Victoria broke off, her face twisting in hatred. Nothing beautiful remained in her features. Laura shivered at the burning anger in the other woman’s eyes. ”They took Jake’s father’s evidence as if it was real. They never listened to the fact he was being set up. My father was arrested and charged. He got a hefty jail sentence, thanks to that back stabbing liar,” she spat, her face turning several shades of red. Laura sat frozen, too afraid to say anything.
“My mother had a nervous breakdown after my father went to jail,” she continued, her voice becoming like a broken little girl. “She lost her mind completely. Didn’t even know who Walter and I were any more. We went into care because she simply couldn’t take care of us herself and nobody else in the family would take us on. We were sent to live with a foster family in Cornwall.”
She began to rock on the table, hugging herself. “They were horrible, the family we were put with. The woman treated us like servants and him,” she shuddered, staring off into the distance. “He made me his special little girl. He came to me nearly every night, even though I cried and begged him not to. Walter tried to defend me, but he’d get beaten so badly in the end I told him not to.” She broke off, seeming to have lost herself in her nightmare memories.
Laura hardly dared to breathe. Despite everything, she couldn’t help but feel for the young girl who’d had her life ripped away from her and had been so cruelly abused. She couldn’t believe that Jake’s father would have falsely accused someone of wrongdoing, but she guessed that Victoria would never believe that her own father had been the one responsible for tearing her world apart. It was so much easier to blame someone else.
It seemed clear to Laura that somewhere along the way, Victoria had lost her mind. She truly wished there was some way she could help the woman, but her own predicament meant she couldn’t afford to be too sympathetic. After all, Victoria planned to hand her over to Walter for his own sexual perversion. As much as she hurt for the girl Victoria had been, she had to fight the woman with everything in her.
Victoria suddenly snapped her head up, pinning Laura with a strange stare. “Isn’t it a sad story,” she sniffed, dabbing at her eyes with one gloved hand. “Walter and I used to keep ourselves going with the thought of taking our revenge on Joe Carter one day. We used to plan it all out so carefully. We wanted to take from him everything he loved and cared about, just like he’d done to us. It was a wonderful dream.”
“But he’s dead,” Laura tried to reason with her. “Jake had nothing to do with what happened. Why are you doing this to him?”
Victoria jumped off the table, pacing back and forth with agitation. “Have you never heard of the fact that the sins of the father are passed to the son?” She whirled round, crouching in front of Laura with a mad glint in her eyes. “As soon as I found out Joe was dead, I knew I had to seek my revenge on his son.” Her fingers curled into fists. “He has to pay for my life being ruined. Mine and Walter’s. He got to live happily on his big ranch, all that money, his sister with him and his mother. He even had a replacement father with Bill. What did we have? Nothing but pain and misery.”
“I planned out a whole new revenge with Jake in mind,” she continued. “It was perfect. I have always had male attention, with every man I have ever met wanting me, panting after me. What I thought was such a curse at one time became a blessing.” She smiled, Laura getting the full benefit of seeing the cold calculating woman that Victoria had become. “I made sure Jake and I met. It was so easy to make him fall in love with me. I had him eating out of the palm of my hand.” She held her hand out to Laura, her palm up as if to show her what she meant. “And right where I wanted him.”
“By that time, I had managed to master seducing any man I wanted, so getting Dan all hot and bothered for me was easy. I could see the light of lust in his eyes. I knew he wanted me. He was desperate, but oh so annoyingly loyal.” She rolled her eyes in disgust. “He wouldn’t sleep with me no matter what stunt I pulled. The date of that blasted wedding kept getting closer and closer. We were no nearer to him giving in, like we’d planned. I knew what it would do to Jake. I also knew it would ruin Kerry. She was like a puppy dog round Dan. How he couldn’t see it was amazing””
Laura shook her head in horror at how devious Walter and Victoria really were. She’d never conceived that everything that had happened two years ago had been a lie and was in fact, a carefully planned out revenge. “How did you get him to give in and sleep with you? Right on that last night. How?”
“Easy, Walter drugged his drink.” Victoria laughed at the expression on Laura’s face. “He became a wild rutting animal once he’d drunk that. It was amazing sex, I must say. One of the best nights I’ve had. Dan scarring Jake was simply the cherry on my cake. I couldn’t have asked for more. With their friendship finished and Jake on his knees when I wouldn’t stay with him, I knew wrecking his personal life was complete. All that was left was to kill his business. I left Walter in charge of that and he did brilliantly. In just two years, the riding school was ready to fall apart once he walked away. Just getting rid of Jake’s breeding stock stood in our way. We had it timed so perfectly, when Dan was the only competent vet left in town and Jake wouldn’t use him because of me.”
“You are sick!” Laura exclaimed in disgust. Any sympathy she’d had for Victoria had fled in the face of the woman’s sadistic cruelty. “How could you do that to them? And to plan to kill all those beautiful horses……” She broke off, hardly able to go on.
“I told you, I deserve my revenge!” Victoria shrieked. “And I would have had it too if you hadn’t come along and started putting Jake back together again. He would never have called in Dan if it hadn’t been for you.”
“You have no right to seek revenge on anyone other than your own father,” Laura raged back at her, completely losing her temper. “He’s the one that ruined your life, not Jake’s father and even if he had that doesn’t give you the right to hurt an innocent man that had nothing to do with it.” She cried out as Victoria back handed her across the face.
“How dare you!” she screamed, spit flying from her mouth. She looked like a raging banshee, her eyes wild and almost rolling in their sockets. Laura’s anger fled in the face of Victoria’s wild rage. Fear turned her blood to ice. “My father was innocent. That man framed him!” Victoria began hitting Laura in a wild fit. Laura couldn’t even cover her head to protect herself from the hard blows she was receiving, since her arms were still tied behind her back. Her breathing came hard and fast, panic rising up. She should have known better than to provoke a madwoman.
Victoria began to kick Laura in the ribs, her angry screams filling the room. Laura screamed in pain, saying she was sorry over and over again, but nothing seemed to penetrate through Victoria’s haze of madness. Laura felt herself beginning to pass out, terrified that she would lose her battle to stay alive. She had no doubt that if Victoria kept going, she’d probably kill her.
Suddenly a tremendous crash sounded from outside, drawing Victoria’s attention. She stopped her beating, her eyes darting about wildly. A strange calm descended on her, as she crept to the door to peek outside. She turned back to Laura, who lay terrified with her lip bleeding, her hair falling in wild disarray around her and her face already beginning to swell and bruise. Her soft cries of pain filled the room, but Victoria acted as if she couldn’t hear them.
“It must have been a cat,” Victoria informed her, laughing for all the world like they’d simply had afternoon tea disrupted. She walked calmly back to the table, perching on top of it.
A beep sounded into the room. Looking at her phone, Victoria exclaimed in delight. “He’s done it!” She looked at Laura with a bright happy smile. “In no time at all, Walter will be back here and you’ll be heading for a new life with him. Isn’t that wonderful?”
Laura tried to stop the tears that were welling in her eyes from spilling down her painful face. Her eyes were already beginning to swell shut. She wondered if it wouldn�
�t have been better to die at Victoria’s hands than the fate that awaited her with Walter. Gritting her teeth against the pain she was feeling, she wondered if there was any chance that Jake would find her but she didn’t see how. If she’d only been able to send that message.
*****
Jake waited, hunched down in the bushes not far from the small lake that was one of the biggest water supplies he used for his horses. His heart hammered in his chest with the worry he felt for Laura. He had no idea where she was or what was happening to her. He’d had one text that was meant to be from her, telling him she’d gone shopping. He snorted. Thank goodness the other text had come first or he might have believed that and not even known anything was wrong.
The wait was killing him. His phone was sitting in his back pocket, ready and waiting should any of the others text him that they’d caught Walter. He dearly hoped Walter was heading for this place first. He wanted to get his hands on that creep, even though he’d promised a panicking Kerry that he wouldn’t beat the guy up. And he wouldn’t, unless the man kept from him where he’d hidden Laura.
A rustle drew his attention. Glancing to his right, he saw Walter creeping through the trees, a bag gripped in one gloved hand. Jake hunched down further to avoid Walter seeing him. Walter crept to the edge of the lake and crouched down, opening the bag, his back to Jake. Taking his time, Jake crept forward, as Walter removed a box from the bag. Knowing he’d have to move fast to prevent Walter from being able to dump the poison in the water, Jake picked up his speed.
His boot hit a twig with a sharp snap. Walter’s head whipped round, a gasp coming out of his mouth. He dropped the box he held and grabbed for his phone. Jake dived on him, the phone dropping from Walters hand and sliding to the edge of the lake. They rolled together on the ground, each one trying to get a punch in on the other. Walter attempted to bite Jake in the arm, but he pulled back, managing to hit Walter square in the mouth. Blood spurted out instantly from the split in his lip. He tried to buck Jake off, but Jake held his seat on top of Walter and punched him in the face again.
Walter grabbed a handful of dirt and slung it into Jake’s eyes. He cried out, clawing at his face to clear his vision. Walter bucked again, this time unseating Jake. He punched Jake in the stomach, knocking the wind right out of him. Wasting no time, Walter pounced on Jake, pounding his head on the floor a couple of times to stun him. As Jake lay unresisting on the ground, Walter wrapped his hands around Jake’s throat and began to choke the life right out of him, laughing in triumph the entire time.
Jake grabbed hold of Walter’s hands, trying to pry his fingers loose, but Walter had suddenly seemed to gain a super human strength and he simply couldn’t get free. He tried to buck and twist to unseat Walter, but nothing worked. Spots danced in front of his eyes, making Jake panic. If he didn’t break free soon, Walter would win and then what would become of his beautiful Laura?
Suddenly, Walter jerked with a scream his hands flying to his butt. Jake lay stunned for one moment, coughing and gasping in air. Quickly gathering his wits, he punched Walter before the man could regain his grip. Walter flew backwards, as if Jake had hit him with a cannon ball instead of his weakened fist. Shocked, Jake sat up rubbing absently at his sore throat. He fully expected for Walter to get up and come at him again, but the man lay unmoving. Jake crawled forward, surprised to see that Walter was out cold. Shaking his head, Jake couldn’t imagine what had happened. One moment the man had been choking him to death, the next he’d let go for no apparent reason. Jake couldn’t understand how he’d knocked him out either. His other punches had been much harder.
Shrugging it off, Jake retrieved the rope he’d brought with him in case he’d needed to restrain Walter. He tied up the man’s hands and feet, then texted Kerry, Dan and Bill. As soon as that was completed, he rang the sheriff. As he waited for the others to join him, he spotted Walter’s phone on the ground. Who had he been about to contact when Jake had jumped him? Jake wondered over to the phone, picking it up. He touched the contacts icon, scrolling down the numbers. His heart skipped several beats when he spotted Victoria’s name on the screen. Laura had been right, it seemed. Walter did know Victoria. Shaking his head, he wondered where she was. It stood to reason she was watching Laura and waiting to hear from Walter. Gripping the phone, he put it into his pocket just as Kerry, Dan and Bill arrived.
“You got him then?” Bill called out. “Now all we have to do is get that lying piece of rubbish to tell us where he has Laura.”
“I don’t think it’s quite as simple as that,” Jake croaked out, his throat almost refusing to work. “I found Victoria’s number on his phone. He’s not in this alone.”
Kerry swore. “What the hell happened to you?” she hissed, gently touching the already bruising flesh around his neck.
“Walter tried to strangle me,” Jake replied. “He certainly wasn’t going down without a fight.”
“Bastard,” Kerry hissed. “Did you say Victoria is in on this?” Jake nodded. Kerry swore again. “I knew that woman was nothing but trouble. Now what?”
“We make him tell us where they have her,” Jake said his voice sounding strained. He kicked Walter’s still form with his boot.
“Then we’d best wake him up.” Bill indicated to Dan to help him and both men hauled the unconscious form to the edge of the water, dunking his head underneath. Walter came up sputtering and coughing.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he yelled. “Let me go.”
“Not a chance,” Jake said in a deadly voice. “You’re going to tell me where you have Laura.”
Walter’s eyes widened. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” he tried to look innocent. “You’ve gone completely insane, jumping on me like that. Just wait till I tell the sheriff what you’ve done. I’ll have you for assault.”
“I think you’ll find that hard to pull off once I show the sheriff the bruises around my neck from where you tried to choke me and then there’s what you have in that box.” Jake nodded with his head to where the box lay in the grass.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Walter said stubbornly, but his eyes were darting wildly about as if he was trying to find a way to escape.
“I know you have poison in there and I know you have Laura. I wouldn’t play games if I were you. Things will be a lot harder on you if something happens to Laura. As it is, I can press charges for attempted murder.” Jake gave him a stony stare as he hunched down in front of Walter. “Where do you and Victoria have Laura?”
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” Walter gritted out again.
“I got a message earlier, from Laura. Telling me that you were going to poison my horses and here you are, so don’t play games with me.”
Walter’s mouth dropped open. “That’s impossible!” he exclaimed in shock. “It was never sent.” He clamped his lips together, closing his eyes in horror at his mistake.
“You may as well tell me where she is. If anything happens to her, you’re looking at one heck of a long jail sentence. However, if you help recover her safely, I’ll do what I can to make things easier for you in court.”
Walter looked at him suspiciously. “You could get me off?” he asked, his eyes taking on a calculating glint.
“I wouldn’t say that, but it may help you to have a reduced sentence if I’m willing to speak for you.”
“Not good enough!” Walter snarled.
“Then you risk spending the rest of your worthless life inside.” Jake got up to walk away.
“I’d think about taking his offer, if I were you,” Dan said softly, drawing Walter’s attention to him. “Would Victoria stick by you, if the situation were reversed?”
Walter snorted, his expression sneering. “You can’t turn me against her. Victoria and I are solid. We always have been. Nothing you can say would ever change that.”
Kerry stepped forward, tugging on Jakes arm. “Did you say you have Walter’s phone?” she aske
d him quietly, her expression thoughtful.
“Yep, what of it?” Jake replied impatiently, pulling the phone from his pocket. All he wanted to do was pound the truth from Walter’s irritatingly smug face.
“Did you check the messages on it?” Kerry plucked the phone from Jake’s hand before he could answer.
“No,” Jake hit his head in disgust. Why hadn’t he thought of that?
Kerry was already busy checking through Walter’s texts. “Here it is,” she laughed triumphantly. “The idiot didn’t take it off his phone straight away. Victoria sent him a text earlier this afternoon asking him to meet her in town at the abandoned factory. She tells him she’ll be waiting for him in the old storage building. Bet you anything you like, she’s still there and Laura will be with her.”
Jake turned back to Walter, his eyes hard with anger. “It would seem I won’t need to hold back from giving you everything you deserve after all,” Walter’s head shot up, his face a mask of hatred. Jake waved his phone in Walter’s face. “Who forgot to delete the message Victoria sent you to meet her and where?”
Walter’s face went white. “They aren’t still there,” he hissed. “You’re wasting your time. We moved her. You still need my help.”
“Oh, I don’ think so,” Jake snapped, looking at his watch. “I reckon she’ll be expecting to hear back from you right about now. Isn’t that so?” Walter clamped his lips together, but his face took on a green tinge. Jake quickly sent a brief text message to Victoria using Walter’s phone. He prayed he wasn’t making a mistake, but if he could use the element of surprise to take Victoria off guard, then he would risk it. He had to get Laura back safely.
Wild Fire (The Fairy Tale Match Series) Page 31
