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‘Yeah,’ Mary said. ‘Just brilliant.’
‘It is!’ Ryan laughed. ‘I clear you both out of the way, and then Allison and I can be together. Finally!’
‘I bet she’ll be really proud of you when she finds out what you did,’ Carl said.
‘I’d imagine so!’
Carl glanced at Mary. The look in his eyes said it all: Ryan was utterly deranged. He was operating with a completely different understanding of the world around him. It didn’t matter what evidence there was to the contrary; he had constructed his own version of the truth.
‘Where was she?’ Carl said.
‘South Boston. She had a job in a care home. She was renting a room where she lived with her dog. A puppy.’
‘You going to kill that one, too?’ Mary said.
‘Maybe.’ Ryan looked up as he considered the question. ‘I mean, I don’t like the fact she loves that thing. I don’t like competition!’
‘You don’t like reality,’ Mary said.
‘That’s an interesting comment, Mary,’ Ryan said. ‘But you misunderstand. I create reality. That’s the difference between you and me. Between everybody and me.’
‘How was she?’ Carl said. ‘Was she happy?’
‘You’re wondering if she was OK without you?’ Ryan said. ‘The answer is yes. After what you did to her, she was just glad to get away from you.’
‘I did nothing to her.’
‘That’s not what she thinks. Like I said, I create reality. And I’m going to create a new reality for both of you.’
Here it comes, Mary thought. Here comes his mad plan. Mad, but working.
‘What are you going to do?’ Carl said.
‘The simple answer,’ Ryan said. ‘Is that I’m going to burn you both to death. There will be a tragic fire that will consume this camp, in which you both will die.’ He held up a finger. ‘Along with Otis and Sally.’
‘No,’ Mary said. ‘Please. Not them.’
‘That’s not an option, Mary. Here’s what’s going to happen. It’s going to be a murder–suicide. I love those. So dramatic. What it’ll look like is that Carl arrived here, chained you to this bed, and did the same to Otis and Sally in the next bedroom, then set fire to the cabin and killed all of you. Including himself.’ He leaned forward. ‘That’s the suicide part of the murder–suicide. No one will question it; they’ll assume that was what all these notes and things were about. Brilliant, no?’
‘What about you?’ Carl said. ‘Why would I let you survive?’
‘You don’t. They’ll find me in Otis’s car, passed out from a near fatal dose of’ – he nodded at the syringe – ‘this. Don’t worry; I’ll inject it myself. A lot, but not too much.’
‘Why?’ Mary said. ‘Why do all this?’
‘Simple. I need Carl out of the way. I need Allison to feel safe enough to leave her hiding place and come and live with me. That’s what she told me – while Carl is still a threat, we cannot be together.’
‘Why not just kill me?’ Carl said.
‘Because Allison wouldn’t like it!’ He grinned. ‘You think she’d love me if I was a murderer? Jesus, Carl. You hardly know her at all. That’s the entire reason I had to make it look as though it was all your doing. Think about it – that’s what the world sees. They don’t know that I did any of this. They see a man still in love with his high-school girlfriend, who married a woman who looks just like her, and who – after she disappeared, and who knows whether he killed her or not – showed up back in his true love’s home town and tried to break up her marriage to her loyal, wonderful husband. I mean, look at it from the perspective of the cops – soon enough they’ll find out that you disappeared – just like Allison – and Carl vanished at the same time.’
Ryan shrugged.
‘What do you think the conclusion will be? It’ll be that Carl followed through on his threats, and took his prey. That’s what the story will be, and so that’s what the reality will be. I create reality.’
He stood up.
‘And think about it from Allison’s point of view. It makes perfect sense given what she knows about Carl. This is exactly the kind of thing he would do. She’ll be glad he’s gone, and I’ll be there to pick up the pieces. This is my second chance. And I won’t miss this opportunity. Not after all I’ve had to do to create it. Brilliant, no?’
