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And then she heard her father's voice.
Wake up, sweetheart. Wake up right now.
She saw Joel standing before her, holding out his arms. His face was as young and as golden as a
prince's. He was real. He wasn't dead. He didn't hate her.
Her eyelids fluttered. Daddy? Daddy, where are you?
His smile faded and he looked angry with her. Just like the day she had run away with Sam Gamble. So
fierce and angry.
Your arms, he shouted. Move your arms!
No. She didn't want to move them. She was too tired. But he kept calling out to her over and over again.
Your arms! Move your arms!
The scarves were too tight. Her wrists were bleeding and she was sleepy. But he looked so angry she
didn't want to make him angry he looked so angry that she tried once more. Gathering the small amount
of strength she had left, she struggled against her bonds. For the last time, she pulled at the knots.
And her wrists began to move in their slippery path of blood. Pain clawed at her as she tried to slide
them down along the steering wheel. Everything was spinning. She had to rest. She had to make the pain
stop. Just for a moment.
Her fingers bumped against the gear shift, but she could no longer remember why it had been so
important to reach it.
Wake up! Joel shouted. Wake up now.
She tried to focus, tried to remember what she had to do. With a rasping breath she tugged on the gear
shift and awkwardly maneuvered the car into reverse.
But she had expended the last of her energy, and there was nothing left.
Your feet, he cried. Lift your feet.
He expected too much of her. He had always expected too much. Her feet were heavy. Much too heavy
to lift.
Now! Now!
She pushed her clumsy feet against the accelerator.
The oxygen-eating engine roared. Her neck snapped as the car shot backward. It crashed through the
garage door and catapulted out onto the driveway.
The slap of fresh, pure oxygen acted like a shot of adrenaline. She sucked the life-giving air into her
lungs. Several minutes passed. Strength began to flow back into her body, and with the strength came
agonizing shards of pain in her wrists.
She began to sob. Blood was smeared all over the steering wheel, and she couldn't loosen the knots that
held her wrists. How much longer before Cal discovered her and finished what he had begun? The faint
sounds of the orchestra drifted in through the window. The music sounded more beautiful than anything
she had ever heard. Biting her lip against the pain, she worked the car into drive. Then she once again
slammed her feet on the accelerator.
The car shot down a small bank and onto the side lawn. With her wrists tied, it was almost impossible to
steer, but she wrenched the wheel to the right and rounded the back of the house. On the opposite side
of the grounds, she could see a striped party canopy and white paper lanterns swinging from the trees.
The car rocked violently as the right wheels rode up on the terraced slope of the hillside. For a moment
she thought she was going to flip, and then she gasped as the wheels steadied on even ground.
A low wall of shrubbery loomed ahead. The car careened wildly as she plowed through it. She could see
the people more clearly. They were turning toward her. A heavy urn planted with topiary scraped the
side of the car. The vehicle shuddered but didn't stop. One of the garden's marble statues appeared on
her right. She wrested her arms to the left, just missing it. Men in tuxedos and women in glimmering
gowns watched in horror as she raced closer.
She lifted her legs to hit the brake, but her foot caught beneath the peddle. The fountain materialized
ahead along with well-dressed party guests who were scattering in alarm. She sobbed as she freed her
foot and slammed on the brake.
Stones flew up from the tires. The car fishtailed on the gravel path and skidded into the side of the
fountain. Her body jolted as the engine shuddered to a stop.
She heard a woman screaming, the sound of people running, a man's voice, loud and incredulous. "It's
Susannah Faulconer!"
Someone was struggling with the door on the passenger side and then crawling over the seat to help her.
Hands touched her wrists and tugged at the knots on the scarf. She whimpered with the pain.
More voices.
"She's tied. Why is she tied?"
"I'll call an ambulance."
"She's bleeding."
"Don't move her. You shouldn't move her."
But her arms and legs were free, and she was being taken from the car. Held in someone's arms.
Mitch. Mitch had come to help her.
Her eyelids fluttered. She wanted to thank him. Tell him she loved him. She forced her eyes open and
saw a lightning bolt of gray hair.
"Don't try to talk," Cal murmured as he held her against his chest. "Don't try to talk." And then in a louder
voice. "I'm going to take her inside. She's in shock."
Susannah tried to cry out, but she was dazed. He was moving more quickly. The paper lanterns flashed
by in the trees overhead. A scream rose inside her, but the only sound that passed through her lips was a
weak whimper. "Paige& "
A flash of pink appeared at her side, a cloud of blond hair. "I'm here, Suze. I'm here. Don't try to talk.
Oh, sweetie, don't try to talk."
"Stop him& " Susannah tried to force out the syllables. Cal's fingers dug more deeply into her ribs. "Don't
let him& take me& inside," she gasped.
Paige stroked her head. "Stop who, sweetie? It's all right."
"She's in shock." Cal picked up his pace. He was at the back of the house, stepping onto the patio. "See
to the guests. Make certain no one was hurt."
"Stop& him. He tried& to kill& "
"What's she saying, Cal?" Her sister brushed her arm. "Suzie, I can't understand you."
"She's hysterical, Paige."
"What's wrong, honey?" Paige murmured. "We'll take care of you."
Susannah pushed the words out. "He& tried to kill me."
"Don't listen "
Paige's voice was flat. "Stop for a minute, Cal."
Cal kept moving. "She's been hurt. I have to get her inside. Go see to the guests."
"I said to stop!" Paige threw herself at him, the mother lioness protecting her cub.
Men appeared at her side. Cal let Susannah go, and Paige pulled her down onto a patio chaise. The
world gradually steadied.
A crowd was forming around her. Through a breach she saw the buffet tables covered in rose-colored
linen. Ice falcons with their wings spread in flight dripped into silver trays. Nicole Theroux, frightened and
bewildered, was standing at Cal's side. Cal looked frantic, and people were staring at him. He tried to
disperse the crowd, but no one moved. Susannah recognized several of the FBT board members and
their wives, many of the same people who had witnessed her disastrous wedding.
Paige held her bleeding wrists and told her to lie down, but there was no time. Susannah turned to Paul [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]