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.

Gripping her wrist, he asked “Why did you start the fires?”

“I didn’t start the fires, Roger. I found the map in your bedroom. I thought…”

“Oh, pity, pity.” Nadine’s voice grated like sandpaper against Lillian’s nerves.

For a second she had forgotten the woman.

“I guess I might as well join in this sweet confession. You both are going to die anyway.”

Lillian focused on Roger’s wound as Nadine’s voice filled the silence. “I set those fires, just like I taught you, Roger, at Attorney Hunter’s. It’s simple when you know how to do it.”

Her attention on Roger and with the swirl of information streaming in her head, she almost missed Nadine’s words. She jerked her head up. Nadine started the fires? The mire of confusion continued to grow.

Roger struggled to sit. He groaned and slumped back onto the floor. “Why?”

Nadine’s face tightened. Even the wobble on her throat seemed to turn to stone. “You moved my daughter to a house full of lead paint. My grandchild died because of it.” Her black eyes radiated pure hate as she stared at Roger. “I drove down here when she refused to answer my calls, and I found her swinging from the light fixture in the living room.”

“You’re lying.” Roger coughed. Bloody froth sprayed from his mouth.

“She must have just jumped. When I cut her down, she still had a pulse. I reached for my phone but stopped. If I saved her, she would just try again until she succeeded. I decided to allow her to die in dignity.” She gave a snarling chuckle. “They never figured it out, did they?”

Lillian wanted to put her hands over her ears, to stop the horror of Nadine’s confession. What kind of woman would let her own daughter die? No wonder she didn’t hesitate to use a gun. Sitting beside Roger, his blood seeping through her fingers, she knew her own death was imminent.

“It wasn’t hard to find someone to hack into your system. And that secretary of yours is so faithful about sending lead data to your email.”

Her smile made Lillian want to retch.

“If you did one thing right, you saved others from my pain.”

Lillian had to get herself and Roger out of the house, but that meant disabling Nadine. She scanned the well-known room.

Roger’s breathing came in tight gasps. Blood dripped off his shirt onto the floor. His ashen face complemented the blue ring that circled his mouth. Even as she looked at him, her heart remained conflicted. This was the man who had killed her family, and yet he had shielded her from a bullet.

The blast shook the house.

Lillian fell backward, cracking her head on the coffee table. Stunned, she lay in a daze. An inner sense aroused her. She opened her eyes and the pain caused tears to pour from them.

Gray smoke billowed around her. She could barely see. Desperately, she twisted around hunting for Roger. She had to find him and get him to safety! Her heart pounded against her ribs as the smoke thickened. She had to avoid Nadine as she pulled Roger to safety. Straining for any signs of the woman’s location, she heard nothing but the snap and pop of fire. She knew she was going to die. Flames shot around her. Heat intensified. She didn’t have much time.

Heading toward what she thought was the front door, she fell onto the couch. Pulling her shirt over her nose and mouth, gasping for breath, she turned the opposite direction. She had to find Roger and a way out! As the roar of the fire filled her ears, she heard her name.

Nadine!

Urgency strengthened her resolve as she crawled across the room, hopefully away from Nadine.

A hand grabbed her.

She let go of her shirt, and fought against the vice-like grip.

The roar of the fire consumed all other sounds.

She couldn’t breathe. No air. Her last thoughts as her strength left her were of Craig and Susan.

~*~

Green leaves fluttered in an ash-filled sky. The snarling sound of fire, shouting voices, and the metallic slamming of vehicle doors. Feet running. Something covered her face and mouth. A paramedic peered down at her.

How had she gotten out of the house?

Sluggishly, Lillian reached for the oxygen mask and slid it off. She turned her head toward the roar. Orange and blue flames shoved their way out of the windows. Thick streams of water hit the fire and danced before being gobbled by the hungry heat. Terror filled her. Her family was in there! She had to get them out! She shoved the paramedic and staggered to her feet. Halfway to the house, someone grabbed her around the waist. She screamed and thrashed, knowing she had to save her family. Hot tongues of fire mocked her. “My husband! My daughter! They’re still in there!”

“Lillian, this isn’t Cleveland. You’re in Darlington.”

As she struggled, the house cracked and groaned, and finally collapsed. Sparks shot into the air.

Grief threatened to tear her apart, one memory at a time. The vision of her family inside coffins returned just before blackness took control.

~*~

Fresh air blew in her face. The overwhelming roar of the fire had faded to crackling and hissing.

She locked gazes with the same paramedic who had attended her before. Memories returned and with them a new danger. This was Darlington! Wide-eyed, her throat tight, she again struggled to sit up. “Did they get out?”

His face remained blank.

She knew that expression. She had seen it on the doctors at the hospital. “There were two others!” Oh, please God! She fell back onto the cart. How could she live through this nightmare again?

Someone touched her arm. “Lillian.”

Paul Studler knelt down beside her, soot covered, and a bandage circled his left lower arm. His expression held hesitation, and warmth.

A million emotions filled her as she reached out her arms to a familiar face and found herself in his embrace. As she cried, he stroked her hair.

“How’s she doing?”

Lillian pulled herself from Paul’s chest and looked into the concerned face of Bill Iver. He squeezed her shoulder. “Are you ready to come home?”

Home. How good that sounded.