Epilogue

Carlotta

Four Months Later

T he house was finally finished. I had gotten rid of all of William’s things, sending lots of clothes, furniture, and bits and bobs to various charities and throwing the rest away. And while I was at it, I had started decluttering my own things. I realized along the way that this was a chance for a fresh start for me, a way for me to reinvent myself. I pretty much got rid of everything from my old life and started again from the ground up.

I had decorators in every room, and I bought a whole new wardrobe. I had my hair colored and my nails done. And finally, it was all complete. Except for one thing. I guess it was finally time to throw away the statement I had written for Detective Del Rey, the one about the night Candy was killed.

I never did finish writing it, but I did tell Detective Del Rey how it ended. Of course, that was only the story of Candy’s death, and every word I told the detective about that was the truth. He didn’t ask me about the time between Candy’s death and William’s death except to confirm why I hadn’t told my story sooner.

If he had, then of course I would have had to lie, but he spared me the guilt of lying, and now, it’s a secret I can take to the grave.

It took me a little while after Candy’s death to realize that William would never be content for us to stick to the story that we had forgotten what happened. If I could have trusted him to keep his mouth shut, then what happened next would never have had to happen, but in typical William fashion, he started to try and turn things around onto me.

And so I had to deal with it. I mean, what choice did I have? I bought a burner phone, one that could never be traced to me. It’s likely at the dump now, all mashed up, since I threw it into a dumpster on the other side of town early last week .

I used the burner phone to call Morrie Xavier. I told him I was a friend of Candy’s, and then I used the burner phone to call him regularly and to slowly and methodically convince him that William was responsible for his daughter’s demise. That no matter what the police thought, William was the one who had broken her spirit, turned her into a shadow of her former self, and ultimately had caused her to feel like she had no choice but to confront him.

Once I had him convinced this was all William’s fault, convincing him to take it a step further was easy. I just kept telling him Candy deserved better, that someone should avenge her death.

It almost backfired in the end. I was almost the one who took the bullet, and for a horrible moment, even once he was in handcuffs, I thought it was all going to come crashing down around me. I had thought he knew it was me who had been calling him. It was a risk, asking him why he had almost killed me in front of Detective Del Rey, but I had to know. I couldn’t remain with more uncertainty hanging over me, just waiting for Detective Del Rey or some of his officers to turn up at my door and tell me they had reason to believe I was guilty of conspiracy in a murder .

Morrie’s answer confirmed to me that he had no idea I had been the one to make those calls, or if he did, he wasn’t going to admit that he got played like a tune.

I smiled to myself as I pushed the thought away. I told myself that chapter of my life was closed and that I had been reborn, a free spirit, free of abuse, free of lies, free of being cheated on. I could paint to my heart’s content, and that’s exactly what I intended to do.

I took the half-written statement from my chest of drawers and took it down the stairs. I smiled to myself as I dropped it into the trash can in the kitchen. I stood still for a moment, feeling like I had finally shed the last piece of the old Carlotta.

Feeling free for the first time in years, I moved through to my studio and sat down in front of my easel, smiling at the piece before me, an abstract piece entitled Grief . A last gift from me to William.

I was whistling when I picked up my brush and began to put the finishing touches to the piece.

If you liked this book, make sure to pick up my last book, Perfect Obsession ! Keep reading for a preview!