Hunted Love (A Dangerous Kind of Love Book 2) (8 page)

She pushed open the gate, closed it, and continued across the field toward the stable, wishing she had changed out of her heels before heading out this way. It wasn’t so bad walking on the concrete, but it was rather treacherous past the gate, she found as she felt her ankle start to turn a few times.

She gasped suddenly, as her foot fell into a hole and her heel started to turn. Wind milling her arms out to her side, she righted herself at the last minute, vowing to be more careful as she walked to the stable. Her gaze fell to the ground in front of her looking for any more rocks or holes that could trip her up.

She took a tentative step forward and immediately froze, only then noticing the bright green light in front of her feet.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Sarah looked back toward the house. The kids were still running around the backyard and not one of them was focused on her.

They weren’t the cause of the light, she realized, turning her attention back to the ground. She followed the direction of the light to the woods and narrowed her eyes. She couldn’t see it through the darkness but she remembered seeing a small little cottage nestled deep in the woods when she arrived and began setting up for the party.
Could it be coming from there?

The light moved, zigzagging up her legs.

Someone’s out there
, she thought backing up towards the stables. A commotion near the house caught her attention. She turned back to see the group around the fire pit move as one towards the house, calling out their children’s names as they did.

She started to call out to them, raising her hand as she did, but then the light zigzagged along the grass by her feet.

No.

Whoever it was out there was telling her no, don’t.

She swallowed hard, glancing between the house and the stables, judging the distance between the two points. She was much closer to the stables than to the house now. Deciding the stables were safer, she kicked off her high heels and ran, watching as the light stayed one step ahead of her.

She dashed through the open stable doors and once inside, she grabbed the big heavy door and swung it shut.

“Brian, is that you?” Phoebe called out from one of the stalls. “It’s about time. Where is my present?” She stuck her head out, her expression changing to one of surprise when she saw Sarah standing by the door in her bare feet panting. “What’s wrong?”

Sarah, taking a breath, pointed to the double doors. “Someone’s out there.”

Phoebe looked at her at first in surprise and then concern. She pushed the stall door open. “Who?”

Sarah fearfully slipped away from the door. “I don’t know, but he has this laser and he keeps pointing at me,” she said suddenly feeling ridiculous the moment the words left her mouth. What did she think the laser was? She felt her face grow red.  It hadn’t hurt her, just disturbed her. She scowled at the door. Someone was probably having a good laugh at her expense out there.

Her embarrassment was made worse by Phoebe’s expression of confused merriment.

“Oh, it’s probably Nathan’s teenage brother and his friends,” Phoebe said walking to the door. “They’ve been in and out of those woods all night making such a ruckus.” She pushed open the stable door. “Justin Blake! You boys knock it off now and stop scaring people. I’ll tell your folks on you if you don’t, ya hear?” She craned her neck, looking this way and that. “I don’t see them. They’re probably back at the house by now.” She stepped back inside and closed the door.

“I saw a house—” Sarah took a deep breath, trying to slow her breathing, “when I arrived earlier, I saw a house nearby. It was sort of hidden behind the trees in the woods. I think the laser may have been coming from that direction. Do you know who lives there?”

“No one. At least not since my dad bought it from the neighbors years ago. We mainly use it as a guest house.” She stood on her tiptoes and looked out. “Nathan sometimes uses it to work on his model cars. Kristen doesn’t want them messing up the house. The boys have probably been messing around out there too.” She turned back to Sarah with a friendly smile. “Kind of skittish, aren’t you?”

“I have reason to be lately.” Sarah felt something cold and wet touch her neck. She turned around to find two big brown eyes staring at her. She smiled at the big brown horse and patted his nose.

“So I heard,” Phoebe said. “I had no idea what you were going through last year. It sounds just awful. Brian’s been filling me in. Finally,” she said with a dramatic roll of her eyes. “I didn’t realize he was capable of keeping a secret this long.” She glanced down at Sarah’s bare feet. “Lose your shoes?” At Sarah’s nod, she lifted up her evening gown to reveal a pair of boots. She laughed. “I hate high heels. I have another pair of boots in the cabinet, if you’d like to try them on.”

“I’d love to. Thank you,” Sarah said happily as Phoebe reached into the cabinet. She sat down on a nearby stool and pulled on the boots.

“Fit?”

“A little snug but they’ll do,” Sarah said standing up. Her attention turned to the window and the woods just beyond. She could just make a dark shape moving along the tree line. So focused on watching the trees, she didn’t realize Phoebe was speaking until the other girl tapped her on the arm. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

“It’s all right. I was just asking if you came to see Queen Bess?” Phoebe said gesturing to the white horse.

“I’d love to. Although, the reason I came out here was because your sister wanted me to tell you that your guests are leaving and she thought you might want to say goodbye.”

Phoebe groaned. “My guests? I don’t know any of those people. They’re all friends of Kristen and Brian.” She waved her hand. “It’s okay. Let’s visit her majesty and give her a proper hello and then I’ll put in an appearance. Now, she’s a bit shy,” she said opening the stall door and stepping inside.

Queen Bess pushed her head against Phoebe.

“She seems to like you already,” Sarah said.

“Oh, she and I have already met. They actually gave her to me last month, but wouldn’t let me bring her here until tonight. All this,” she said rotating her wrist, “was for show. Kristen likes to make a big display for her friends about how well off they are.”

Sarah held out her hand to Queen Bess who backed away from her.

Phoebe ran her hand down Bess’s neck. “It’s all about appearances.”

With gentle encouragement, Bess finally allowed her to pet her.

A loud whinny from the next stall caught their attention. Sarah backed out to see a giant black horse staring at her.

“Who is this?”

Phoebe closed Queen Bess’ stall door and gave the black horse an exasperated look. “That there is Joker.”

Sarah started to reach out her hand to Joker but Phoebe pulled her back. “I wouldn’t. Jokers a bit wild on the best of days, but he still hasn’t adjusted to the move from Michigan. You’ve seen Jack,” she said, indicating the opposite side of the room where the brown horse stood. “Over there,” she said gesturing to two stalls in the back of the stable, “are Buck and Blondie. They’re kind of shy. You can pet Jack if you like. Now he’s my sweetheart,” she said cooing to the horse.

Sarah walked over to Jack and gently ran her hand down the horse’s nose. Glancing up she noticed a carved box over his stall in the shape of a heart. “Jack of Hearts?” She glanced over at Queen Bess’ stall. “Queen of Diamonds?”

“Someday I plan to have the whole deck of cards.” When Phoebe noticed Sarah glancing over at Buck and Blondie’s stalls, she said, “They’re Kristen’s horses and our oldest residents.”

Buck snorted lightly.

A photo hanging besides Buck’s stall caught Sarah’s attention. It was a close up of a pretty teenage girl that Sarah had never seen before, kissing Buck’s nose.

“If it was up to me I’d have this entire stable full,” Phoebe said as she picked up a saddle, “but it’s a bit costly.”

“Can I help you?” Sarah asked following her to the back of the stable.

“No, I’ve got it. I’m just taking it to the tack room.”

Sarah followed the other girl to a small open room containing bridles, saddles, pictures, trophies and a farm sink. The top half of a Dutch door was open letting in the cool crisp night air. She shivered as she glanced outside. While the land surrounding Bellemeade was well manicured, the land in the back of the stables was overgrown with weeds and trees. Everything was so dark she could barely make out the fence that separated the property from the woods. The trees nearby swayed, their branches hitting the side of the stable and an eerie feeling came over her. She wrapped her arms around herself with a shiver and turned her attention to the pictures on the wall. Most of them were of Phoebe in her riding clothes at various competitions but there were a few of other members of the family and a couple of group shots. One group shot in particular caught her attention.

A very young Phoebe, in tan breeches, a black helmet, crisp white shirt and a black competition jacket sat astride a blond horse. She proudly held out a blue ribbon.

Kristen stood on one side of the horse, smiling prettily for the camera. On the other side were Holly and the pretty blonde Sarah noticed from the picture next to Buck’s stall. Their arms were wrapped tightly around each others necks and they were mugging for the camera. Behind the girls were three very unhappy looking teenage boys: Nathan, Brian, and Jamie.

She glanced over as Phoebe approached. “Is that you?”

“That’s me. I had just won my first championship.”

“How old were you?”

“I had just turned nine.”

Sarah pointed to the one girl she didn’t recognize. “Who is she?”

“That’s our sister, Robin.” Phoebe said. “That day was such a happy day.”

Sarah raised her eyebrows, surprised by Phoebe statement. While the girls looked happy posing for the picture, the boys seemed angry and out of sorts. Jamie especially.

When she said as much to Phoebe, the girl simply laughed. “Robin had just called them her stable boys. It had been a long hot day and the boys had wanted to do something else. Robin kept teasing them. Made Brian as mad as a hornet but then Brian was always mad back then. The poor boy was always angry and irritable.”

“He doesn’t seem that way now.”

“Oh, no, now he’s Mr. Charm, but back then, he was rather insecure. He had a rough childhood and he let too many things get to him. Robin especially. She liked to tease him. She didn’t mean anything by it,” she said quickly. “She was just trying to loosen him up a bit. I think it was just a phase. He eventually grew into the kind, caring, easygoing guy you see now. Robin used to call him a work in progress and she was right.” She sighed. “You’ve probably heard by now what happened to her.”

“Yes, I’m sorry.”

“It’s not true, you know? About Jamie. He didn’t kill her.”

“I didn’t think so either, but if he didn’t, why did he plead guilty?”

“I was only fifteen when it happened, but from what I understand, there was too much evidence against him. They offered him a deal and his attorney convinced him it was safer taking the prosecution’s offer than taking it to trial.” She looked thoughtful for a moment. “To be honest, I’ve always thought he was protecting someone. You know, taking the blame for someone else.”

Sarah’s brow furrowed. “Who?”

“I don’t know. It was just a feeling I had. It was probably best for him to stay in jail anyway. My father told Jamie that if he ever got released, he was a dead man. He meant it too. Jamie was safer behind bars.”

“Do you have any idea who might have killed her?”

“None. Brian seems to think it was someone she knew, but… it can’t be. It must have been a stranger. Everyone loved Robin.” She trailed her fingers along the gold necklace at her throat. “My father wasn’t a very nice man. He had a lot of enemies. I sometimes wonder if someone killed her to get back at him.” A haunted look came into her eyes. “Just shortly after that picture was taken . . .” She closed her eyes. “Sorry, it still bothers me to think about it. Or even talk about it.”

“If it’s too difficult . . .”

“No, I want to talk about it. I think it would help to have someone to talk to. Kristen doesn’t like to talk about these things. She says it’s best not to dwell.” She gave a rueful shake of her head. “I can’t forget the past quite as easily. I can’t wash it away or plaster over it.” At Sarah’s confused expression, she said, “A few months after that picture was taken, my father and another man named Hogan had a falling out. I don’t know what about and frankly I don’t care. All I know is that Charlie Hogan wanted revenge for something, but instead of taking it out on my father, he went after us. He tricked my father into leaving us here alone with only a handful of men, and then he sent some people in to kill us.” Her voice turned bitter. “To teach my father a lesson.”

“How awful.”

“I was here in the stables playing with Brian while he was mucking out the stalls when they came.” Her gaze lost focus. “They started killing everyone they came across. I remember being so scared.” She motioned to the stall where Queen Bess stood. “When the shooting started, Brian pushed me down in the corner and covered us up with hay. We stayed there for…” She looked up. “It seemed like hours. Then we heard Robin scream and we crawled to the other side of the stables and looked through a gap between the wood just in time to see Robin and Kristen running toward us with men running after them. My sisters ran in and closed the door. The men would have come in after us but Robin had a gun and starting shooting back from the window. It was just a little six shooter. It didn’t take too long for her to run out of bullets but it didn’t matter. The men decided to leave us in here and set fire to the place.”

Sarah gasped. “How did you get out?”

“They never got a chance to set the fire.” She smiled as she stepped back towards Bess’ stall. “Jamie saved us. He wasn’t even supposed to be here that day. He was supposed to be with my father, but he got left behind. Lucky for us he was such a trouble maker back then.”