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“His name is Channing Renfro. I didn’t know it at the time. His license plate is GoodGuy.”
A deep line grooved between Thronson’s brows. “You’re talking about the homicide at Fitness Now!? You’re saying that was you?”
“God, no. I just wished it! All of it! Do you understand? I wish things, and they happen!”
Detective Thronson stood up straight and rested her hand on the butt of her gun. She stood frozen for several moments, apparently unsure quite how to proceed.
The hysteria that had been building inside Elizabeth finally spilled over and she bent forward and started to laugh. Great, sobbing gulps of crazed mirth that she knew would dissolve into tears eventually. She was dizzy with exhaustion. She didn’t give a damn what the detective thought, or Jade, or anyone else who knew the truth from here on out. She was glad she’d said it. Glad.
It took several minutes before she pulled herself together, and it was only the thought of Chloe and what she would think if she should awaken and find her lunatic mother losing it. Straightening, she heaved a deep sigh and faced the detective wearily. “So arrest me if you will, if wishful thinking is a crime.”
“You’re saying you did not cause your husband’s death, but you—”
“Wished it. Yes. And Mazie’s accident. And I didn’t shoot Officer Daniels, but it wasn’t long after our court date that he was shot and killed.”
Thronson was clearly nonplussed. “To be clear, you feel responsible for these deaths, but you didn’t actually act on them. That’s what you’re saying.”
“Yes.”
“And you saw the car coming at the restaurant, or heard it, even though no one else did.”
“Yes. I knew it was going to hit.”
“You say your daughter is asleep?”
Elizabeth nodded.
“So, you’re not going anywhere tonight.”
“Detective Thronson, if you want to arrest me, you’re just going to have to do it. Otherwise this conversation is over. I’ve told you the truth about what I know and what I feel, and I know it sounds crazy, but there it is. That’s all. That’s all there is. I’m sorry Court’s dead. I’m sorry they’re all dead. I don’t know how it’s my fault, but it kinda feels like it is, even though I did nothing to hurt them.”
“Except wish them dead,” the detective repeated slowly.
Elizabeth nodded. “That’s right.”
Thronson was clearly having a very tough time with everything Elizabeth had said, and why not? When she heard the words escape her lips she knew how crazy they sounded.
“I’m going to leave you,” Thronson said. “I’d like to do that polygraph test soon. Maybe tomorrow. I’ll put it together and call you.”
Elizabeth lifted a hand and let it drop. She felt as tired as if she’d run a complete marathon.
“Don’t go anywhere,” the detective warned as if she thought Elizabeth was suddenly a flight risk. “Or, I’ll find you and I will arrest you—on suspicion of homicide.”
“I’m not leaving.”
Thronson slowly turned away from the door, and then seemed to hesitate a moment, looking back, but she finally stepped down the porch stairs and crossed the road to her black Chevy Trailblazer.
Elizabeth closed the door and hesitated a moment herself, then she headed for the wine rack and a bottle of chardonnay.
Dear Elizabeth, my love,
I watched you tonight. I saw what you can do! You are amazing and so beautiful. Are you receiving my mental messages? I’m sending them to you. Concentrating. I know you can hear me. Should I send this pile of missives so that you know how I feel? I love you so much I ache inside. We’re connected, you and I. Almost like family except my emotions run so much deeper than that. Desire . . . yes. I’m consumed with it, but there’s a spirituality between us, the kind that exists only through purest souls. Soon the unveiling will happen and we will be transcended.
My love . . . I don’t deserve you and yet, there is no one like me for you. We have always belonged together . . . always.
Chapter 24
Rex and Ravinia headed back to the Brightside Apartments about ten the next morning. Ravinia had been up and ready to go at the crack of dawn, but Rex explained that ten was a more civilized time for making interviews, especially with little old ladies like Marlena, the one person who seemed to remember the elusive Ralph Gaines.
