Page 66 of Waitress at the Shadow Ridge Inn
Her smile was chilling. “You really are stupid, aren’t you? All these years, I thought it was an act. The innocence. The naivete. The whatever it is that draws guys to you, wanting to be your knight in shining armor.” She sneered. “You make me sick. And this? This is exactly what you deserve.”
None of this made any sense. I was looking at a puzzle with gaps, and the pieces I had weren’t fitting in. “I don’t understand. Why are you doing this?”
“Because you need to be stopped. Because I can’t take it anymore. Because life is better without you in it. You couldn’t just stay away, could you?”
The vehemence and hatred in her tone were tangible. Gone was the flirty, sarcastic, broody girl I’d thought was my friend. In her place was a deranged woman with only malice and madness in her eyes.
“Everything comes so easy for you,” she scoffed. “Rich mommy and daddy. Nice house. Good grades. All you have to do is bat those pretty eyelashes, and men fall over themselves to do your bidding. To give you the best accounts. Promote you before anyone else.”
I stared at her. Clearly, she’d forgotten that myrich mommy and daddyhad died horribly, leaving a huge, gaping hole in my chest. Or how, while everyone else was out partying at the frats, I was holed up in the library, studying my ass off because that was the only way to keep the grief at bay. And that promotion I’d gotten? I’d earned that by taking on extra accounts and working seventy-hour weeks.
“And itstillwasn’t enough,” she was saying. “You weren’t happy unless you stole every guy who showed even the slightest bit of interest in me, were you?”
“What the hell are you talking about?” I yelled. Hurt, angry tears rolled down my face. “I never stole anyone from you.”
“Billy Cameron. Ken Masters. Mark Kaufmann. Tony Cappelletti. Henry Davidson. Fucking Aaron Carrington!” Her voice rose with each name.
I recognized them all. Billy and Ken were guys I’d gone out with once or twice in college on those rare occasions when I tried to have a normal life. Mark was hired at the firm around the same time we were and asked me out to dinner, which I declined. Tony and I were often assigned to the same team and shared takeout when we worked through lunches and dinners, but it was never anything more than that. The others—Henry and Aaron—I’d spoken to only in passing.
With the obvious exceptions of Henry and Aaron, I’d had no idea Angie was interested in any of them. I said as much.
“Oh, come off it,” Angie snarled. “Everyone else might buy that airhead routine, but I know you. I’ve been in your shadow for nearly ten fucking years. Henry was the last straw. I saw you that night, you know. You waited until I went to the bathroom, and then you made your move. You knew I wanted him, but you were ogling him all night, waiting for your chance. That’s why I slipped a little something into your drink. You were supposed to go pass out somewhere. But you couldn’t even do that right, could you?”
I shook my head. I was at a loss for words, but I doubt she would have listened to anything I said. She was beyond reason.
She looked down at the floor, her face softening for just an instant before it became hard again. “Aaron is mine!” she shrieked. “You can’t have him!”
What happened next was a blur. The door slammed open, and Sheriff Kerrigan’s bulk filled the frame.
“Lower your weapon,” he commanded in an authoritative, booming voice.
Angie jerked backward, swinging the gun from me to the sheriff. Her eyes were wild.
“I don’t think so,” Angie said.
“You have to know this is not going to end well for you,” the sheriff said calmly, as if he did this kind of thing every day. “Lower your weapon, and let’s figure this out.” He took a step forward.
“I’ve got it all figured out,” Angie said. “It’s you and everyone else who need to catch up.” She pointed the gun back at me. “Take one more step, and she dies.”
The sheriff stopped immediately.
“Now, you put your gun on the floor and kick it to me.”
The sheriff hesitated, then lifted his hands in a surrender gesture and slowly bent down to the floor. My heart plummeted.
Angie laughed. “See, Casey? Men will doanythingfor you. Even risk their own lives.”
But Angie didn’t know that the deputy had come in through the mudroom and was silently closing the distance between them. I kept my eyes on Angie, not wanting to give him away.
“Get down,” the sheriff commanded sharply.
I didn’t hesitate. I hit the floor, even as the shot rang out. I dared not lift my head, watching feet as they scuffled around, as I listened to Angie’s screams of protest until she was on the floor too.
I turned my head, watching in disbelief as the woman I’d believed was my friend was subdued on the floor five feet away from me. She continued to struggle. The deputy had one knee on Angie’s lower back, one hand resting at the top of her spine, holding her down while the sheriff straddled her legs and placed cuffs around her wrists. Her eyes met mine, and the pure loathing in them chilled my blood.
“Clear!” the sheriff barked, and more people streamed in.
Seconds later, I was being lifted into strong, familiar arms.
