Nine Steps to Sara

by Olsen, Lisa

  “Old gaffer?” she blinked, not understanding the word.

  Shaw flipped through his notebook until he found the name he wanted. “Yes, name of Pottinger. He’s been talking to anyone and everyone about the entire scheme. Pleased as punch over the brilliance of it all. Mad as a box of frogs if you ask me.”

  “That crazy old guy from the curio shop was a part of it? Who else?”

  Shaw read off a list of names and Sara was stunned to recognize most of them as upstanding members of the village, people she’d met and liked. Lowesley the solicitor wasn’t hard to guess; he’d been the one to write in the clause about making Darling Park her home; a clause she was pretty sure she had grounds to eliminate if she chose to now. Mrs. Dockery from the Bell and Cross was a bigger surprise though; she’d seemed so… friendly. They’d all been friendly to her and welcoming, only now Sara understood it was because they wanted something from her, truly believed it would bring them success and riches.

  “So many…” she murmured, still in shock.

  “Yes, well, as I said, we’ll likely uncover a few more that had to know about it as we continue the investigation, but I wanted you to know your safety is of paramount importance to us. We’ll leave a man here at the estate around the clock just in case. Unless, you’ll be leaving the mansion?”

  Sara let out a long breath; that was the million dollar question. “To be honest, I haven’t gotten that far, I’m not really sure what we’re doing yet.”

  “No one could blame you if you decided to take a little time away, especially with the damage to the place.”

  “Damage?” she blinked.

  “Sorry, has no one told you yet?” Inspector Shaw looked as though he wished he hadn’t said anything on that score. “The east wing looks like a bomb went off, I’m afraid. That storm was a nasty piece of work; I’m told the house was struck by lightning more than once. And they say lightning never strikes in the same place twice.”

  “Part of the house is demolished?” Sara gaped, looking around for her robe. “I need to go take a look at it…”

  “Please, your Ladyship…” Shaw squirmed uncomfortably, “I shouldn’t have said anything. Don’t trouble yourself, there’s nothing to be done for the moment anyway. No one was hurt, that’s the important thing.”

  That wing of the house was unused for the most part, but Sara did want to see how bad it was. His last words brought a flash of a vision to her mind; a crack of lightning followed by a crash of branches and leaves… Thomas going down… What had happened to him exactly? “Except for Thomas,” she murmured aloud. “Is he…?”

  “Quite dead, I’m afraid,” Shaw assured her. “Killed instantly by a fallen tree limb. Best thing for him, really; a man of his age wouldn’t have lasted long in prison.”

  Sara nodded dumbly, wishing she could remember what had happened with more clarity, but not wanting to bring up her muddled memory to the authorities just yet. “I’m sorry, I really do want to check on Jack and make sure he’s alright and get a look at the damage to the house, if you’ll excuse me.” Rising from the bed, she pulled a warm, woolen sweater on over the nightgown, since the robe was nowhere to be found. Only then did she notice her feet were bandaged up like a mummy, though it wasn’t particularly painful to stand.

  “Begging your pardon, my Lady, there is a question I’d like to ask. We’ve been able to piece together most of the events of the night from the others, so I won’t trouble you to make a full statement yet, but one thing we’ve been a little unclear of. What exactly was Will Talbot’s involvement?”

  That was just the question circling the back of her mind as well. Could she take him at face value or was he trying to save his own skin? If only she could remember more! Sara considered putting him off until she could remember better, or better yet, tell him to ask Will himself. She opened her mouth to do just that, but hesitated, letting out a long, pent up breath. “Will saved our lives. If it hadn’t been for him, I don’t know what we would have done,” she said evenly, and Inspector Shaw nodded respectfully.

  “Thank you, Lady Darling. As I said, our man is out in the corridor, he’ll see to your safety. I’ll be back in a few days time to speak with you at greater length after you’ve recovered. If you think of anything you’d like to add before that time, feel free to ring me at any time,” he handed over a business card and Sara took it with a faint smile.

  “Thank you, Inspector, I will.”

  It took a little longer to find slippers to fit over the bandages on her feet, and in the end Sara gave up, slipping on a pair of thick, woolen socks. About to slip out to check on Jack and see what was left of the house, she was surprised to see Will step out of the connecting bathroom.

  “I heard what you told the police about me,” a hopeful smile touched his lips. “Does that mean you’ve forgiven me?”

  Did it? “Will, I’m grateful for you helping us, and I meant it when I said I don’t know what we would have done without you,” she began, holding up her hands to hold him off when he moved to hug her. “No,” she took a step backwards. “I can’t…” she looked up at him helplessly, unable to get past the betrayal.

  “Sara, please…”

  “I can’t,” she swallowed, closing the door between them. He wasn’t gone… she could feel him on the other side of the door and part of her wanted in the worst way to reach out to him; call him back and let him make it up to her. But at the end of the day she didn’t know if she could trust him ever again. “I can’t,” she repeated, barely above a whisper, swiping at her eyes and nose before she went to go check on Jack.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  The seven remaining members of the Nine were held without bail, charged with the murder of Mr. Cole the developer and conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder for Jack as well as a laundry list of other minor charges from unlawful imprisonment to assault. In addition, Mrs. Poole was charged for conspiracy as was Mrs. Saunders the cook who according to Pottinger was in on it. In the space of a week, the inquiry was over, and Sara could focus on her own life again. The trouble was, she wasn’t convinced that was such a good thing.

  Jack rebound from the entire incident with surprising resilience, though she suspected that had a lot to do with the fact that he remembered almost nothing about it. For her part, Sara wasn’t sure if she wanted to remember more or less about the whole thing. She had just enough knowledge to make her paranoid and less inclined to dismiss the nightmares that plagued her since that terrible night.

  Sara hadn’t even begun to think about whether they would stay or leave town. Her new solicitor had assured her that there was no legal reason why she had to make Darling Park her home, and she could leave at any time. There was enough damage to the east wing that it had to be completely closed up and she hadn’t worked up the energy to start on getting a clean up crew to come in and assess the extent of the damage. She hadn’t worked any more on her parlor project; she hadn’t done much of anything but mope around the house like a ghost. Speaking of which, Gemma hadn’t put in an appearance since the night of the storm either.

  “Hey,” a familiar voice called from the doorway. “You should think about getting yourself a butler, any old person off the street could walk in.”

  “Joanie?” Sara looked up in shock to see her friend standing in the study doorway. “What are you doing here?”

  “I heard you had a little bit of trouble down here, I came to see if you were alright.”

  “Me? I’m fine, what about you, how is your arm?”

  Joanie had a cast on one arm, but otherwise looked to be in good shape, her coppery hair less elegantly styled, but more natural in its beauty. “This thing? It’s fine, doesn’t hurt, and it’s actually an interesting conversation piece. I’ve got at least three numbers from bona fide hotties on here,” she grinned. “I missed you, Sara.”

  “Aw, I missed you too, Joanie,” Sara hugged her carefully, getting a little misty at the unusually sentimental admission from her oldes
t friend.

  “You did?” Joanie sniffed, swiping at her eyes. “Actually, I wasn’t sure you’d want to see me again after the way I left, but Will called and asked me to come.”

  “He did?” Sara blinked in surprise.

  “Yeah, he said he didn’t want you to be alone right now. What happened between you two? The last time I saw you, it looked like you were two peas in a pod, but he talked like it was all over between you.”

  “Oh Joanie…” Sara gave her friend a tearful rundown of everything that had happened since she left, including what she knew about Will’s betrayal.

  “Damn, he definitely did a number on you. How is he not roasting in jail with the other guys?”

  “Jail?” Sara was taken aback by the suggestion. “He didn’t hurt us, in fact, he helped us escape. Jack might be dead right now if he hadn’t intervened.”

  “Or, he could have told you about it in time for you to leave before it all went down.”

  “He didn’t know the particulars then. He did try to get me to leave actually. He wanted me to run away with him,” Sara recalled suddenly.

  “After the police came?”

  “No, after the ridiculous marriage proposal. Come to think of it, he wanted me to chuck it all and come with him, Jack too.”

  “Huh, how come you didn’t?”

  “Why would I leave? He was acting so weird and there didn’t seem to be a reason to rush into anything at the time.”

  “And now?”

  “What do you mean, and now?”

  “Now that it’s all over, are you tempted to run away with him? Go buy a private island somewhere and forget it all happened?”

  “How could I do that? I can never trust him again,” Sara answered quickly and Joanie nodded sagely.

  “Right, because he’s an asshole.”

  “Well… I guess…”

  “A lying, cheating asshole.”

  “No, he never cheated…”

  “But an asshole all the same who used you, made you fall in love with him.”

  “I don’t think I was in love with him exactly… more carried away I guess.” Liar, liar, pants on fire, the little voice in Sara’s head taunted.

  “Well, you’re better off without him now. Thank God you didn’t marry the guy, or you would have spent the next ten years trying to scrape him off your inheritance,” Joanie snorted.

  “I don’t think he would do something like that.”

  “Oh no…” Joanie closed her eyes.

  “What?”

  “You’re still in love with him!” she opened them with an accusatory stare and Sara blanched.

  “What? No, I’m not.”

  “Yes you are, I totally recognize the look. You are definitely giving me the look.”

  “What look?”

  “The head over heels, scared bunny look.”

  “Scared bunny… what are you talking about?”

  “Look in the mirror,” she dug for a compact mirror and held it up for Sara to see. “Do you see that look in your eyes? That says you’re totally not over him and you’re scared to death to let him hurt you again.”

  “You’re half right at least. I am scared of being hurt again.” First Peter and then Will…

  “Honey, love is all about risk. You never bet big, you never win big, take it from me.”

  “So, you’re saying I should give Will another shot?”

  “Hell no, I think you should roast his balls and have them hors d’oeuvres. Speaking of which, I’m starving. Did I miss lunch?”

  Sara blinked at the subject change. “Ah, no, we haven’t eaten yet, but I let all the servants go except for Katie so if you’re looking for something elaborate, you’ve come to the wrong place.” Letting out a long breath, Sara looked at the clock. “I should get started on it though. How does hot ham and cheese sandwiches sound to you?”

  Joanie didn’t bat an eye. “Actually, how about I take care of you for a change? I’ll go round up the brat and we’ll put on a spread, sound good?”

  “You don’t have to do that, your arm…”

  “It’s fine, I’ve been managing well enough and Jack’s a great helper. You look a little tired. Why don’t you take a load off and we’ll call you when lunch is ready?”

  “Alright, if you don’t mind, that sounds good; I’m sure Jack will be glad you’re back. I last saw him in the library.”

  “Where else?” Joanie snorted, taking off in search of him.

  Sara heard the muffled sounds of the reunion and Jack’s excited chatter as they headed for the kitchen. With Joanie back, the prospect of staying didn’t seem quite so daunting. Then again, she was also the perfect traveling partner if she decided to buy a yacht and sail around the world instead. If only she knew which direction to turn…

  “Gemma?” she called out softly in the stillness. She hadn’t tried talking to her since that night; wasn’t even sure how much of her intervention was real and how much was the product of her drug soaked memory. “Gemma, are you there? How about a little advice? Jack’s safe now, and there’s nothing tying us here if we don’t want to stick around. Should I stay, or should I go?”

  Nothing but the tick of the clock on the mantle greeted her as the silence stretched and Sara let out a pent up breath. “I am nutso, sitting here waiting for a sign from a ghost that’s probably already moved on,” she laughed into the empty room.

  The French doors blew open in a sudden gust of wind, and Sara rushed to them, eyes narrowing as she looked out at the peaceful, sunny weather. A flicker of movement caught her eye and she saw Will bending by the front entrance, laying something against the door.

  Her feet started moving before her brain caught up to the idea, and Sara found herself jogging to make sure he didn’t get away before she got there. “Hey,” she called out. “What are you doing?”

  “Sara,” Will turned in surprise. “I’m sorry; I didn’t want to disturb you. I only thought to leave something for you.” His eyes flicked to the envelope propped against the door.

  “What is it?”

  “I wanted to let you know that I’m leaving and my Da will see to finding you a new foreman for the job, that is, if you’ll be continuing with the restoration?”

  “Yes, of course I am,” Sara responded automatically, a little surprised to hear herself say it with such conviction.

  “Good, good,” he nodded, pushing at the gravel with his shoe. “Of course, if you’d rather my father not continue with the project…”

  “No of course not, I mean I’m not replacing him,” Sara interjected quickly. She couldn’t keep blaming everyone in the village for the acts of a few, it would just take a while to sort out who she did and didn’t trust. In her heart, she couldn’t believe that Bernard knew anything about the plot, and there hadn’t been a mention of him in the inquiry.

  “Fine,” Will nodded again, awkwardly. “Well then, I should be on my way,” he turned to leave.

  “Where are you going, back to London?”

  “I… haven’t a clue actually, but don’t fret, I’ll land on my feet,” he gave her a tight smile. “You look… recovered.”

  “I’m good,” she nodded, not quite sure what else to say.

  “Yes, well… I’ll bid you good afternoon, my Lady. It was a pure spot of pleasure to see you again,” he added with a ghost of the old smile she loved so much. “I wish you every happiness.”

  “Will?” she called him back when he turned to leave again.

  “Yes, my Lady?”

  “It’s Sara, remember?”

  “I do,” his intimate tone showed he remembered so much more. “I wasn’t sure how much you recalled though.”

  “I wasn’t sure either,” she admitted, taking a slow breath. “But I think I remember enough to ask you something.”

  “Anything, Sara,” he replied, his heart in his eyes.

  “Have you had lunch yet?”

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  Read on for a special preview of Lisa Olsen’s novel, The Touch, available now!

  Books by Lisa Olsen:

  The Touch

  Pretty Witches All in a Row

  Moonsong

  Nine Steps to Sara

  The Fallen Series:

  Angel of Mercy

  Mercy for the Wicked

  Mercy for the Damned

  Book 4 (End of 2013)

  Forged Bloodlines Series:

  Wake Me When the Sun Goes Down

  Meet Me When the Sun Goes Down

  For more information, visit the author’s website at http://www.lisaolsen.net

  The Touch

  Chapter One

  Despite popular belief, Lexi wasn’t a psychic. She couldn’t tell the future or produce the winning lotto numbers (or she wouldn’t be driving a beat up VW bug a year older than she was). Nor was she a medium who talked to the dead or saw ghosts. Her talents were a little ambiguous for most people to understand; what they did recognize was that Lexi Morgan was a little unusual. She preferred quirky to bat-shit crazy, but people weren’t always that kind.

  Peculiar, weird, strange, none of these were new to her ears. Even for such a laid back place like Santa Cruz California, Lexi was considered odd in most social circles. Eccentric was her favorite one; it made it seem like it was a deliberate choice to be the way she was instead of being born to a set of circumstances completely out of her control. Distracted, crazy, spooky even; those usually came from spending more than a few minutes in her company, but usually only after she opened her mouth. Even after years of practice, it was hard to keep track of what she saw and what people revealed voluntarily. While it sounded easy enough to promise herself to keep a muzzle on her outbursts, time and again things she had no right to know just slipped out in normal conversation.

  That very same quality kept people calling Lexi when things hit the fan, though. When something went missing, did you call the president of the PTA? Nope, you called the weird girl with a knack for finding things. So when the call came from her sister Allison, it didn’t take much in the way of deductive reasoning to figure out that she wanted something.