straightened she saw a shadow out of the corner of her eye. The killer? Panic made her knees weak.
Don’t be stupid. It’s just a raccoon or a shadow of a tree branch. It’s obvious what happened here tonight.
Alyssa walked back into the bedroom, averting her gaze from the gory scene of her father and stepmother. Her hands shook, and stars hazed her vision. Hold it together. She couldn’t fall apart yet. She ran out of the room, unable tostand it for a second more, and crossed the hall to her stepmother’s private office. She picked up the phone and dialed the police.
“Nine-one-one. What’s your emergency?”
“I think my stepmother just shot my father.”
As the words fell from her mouth, Alyssa felt like she’d taken leave of her body, like she was listening to herself from several feet above as she gave the dispatcher the address and additional details about the scene.
Still, she managed to hang up the phone and dial Kimberly. Kimberly would know what to do, how to handle the situation.
It was only when Kimberly answered that it hit Alyssa. She was about to tell Kimberly that her parents were dead, and that Kimberly’s own mother was the cause.
“Kimberly,” was all Alyssa could force out before she started to sob. It took her several tries before she could finally choke it out.
“Oh, my God.” Kimberly’s voice was small, quiet, quivering with barely contained emotions. After several seconds of silence, she said, “Were they fighting? Did you hear anything?”
“No.” Alyssa sniffled, trying to channel some of her sister’s composure, even in these horrific circumstances. “I just got here. I was going to my room, and I heard the shots—”
“Why are you even there? What are you doing there so late?” Kimberly’s question snapped across the phone line. “You left hours ago.”
“I…met someone,” Alyssa said, her encounter with Derek feeling sleazy and tawdry as she admitted what she’d done. “I’m supposed to meet Daddy for breakfast, and it was so late I decided to stay here.”
“Oh, Alyssa.” Kimberly sighed in the tone of disappointment universally dreaded by all children. “Listen, when the police get there, don’t tell them where you were. Tell themyou were with me before you went to Mother and Daddy’s. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Okay, but why?”
“Really, Alyssa. It will be bad enough to have Mother and Daddy’s private lives torn apart in the press. Do you really want them talking about you and your one-night stand on top of it?”
Alyssa couldn’t believe her sister could care about what the press would think when her father had been murdered and her mother lay dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Then she felt horrible as Kimberly’s soft sobs echoed across the phone lines.
“I know it shouldn’t matter,” Kimberly said. “But Daddy loved you, and I know he wouldn’t want to see you crucified all over again for something so foolish. So do it for him as well as yourself.”
Alyssa nodded, unable to speak as tears stung her eyes and sobs clawed at her throat. Sirens approached, rising to a crescendo as several police cars pulled up to the house. The intercom beeped insistently. “The police are here. I have to go,” Alyssa said and hung up the phone.
She answered the intercom and let the police in through the security gate, and then she opened the front door to let them in. Alyssa spent the next several hours answering their questions, going over again when she had arrived, what she heard, if she could remember the exact time she heard the gunshots.
Kimberly arrived soon after Alyssa had called. Her blond hair was pulled back into a tight knot, and she was dressed in jeans and a turtleneck sweater. The knife-sharp creases in her pants and five-hundred-dollar designer flats kept her from looking anything but coolly elegant. But dark circles framing her eyes and the redness around her nose and eyes showed faint cracks in her
Don’t be stupid. It’s just a raccoon or a shadow of a tree branch. It’s obvious what happened here tonight.
Alyssa walked back into the bedroom, averting her gaze from the gory scene of her father and stepmother. Her hands shook, and stars hazed her vision. Hold it together. She couldn’t fall apart yet. She ran out of the room, unable tostand it for a second more, and crossed the hall to her stepmother’s private office. She picked up the phone and dialed the police.
“Nine-one-one. What’s your emergency?”
“I think my stepmother just shot my father.”
As the words fell from her mouth, Alyssa felt like she’d taken leave of her body, like she was listening to herself from several feet above as she gave the dispatcher the address and additional details about the scene.
Still, she managed to hang up the phone and dial Kimberly. Kimberly would know what to do, how to handle the situation.
It was only when Kimberly answered that it hit Alyssa. She was about to tell Kimberly that her parents were dead, and that Kimberly’s own mother was the cause.
“Kimberly,” was all Alyssa could force out before she started to sob. It took her several tries before she could finally choke it out.
“Oh, my God.” Kimberly’s voice was small, quiet, quivering with barely contained emotions. After several seconds of silence, she said, “Were they fighting? Did you hear anything?”
“No.” Alyssa sniffled, trying to channel some of her sister’s composure, even in these horrific circumstances. “I just got here. I was going to my room, and I heard the shots—”
“Why are you even there? What are you doing there so late?” Kimberly’s question snapped across the phone line. “You left hours ago.”
“I…met someone,” Alyssa said, her encounter with Derek feeling sleazy and tawdry as she admitted what she’d done. “I’m supposed to meet Daddy for breakfast, and it was so late I decided to stay here.”
“Oh, Alyssa.” Kimberly sighed in the tone of disappointment universally dreaded by all children. “Listen, when the police get there, don’t tell them where you were. Tell themyou were with me before you went to Mother and Daddy’s. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Okay, but why?”
“Really, Alyssa. It will be bad enough to have Mother and Daddy’s private lives torn apart in the press. Do you really want them talking about you and your one-night stand on top of it?”
Alyssa couldn’t believe her sister could care about what the press would think when her father had been murdered and her mother lay dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Then she felt horrible as Kimberly’s soft sobs echoed across the phone lines.
“I know it shouldn’t matter,” Kimberly said. “But Daddy loved you, and I know he wouldn’t want to see you crucified all over again for something so foolish. So do it for him as well as yourself.”
Alyssa nodded, unable to speak as tears stung her eyes and sobs clawed at her throat. Sirens approached, rising to a crescendo as several police cars pulled up to the house. The intercom beeped insistently. “The police are here. I have to go,” Alyssa said and hung up the phone.
She answered the intercom and let the police in through the security gate, and then she opened the front door to let them in. Alyssa spent the next several hours answering their questions, going over again when she had arrived, what she heard, if she could remember the exact time she heard the gunshots.
Kimberly arrived soon after Alyssa had called. Her blond hair was pulled back into a tight knot, and she was dressed in jeans and a turtleneck sweater. The knife-sharp creases in her pants and five-hundred-dollar designer flats kept her from looking anything but coolly elegant. But dark circles framing her eyes and the redness around her nose and eyes showed faint cracks in her