“You don’t understand.”
“Explain to me.” Regan knew that getting a suspect talking was the best way to defuse a situation. But as with any sociopath, she had to be careful. They could be unpredictable because they needed to win. To feel superior and justified in their actions. At the same time, Regan could use that against her. Let her talk. The more that she talked, the greater chance they could get Lucas out of this alive. Her mental clock said she had five to six minutes before the sheriff arrived. She just needed to drag this out a little longer.
“You turned Steven against me. You turned everyone against me,” Rachel said.
Rachel was slowly moving backward, toward the mine entrance.
“No, I did not.”
“You did! I don’t know what you said. But you somehow convinced him that I did something wrong.”
“You did that yourself, Rachel. We found Candace’s journal, and what she wrote was very believable. You could blame her, I suppose, but you already killed her.”
“Where?”
Not what was in it, or denying that she killed Candace, but where had they found the journal?
“She hid it in the library.”
“Cline Library?”
“Yes. It’s been there for nearly three years. She detailed what happened to Adele, that she wanted to go to the police, that you argued against it out of fear of being fired or imprisoned. Hiding the truth from Adele’s family really got to her. So she came here, to look for Adele’s body, as evidence of what you did.”
“She never found anything. Because there’s nothing to find.”
Her first denial. Regan didn’t believe her.
“Rachel, look at yourself. You’re holding a knife on a young man. Practically a kid. Lucas didn’t do anything to you.”
“He destroyed everything I built! I had the perfect life. It’s gone. All because he couldn’t let the past stay in the past. Adele’s death was an accident. If you really have Candace’s journal, you know that.”
“I know her death was an accident. But you covered it up. You staged it to look like she was kidnapped on the road. Her family is still looking for her.”
“I don’t care! I didn’t kill her.”
“But you killed Candace. And you killed Taylor. And you almost killed Nicole, but right now, as we stand here, Nicole is talking to the police. She’s telling them everything.”
Where are the damn deputies? They should be here by now.
Regan spared a brief glance toward where she’d parked, up the mountainside, but didn’t see another vehicle or hear a helicopter.
“Nicole knows nothing.”
“She knows that you’re the one who told her not to tell the police she’d seen Candace on campus. And she was the witness who said she saw Joseph Abernathy hopping onto a train. But you and I both know she didn’t see anything like that.”
“Then she lied to the police.”
“My guess is that you said you saw him. Maybe she did see something, because the homeless had an encampment down there. But you are manipulative and smart, Rachel. You could have easily convinced her that she did see Abernathy, maybe even said you saw him, too, but you were too close to Candace, or maybe by that time you were already involved with Young and it would create a conflict. You needed him in charge of the case so you would know what was going on, to ensure that you were in the clear.”
“I love Steven. And you messed it all up.”
“I don’t think you’re capable of loving anyone but yourself, Rachel. People are tools for you to use. You seduced Steven to get close to the case, make sure you weren’t implicated. You befriend the sorority girls because you miss college life. I saw your office. The pictures of you. Not one picture of you with anyone outside of the sorority or cheerleading. You miss your youth. You’re my age, Rachel. We’re thirty-five. I’ll be thirty-six in September and it doesn’t bother me. My guess is every year you see your youth getting farther away. You never grew up. You wish you were in college again, so you made your career at a college.”
The wind was howling through the trees, which might mask the sound of approaching police. Regan inched forward at the same pace Rachel was inching toward the mine.
“You’re sick,” Rachel said to Regan.
She laughed. “Me? You have a knife on a kid and I’m sick? You poisoned Nicole. All because she figured out that you were using her.”
“I am going to reclaim my life.”
“You can’t. You’re wanted for murder. If the warrant hasn’t already been issued, it will be by the end of the day. The police are on their way. I’m just waiting for them to get here.”
She wished they would drive faster. Was she the only one with a lead foot?
Rachel scowled. She was now only ten feet from the slight rise that led to the mine. It was mostly boarded up, but from this angle it was clear that one of the boards was loose.
“Stop,” Regan said. She was trying to avoid looking at Lucas’s face because his fear was real, palpable. She couldn’t let his panic direct her actions. She would have to take Rachel down. But she had to get her in a position where Lucas had a minimal chance of serious injury. Right now, she was most concerned about their proximity to the mine entrance. The mine was dangerous, and Rachel knew it. Worse, Rachel had been here before and might be able to disappear into the mine—with Lucas in tow.
Regan couldn’t let that happen.
She said, “You stab him, I shoot you.”
“You don’t even have a gun in your hand.”
“I can draw faster than you can blink.”
Rachel looked at her, skeptical, but also worried.
“Rachel, this ends one of two ways. Either you live or you die. It’s your choice.”
“He ruined everything!”
Now Rachel was in the explanation-and-denial phase. Regan waited for her to continue.
She didn’t have to wait long.