Dean's List Read online

  She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and watched him pace. Tears stung Cara's eyes. What had happened to make him hit her? He would have to explain at some point. She wasn't going to raise her child around someone like that. If he ever laid a hand on her again, he would regret it.

  Cara wouldn't hesitate to call the cops and have domestic violence put on his record. That would show him.

  She stepped onto the first stair, still watching. He paced, muttering to himself and looking out the window. She couldn't make out most of what he said. She caught more of "she knows," but not much else.

  What could Lydia know? Maybe Cara shouldn't have ignored all of Bri's and Savannah's phone calls. If Dean wouldn't tell her what he was so upset about, then Cara would return their calls—assuming Dean calmed down. Watching him, he appeared to be growing angrier by the minute.

  Cara took a deep breath and then walked back over to the couch. "Would you like me to make something to eat?"

  He turned, stopped, and stared at her. "Do I look like I want to sit down and eat?" He practically shouted, making Cara jump. "Could women be any more stupid?"

  Cara bit her tongue, her face still stinging. She needed to keep a calm head. "Well, if you decide that you want some company, let me know." She spun around, and went up the stairs, and into the bedroom, closing the door behind her. She wanted to slam it—show him how angry she was at his behavior—but she didn't want to risk angering him further. Whatever Lydia had done, he couldn't get past it. The last thing she needed was to add to it, or to her stinging face.

  She walked to the window, hoping the scenery could calm her down. Instead, she was distracted by neighbors chatting and laughing. Probably the same ones who had given her such a warm welcome before.

  Cara turned around and paced. Now they were both pacing. Why wouldn't Dean just tell her what bothered him? He said she was such a good listener, that he'd never felt so understood by anyone before. Or maybe he'd just wanted something else. Who knew? How well did she really know him?

  The front door slammed, and Cara went back to the window. Dean walked toward his car, ignoring the overly-friendly neighbors who were obviously flirting with him.

  Was he leaving? Cara pressed her face against the glass, trying to see what he was up to in the car. Maybe he was only getting something to bring back into the house.

  He leaned against his car and lit a cigarette. When had he started smoking? At least he was outside, keeping the fumes away from her baby. She watched with pleasure as he ignored the neighbors flirting.

  Cara took some deep breaths. She needed to think of something to say so she could calm him down when he came back inside. Whatever Lydia had done, Cara would have to undo. Typical selfish Lydia. Cara wouldn't miss her. The other girls—yeah, she was going to miss Savannah and Bri.

  She could already see the judging looks on their faces because Cara was having Dean's baby. Once they found out they had a house now, they would probably band together against her.

  Cara needed to find new friends, but it wouldn't be from the new neighborhood. Those were the type of women she wanted nothing to do with.

  Dean threw the cigarette to the ground and stepped on it. Cara prepared herself for what she would say. She needed to convince him that she was safe to talk to. She wouldn't give him grief for whatever was going on with Lydia.

  Instead of going back to the house, Dean turned around, got into the car, and drove off.

  Cara stared in disbelief as his car disappeared from sight.

  Missing

  "You girls stay right here," Bri said, looking around the rec room. There was no reason for her to worry about anyone getting in there. They were on the top level, there was only a small window going outside, and no way to get to it from the backyard.

  "Okay, Mom."

  "Sure."

  They both smiled at her, and then turned to the movie Bri had put on. Her heart pounded in her chest. She still hadn't heard back from Lydia, and Cara continued to avoid her calls.

  There was no way Dean would know Bri had told Lydia to leave. He couldn't know. It just wasn't possible. She walked down to the front door, and double-checked the security system.

  Corey came over, and wrapped his arms around her from behind. "It's going to be okay, honey."

  Bri turned and looked at his beautiful face. "Not even you can help me relax right now, babe." She ran her palm against his soft, chocolaty skin. "Not this time."

  He frowned, but then gave her a kiss. "I'll do whatever I can."

  "Just keep the girls safe."

  "Bri, if Dean is dumb enough to come to our house, he won't live to tell about it. He won't even make it inside."

  She checked her phone again. "I hate not knowing where either one of them is. Now that I know what he's capable of…."

  "Lydia's probably safe. If she's smart, she ditched her phone. He could easily track her, you know."

  Bri's heart jumped into her throat. "I never even thought of that. And what about her car? It has all kinds of wireless capabilities. Could he track that, too?"

  Corey squeezed her. "If he really wanted to."

  "What are we going to do?" Bri asked. Her stomach twisted into tight knots.

  "Stay right here, and keep our family safe."

  "I don't know how long I can do that, Cor."

  "You have no choice." He pulled her closer into his embrace. "I'm not letting you out of my sight."

  "If I don't hear from Lyds, I'm going after her."

  Corey kissed her ear. "You don't know where she is."

  Bri pulled away. "But I can find her. I know she didn't go near her family. She probably went in the opposite direction. If Dean goes looking, he's probably going straight to her family."

  "Wait for her to call. She's smart enough to pick up a disposable phone. Give her time."

  "I'm going to throw up."

  "Let me make you some tea. Chamomile?"

  Bri shook her head. "And women say there is no perfect man."

  Corey grinned. "I try."

  The doorbell rang.

  Bri and Corey exchanged a worried look. Bri's stomach twisted tighter, and she was sure she'd lose control of her bladder.

  "Let me." Corey walked past her, and looked into the peephole. "It's Chad Mercer. He's safe, right?"

  "Chad?" Bri asked. Things had to have gone from bad to worse if Chad was at their door. "Let him in."

  Corey opened the door and exchanged greetings with their neighbor. Chad came in, and Corey closed the door behind them.

  Bri looked Chad over, trying to gauge the seriousness of the situation. "What's going on, Chad?"

  "Can we sit?"

  Corey pointed toward their front room.

  "I'll be right there," Bri said. She needed to empty her bladder before talking with Chad. Her mind raced with the worst possible scenarios. It had to be bad news if Chad was there. There was no other explanation.

  When Bri got to the front room, Corey and Chad were discussing the latest Mariner's game.

  "What's going on, Chad?" Bri asked, desperately trying to keep her voice steady. She sat next to Corey, who took her hand.

  Chad cleared his throat, and then looked at Bri. "I'm sure you know that Lydia and I developed a friendship some time ago."

  "If you want to call it that," Corey said.

  Bri nudged him. "Yes. What's going on?"

  "I'm really worried about her. Is she okay?" Chad looked pale.

  "Why are you worried? Did she contact you?" Bri asked.

  Chad raked his hands through his hair, and then took a deep breath. "She came to me at the party earlier."

  Bri nodded. "That's right. I saw the announcement in the HOA bulletin. Sorry we couldn't make it."

  "No problem. But Lydia stopped by, and she wasn't herself. Not at all. She said something that made me think she was scared of Dean, and she was basically saying goodbye." He pulled some of his hair into his fists. "It wasn't like…." Chad took a deep breath, still gras
ping his hair. "It was like she didn't expect to see me again, ever."

  Corey gave her a worried look.

  "Is she in danger?" Chad asked.

  "What exactly did she tell you?" Bri asked.

  "Not very much, and I was distracted hosting a party. It wasn't until the party was over that the severity of her reaction hit me.

  Corey wrapped his arm around Bri, and looked at Chad. "When she said goodbye, did you think she was moving away or in danger? Did you get the feeling she thought she might never return alive?"

  Chad finally let go of his hair, and shook his head. "I don't know. But she said something about Dean having a secret, and she had to get away. She was definitely scared… and saying a final goodbye. Do you know why she's scared of him?"

  Bri nodded. "I'm the one who told her to leave town."

  "Did he find out about us?" Chad asked, looking like he was going to be sick.

  "No," Bri said. "You don't have to worry about Alyssa finding out. No one's going to say anything."

  "Would he hurt Lydia?" Chad asked.

  "He's never laid a finger on her," Bri said, "but that could definitely change."

  They all sat in silence.

  Finally, Chad looked back at them. "Where did she go?"

  "We don't know," Bri said. "It's safer that way. Dean can't force it out of anyone."

  "What do you mean?" asked Chad.

  "Lydia discovered that he's not above hurting people," Bri said. "That's all I'm going to say. It's not my place."

  "We have to do something."

  "What?" Corey asked.

  "Something." Chad looked around. "We can't just sit around doing nothing."

  "Not much else to do," Corey said. "We have to wait until she contacts us."

  Chad swore. "That's not good enough."

  "Go back to your family. If there's anything we think you can help with, we'll let you know."

  "Look," Chad said, staring at Corey. "I'm not proud of what I did, okay? My marriage wasn't in a good place at the time, and I made a bad decision. But none of that changes the fact that I care about Lydia. I can't just go back home and pretend like northing's wrong. I just can't. I need to do something."

  "That's what we have to do," Bri snapped. "Just sit and wait. Keep our kids safe, and hope the best for Lydia. No one knows where she went, so we can't even go after her."

  Chad sat up taller. "You think your kids are in danger?"

  "Anyone who has helped Lydia could be in harm's way."

  "Even my kids?" Chad asked.

  "Only if Dean thinks you've aided her."

  Chad swore again. "I've got a whole group of teenagers in my house right now."

  Corey looked directly at him. "Then I suggest you get back home and set your alarm."

  "Let me give you my number, in case you need anything." Chad stood up.

  "It's in the HOA directory, right?" Bri asked.

  "Yeah."

  "We'll call you if anything comes up. I promise." Bri stood. "We'll see you to the door."

  "She's going to be all right, isn't she?"

  "We can only hope," Corey said.

  They walked Chad to the door. Once he was outside, he said, "Call me if you need anything."

  "We will," Corey said, and then closed and locked the door. He turned to Bri. "Can you believe him?"

  "He's worried about her."

  "He doesn't have the right to be."

  "I think he can't help it. It's sweet that he still cares about her."

  "Sweet?" Corey asked. "He cheated on his wife with her and then decided to go back to being a family man."

  "He also gave her happiness in a time when she had none. We all know how much Dean cheated on Lydia."

  Corey shook his head. "I have no pity for any man who cheats on his wife. None."

  Bri wrapped her arms around him. "And I love that about you. But at the same time, I think Lydia's situation was different. I mean, really. She married a serial killer."

  "Doesn't excuse Chad's behavior."

  Bri pulled out her phone. "Let's worry about Lydia instead of Chad, okay?"

  Corey took a deep breath. "Fine. Have you tried calling Cara or Lydia recently?"

  "I've called so many times already. They both know I'm trying to get a hold of them, unless they've gotten rid of their phones."

  "Maybe they have. Lydia's on the run, and I wouldn't be surprised if Ethan had Cara's phone turned off. What's going on in this neighborhood?" Corey shook his head. "So much cheating and deception."

  "Dean's at the bottom of all of this."

  "I always knew there was something off about him."

  "When?" Bri asked. "Like what?"

  "Just a feeling."

  Reality

  Lydia peeked out the curtain, checking on her car. She hated parking out in the open but had no other choice. All of her credit cards and bank accounts had been frozen. She had to stay at the cheapest motel she could find, and she barely had enough cash for one night.

  It was too early to worry about what she would do tomorrow, but she would need to figure something out. She would likely have to sleep in her car or go to her brother. Without money, she had no other options. Not unless she wanted to go back to Dean, but after disappearing—and having her accounts messed with—she couldn't do that.

  He had to have known something was wrong. Why else would he do that to her? He wouldn't keep her from their money unless he had good reason.

  She needed to cut her losses.

  What she needed was to find an actual piece of evidence to put Dean at any one of the murders. Just being in town wasn't proof of anything. Not even being in town when all of them happened meant anything. For all Lydia knew, it just meant that she had an overactive imagination.

  She could just picture a room full of cops laughing at her, calling her a bored and neglected housewife. Someone might even suggest she write screenplays for a living.

  No. She needed something solid. She had grabbed a manila folder of receipts from Dean's office and put it in her trunk, meaning to go through them when she was in Oregon. If he had been stupid enough to save one from the workplace of any of those girls, that should be enough.

  Just one clue to say this was serious. Something they couldn't ignore. Then she could leave it to the professionals to find other clues. She walked around the little motel room, feeling like a caged animal.

  Why was it that she was stuck in there, hiding, while Dean roamed free? She looked out the window again, wanting to go out to the car and grab the folder of receipts. She couldn't risk it. If she was going to leave the room, she needed to wait until dark.

  Lydia pulled her new laptop out of the bag, and turned it on. There was supposed to be free wi-fi, but the lady at the desk had told her it wasn't that great. The cheap computer came to life, and Lydia watched as it searched for a wireless signal. Finally, it found one, and she connected.

  She looked through her fake online persona's emails and social media accounts. Some of the friends and family of the victims had accepted her requests. She didn't see Angie's, but that wasn't a surprise. She hadn't trusted Lydia. That much had been clear.

  Lydia relaxed as she read through the emails, and then searched her news feed for anything revealing. There was nothing she could see that lead to Dean, but it wouldn't be that easy.

  A scuffling noise outside caught Lydia's attention. She closed the laptop, went over to the door, and looked out the peephole. She couldn't see anything.

  She heard another noise.

  Lydia looked at the door to make sure all the locks and chains were in place. The mere fact that there were so many of them only made her feel less secure. She was used to hotels with key cards and security cameras. She hadn't seen a camera anywhere, and the key to open her room was so old and rusty, Lydia was sure it was older than her.

  She watched from the peephole for a few minutes, and after not hearing or seeing anything, she went back to the stiff bed and reopened the laptop.<
br />
  It was time to get serious. She got her phone and scrolled through the pictures until she found one of Dean. She didn't have a lot of him, but at least this one was a nice, clear shot of his face. She sent it to her fake email address, and before long, she had sent his photo to as many of the victims' relatives as she could find, asking if they had ever seen him.

  Her heart raced. Could doing that be illegal? If not, then it was risky either way. If Dean found out… he wasn't going to. Not before she was able to go to the police. Someone had to have seen him. Even if just one person had a flicker of recognition, that would be something.

  He had to have made a mistake somewhere along the line, and Lydia would figure out what that was and use it to bring him to justice. If he went to jail, not only would the world be a safer place, but she would be able to return home. Like Bri had mentioned, she would probably have to sell the house and get a condo, but it would be better than living in a trailer park again.

  She couldn't go back to that after having lived in a huge house with a weekly maid service. It just wasn't possible. She'd suck it up in the smelly motel, but that was it. There was no way she would return to her old life. It was so far in the past, it felt like it had been someone else's life, not hers.

  A new message. It was regarding the picture of Dean she'd sent out. Lydia clicked on it, her heart racing. Could it be the clue she'd been searching for already? Or another dead end?

  The message was from Sam, the cousin of Jessica Aldridge, the last victim that Lydia knew about.

  Lydia read the message, unable to make sense of the words. She took several deep breaths. It was time to focus. Her mind spun, making it impossible.

  Look at the words. Just pay enough attention to make sense of them.

  She stared at the message, focusing on her breaths. Heart pounding, she studied each word one by one. Jessica's cousin recognized Dean. She had been in the library where Jessica worked when Dean approached her, asking to use the internet. She got him set up, and before long, Dean had Jessica laughing.

  Lydia read each word again. Sam didn't know if Jessica had gone anywhere with Dean after work because they didn't talk about him when Sam left. They weren't close, and he had just said goodbye on his way out.