Page 306 of Love Bites

“Mother always knew I was to blame for Wilda’s death. She’d stare at me, hatred in her eyes.”

And I thought the Liberace records my mom used to make me listen to were torture.

“Wilda died that day,” he continued, “but she never really went away. At first, she followed me around the house, always there, always silent. But ever since Mother died, Wilda has become irate, loud, even violent.” He rubbed his temples, his face crinkling as if the agony was crushing him. “She won’t leave me alone. She screams at me nonstop, blaming me, threatening to destroy all of the good in my life.”

“Is she screaming now?”

He stood and picked up the can of lighter fluid, his gaze focused over my head. “No.”

Goosebumps streaked up my spine, scattering shudders along the way. I peeked over my shoulder and saw nothing but the bedroom door. “What is she doing?”

“Just watching. Making sure I follow through.”

Had she noticed that my right hand had just slipped free of its binding? Because Wolfgang hadn’t.

“I have to get rid of her, Violet.” He continued to stare at the bedroom door. “She’s driving me insane.”

Driving?I glanced at the corpse across from me. I’d say he’d already arrived at Looney-town and was setting up shop.

“Why did you killthem?” I nodded toward my tea-mates, unsure how they fit into this grisly tale. “Did Wilda tell you to?”

“Of course not. She doesn’t even know them.”

There went my only theory. “Then why?”

“I thought they would appease her, since they all swam the backstroke.” He shrugged as if their deaths were incidental, just flies stuck to a sticky strip. “Calm her down. Stop the screaming.”

What? Like goats to lure and feed an angry troll?Jesus!

Speaking of luring, I asked, “How did you get the girls to come to you?” To get within reach?

“Most little girls love sparkly crystals and gems, especially in the shape of a pretty flower bouquet or cute pink teddy bear and offered with a friendly smile. I see the desire to touch and possess time and again in their wide eyes as they stare through my store’s front window with chocolate smeared on their hands and mouths. Even Addy couldn’t resist, I’m sure. How is she liking that rhinestone unicorn? I made it special for her, you know.”

Oh, God!I recoiled at the memory of Addy’s glee when she opened the unicorn gift at the hospital. I’d throw that broach down a mine shaft if I made it out of here breathing.

So he’d enticed the girls with jewelry. No wonder they’d fallen into his hands.

They were innocent little girls with their whole lives ahead of them. How could the same man who showed such kindness and compassion to my daughter so easily snatch the breath from these girls and prop them up at this table like macabre dolls?

I blinked back more tears, my eyes aching from the fumes and the truth. Maybe they were just dolls to him. Like those his mother made him play with instead of the train.

He petted my head. “Only you can placate Wilda, my beautiful Violet, because it’s only you I love.”

That was just swell. What an honor. I wanted to bite his hand. The fool didn’t love me, he loved his sister. Some twisted, psycho, almost incestuous type of love. I just had the bad luck of having curly, blonde hair like hers.

“I don’t want to burn to death, Wolfgang. Did Wilda specify how I had to die?”

His brows drawn, he stared down at the lighter fluid in his hand as if he’d forgotten he was holding onto it. “What? Oh, no. I’m not going to burn you alive, darling. That’s just cruel.”

What part of sacrificing me was humane? “Then how are you going to kill me? With more roofies?”

“That wasn’t Rohypnol I gave you. It was Burundanga.” He walked over to the curtains and sprayed them with lighter fluid. “It’s a popular trance-inducing drug from Colombia.”

“Explain the difference.” While his back was to me, I picked at the knot tying me to the chair.

“Do you remember what happened before you woke up in here?”

I frowned as my fingers worked on my bindings, trying to remember how I got here. Unfortunately, everything prior to waking up at the tea party was a fuzzy bundle of memories. The taste of tomatoes on my tongue and the smell of roast chicken was all I could recall. “No.”

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