Her outburst clearly startled him. What the hell are you talking about? Take what?
You know what Im talking about! My letters from Paul.
Nathan gave her a disgusted look. Come on, Dani. Knock it off. No ones buying that story.
What do you mean? Im not making this up. He sent me letters. He wrote me poetry. He told me
That he loved you? Nathans gaze mocked her. Get over yourself. Not everyone in this stupid town thinks youre so wonderful. If you knew what that little weirdo was really up to Nathan broke off and glanced away.
Danis fingers dug into his shirt. What did you mean by that?
When Nathan merely smiled, something snapped inside Dani and she hit him. Smacked him right in the face and then hard across his chest. He wasnt much taller than she, and almost as skinny. Her blows made him stumble back, and he threw up an arm to ward her off.
But Dani couldnt seem to stop. It was as if someone else had taken control of her body. Someone whod been suppressing her rage for years. Ever since her parents had brought home a son
Tell me! Tell me!
Dani kept right on hitting him until she heard her mother cry out and her father say in a shocked voice, Danielle! Thats enough!
Canton stood at the bottom of the stairs taking it all in. He said nothing, but his dark gaze glittered with an emotion Dani couldnt define.
The anger drained out of her so quickly she almost collapsed. She would have, if Nathan hadnt grabbed her wrists to hold her up.
Ive been waiting years to see that look on Mothers face, he whispered, and then he released her and turned away.
CHAPTER THREE
FOUR WEEKS LATER, Greg Melcher sat at the back of the Allentown High School auditorium and watched Danielle Williams deliver the valedictory address at her graduation. She managed to hit just the right notes of melancholy and anticipation as she talked about leaving the past behind in order to embrace the future.
It was the usual inane garbage that would be delivered at countless graduation ceremonies in countless little burgs all over Texas on that hot Sunday afternoon.
But this speech was different because, in spite of Danis hesitant, emotional delivery, Melcher thought he could detect the barest hint of triumph in her tremulous voice. She was going to embrace the future, all right. She was going to embrace the hell out of it once she received the Belmont Award.
That little girl thinks she got away with murder. Now shes going to take that scholarship money, get herself a fancy degree, and maybe even a rich husband if she plays her cards right.
God help that poor SOB, whoever he turns out to be, Melcher thought grimly.
But even as he sat there resenting Dani Williamss future, he couldnt help admiring her nerve. The girl was fearless. It wasnt every seventeen-year-old who could execute a triple murder so flawlessly and leave nothing more than a whisper of suspicion behind. But those doubts were still lingering, if the subdued applause she received after her speech was any indication.
She returned to her seat on the stage, pressed her knees together and clasped her hands in her lap. There she sat, the very epitome of youth and hope and innocence. And she was good-looking to boot. Not drop-dead gorgeous the way Melcher preferred, but he had to admit there was something special about her. She had presence, with all that dark, glossy hair and those violet-colored eyes. And such poise!
Melcher didnt know how she managed to keep her cool so well, but even when another classmate got up to deliver a moving tribute to Paul Ryann, she merely blinked away the tears instead of conspicuously dabbing at her eyes. The girls performance was nothing short of brilliant.
Yes, a part of Melcher couldnt help admiring her even as he plotted her downfall. Because, after all, ambition was something he understood. He didnt have a fancy degree from a school like Drury, but, by God, he was a damn good reporter with an uncanny instinct for looking under just the right rock. He might have started his career at a two-bit weekly in East Texas, but he sure as hell didnt plan to end it that way.
Melcher had been waiting five years to catch some big-city editors eye. Houston, Dallas, San Antoniothose markets were respectable and a hell of a lot better than what he had now, but he ultimately had his eye on the big time. The show, as he liked to call it. More than anything in the world, he wanted to be an investigative reporter for the New York Times. Then, after he wrote a few books, won a Pulitzer or two, hed make the move to television where the real money was.
Buthe was getting a little ahead of himself.
It was hard not to dream, though. Hard not to imagine the headlines: Valedictorian Kills Rival.
A story like that could easily go national if Melcher worked it just right. Murdering cadets. Cheerleader moms hiring hit men. The public loved that kind of stuff. They couldnt get enough of it, and this story had it all. Passion, jealousy, resentment. An honors studenta girl whod never gotten so much as a day of detention in her lifecaving to the pressures and competition that now faced high school seniors all across the country. Hell, the afternoon talk shows would eat that up with a spoon. And with a little luck, Melcher might even get a book and movie deal out of it.
He was still daydreaming, still smiling to himself when Dani walked across the stage to receive the Belmont Award. Her big moment at hand, she played it just right. Humble, grateful, sad. She didnt drop her guard even for an instant, but she didnt fool Melcher. He could see right through her. Beneath that sweet, wistful facade was a cold-blooded killer. A black widow in the making. A woman who seducedand then murdered to get what she wanted.
Melcher could just see those headlines now.
And as he watched Danielle Williams accept the award, he began to hate her a little. Not because shed killed an innocent boy and his family out of greed, but because she represented all that had remained elusive in his own life.
It was time someone brought that little girl down a peg or two. And Melcher was just the guy to do it.
DANI AND HER PARENTS celebrated quietly after the ceremony. She hadnt been invited to any of the after parties nor had she participated in any of the pregraduation events.
After Pauls death, when word had gotten out that she was a suspect, her classmates, including friends shed gone to school with her whole life, had shunned her. Dani supposed she couldnt blame them. If the police were right and the fire had been deliberately set, then the community had a murderer somewhere in its midst. Someone they knew had killed not one person, but three.
Dani understood that fearshe felt it, too. But the past two months had been lonelier than she ever could have imagined. It certainly wasnt the way she would have chosen to end her high school years.
And to make matters worse, Nathan had left home. Just up and disappeared in the middle of the night without a word or a note to anyone. They didnt have a clue where hed gone off to, and Dani knew her parents, especially her mother, lived in a constant state of terror that she would get a phone call from a stranger some night informing her that her son was dead.
In the meantime, the investigation had finally wound down, even though an arrest had yet to be made. Dani knew that the police had checked into the Ryanns background and connections in Baton Rouge, but whether anything suspicious had turned up, she had no idea.
She did know, however, that Canton still considered her a suspect. In the ensuing weeks since that first interrogation, he had come into the store several times where Dani worked. He never said anything, just stared at her for long moments before turning to walk out.
And one night when she was up late studying, shed glanced out the window to see a police car parked down the road from her house. Shed known instinctively it was Canton.
In her more charitable moments, Dani could appreciate that he was just doing his job, but sometimes it seemed as if he was deliberately stalking her just to unnerve her. And it worked. His relentless pursuit left her shaken and edgy and more than a little afraid. There was something almost obsessive about his behavior, and Dani wondered now how shed ever found him attractive.
Her mothers conduct during the past two months had been unsettling, as well. Whether it was Nathans disappearance, the suspicions cast upon her daughter, or a combination of both, Rena Williams had become even more withdrawn and had begun to suffer anxiety attacks. Some were so severe that she didnt dare leave the house. She hadnt even been able to attend Danis graduation ceremony, but had stayed home instead to prepare her daughters favorite meal and to beautifully decorate a cake, which she made a production of serving on her best china.
It was a rather pathetic attempt to commemorate the day, and they all knew it. As soon as theyd eaten, her father mumbled something about work he had to do in the barn and left the house. Dani helped her mother clean up, and then she, too, escaped. But instead of going straight to her room, she crossed the hall to Nathans room. His door was ajar, and she knew that it had been closed earlier. It was always closed.
After hed first disappeared, Dani had been inside several times to search through his belongings, hoping to find something that would tell her where hed gone. Hed left nearly everything behind. His clothes, his CD collection, even a stash of pot that Dani had flushed down the toilet before her parents could see it.
By all indications, her brother had taken off on the spur of the moment with nothing more than the clothes on his back, his car, and money hed taken from their mothers purse and from Danis dresser drawer.
Her searches had been so thorough that when Dani first stepped across the threshold that afternoon, she knew immediately that something was different. Someone had been in her brothers room since she last had. And that someone had deliberately left the door ajar.
Her mother? Doubtful, since she could hardly bear to mention her sons name.
Her father? Not likely, since hed pretty much written Nathan off.
Then who?
Dani hovered in the doorway, hesitant for some reason to enter. The room had always been a little eerie, with its relentless black furnishings and her brothers bizarre drawings tacked to the walls. He was a gifted artist, but his fascination for eyes had always seemed a bit creepy to Dani. Thousands of the disembodied orbs stared at her accusingly as she walked into his room and closed the door.
She hadnt even been aware of looking for anything specific until she saw the corner of an envelope protruding from behind Nathans dresser. She knew she hadnt overlooked it in her previous searches. She was too methodical. Too precise. If that letter had been there before, she would have found it.
As she bent to pick it up, the scent of her own perfume wafted on the musty air.
And then she knew. The letter was from her secret admirer.
ButPaul was dead. If he hadnt sent that letterif he hadnt sent all those other lettersthen who had?
Dread tightened Danis chest as she crossed the hall and entered her room. Closing and locking the door, she opened the envelope and withdrew the single sheet of paper from inside. She recognized the handwriting instantly, and her heart almost stopped.
The letterin her own precise scriptsaid simply, I did it for you, Dani. And it was signed, your One and Only.
Dani put a trembling hand to her mouth.
Did the letter meanwhat she thought it meant? Had someone killed Paul and his familyfor her?
She had to call the police. She had to show them the letter she still clutched in her hand. She had to tell them what she knewsomehow make them understand
Pauls killer had to be found. Her secret admirer had to be exposed.
The phone on her nightstand rang, and Dani jumped, still in shock. She waited for her mother to pick up downstairs, but when the phone rang twice more, Dani crossed the room to answer it.
Hello?
I did it for you, Dani.
She didnt recognize the voice on the other end. She had a feeling the caller was deliberately disguising his identity. Gripping the phone in terror, she whispered, Who is this?
Just think of it as my graduation present to you. The ultimate gift
She squeezed her eyes closed. This couldnt be happening. It couldnt be true.
You understand now, dont you? the voice said softly. Youre mine, Dani. Youll always be mine. Nothing can change that.
Her heart pounded so hard she couldnt breathe. Im going to the police. Theyll find you, and put you in jail where you belong
He made you say that, didnt he? The voice grew angry and sullen. I know whats going on. Hes trying to keep us apart, but dont worry. I wont let him come between us. I wont let anyone stand in our way.
Who are you? Dani whispered again.
You know who I am, Dani. Im your One and Only
DANI SAT ON THE EDGE of her bed, not knowing what to do. She wanted to call the police, but she was afraid to. What if they didnt believe her? What if they turned it all around again and made it seem as if she were guilty?
She glanced down at the letter she still clutched in her hand. The penmanship looked exactly like hers. Somehow her secret admirer had managed to duplicate her handwriting so precisely that the police might very well think shed written the note herself. Canton already suspected her. What if they threw her in jail? What if they made her stand trial and she was found guilty?
Dani had no idea how long she sat in her room agonizing. It must have been hours later when she heard a distant noise. She listened for a moment, then jumped up from the bed when she recognized the sound. Someone was screaming.
She opened her bedroom door and hurried into the hallway. Mom? Dad?
When there was no answer, she raced down the stairs and into the kitchen. The back door was open, and the screams grew louder. Someone was in terrible agony.
Frantic now, Dani ran outside. She met her mother coming up from the barn. She was covered in blood.
Sobbing, she fell into Danis arms. Oh, my God. Oh, my God, she cried over and over.
Mom, what is it? What happened?
Your father, she finally managed to whisper. Oh, God, Dani, theres been a terrible accident.
CHAPTER FOUR
Houston, Texas
Eleven years later
FOR A COLD, MERCENARY KILLER, she wasnt bad looking. In fact, when the light hit her just right or she turned her head at a certain angle, she was quite possibly the most beautiful woman Richard Berkley had ever seen. But that was only a fleeting impression. His overall assessment of her was of a mildly pretty woman who knew how to make an entrance.