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* * *
Sidney stood over Belle’s unconscious body, terror ripping through him. The back of her head was bleeding, though not badly, and there was no trace of Irene anywhere. He still didn’t know how Marshall had gotten into his back room. He’d thought he’d locked his back door, then he remembered that the lock had been broken for the last month now—sometimes it locked, and sometimes it stayed stuck open. He’d meant to fix it several times but hadn’t gotten around to it. He cursed himself for his laziness now.
“Belle,” he said, shaking her gently. “Belle!” He shook her just a tad harder, but when her eyes still refused to open, he looked around for something that might help aid the process of waking her. He rose and grabbed a spray bottle from off the counter, then spritzed her face with it.
Belle did not move at first, so he spritzed her again with the water. This time, she coughed, and her eyes fluttered open. Her gaze was unfocused at first, then her eyes landed on him and stayed there. Her mouth dropped open.
“Sidney?” she said.
“That’s right,” he said and went to pull her up so that he might hold her close. She beat him to it, grabbing a hold of him and pulling him so tightly to her that he lost his balance and fell on her. She did not seem to care. She pressed her hands to the back of his neck, kissing his lips, his nose, even his eyes.
“Belle,” he said, happy for her touch and thrilled that she’d woken, but not wanting to crush her with his weight. “Belle,” he said again and managed to push himself up and off of her. She tried to pull him back down.
“I thought you were dead,” she said, her hands still behind his neck as he tried to sit back.
He blinked. “Dead?”
“Marshall told us he killed you.”
Sidney scowled. No wonder her eyes had been so terrified when she’d first opened them. She must have thought she was seeing a ghost. “No. He only knocked me unconscious. I caught only a glimpse of him before it happened.” He paused. “I’m surprised he didn’t kill me, actually.”
“He probably didn’t have time,” Belle said. “Irene and I heard a noise and I called out to you.” She quickly filled him in on what had happened while he’d been unconscious, and his anger burst forth like a crack in a dam suddenly made wider.
“So, he’s got Irene now,” Sidney said.
“Yes,” said Belle. “And we must find her before he kills her.”
“How?” he asked. “They could be anywhere.”
Belle fell silent. He could tell she was thinking. “Did Marshall say anything to you before he knocked you out?”
Belle squinted her eyes together so tightly her face looked like a prune. A beautiful prune, but a prune nonetheless.
“The church!” she shouted suddenly.
“What about it?” Sidney asked.
“The last thing I remember before blacking out was Marshall asking Irene if she’d marry him.”
Sidney’s lips parted, horrified. “Are you serious?” he asked her, and she nodded. “After all of this, he still wants to marry her? He still thinks she’d actually consider such a thing?”
“She agreed to it to save me,” Belle said quickly, rising to her feet too quickly and almost falling back down again.
“Easy,” Sidney said and took hold of her. His own head was thumping. He could imagine Belle’s felt much the same way.
“Let’s go,” she said after she’d recovered herself, heading for the door.
He stopped her.
“No,” he said. “I’ll go. You stay here. Go to the station and tell Leonard what’s happened.”
“I won’t let you go alone,” she said.
“And I won’t let you put your life in danger,” he said. “You’ve done enough of that for one lifetime already.”
She stared hard at him, her hands on her hips, then she gave him a look. It was the look that all wives knew how to give their husbands, and even though they weren’t married yet, Belle had perfected it.
You’d better give me what I want, or you’ll be eating cold fish for a week and sleeping on the couch.
“Fine,” Sidney said. “But you must stay behind me, and you must let me enter the church first.”
“Agreed,” Belle said at once.
He sighed, then he moved toward the door to his barbershop. “Did you see if he had a gun?” he asked her as they walked out.
She paused then shook her head. “I don’t think so. He had a knife.”
She rubbed her head, and Sidney vowed that he would make Marshall pay for hurting her. If he hurt Irene as well, he’d make sure that Marshall received blow for blow whatever he inflicted upon these two women. Whatever happened, he would not let Marshall get away again.
* * *
