Nowhere to Run

by Jeanne Bannon

  Lily lay a few feet away, a puddle of crimson pooled around her head, but the sputtering coughs and labored breaths told Natalie she wasn’t yet dead. Smoke was filling the cabin, but the openness of the high, vaulted ceilings provided plenty of room for it to rise. Natalie still had time to enjoy her handiwork.

  Aiden was sprawled on the couch, and she had no idea if he was still among the living, though she doubted it. Flames licked at the edges of the area rug near the sofa he was on. The fire would get him first. She didn’t really mind, but it would have been nicer if Lily was the first to go. That way Natalie would be certain to see her struggle to breathe her last. She would have even dragged her closer to the flames if the pills hadn’t stolen her energy.

  Her eyelids were made of lead and she let them close. Just for a moment.

  CHAPTER 32

  Get up NOW! a voice screamed in Aiden’s brain, three little words bursting with panic. A sudden urgency washed over him, and with difficulty, he opened his eyes but wanted to shut them again just a second later. They were leaden and burned to close. He was tired, so tired.

  “Hurry!” It was a woman’s voice.

  Lily’s face filled the screen of his imagination, and along with it came a sense of dread, this time so strong it set his heart to hammering. He opened his eyes again, and now he saw that the cabin was in flames. The heat of the blaze came at him in waves, stealing his breath. Panic lurched him to his feet, and smoke clogged his nostrils.

  Not far off in the hazy distance he saw a woman standing alone, staring at him. He didn’t know her, or did he? “She needs you,” she demanded.

  It sounded like Lily, but he knew it wasn’t her. This woman was smaller. “Sara?” he choked out.

  A flicker of a smile played on her lips as if in reply. She spoke again. “Help her.” Then the smoky haze engulfed the woman and she was gone.

  Aiden waved away the smoke in an attempt to glimpse her again. It was no use; she’d either moved away farther into the thick blackness or vanished completely. Dizziness nearly felled him, but he managed to grab the back of the sofa, steadying his totter. The floor was a furnace, burning the bottoms of his bare feet. He pushed the pain away and waved off the smoke in front of him, which he noticed, thankfully, was rising.

  There was a blanket wrapped around his midsection. No, he thought, not wrapped, stuck. He realized, with horror, it was his own blood making it adhere to the bare skin of his torso. He’d been shot! He remembered that now. It all came back. Natalie holding the gun, aiming it at him; him not believing she would or could shoot him; him thinking he’d talk her out of whatever crazy idea she was entertaining.

  With trembling fingers, he peeled the blood-soaked blanket away and peered down at the hole in his side. Blood bubbled from it, oozing and pulsing with each beat of his heart. Pain in his shoulder sent his fingers exploring gingerly until they grazed another hole.

  There was nothing he could do to help himself, and he knew with heart-rending finality that time was not on his side. He willed himself calm and set out to find Lily.

  A man lying prone on the floor caught his attention. He moved close enough to get a better look. “Jesus Christ!” Deputy Deluca’s head was haloed with a spray of crimson. In his hand lay his cell phone. With an agonizing rip of pain, Aiden fell to his knees. No way the man could be alive, but he checked for a pulse anyway. Finding none, he took the phone and punched in 911. A voice on the other end asked what the emergency was.

  Smoke caught in his throat, making him sputter. “Need an ambulance and fire truck. Cabin on Ryan’s Road. Hurry.”

  An urge came over him just then—to sit or maybe lie down, his energy spent, as if uttering just a few words had taken all he had left. He’d take a little rest and wait for the ambulance. It wouldn’t be long. Help would be there soon.

  Slowly, as he went the short distance from kneeling to sitting, he saw Natalie. He inched nearer, until he was close enough to see her eyes were closed.

  Smoke burned his eyes and throat. His world was growing dim, then the sound of a cough startled him back to consciousness. “Lily?” he called, pressing the blanket over his nose and mouth to keep the smoke from his lungs. His vision blurred, focusing in and out like the lens of a camera. He was dying; he wanted to die. The thought of moving even just another foot was akin to climbing Mount Everest.

  “In front of you.” It was the voice again. Sara’s voice. This is no hallucination, he told himself. He lay prone, stretching himself out, hands searching, sweeping across the floor until finally, with great relief, they fell on the woman he loved. He felt the silk of her hair and stroked it. “Lily?”

  Her head moved ever so slightly. A nod, he realized. She was nodding.

  “I…I…called for help.” He coughed and held a palm to his side to stem the flow of blood. With each hack, it oozed through his fingers. How much time did he have left? How much blood had he lost? His world was growing more dreamlike. Was any of this really happening?

  He couldn’t stand and was growing weaker by the second. Lifting her would be impossible. There was no hope. He might as well take her in his arms and lie beside her. Together they would wait for whichever came first, rescue or death.

  Suddenly, it was as if a pair of hands were on him, trying in vain to pull him to his feet. “Save her,” the voice demanded.

  But how could he possibly get Lily to safety? The voice was wrong. There was nothing he could do. Aiden clasped Lily’s hand, entwining his fingers with hers.

  “I love you,” she whispered.

  * * *

  A blast of frigid air assaulted him like a slap to the face, and Aiden gulped it in greedily. Choking and sputtering, his breaths came in wild, frantic waves, filling him with a momentary panic. Would he ever breathe again? A chilled hand lay across his forehead, calming him. “Sara?” He looked around, but saw no one.

  Smoke streamed from the open cabin door, and he was shocked to realize he was outside, lying in sooty snow. Lily was behind him, a little farther away from the blaze.

  He elbowed to her side and saw that her nose was smashed flat, and was not just broken, but crushed. Blood had already begun to dry and congeal thickly around her nostrils. He did his best to check for gunshot wounds. There was no growing ring of red oozing through her clothing. Thankfully, he didn’t think she’d been shot. But her face! Her poor broken face. What had that bitch done to her? His pulse quickened as his anger rose. Let the flames take her. Let that fucking girl die and go straight to hell.

  “Lily.” He shook her shoulders with what little strength he had left. “Wake up.”

  Her eyes fluttered open and a hand flew to her ruined face. Tears flowed, cutting trenches through her soot-covered cheeks, and she let out a ragged breath. “Oh, God.”

  The sound of twigs breaking and snow crunching beneath the weight of something small caught Aiden’s attention. Rex ambled toward them, dirty and shivering. He turned in a circle and curled up between them. Lily was safe; his job was done. He closed his eyes and let the last of his energy drain away.

  CHAPTER 33

  Hospitals were loud places. The beeps and buzzes and the sound of trolleys being pushed along the hallway had kept Lily up most of the night, along with the constant intrusions of the nurses stopping by to take vitals, or change an empty saline bag. But somewhere along the way, sleep claimed her, and she’d had the most amazing dream. At least she thought it was a dream. It had been so real. Coming back to waking life was harsh and unwelcomed, because in her dream, Mrs. G. had come to see her. Could be the pain meds, but that didn’t explain the authenticity of it.

  In the “dream,” Mrs. G. was sitting beside her on the hospital bed. The weight of the woman made Lily’s legs slide toward her. How peculiar to dream something so precisely. Then her friend took her hand and kissed it, in much the same way Lily had done with hers not that long ago.

  “Angel, you’re going to be just fine,” the old woman said, only she wasn’t old. Lily knew i
t was Mrs. G., but she looked thirty-something. The same jet-black hair framed a pretty, delicate face. However, her complexion was no longer a stark contrast to the pallor she’d developed in her later years, but olive and sun bronzed. Her hair too, was thicker and longer. Eyes shining with the brightness of youth stared down at Lily.

  “What are you doing here?” Lily asked.

  “Just came for a visit.”

  “Will you be staying a while?”

  “No, angel, I can’t. I came to thank you for being so kind to me over the years, for being my friend, and to tell you that fella you brought to meet me the other night, well, he’s a nice young man. Good looking too. You’ll be happy together.”

  Mrs. G. smiled and Lily saw straight white teeth, not the dentures time had yellowed. She was about to ask how she managed to come see her. After all, Mrs. G. wasn’t in the best of health. And how did she know she and Aiden would be happy together? She sounded so certain.

  Before Lily could get the questions out, her friend began to fade. At first, she thought it a trick of the eye, but soon Lily saw the green-and-brown design of the curtain around her bed through the old woman’s figure. She continued to dissolve, growing brighter yet more transparent by the second until, finally, all that was left was a small wheel of light that seemed to spin itself down an unseen drain. The soft echo of the word “good-bye” played in Lily’s head.

  Someone kissed her forehead. It was Mrs. G. come back to continue their visit, Lily thought with a spark of hope, but when she turned toward the kiss, she saw it had come from Annie.

  Slowly, she shifted around to her friend. Her face was swollen and tender, her jaw stiff and sore but not broken. She’d been damn lucky.

  “Hi. Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. You OK? Need anything?”

  “No. I’m fine. Have you seen Aiden today?” Her words were slow and she mumbled because of the limited mobility of her jaw.

  Annie set down a paper bag on the wheeled tray at the foot of Lily’s bed and took out a cinnamon bun dripping with frosting, as well as a large coffee.

  “I stopped in to see him before coming to visit you. The poor guy.” She frowned.

  Lily sighed. “It’s just so hard being away from him.” She picked at a piece of the bun and gingerly placed it in her mouth. Eating was an uncomfortable but necessary challenge, and the bun was a nice change from the soup and Jell-O diet she was on. She sipped her coffee, thinking nothing ever tasted so good.

  Annie laid a gentle hand on Lily’s arm, her brow furrowed. “I have some news and I’m afraid it’s not good.”

  “What is it?”

  “I’m sorry, hon, but your friend from the center, Mrs. G., passed away last night. Gail called the diner first thing this morning.”

  Relief washed over Lily, not grief or sadness. A smile played on her lips as her eyes met Annie’s. “I already knew about Mrs. G., and it’s OK. I know she’s fine now. She’s in a better place.”

  Annie cocked her head and grinned. “Really? How did you—”

  “Let’s just say it’s a long story.”

  She splayed a hand over her heart. “You have no idea how relieved I am. The last thing I wanted was to add to your troubles. Rex is doing well. He’s happy at my place,” Annie said. “I just might not give him back. He’s so sweet.”

  “Thank you for taking care of him, Annie. You’re a great friend.”

  “Too bad about Natalie though.”

  Lily huffed a sigh of displeasure. “Don’t know how I feel about that. Is it awful a part of me wished she’d died? I know it’s horrible she’s burned so badly, but the anger I feel toward that girl… I don’t know if it’ll ever go away.” Lily gave her head a slow shake. “She shot Antonio right in front of me, Annie. I saw his brains splatter on the wall, the back of his head blown right off, and then there’s what she did to Aiden.”

  “Shhh. Hush. I’m sorry for bringing her up. Last thing I want is to upset you. She’s a very disturbed girl. What she did wasn’t just wrong, it was despicable.”

  A rap at the door caught their attention. Sheriff Wilkins stood, hat in hand, in the entranceway. “OK if I come in?”

  Lily nodded, not sure how she felt about visiting with Wilkins. Seemed there were a lot of uncertainties in her life at the moment.

  Annie got up. “I’ll leave you two alone. Your cell phone’s right there beside you, Lily. Call me if you need anything. Best I get back to the diner anyway. Denise is probably having a nervous breakdown by now.”

  Annie kissed Lily on the cheek. “I’ll be by in the morning to pick you up.”

  Wilkins stepped into the room as Annie exited.

  “Mind if I sit?” he asked, lowering himself into the plastic chair beside her. The tall, lanky man placed his hat at the foot of the bed and then leaned forward and clasped his hands. “So, how you feelin’? Any pain? Need me to getcha anythin’?”

  “Not so good but better than Aiden, I imagine.” Her tone was bitter.

  “Yup, I suppose so.” He cleared his throat. “I stopped by to see how you’re doing and, well, to say sorry. I put you through a hell of a time.” Wilkins shook his head. “Us lawmen are a special breed, always followin’ our noses and going where the evidence takes us. I shoulda known better than to suspect you, Lily, but when your daddy left all that money to Sara and nothing to you, I had to put myself in your shoes. Hell, if my dad did that to me and my brother, I’d be spitting mad. And Antonio, rest his soul, had me convinced it was you.” He ran a hand over his day’s worth of scruff. “Damn, in all the years I’ve been sheriff, I’ve never lost a deputy in the line of duty. Hell of a loss.”

  A throb began in Lily’s temples. She had to tell Wilkins the truth about Deluca. No sense in waiting. After a deep breath, she began, “Sheriff, seeing Deputy Deluca get shot is a sight that will never leave my mind, but he wasn’t the man you think he was. Natalie told me she’d been paying him off and that he was doing her bidding. She killed him because she had no more use for him.”

  His head turned, almost in slow motion, his eyes growing wide and his mouth falling open like a gate on a busted hinge. “No. I don’t believe it.”

  “Think about it. Natalie had just killed Deluca and shot Aiden. She was planning on killing me and then taking her own life. What did she have to lose? She was telling the truth.” Lily expected a reaction, but he sat still as a statue, gaze fixed on the wall in front of him.

  Finally he spoke. “I’ve worked side by side with Antonio for years. I know he didn’t make a helluva lot of money, but he didn’t have a wife and kids to support. He had plenty to live on. Why would he do such a thing?” Wilkins shook his head in disbelief.

  To Lily, the answer was simple. “Greed.”

  He threw his hands up in a shrug. “I knew the man. Trusted him. I never thought he’d do something like that.”

  Lily let her gaze fall to her hands and said, “You knew me too and for a lot longer than you knew Deputy Deluca. Still, you thought I was capable of murdering my own sister.”

  Wilkins dropped his head into his hands. Long, thin fingers rubbed at his temples. “You’re right.” He sighed and looked up at her. “How careless I’ve been and how stupid!”

  Damn right, she wanted to say, but bit her tongue.

  “There’s more.”

  Wilkins’s eyes widened before he got to his feet and began to pace in a small orbit at the foot of her bed. “Tell me.”

  Lily took a deep breath then blew it out. “You’d better drop the murder charges against Gabrielle Lyons as soon as possible, sheriff. She didn’t kill my sister. Natalie did.”

  Wilkins stopped pacing and stared down at her. He couldn’t have looked more shocked if red ants were marching from her ears. He opened his mouth to speak, then shut it again, jerked away from her as if he was about to leave, then turned back. “Why do we have a murder weapon with Gabrielle Lyons’s prints on it?”

  “I don’t know, but Natalie made it crystal clear she was th
e one who shot Sara. She confessed to me and was more than happy to do so.”

  “You sure she wasn’t just trying to protect her mother?”

  “Absolutely not. It still gives me chills thinking of the joy in her eyes when she told me she killed my sister. She was happy to be torturing me with the truth.”

  He sat back down. “Shit,” was all he said for several seconds. Then, “To tell you the truth, I have to admit I was shocked about Gabrielle’s prints being on that gun.” He heaved a sigh. “I gotta say it again, Lily. I’m so sorry. I really am.”

  “It was frustrating that no one believed me. That was the hardest part.” She kept her voice even, not allowing the emotion bubbling under the surface to rise.

  “I know. I know.” His head bobbed furiously as if in time to some unheard song.

  “No, you couldn’t possibly know, sheriff. I’m pretty much a pariah in this town. This town where I’ve lived since I was twelve. This town where I own a business and used to have friends. Now, I can count the number of friends I still have on one hand.” Despite her resolve, tears began to well in her eyes, threatening to fall.

  He looked at her sheepishly, then reached behind him for the small square box of one-ply tissue sitting on a counter and placed it on the tray in front of her.

  Lily plucked out a few to blot her eyes.

  Wilkins dared to let a small smile play on his lips. “I did do one thing right though.” He waited a beat, then said, “I hired Aiden.”

  She didn’t understand. Yes, he’d hired him, but all that did was get Aiden shot. She threw Wilkins a puzzled look.

  He shifted uncomfortably in his seat once he realized Lily hadn’t gotten his meaning and said, “If Aiden hadn’t come to town, the two of you never woulda met. Guess I’m a better matchmaker than I am a sheriff.”

  That made Lily smile and prompted her to ask, “How is Aiden? You’ve got to know more than I do. Please don’t spare my feelings. I need to know if he’s going to be OK.”