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Nolan and Kat swiveled toward Valerie. Her statement had sent a shock wave through the room.
“You killed Nikita?” Kat spluttered.
“I couldn’t take it anymore,” Valerie said, fingering her eyebrow ring.
“Take what?”
“Being second best all the time. She was a better student, a better daughter, a better person.” Valerie glared at Nolan. “A better girlfriend.”
“A better girlfriend?” he choked out. “You think I wanted to date Nikita?”
“Everybody wanted to date her. When we were in high school boys would chat me up just to get close to her. I used to think, wow, all these guys like me. But after a week or two they’d start asking about Niki. They’d want to know if she was single, or what she was doing. It wasn’t too hard to figure out they’d only pretended to be interested in me to get to her.”
“You haven’t been in high school in five years,” Nolan said.
Valerie’s eyes narrowed. “Seven.”
“Whatever. My point is, it was a long time ago. And you’re with me now. So what do you care who chased after Nikita?”
“Don’t pretend you aren’t the same way,” she spat. “I found that note in your pocket.”
Nolan’s lips puckered. “What note?”
“The note with her address on it. You think I wouldn’t recognize your handwriting, or her address? So don’t pretend you weren’t planning to sneak around with her behind my back.”
Nolan’s jaw fell open. “I wasn’t seeing Nikita behind your back. I wrote down her address when we were both at the gallery the other day so we could meet to discuss some joint marketing endeavor she had in mind.”
“Why would you do that?” Valerie asked. “I thought you didn’t paint for the money.”
“I create to feed my soul,” Nolan replied. “But I cannot discount my need for money, the very thing society uses to ensure it maintains its stranglehold on me.”
“But you considered Nikita to be a hack,” Kat said. “Why would you want to partner with her?”
Nolan twisted to face her. “Just because I didn’t respect her or her art, I wasn’t about to turn down a chance to benefit from her connections. As frustrating as it is, her reach far extended mine. I would be a fool not to want to capitalize on that.”
Kat conceded that he made a good point.
But Valerie evidently wasn’t buying it. She stared at him for a moment before slumping back onto the couch. “And here I thought you were like me, a lost soul who doesn’t fit in with this world.”
Nolan sat down beside her. “I still have bills to pay.”
Valerie eyed him. “So you’re telling me you weren’t planning to go to Niki’s house because you wanted her?”
“Egads, no!”
Valerie glowered at him. “I’ve seen the way you looked at her.”
Nolan worked his jaw. “All right, I will admit I was drawn to your sister’s looks. But that is only because of her resemblance to you, my beautiful love. You are like my earth, my sun, my stars—”
“Please,” Valerie said.
Nolan gave her a level look. “You should have asked about the note.”
“Why, so you could lie?”
“I’m not lying.”
Valerie lifted one shoulder as if she didn’t really believe him but neither did she want to dwell on this topic. “I didn’t kill her just because of that stupid note. There was a lot more to it than that.”
“Like what?” Kat said.
“Like the fact that Mom would have been perfectly content to only have one daughter.” Pain flashed across Valerie’s face. “Niki was always the special one. She wasn’t just good at art. She aced all her classes in school: art, math, English, it didn’t matter. Not only that, but everybody loved her. Teachers, parents, neighbors. Then there was me, the shameful black sheep who couldn’t do anything right.”
Valerie tugged at her eyebrow ring, and Kat had to wonder how many arguments that ring had sparked between mother and daughter.
“Can anybody blame me for being upset when I went to borrow my boyfriend’s coat and found my sister’s address in the pocket?” Valerie continued. “It was like a slap in the face.”
“When did you borrow my coat?” Nolan asked.
“At that party Thursday night. One of the girls wanted to go outside for some air, and your coat happened to be more convenient than mine.”
Nolan frowned. “When did that happen? You only stayed at that party for ten minutes.”
“That’s because I found the note. After we came back inside, I left to confront Niki.”
“So you stole that man’s car,” Kat filled in.
“I actually thought I was taking Nolan’s keys,” Valerie said. “But when I pressed the fob button, another car beeped. I didn’t think I’d be gone long enough for anyone to notice, so I figured, what the heck, I’ll just borrow some other car for an hour.”
“Hold on a minute.” Nolan slanted away from her. “You were going to kill Nikita with my Highlander?”
“No, I only wanted to talk to her, to tell her to back off and leave my boyfriend alone.”
“But something must have happened to make you decide to kill her,” Kat said.
Valerie’s expression hardened. “Once I started driving I grew angrier and angrier. I kept thinking of all the ways she excelled where I failed, and how Mom was always gushing over her accomplishments but never mine. And if that wasn’t bad enough, now she has to go after my boyfriend.”
Clover evidently didn’t care to hear any more. He stood up and headed back into Imogene’s home office, presumably to resume his nap.
Valerie’s eyes trailed the cat, but Kat didn’t think she really saw him. Her gaze was vacant when she spoke again. “I turned down her street and there she was, standing by the curb like this big bull’s-eye. It was almost like the universe wanted me to hit her.”
Kat shuddered.
“So I flicked off the headlights and stomped on the gas pedal.” Valerie fell against the couch, wrapping her arms around her middle. For the first time since she’d confessed, she looked sick. “I think I hit something else too.”
“That would be her mailbox,” Kat said. “Or maybe the recycle bin.”
“I don’t know. Everything happened so fast, and I couldn’t see all that good.” Valerie drew in a ragged breath. “Anyway, when I was driving off the car started making this knocking noise. I wasn’t sure if it could make the trip back, so I ditched it.”
“How did you get home after . . . the accident?” Although ‘accident’ was a grossly inadequate term for what had happened, Kat was still having trouble digesting the fact that Valerie had been willing to kill her sister in such a horrible manner.
“I stole a bike and helmet from a garage somebody left open and rode back,” Valerie said.
Kat remembered reading about Valerie’s bike-racing accolades. She would probably asphyxiate if she attempted to bike between Cherry Hills and Wenatchee, but the distance wouldn’t be all that great for somebody accustomed to riding competitively.
“Weren’t you worried somebody would recognize you?” Kat asked.
“With that helmet on?” Valerie shook her head. “Nobody could see my face through that thing.”
Several cars could be heard squealing to a stop outside. Kat sagged against the wall, overtaken by a dizzying wave of relief. Andrew must have gotten her message.
“What’s that?” Valerie ran over to one of the living room windows and peeked through the blinds. “There are cops out there,” she said, her voice shaking.
“At Nikita’s?” Nolan asked.
Valerie drew her head back. Her face was as white as a sheet. “Here.”
Nolan crossed the room to see for himself. “Hey, my car’s blocked in.”
Valerie’s eyes darted around. “I’ve gotta get out of here.”
Kat stepped closer to the front door and spread her arms wide. “You’re not going anywhere.”
She braced herself as Valerie studied her. But instead of charging, Valerie pivoted around and sprinted toward Imogene’s home office. It took Kat a second to realize she was looking for another exit.
Kat dashed after her. When she made it into the room, Valerie was straddling the armchair, one leg stuck through the nearby window. She steadied herself against the windowsill, but before she could maneuver her other leg outside Clover hopped onto the chair and clamped his jaws around the cuff of her jeans.
“What the—” Valerie tried to shake him off. “Stop that!”
Clover hung on tight.
Valerie looked at Kat, her eyes wild. “Get him off of me!”
Kat didn’t move. Not only did she refuse to help Valerie escape, but she was stunned by Clover’s behavior. “I’ve never seen him this aggressive before. What did you do?”
“Nothing!” Valerie tried to jerk her ankle away. “I just pushed him aside, and he went berserk.”
“You pushed him off of the armchair?” Kat said. “That’s his chair.”
The doorbell sounded, and Valerie redoubled her efforts to shake off Clover. The cat didn’t budge.
“Nolan Calabresi, you’re under arrest,” Kat heard Andrew say.
“Andrew!” she shouted. “In here!”
He jogged into the room, his brows furrowing when he caught sight of Valerie and Clover engaged in a battle of wills. “What’s going on?”
“Valerie killed Nikita, not Nolan,” Kat said.
Andrew frowned, but luckily he must have realized now wasn’t the time for questions. He strode over to the window and yanked Valerie back inside. Kat saw tears streaming down her face as she fell into the armchair.
“Valerie Stoll, you’re under arrest,” Andrew said.
Clover, seeming to sense the situation was under control, let go of Valerie’s jeans and ambled over to Kat.
She crouched down and pet him. “Remind me never to sit in your chair without permission again, boy.”
