Authors: Mary Burton
Pete had been so full of rage and anger. He had burned that house to the
ground, believing the flames would singe the sadness from his soul. He'd
tried to track Lindsay down but hadn't been able to find her. She'd
been lost to him.
And then this past May he'd seen the article on Lindsay in the
magazine. He had stared at her blond hair and blue eyes and immediately had
pictured Debra. All the memories had roared to life. And he knew God had given
him a second chance to set things right.
"You are not alone, Lindsay," he said. He frantically began
to search the grounds.
Nicole stumbled when Richard jabbed the gun in her back.
"Move."
Nicole had been afraid enough times in her life. Richard had seen to
that. But this time the fear cut bone deep. Today wasn't about saving
only herself. It was about saving her baby.
And Lindsay.
"Open the barn door," Richard ordered.
Nicole refused to make this easy for him. "Where is
Lindsay?"
Richard's eyes narrowed. Nicole braced, ready for the hard slap
that usually came when she questioned him. However, this time he smiled. He
reached around her and pulled the door open. "She's inside."
His acquiescence was more frightening than his ranting. Still, she
didn't advance. She thought about the mace in her pocket. If Lindsay was
here, she could save her. Her hand slid into her pocket.
Richard was too fast. He grabbed her hand and jerked it back, twisting
painfully until she dropped the mace. "You've learned a few nasty
habits that I'll have to break you of, Christina. Now, get inside or
I'll blow your friend's kneecap off," Richard said.
Nicole knew he'd do exactly that. She had to swallow the rage and
play along until she thought of something else. She reached for the rusted lock
and pushed it up. The door swung open slightly farther. Hinges squeaked as she
pulled the rotting door open.
The large room was lit only by the sunshine peeking in through the
rafters, which stretched high up to a peak above them. The floor was compacted
dirt. A rusted sickle and an old harness hung from a peg on a post. Mice
squeaked in a dark corner. The room had a foul smell, as if something had
recently died there.
"Lindsay!" Nicole shouted.
There was no answer.
"Where is she?"
Richard pointed the tip of his gun to the northwest corner. In the
shadows, she saw Lindsay. She lay on her back, her hands and feet tied to
stakes on the floor. She moaned, a sign she was still alive.
Nicole met Richard's gaze. "What are you going to do with
us?"
Richard closed the barn door behind them as if he had all the time in
the world. "Lindsay has caused me almost as much trouble as you have,
Christina. And now it's time she learned a lesson, like the one I taught
Claire."
"Claire? What did you do to her?"
He laughed. "We had quite a bit of time to chat. She's a
strong woman. Or rather,
was
a strong woman. She had
a high threshold for pain."
Nicole felt sick.
Poor Claire.
She'd been
so kind and had given her hope when she'd been so afraid. "Richard,
spare Lindsay, and I'll go home with you. I'll be a good wife
again. You don't need to hurt anyone else."
Richard pulled a set of handcuffs from his back pocket and clicked the
first cuff on her wrist. He dragged her to the north side of the barn and
clicked the other manacle to a wooden workbench. Driven into the center of the
bench was a newly purchased ax.
Tears burned in Nicole's eyes. "Let her go, Richard.
Please
. I'll never run from you again."
"I wish it were that easy, Christina. I really do. But you brought
all this on yourself. I want to be gentle and kind but you keep pushing
me." His face hardened. "You need to be taught a lesson."
"Richard, please don't hurt anyone else. I'm the one
that you're angry with."
"You drove me to this, my dear. You have only yourself to
blame."
"I won't ever leave you again. I'll be a good
wife."
A smile tipped the edge of his lips as he pried the ax free of the
workbench. "I've spent the last weeks covering for you and telling
everyone you were in Europe. Do you have any idea how humiliated I was for
having to spin those lies knowing my wife had abandoned me?" His eyes
glittered as he tested the tip of the ax blade with his thumb. The sharp edge sliced
his skin and the tiny wound began to bleed. He smiled. "I did everything
for you. I treated you like a princess. And you left me."
Richard was a monster. He was truly insane. Nicole had to keep talking
to him so he'd believe she'd surrendered. "I understand now
how much I hurt you, Richard. I shouldn't have run. That was so wrong of
me. But I was afraid."
Richard stared at her. Sadness darkened his eyes. "Why were you
afraid? I rubbed salve into your muscles. I bandaged your cuts."
That had been a truly horrible time. She'd
laid
battered and bruised on her bed and he'd tended to her injuries. She
remembered how good the salve had felt.
And how much she had
loathed his touch.
"You were good to me."
He nodded. "I gave you everything. I molded you into the woman you
are today."
If she could just connect with him, perhaps she could spare Lindsay.
There was no hope for
herself
. She would have to
return with him. But if she could just save Lindsay..."I didn't
see that at the time. I should have."
Lindsay groaned as if she
were
protesting, but
she made no attempt to rise.
Tears spilled down Nicole's cheek. "I love you,
Richard."
He closed his eyes for a split second as if he were overcome with
emotion. "I've waited a month for you to say that."
Her knees wobbled but she faced her husband. "
Please
forgive me." The words tasted bitter.
For a moment his features softened. He looked at her tenderly. She
thought she had him. She was going to find a way out of this mess.
And then a switch inside him flipped. His gaze hardened to ice. He
advanced on Nicole in two steps and hit her hard across the face. She dropped
to her knees.
Tasted blood.
The handcuffs cut into her
wrist.
"You are a lying bitch," he spat. "You need to learn a
lesson."
She cupped her stinging face with her hand. "What are you going to
do?"
With the ax in one hand, he moved toward Lindsay. "I think the
world needs to know that Lindsay's precious protector turned on her and
cut off her hand."
Nicole screamed and scrambled to her feet. "Richard, leave her alone.
Please,
I beg you. I'll do whatever you
want."
"Oh, you'll do whatever I want. But first you need to learn
a lesson."
Lindsay's mind had been crystal clear as she had lain on the hard
earth and had listened to Richard rant and Nicole cry. Anger had roiled inside
her as ants had crawled up under her shirt and started to bite her but
she'd kept her eyes closed. She hadn't made a coherent sound or
moved as Richard had badgered and threatened Nicole. It had taken Lindsay all
that was in her to keep her temper under control as Nicole had begged Richard
to spare Lindsay's life.
Just before Richard and Nicole had arrived, she'd been able to
work the binding on her right hand loose so that she could slip her hand free.
But she'd not had the time to loosen the ones on her other hand or her
feet.
As Nicole had pushed open the barn door, Lindsay had had only had
moments to scoop dirt up in her fist. Now, she needed Richard to get close so
she could throw the dirt into his eyes.
Richard knelt beside Lindsay and ran the cold steel of the ax blade over
her narrow wrist. "I wonder how many chops it will take to remove her
hand?
I'm willing to bet it hurts like a bitch."
Nicole wept. "Don't do this, Richard.
Please
,
have pity."
"I have no pity for traitors. And that's what you are,
Christina. You're a traitor."
Lindsay peeked through the slits of her eyelids. Richard had turned to
face Nicole. This was her chance.
She drew in a deep breath and in one violent jerk pulled her arm free
and threw the dirt into his eyes. The dirt caught him directly in the face. He
yelped, dropped the ax, and staggered back. He rubbed his face and hollered
like a banshee.
Lindsay quickly grabbed the ax and cut the binding on her other hand.
Her heart hammered in her chest as she sat up and sliced through the bindings
of her ankles.
Nicole yanked on the handcuffs as if she were possessed. "Lindsay,
run. Get away from him."
Lindsay scrambled to her feet and ran to Nicole. "We're both
getting out of here. Now stretch out your arm so I can cut the chain."
Nicole's hand trembled as she pulled the chain taut.
Richard fumbled for the gun in his waistband and swiped the dirt from
his eyes.
"Bitch!"
He pointed the gun at
Nicole and Lindsay. He cocked it and fired. The bullet whizzed past
Lindsay's head and cut through the side of the barn. Sunlight shone
through the hole.
Lindsay froze. Her fingers gripped the ax handle.
Richard pointed the gun at Nicole. "Drop the blade or I'll
shoot Nicole in the head."
Lindsay stared at Nicole. Tears streamed down Nicole's face and
her eyes pleaded for Lindsay not to give up.
Richard jabbed the gun in the air.
"Now."
Lindsay laid down the ax on the workbench.
"Clever," Richard said. "Toss the ax over in that
corner. I don't want you to be temped to try something again."
Lindsay threw the ax in the corner.
Richard laughed. "You couldn't save Mommy and now you
won't be able to save Nicole."
Years of buried fury rose up in Lindsay. "You don't know
anything about my mother."
He moved closer to Nicole. "I know a lot. Your friend Claire
Carmichael had a lot to say as I sliced the flesh from her face."
Sweat trickled down Lindsay's back. "Screw you."
Enraged, Richard fired the gun. The bullet bit into the dirt by
Nicole's feet, barely missing her. "If you refuse to accept your
lesson, Lindsay, I'll kill Christina."
Nicole shook her head. "Don't do it, Lindsay. Don't
make it easy for him. I'd rather die than let him hurt you."
"Shut up!" Richard shouted. He fired again.
This time the bullet nicked Nicole in the arm. He wasn't toying
with them. She screamed in pain and grabbed her arm. She stumbled back but
managed to stay on her feet.
Richard's face twisted with fury. He raised the gun to
Nicole's head. He was going to kill her.
"Richard!" Lindsay shouted. "I'll get down on
the ground. Just leave her alone."
Richard's hand shook as he held the pistol at Nicole's head.
"What do you want me to do?" Lindsay asked.
Richard didn't take his gaze off Nicole. "Go over by the ax
and lie down on your belly. Stretch out your arms."
"Okay, just don't hurt her."
Blood seeped from the wound in Nicole's arm. "Don't do
it, Lindsay."
"Shut up!" Richard shouted. He held the gun steady.
"Hurry up. Lie on your stomach and stretch out your arms in front of
you."
Lindsay moved across the barn and knelt down. She stretched out
trembling arms. She thought about Zack. He'd wanted a second chance and
she'd been too afraid to give him one. God, if only she had a second
chance.
Richard walked toward the ax and picked it up, then moved beside
Lindsay. Glancing at Nicole, he steadied his grip on the ax handle. "This
is what happens to bad girls, Christina."
"Don't do this Richard,
please,
"
Nicole said.
"If not for my sake, then the
baby's."
His gaze didn't waver. "What baby?"
Nicole swiped a tear from her face.
"Your baby.
Our baby."
Richard's gaze narrowed. "You're lying."
"I'm not. I just found out."
Lindsay drew in a breath. Maybe they could use the baby to connect with
him. "It's true." She started to spin lies. "It's
a boy. The ultrasound just confirmed it."
"A son?"
Tears streamed down Nicole's face as she slid her hand
protectively to her belly. "Yes.
A son.
Yours and mine."
"A simple test will prove if you're lying."
Nicole lifted her chin. "I'm not lying, Richard."
Richard's gaze glistened with pride.
"All
the more reason to get rid of her."
Pete knew he had to act now. There was no telling when the cops would
arrive. He had to save Lindsay. She had to know that she wasn't alone.