Phillip would hate you for what you’re trying to do to me, she thought bitterly.
Edgy, confused, and tormented, Rachel left the house for a walk, her heart burdened by the recent revelations. She must think and plan.
In town, Dan made an elating and unexpected discovery. While going over records and bills, one entry stood out to him. It involved a favorite past hiding place of Phillip’s, but one Rachel had said was impossible. It was obvious she hadn’t known about the replacement or she’d have told him.
Peter Garrett arrived shortly after Dan found the clue. He explained his suspicion to the agent. “If I’m right, I know where the missing money is hidden. You have time to go with me before you sail?”
“I surely do,” a smiling Peter replied.
Rachel heard voices as she neared the side of the house: Dan’s and Peter’s. She sneaked to the corner and peered toward the front porch. The bottom step had been demolished. After the facts she’d learned, she was compelled to observe and listen.
“Here’s the missing money, Peter, just like I said,” Dan remarked as he withdrew a large bag from its hiding place. He opened it and the two men eyed the contents, then exchanged grins of success.
Rachel was stunned. Had Dan known all along where it was hidden?
“There’s a letter here to you from Phillip,” Peter said. “And a picture of you two years ago.”
So, Rachel fumed, it was true: Daniel Slade McCandless…
“I’ll read it later; it’s probably personal. I have one more thing to do here; visit my brother’s grave, then go find Rachel. You’ve heard the gossip about her being a lethal predator. After I capture her in the web I’ve weaved, I’ll expose the truth about her to everyone.”
“What are you planning to do with her?”
“Just what I told you on the ship and in town.”
Peter grasped his meaning, as Dan had related his love and marital intentions and his hopes of proving her innocence in past episodes.
“You want to walk to his grave with me before you leave?”
“Yes.” Peter replied. “Maybe I can give you some suggestions about how to solve Phillip’s murder and those of the other men.”
Rachel waited until they were far from the house. She sneaked to the barn and saddled a horse. She walked him out the back door and across the pasture. She mounted and rode away, needing time to settle down before she faced Dan for an enlightening confrontation on both their sides.
The sinister culprit who had been stalking her for years watched her movements and followed. When he called out and she reined in to speak with him, he brutally punched her in the jaw and knocked her unconscious. With hatred and a hunger for revenge gleaming in his eyes, he held her limp body in place while he rode to a secluded shed on her property. He hauled her inside, bolted the door, and glared down at her. At last Rachel was at his mercy, and he would show none.
Chapter 24
Rachel awakened, her hands bound behind her with a belt and her jaw smarting from the blow she hadn’t seen coming in time to elude it. She lifted her head and saw her sinister stepfather lazing against the only entrance, which was shut and bolted. He had her captive in an abandoned storage shed on her property, so he hadn’t taken her far, which would be helpful if anyone realized she was missing and looked for her. The shed was large and cluttered with old tools and broken crates. Plenty of light came in through holes in the collapsing roof, but the structure was still sturdy. He was standing there gloating over his brazen deed, while she lay helpless near the rear of the shed. She didn’t know how long she had been unconscious, but she doubted much time had passed, as he hadn’t gotten antsy and tried to arouse her. She was frightened, but tried to look brave and controlled. In an insulting tone, she asked, “Are you mad? Don’t you know this will get you into big trouble? A United States special agent is at my home right now with Daniel Slade. They’ll come looking for me, and you’ll be arrested for kidnapping and assault. Earl Starger, you untie me and let me go this instant!”
Unruffled by her anger and warnings, he laughed and replied, “I saw you sneak away, girl. I also saw them find that money all of you have been searching for. When you don’t return from your walk and they can’t find you near the house, they’ll take it and go. That’s all the agent wants. As for the sea captain, he’ll assume you took off to avoid him, so he’ll leave, too.”
She glared at him. “How do you know about the money?”
He laughed again and said, “I know everything about you, girl; Lula Mae has kept me informed for years.”
Rachel was shocked and dismayed. “Lula Mae?”
“That’s right; she works for me.”
It made sense, how he had always seemed to know her every move and condition! “What did you pay her to spy on me and betray me?”
Earl leaned against the door and crossed his arms over his chest. “Not much; she did it because she loves you and wants to protect you.”
“How can that be true when she works for you?” Rachel refuted.
Earl stroked his elbow as he explained, “After Newman died, I hired a man to pose as a doctor. We convinced her that you’re crazy, and aren’t responsible for your actions. We told her if she watched over you and kept us informed of your condition and behavior, we wouldn’t go to the police. We warned her how dangerous it would be to you and others if she revealed she knew the truth to you, so she kept silent all this time. We put on such a good act we had her believing an evil witch lives inside you and might jump out and attack anybody around if they learned she existed. We even told her that evil side would kill you to protect herself. Lula Mae believes in all that stuff about God and the devil; she thinks the devil and his helpers can work his evil on humans. She cried and wailed about her sick-minded baby and agreed to do anything to save you and protect you from his wicked clutches. She even believes you got rid of Newman’s baby because of how he abused you during your marriage to him; of course, she hated him, too. That money she gave you for support so you wouldn’t starve was from me. I couldn’t give you too much or you would have become suspicious of where she got it. She believes I love you like a daughter and only want what’s best for you. I made sure every talk she overheard between us went in my favor.”
So, the woman had been spying and eavesdropping, but longer than she had realized, and for a much different reason from the one she had imagined. Yet the spinster’s motive had been a good one. Poor misused Lula Mae, she fretted. “You tricked her and took advantage of her.”
“That’s right. She’s a stupid, gullible, and superstitious woman. You made a mistake trusting her and confiding in her. When she learned you’d been asleep or had fainted when all those men died, it was easy to make her think you’d been under some evil spell you couldn’t remember.”
“She told you… everything about me?”
“Everything. I was supposed to pass it along to the … doctor. Of course, I already knew everything, and I mentioned those alleged fits you had at home. I told her how worried and afraid your mother was. Lula Mae believes I’m a kind and generous and tenderhearted man you’ve lied about. And that night at the hotel, I almost convinced you of your madness.”
Rachel recalled how he had cast brief doubts in her own mind about her sanity and guilt, so a simple woman like Lula Mae might be easy to fool, especially by a “doctor.” “You low-down snake,” she sneered. “I hate you. You’ve never done one kind or good thing in your life.”
Earl straightened and took a spread-legged stance with hands akimbo. “Come off it, Rachel. Be glad I got rid of those groping men for you.”
Fear knotted her stomach and sent tingles of alarm over her body. “You… got rid of them? You mean … you killed them?”
“Of course. Don’t look so surprised; surely you had suspicions.”
“But Mama said you were home when Phillip died. Did you pay—”
“She knows only what I tell her she knows. She was too drugged on medicine to realize
or remember my comings and goings. When I’d tell her what date it was, she believed me. She was too drunk on that stuff I got from the real doctor to even be aware of when I was or wasn’t home. She doesn’t know I was gone during those incidents that plagued you.”
Rachel leapt on that clue to get answers while the insane man was in a boasting and cocky mood. “You’re the one who was sending me those notes, following me, and threatening me!”
“Yes, and mighty clever of me if I do say so myself.”
“Clever to kill four men in cold blood? How could you?”
Earl came over and squatted down beside her as he revealed, “William’s boy was easy; he was sick and feverish; and you were napping. I knew it wouldn’t be long before he’d be chasing you around the house and trying to sneak into your bloomers. I couldn’t allow that to happen to my Rachel. I wasn’t worried when you married Old Willy; everybody knew he couldn’t hump a woman anymore. I figured, in time, you’d get an itch and I’d be around to scratch it for you. Don’t you recall how contrite I was? I did everything I could to make peace with you.”
“You didn’t fool me; I saw through your little pretenses.”
When she tried to sit up, Earl pushed her back down. “I know. That’s why I had to put you in a hard spot. William’s death was easy, too. Since you slept in separate rooms, I sneaked inside and forced him to drink that poison. I figured it would look like a heart attack, and he was so scared I thought he would have one. Then you’d be free and rich and come to me. When you kept being mean and distant, I helped Camellia fan the flames of gossip about you. I knew that if you were tormented enough by them, you’d run home eventually. But you fooled me; you married that Craig Newman. I should have left you in his trap longer so he could beat some sense into you. But I didn’t like anybody doing my job for me or marring my property.”
Rachel listened in horror as Earl Starger continued his confession. She didn’t know how she was going to get out of this predicament, but she wouldn’t let him ravish her without the fiercest struggle she could manage. If she escaped him, who would believe this incredible tale? She had to keep him talking in case Peter and Dan did come looking for her.
Earl’s voice and expression were cold and cruel as he said, “I came to see you that morning. Newman was drunk and gave me a hard time. He ordered me to never come to his house again. I saw you faint so it gave me the opportunity to get rid of the bastard. I dragged him up the steps and threw him down, twice for good measure. I figured it would appear an accident. Even if it didn’t, they couldn’t prove you’d done it. I knew you’d be free again soon and be even richer. I should have killed Paul when he stole everything from you, but that might have been dangerous for both of us.”
“Might?” Rachel scoffed. “It was dangerous for me, you beast. I’m lucky I wasn’t imprisoned or hanged. How did you kill Phillip?”
“I sneaked inside like I did with William and poisoned him. He was so drunk, he didn’t see me in the room. I poured the poison in the whiskey bottles and kept nudging him awake so he’d keep nursing on them. I gave him enough to kill him twice. I knew he’d be gone soon. I returned home, made sure Catherine knew I was there and what the date was, and waited for word to arrive of your new dilemma. When nothing happened, I came to check it out. Lula Mae told me how you’d buried Phillip in secret, even destroyed the whiskey bottles, and were leaving on a trip. She remembered how she’d begged you not to marry Phillip, on mine and the doctor’s orders. She figured he was poisoned by you the night before and didn’t want you being arrested. You saved us both from trouble when you hid his body for a time to rot away any evidence; that was cunning, girl.”
His description repulsed her. “I didn’t do it to protect you. I—”
“Oh, I know why you did it, that arms deal and the missing money. I bet I scared you silly when I shot at you that Sunday after Phillip died and sent you those notes. Clever of me to use your handwriting, wasn’t it? I’ve practiced for years on letters and papers you left behind when you ran away. I had a feeling I might need that skill one day. When I left the vial in your hotel room in Augusta, your friend almost caught me. I was hiding under the bed when he and that bellman came to leave flowers. I saw that silly card he wrote. You made me furious, girl, when you started clinging to that sea captain. That’s why I tipped off the police, to get you into trouble. Of course, that was a mistake; at the time, I didn’t know about the other trouble you were in and that Slade was only with you on business. But you spent too much time with him and started getting too close. I never overlook anything, girl; I even stole back my tip note to the police. And those whiskey bottles you burned and buried, they didn’t have poison in them. Did you like the little spider I put in your basin?”
“It could have bitten me before I noticed it!”
“You would have deserved it for sleeping with that sailor. I saw those pictures of you two; I know sated looks when I see them. I enjoyed tearing them to pieces and burning them. He’ll never have you again.”
Rachel realized she was running out of time, as Earl was getting cold and hateful. And there wasn’t much, if anything, more to brag about to her. At least she had discovered two important things: she wasn’t to blame for any of the deaths and Dan was responsible for only one note to her, one written before their entwining trip and delivered early after their meeting when he doubted her, before he came to know and love her. Surely that was why he hadn’t intimidated her further. “I should have guessed the truth when nothing happened while you were away. I thought it was because I had protection from Dan’s men, and Mama told me you were home all those times I received threats. Why did you leave and let up on me?”
“I thought you needed a little simmering time. With those other men threatening you, I knew you’d be boiling soon and need my help.”
“Is that why you alerted the police after our fight?”
“You provoked me, girl. It was your fault, but you got out of it.”
“You tried to attack me!” she charged. “You tried to convince me I was crazy, a murderess. This time you’ll be exposed and punished.”
“That traitorous sea captain won’t protect you. That interesting letter from your partner came while you were gone. I read it when I came to see Lula Mae. I told her to hide it until the right time came to give it to you. I warned her it might entice you to murder him out of revenge. I sneaked to the house this morning and told her to give it to you, to test your reaction. If you became angry and dangerous, we’d send for the doctor, I said.”
“What are you planning to do with me?”
Earl trailed his fingers over her flushed cheek. “I’m going to enjoy you to the fullest, hurt you like you’ve hurt me many times, then kill you. I’ll sneak your body away, bury it secretly, and forget you existed. No one will ever suspect me. They’ll think you ran away after learning the truth about your lover, how he was betraying you. It’s actually amusing you’ll end up like Phillip did, in a secret grave. After things settle down, I plan to divorce Catherine and marry the rich and eager Miss Jones.”
Rachel tensed. “She’s in on this plot, too?”
Earl yanked her hair. “Don’t be absurd. I wouldn’t tell anybody my secrets. She and I have been just friends for years, but she took a different liking to me on the ship to and from Boston. That was a coincidence, but we’ve been lovers since our return, so I don’t need you anymore. But I can’t let you get away with what you did to me. I have to punish you. Once I’ve sated myself with you and you’re dead, I won’t think about you again.”
Rachel tried a ruse. “Camellia is making a fool of you, Earl. She lost two men to me, so she’s taking you away from my mother for spite.”
Earl sent wild laughter into the shed. “That isn’t true, girl. After I finish with you, you’ll understand how enslaved to me she is. Maybe not, because I won’t be gentle and generous with you like I was with her. Now let’s get those clothes cut off and get busy. I have to get my alibi—”
The door was kicked in with a loud crash and Dan shouted, “Touch her and you’re dead, Starger!”
Earl had instinctively dodged the splintered wood that was sent flying in all directions. He flung down the jewel-handled knife and drew his pistol. “I’ll kill the witch first!” he yelled in frustration and madness.
A bullet from Peter Garrett’s gun struck Earl in the shoulder, as the distance was too far and the danger too imminent for him or Dan to reach her deranged stepfather and disable him. The wild man staggered backwards a few steps, but raised his weapon to carry out his objective to murder Rachel. The second bullet made Starger’s heart its accurate and lethal target.
Dan picked his way over the debris, lifted the bound Rachel, and carried her into the fresh air and sunlight. Peter followed to make certain she was all right, as Earl Starger was beyond assistance.
As Dan unfastened the belt to free her hands, he asked if she was hurt. “We hated to wait so long, love,” he explained, “but Peter wanted his full confession to end this matter once and for all. We didn’t know he had a pistol.”
She was trembling and dazed. “How did you find me?”
“Burke saw him attack and abduct you. He came after us. We got on your trail fast. Thank God Peter’s a swift and skilled tracker. We sneaked up outside just as Starger began confessing his crimes. Peter told me to hold off a rescue until he had his say. This clears you of all suspicions, love.”
“I knew he was evil and mean,” Rachel sighed, “but not to this extent. He probably made Mama ill just so he could keep her drugged to give him alibis. It’s over; it’s finally over—the mysterious deal, the suspicious deaths, my dark past.”
“Now you can make a fresh start, Rachel.”
“That sounds easier than it will actually be, Peter. Thank you for your help.”
“Before I sail, I’ll file a report with the police chief. Not only will your files be closed, I’ll make sure they’re destroyed. I’ll also make certain the newspapers tell everyone the whole story. People around here will never gossip about you again. Plenty of them will owe you apologies.”
Promise Me Forever Page 51
