“How much do you remember?” Dora demanded, her frantic voice triggering an unwanted memory from the recesses of Jessie’s mind.
Voices.
Loud, angry voices woke her.
Confused and uncertain, Jessie climbed from her bed. Stumbling, following the night-darkened hallway here, in Gull’s Cottage, she hurried toward the sound of shouting. Her movements were clumsy. Her feet were leaden, making her feel as though she was walking in slow motion. Her heart raced, fluttering in her chest like a butterfly’s wing.
The voices grew louder. Emotion distorted their timbre, making it hard for her to identify them.
She stepped into the shadowy kitchen, where she saw her mother struggling with an intruder. Frightened, she pressed her small body against the cabinets and inched her way to the pantry, where she hid.
Through a crack in the door she watched as the shadow person struck out against her mother. Her stomach clenched as she heard the sickening thud of an object striking flesh and bone. Then, her mother fell heavily to the floor.
And an unbearable silence filled the room.
A beam of light sliced through the inky night, blinding her, paralyzing her with fear….
A shape, large and frightening, coming closer, closer…
It was the intruder that approached, drawing nearer, looming in the darkness. A shaft of moonlight streamed in through the kitchen window. For just a moment the intruder stepped through the light, and a face emerged from the shadows.
The face of a monster.
Her heart leaping in her chest, young Jessie stumbled backward, closing the door of the pantry behind her. One step, two, until she couldn’t go any farther. Curling herself into a tight ball of invisibility, she hid in the corner of the closet, where there was no light, only darkness. Complete and terrifying darkness…
Cowering in the dark, she waited for her mother’s attacker to find her.
The monster of her dreams finally had a face. A face that left her shuddering in fear.
It was the face of Dora Hawkins.
Lightning splintered the sky outside, bringing Jessie crashing back to the present. She stared at the woman who had killed her mother and realized that Dora had guessed the truth. That her secret was no longer safe. With an ominous peal of thunder shaking the floor beneath her feet, Jessie met Dora’s fierce gaze without flinching. “Why, Dora? Why did you kill my mother?”
At first Dora looked as though she might deny the accusation. Then rancor washed over her, making her plain face even more unattractive. In a voice that shook with barely controlled emotion, she said, “I had spent my entire life waiting for a man to notice me. And along comes your mother, all pretty and dainty.” She spit out the words as though they’d left a bad taste in her mouth. “From the moment she arrived on this island, the men followed her around as though she were a queen bee needing to be tended.”
Wind lashed against the windows. The air crackled with the approaching storm and with the force of Dora’s hatred. Jessie’s mouth went dry. She swallowed hard at the lump of fear in her throat. It was as if Dora had become consumed with bitterness.
Dora’s hollow laugh sent a chill down Jessie’s spine. The words spilled out as she continued her twisted tale. “The worst part was that your mother didn’t even care about all the attention. She was still mourning the loss of her husband. She truly was a grieving widow. But when Samuel Conners came calling…I knew it was different.”
Dora’s voice grew quiet, taking on a soft, faraway quality. “I had always loved Samuel. I had lost him to one woman already. But everyone knew his marriage was a mistake. It was only a matter of time before he would come to his senses and see that I was the one who was meant to be with him. That is…until Eve Pierce came to town.”
Dora fell silent, her eyes glazed. She looked at Jessie as though she were staring through her. Not really seeing her, but seeing a distant memory. Seizing the opportunity, Jessie backstepped, moving away from the other woman, jockeying for a better position to turn and run.
More lightning streaked the sky. Thunder boomed, shattering the silence. Dora blinked, bringing her eyes into focus. Jessie froze midstep, watching as the woman shivered as though trying to rid herself of an unpleasant memory. Then, as if nothing had happened, she continued speaking. “Samuel was infatuated with Eve. He forgot all about me, about everything that truly mattered in his life. When he wouldn’t listen to my warnings about Eve, wouldn’t stay away from her, I knew my dreams of a future with him were pointless.” Her voice trembled with anger. “I lost Samuel forever, and all because of a tart like your mother.”
Large raindrops pelted the windows. Jessie’s instincts screamed out to run now, to escape while she still had the chance. Dora seemed at the brink of losing complete control. She teetered on the verge of a blinding rage. It was only a matter of time before Dora realized how much danger she’d put herself in by finally confessing her crime. It was only a matter of time before she lashed out at the one person who could condemn her.
But Jessie couldn’t bring herself to turn away. For over twenty years, she’d wondered about the cause of her nightmares. She couldn’t hide now, not when she was so close to learning the truth.
“I never meant to kill her,” Dora said, startling Jessie, bringing her reeling back to the present. “I’d come to Gull’s Cottage to warn her to stay away from Samuel, to leave Prudence Island. But she wouldn’t listen. She ordered me to leave her house.” Dora looked down at her empty hand. She clenched her fist, as though holding an unseen object. “I’d brought the flashlight to guide me on the walk over to Gull’s Cottage. When I swung out, I never realized the power behind the blow…” Her gaze drifted to the floor, to the spot where Jessie’s mother had died. “Not until Eve crumbled before me.”
Jessie shuddered at the memory. The horror of it felt so clear, so real. As though it had just happened.
Dora lifted her gaze to Jessie. “I knew you were in the house. But I wasn’t sure just how much you’d heard…or seen. I was going to look for you, but a car pulled into the driveway.” She shook her head, giving a short bark of a laugh. “It was Deputy Broward, that randy old goat, taking another shot at seducing your mother. So I left. I ran out the kitchen door and never looked back…not until you returned to Prudence Island.”
Jessie felt winded by the full impact of Dora’s revelation. If it hadn’t been for Sheriff Broward’s intervention, she had no doubt that Dora would have killed her, too. Suddenly Jessie realized that the other woman’s attention was no longer focused on the past, it was focused upon her.
“Imagine my surprise when you joined forces with Samuel to ferret out your mother’s killer. Samuel, of all people! You wanted to turn him against me, just like your mother had turned his father against me.”
Jessie flinched. The shrillness of Dora’s voice grated against her overwrought nerves, putting her on an instant alert.
“I didn’t know what to do,” Dora said. “I couldn’t hurt Samuel, but I had to stop you from snooping. Tearing up your house didn’t scare you off. I thought if you knew the truth about what a slut your mother was, you’d leave the island in shame…but you stayed. And your hold on Samuel grew even stronger.”
“If you cared about Samuel, then why did you try to shoot us?” Jessie blurted out, finally finding her voice, breaking the spell of fear that had held her.
“The shooting was a warning.” Dora smiled, a haunting smile of amusement. “I’d hunted with my father from the time I was a young girl. I’m an excellent shot. If I’d wanted to kill you, we wouldn’t be having this conversation now.”
“What about the diary?” Jessie persisted. Dora was at the breaking point. It wouldn’t take much to push her over the edge. But Jessie needed to know the truth, the final piece to the puzzle. “Does my mother’s diary really exist?”
“Of course not.” Dora laughed again, that strange barking laugh. Rain drummed against the roof. Water trickled down the windows in narrow
rivulets. “It was a decoy. I needed time to figure out what to do. I thought I’d buy myself some of that time by throwing you off the search. But you didn’t take the bait like I’d hoped. You used my warnings as an excuse to get your hooks even deeper into Samuel. Did you think I wouldn’t know of the nights you’d spent with him?” Her look was one of pure disgust. “You’re just as much a slut as your mother.”
Jessie had heard enough. It was time to go—now—before it was too late. Dora stood in the center of the kitchen, blocking her path to the back door. So Jessie whirled on her heel, heading in the opposite direction, bent on making her escape through the front of the house. Her mistake was in misjudging the older woman’s nimbleness.
Quickly closing the distance between them, Dora grabbed a handful of Jessie’s hair.
Jessie cried out in pain, stopping short as her head was viciously jerked back. Tears stung her eyes. She flailed her arms in vain. Twisting herself around, she tried to loosen the other woman’s claw-like grip.
Dora slammed her into the kitchen cabinet, the impact loosening her hold. Pinpoints of light danced before her eyes. The room spun beneath her feet. For a moment she thought she might lose consciousness.
Gasping for air, she gathered her flagging strength. With a yell of outrage, she threw herself at Dora, refusing to cower in fear.
But Dora had size in her favor. When Jessie’s shoulder connected with Dora’s chest, it barely made an impact against Dora’s thick muscular body. Cursing, Dora pushed her away and swatted Jessie with the back of her hand, the blow landing squarely against her jaw.
Jessie heard the crack of bone against bone. She felt the searing pain ricochet up her cheek, blinding her with its intensity. Falling backward, she retreated against another attack.
Taking the advantage, Dora shoved her hard, this time pushing her into the pantry. Before Jessie could react, Dora slammed the door shut, clicking the lock into place.
The pantry was pitch-black. The light switch was outside the closet. She was trapped in darkness. Panic filled Jessie’s chest, making it hard to breathe as she realized that she was reliving the nightmare of her past.
Her lungs burned from lack of oxygen. Until that moment she hadn’t realized she’d been holding her breath. Struggling against confusion, she gulped in air. Shaking off the mind-numbing fear that threatened to engulf her, Jessie reached out blindly, feeling her way in the darkness, searching for the handle to the door. Grasping the knob, she jiggled it and found its lock secure.
Unwilling to give up, she threw her shoulder against the wooden door. Fresh pain spiraled through her body where she’d already been bruised and battered by Dora’s blows. The door was solid, holding fast against her attempts to escape. Thumping a hand against the door, Jessie closed her eyes and uttered a soft moan of despair.
Through the thick door, she heard Dora moving about the kitchen. Pans clattered. Drawers were being pulled open, the contents clattering as they spilled out onto the ceramic floor. All the while, Dora kept up an angry, hissing monologue. Jessie pressed her ear against the door and strained to listen, but could make no sense of the garbled words.
Suddenly a whoosh of a noise sounded on the other side of the door. Jessie froze in terror, unable to fathom what was happening. A crackling, like the sound of paper being crumpled into a ball, filled the pantry. Smoke curled under the door.
And Jessie realized that Dora had set fire to the house.
In that moment of panic her thoughts turned to Samuel. Regret tore through her as she recalled their last parting, how she’d left things unfinished between them. She’d allowed her fears and her uncertainties to get in the way of telling him how she really felt…how much she cared for him.
“No!” Jessie shouted, shaking off the maudlin stupor.
Anger took the place of remorse, renewing her resolve to survive. Dora had nearly destroyed her life once before. She would not allow the woman to stand in her way of a second chance at happiness.
She would fight. She would find a way to escape this nightmare.
And when she did, she would let nothing get in the way of telling Samuel how much she loved him.
Chapter 15
Fat drops of rain splattered against the windows of the truck as Samuel sped down the highway. The windshield wipers thumped unevenly, each unsteady beat working on his already-strained nerves. Behind him a siren wailed. Red lights flashed in his rearview mirror. But he ignored Sheriff Broward’s attempts to pull him aside.
He had to get to Jessie before it was too late.
Numbly he looked out at the rain-soaked highway, recalling their last conversation.
“What if something happens?” he’d asked. “I won’t be here to help you.”
“Nothing will happen,” she’d insisted, her smile brave. But he’d seen the uncertainty in her eyes. He knew she hadn’t wanted to be left behind. “Besides, Dora’s just next door. If I need to, I can always go to her.”
Dora was just next door.
She was Jessie’s closest neighbor. Eve’s closest neighbor. His father, Eve, Jessie, even himself…they had all trusted her, confided in her, turned to her for advice.
Dora had played them all for fools.
Blithely she’d given him and Jessie clues that had led them on a wild-goose chase. She’d told them of a diary that had probably never existed in the first place, letting them believe it held the secret to a killer’s identity. On the day of the break-in, she’d met them while coming up the path from the beach. A path that led directly to Jessie’s house. She’d been a gracious hostess, while only minutes before she’d nearly destroyed Gull’s Cottage. Dora was an excellent marksman. Once he’d seen her shoot the center out of a silver dollar as it was tossed into the air. She certainly had the skill to shoot an unmoving target.
Dora had ample opportunity to destroy their lives.
If only he knew her motive.
It was his fault that Jessie was in danger. His fault that she was alone. If he hadn’t been so blinded by his own needs, so determined to guard his heart against the pain of caring too much, he’d have seen the truth standing right before his eyes.
Dora Hawkins had pretended to care about him and his family. All these years, all these wasted years of living his life alone and miserable, she’d stood by and had allowed him to struggle to prove his father’s innocence, knowing that one word from her and his suffering would have been over.
How could he have been so gullible?
Samuel slammed his fist against the steering wheel, welcoming the punishing pain. Lightning zigzagged through the sky, making his pulse quicken. Thunder growled, matching his fierce mood.
First his father, then his mother…and now, Jessie. Once again, he’d failed to protect someone he loved.
God help him if he was too late to save her.
The back end of his truck fishtailed as he made the turn into Jessie’s driveway too quickly. Correcting himself before he spun into one of the tall oak trees lining the road, he straightened the wheel and headed in the direction of Gull’s Cottage. The truck bounced over the rutted lane, its bottom scraping against the ground.
Sheriff Broward’s patrol car reappeared in his mirror; his car lights bobbed up and down as he bounced over the ruts. His siren continued to wail in angry protest.
While the other man’s presence meant he would have help in the face of trouble, it did little to ease Samuel’s fears. Jessie had been alone in the cottage for over an hour, with Dora only a stone’s throw away. It was more than enough time for a madwoman to wreak her vengeance.
No matter how quickly he and Sheriff Broward hurried, they both could be arriving too late.
His worst fears were confirmed as he drew closer to the cottage. The acrid smell of smoke clung to the air. Through the clearing in the woods, he saw a billow of black smoke curling up into the sky. He pulled the truck to a lurching stop in front of the house and saw the flames licking its roof.
For a moment, he stared,
frozen in disbelief.
Jessie’s house was on fire.
Slamming the truck into Park, he shouldered open the door and threw himself outside. Rain peppered his skin, dampening his clothes. But the meager drops of water did little to slow the intensity of the blaze.
Heat radiated from the wooden house like a red-hot stove. Windows popped and shattered. Shards of glass rained down upon the ground. Heedless of the danger, Samuel hurried toward the cottage, toward Jessie…
Until Dora appeared in the front doorway.
Samuel halted, too shocked to move.
Sheriff Broward’s patrol car skidded to a stop. The siren squawked as it was cut short. The cherry lights throbbed like a heartbeat against the day’s gloom. With an angry string of curse words, the sheriff rolled out of his car. Staring at the house, shaking his head in disbelief, he demanded, “Conners, you want to tell me what’s going on here?”
Samuel didn’t answer. Instead, he kept his gaze focused on the woman who stood between him and Jessie.
“You’re free,” Dora told him. She smiled, the look on her face tender, like that of a lover’s. “You’re finally free, Samuel. Eve won’t be bothering us again.”
“Eve?” Samuel blinked in confusion. Dora wasn’t making any sense. Surely she didn’t believe Jessie to be Eve?
Gravel crunched beneath his boots, as Sheriff Broward stepped up beside him. Beneath his breath, he muttered, “Is she crazy? What the hell is she talking about?”
Time was running out. Samuel ignored the man, concentrating on Dora. With an impatience fueled by the fire consuming the house, he said, “Not Eve, Dora…Jessie. What have you done to Jessie?”
Dora shrank back at the harshness of his voice. “I did it for you, Samuel. I did everything for you. Don’t you see? I love you…I’ve always loved you.”
Sickened by the words, Samuel realized he was wasting his time trying to make sense of Dora’s rambling declaration of love. Determined, he strode to the doorway. But Dora blocked his path.
She snatched at his arm, stopping him, surprising him with the strength of her grip. Patting his face with her free hand, she murmured, “Samuel…my dear, sweet Samuel. You’ve been gone for so long. Stay with me…don’t ever leave me again.”
Safe in His Arms Page 19
