by Lisa Boone
“His name wasn’t on Danny’s note,” Sarah said softly. “At least I don’t think so.” She frowned trying to remember whose names had been included and whose hadn’t. “I was so preoccupied by seeing my own name I don’t really remember.”
“Listen, you two,” Brian said. “Nathan’s motorcycle is in the garage. I’m going to see if I can get it started. I need you two to go down to the cellar.”
Sarah and Phoebe exchanged uneasy glances. “Why?” Sarah asked.
“Kristen’s down there and someone needs to convince her to come out. She won’t listen to me.”
Phoebe frowned. “Kristen’s down there? In the cellar?”
“What’s she doing down there?” Sarah asked.
“The same thing you two were doing. Hiding. Only she has a twelve gauge shotgun with her.” He opened the cellar door. “Kristen, it’s Brian. Sarah and Phoebe are coming down.” He turned back to them. “You two go and talk to her. See if you can convince her to come upstairs. I’ll go check on the bike.”
“Why didn’t Kristen answer you when you called?” Sarah asked.
“She’s probably asleep,” Brian said. “I gave her a pretty high dose. It should have knocked her out.” When that didn’t encourage Sarah forward, he said, “It’s okay, Sarah. I promise it’s perfectly safe. Go on.”
Phoebe tugged on Sarah’s sleeve, stopping her from moving. “Why don’t you go down first, Brian? Just to make sure it’s okay.”
Brian blew out his breath in exasperation. “Okay. Fine,” he said starting down the stairs. “Kristen, I’m coming down. Don’t blow my head off.” When he got to the bottom step, he looked back up expectantly. “It’s all right. I think she’s asleep. You can come down now.”
Phoebe quickly slammed the door shut and locked it.
Brian banged his fist against the door, calling out their names as they pushed the kitchen table against the door.
“I thought you didn’t believe me,” Sarah said helping her stack the chairs on top of the table.
“I didn’t.”
“What tipped you off?”
“Kristen’s afraid of the cellar. She would never go down there alone, at least not willingly.” She turned to the door. “Come on, we need to run and get help.”
“We can take my car. My keys are at the guesthouse, along with my cell phone.”
Phoebe shook her head. “Brian was probably telling the truth about the cars. He used to work as a mechanic while in college.”
“Then what are we going to do?”
“You can ride a horse, can’t you?” Phoebe asked, pulling Sarah out the door and into the rain.
Once outside, they ran through the rain and mud towards the stable, checking over their shoulders for any sign of Brian as they ran. They skirted around Nathan and then into the stables, working quickly and silently as they busied themselves saddling up Jack and Bess.
When Sarah was done, she reached for Jack’s reins but paused. Now that she had time to think, she realized that something was wrong. Too much was happening at once and she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was missing something. Something vitally important.
She reluctantly brought Jack out of his stall and stood still a moment as she tried to find a reason for her sudden uneasiness.
Phoebe glanced over her as she placed a saddle on Bess’ back. “Are you okay?”
Sarah nodded. “Just tired.”
“You’ve had an exciting few days. Where’s Jamie, by the way?”
Sarah started to answer, but instead glanced around the stables, looking for what, she didn’t know.
“I thought he would be with you,” Phoebe continued. “Danny and Moose didn’t hurt him when they picked you up did they?”
Sarah froze. “How did you know that Danny and Moose kidnapped me?”
“Kristen told me. I spoke to her on the phone before you got here. She said that you were on your way.”
“Oh.” Seemed like a reasonable explanation, but still Sarah’s uneasiness grew. She could have sworn Phoebe asked what she was doing there when she arrived. If Kristen had told her that she was on her way, why would she have acted surprised to see her?
“Do you know what time it is?” Phoebe asked suddenly.
Sarah glanced at her watch. “Five ‘til eleven. I’m supposed to be boarding my plane right now.” She glanced out the window toward the house, suddenly anxious to get away from the stables. Next to her, Jack stomped his hooves and snorted. “Maybe we should go back to the house.”
Phoebe stilled. “But Brian’s there.”
“So’s Kristen. What if he was telling the truth about her? What if she’s down in the cellar with him?”
“I told you she wouldn’t be caught dead in the cellar.”
Sarah bit her lip as a memory surfaced. “I saw her go into the cellar during the Valentine’s Day party. It didn’t seem to bother her then.”
“That’s only because there was a house full of people at the time. Trust me, when her guests need something, she’ll make the effort. She wouldn’t go down there in a storm with the electricity out.”
Sarah led Jack toward the stable door as Phoebe continued to talk about Kristen’s fear of dark dank places, every sense in her crying out that she was in danger. She dropped Jack’s reins suddenly and strode to Buck’s stall.
She reached for the battery-powered lantern hanging on a nail near the wall and held it up to Robin’s picture.
She had noticed the picture the first night she had been in the stables, but hadn’t really paid that much attention to it. Now, however, she couldn’t look away and she wondered why she hadn’t noticed the familiar looking emerald and diamond heart shaped ring on the ring finger of Robin’s right hand.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Sarah stared at the picture in disbelief. Her initial thought was that Brian must have stolen the ring after killing Robin and then gave it to Phoebe when he proposed to her, but even as the thought entered her mind, she knew it was wrong.
While she had doubted Brian at the time, she now knew he was telling the truth when he said he wasn’t Phoebe’s fiancé. He couldn’t be, because if he had proposed to her with that ring, Phoebe would have recognized it. She would have wondered why he was giving her Robin’s engagement ring and how he had gotten his hands on it. She would have said something to someone. She wouldn’t have kept it hidden on a chain around her neck where no one could see it.
Brian may be a liar, but about that, he was telling the truth. Phoebe was the one who lied and had been lying since she had walked through the door.
But why?
Why would she kill Robin?
What could she gain by killing her sister?
She touched the picture as a horrifying thought took hold.
“What are you looking at?” Phoebe asked from behind her.
Sarah jumped. Her heart began hammering against her chest. “Nothing.” She lowered the lantern and stepped away from the picture. “You know I asked Brian about you.”
“Yeah?”
“I had assumed that night at the party that you two were engaged.”
Phoebe suddenly laughed. “Me and Brian? Oh, that’s funny. What made you think that?”
“Well, you had been talking about your fiancé, then he appeared and you seemed so close.”
“Brian’s like my big brother. He takes care of me. Watches out for me. He’s always been good at that but I assure you, there is nothing romantic between us.” She giggled again. “Me and Brian, what a silly idea.”
“Who are you engaged to then?”
“You know who,” Phoebe said as a slow, a wicked smile crossed her face. “I saw you staring at Robin’s picture there.” She stepped forward. “I knew I shouldn’t have shown you my engagement ring, but I just couldn’t stop myself. I really wanted you to see it.”
“Why?” Sarah asked backing up a step.
Phoebe reached into the pocket of her raincoat and pulled out a gun. “Why? So you
would know to keep your grubby little hands to yourself. He doesn’t belong to you.”
“Wh-who?” Sarah stammered as Phoebe pointed the gun at her. “Jamie?”
“Of course, Jamie,” Phoebe snapped. “Who else?”
“How was I supposed to know he belonged to you? You never said anything.”
“I didn’t have to. It was clear that he loved me. He’s always loved me.” She reached underneath the collar of her sweater and pulled out her gold chain. She ripped it off her neck and held it up. “You know what I hate most about you?”
Sarah slowly started backing toward the tack room.
“All the lies you tell. Brian didn’t give this ring to Robin. He couldn’t stand her. No one could stand her. I know what you were planning. You wanted me to think this,” she said holding up the ring, “came from Brian so I’d throw it away. Didn’t you? Then I bet you were going to run and grab it, and tell everyone that you and Jamie were engaged.”
“It was Brian’s, Phoebe. He’s the one who gave it to Robin, not Jamie.”
Phoebe shook her head in disappointment as she slipped the ring off the chain and placed it on the ring finger of her left hand. “No, this is my ring. My daddy—my real daddy gave it to my mama for their wedding anniversary one year—she lost it sometime before she died, but Jamie found it and kept it so he could give it to me when we were all grown up. Only Robin somehow got her hands on it and now you’re trying to take it from me too.”
Sarah backed up until her hips hit the counter. “Is that why you killed Robin? Because she had your ring?”
Phoebe’s lips tightened in anger. “I killed her because she was trying to take Jamie away from me.”
“What about Kristen? You sent Fletcher after her too. Is she trying to take Jamie away too?”
“Don’t be stupid. She’s still in love with Wade Hogan, even though she denies it.”
Sarah’s mouth went dry. “Is-is she still alive?”
“She’s alive, for now. Probably hiding in the cellar just like Brian said. She’ll be dead soon enough.”
“Why? What has Kristen done to you? Or Nathan? Or Holly or Danny for that matter?”
“Kristen and Nathan wouldn’t let that stupid TV show idea drop. I can’t have people looking too closely into Robin’s death. Someone might realize I was at the pub that night. My adopted father found out. I don’t know how, but he did. I can’t let anyone else find out the truth. I had to stop them.”
“Is that why you had Fletcher shoot up the pub on New Year’s?”
“I thought that might scare them into dropping the entire idea. And it worked. They called everything off. But Nathan,” she ground out, “stupid Nathan wouldn’t let it go. He kept pushing it. He told them what a great love story they were passing up. Made Jamie and Robin look like a modern day Romeo and Juliet. It worked too. They said they would go ahead with the show if he could get Jamie to participate. I wasn’t too worried about that happening, but then Kristen decided she was going to hire a private detective.” She sighed. “I couldn’t let her do that. I tried to talk her out of it, but she wouldn’t listen. She never listens to me.”
“She loves you, Phoebe.”
Phoebe turned her head, pretending she didn’t hear her. “It’s just as well. It would be too crowded with all four of us living here. Things will be better after you all are gone.”
“But why me, Phoebe? Why did you send Fletcher after me? Jamie had left me. I wasn’t any threat to you.”
“Not a threat?” Phoebe asked. “Of course you were a threat. I knew you were going to do everything you could to come between me and Jamie. Brian told me on Valentine’s Day how you had hired Jamie to be your very own bodyguard.” She snorted. “Nice try. I’ve got to applaud you. You are very inventive. What a wonderful way to keep him near you so you could try to seduce him. He protected you because he’s a good guy, but he didn’t actually care about you. I felt so sorry for Jamie when I realized what had happened.” She pressed her hand to her face. “I was so ashamed. I was mad at him, you see. For a moment there, I thought he didn’t care about me, but when Brian told me that he left us because of you …” She smiled. “Well, it all made sense. He only left because he couldn’t stand to be around you one more second. I knew then that all I had to do was encourage Jamie to come home.”
“So, that’s why you sent Fletcher after me? So, Jamie would come home?”
“I had to.” Phoebe’s eyes welled up with tears. “I couldn’t find Jamie. I had no idea where he was or how to reach him, but I had a feeling you knew. I figured that if you were in danger again, you’d go running to him for help and I was right. Once he was back, I didn’t need to keep you alive anymore, but unfortunately, Fletcher couldn’t seal the deal. You know, if you had just left Jamie alone, I would have called Fletcher off right then. But you wouldn’t let Jamie go. Not even for a second. I was so afraid you were going to drive him away again.” She shook her head. “Tell me something, how does it feel to know the man you loved can’t stand to be around you?”
“You tell me,” slipped out before Sarah could stop herself.
Phoebe’s face darkened as her fingers tightened on the gun. “I figured I would turn the tables on you though. You’ve got to fight fire with fire.”
“I see. So, you thought you would try the same thing.”
“That’s right. I decided to invent my own stalker. One that would take out you, Nathan and Kristen, and threaten me. That way, Jamie could protect me just like he protected you. And the best part is that, once you all are dead, Jamie will rush to my side and comfort me while we bury you all.”
“Killing me won’t change the fact that Jamie doesn’t love you, Phoebe.”
Phoebe paused as if in shock. “Did you not see him rescue me last night when I was lost in the woods hiding from Fletcher?”
“Rescue you? From what? Fletcher was working for you. You were never in any real danger.”
“Jamie didn’t know that and besides that, I was in real danger.” She snorted. “I’m lucky I didn’t break my neck out there. I should have never let Kristen ride Joker. She has no idea how to handle that horse. Thankfully, Fletcher was there to pull me up. Then all I had to do was wait for Jamie to come and save me. Like he has always done in the past.”
Sarah’s eyes spotted a horseshoe lying on the table. “Like in Arizona?” she asked inching toward the table.
Phoebe nodded. “My real daddy went a little nuts one night and Jamie saved me. Ever since then, he’s been my knight in shining armor. Always there to protect me when I needed him. When Charlie Hogan sent men to kill me, Jamie fought them off. Then later, when I killed Robin, Jamie took the blame to protect me.”
“Danny and Moose framed him, Phoebe.” Sarah rested her hand on the table, a few inches from the horseshoe. “He didn’t take the blame to protect you. He had no idea you had killed Robin.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. He knew. Why else did he plead guilty when he wasn’t? What you don’t seem to understand is that we have a special connection. We know what the other’s thinking all the time.”
Sarah’s eyes widened. “Is he aware of this connection?”
“Of course he is,” Phoebe snapped. “He hated Robin. She was trying to rip us apart. He understood that I did what I had to do and he pled guilty to protect me. I’ve been waiting for him to get out of jail ever since.” She tucked a tendril of hair behind her ear. “I wish he had told me he had gotten released early. If he had, then he would have never met you.” She took a step forward, lifting her gun a little higher as she did. “I’m sorry it had to be this way. We probably could have been friends if you hadn’t been such a back stabber.”
“Why did you kill Holly?” Sarah blurted out, hoping to keep Phoebe talking, distracting her long enough until she could get in a position where she could fight back. She inched her fingers a little closer to the horseshoe. “Holly didn’t care about finding Robin’s murderer. She was convinced Jamie was guilty.” S
he looked at Sarah in disgust. “See, that question there proves that you don’t love Jamie. How can you even ask me that?”
Sarah’s brow furrowed as she tried to figure out how asking about Phoebe’s motive somehow equated to her not loving Jamie.
“You heard Holly. She was trying to destroy Jamie. She was trying to put him back in jail. Of course I killed her. Unlike you, I wasn’t about to let her hurt Jamie.”
“And Danny?” Sarah asked slowly inching her hand closer. “I know he was the one who framed Jamie, but you obviously don’t know that. Why kill him?”
“Danny didn’t frame him,” she said as her voice rose in anger. “I told you that Jamie took the blame to protect me. Why aren’t you listening to me?”
“Okay, fine,” Sarah said in a placating voice as she raised her hands higher. “Why did you kill him?”
For a moment, Phoebe looked like she wasn’t going to answer, but then reluctantly, she said, “I needed someone to take the fall and he seemed like as good a choice as any. Besides, I never did like him.” She lifted the gun a little higher. “Now, it’s your turn. I was hoping to avoid doing this myself. Believe it or not, I don’t actually enjoy killing people. It’s messy and ugly. After I killed Robin and my adopted father, I decided it would be better to hire professional help the next time.” She made a face. “Unfortunately, that came with its own set of problems.”
“You’re insane.”
“I’m not insane,” she snapped. “My lowlife adopted father thought I was insane. He found out what I did to Robin and threatened to put me away in some hospital. I showed him though. I just know what I want, and what I want is for Jamie and me to live happily ever after. I just had to eliminate all the little problems that would have prevented that from happening.”
Sarah moved her hand closer to the horseshoe, praying that Phoebe wouldn’t notice what she was doing.
Phoebe narrowed her eyes at Sarah. “You and Kristen are the last two problems left. When Fletcher shows up, he’ll finish her off for me. I was going to let him take care of you too but…” She grimaced. “… he’s late.”
