Scarlet Fever - Hill Country 2 (28 page)

“I despise weak people like you, church mouse.
 
The world would be better off without you.
 
I can’t resist, I have to hit you.
 
It‘s going to feel so good.
 
I hate you for taking my Daddy away from me;
 
I hate you for having the family that I never had.” Rick’s voice iced over and he let go of her neck long enough to land a blow against her temple.
 

Scarlet gulped with pain and then she asked in a small, defeated voice.
 
“My childhood wasn’t anything to write home about.
 
You, of all people ought to know that.”
 
With another crash blow, he hit her again.
 
Desperate, she asked.
 
“If I say what you want me to say, will you let me go?”
 

“I can’t promise anything, but let’s try it, Sis.”
 
Rick’s mind was obviously affected.
 
He kept one hand around her throat and the other kept an unforgiving pressure on her arm and elbow.
 
“Say:
 
“I am nobody.”

“I am nobody.”

“Say:
 
No man will ever want me.”

“No man will ever want me.”

Alex had been watching the house and knew that Scarlet had already had ample time to find what she needed and return to the yard.
 
An uneasy feeling was niggling at his mind.
 
Unable to shake it, he went to see about her.

Entering the house, he heard voices.
 
Scarlet’s he recognized, and the other sounded oddly familiar.
 
Following the sound, he couldn’t believe his ears.
 
What the hell?!?!
 
When he rounded the corner and saw that monster LeBeau with his cruel grip on Scarlet, he almost vaporized with fury.
 
And when he heard what that shit was making her say, he lunged.

“You let her go, you piece of trash!”
 
Seeing Alex, the former Longhorn linebacker, rushing him, LeBeau slung Scarlet to one side like so much cotton batting.
 
“What do you mean treating her like that?
 
What did she ever do to you?”
 
Alex didn’t give him time or air to answer, he picked him up and flung him out in the hall, and when he landed in a heap, Alex followed him and repeated the process.
 
As soon as he got him outside the B&B, Alex called Bobby over to hold his ex-employee, while he returned to find his baby.
 
God, if that idiot had hurt her, he would kill him with his bare hands.

“Scarlet, baby!”
 
Alex called out, rushing to where he had last seen her.
 
She sat where LeBeau had left her, an almost blank look on her face.
 
“Are you all right?”
 
Alex knelt at her side, his hands lifting her hair to see the damage that the rough hands had done to her soft skin.
 
There were blue and black fingerprints on her neck, and an angry welt was beginning to show itself on her right temple.
 
“I’m so sorry, sweetheart.
 
I’m so sorry.
   
Let me carry you to bed, you need to lie down.
 
I’ll call the doctor.”
 

“No.
 
No.
 
That won’t be necessary.
 
I’m all right.
 
Just a little bruised that’s all.”
 
He pulled her to him, but something was wrong.
 
Scarlet held herself back just a little, a tiny stiffness that sent a chill deep into Alex’s soul.

“Scarlet, what’s wrong?”
 
Alex asked with fear in his heart.

“I’m fine,” she answered softly.
 
Scarlet looked at Alex, waiting to see if Alex was going to confirm any of Rick’s accusations.
 
When he didn’t, Scarlet just wanted to get away, to be alone.
  
“He didn’t really hurt me.
 
He told me that he was my half brother.
 
Do you think he’s telling the truth?”
 
Scarlet’s voice was vague and disconnected.
 
She was scaring Alex to death.
 
“I think he was just trying to scare me, that’s all.”

“Your brother?
 
You’ve got to be kidding me!
 
Tell me everything.
 
What did he say to you?”
 
Alex helped her up, still trying to examine her body.
 
He found the marks on her arm and noticed that she kept it protectively against her, as if it brought her pain.
 
Something was wrong.
 
It was more than just her physical injuries.
 
Scarlet should be clinging to him, letting him comfort her.
 
Instead, it was if she were somewhere else.
 
She had withdrawn from him.

“I don’t know,” she shrugged.
 
“He just wanted me to admit that I was nobody important and that I had no right to be happy.”
 
Her voice sounded distant, as if her mind was otherwise occupied, and she was answering the questions automatically, without feeling or emotion.

“Talk to me, Scarlet.
 
What’s wrong?
 
I can tell something has happened besides the obvious.”
 
Alex was desperate.
 
He couldn’t fix it if he didn’t know what was broke.
 

Alex was chilled when Scarlet turned to him and smiled a little far-away smile.
 
“Everything will be all right.
 
Let’s go down and tend to the wedding preparations.
 
We’ll sort all of this out later.”

************************

Bobby had called 911 and LeBeau had been arrested for trespassing and for assault and battery.
 
Scarlet had been cooperative, but Alex could tell that something had changed.
 
She was saying all the right things, but her heart wasn’t reaching her voice.
 
He hovered near her, touching her at every opportunity.
 
She never flinched from his touch, but she offered none of her own.
 
The timing was piss-poor.
 
There was no place and no opportunity to talk to her, he would just have to wait until after the wedding and reception to get her alone and get to the bottom of this mess.

************************

Scarlet didn’t know what to think.
 
Everything had been so wonderful, so perfect.
 
And now?
 
Now she wasn’t so sure.
 
She needed to work it out.
 
Alex wasn’t acting any different; he was as loving and attentive as ever.
 
But, if this were all a joke, if everything he had said and done had been a farce – Scarlet thought she just might die.
 
Funny.
 
If this were a joke, then so was the insurance card.
 
Something in her rebelled; there was no way that Alex could be that cruel.
 

But Rick LeBeau was a different story.
 
He had always hated her, and now she knew why.
 
In their scant dealings, he had always been the aggressor, and she had never knowingly antagonized him about anything.
 
It was intimidating to realize that you irritated someone else just by being alive.
 

Scarlet stood at her spot at the garden gate, welcoming each guest, making sure everyone knew where the restrooms were and where to put their wraps.
 
Alex was advising the parking attendants and greeting business associates, but he checked on her every few minutes.
 
Everything that Rick had said and the tape that he had played for her was playing and replaying in her head.
 
Alex wasn’t in love with Annalise; he was in love with her...
 
Wasn’t he?

Scarlet mechanically took care of business.
 
Questions and variables were hurdling through her mind like ricocheting bullets.
 
On her way to take her place with the rest of the wedding party, her cell phone beeped in her bejeweled evening bag.
 
Who could possibly be calling?
 
There wasn’t anyone else that would call her.
 
“Hello?”

“Is this Scarlet Evans?”

“Yes.”
 

“You probably don’t remember me, but this is Sandy Moffett at the County Clerk’s office.
 
I just called to let you know that there was a problem with that marriage license that was filed for yours and, uh, Alex’s nuptials.”

“A problem?”

“Yes, I don‘t have all the information, but I wanted to call and let you know that you aren’t married.”
 
Was that a muffled laugh that she heard?
 
“You will need to reapply for a new license.
 
I hope this isn’t a tremendous inconvenience.”

“Have you contacted Alex?”
 
Scarlet’s voice was weak and she had to force herself to speak up loud enough for the woman to hear her.

“I’ve tried, but so far, I haven’t been able to get through.
 
Could you let him know?”

“I’m sorry, but that won’t be possible.
 
Could you keep trying his cell?”
 
Scarlet knew who Sandy Moffett was.
 
She was the woman who had made no secret in her attraction to Alex.
 
Oh, God!

     
Scarlet felt like she was going to throw up.
 
Her legs were weak and she was trembling all over.
 
God, it was true!
 
There was no wedding.
 
Alex didn’t love her and she had been the brunt of the most elaborate punk of the century.
 
How they must be laughing!
 
What would Annalise say?
 
Tears welling up in her eyes, Scarlet sought a quite place to shelter her nervous breakdown.
 
Heading into the pool house, she thrust the door open and sank to her knees.
 
How could she face Alex, now?

Flashes of memory kept invading her thoughts.
 
The touch of Alex’ hands and lips upon her body.
 
How could he have faked that?
 
He had been attracted to her or there was no way her could have made love to her like he did.
 
Something wasn’t right.
 
Trying to pull herself together, she tried to separate what she knew from what she thought she knew.
 
Reliving every moment that she had spent with Alex, she tried to remember even one time when there was a hint that he did not love her.
 
There was none.
 
Either he was the greatest actor since Clark Gable or he was sincere.
 
And that meant that Rick LeBeau was responsible for the whole thing.
     

There was one thing that Scarlet had always prided herself on, and that was the ability to view the facts and them face them for what they were.
 
After analyzing the horrible events from every angle, Scarlet made a decision.

She had no reason to doubt Alex.

He said he loved her, and he had shown her that he did in every possible way.

So, Scarlet decided to believe him.

Unwilling to wait another moment, Scarlet excused herself and went to find her husband.
 
As she walked out of the pool house, a sight greeted her that took her right back to square one.
 
Standing before her was Alex, and in his arms was Sandy Moffett.
 
Unable to bear the sight of him in the arms of the other woman, she stole quietly away.

************************

“Sandy, I told you that this wedding was private.”
 
Once again, Alex was trying to extricate himself from the blonde’s clutches.
 

“I knew that you didn’t mean it.
 
You wanted me here.”
 
She ran her fingers through his hair, he pulled her hands down.
 
“Tell me the truth Alex; aren’t you even tempted to kiss me?”