“I trusted you,” he said. “Why did you have to snoop?” His eyes softened. “I know what you have been doing, Lillian. Let me help you. I have a plan.”
As he reached for her, she turned to run.
He grabbed her wrist. “Lillian, listen to me. We can work this out.”
His touch burned her skin and she jerked her arm free. Emotions raging and close to tears, she needed space to sort her feelings. Was he friend or foe, and what had he meant by knowing what she had been doing? What had
he
been doing? The map was in his desk, not hers.
Suddenly the swirl of thoughts coalesced. She clutched her throat. Her eyes widened in horror. Her anger wasn't about the map, but about the consequences. A sour mixture of betrayal and rage ignited within her. “You killed Joe!”
That's what she had been trying to connect with the map, but her subconscious had refused to allow the connection until now. Tears filmed her eyes, sorrow for the loss of life, anger over how easily she had allowed him to manipulate her. Why had she not seen it before? Roger set the fires and she had been his patsy. That explained the map. It explained everything.
He stared at her, his eyes soft and pleading. “How could I kill Joe when you set the fire? Let me help you, Lillian” Again he reached for her.
She backed into the living room, not taking her eyes off him.
How could he blame her for the fires, his eyes so innocent? He had to be mad.
If she could just get to the front door and she would be free, but could she unlock it before he stopped her? Grabbing the closest object she could reach, a ceramic lamp, she threw it at him and ran.
His arms circled her waist, and she screamed.
He clamped a hand across her mouth and pulled her tight to his chest. “Listen to me.” She struggled against his grip, fear roaring through her veins.
~*~
“Well if this isn't a pretty little scene.”
At the sound of the voice Roger's hands dropped.
Lillian half ran, half stumbled toward Nadine Blackwell. Trying to control her panic, she grabbed the woman's arm. “Run!” She tugged at Nadine, but the woman remained fixed in place.
“Nadine, we have to go!” Fear threatened to steal her breath. There was no time to wonder why Nadine Blackwell stood in Roger's living room; they had to escape. She glanced over her shoulder toward Roger, expecting to see him moving toward them.
Instead he remained fixed in place, barely breathing, his face contorted by a mixed expression of shock and confusion.
She looked back at Nadine, noticing for the first time the woman's cold eyes. Both Nadine and Roger seemed to have forgotten her.
Lillian bolted toward the kitchen. The retort of a gunshot stopped her. She was no expert, but Nadine's gun looked a lot like the gun her husband used to keep locked in a safe in the bedroom.
The woman's eyes glared cold and hard, almost as cold and hard as the pistol pointed in her direction. Nadine wagged the barrel of the gun. “Move back into the living room where I can keep an eye on you.”
With legs barely supporting her, she shuffled around Nadine while trying to keep a safe distance from Roger. Nothing made sense. Nadine with a gun? Roger with a map of burned houses?
And why was he just standing there acting as if he had seen a ghost?
Nadine kept the barrel of the gun pointed toward her as she shifted her gaze and gave Roger a cold smile. “Surprise.”
“What are you doing here?” His voice was thick, barely a whisper. “I just talked to you an hour ago, and you were in Cleveland.”
Lillian's muscles shook, and she leaned against the wall, trying not to crumble onto the carpet. Nadine wasn't in Cleveland an hour ago, or a week ago. She lived in Pennsylvania, but she had been at Ted and Trina's for the past two weeks.
With her free hand, Nadine reached into her jacket pocket and retrieved her cell phone. “The advantage of modern technology. You can call from anywhere.”
“Nadine, what's going on?” Lillian stood motionless against the wall, sandwiched between the two.
Nadine must harbor a past hurt against Roger and had just found out he lived here. She couldn't be evil; she couldn't really want to hurt Lillian.
Having ignored her since Nadine's arrival, Roger finally turned to her. “You know her?” His attention did nothing to shovel away the mounds of confusion.
“I told you all about her. She's the lady staying at Ted and Trina's.”
He sucked in air. “You've been here for two weeks?”
“I have actually been in the area much longer, but decided to play a little cat and mouse. I checked into your bed and breakfast to keep a better eye on our friend.” She laughed, the sound twisted along Lillian's nerves like a cat on the prowl. “It has been quite fun avoiding you all this time.”
Lillian stared. Nadine had been hiding out all this time? She knew all along where Roger lived? As she glanced from one to the other, she realized the issue between the two had to be bigger than what she had expected. Unable to trust either one, she had to escape.
Roger blocked the front door, and Nadine with her gun blocked access through the kitchen.
Air hissed in and out of Roger's nose, the sound loud in the quiet space. He shifted toward Nadine. “There's no need for the gun. Put it down.”
“No need, you say? No need?” The shrill voice left Lillian trembling. “We had a deal, and you haven't met your part.” Her eyes became black slits. “Have you forgotten your wife, my daughter?”
“I haven't forgotten.”
“How can you be so beguiled with this woman? She destroyed our family.”
Nadine's words startled Lillian. She turned to the woman and swallowed the knot in her throat. “Nadine, it's me, Lillian. I didn't destroy your family or Roger's. I didn't even know you until you came to Ted and Trina's.”
The woman's nostrils flared as she glared at Lillian. “He was just another notch in your belt. You didn't care what prison would do to him.”
Lillian stared blankly. Nadine had to be crazy. But when she turned to Roger, his shoulders were slumped. The spark of energy that always clung to him was gone.
Nadine glared at her. “You don't even remember. Let me refresh your mind. Two years ago, you sent my husband to jail. A twenty year sentence. He wanted to cut a deal but you refused. You were out to make a name for yourself, the high and mighty Attorney Hunter. And the media loved you. Your picture was everywhere. He chose suicide rather than a life behind bars.”
Leo Narducci. The case that had cost her the family she loved! Yes, she had been out to build her career one conviction at a time. That seemed like a lifetime ago when a big name meant something to her. That goal had been buried with her family.
“Now we will finish what
you
started,” the angry woman said between tight lips.
“Are you going to shoot me?” Wanting to close her eyes, but afraid to lose sight of the deranged woman, she considered her options. There were none.
“Shooting you would be too easy. You got by me once, but you won't do it again.”
“How did I⦔
Nadine had started the fire that had killed her family.
Desperation gripped her. “Roger, help me. Look at me, Roger, please.”
He locked eyes with her. His hopeless expression frightened her more than Nadine's gun.
All hope unraveled.
“So you haven't shared the truth about her family's death, how you set the fire? What were you talking about during those late nights? Or weren't you talking?” Nadine snickered.
Her heart lurched. What was this woman saying? How could she accuse Roger of setting fire to her house? She remembered the map still clenched in her hand. Fresh tears sprang to her eyes as she dropped the worthless paper to the floor. She no longer knew what was true. “Roger?”
“I'm so sorry.”
This couldn't be happening. Roger had killed her family? She had trusted him, shared secrets with him. It no longer mattered if Nadine used the gun because the essence of her life, that bit of humanity she had been clinging to since the fire two years ago, fled, leaving behind an empty shell.
“You were supposed to be inside, asleep,” Nadine continued. “Instead you let your family die without you.”
The ramifications of Nadine's words finally penetrated the maze of her confused mind. With uncontrolled rage, she leaped at Roger. “You killed my family!” She pounded fists into his chest. She sought his face, lashing and hitting in blind rage.
Blood flowed from his lip and nose as he stood motionless.
She continued to pound.
A sharp crack made her stop. The muzzle of the gun still smoked as she looked toward Nadine.
“Now you know the truth.” Nadine's voice sounded like a purr and it reminded Lillian of
an evil villainess she'd seen on television
. “We brought you here to finish what
you
started. Roger, get the rope and tie her up. Be quick about it. We don't have much time.”
Lillian glanced from one to the other, fear raging within her. “Roger, please⦔ In spite of what Nadine had said, he loved her; she knew he did. She noticed her bloody hands and stared at him.
Already one eye had swollen closed, and his face was coated with his blood.
How could she have done that to him?
“Move Roger!” Nadine's voice boomed through the room. “This house will be in flames in about ten minutes.”
Roger turned, his eyes heavy. “I love you, Lillian. Why didn't you trust me with your secret? I figured it out, you know. You found the map I used to track you. I tried to help you. I kept you away from Paul. I would have gotten you mental help.”
He rubbed his face and looked at the blood-smeared hand. A spark flickered, giving life to his dead eyes. His jaw tightened as he moved toward her.
Her heart lurched. What was he going to do? He was as crazy as Nadine, talking about Paul, and helping her, and the map. She had just beaten him with all the strength in her body. His sticky blood still coated her hands. As he raised his arm, she tensed, ready for the punch that was coming.
Dear God, help me.
28
Officer Paul Studler grabbed the paper as soon as the fax machine spit it out. Either his hunch was right, or he was out of options. He scanned the page and ran to the door, his heart racing. He had to be in time!
Ted and Trina's lay exactly two point six miles from the station. A red car pulled in front of him and he flicked on the siren. What happened to moving out of the way of the police? As he zipped around the slowing traffic, his hands tightened on the wheel. Why hadn't he figured it out sooner? Bill had been saying all along there was danger surrounding Lillian.
Gravel spun as he swerved into the drive of the McIverson Bed and Breakfast. Not bothering to pull to the back, he raced up the front steps and pushed open the door. “Where's Lillian?” His voice echoed down the hall.
Sandra exited the kitchen. “Hi to you too, Paul. Why all the excitement?”
“I need to find Lillian.” He moved down the hall, urgency growing within him. “Lillian!”
Sandra stared with round eyes. “Is something wrong?”
“Something's very wrong.” He scanned the dining room and kitchen.
“Paul, she's not here.”
“Where is she?” He had to find her. His gut had never felt so right before. Time would mean life or death, and he wasn't ready to turn her over to the grim reaper.
“I don't know. She left shortly after lunch and said she wouldn't be back until late.”
The back door banged. His heart leaped as he pushed past Sandra and ran to the kitchen. His face fell.
“Looking for someone prettier than me?” Bill placed his empty lunch sack on the counter.
“He's looking for Lillian,” Sandra said.
“Something wrong?”
“I just need to find her. Now.”
“Where's Ted?” Bill asked, glancing in the direction of the den.
“He went to the hospital to bring home Trina and the baby.”
Bill ran a hand across the top of his head. “Strange, Lillian's been on my mind all day. I thought this sense of urgency had passed⦔
The two men locked eyes. “Get in the cruiser,” Paul yelled over his shoulder.
By the time Paul had started the engine, Bill sat buckled beside him. Paul had a good idea where Lillian had gone.
God, please let me be on time.
~*~
Lillian closed her eyes. She couldn't bear to see Roger's expression of hate as he hit her. She tensed for his blow, but felt an arm circle her waist. Her eyes flew open and she looked up at him. His returning gaze held her in its strength. As he pulled her snugly into his side, she nestled into his warmth.
“What we planned was wrong,” Roger said.
Nadine's lips thinned as she stared at them with empty eyes. “I didn't want to do it this way, but you leave me no choice.” She aimed the gun directly at Lillian's head.
The sound of the gunshot filled Lillian's ears. Pain flamed through her shoulder as she hit the floor. Rolling to the side, hoping to avoid the next bullet, she spied Roger slumped across the room, the stain on his shirt growing.
“Roger!” She scrambled toward him.
His eyes were open, and he smiled. “I love you, you know.” A grimace distorted his face. “I didn't plan to love you.” He reached up and she grabbed his hand.
“You always were a fool,” Nadine said. “My daughter was just as big a fool to marry you. And then after the trial you carted her off to this god-forsaken place. All of my family, stolen from me by this woman.” The words spat from her mouth as she wagged the barrel of the gun at Lillian.
She pressed her hand against the flow of blood.
Roger moaned.
“I've got to stop the bleeding, or you'll die,” she murmured, her eyes pleading.