Twisted Echoes

by Sheri Lewis Wohl

  “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil…”

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Lorna, like all of them, was reeling after seeing Renee’s mind-boggling discovery. It didn’t diminish their need for food, and they all declared they were starving when they trooped down the stairs sounding like a herd of cattle. Renee left them to go check on her mother who was, as the doctor said would happen, sleeping away the day. Good thing he forewarned her or Lorna had no doubt, she’d be even more worried than she already was. Sleep, the doctor had explained, was the magic that would ultimately heal her wounds.

  In the kitchen, Lorna began directing Jeremy and Merry in the production of dinner. The entire time they chatted and cooked, her mind was racing. In a best-case scenario, she wanted to believe the connections were nothing more than coincidence. Realistically, this wasn’t best case, and it wasn’t a coincidence. Jeremy had been correct earlier when he said it was this house. No denying he was a sharp guy, and as usual was dead-on.

  Renee’s friend had been so adamant that Lorna possessed psychic abilities, and that’s why she was experiencing these visions. If that were true, and she still wasn’t totally convinced it was, then it appeared to be a family trait. Something was happening to Jeremy too, although whatever it was with him appeared only to occur during sleep.

  Still, for both of them, it all came back to this beautiful house on the shores of the Pacific Ocean. Except when she really thought about it, it wasn’t really the house that was tragic. No, it was the people who had lived in the house, and it was their spirits that lay heavy on the wood and plaster that made up the walls they stood inside.

  All through dinner, she turned over in her mind everything they’d discovered so far and wondered what it was Tiana wanted from her. Maybe it wasn’t so important to discover why Tiana was with her now as it was to discover what she needed from Lorna. The funny thing was she was invested in the history of the house and its occupants as well as in finding out where Catherine Swan disappeared to. Though she had no rational reason for feeling this way, she had to find the truth behind whatever it was that separated the two women who so obviously loved each other.

  She would discover the truth, whatever it turned out to be, and then perhaps she’d know why Tiana came to her.

  They were sitting by the fire watching the storm and drinking a bit more of the fabulous wine when the lights sputtered and went out. Lorna got up and found the matches so she could light some candles. Merry yawned and Jeremy stood, pulling her to her feet.

  “I think I better take sleeping beauty to bed.” He grabbed one of the candles. Saying their good nights, they left to go to their room.

  Renee took one of the candles and hurried to her mother’s room. Five minutes later, she returned.

  “How’s she doing?” The fire not only kept the room warm and cozy, it also bathed it in a lovely gold glow. With the sound of the rain outside, it was romantic. She found that not having electricity wasn’t too bad.

  Renee lowered herself to the floor and sat beside Lorna. With their backs against the sofa and feet stretched out so that the fire warmed their soles, it was incredibly comfortable.

  Once more, Lorna marveled at how quickly things could change. She wasn’t the same woman she’d been when she’d come here hoping for solitude. She’d wanted to run away to hide, and right now that was the last thing she wanted to do. She hated to think how lonely it would be here without Renee.

  “I think she’s actually doing a bit better,” Renee said as she leaned her head back against the sofa cushions. “She’s still incredibly tired, but the doctor said she was going to be for a few weeks, so I was expecting that. Healing a skull fracture takes a whole hell of a lot of rest.”

  “She’s going to be all right.” Lorna could feel the truth of her words. Despite the seriousness of her injuries, she felt the strength in Jolene. She was a fighter, and more importantly, a survivor. No tumble down a hill was going to defeat her.

  Renee tilted her head until it rested on Lorna’s shoulder. “Yes, she is. Thank you, Lorna.”

  “Stop with all the thank yous already. I’ve explained to you that you don’t have to do that.”

  “I know, and that’s what makes it all the more important to thank you. You are one in a million.”

  Lorna kissed the top of her head. “You know I didn’t think I’d ever be able to love someone again.”

  Renee’s voice was soft and filled with regret. “I didn’t either.”

  “Anna broke my heart. For so long, I’ve felt like I was unlovable and unable to love. That’s why I came here. Hiding from everyone seemed the easiest way to survive.”

  Renee looked into the fire, and for a moment, Lorna thought she’d said too much. Maybe shared a little more than she should have at this point. Sometimes she just didn’t know where the line was and plunged right over it.

  Renee’s voice was soft, but the bitterness was hard to miss. “Better than being the one who did the breaking.”

  With one finger, Lorna turned Renee’s face to hers. “You? I don’t believe it.”

  She nodded slowly, her eyes closed. When she opened them again, there were tears. “Lorna, I lied to him. I promised him that I would love him forever, and the truth is I don’t think I ever really loved him at all.”

  “Him who?”

  “My husband. Or more precisely, my ex-husband. I promised him forever, and then I turned my back on him and walked away. I made him feel unlovable. What kind of person does that?”

  “A confused person. One who is good in their heart and who when she realizes the undeniable truth makes a hard choice that will ultimately save them both.”

  Renee closed her eyes against the tears that threatened to fall and willed herself to stay strong. “I hurt him terribly, and that was wrong.”

  She kissed her cheek and then kissed her gently on the lips. “But in the end you saved him. Is he happy now?”

  Renee opened her eyes, and her gaze met Lorna’s. She nodded and the ghost of a smile crossed her lips. “Yes, I think he is.”

  Lorna smiled. “Okay, that’s a good thing. Are you happy now?”

  Her gaze slid away from Lorna’s to where Clancy lay sleeping peacefully at the edge of the hearth. Then her eyes came back to meet hers again. “Yes.”

  Lorna couldn’t help smiling. “Yeah, me too.”

  She kissed her deeply and felt the flutter of her heart. She pushed her tongue between her lips to touch Renee’s. Every nerve in her body came alive, and somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered why in all the years with Anna she’d never felt like this. Vaguely, she had the sense that until now, she’d never been truly alive.

  Renee pulled back and took Lorna’s face between her hands. “What do you see in me? You have it all, Lorna. You’re attractive with a body to die for, you’re successful, have a fabulous brother, and this beautiful home. All I have left is my mother and my dog. Pretty slim pickings all the way around if you ask me.”

  Lorna couldn’t help it; she laughed. “Are you kidding me? You think that’s all you have going for you? God, Renee, you’re bright and shining and full of life. You’ve made hard choices, the right choices, and then moved forward. You’ve taken a huge hit, losing everything you had, and still you laugh and you smile and you make everyone around you feel good. I would give anything to have even a touch of your magic.”

  Tears glistened in her eyes again, but this time they sparkled. “You’re just trying to get my pants off me.”

  Lorna laughed even harder. “Well, that’s totally true, but cross my heart, Renee, everything else I’ve said is true too. All of it, and best of all, you made me believe in love again, and in my wildest dreams, I didn’t think that was possible.”

  The tears sp
illed down Renee’s face, but a smile let her know they were not tears of sorrow. Renee leaned in and kissed her, first softly and then with passion that took her breath away. No way would she ever grow tired of this.

  With the crackle of the fire and the sound of rain against the windows, she made love to Renee and knew that her heart had been captured as surely as if they’d promised each other a thousand tomorrows. She didn’t have to hear the words. The softness of Renee’s touch, the sweetness of her lips, the fire in her passion, was all she needed on this night. Her heart was full.

  *

  No more! He was at the end of his rope. He would tolerate no more of this ungodly behavior. It went against everything he had taught her about right and wrong, and everything they believed in. God was watching over her, as was their community. Her disregard for the honor of their family was something he could not turn a blind eye to for one more second. Judgment day had arrived.

  He’d awakened to the sound of thunder, the storm alerting him to what was happening beneath the roof of this honorable home. Not for the first time, she was disgracing herself and her family.

  His bare feet touched the cool hardwood of the floor. The air was chilled and carried the scent of rain and ocean. He didn’t notice. All he could think of was what she was doing in his home. Of the disrespect she continued to throw in his face. The room was dark; the only light an occasional flash of lightning. He knew the way without need of any illumination.

  As he descended the stairs, his feet silent on the steps, the sounds of their moans and sighs grew louder. His blood roared, and his breath came quicker. How dare she? It took every ounce of his considerable self-control not to scream. But he could not, for he dared not wake any of the good and decent people who slept blissfully unaware of the sick and unholy thing happening on the floor below.

  In the doorway, he stood silent, motionless. Flesh intertwined with flesh. One creamy white, one touched with color that reminded him of coffee softened by cream. Their clothing littered his magnificent imported rug, an insult to the beautiful craftsmanship of the room’s centerpiece. The sight sent his rage soaring.

  His hands shook as he watched, unable to tear his eyes away from the sight of their writhing bodies, unable to close out the sound of their cries of passion, the womanly scent. Finally, his good Christian soul could stand no more. He strode through the door and right up to where the two women made love before the flickering firelight. He grabbed the darker skinned woman by her long black hair and hauled her roughly to her feet.

  “No more!” With an arm around her neck, he dragged her to the front door.

  “Jeremy!”

  He heard her screams as though they came from a great distance away. The name meant nothing to him. His pace did not slow. His arm did not loosen.

  “Jeremy, for the love of God, STOP. You’re hurting her.”

  He continued out the door, the fight in the woman fading as his hold around her neck forced the breath from her chest. His eyes on the far end of the grass, he moved through the night, rain soaking him to the skin.

  *

  Lorna was frantic. Something was terribly wrong with Jeremy. Except it wasn’t Jeremy. The face that stared out at her wasn’t her brother’s. The angles were sharper, the eyes dead. Gone were the light and the laughter that made Jeremy so special to her and everyone else who had the joy of knowing him.

  She grabbed at her clothes where they’d fallen on the floor at the same time she scrambled to her feet. “Tiana,” she cried as she slipped her shirt over her head. “Help me.” She hopped on one foot and then the other while pulling on her jeans. Feet bare, she raced out the door and into the storm.

  Outside, the sound of Clancy’s frantic barks soared over the pounding rain. He’d followed Jeremy out the door, barking and jumping, trying as she did to get Jeremy’s attention.

  As she’d been racing toward the door, the necklace on the end table caught her eye. It was lying right where she’d left it several days ago. Not knowing why, she grabbed it, holding it for dear life in one hand, and tore outside.

  Cold struck her like a shot to the system as her feet touched the grass now soaked by hours of storm. Her fingers tightened around the necklace, the beautifully crafted beads cutting into the flesh of her palm. A shock ripped up her spine, and everything changed in an instant. Wind whipped through her skirt chilling her legs.

  Wait? What? Her gaze dropped and she was stopped by what she saw. The jeans were gone replaced by a long white nightdress soaked through by rain and clinging to her naked body. Except it wasn’t her body exactly.

  Holy mother of God, she was no longer alone. Her heart raced and her hands shook. In a flash, it came to her she had two choices: freak out or let Tiana help her.

  She went for option number two. “Tell me, Tiana. Show me.”

  It took only a moment for the shock to fade away. In a sense, Lorna figured she’d been waiting for this all along. All that had happened to her since she’d come here wasn’t by accident. There was a reason and she finally understood what it was. Tiana’s voice needed to be heard, for it had been silent far too long. It was her destiny to be Tiana’s voice.

  Not hampered by the wet skirts clinging to her legs, she continued to race across the grass until finally she caught sight of Jeremy. Watching the way he walked made her stop and stare. In her heart, she realized what had been eluding her since the moment he’d grabbed Renee and began to drag her away. Her brother was bigger, stronger, and younger. Like her, he was a seasoned athlete who moved with speed and grace.

  John McCafferty wasn’t any of those things.

  With that sudden flash of understanding, she took off at a dead run. A couple of feet away, she pushed off, and tackled Jeremy. Clancy, who’d been racing beside Jeremy and pulling on his T-shirt the whole time, went tumbling too. Taken off guard, his grip on Renee fell away, and she crumbled motionless to the grass. Jeremy thrashed beneath her, losing Clancy in the bargain but not Lorna. She held steady, vaguely aware that beneath her hands he felt different from the guy she’d grown up with. It was like holding on to a stranger. Clancy abandoned his assault on Jeremy and ran to Renee where he whined and licked her face. Her low moan reassured Lorna that she wasn’t lost.

  “Enough,” she yelled into Jeremy’s face, and wasn’t sure if it she was talking to her brother or if Tiana was screaming at her father. It didn’t matter either way because they were both trying to accomplish the same thing. To end this thing right here and right now before anyone else was hurt.

  “You will not disgrace me again.” His words were so full of venom it made her blood turn cold. He twisted hard and she lost her grip on him. Like a fox, he scrambled toward Renee, stopping only at the low growl from Clancy.

  Question asked. Question answered. John McCafferty. “It’s over,” she said and understood the words were not hers. Tiana was speaking to her father.

  His face was almost purple with rage, raining slashing across it until it looked as though it was sliding away from his skull. It distorted his face so much there wasn’t so much as a trace of Jeremy left. “NO.”

  “It’s over, Father. It’s over.”

  “No, it will never be over.”John McCafferty appeared to have no intention of releasing his hold on either this place or his daughter. Not in life and certainly not in death. In a lightning fast movement, he lunged past Clancy and grabbed Renee once more. Her body hung limp in his arms. He didn’t seem to notice. The cliff was at his back as he began to back slowly toward it while dragging Renee with him.

  Lorna’s heart lurched at the sight and she began to run toward them. No way was he going to reach that cliff with her woman in his arms. This time she joined her voice with Tiana’s, their shared strength loud and clear on the night air. “Let her go!”

  “No.” His voice was flat and ice cold.

  “Father, it is time.”

  “I will kill her again and again. However many times it takes to keep your soul from damnation and m
y family name from disgrace. I will bury her here once more and you will do as I tell you.”

  “Let her go.” Their voices joined. Lorna felt the despair and sadness that filled Tiana’s heart. She loved Catherine, but she loved her father despite everything.

  His arm once more went to Renee’s neck, and Lorna could see the way it tightened. He was going to kill her. She didn’t remember doing it, but somehow the shovel that had been lying on grass was in her hands. Almost as if she watched from a distance, her arms came up and the shovel began to move through the air. The vibrations went up her arms and through her body as it connected with Jeremy’s head. She screamed and he crumbled to the ground at the same time his hold on Renee fell away.

  “Holy mother of God.” She dropped to his side, tears mixing with the rain that refused to relent. “Please don’t die,” she pleaded.

  She almost started laughing as he moaned and murmured. “Ow.”

  Only then did she look up and just as quickly looked back down. Her jeans were back. She was alone. Slowly she turned head and gasped. There beside her was the ghostly visage of Tiana kneeling beside the crumpled body of a man.

  “I’m sorry, Father,” she whispered as she leaned down and placed a kiss on his cheek. “It was time for this to be over.”

  Thunder shook the night followed by a flash of lightning that pulled Lorna’s gaze to the sky. When she looked down again, Tiana and her father were gone.

  Jeremy moaned again and his eyelids popped open. He stared up at her with confusion. “What the hell are we doing out here?”

  She didn’t answer, just kissed him on the cheek and then scooted over until she knelt beside Renee. “Are you all right? Did he hurt you?” Her hands were trembling as she ran them over Renee’s body. Her skin was cold and wet, her eyes slightly unfocused.

  Renee’s voice was raspy and shaking. She blinked and seemed to focus. “I’m all right, I think.”