Wedding Bell Blues (36 page)

At least I hoped it would be her rescue. Unfortunately, I was
terribly afraid my lousy luck had brought the nightmare of the past
week home - and at the worst possible time.

Not that there could ever be a good time for something like
this.

"Jessica, I know you're here. Get your ass down here now,
before I decide to really hurt your sister!"

Damn it!

"Colton," I whispered urgently. "Don't talk. Janie's here and
she's got Maryanne. I need you to come. Please, come quickly."

I carefully placed the phone on the hall table, the line still
open,
and prayed Colton understood. Hell, I prayed he'd break all land speed
records getting here. Then I turned and moved toward the den, hoping
desperately some sort of inspiration struck that would help me figure
out how to get Maryanne out of there safely, before Janie could do
anything else.

"I figured you'd try something today, Janie," I commented,
much more
calmly than I felt, as I stepped into the den. "But you surprised me. I
didn't think you'd have the nerve to actually show up here."

I paused just inside the door, my hands held slightly away
from my
body so she could see I was unarmed. All I cared about was making sure
Maryanne was all right. Then I could worry about buying us enough time
for Colton to get here. But that meant keeping Janie occupied and
focused on me for at least fifteen, twenty minutes.

Dear God, help
me
.

The sight of Janie standing over my sister, gun in hand, sent
fear,
cold and pervasive, coursing through me. The look of hatred on Janie's
face bordered on madness. But at least Maryanne seemed all right. Yes,
tears streaked her face, and her fear was almost palpable. There was a
bright red handprint on her left cheek where Janie had slapped her. But
there was no blood and, at least so far, Janie hadn't used the gun.

All I had to do was keep her from doing anything stupid.

"Shut up! Just shut the fuck up!"

She waved the gun from
Maryanne to me and back again. My mouth went dry as her finger
tightened on the trigger. My breath caught in my throat. If I wasn't
very careful, she'd shoot Maryanne. I couldn't let that happen.
Somehow, I had to keep that from happening, no matter what the cost.

"Easy, Janie. You're in charge now."

"So you finally figured that out, did you, bitch?"

Once more
the gun swung toward me. From where she knelt on the floor, Maryanne
started to rise, and I shook my head, silently praying she stayed where
she was, that she didn't do anything to make Janie focus on her again.

"You're the one with the gun," I replied and took one careful
step
to my left, putting me further from Maryanne and forcing Janie to turn
more in my direction. But was it enough? I didn't know and couldn't
risk it not being enough to keep Maryanne out of the bitch's sight.
"What do you want?"

"What do I want?" Her free hand raked through her hair,
pulling and
tugging in frustration. Her eyes widened until she truly looked like
the Madwoman of Chaillot. "I'll tell you what I want. I want you, all
of you, to pay for what you've done to me."
What we'd done to her? She had gone mad. My family, and especially
Maryanne, had done nothing but try to befriend her. Well, I hadn't,
because I never had liked her. But I'd kept my mouth shut these last
few years because of Maryanne. Obviously, that hadn't been enough.

It all came back to Brett and how he'd broken up with her. I
knew
that. I just didn't know if I dared say it. Would she deny it and start
ranting about all the things we'd done to her, real or imagined? Or
would that push her over the edge and force her hand?

"I am so tired of you and your family always cheating me out
of what I want, what I deserve."

She
turned and lashed out with her foot, kicking Maryanne in the ribs.
Instinct took over and I started forward, only to stop short as Janie
wheeled back, the gun leveled at my mid-section. For a moment, my
attention was focused solely on the end of the barrel of the gun,
knowing that, at any moment, death could come from it. Then, from the
corner of my eye, I saw Maryanne slowly creep one foot, two from where
Janie stood. I fought to keep my relief from showing. My sister might
not have gotten safely away, but she was at least out of the direct
line of fire now.

Unfortunately, I was still looking straight down the barrel of
the gun.

"How have we cheated you, Janie? I don't understand."

For a moment, I thought she'd answer. Then, as if realizing
Maryanne
was still slowly inching her way across the room toward safety, she
snapped out a curse. The sound of the hammer of the gun cocking stopped
Maryanne. Her eyes grew wide to see the gun aimed, not at her, but at
me. I didn't dare say anything, but silently I was pleading with her to
keep going, to get to safety. Instead, my sister slowly climbed to her
feet, grimacing in pain as she did. Janie's kick had hurt her and,
somehow, I'd make the bitch pay.

"Sit there and don't move." Janie pointed at the sofa and
watched as
Maryanne obeyed. Then she turned back to me. I swallowed hard, said a
quick prayer, and tried to convince myself that God wouldn't let
anything happen to me, not now, not when I'd just gotten back together
with Colton, and most definitely not on what was supposed to be one of
the happiest days of my sister's life.

"Janie, listen to me. My parents will give you anything you
want. Just let my sister go. I'll stay with you as insurance."

"Jessie!" Maryanne gathered herself to rise, and I shook my
head
emphatically. I needed her to be quiet, to do nothing that would have
Janie focusing on her.

"I mean it, Janie. Let Maryanne go and I promise nothing will
happen to you."

"You really must think I'm a fool." She took a step toward me
and
fear had me backing up. "Your sister has to pay. She's taken
everything, just like she always has. Even in school, it was always
Maryanne this and Maryanne that. It didn't matter how hard I worked on
anything. She was always the favorite. Then, if she knew I wanted
something, she did everything she could to take it for herself.

"Just like she did with Brett." Expression hard, she swung
back to
Maryanne and this time I didn't stop to think. I raced forward, putting
myself between Janie and my sister. I didn't care what it took. I would
not let her hurt Maryanne. I couldn't let her.

"That's what this has always been about, isn't it?" I put a
hint of
disdain in my voice, hoping it would manage to turn her anger back to
me. "You couldn't accept that Brett did the one thing no other man, or
boy for that matter, had ever done. He broke up with you. For once, he
took the power away from you and you couldn't stand that."

"Shut up! You don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, I think I do. Even before this week, you'd done your best
to
make Maryanne doubt him. Those none-too-subtle jabs about what you and
Brett used to do in any given situation. About how, when the two of you
had been together, he'd talked about all the other girls he'd been
with…and did he, you'd ask oh, so innocently, do the same thing still.

"When that didn't work, you took a more direct approach. You
hired
two kids from my school - and I'm sure you loved the irony of that - to
trash Manny's liquor store. Specifically, you wanted them to destroy
the orders for the rehearsal dinner and reception. But you hadn't
planned on the fact Manny would try to protect his property. Nor did
you anticipate that the boys would panic and kill Manny.

"But that didn't stop you. Oh no, it actually played into your
hands. You knew how upset my family was by what had happened, by how
close I'd come to being seriously hurt or killed. So you blackmailed
the boys into continuing their little reign of terror, just so you
could watch it tear at my sister." I paused, surprised by just how
angry I was.

"You're damned right I did all that. And why not? I was just
trying to protect what was mine."

"Protect what was yours?" I whirled, slashing a hand through
the air
when I saw Maryanne about to speak. Her eyes grew wide, but she snapped
her mouth shut. She probably thought she was caught between two mad
women, which wasn't too far from the truth. "You really have lost your
mind. Brett was never yours. You were, at best, a brief distraction for
him. But you couldn't accept that, could you? Because you couldn't,
your delusional beliefs cost a good man his life. They've put two kids
in prison, possibly for the rest of their lives. And for what? What?"

"For the joy of seeing you and the rest of your damned family
running scared." Her smile was pure evil, and I knew time had run out.
If Colton hadn't arrived yet, I'd just have to deal with this myself.

Heaven help me.

"Now I get to watch you beg for your life and your sister's.
So get
on your knees and beg, Jessica. And you'd better make it good, because
the longer you keep me entertained, the longer the two of you get to
live. Maybe I'll even change my mind, if you do a good enough job, and
let one of you live. I don't think so, but you never know." Her hand
was steady - damn it - as she aimed the gun at my head. "Do it!"

"One more question. Did you send the email to Heather, telling
her
what happened?" I asked softly, as more of the puzzle pieces fell into
place.

"Of course I did. I knew you were the only one who might be
able to
figure out what was going on. So I had to keep you off-balance, and
what better way than to have the friend you'd caught with your one true
love show up on your front door step." She grinned maniacally, pleased
with her own machinations. "What better patsy than a woman you already
had a history with?"

That bitch!

Looking down the barrel of the gun, I was no longer afraid.
Cold,
hard anger replaced the fear. I was damned if I'd beg, especially since
I knew it wouldn't do any good. If she was going to kill me, she'd do
it looking me in the eye and fighting for her life. Because I wasn't
going to just sit there like a frightened rabbit and wait for the
bullet to smash into my skull. No, I'd fight for myself and for my
sister. Janie Bickerstaff had hurt us for the last time.

My fists clenched and I took one breath, then a second,
carefully
choosing my moment. I could feel Maryanne watching us. I knew she was
scared. I couldn't help that. Hopefully, very soon she'd have no more
reason to fear.

Dear God, help
me
.

As if in answer to my prayer, the doorbell rang, shattering
the
silence. Janie turned in its direction, her attention momentarily off
of us. Someone yelled, I think it was me, and I rushed forward. All
those self-defense courses I'd attended over the years paid off. I drew
my right fist back and then smashed it into her face. There was a short
cry of pain at the same time as blood from her broken nose and busted
lips erupted into a fountain of red. I followed up with a forearm jab
to her mid-section and a very satisfying left cross to her jaw. Her
eyes rolled back, and she dropped like a rock.

"How's the hand?" Colton asked softly as we once more took to
the dance floor.

I gingerly flexed my fingers, wincing as I did. Despite the
pain, I
smiled. For one thing, I knew just how lucky I was to be there, dancing
with the man who'd raced across town in an attempt to save not only me
but my sister as well. His arrival and the distraction he'd caused by
ringing the doorbell had given me the chance to act. Another few
minutes and it would have been too late.

As it was, neither Maryanne nor I had anything worse than an
assortment of bumps and bruises. Unfortunately, she'd taken more of
that bitch Janie's anger than had I. Still, not only had we both
survived but nothing had delayed the wedding. That was all that
mattered.

Besides, my father had already informed me he would see me in
his
office come Monday if the hand wasn't any better. He didn't think I'd
broken anything when I decided to try to separate Janie's head from her
neck, but he couldn't be sure. In the meantime, I'd swallowed a handful
of ibuprofen and stood proudly next to my sister as she married the man
she loved.

"Sore. No one told me it would hurt so much to punch someone."

Colton smiled proudly and gently kissed my bruised and swollen
knuckles. "It's because you aren't used to doing it, Jess. And, if I
know you, you didn't try to pull the punch."

"Why would I do that?" I shook my head, amazed anyone would
even
consider doing such a thing if they'd been in my place. "I'm just sorry
I didn't hit her harder."

"Who knew you could be such a bloodthirsty woman?" He chuckled
and
held me close as we moved with the music. "I was so scared when I
realized what was happening. I didn't know if we'd get there in time."

"I knew you would." That was the absolute truth. I knew he'd
be
there in time as long as Maryanne and I didn't push Janie into doing
something foolish. "But I'm not too proud to say I was scared to
death." I held onto him as memory and emotion swept through me.
"Colton, she'd have killed us if you hadn't gotten there when you did."

"She's not going to hurt anyone else ever again, Jess." The
music
ended and he guided me off the dance floor. "You were smart to leave
the phone on like that. Our techs will be able to pull up the entire
conversation. There's no way she'll be able to wiggle out of the
charges. The DA won't be able to get the death penalty, but there are
several charges that will bring life sentences, which, if the DA
follows my recommendation, will be stacked instead of concurrent. And,
because there was a deadly weapon used not only today by her but also
to kill Manny, she'll spend at least twenty years in prison, even if
the sentences run concurrently.