She moved her hand slowly so as not to draw attention to her movements. An inch at a time, she traced the edges of the drawers, feeling for the knob.
“You think you’re home free now, don’t you?”
She shuddered at his words. “I don’t understand.”
“I watch the news, Tessa, or did you forget that little detail?
Back and forth, his personality veered between childlike petulance one minute and insane, evil Joel the next.
“Yes, I remember now.”
“When I learned you might have a chance at freedom, well, I couldn’t allow you to one-up me, could I?”
He really is batshit crazy! Completely off his rocker.
“Just kill me then. Get it over with.” Her voice was stronger, louder. Maybe she should scream for help. It would be a good time for one of those nosy reporters to do their job. Spy. Sneak. Search.
He laughed.
“Tessa, I have a question for you. If you give me the correct answer, you will add five minutes to your life. Yes, let’s play a game. I always enjoyed playing games. This game is the game of life. You always liked to play games. You played games with them. You always stopped when I came home. Remember? You didn’t let me play.”
For God’s sake, the extent of his insanity was off the charts. She couldn’t even begin to understand the deranged psychopathic man he had become. No, cancel that thought. The sick son of a bitch he had always been. How, she asked herself, could I have lived with him for eleven-plus years and not known how sick and evil he was?
“The game. Let’s play. I’m going to ask you a question, and if you answer correctly, you win. And your prize—there has to be a prize for the winner—is that five minutes will be added to your life.” Once again, his voice was the singsong voice of a child.
“Ask me the question, Joel. Let’s play your game of life.”
“Number one. I like to play this way. It’s like school. Okay, here is the first part of the first question: What is sodium hydroxide?”
His voice no longer sounded the same as before. The singsong quality was gone, though it was still the voice of a child. It was as if a different child had taken the place of the other one.
Multiple personality disorder?
“Tick tock, tick tock. Better hurry, Tessa, time to answer is running out.”
“I forgot the question.”
“Stupid bitch. You get one more chance.” Evil Joel voice.
“I’m sorry.”
“What is sodium hydroxide?” He’d reverted to the singsong voice again.
Now he was sitting on one of the barstools, and she could see the hunting knife where he had placed it on the countertop.
“Lye,” she said.
“Part two of question number one: What do sodium hydroxide and the human body have in common?”
She tried to think, and when the answer finally came to her, she lost her breath. Gasping, she tried to push the words out of her mouth. “Why?”
Manic laughter, and his eyes lit up like Satan’s might upon consigning another soul to the depths of hell. But all he said was, “All those science classes you took in college. I was right. You are a stupid whore. Tick tock. Tick tock. Ding, ding, ding! Time is up!”
“You sick son of a bitch! What do you want from me?” She screamed the words as loud as she could. If he was going to kill her, he’d better get started.
He jumped off the barstool and reached for the hunting knife. “You’re gonna die this time! No more minutes added to your miserable life, you fucking whore!” He came toward her then, the knife raised high above his head. Tessa cowered in the corner but didn’t dare to run. In one swift motion, her neck would be severed.
The reality of what he’d done hit her full force.
“You insane son of a bitch! You killed my daughters! And before that, you molested them!” Her breath came in short gasps. “You don’t deserve to live!”
“Wait, wait, wait! You’re not the leader, Tessa. I am. You’re just like Mommy, always wanting to be first.” The singsong childlike voice again.
Before she changed her mind, she tucked her head into her chest, rolled onto the floor, and grabbed his ankles, knocking him to the floor with her. The black boots were heavy, but she didn’t care. She was going to kill him or die. There was no other choice.
Twisting his ankle into an unnatural position, she turned her body with the movement to avoid getting entangled herself. Bits of glass cut into her arms, but in the adrenaline rush, she couldn’t feel any pain. Her strength seemed as if it were ten times more than normal. She had almost succeeded in twisting the foot she was holding completely around when his other foot smashed into her face.
Tessa felt a sharp snap, then felt warm blood oozing from her nose. She continued to hold his ankle as blood dripped onto her hands and his boot, causing her to lose her grip. His boot came down a second time, only this time it caught her on the edge of her left shoulder. Another snap, and a hot jolt of pain ran down the length of her arm. She tried to move her left arm, and a hot, icy pain traveled up her arm, to her shoulder.
She rolled onto her back; with her right hand, she used her shirt to wipe the blood from her eyes. “If you’re going to kill me, you sick, perverted piece of shit, then you better have the guts to look me in the eye when you do it!”
“You are stupid, Tessa. Aren’t you?” He kicked the back of her head.
She winced. She would not give the bastard the pleasure of hearing her beg for her life. If he was going to kill her, she wanted every single moment etched in his sick mind forever.
“Wait!” She needed to know; she didn’t care what he did to her after, but first she had to know. “Joel. Why did you kill them? Why? They were just little girls! Why?”
Tessa was sobbing now, and she didn’t care. Hot, salty tears burned the cuts on her face, yet all she could think of is what her precious daughters had gone through. Here. In this house. Right under her nose. The entire time?
“Answer me, goddammit! You at least owe me that much!” Struggling to keep from passing out, she forced herself to stare up at him, her gaze unwavering.
“They were just like you. And Jack. And Mommy. Never wanted to play games with me.” The plaintive, singsong voice of the child was back again. “I was trying to teach them how to play the game, just like Mommy taught me.”
Oh dear God!
Then it hit her. Liam! What had he done to Liam?
“Did you kill Liam?” she asked, her voice muffled from pain and the blood from her broken nose.
“That little bastard! Of course I killed him. What do you think I used the sodium hydroxide for? And I killed Jack, too! He actually came to the house. I was a bit surprised.”
The evil Joel voice again. “But it was the perfect ending for my new beginning. I already had a new identity set up, with more than enough money to lead a carefree life, just in case something went wrong. And when you decided to go to San Maribel, I knew that you were going to leave me and take the girls. I couldn’t allow that to happen.
“Then Liam showed up, and he had to be killed. And so did the girls. Jack’s appearance was just bad luck for him and incredibly good luck for me. And when you were convicted of killing me and the girls, I knew it was the perfect ending to that game of life. But then they let you go, so I had to come back and put an end to the game once and for all.”
Tessa rolled away from Joel seconds before he lifted the hunting knife, aiming it at her throat.
“Freeze!”
Joel’s bright green eyes sparked with fire. When he saw Officer Waterman’s gun aimed at him, he tightened his grip on the knife, and this time, he used both hands as he raised them high above his head, garnering all the force he could to stab her in the forehead.
Tessa’s world went black.
Epilogue
Eighteen months later
Sam reached for Tessa’s hand as the newly elected governor prepared to speak.
“Good evening
, ladies, gentlemen. First, I would like to thank each and every one of you for your vote. It was a close race, but it only takes one more vote than the other candidate to win.” Applause.
“Tonight, as your newly elected governor, you all know why you’re here.” He paused. “Almost thirteen years ago, one of the city’s most horrendous tragedies took place. The lives of Piper and Poppy Jamison, along with those of their uncles, Liam Jamison and Jack Jamison, were taken by a vicious, callous man, who was the father and the brother of the victims.” Michael Chen looked at Tessa. “I would like to formally apologize to Ms. Tessa Jamison. I was the lead prosecutor in the case, and I made a very bad mistake. I did not listen to her. So bent on getting a conviction, I and my staff focused all of our attention on her, a woman, a wife and mother who’d just lost her entire family. I can’t begin to think that my words will have any healing effect on the survivors, but I hope in some small way, they will. Rachelle Jamison lost a son.”
Sam leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Now?” she mouthed back.
He nodded.
Tessa took Rachelle’s hand, then whispered in her ear. “Already?” Rachelle asked in a low voice.
Tessa nodded.
“I’m coming with you.”
Quickly, and hopefully, they quietly eased out of the auditorium without distracting too many people who had come to listen to Governor Chen discuss a new bill the Florida Senate had recently passed.
The Jamison Bill. The bill protected women who had been released from prison and were being stalked, harassed, or had an attempt made on their life by their significant other. Tessa had worked tirelessly with Lee and Darlene to take the bill to the Florida Senate. Surprised and proud when it was passed, Tessa’s loss might prevent another woman in similar circumstances from losing her life or that of a family member. It was a simple thing, nothing too complex. When a woman was released from confinement in a jail, prison, or halfway house, if she was harassed by a significant other who had been instrumental in her having been convicted and served time, the harasser would automatically be jailed for ninety days, then would receive a full mental evaluation before being released. It wasn’t huge, but it was something dear to her and to Rachelle, who had become a surrogate mother to her. Rachelle had sold her house in Miami and moved to Naples, where Tessa now lived in a ritzy condo overlooking the Gulf of Mexico.
As soon as they stepped outside, the June heat hit them full force. “Can you believe it’s this hot at night?” Rachelle asked. “Or am I having another hot flash?” she added, laughing.
Inside the car, Tessa’s bright red Porsche, Sam cranked over the engine and clicked the air-conditioning on. “Do you think Lara can handle this?” Tess asked the others as Sam backed out of the parking garage.
“I do, Tess,” Sam said. “She’s not the same girl she was. She has finally grown into a woman, at least in my opinion.”
“She has,” Tessa agreed. “I think her finding out about Joel, Liam, and Jack, the poor twin who’d spent most of his life in Savannah, and the girls changed her. Made her realize that life was too short to waste it on dope and dresses. What do you think of Logan?”
“He seems like a decent guy. He married your little sister, so he better take care of her, or else,” Sam teased.
“Did you call Lee and Jill?” Rachelle asked from the backseat.
“No, Logan did. They should be there by the time we arrive.”
“I hope we’re in time. I would hate to miss this life-changing event, plus I can’t wait to see Lara’s face when she sees her baby for the first time.”
“As it should be, a surprise. I don’t think I’d want to know the gender of my child if I were lucky enough to have one,” Sam said.
Tessa remained quiet. While she and Sam were in love, and planned on getting married in the fall, in Vermont, she wasn’t so sure about children. She was almost forty-nine, and he was fifty-three. But never say never.
Look at Jill. She was ready to burst with a baby boy. Lee was so excited, he’d replaced all his pink ties and shirts with pale blue ones. They were older, too, but Tessa knew that Jill would make an excellent mother, and Lee was already the stereotypical doting father.
Sam pulled into the parking lot at Gulf Coast Hospital.
Inside, they took the elevator to the second floor, where the birthing suites were located. Inside room number 216 were Lara, Logan, and the baby.
“You’ve had the baby already?” Tessa said as she hurried across the room.
“Yep. Here. You want to hold . . . her?”
Tessa eyes filled with tears. “A baby girl.”
She took Elizabeth Marie Rivera and cradled her in her arms. Tears dripped down her face.
Life hadn’t always been good to her, but right now, she was happy. Lara was happy, and baby Elizabeth would be the most spoiled niece in the whole world.
Sam stood behind her. With a finger, he traced the baby’s cheek. “Soft as down,” he said, smiling.
Tessa cradled the baby in her arms, then inhaled.
Strawberries and honey.
She looked at Lara and smiled.
She remembered.
Jill and Lee arrived, her belly entering the room a few seconds before she did. When Jill saw the baby, she sat down and cried.
“She is absolutely beautiful, Lara. She has Logan’s eyes.”
They all looked at her. “What?”
“She hasn’t opened them,” Tessa said, laughing.
“But when she does, she’ll have those gorgeous blue eyes,” she insisted.
“Of course. Lara and Logan both have blue eyes.”
They all laughed and took turns holding the new addition to the family. Rachelle was now designated as Nanny to baby Elizabeth. In the short time since Joel’s death, they had all become a mishmash family.
Tessa had had the house torn down and the property totally excavated. After she had received permission, the entire property had been converted into a grassy retreat amidst all the beautiful and expensive houses in the gated community. And on it were two memorials, one to the Jamison girls and one to their uncles.
The memorial to Jack and Liam consisted of a large, Calder-like mobile of two manatees swimming around and around a small whale that spouted water into the air every minute. The memorial to Piper and Poppy, she had placed at the base of the lighthouse at the edge of the island. It was a very large sculpture of a kitten’s paw and a jingle seashell. The lighthouse was ringed by a newly planted semicircle of different kinds of red flowers that bloomed all year round and a semicircle of purple flowers that was also perpetually in bloom.
Harry’s work proved what Joel had told her the day he tried to murder her. He had indeed killed both Jack and Liam. After dousing Liam’s body with sodium hydroxide, he had buried his remains in the yard, which was confirmed by the DNA analysis of the bones that had been dug up.
Jack’s body had ended up in the swimming pool, and everyone had assumed it was the body of his twin brother, Joel. Jack, it turned out, had spent his life after his mother’s death at the Canterberry Institute, in Savannah, Georgia, an institution for the mentally challenged. He had been released only two days before his death. From his doctor, they had learned that Jack had witnessed Joel push their mother down the steps. Jack had always been slow, and after Lois’s death, Grant had had him placed at Canterberry for his own protection.
She didn’t want to know any more than that.
Right now, for the first time, her life was hers, on her own terms.
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Sweet Vengeance Page 23
