grace screamed, pointing at Reva. “Do it, Rory. Do it now!”
But Rory wasn’t in the doorway.
The security guard stood there, looking slightly confused. Michael stayed in the hall and peeked wide-eyed around the doorframe.
“Kill Reva!” Grace shrieked. “Please, Rory! Please kill her for me!” She took a stumbling step toward the guard.
The guard’s eyes hardened. His hand went to his gun.
“No!” Reva shouted at him. “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about!”
“Yes, I do! I want you to kill her. Please, Rory, why won’t you do it?” Grace covered her face with her hands. “Why won’t you help me?” she sobbed.
Keeping his hand on the gun, the guard glanced at Reva.
Reva took a shaky breath. “You’ll have to take her to the police,” she told the guard. “She killed two people. But take it easy with her. She’s sick. She needs help. I’ll call her mother.”
The guard nodded and took hold of Grace’s arm. She glanced up at him. “You’re going to help me, aren’t you, Rory?”
“Sure. Come on.” Gently, the guard tugged on Grace’s arm and led her out of the room.
“Wow,” Michael breathed. “That was weird, huh?”
“Very weird,” Reva agreed. “But it’s over, Michael. And, Michael?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for coming in when you did,” she told him. “You saved my life.”
“No kidding?” Michael’s eyes lit up. He whipped out the fake knife. “The Evil Avenger to the rescue!” he shouted, and raced down the hallway.
Reva smiled. The horror is finally over. I’m not in danger anymore. Grace will be taken care of.