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His gaze shot to Rachel. “I know that looks bad, but I can explain.”
Always looking for an angle, searching for a way to duck responsibility. He’d lied and convinced Meredith to lie, and his only thought was to bury his behavior so Rachel didn’t see it. He was pathetic and clueless.
Elisa didn’t know if he’d missed the knife in Rachel’s hand, but he clearly didn’t understand what was happening here. Still, Elisa couldn’t muster any sympathy for him. “You always have an excuse ready.”
Josh started walking around the kitchen island toward them. “What’s wrong with you?”
“You should have seen how excited he was to make your life miserable, Elisa. He jumped at the chance. Kept coming up with new ways to break you down,” Rachel said. “He never said it, but it all came from fear. If you were believable, if you got stronger and threw doubts on Abby leaving on her own, then people might listen to you. You could make life difficult for him. Uncover his secrets.”
Josh froze.
Elisa understood. “Because if people believed me, they might do their jobs and look closer at his past.”
“Exactly.” Energy thrummed off Rachel. She sounded wound up and ready. “They could find the trail of dead women. He couldn’t let you get there, couldn’t let his precious brother, Harris, lose faith in him. Couldn’t lose everything. After all, he’d killed to get what he had.”
Some of the color left Josh’s face. “What are you doing?”
Elisa could see Rachel moving. Slow and with small steps, she inched closer to Josh. Elisa was about to call out when Rachel answered him.
“Ending this.”
“Okay, wait a second.” Josh shook the glass in his hand in what looked like a nervous gesture. “I clearly walked in on something strange. Like, a really bad joke.”
He still wasn’t getting it, and Elisa couldn’t take his not knowing for one more second. “Open your eyes and see that your newest wife is holding a knife.”
“I am.” Rachel brought it up just high enough for everyone to see. “Put the glass down.”
Rachel’s rhythmic voice echoed through Elisa. She tried to block it out, find something else to focus on.
The other knives.
Elisa looked at the empty slot in the block and the ones still there. They were near the stove and not anywhere near her. She’d have to get around Rachel or vault over the kitchen island to get to them. Josh was closer but him grabbing them wouldn’t help her.
Josh set the glass down. He kept going and took off his suit jacket. “This isn’t funny, Rachel.”
“It’s hysterical, actually.” Rachel held the knife perfectly still, as if she’d been waiting for this moment her entire life and would take care not to mess it up. “You, thinking you can destroy people’s lives and walk away from them without even a scar? That’s not happening. Not this time.”
Elisa needed Josh and Rachel to focus on each other and leave her out of it, but she knew she’d be collateral damage in whatever battle fallout happened next. She tried to draw their attention as she conducted a mental inventory of the drawers closest to her. There should be scissors.
“Does he know who you really are?” Elisa asked Rachel as she thought through where she dumped the scissors the last time she used them to open a box.
Rachel didn’t even look at her. “Don’t help.”
“Wait.” For the first time Josh looked like he understood his plan had flipped upside down. “Who is she?”
“Lauren’s sister.” Elisa hoped that bit of information would keep them preoccupied. She fought through wave after wave of dizziness as her mind jumped around, looking for a solution. A heavy pan. She needed the one that would cause the most damage.
“She didn’t have...” Josh blinked a few times as his attention centered on Rachel. “You know about Lauren?”
“Everybody knows Lauren. Lauren’s perfect.” Rachel practically spit out the words. “I heard about her every damn day of my life from the time I turned eleven. Lauren was so smart. Lauren was beautiful. She was the talented one. The one with potential.” Rachel said the words in a singsong voice. “The only oneshecared about.”
Josh flinched. “‘She’?”
Cast iron. Elisa knew that would give her the best chance. Now she just had to remember where she stored it. Until then, she’d stall by pitting Josh against Rachel. A perfect match.
“I believe she’s referring to Lauren’s mom, Allyson.” Elisa gestured toward Rachel. “Meet Nina Robinson. The daughter of the man Lauren’s mom married.”
“She was supposed to love me, but she didn’t have room. Just like my mom, Allyson ignored me. Abandoned me. I was in the same house and she looked at me with disgust. Locked the door to my room and said I was uncontrollable.” Rachel shook her head as if trying to block out the images playing in there. “My father blamed me. He said I made my mom leave. That I wasn’t lovable, but I had a second chance with Allyson.Then she . . . I was never good enough. I didn’t like the same things as Lauren. I didn’t look like her, enjoy the outdoors and animals like her.”
