Me too.
“And I’m so happy you can actually talk to me, tell me things. I have to tell you that I’m scared right now, because I can’t find Riley or Austen.”
She lets out a low nicker and shakes her head from side to side. She doesn’t say anything but the next image she shows me makes my heart stop beating: It’s Austen. He’s facing Axel and giving him a carrot. Chris walks into the barn next to him. They share a friendly high five, but then Chris’s smile fades. “I know what you, your pal Riley, and your little girlfriend have been up to, and I don’t like it,” he says. “I don’t like being lied to, man.”
“I have no clue what you’re talking about.”
“Sure you don’t.” Chris swings a punch at Austen. There’s something in Chris’s hand. Oh my God, it’s a needle! The punch connects and the needle plunges into Austen, who reaches his hand up to his chest where the syringe is sticking out. He goes to pull it out, but wobbles. Chris takes this second to lurch after him and press down the syringe. Austen lets out a cry of pain. He stumbles further and then falls to the ground.
“Oh no, no, no!” I yell. “No!” Did I just see Chris give Austen the same deadly drug that killed Joel? Oh my God. What if . . . No! I can’t believe he’s dead. I have to find him. I have to find where Chris has taken Austen.
I put my hand on Harmony’s neck and start petting her, tears streaming down my face.
She continues with the images. “He took him,” I say.
Yes.
“But you don’t know where.”
No.
Then I have an idea: The farmhouse that smelled like Paisley’s perfume. That’s where they’ve taken him. I know it.
“I have to go find him,” I tell Harmony.
As I shut the stall behind her, she lets out a shrill whinny, and I realize as she does this that I’m in some trouble.
“Talking to yourself, Vivienne?” I whirl around to see James right in front of me. And the first thing I notice is that he’s holding a hunting rifle in one hand. Behind us, Harmony is going berserk. She knows that I’m in danger. We’ve been through this before.
“You have Austen, don’t you?”
He smiles. “You need to come for a walk with me.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I say. “You’re going to tell me where Austen is and I’m going to call the cops.”
“Oh, I don’t think you will. You don’t have a leg to stand on, Vivienne. Now come with me right now or we can do things the hard way, and I’ll shoot your pretty little horse in the eye—really blind her—before we go.”
“You son of a bitch.”
“Names don’t bother me. Now come on, Vivienne, let’s go for that walk.”
CHAPTER forty-eight
I walk ahead of James on the path that I know leads to the old farmhouse. “What are you doing?” I ask.
“You know what, Vivienne Taylor, I don’t think you’re in any type of situation to be asking the questions. We do have questions for you, though, and we want answers. You really, really should’ve minded your own business and life would’ve carried on status quo. But you and your little boy toys had to get all hot and bothered about seeking justice for Joel. Come on now, Joel was a tortured soul. Couldn’t you have just left that alone?”
“You guys killed him.”
He sighs heavily. “Keep walking.”
“Where are Riley and Austen?”
“Like I said, you’re not in the position to be asking the questions.”
We make it to the front porch of the old farmhouse—and it’s just as I figured. This is their meeting place. The house is dimly lit inside. I’m afraid to find out what is on the other side of the door.
“Go on. Open it,” James insists. “Don’t make me make you do it. That would suck. I want to be as nice as I can for as long as I can. Who knows, maybe you’ll get to live tonight, Vivienne. That is, if you play by our rules. Open it!”
My hand is shaking as I turn the knob. I have no idea what he means about their rules and playing by them, but I know that regardless of all the crap I’ve been through lately I like my life a whole lot and I want to live.
When I open the door, I see Riley tied in a chair and clearly unconscious. Janna is in a chair next to him, also tied up and gagged. Her eyes are wide with fear. I run to Riley and kneel down. I reach my hands up and touch his face. “Riley! Riley!” I yell. He’s out cold and I don’t know what’s been done to him. My nerves are racing as I realize that I’m not even sure he’s breathing.
I hear clapping and turn to see Chris Haverly walking into the room. He comes forward into the light. “How touching. You running to your gay boy. Such good friends.”
“What have you done to him?” I scream.
Chris shrugs.
I hear giggling behind him and then I spot Paisley. From the wild, cruel look she has, I come to the realization that all three of them appear to be high, meaning that we are in some real trouble here. “Where’s Austen?” I yell.
Paisley laughs harder and then mockingly cries out, “Where’s Austen? Poor Austen. Poor Riley. What about poor Janna? Don’t you care about her? Oh yeah, why would you? She was helping us. She was in way over her head, of course.” Her smile falls away and she looks at me in disgust. “What, little Miss Do-Gooder is surprised? Well, let me tell you, she dug her own grave. Back at the championships in Kentucky, Chris saw her doing the nasty in the barns one night with—can you believe it?—the jump coach from her school; yep, kind of a famous guy who apparently likes his girls young. Very young. Anyway, Chris snuck a couple photos of them getting it on, sight unseen. Then he befriended her, just for fun. When her name popped up on the list for this summer, we knew we had her. She’d have to work for us. And wouldn’t you know it, once she saw the pictures Chris had, she promised to do anything we wanted if he’d destroy them. We plan to release them anyway in the fall, of course. Imagine how much the horse world will love a juicy scandal like that. Her reputation as a slut will go national.” Paisley gives a high-pitched, awful laugh. “Too bad she won’t be around to see it. Poor girl, though. That jump coach took what he wanted and left her high and dry. She was looking for love again, or so she told Chris. It’s amazing what girls will tell him after he gives them a little bit of the Big D. Good drug, my friend. Most pathetic part is how badly she wanted Chris to be her rebound.”
Paisley stands up and walks over to me, hands on her hips. She opens her palm and slaps me hard across the face. It stings immediately. “And poor, poor, Vivienne,” she says in a cold voice. She brings her arm back and backhands me on the other side of my face. “You’re the reason Melody isn’t mine. You’re the reason that my summer has been ruined worrying about your nosy little questions. We kept thinking you’d forget about Joel—move on. But nope, you’re an idiot and now you and your boys will pay for it.”
“Where is Austen?” I ask again, and this time I surprise myself, because the way it comes out of me, it’s almost like a growl, guttural and instinctive. I want to hurt this bitch.
“I’m already bored with her,” says Paisley. “Tie her up and let’s get this started.”
Chris comes on one side of me, and James the other, each taking one arm and pulling me roughly off the ground.
“No,” Paisley says. “On second thought, since we’re going to have to kill them, might as well let her see her pretty boy one last time. Let her die with him. He should be awake by now. You didn’t give him enough to kill him. Just enough to get him here. Useless, though. I figured maybe he’d tell us something we didn’t know. But, he isn’t talking. Hopefully he hasn’t told anyone else about us.”
My stomach sinks rapidly. I don’t know what they have planned, but it’s apparent they also have Austen here. Chris and James flank me as they drag me back farther into the house. There’s a small room off the hall. The door is cl
osed. Chris opens it and shoves me inside. I see Austen in a chair, tied and gagged just like Riley and Janna. At least he’s awake. He’s bruised and I can see dried blood on the side of his mouth. Tears burn my eyes at the sight of him. What have I gotten us all into? I run to him. “I’m so sorry.”
He shakes his head and he also tears up. Chris grabs me by the back of my hair and shoves me into a chair. I’m quickly tied. I start screaming as loud as I can. Paisley walks in and slaps me hard again but I scream some more. I bite Chris’s hand as he goes to tape my mouth shut. “You little bitch!” he yells. He hits me now, and it’s with a lot more blunt force than Paisley. I feel nauseous and dizzy, like I might go unconscious.
I hear Austen making noises from his chair.
I’m now tied and gagged and facing Austen. I can’t believe this is happening.
“Go ahead,” Paisley says. “We have a rave to be at in an hour. Money to make. And since our James came through for us yet again, we are going big time. Thanks to the help of the Russian mob.”
James walks out of the room and comes back a moment later. He has a gasoline tank and he begins to line the room with gas. I stare in disbelief as I try to process that my life is about to end. And not just that. This is going to be the end of Riley’s life, and the boy I’ve loved since I was eight years old is also going to die. I would take it all back if I could. I stare into Austen’s eyes and know he’s trying hard to convey some kind of comfort to me through them. I can see it, and I can feel it. I try to return it. But I’m so scared.
“Good money in what we do,” Chris says. “Not that we need it. But all of you do. I just don’t get it. Joel’s job was going to be so easy out there in Cali. Selling drugs to rich kids is like shooting fish in a barrel—I would know. But nope, the loser wouldn’t do it. He left us here high and dry and refused to sell the goods like we told him to. And then, Riley, wow . . . what a disappointment. Could have made some real cash. He could’ve made enough to move his gay ass away from his parents. That’s all the kid ever wanted. But no. You three had to try and do the right thing. Bet you’re sorry now.”
“Come on,” James says. “All we have to do is light the match. Paisley is in the car. Let’s go.”
“Wait,” he says, his cruel gaze stuck on Austen and me. “I can’t go without reminding you all that you could still have a long, happy life ahead of you if you’d just done what we wanted. You could have been—like Wills! There’s a good kid. Not at first, of course. At first, he wanted to take the high road like you. That’s when we killed his little sister’s pony as a threat. Can you believe? He still kept refusing us. That’s when we shot Melody full of some Big D. It’s good shit. It can take down a horse, no problem. Too bad his sister was riding when it happened. Poor little Anna got hurt. But Wills kept his mouth shut. Even when he got caught selling dope. But he didn’t say a word even in juvie, and he’s still keeping his mouth shut. He does everything we ask him to. That’s what I insist on from all the people who work for me. Loyalty! Speaking of that, Austen, you really didn’t fool me.” Chris pretends to rub his eyes like a crying little kid. “Boohoo, you acted like my friend, but you didn’t really like me.” His mouth twists. “As if Vivienne Taylor’s little boyfriend could ever get into my inner circle.”
“Chris, let’s go,” James says, just as Paisley appears in the doorway. My mind scrambles frantically as I try to make sense of why she’s carrying a brick.
“James, honey, I’m afraid you’re staying,” she says.
In a lightning-fast moment, Chris takes the brick from her hands and hits James on the side of the head. Austen and I watch helplessly as he goes down like a bowling pin, his body hitting the floor with a sickening thud.
Paisley casts one last look over our little assembly. “Great knowing you,” she sneers.
“Not,” says Chris. Then he lights a match and throws it on the ground. He reaches for Paisley’s hand and the two of them walk out of the room like they’re leaving some meet-and-greet party instead of the room where Austen and I, not to mention James, are clearly going to die.
CHAPTER forty-nine
The sound of someone calling my name pulls me back into consciousness, but as I open my eyes I feel only half awake. In a slow, dull moment I also hear the crackling of flames and realize everything around me is searing hot. Panic floods my body with adrenalin as a voice screams right behind me, “I found her!”
Reality sets in as I see red flames licking the walls. I can’t breathe. My chest hurts.
“Say something, Vivienne.” My arms go limp as the ropes that Chris and James tied me with fall away. It’s Tristan, I realize from the voice, who just freed me, but I can’t catch my breath enough to talk. I feel hands cup under my armpits and lift me up.
“Is he free?” Tristan yells as he starts carrying me toward the exit.
A girl’s voice replies, “Yes, but I can’t move him!”
“I’ll get him,” Tristan screams. “Come help Vivienne!”
It’s like a nightmare where nothing quite makes sense. I feel like a bag of sand as Tristan puts me down and another set of arms support me from behind. I’m moving and being guided but I can’t see a thing. I can’t feel a thing and my mind races in a whirl of confusion.
Glass shatters somewhere. “Go first!” Tristan yells. “And then, you’ll have to help them out after I get them through the window.”
I’m trying to comply. Then all the pieces of what’s happening come together and I suddenly escape the trap of confusion. I’m escaping a fire.
Hands on me and I’m sliding through the window and down onto the cold, hard ground. I lie there trying to breathe. Where is Austen? Where is Austen? Oh my God—where is Riley? And Janna?
I hear more glass breaking and a moment later I’m being dragged across the ground. I start to cough profusely, and a few seconds later I hear someone else coughing.
My eyes are open now and I can see smoke swirling. I hear the crackling of fire and I start to sit up.
“No, no. Lie back. Help is on the way, Vivienne.”
I look into the face of Emily and I’m surprised it’s her.
“Where is Austen?” I ask. “Riley? Janna? James is in there too.”
I hear the words, “Over here, baby.”
My heart pounds heavy against my chest at the sound of Austen’s voice, then I begin coughing again. I finally catch my breath and then I also hear Riley. “I’m here.”
They are on either side of me.
Then I hear screams and I try to focus on them. Fire! Oh my God! Tristan is running away from the house but he’s on fire! I see him drop to the ground and roll. Emily is also screaming. My own scream dies in my throat as I start to retch again. I hear sirens in the distance.
I see Austen struggling to get up and go to Tristan. Riley is trying to crawl over the ground, but I can’t move.
I see red-and-blue flashing lights across the lawn as the first emergency vehicles arrive. I start to cough again, and an EMT bends down next to me and asks me my name. I start to say, “Viv . . .” and then everything goes dark.
CHAPTER fifty
I wake up inside the ambulance. I hear the screaming siren. “How are my friends?” I keep asking, taking the oxygen mask off my face.
“It’s okay, sweetie. Just relax. We’re giving you something to help you breathe and also relax. You can’t take off the oxygen mask. You’ve got to keep it on.”
I look up and see a man sitting on the ambulance bench next to me. He looks to be doing something with tubes but I can’t make sense of it. I take off the mask again. “My friends? My boyfriend?” I repeat.
“Keep the oxygen on, please, Vivienne. We need you to do that. Okay?”
I try to nod in agreement and act like I understand why he wants me to follow his directions, but at the same time, why won’t he answer me? I’m feeling drowsy again an
d I drift off—away from this ongoing nightmare and the vision of Tristan emerging from the house on fire.
The next place I find myself awake is an emergency room. I’ve been down this road before. Nurses are taking my vitals, and a conversation that I don’t really understand is taking place. I’m groggy from whatever they gave me, which I’m guessing was a sedative. The oxygen mask is still on me.
I’m not so concerned about what’s going on in the small space, because I sense that although I’ve suffered some, the doctor and nurses aren’t extremely anxious. What I’m concerned about is the yelling I hear going on next to me.
I turn my head to the side and open my eyes. I see nurses and doctors surrounding Tristan. He’s facing me, and his eyes are open. I can tell he’s in shock. I can see that he recognizes me, and as he does, a smile crosses his face. Then his eyes close and I hear someone yell, “Pressure is dropping.”
A nurse sees me and shuts the drape between us as I begin to cry.
CHAPTER fifty-one
The next two weeks pass in a blur. From what other people have told me, I stayed in the hospital for a day suffering from smoke inhalation, as did Austen and Riley.
Thankfully, Tristan survived that fateful night, but not without consequence. He’s still suffering from third-degree burns over 15 percent of his body. They are mainly on his arms and chest. I have not been able to see him, as his parents transferred him to a private burn center fifty miles away from Liberty Farms. I’ve tried calling and e-mailing, but with no response. I’ve spoken with Lydia, but she hasn’t been able to reach him, either.
What’s still hard for me to process is that Janna didn’t survive the fire. It’s sad and horrific, and I realize I never got to really know the true Janna. Even though she was doing Chris Haverly’s bidding, I believe that she was a good girl. I saw that when I first arrived at Liberty and she greeted me so kindly. If Chris hadn’t gotten his hands on her . . . if he hadn’t found something to blackmail her with back in Kentucky, her future would have turned out so differently. Losing her still feels like it’s out of a nightmare, and I feel incredibly bad for her family. I spotted a woman who must have been her mom leaving the cabin with Janna’s things packed up in a suitcase, and her face was the saddest thing I’ve ever seen.
Perfect Harmony: A Vivienne Taylor Horse Lover's Mystery (Fairmont Riding Academy Book 3) Page 21
