"The trouble is, you're lying again, Sally," Serena said. "You can't bullshit another woman."
Stride knelt by the sofa. He was level with Sally's face, only a few inches away. "You knew Rachel was alive."
"That's ridiculous," Sally said. But her voice trembled.
"You helped her escape," Serena said.
"I didn't."
"Then tell us what happened that night, Sally." Stride reached out and laid a hand gently on her shoulder. "Look, I know what Rachel was like. I know how she could manipulate people."
Sally stared back at him. "No, you don't," she whispered.
Inside her coat, Sally balled her hands into tight fists. Her elbows were squeezed against her side, and her feet stamped on the sidewalk, causing her curls to bounce. All she could think about, all she could see in her head, over and over, was Rachel and Kevin on the bridge.
Rachel kissing Kevin.
Rachel's hand slipping over Kevin's crotch.
And, worst of all, the sly little smile as Rachel's head turned to make sure Sally was below them, watching. It wasn't enough to steal turn away. Rachel needed to humiliate her, too.
She couldn't compete, not with Rachel. Her only salvation all along had been that Rachel had never taken the slightest real interest in Kevin. She toyed with him. Teased him. Flirted with him. And that was all.
Until tonight.
In her room, Sally's rage boiled over. She couldn't get the ugly image out of her head. A part of her wanted to say "Fuck you" to both of them and let Kevin see how happy he was in the arms of that sleazy whore. If that was what he wanted, fine. Let her destroy him. Let him see what life would be like under her thumb.
But she couldn't do it. This wasn't Kevin's fault. He was helpless, a fly caught in Rachel's web.
She decided to have it out with Rachel once and for all-and give her an ultimatum: Stay away from Kevin.
So she climbed out of her first-floor window silently and hurried down the street, her entire body coiled tightly like a spring. She barely noticed the blocks passing, or the cold that turned her rapid breath to steam. In her mind, she went over all the things she was going to say. She rehearsed a big speech, muttering it under her breath, going over and over the words until it was just perfect. But when she found herself on the sidewalk outside Rachel's house, all of the words she had carefully practiced vanished from her mind. Her tongue felt swollen and useless, and her insides turned to jelly. Her courage evaporated. She was frozen.
Rachel was home. Sally had thought Rachel might still be with Kevin and she would have to wait. That would have made it easier. Catch her as she's getting out of the car, when she isn't expecting anyone to confront her. But Rachel's car was parked in the driveway. All Sally had to do was march up to the door and ring the bell. She tried to screw up her courage by remembering yet again the sight of the two figures on the bridge. Rachel and Kevin. The kiss. The seduction. The smile.
Bitch.
Ring the bell, and Rachel would answer. And then Sally would unleash all the pent-up fury she had been carrying inside. Scream at her. Slap her. Show her that, for once, a girl was going to fight back.
But Sally was paralyzed. Her mind willed her forward, and her feet remained planted on the street. She didn't know if she could face Rachel, no matter how angry she was, no matter how much Kevin meant to her.
Inside Rachel's house, the downstairs light went off. The house went dark.
That's it, Sally thought. She's going to bed. I'm too late.
Then she heard a clicking inside, like the turning of a dead bolt, and she realized that someone was opening the front door of Rachel's house. Sally's courage fled completely, and she ducked off the sidewalk and pressed herself into a row of tall hedges. She could still see the house in the pale glow of the streetlight.
In the shadows, she recognized Rachel, dressed as she was before, slipping from her house. Rachel furtively studied the street for almost a full minute, waiting, not moving, holding back in the protective darkness of the porch. Then she hurried down the driveway. She clutched a large plastic bag in her hand.
Sally realized Rachel was heading her way. Rachel was bound to see her. Sally wanted to curl up in the hedges and hope she would walk right by, but she knew this was her one chance. It was now or never. Sally swallowed hard, then stepped out onto the sidewalk right in front of Rachel.
"We need to talk," Sally said. Her stomach flip-flopped, and she cursed herself as she heard the quivering in her voice. She sounded like a frightened child.
Rachel saw her and stopped dead. Shock filled her eyes, replaced in an instant by cold hatred and contempt.
"Oh, shit" Rachel hissed. "What the fuck are you doing here?"
Sally coughed. "I want to talk about Kevin," she said weakly.
Rachel glanced up and down the street. They were alone, just the two of them. She pushed her face practically to Sally's nose. "You have no idea what you're meddling with," Rachel said. "You're going to ruin everything."
Sally was confused. She had never seen Rachel like this. "What? What do you mean?"
Rachel grabbed Sally's wrist and twisted it until she grimaced in pain. "Look, this is none of your business. Do you get me? You never saw me here tonight."
"I don't understand," Sally said. "You're hurting me."
None of this was going as Sally had planned. She had no idea what Rachel was talking about, but she was scared of the look in her eyes.
"I'll do more than that if you don't shut up and listen," Rachel said. "You may be a fool, Sally, but I think you're smart enough to know two things. First, I don't have any interest in Kevvy. He's all yours, God help him. And second, you know damn well that I could take him away from you any time I want to."
"That's not true," Sally said.
Rachel laughed. "He'd do anything for me. And that's after a little hand job on the bridge, Sally. Did you enjoy the show? Did you like watching me make your boyfriend come?"
"Stop it," Sally pleaded. "Don't."
"Good. I'm glad we understand each other. So let's be clear about this. You're going to go back home, and you're going to forget all about this little conversation. It never took place. You never saw me. Because I'll make you a promise, Sally. If you ever tell anyone about this, I'll come back and make sure Kevvy never looks at you again. I don't care if you marry him tomorrow, I'll sleep with him the day after that, and believe me, he'll never spend another day with you."
Sally said nothing. She didn't know what to do.
Rachel sidled closer to her. She stroked Sally's hair, and Sally tried to pull away. Rachel held her. "Do you understand me, Salty?"
"I don't understand any of this.
"Then just tell me you believe me. You believe me, don't you? You know I'd take Kevvy away from you in a second."
Sally nodded.
"Good," Rachel said. She grinned. With her other hand, she let a finger run along Sally's cheek. Then she leaned closer and, with sweet breath, kissed Sally softly on the lips. The kiss lingered, and Sally felt sick.
"Don't forget," Rachel told her. "Not a word."
Stride listened to Sally's story with growing horror. He shook his head slowly.
"Do you realize the hell you could have saved everyone if you'd told us what happened?" he asked her.
Sally shrugged, completely unrepentant "You didn't know Rachel, Mr. Stride. She meant what she said. If I had told anyone about seeing her, she would have made it her life's mission to take Kevin away from me. I knew what she was capable of. Back then, it seemed like I was the only one who did."
"You were willing to let Graeme Stoner go to prison? When you knew he was innocent?"