Hunted Love (A Dangerous Kind of Love Book 2) (36 page)

Sarah stepped to the side, her arm stretching along the counter towards the horseshoe.

“Oh well, something will come to me,” she said turning her attention back to Sarah. “Then all that’s left is you. . .” She giggled. “. . . and let’s face it, you’re as good as dead.”

Sarah’s fingers touched the metal shoe. “So, what do we do now? Wait for Fletcher to show?”

“No, no, I’ve waited long enough. Save me some money if I do it myself. More for me and Jamie.”

Sarah shifted her gaze to the stable door. She let out a little whimper. “Looks, like you won’t have to wait for him after all.”

Phoebe shifted to the side and glanced toward the door just as Sarah’s fingers closed over the horseshoe.

Once it was in her hand, Sarah threw the horseshoe as hard as she could at Phoebe.

Phoebe screamed in surprise and pain, as the shoe hit her wrist, and the gun fell from her fingers.

She started to reach for it when Sarah tackled her to the ground.

Jack and Queen Bess shifted nervously around the two girls, as they wrestled with each other on the ground, each desperately trying to reach for the gun.

Sarah almost had her hand on it when Phoebe grabbed a handful of hair and pulled her back. She crawled over Sarah reaching out her hands just as Jack moved past, his hooves hitting the gun causing it to slide underneath Joker’s door.

Phoebe scrambled underneath Joker’s door just as Sarah stood. She was just about to pull Phoebe back out by her feet when she heard Phoebe give a whoop of joy.

Instead, she threw open the stable doors and then grabbed Jack’s saddle and hoisted herself up. She made it out of the stable just as Phoebe began shooting at her.

Once past the doors, Sarah turned Jack’s head toward the trail, figuring that if she could make it to the Natural Bridge, she could get help at the hotel nearby.

The rain was coming down in sheets, and for a moment, just before she entered the woods, and underneath the roll of thunder above, the sound of gunfire behind her, she thought she heard Jamie call her voice and she brought Jack to a stop.

She looked back toward the house, blinking through the heavy downpour just as Phoebe suddenly came up alongside her. The girl reached down to grab at Jack’s reins, but Sarah spurred Jack forward and out of her reach. The horses circled one another until finally, Jack took off galloping towards the woods.

Sarah turned her attention back to the trail trying to keep as much distance between her and the crazy girl chasing her, hoping she remembered which trail was the short cut into the gorge.

Every so often, along the way, she would glance behind her hoping Phoebe had dropped off and turned back to Bellemeade, but the girl had not only stayed on her trail but had gained ground, coming closer and closer as they raced toward the gorge until eventually, Phoebe came alongside again.

Phoebe leaned over, jerking Jack’s reins back, causing the horse to rear up, his front hooves kicking in the air, and Sarah to fall to the ground.

Pain radiating up and down her legs, Sarah rolled to the side as Queen Bess cantered around her and Jack moved off to stand underneath the outcropping.

Sarah looked up helplessly as Phoebe reached into her pocket and pulled out her gun. Heart pounding against her ribs, she crawled back until her hand reached nothing but air. She looked over her shoulder, only then realizing how close they were to the cliffs.

Phoebe swung her leg over Bess’ neck and jumped down from the saddle. “You know what they used to do with horse thieves, don’t you?”

“You won’t get away with this. They’ll know it was you.”

“Don’t be stupid. I’m a victim, remember. Someone left me that nasty Valentine’s Day card and has been following me around for days. You even told the cops yourself that Fletcher tried to kill me. I’ll be the last person they suspect.” She pointed the gun at Sarah. “Besides, Nathan admitted in his suicide to hiring Fletcher. He and Fletcher will be blamed for everything.”

“And when they catch Fletcher, he’ll tell them the truth.”

“They won’t catch Fletcher. After tonight, he’ll be far away living the highlife with all the money I’m planning on giving him, and then Jamie and I—”

“There is no Jamie and you. There never was and there never will be, Phoebe.”

Phoebe pushed her wet hair out of her face as the wind blew it forward. “Good-bye, Sarah.”

Sarah squeezed her eyes shut as Phoebe pulled the trigger.

When nothing happened, she cautiously opened her eyes.

Phoebe pulled the trigger repeatedly. With a look of annoyance, Phoebe tossed the empty gun to the side and turned back toward Queen Bess.

Sarah scrambled to her feet. She rushed towards Phoebe as she spun around with a knife in her hand.

Sarah didn’t even have to think what to do, the moves Casey had taught her kicked in immediately. She struck her hand against Phoebe’s wrist, causing Phoebe to drop the knife before spinning around and smashing her foot against Phoebe’s knee.

Phoebe screamed out in pain. She grabbed hold of Sarah’s shirt, pulling her down as she fell.

Suddenly, a shout and the sound of hooves striking the ground coming nearer caught their attention.

Sarah glanced toward the trail just as Jamie burst through the clearing. He pulled Joker to a stop before jumping out of the saddle and racing toward them.

Tears of relief sprung to Sarah’s eyes. She tried to crawl away from Phoebe, but suddenly, the other girl’s arms tightened around her waist. Before she knew what was happening, Phoebe had rolled them both over the edge of the cliff.

Sarah grabbed at a tree branch sticking out the side of the cliff, holding on to dear life as she fell.

She glanced to her left.

Phoebe was slightly below her and toward the side, her fingers digging into the cliff.

Drops of mud flew over the edge and then suddenly Jamie’s face appeared.

“Jamie!” Phoebe shouted. “She tried to kill me. She’s crazy.”

Jamie reached his hand towards Sarah.

“Jamie, don’t,” Phoebe said, “she killed Nathan and Danny. She just tried to kill me.”

Sarah kicked with her feet trying to find a toehold as Jamie laid on his stomach, stretching his body over the side in an attempt to reach her hand. She gazed up at him, her vision blurred by the rain falling into her eyes.

“Help me, Jamie!” Phoebe said, desperation coloring her voice as she struggled to hang on. “I’m slipping.”

A wave of dizziness swept through Sarah as she glanced down at the rocks far below her feet. She could feel her fingers slipping against the wet branch as the rain pelleted against her and knew that at any moment, she was going to fall.

She glanced up just as Jamie grabbed her wrist. He held out his other hand for her. “Grab hold.”

She let go of the branch and tried to take his hand, but she missed. She tried again, but this time, she couldn’t reach far enough up to touch him.

“Come on, Baby Doll, you can do it. Grab my hand.”

She kicked out her feet and this time managed to curl her fingertips around his.

“What are you doing?” Phoebe shouted as Jamie pulled Sarah up. “Didn’t you hear me? She tried to kill me.”

Sarah, her entire body shaking wrapped her arms around Jamie’s waist and buried her head into the crook of his neck.

“I have to help Phoebe,” he whispered before pulling away from her and reaching down to the other girl.

“Take my hand, Phoebe.”

“Jamie, she’s dangerous,” Phoebe said making no move to take his hand. “You have to kill her. Now, you have to do it now.”

“Phoebe, grab my hand.”

Pushing her wet hair out of her face, Sarah laid a hand on his back. “She’s sick, Jamie.”

He looked back at her in surprise. “What?”

A look of fury crossed Phoebe’s face. “Didn’t you hear what I said? She tried to kill me. Why won’t you defend me?”

Jamie’s brow furrowed as he stared down at the young girl in confusion. “I love Sarah, Phoebe. I’m not going to kill her. Look, there must be some mistake. Sarah wouldn’t hurt you. Come on, Phoebe, just give me your hand. Everything’s going to be fine. I promise.”

Phoebe’s mouth fell open. “No, you don’t love her. You’re confused. Don’t you see? She’s just trying to seduce you? You love me.”

Jamie leaned further out over the edge, trying to reach Phoebe’s hands.

“Not her,” she said sobbing. “Me. You love me. You love me.”

His fingers touched the tips of her fingers.

“I did this all for you, so we could be together, just you and me.” She lifted her gaze to Sarah and then back to him. “No, this is wrong. She’s making you say this, isn’t she? She’s in your head. I told you that she’s dangerous. You have to kill her!”

Eyes blazing, Phoebe lifted her hand and tried to reach up towards Jamie. Her eyes widened as her other hand slipped from the rock she was holding. She screamed as she fell back.

Sarah turned away unable to watch as the girl fell onto the rocks below. When she felt Jamie wrap his arms around her, she buried her face in his shoulder and held him tightly as the rain finally slowed and then stopped.

EPILOGUE

July 7th.

9:00 p.m.

Sarah dangled her foot over the side of the canoe, letting it drift in the water. She played with the pink satin ribbon of her bridesmaid dress and smiled up at Jamie.  “Tell me again why we had to leave the wedding reception early to go rowing?”

“Why not? Madison and Ethan already left for their honeymoon. Once the bride and groom are gone, no point in staying.”

She sat up and leaned forward, her hands resting on his thighs. Her blue eyes twinkled up at him. “Why rowing?”

“No reason,” he said loosening his tie. “It’s so hot outside that I thought it might be a little cooler on the river.”

She glanced down at her left hand and back at him. “Is there anything in particular you wanted to say to me out here?”

He looked down at her with a puzzled frown. “No, nothing in particular. Why?”

She slid her hands up the side of his legs.

He raised an eyebrow as she patted down the pockets of his black dress pants. “Um, looking for something in particular?”

“No, nothing in particular,” she said, smiling up at him as she returned her hands to his knees.

“Uh huh, lie back down,” he said with an amused chuckle. “And stop trying to distract me. The last time I went out on this river with you, you tipped the canoe over.”

She smiled, remembering the canoe ride they had taken only a month earlier. She had finally gotten her romantic moonlight canoe ride. Unfortunately, it ended with them swimming to shore after she tried to amp the romance up just a bit. “Hey, you can’t put the blame for that all on me.”

“I thought I was going to drown. This time, you stay on your side of the canoe.”

She laughed as she lay back down on his abandoned jacket. After a moment, she slipped a hand behind her back, checking his pockets. When her fingers didn’t encounter anything feeling like a velvet jewelry box, she sighed in disappointment. She knew he was planning to ask her. They had been practically inseparable ever since that horrible night at Bellemeade in February.

Everything changed that night and it happened so quickly too. Kristen, devastated by her sister’s betrayal and her husband’s death, shut down the pub and boarded up Bellemeade that very month. By March, she was living with Wade Hogan and by April, they had married in a quiet ceremony.

Moose, after spending some time at the hospital, spent some more time at jail before being released and finding a job with Wade Hogan. Kristen had tried to get Jamie to join them as well, but fortunately, he was strongly opposed to the idea.

The last time Sarah had seen either one was the day after Phoebe, Danny and Nathan died, when she overheard Kristen tell the police that she had witnessed Danny and Nathan’s deaths. According to Kristen, she had gone downstairs just before the gunshot to talk to Nathan. She glanced into the living room just as Phoebe snuck up to Danny and shot him while he lay sleeping in the living room chair. She said that she ducked into a closet and hid until Phoebe left and then when the coast was clear she dashed upstairs and grabbed an old shotgun that lay hidden away in the wall next to her bed. And it was from there, standing by her bedroom window, that she witnessed Phoebe sneaking up to Nathan and stabbing the defenseless man in the back.

While Sarah had no doubt that Phoebe killed Danny and Nathan just as Kristen said, she still wondered whether Kristen actually witnessed the murders or if she just said she did to protect Jamie. Until then, the police appeared to be operating under the theory that Jamie was the one responsible, despite Sarah’s insistence that Phoebe was the killer.

But thankfully, between Kristen’s statement and phone records showing several calls made from Phoebe’s phone to Fletcher, the police eventually closed the case.

Which was good because by then Sarah had some pretty important things to attend to. Shortly after the dust had settled over Bellemeade, Madison returned home sporting a huge diamond on one hand and a bridal magazine in the other, and a few weeks after that, Sarah landed a job teaching ballet.

Between planning her sister’s wedding and teaching cute little five year olds how to dance, she had more than enough to distract her and was relieved when she could finally put that horrific night at Bellemeade behind her and focus on the future instead.

Then of course there was the biggest distraction of all
, she thought turning her attention to Jamie’s handsome face. Once Sarah told him that Phoebe had confessed to killing Robin, it seemed like a weight had lifted off his shoulders. He suddenly stopped trying to push her away and lately it appeared he was considering a future with her.

Or at least she hoped he did
, she thought searching through his other pocket. She knew he loved her. He had told her so over and over again the last few months, and had shown her in multiple ways how much he loved her. He had even started exhibiting all the signs he was planning to propose over a month ago, but still nothing, despite her hinting that she wouldn’t be opposed to the idea.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing,” she said quickly lying back down and turning her attention back to the sky. “Madison looked happy tonight.” She lifted her head to look at him. “Ethan too. I’d never seen him look so happy.”

He snorted. “Poor guy.”

She narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean by that?”

“It’s all over for him.”

“Just because he got married?”

“That’s right.”

“That’s the stupidest—” She sat up as the bottom of the canoe hit the bank. “Where are we?”

“Home.”

“Already.” She frowned as she looked around, expecting to see the pier where he had brought her after the reception, but instead, she saw a different, newer pier.

He stepped around her and reached for his suit coat. Once it was on, he climbed up the ladder to the pier and then reached out his hand toward her.

She stepped onto the pier, holding the soft pink chiffon up in her hand to keep it from getting dirty and raised an eyebrow. “Where are we?”

“I told you,” he said as she slipped her high heels on. “Home.” He took her hand and led her down the pier and toward a small staircase.

“Your home?” she asked recognizing a clump of trees nearby.

He nodded as he led her up the stairs and toward his home. She looked down at the new wooden boardwalk under her feet. “When did you do this?”

“While you were teaching the rugrats how to spin in a circle.”

She laughed. “You mean pirouette?”

“That’s the one.”

A smile broke out on her face when she saw the big brick mansion. Apparently, the new pier and walkway through the woods wasn’t the only improvement he had made since she had last been there. The weeds and overgrowth had been removed and new bushes and trees had been planted. The boards covering the windows were gone along with most of the ivy. New shutters hung on the windows and a new coat of paint covered the giant columns out front. Even the tree that had crushed the sunroom had been removed and a new, much larger two story high glass encased room had been erected in its place.

“How were you able to do all of this?” she asked gesturing to the house.

“My parents left me a trust fund,” he said. “I figured it was time to put it to good use, so a couple of months ago I hired a bunch of people to come out and get it back in shape. They just finished a few days ago.” He smiled. “Want to see it?”

She nodded excitedly, pulling on his hand as she hurried to the house, eager to see the inside.

Once inside, she turned in a circle taking everything in, Jamie’s eyes watching her anxiously from the door. “I don’t have furniture in all the rooms yet and I was having trouble figuring out what to do with the sunroom. So, I thought that we’d…” He paused.

“We’d…” She prompted with a hopeful smile on her face.

“Well, I don’t have a head for design and the designer was asking me all these questions about colors and furniture. I just figured you’d probably be good at it, so if you could help me out, I’d really appreciate it.”

Sarah narrowed her eyes. After a moment, she said, “Sure, I’d be happy to help.”

“Great.” He pushed away from the door, gesturing to the back of the house. “Let’s start back here.”

She started to follow, but he held up his hands. “Actually, wait. Let me make sure the guys cleaned up when they left. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay,” she said watching him closely as he backed away.

She sat down on a green velvet covered bench in the hallway and waited. “At this rate, I’m going to have to propose to him,” she said after a few minutes.

“What did you say?”

She glanced towards the end of the hall where Jamie stood looking at her curiously.

“Oh, nothing,” she said with a smile, as she took his hand and let him lead her down another hallway towards a glass door.

He paused outside the door and looked at her. Bending his head, he kissed her gently before pushing open the door.

Sarah’s mouth fell open as she stepped onto the dark wooden floor. Her gaze immediately fell to the mirrors and ballet barre along the wall opposite of the windows before moving to the center of the room where a crystal vase containing a dozen pink roses sat on a small round table. She covered her mouth when she noticed the open black velvet jewel case next to the flowers. The emerald cut diamond ring inside sparkled under the large crystal chandelier above.

Tears in her eyes, she glanced back at Jamie.

“You mentioned something once about eventually owning your own dance studio, and I just thought that when you were ready, you might be able to use this place.” Sticking his hands in his pockets, he looked away. “Or, you know, if it’s just not practical out here, I figured . . .  well, I figured you still could use it to teach our own children,” he said looking back at her.

Unable to speak, she nodded.

He stepped to the table and took the ring out of the box before taking her hand. “I love you, Sarah, more than you’ll ever know. We don’t have to live here if you don’t want—”

She stood up on her tiptoes, silencing him with a kiss. “I love you too,” she said softly pulling back, “and I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.”

Smiling softly, he slipped the ring on her finger before bending his head to kiss her. Suddenly, he pulled back, a frown on his face. “Oh no.”

“What?” she asked following his gaze to the far end of the room. She glanced through the glass towards the stables as a dark streak bolted past. “Joker?”

“Yeah, that was the other surprise. I bought the horses from the guy Kristen sold them to. Funny enough, they were more than willing to give me Joker.”

“I can’t imagine why,” she said running her hands through his hair, turning his attention back to her. “Joker can wait for a minute, can’t he?”

Jamie smiled as he bent his head forward and kissed her.

The End

______________________

Thank you for reading
Hunted Love
! If you would like to be notified about new releases, simply go to http://eepurl.com/bwaLir to sign up for my newsletter.

_______________________