Part 24 (2/2)
”Don't be silly. Phillipa and I are just friends.”
”Then why is she wearing a negligee?” said Wiley. ”Is this how all your female friends dress when they come over for coffee? Or, only the ones who come after midnight?”
”Okay. I'm sorry,” said Kimberly.
”You were hoping I'd blow my brains out,” said Wiley, ”now that you've got everything you wanted from me. You're nothing but a user.”
”I'm sorry you feel that way.”
”She's probably using you too, Phillipa,” said Wiley. ”What did she talk you into doing? Did you have to kill somebody too?”
Phillipa said, ”Kimberly...”
”Phillipa, don't listen to him,” said Kimberly. ”He's just jealous.”
Wiley said, ”You turned out to be exactly what I thought you were when my dad married you: a manipulative b.i.t.c.h.”
Rebecca stepped into the doorway and began speaking-which shocked the threesome. ”That's exactly what she is. She talked you into killing your father. Then she made a deal to sell Cafe Nue to Joey Ketrousie in exchange for him having you murdered.”
Wiley stepped back, drop-jawed, shaking his head at Kimberly.
”So, you'd better be careful, Wiley,” said Rebecca. ”There's a bullet or a knife out there somewhere with your name on it. And you won't even see it coming. But it's coming.”
”Get out of my house,” yelled Kimberly to Rebecca.
Rebecca ignored her. ”And, Phillipa, Kimberly convinced you to murder Carly Cinaway with one of your experimental TENS units, so she couldn't sue the company.”
Phillipa blurted out, ”I didn't kill her. Harvey Hamstel did.”
”Shut up, Phillipa,” screamed Kimberly.
Phillipa said, ”You talked him into it, didn't you, Kimberly? Harvey didn't think I would ever get it perfected anyway. He told me that. He had no respect for me or my work. So, it was probably easy for you to convince him to steal a unit out of my lab and use it to murder Carly Cinaway. Then you told me what he'd done-like you had nothing to do with it.”
”He was framing you for the murder,” said Kimberly. ”That's why I told you about it.”
Rebecca said, ”Yes, Phillipa, and that's why you talked your lover into killing Harvey.”
Kimberly frowned at Phillipa. ”Lover?”
Rebecca said, ”Yeah. He's a guard at Smotherburn Technologies. A big, handsome black guy.”
”Mandibul?” said Kimberly. ”You've been humping that big oaf and then coming into my bed?”
”He didn't kill Harvey,” said Phillipa. ”He's a d.a.m.n coward. I had to do it myself.”
”Stop talking, Phillipa,” yelled Kimberly.
”I thought you loved me, Kimberly.” Phillipa stormed out through the hallway, back toward the bedroom.
Kimberly glared at Rebecca. ”You don't have proof of anything.”
”No,” said Rebecca, ”but I have confessions.”
”Confessions?”
”That's right,” said Wiley, as though he had just remembered. ”Cameras. Dad had cameras installed all over the house.”
”And guess what, Kimberly?” said Rebecca. ”Your husband is not really dead. He and Wiley set you up.”
Kimberly turned pale. ”Is this true, Wiley?”
”Yes, it's true, b.i.t.c.h.”
”So, he's been watching the whole time? Even the bedroom?”
Rebecca said, ”Especially the bedroom. And now the cops will know what really happened. They'll see how you planned everything.”
”You never really loved me at all!” Phillipa was back in the hallway, pointing a pistol at Kimberly.
Kimberly turned around. ”Phillipa...”
Phillipa shot Kimberly three times, rapid-fire, in the center of her chest, and she collapsed.
She immediately pointed her gun at Rebecca.
”Die, b.i.t.c.h!” It was Gabby's voice-coming from somewhere across the room.
Phillipa lost focus for a moment, trying to locate the source of the voice, giving Rebecca enough time to reach for her gun.
Just as Phillipa's eyes returned to Rebecca, a bullet ripped into her right shoulder. She stumbled backward, dropping the pistol.
Gabby ran across the hallway and picked up the gun.
Wiley rushed to Kimberly's side, and held her in his arms. ”I'm sorry, Kimberly. I'm so sorry.”
Phillipa said, ”She never loved you, Idiot.”
Wiley screamed, ”Why did you have to kill her?”
Rebecca holstered her pistol, and took out her phone. ”Good job, Gabby. I'm calling the cops.”
Gabby looked at Phillipa's b.l.o.o.d.y shoulder. ”Better ask for an ambulance too.”
<script>