“That’s ridiculous,” Billy
said. He looked at me, confused.
“It’s the truth. I’ll
explain it to you in a minute, but first I have to warn Cole. He has to keep
his eye on Claire.”
Cole answered on the second
ring.
“Don’t say anything, Cole.
I have something important to tell you. That paramedic they call Chicky was in
cahoots with Brad and Laura Westover. They all work for Clayton Tyler. I’m not
sure which one of them killed Mary or Roy, but Laura implied that it was Brad.
Anyway, the important thing is not to leave Claire alone with that man.”
“Jesse, that’s crazy!”
“Didn’t I tell you not to
say anything? Did that guy hear you?”
“No, they’re taking Thor
into the clinic as we speak.”
“Listen to me, Cole. He’s
dangerous and if you don’t watch it, he’ll kill Claire, and I wouldn’t be
surprised if he didn’t try to kill you, too.”
“Why would he kill Claire?
What’s this all about?”
“Clayton Tyler is in that
picture you saw. Remember the one where Mom identified Laura as the woman who
broke into her house. Well,
Tyler
is in the picture, and he wants it back. The whole
thing was a setup from the beginning. Just promise me that you’ll protect
Claire. Get her patched up and bring her home. Don’t let her out of your
sight.”
“Sure,” he said. “But you
have a few questions to answer when I get back to the house.”
“Just do it, please!” I
said, snapping the phone shut.
Billy had been standing by
silently while I talked to Cole, but the minute I broke the connection, he
pounced on me.
“Tell me everything!”
I explained in great detail
the events of the past couple of hours, ending with my summation. “Once Roy
Keen got kicked off the force, he was of no use to Clayton Tyler anymore.
Tyler
wanted
to get rid of him and his wife. In the process of planning their demise, he
found out he was in a picture taken at a Christmas party. He was outraged. He
had to get the picture back. He kidnapped Mary and used her as leverage for the
picture. When that didn’t pan out, he killed her. It was all a big game to him.
He could have just gone over to
Roy
’s house and gotten the photo, but instead, he played
a deadly game for his own personal enjoyment. He got tired of the game and sent
someone to
Roy
’s to get the picture. In the process,
Roy
was
killed, and we ended up with the picture.”
“The man sounds crazy to
me. Where do we fit in this little plot of his?”
“Remember Doug Tyler? He’s
Clayton’s brother.”
“Ah, ha, now I see. We had
Doug Tyler under surveillance.”
“Clayton set up the whole
thing. He had his own agenda. When things didn’t go his way, he got tired of
playing his game and started eliminating the players. Unfortunately for us, we
were the ones who stumbled onto the picture. Since we’ve also seen it, he wants
to get rid of us, too.”
“Do you think Claire’s in
danger?”
“Yes, I do. Laura said they
were told to get the picture, and then kill us all. I know it sounds crazy, but
the man doesn’t care about anyone. He’d kill us all, and then stand back and
have a good laugh. He’s insane!”
“He sounds like a lunatic
to me. We have to stop him. I don’t know how, but we have to come up with a
way.”
“Maybe we can get some
police protection in the meantime, and then let the cops handle him.”
“Sure,” Billy hissed.
“Jesse, the police can’t protect you against a man like Clayton Tyler. He’s a
serious player. Anyone that would kill over a photograph places very little
value on human life. Do you think he would hesitate to kill a policeman? He
sure didn’t when it came to killing Roy Keen. I bet he didn’t blink an eye when
he gave the order.”
“Are you suggesting we hunt
Tyler
down and kill him ourselves?” I asked, shocked at the idea that Billy would
imply such a thing. “I hope you’re not serious.”
“No, I’m not, Jesse,” he
responded, taking a different stance on the situation. “We have to get
something incriminating on him so the cops can put him away. It’s the only way
we can be safe.”
I had a strange feeling
Billy was just saying that for my benefit. Would he really go out and
deliberately kill someone? I guess when it came right down to it, I might do
the same thing if it meant protecting my family. How many times have I heard
that we all have the ability to kill?
A knock at the door
interrupted our conversation.
“Come in,” I automatically
said.
Captain Waverly walked into
the bedroom. He reached into his jacket, pulled out his business card, and then
handed it to me.
“If you ever decide you
want a career in law enforcement, give me a call. We can always use someone
with your talent.”
Stunned, I took his card.
“You must be joking, but I do appreciate the offer.” I looked at Billy and
laughed. “Your men are in my living room scraping up the remains of two people
I just killed not more than an hour ago, and you’re offering me a job. I find
that a little strange.”
“I’m not offering you a job,
yet,” he replied. “I hear you’ll be getting your private investigator’s license
soon. Congratulations. However, a career in the private investigating field is
not as illustrious as it may seem.”
“Oh, I don’t know. It’s
been pretty exciting so far.”
“Think it over, and if you
change your mind, just give me a call.”
I felt the temperature in
the room go up twenty degrees. Either I was having another one of my recently
acquired spells or the man standing behind me was hot as a firecracker.
Billy reached over and put
his arm around my shoulder, defusing the bomb that was ready to explode. His
voice was deep and forceful.
“We’re planning on making
this a family affair. On Christmas Eve we’re getting married. So as you can
see, we’ll be business partners and partners in marriage. Jesse won’t have time
for another career.”
“Congratulations,” Captain
Waverly said, holding out his hand to Billy. “I hope you both will be very
happy.” He looked over at me. “If you come down to headquarters around ten
tomorrow to make your statement, I’d appreciate it. If the storm gets worse,
just call the number on the card and we can work out other arrangements. The
medical examiner has finished and the bodies have been removed. We’ll be
leaving shortly.”
“What about my gun?” I asked.
“The gun Brad was carrying was mine.”
“I didn’t know that was
yours,” he said. “It’s been bagged as evidence in a crime. You can file a claim
to get it back when you come in to make your statement.” He turned to leave.
“I’ll see you around ten.”
We were standing
face-to-face when the captain left the room. Billy still seemed to be a little
huffy after his declaration to the captain, and I was losing myself in thought.
I couldn’t understand why I wasn’t asked more specific details concerning the
reason why Brad and Laura were out to kill me. Did the cops already know the
whole story? Nobody had said a word about Clayton Tyler. And why was Cole
listening to a police scanner of the
Charlottesville
area when he should have been monitoring the
Stanardsville area? Did they all work together?
“Are you all right?” Billy
lovingly asked.
“It’s been a strange day,”
I replied, settling into his hug. “I was worried about you and Mom for most of
it, and then Brad and Laura showed up. They are... were... scary people. We
could have died. Even with them out of the way, we still have Clayton Tyler to
worry about. He’s not going to give up until he gets what he wants. He’ll just
keep sending someone else to take Brad and Laura’s place, like that guy Chicky.
He’s the next one after us and there’ll be others until that crazy man gets his
way. I’m afraid that nobody can stop him.”
“Oh, somebody can,” Billy
assured me. “There’s no way that man can go on forever and not get caught.
He’ll be stopped and I’m just the one to do it. I will bring him down. But for
now, let’s concentrate on our safety. I’ll call a family meeting and then go
pick up Claire from the hospital. She’s going to need a ride home. As soon as I
get back, we’ll all get together and put a stop to this menace.”
“I’m going with you!”
“No,” Billy insisted. “I
want you to stay here with your mom and the kids. I’ll get Daniel and Robert to
stay with you. I would ask the chief to stay, but he needs to be at home with
Mom. She needs some rest.”
“Oh, no, I forgot all about
the kids!”
In the end, would Laura and
Brad have hurt Benny and Carrie?
A sudden spasm of fear
arose within me. I turned to go check on them.
“They’re fine, Jesse. Your
mom’s with them,” Billy said, following behind me as I walked toward the
kitchen. “You might want to prepare yourself for what you’re about to see.”
I gazed at the bloodstains
on the floor. Reality set in; I had killed two people. Tears began to flow down
my cheeks. My stomach was in a knot.
“It’ll take time,” Billy
whispered as he embraced me. “Death traumatizes us all. You can’t take a life
and not expect it to bother you. It’s only natural for you to be upset. You
will need time to heal.”
The room was quiet, except
for the sound of cold air blowing in around the edges of the blanket that had
been tacked up over the door opening.
The police were gone and
the bodies had been taken away, yet the smell of death still lingered in the
air. I heard voices upstairs.
“I’ve got to clean up this
mess,” I mumbled, heading to the utility room for a mop. “I don’t want Mom to
see it.”
“She’s seen it, Jesse.”
“I don’t care,” I cried. “I
don’t want her to have to look at it anymore.”
Billy soaked up the pooled
blood with paper towels and then threw the towels in the fireplace.
The thought of that grossed
me out, but I didn’t let it stop me from doing what I had to do. I scrubbed the
floor with a vengeance; erasing all traces of death. However, the spilling of a
person’s blood lingers forever.
“I’m glad this floor has a
thick coat of poly or I would never have gotten the stains out. Bloodstains are
hard to get out.”
“Enough,” Billy said. He
took the mop from my hands. “The floor is clean.”
O
utside, the storm continued to brew
.
The wind had picked up its momentum
and the snow was falling like a hard rain. The temperature hovered in the upper
teens. Regardless
of the amount of wood I threw on the fire, I couldn’t
get the chill out of the air.
I had a terrible case of the shakes, the
kind you get when you’ve had too many cups of coffee. I felt scared and cold,
and I couldn’t sleep.
I paced the floor.
Occasionally, I would walk over and look at the spot where Laura and Brad had
once lain, in hopes that the memory of it all would vanish like the bloodstains
had. I figured that the more I looked at the floor, the quicker the incident
could be put behind me. After a couple of hours, I realized that I would never
be able to erase the memory of them. As long as I live I’ll carry the sight of
their fallen bodies with me. Yet, considering the alternative, I decided that I
could carry that baggage. I would talk to someone who knew how to help me deal
with my feelings, and in time, this would all be just a bad memory.
Thanks to a ride from one
of his cop buddies, Cole and Claire had made it back safely. She was tucked
away in the bed upstairs, sedated and recovering from her head wound. It took
seven stitches to close up the gash, and the doctor assured her the swelling
would go down in a couple of days. The bruise would take a little longer.
The kids, who miraculously,
never woke up until our entire terrible ordeal was over, were once again
asleep, nestled in the comfort of sharing a bed with their mother.
The last time I had
checked, Mom was snoring away upstairs in the room across the hall while Athena
and the kitten slept at the foot of her bed. She had finally calmed down, and
was no longer mad at those who had tried to keep her from her daughters.
Cole lay on a pallet in the
hallway next to the bathroom, between the two rooms. The weather had become too
dangerous for the long drive back to
Dogwood
Valley
. Billy had insisted he stay the night. I agreed.
Thor, returned home by the
chief, bandaged and fixed up to live and fight another day, lay by the
fireplace, whimpering, like the crybaby he has been known to be. I patted him
and made a fuss every now and then to appease him, even though his wound was
not too serious. To tell the truth, I was so glad he was alive, I didn’t mind
doing those silly little things. It sure did make him happy.
Sarah, a strong woman who I
have come to admire, never showed a moment of weakness. She survived, did what
she had to do, and was now at home, asleep with her husband. As she waved
good-bye, she even told me she had some great ideas for my wedding. After all
we’ve been through, she still thought of others.
Billy was exhausted; it
showed on his face. He stayed up with me for as long as he could, until he
finally had to go to bed. He couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore.
I marveled at the sight of
him with his long, muscular body barely covered and stretched out in our bed.
His head full of long, dark, silky hair hung down his shoulders. I truly loved
this man. I felt it in the pit of my stomach with every gasp of air I took in,
and every time I looked at him. He made me feel good about myself. He made me
feel happy.
So what was my problem?
I was depressed, confined,
suffocated, nervous, pressured, anxious, scared, and totally spazzed out. How
could I go from being completely out-of-the-loop in my previous life in the
city, to someone who actually had choices to make, and a real life to live in
the mountains? I felt like a teenager who had just jumped into the role of an
adult. I was having a rude awakening. I wasn’t a kid anymore. It was time for
me to grow up. I had some serious thinking to do. I had more questions than I
had answers, and I was at a loss. No wonder I couldn’t sleep.
Should Billy and I get
married in a few weeks as we planned or should we wait until the threat of
Clayton Tyler was over? Would we be able to rid ourselves of this man? What
were the police going to do about the situation? Did they know
Tyler
had
ordered
Roy
and Mary Keen’s deaths and then sent Brad and Laura after my family?
Captain Waverly had treated
me as if I had done him a big favor by taking out Brad and Laura, and never
questioned me any further. I found that a little weird. Maybe he was saving the
hard stuff for me tomorrow. Tomorrow, he would crush me. He would pound me with
his questions until I got confused and said the wrong thing. One wrong word...
I paced the floor,
wondering exactly what I should tell the police when I made my statement.
Should I tell them everything and hope they have the good sense and the ability
to take care of the problem? Or should Billy and I handle it ourselves? It was
their job to protect people like us, but were they up to the task? Clayton
Tyler was a dangerous and cunning man, with the power to outreach the strong
arm of the law. Was his death the only way to stop him or could we find enough
evidence to put him away like Billy contends? I had my doubts. People like that
never pay for their sins. They just keep on hurting others.
I made another cup of
coffee and sat by the fire with Thor. The last thing I thought about before
falling asleep on the sofa was how I was going to remove the bandage from
Thor’s head without pulling out his hair. I didn’t want to hurt him. Silly
thoughts run through our minds in times of stress... I guess.
“Time to wake up,
sleepyhead,” Billy said, his Old Spice after-shave arousing my senses. He bent
down to give me a kiss.
“No,” I raised my hand to
ward off his advances. “I need to brush my teeth. My breath would knock a
buzzard off a ...”
“Jesse!” Mom said. “We have
kids in the room.”
I sat up on the sofa and
looked around.
Benny and Carrie were
sitting at the kitchen table with Mom, eating cereal as a newly recovered Thor
tried to lap at their hands. Athena was cuddled up next to the fireplace while
a tiny fur ball with a long tail, pranced around trying to get her attention. I
heard Claire in the kitchen talking to Cole. The soft tone of their voices
pierced my ears.
“It’s not the right time.”
I guess I could figure that
one out all by myself. There was romance in the air, and I didn’t see any need
to hide it. We were all adults.
“Not the time for what?” I
yelled across the room.
For a second, silence
permeated the air. The clanking of spoons against bowls, and the rattling of
dishes ceased.
Claire walked into the
living room, drying her hands on a towel as Cole followed. He sheepishly stood
behind her.
Mom went back to fussing
over the kids, ignoring all of us.
“Cole and I were discussing
the possibility of taking the kids to the movies when the weather cleared,”
Claire said in a manner that sounded like she was asking for my approval. “I
told him it was not a good time.”
“Don’t be silly,” I said,
getting up from the sofa and walking over to the two of them. “If you’re
worried about what I’d say, then stop worrying. Let’s put the past behind us
and move forward.” I reached out to touch Claire’s hand and said, “If you and
Cole want to see each other, then I think you should. He’s a kindhearted man,
and you’re a loving person. You have a lot in common.”
“I’m glad you feel that
way, Jesse,” Claire smiled. “I would never do anything to hurt you.”
“The kids would probably
love going to a movie,” Cole added.
The tension in the room
dissipated.
I went to take a long, hot
shower while everybody else went about their business. I was distressed about
my upcoming interview with the police and needed time to clear the cobwebs from
my brain. Also, I was not looking forward to talking to Billy about postponing
the wedding, but I thought it would be the best thing to do, considering what
we were up against. How could I enjoy the ceremony knowing danger surrounded my
family? Billy would understand. He said that nothing is more important than
family. I was drying off with a towel when a knock came at the bathroom door. I
grabbed Billy’s bathrobe off the hanger and slipped it on.
“Just a minute,” I said as
I tied the sash belt. “You can come in.”
Billy smiled as he walked
into the mist-filled room. He closed the door and leaned up against it,
crossing his arms over his chest. The look on his face told me he was going to
say something I didn’t want to hear, but instead, he mumbled something about
the bruise on my forehead.
After wiping off the fog
with my hand, I peeked into the mirror. The two butterfly patches the chief had
used were still holding, and the swelling had gone down a little. However, the
bruise covered one side of my forehead and went down to the corner of my right
eye.
“Nasty,” I whispered,
looking up at Billy through my reflection. “I sure am a pretty sight, huh?” I
looked closer into the mirror. “Oh, man, look at the bags under my eyes.”
“You’re
u-wo-du-h
,”
Billy replied. “No matter how beat up you look, you’ll always be beautiful to
me.”
“I don’t know whether to
take that as a compliment or...”
“Jesse,” he stopped me.
“What’s the matter? I know something’s wrong. I could tell it the minute you
woke up. Are you having second thoughts?”
“Not second thoughts,
but...” I let my words hang in the air for a few seconds as Billy stood
quietly waiting. “I was thinking that it might be a good idea to postpone the
wedding... just until this problem with Clayton Tyler is settled.”
“You’re having second
thoughts. You’re not even sure you want to marry me.” The dejected look on his
face tore at my heart. “It’s Cole, isn’t it? You’re still in love with him.”
His eyes bore into me as he walked out of the bathroom, not waiting for an
answer. His hurt was deep.
“Wait.” I followed and
grabbed his arm. “That’s not it at all.”
“Just answer one thing for
me,” he demanded. “Are you still in love with Cole? Tell the truth.”
I looked up and Cole was
standing at the entrance to our bedroom. He walked into the room without
waiting for an invitation, and shut the door.
“I’d like to hear the
answer to that one myself, if you don’t mind.”
Snared like a rabbit in a
trap, I fled back to the bathroom and slammed the door. My heart pounded in my
chest and left me shaken and bewildered from the confrontation. Why did I
hesitate in answering? I knew all along I still had feelings for Cole. Then, I
thought about Billy. Any doubts I might have had before, got lost in the
revelation. The feelings I had for Cole, I would have to deal with in my own
time, but I was not going to let that stop me from having the life I wanted
with Billy. It was time to swallow the lump in my throat and go out there and
confront the truth. I opened the door and slowly walked back into the bedroom.
I was stunned at the nefarious sneer on Cole’s face. This was a side of him I
had never seen. He was basking in what he thought was his victory over Billy!
He just knew for sure I was still in love with him, and he was doing a good job
of rubbing it in. Their long-standing feud over women had just put another
feather in his cap. An instant distaste formed in my mouth.
“As much as I hate to admit
it,” I began, “I still find you attractive, Cole, but I am not in love with you
anymore. I’m not sure that I ever was. I thought it was love I felt, because
that’s what I wanted at the time. But now I know the way I feel about Billy is
real.” I walked up next to Billy and put my thin arm around his firm waist; my
other hand resting on his chest. “I love Billy, and I plan on marrying him.” I
looked up into Billy’s eyes. “I’m just not quite sure Christmas is the best
time. We have some problems to take care of first, none of which has anything
to do with whether we’re in love.”
Billy’s eyes lit up,
casting off any doubts he might have had previously. His joy was evident. He
didn’t care about Cole’s determination to be the winner or anything else. All
he cared about was me. I felt the muscles in his stomach relax as he politely
asked Cole to leave the room.
“Jesse and I have a few
details to work out. As soon as we decide what we’re going to do, you’ll be the
first one to know.”
Cole was not letting Billy
off the hook that easily. He might have lost this round, but there were other
battles to be won. I heard the underlying competition reflected in his voice
when he spoke.
“This is crazy. It will
never work. Jesse’s not ready to get married. Can’t you see that, Billy? She’s
confused and on the rebound.”
“Get over it, Cole.” I
started to see red. “You’re not going to drive a wedge between Billy and me.
We’re going to be together and nothing you can say is going to change that. Get
your own life. Go back to Claire.”
As soon as the word Claire
was out of my mouth, I cringed. I sounded like a jealous, betrayed woman. I
wasn’t. I could care less if Cole and Claire became lovers. I had the man I
wanted. Envy did not exist anymore.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean
for it to sound like that. I don’t have any feelings one way or the other about
you and Claire.” I said, trying to recover from this disaster. I had to set
things right with Cole.