Privilege 4 - Sweet Deceit (19 page)

Ariana had the cab drop her off five blocks from Lexa's parents' house. As the car pulled away, she yanked out her cell phone, dialed Nathan Dove, and started walking. He picked up on the third ring.

"Hello, Mr. Dove, this is Lexa Greene," Ariana said. "I'm so sorry, but I'm going to have to cancel our meeting."

"I was just on my way to meet you," the man replied, his voice gruff.

"I'm sorry for the late notice, but at least this way I won't take up any more of your time," Ariana said as she speed-walked along ivy-covered brick walls and past iron gates with serious security systems. She only hoped that Lexa's place didn't have such daunting barriers.

"Kids," Nathan Dove said. Then the line went dead.

Ariana shoved her phone back into her bag as she came around the corner and spotted the white-columned Greene manse across the street. She blew out a relieved sigh when she saw that the gates had, mercifully, been left open. Most likely Lexa had left them ajar for the private investigator.

As she scurried across the street, Ariana caught a disturbed look from an elderly couple walking their puggles. She almost shot them an annoyed glare in return until she remembered that she was dressed up as the Bride of Frankenstein. It might have been Halloween, but this wasn't exactly a big neighborhood for trick-or-treating. She ignored them, raced to the far sidewalk, and ducked through the gates in front of Lexa's house. The driveway was long and steep, and by the time Ariana made it to the front door she was out of breath. She narrowed her eyes to better see in the dark and saw that the door had been left yawning open. Kaitlynn was already here.

Steeling herself, Ariana ran for the door, imagining what must have occurred. Kaitlynn had probably decided to simply ring the front bell, knowing that Lexa would be surprised to see her, but would let her in. They were, after all, friends--even if Lexa was planning on having Lillian vetted by a detective. Then, the moment the door had swung open wide enough, Kaitlynn had attacked. The element of surprise was always quite helpful in situations such as these, a fact that both Ariana and Kaitlynn knew well.

Sure enough, as soon as Ariana's foot hit the front step, she heard a crash. She ducked through the door, her heart in her throat, and followed the noise to the parlor just off the foyer. She froze when she saw Kaitlynn and Lexa locked in a struggle. Lexa's blond Heidi Klum wig was strewn on the floor, and she'd lost one stiletto heel as Kaitlynn dragged her backward, her fingers clenched around her throat. Ariana ducked behind a tremendous planter. She watched as Lexa's thin fingers clawed at Kaitlynn's white-knuckled hands. Watched as Kaitlynn clenched her jaw and pressed her lips together, her eyes narrowed and nostrils flared from the effort. Watched as Lexa's legs began to twitch. As her life began to leave her.

It was fascinating, watching it all from the outside. Playing the part of spectator.

Lexa's eyes started to roll into the back of her head, and Ariana took her cue. She plucked a large blue-and-white china vase from a table, walked up behind Kaitlynn, and smashed the vase into the back of her head, right near the base of her skull. Kaitlynn slumped forward, releasing her grip on Lexa, who fell to the floor choking and coughing and writhing around, her miniskirt riding so far upward that her black panties were exposed.

Ariana stood over Kaitlynn for a moment, her chest heaving up and down. This was going to feel so, so good. It was all she could do to keep from smiling. She had to be careful, though. Lexa might see.

Kaitlynn turned over with a groan and blinked a few times, clearly dazed. But when her eyes fell on Ariana, it was like everything snapped into focus. She shoved herself to her feet, her teeth clenched, and let out an inhuman shriek, vaulting herself at Ariana.

This time, however, Ariana was the one who was ready for the assault. As Lexa crawled across the room, her back to Ariana, Ariana grabbed the charging Kaitlynn by the shoulders, turned to the side, and used Kaitlynn's own momentum to fling her through the nearest window. The crash was satisfying, the blood even more so. Kaitlynn lay crooked forward over the windowsill, scratches all over her arms, a gash through the black vinyl around her stomach. Ariana plucked a particularly sharp shard of glass from the window frame and hovered over Kaitlynn as she struggled to turn over, coughing up blood and spittle.

"You said . . . you said we were friends," she whispered to Ariana, convulsing.

"I say a lot of things," Ariana whispered to her. She lifted the shard of glass and let Kaitlynn get a nice, long look at it. "This is for Brigit," she whispered.

Kaitlynn's green eyes widened just before Ariana slashed her across the throat. She twitched twice, big full-body twitches as her lifeblood seeped out all over the bushes just outside the window frame. And then, with one last gurgling cough, she closed her eyes, and it was over.

It was finally, finally over.

Ariana lifted Kaitlynn's hand, slid the purple bangle from her wrist, and shoved it on over her own hand, adding it to the red one she already wore. She could practically hear Brigit's laugh of triumph in her ears.

"Ana!" Lexa ran up behind Ariana and barreled into the back of her shoulder, clinging to her as she looked down at Kaitlynn's broken, bloody corpse. "Omigod, Ana. What did you do?" she choked out.

Ariana dropped the shard of glass with which she had just freed herself and turned to Lexa, shaking. "I just saved your life."

"We have to call the police," Lexa said, turning away from the body, tears streaming down her face. The fake eyelashes were peeling free and her black eyeliner was smudged all the way to her cheekbone. Her hand went to her throat, where Ariana could see a series of angry red bruises left behind by Kaitlynn's fingers.

"Wait!" Ariana blurted, sounding panicked, even to her own ears. Lexa froze and Ariana wrung her hands on the skirt of her costume for effect. The white fabric was already splattered with red dots, and the blood on her hands made it much worse. Such a shame. She was going to have to burn her outfit and lose the deposit. Although, for now, the blood did lend a certain added touch of Halloween spookiness to the ensemble. "Just wait. We have to think."

"Think? About what?" Lexa said, groping in her purse for her phone. She was shaking all over and gasping for breath. "Ana, Lillian's dead!"

It was all Ariana could do to keep from grinning at the words. Lillian's dead. Dead, dead, dead. The word danced a happy jig in her head. She took a deep breath and reminded herself she was supposed to be freaking out.

"I know. I know, okay? I just . . . let's just take a second and calm down." Ariana crossed over to Lexa, biting down on her own tongue to bring tears into her eyes. She sat down on the brocade couch, tugging Lexa with her, making sure to keep the bloody bit of her dress folded toward her lap. "Calm down? Are you serious? Lily just tried to choke me to death and now she's over there . . . she's over there. . . ." She looked at the window, horrified, then looked away, covering her mouth with her quaking hand. "We have to call the police. We have to!"

"Omigod," Ariana said, crossing her arms over her stomach and leaning forward, as if the realization of what she'd done had just hit her. She and Lexa had to be in this together. Lexa could never suspect the truth of tonight's events. "Omigod, omigod, omigod."

"Okay. It's going to be okay," Lexa rambled. "Ana, take a breath. If you lose it, I'm gonna lose it, and we can't both lose it right now."

Ariana breathed in deeply through her nose, letting Lexa comfort her.

"But you're right," she said tremulously, looking over at the body as if horrified. "Lillian's dead. And I--"

"You saved my life," Lexa said, with the faintest hint of clearheadedness.

Exactly, Ariana thought. Let's let that fact sink in now, shall we?

Her plan was working like a charm. By setting Kaitlynn up to try to kill Lexa, then swooping in at the last minute to play the hero, Ariana had earned Lexa's trust. Her gratitude. Her undying devotion. Plus one big, fat future favor.

Lexa just hadn't realized any of this yet. But she would. Jasper had been right. She had not only found a way to fix the situation, she had found a way to twist it in her favor. The only person on Earth who knew Ariana's true identity was dead. And Lexa--the one person who could make or break her future--was forever in her debt.

Ariana was too proud of herself for words.

"She was going to kill me, Ana," Lexa said. "But you . . . you stopped her."

For a long moment, Lexa and Ariana looked into each other's eyes, and Ariana knew that Lexa understood. The two of them were bonded for life. And Lexa no longer had the power to hold anything over Ariana's head ever again.

"The police will understand," Lexa said, reaching into her bag for their phone. "You were just trying to help me."

"But what if they don't?" Ariana said, her bottom lip trembling as she shoved herself up from the couch. Lexa's brows came together and Ariana looked around the room wildly, as if confused--terrified. "What if they think . . . what if they think we murdered her?"

"What? Why would they think that?" Lexa said, getting up as well. She fiddled with her cell phone with both hands.

"Think about it, Lex," Ariana said desperately, throwing her hands out. "Y were hiring a PI to look into Lillian's past. It's going to look like you

ou had something against her."

Lexa whirled around to face the door, one hand flying to her mouth. "Omigod. Dove! He's on his way here right now!"

She hit a speed dial button on her cell phone. Ariana knew what Lexa was about to do, and that it was pointless, but she let her do it anyway.

"Hi, Mr. Dove? It's Lexa Greene. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to be able to make our meeting," Lexa said into the phone.

Then she flinched and hit the off button.

"What'd he say?" Ariana asked.

"He said `I know that, schizo,' and hung up," Lexa replied, looking baffled but relieved.

Ariana bit her tongue to keep from laughing. It was now time to deal the final blow. To get this thing moving so they could both get on with their lives.

"Wait. What about your parents?" she said, her eyes wide. "They're not--"

"Omigod. My parents." Lexa pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes. "My father . . . this would destroy his career," she said, dropping her arms again. "An attempt on my life? A murderer in his house? He's already been dragged through the mud the past few weeks, but this . . . he'd never recover. And he'd kill me."

Ariana stepped forward and slipped the cell phone from Lexa's fingers. She turned it off and tossed it on the couch. "Then we definitely cannot call the police," Ariana told her, squeezing her hand. "Y make that call and within ten minutes this place will be crawling with detectives and dogs

ou and CSI guys. Not to mention about a hundred reporters, a news helicopter, and a million papa razzi."

"You're right," Lexa said, nodding. "We have to make this go away."

Spoken like a good politician's daughter, Ariana thought wryly.

Lexa stared at the body, the legs dangling against the wall, the head and arms trailing into the backyard.

"What about her family?" Lexa said slowly.

"As far as we know she doesn't even have any," Ariana reminded Lexa.

"But what if she does? What if they come looking for her?" Lexa asked tremulously.

"Then we just tell them Lillian up and left one morning. No note, no anything. And we have no idea where she went."

"Do you think that will work?" Lexa asked, looking into Ariana's eyes. Looking for assurances. Some way to assuage her fear and guilt. Ariana stared back, trying to be the picture of certainty she knew her friend needed.

"I haven't seen her call a soul since she's been here. She never mentioned brothers or sisters or parents," Ariana said in a firm tone. "Maybe Soomie was right. Maybe she was a poseur. Maybe she stole her identity. But trust me, whatever the case may be, Lillian Oswald does not exist." She took both Lexa's hands now, her friend's fingers cold inside her warm grip. "Don't let a ghost ruin your life. Not to mention your father's career."

Lexa nodded slowly, then sniffled. "You're right. Okay. What do we do?"

"We need to find somewhere to bury the body."

Lexa turned and paced away from Ariana, away from the horror of Kaitlynn's corpse, bringing her fingers to her mouth as she thought.

"The pet cemetery," she said, whirling around. "It's in the very back of the yard. My mom never goes back there because it makes her too sad. If we put her under the rosebushes back there, no one will notice."

Ariana nodded. "Let's get to work." COVER-UP

"You'll take care of it?" Lexa said to Keiko Ogaswara, handing her a wad of cash.

"Of course, Lex. That's what I'm here for," Keiko replied. "But are you sure you're all right?"

Lexa and Ariana had decided they would tell Keiko that they had brought a couple of boys from school back to the house and that Lexa had gotten into an argument with one of them. Being slightly drunk, she'd grabbed the blue-and-white vase and thrown it at him, but he'd ducked and the vase had gone through the window. Lexa had hurled the vase out for good measure, cringing as the piece--worth thousands of dollars--clipped the pane and shattered.

"I'm fine. Really. Just embarrassed. You won't tell my father, right?" Lexa said. "You know how he feels about reckless behavior."

"Of course I won't tell him," Keiko said, shaking her head and ducking her chin. "Have I ever let slip any of your indiscretions in the past?"

Ariana raised one eyebrow and eyed Lexa. What indiscretions was Keiko talking about?

"No. It's just . . . this is really important," Lexa said, glancing past Keiko at the broken window. She and Ariana had meticulously cleaned the blood away before phoning Keiko, but the pane was still shattered. "I didn't even tell them I was going to be here tonight."

"Y have nothing to worry about," Keiko said, touching Lexa's arm. "Now you two should go. It's Halloween and you're all dressed up." She