by Naomi Niles
My heart was frozen in my chest, and it was impossible to breathe. Swallowing back the bile in my throat, I forced myself to look up and see which of my beloved the monster had killed first. It no longer mattered which of us was next. I didn't want to live without either of them, so Stuart was welcome to kill me, too.
It took a moment for my eyes to take in the shocking sight of the victim, laying face down in the pool. It was Stuart, shot clean through the head. Tate climbed quickly out of the water and pulled Halle into his protective arms. She was white with shock, but perfectly okay, as was Tate.
"How did this happen? Who saved you?" I asked Tate as I joined him in hugging Halle tight.
"An old friend," our savior said, and I'd never felt more grateful.
Chapter Seventy-Eight: Tate
Stuart was crazy, completely insane. It infuriated me that I was trapped in this damn swimming pool with no way to get out. As strong and fast as I was, there was no way I could hoist myself out of the water and tackle him before he would have time to pull the trigger of that damn gun he had pointed at my little girl’s head. The best thing I could do was try to get him to point the gun at me. At least then it wasn't pointed at her, but once I was dead, I knew he would just shoot her anyway.
He'd already killed Morton and Blake, my two best bodyguards. The others in the house may have already been taken out.
I saw Rachelle slowly moving her way towards the exit, and I prayed to God she would make it out. At least then she would be safe, and maybe she could call for help in time for someone to save Halle. It no longer mattered what happened to me. I was prepared to sacrifice myself to save them.
When it became clear Stuart was about to pull the trigger, I saw Rachelle lunge for the panic button I had forgotten was by the door, activating the silent alarm. Stuart saw it, too, and I saw his hand tighten its grip in preparation to pull the trigger.
There was no more time to wait. I had to act. I launched myself out of the pool by bracing my hands on the side and hoisting myself up onto the tile with pure adrenaline heightening my upper body strength. I was going to tackle Stuart to the ground and wrestle the gun away from him before he could hurt Halle, but I was too late. The gunshot echoed through the air before I was even half-way out of the water.
I didn't feel the bullet pierce my chest, so I realized in a terrifying moment that he must have shot Halle – but she was okay, too. Suddenly, the real victim of the bullet became clear to me: Stuart had been shot through the head.
He fell forward into the pool, landing with a splash into the water, turning it instantly pink. I leaped out as quickly as my muscles would allow and pulled Halle into my arms, hugging her tightly to me. She trembled but didn't cry, deep in shock.
Within moments, Rachelle was with us, and the three of us all hugged and held each other, weeping with relief.
"How did this happen? Who saved you?" Rachelle asked, clearly as shocked as I was. I truly didn't know what to tell her, then Detective Mitch Miller stepped out from behind the pump house.
"An old friend," he said, and I rushed over to greet him with a hug and a slap on the back.
"What are you doing here? How did you know?"
"Your security man, Barnes, texted me a single word, Stu. I came right over right away, just in time to hear Haynes give his little confession. When he moved to fire, I took my shot. It's the first time I had to kill a perpetrator since the day I got this scar." He rubbed his thumb over the ugly blemish above his left eye.
"I don't know how to thank you for saving all our lives." I shook his hand in a prolonged grip. Our eyes connected in a brief moment that conveyed my gratitude, and he grunted with a quick nod to show he understood.
Rachelle wasn't as reserved with her emotions and openly cried as she hugged the gruff detective and kissed his unshaven cheek. "Thank you so much, Detective Miller. You're a true hero to us all."
"Just doing my job." He flushed and didn't know what to do with his hands. Seeing the tough guy feeling so awkward made me smile, and I gently pulled Rachelle away from him to save the guy from embarrassment.
"I'm sure he has a lot more work to do, and Halle needs us."
Miller came the closest to smiling that I've ever seen him, and said, "Yeah, but this will be the best kind of work. Haynes won't be able to hurt anyone else, and we can finally close the case files on all his murders. I just wish I'd gotten here sooner, before he'd been able to add your security guards to his list of victims."
"Me, too. They were good men and did their best to protect us," I said, feeling the heavy burden of guilt that they had died because of me, even though deep in my heart I knew Stuart was ultimately responsible for his own actions. I had already decided to set up a memorial fund for their families, so they would never want for anything the rest of their lives. I was going to make a sizeable donation to the policeman's charity ball, too.
Miller called in his team to take care of Stuart’s body, and of course, we were all interviewed. When the last officer finally left, we were exhausted; it had been an incredibly long day.
Halle had fallen asleep on my lap, unwilling to be out of my sight after the traumatic shootout with Stuart. She was going to get the best therapist my money could buy to make sure she didn't suffer long-lasting effects from all she'd been through.
"I guess I should carry her up to bed, but I can't stand the thought of her waking up alone in the nursery," I said to Rachelle, thinking that perhaps we should let her sleep in our bed with us.
Rachelle surprised me with an even better suggestion. "Why don't we stay in a hotel tonight? I don't know about you, but I don't think I could sleep in this house."
"I'm glad you said that." I reached out for her hand, with Halle still on my lap. "I've wanted to talk to you about something."
"What is it?" She sat by my side and stared at with her big blue eyes looking so bright and expectant.
"I've decided to sell this house and move to France."
"Because of what happened tonight?" She looked stunned.
"Actually, I've been thinking about it for a while, ever since Missy's murder. Halle asks me questions about her every time she sees something that reminds her of her mother, just like she used to do about Rose. I'm afraid she'll never be able to move past those deaths if she's surrounded by memories of them."
"So, you can redecorate or even remodel. Change the house so it doesn't remind Halle of them. Children are very resilient. A new coat of paint and a change of furniture, and it will be like she's living in a new house, while still being able to keep your childhood home," Rachelle suggested, and I knew I had to tell her what I'd done.
"You don't understand. I need to make a fresh start, not just for Halle, but for me. So much negativity is associated with this house for me – the abuse from my father, Missy's drug abuse and the fights we had, Rose's gory murder and the horrible scandal that I'd been the one who'd killed her, and then seeing Missy laying dead in the garage, in a pool of her own blood.
“I'll never be able to use the swimming pool again without remembering the gut-wrenching feeling of seeing Stuart with a gun held to Halle's head or thinking that was the moment we would all die and I was helpless to stop him. There's just so many bad memories here; it's like the house is haunted with negative energy. I don't want to live in it another day, let alone raise my daughter in it."
"I see. It sounds like your mind is made up," Rachelle said sadly, and I was surprised by how attached she was to this house I had come to hate.
In a firm voice, I stated, "I have. In fact, I already put the house up for sale. My agent, Addison Fisk, found a buyer and I accepted the escrow payment. The deal is done. We have a month to move out."
Chapter Seventy-Nine: Rachelle
"You sold the house!" I couldn't believe it. This was the last thing I had expected. The Holland Mansion was so big and old, a fixture in Beverly Hills from its inception. The glorious building would surely stand forever, and I had expected Tate to kee
p it in his possession and stay in it for as long as he lived.
I'd come to think of the vast estate as my home, and best of all, it was within easy driving distance from my mother's apartment in downtown Los Angeles. Now that I'd decided to spend as much time with her before her death as I could, it was impossible for me to move anyplace where I couldn't be with her every day.
Staring blankly at Tate, all I could say was, "When were you going to tell me?"
"I wanted to tell you the night it happened, but too much was going on," he started to explain, but I didn't want to hear it.
A rage replaced my heartbreak, anger that the happiness I had finally found was suddenly being ripped from me. I couldn't listen to him anymore and shouted at him. "You expect me to move with you to France, just like that? What about my life? What about my needs and plans?"
"You'll love it there. I found a gorgeous property with a vineyard. It will be a fabulous place for you and me to raise Halle together as a family. Together, we'll make it a place we can all call home."
"You told me this was my home, and you wanted me to live here with you as your equal, but I guess I'm still no better than the hired help," I snapped at him. "You sold this place without even telling me and then decided to move me out of the country without even asking me. Well, forget it. You can go to France without me."
I stormed out of the living room, heading up the stairs to my room where I intended to pack my clothes and leave that night for my mother’s.
Tate started to follow me, but Halle was still on his lap, and he didn't want to wake her. Very carefully, he extracted himself from under her, leaving her to lie on the couch, but I was already halfway up the stairs by the time he caught up with me.
"It's not as bad as you make it sound. I had to take the deal to sell the house when it was offered, or I'd lose it, but France is beautiful. I know you'll love it there. Let's all make a fresh start together."
Emotion shimmered in his gorgeous hazel green eyes, and I was almost moved to agree. It would have been so wonderful to live out the rest of my days with him and Halle, like a real family – but I had other family I couldn't abandon.
"I can't," I stammered, feeling utterly overwhelmed as tears filled my eyes.
"Why not?" Tate insisted on knowing. "Why do you want to stay in this place where so many bad things have happened to us all?"
"Not all memories are terrible," I explained softly. "The zoo Halle loves to go to is the same one my father took me to when I was a little girl, before he died. This house is where I met you and fell in love with you and Halle. My mother lives just a short drive away. If we move away, I won't be able to visit her every day.
“In fact, even that might not be enough. I was planning to tell you that I wanted to stay with her in our apartment for a while to spend as much time with her as possible and come back to the mansion on weekends to be with you and Halle."
"When did you decide this?" He didn't look the least bit happy about the idea.
"The last time I called to talk to her, her nurse told me everything. I get the feeling she may not have much longer." I choked on the words, and tears sprang to my eyes.
"I thought the cancer treatments were working." It was Tate's turn to look taken aback, and his angry scowl turned to one of concern.
"They were, but the infection she got took a serious toll on her. Her immune system is too weak to continue the treatments, and until she gets stronger, her doctor has put them on hold."
"Doesn't that put her at risk of having the cancer come back?" He was sincerely worried about my mother's condition, and I was touched by his concern.
"Yes." I nodded, and the tears spilled unbidden from my eyes. "If there's one thing I've learned from the recent tragedies I've seen, it's that life is precious, and tomorrow isn't guaranteed for any of us. I need to spend as much time with Mama as I can, while I have the chance. I didn't want to have to choose between you and her. I thought I could be with her during the week and spend my weekends with you, but..."
I couldn't finish, but I didn't have to. He held me and said regretfully, "But then I yanked the mat out from under you by selling the mansion and moving Halle to France."
"I understand why you had to do it," I said, trying to ease his guilt. "This place is filled with a lot of bad memories. I can't even spend the night here and would rather be in a hotel. I can see why you'd want to raise Halle someplace as far away from here as possible. She deserves a fresh start, and so do you."
"I don't want to lose you," he said as he cupped my slender face and tilted my lips towards his. Then he took my mouth with his in a loving embrace that stole my breath away. My lips parted under the power of his passion and our tongues clashed as the kiss deepened into one of fiery lust. A quiet moan of pleasure escaped my throat, and I let my hands wrap around his strong torso.
"I love you," I whispered as his hands caressed my body over my clothes. If it hadn't been for Halle sleeping on the couch in the living room, I was certain we'd have been making love on the stairs, but we had parental responsibilities. Correction, Tate had the responsibilities of a parent for his young child, while I had the responsibilities of an adult child for her aging parent. They were entirely different things, and we had completely different destinies.
"So, you'll come away with me?" he asked, with his eyes full of hope.
I kissed him one last time, long and slow and deep, hoping to impart all the feelings I had for him in that one goodbye embrace. Then I touched my hand to his strong jawline, looked him deeply in the eyes, and said sadly, "No, I can't. Please understand, my mother and I were all each other had for so long. I can't abandon her now for my own selfish happiness, no matter how much I want to."
"What if we take your mother with us?" he suggested, with an air of desperation creeping into his voice.
It was a wonderful idea, and I considered it very seriously, hoping it might be the solution to our problem, but if Mama was too weak to even come to the phone, how could she survive of move of that magnitude? Besides, her doctor was here, and the home where she lived with her beloved husband and raised her child.
Tate wanted to move Halle away from the place that was filled with ugly memories, but I knew Mama wanted to stay in the place where she had formed so many beautiful ones. If she was truly at the end of her days here on earth, she should be able to spend them in the place where she had lived so happily for so many years. It would be wrong to ask her to move, and I couldn't do that to her.
In a choked voice, I explained all this to Tate. Looking down at my feet I said, "I hope you can understand why I have to stay here with Mama until she either gets better or passes away. I couldn't live with myself if I did things any other way."
He lifted my chin so he could look into my eyes and said softly, "I understand. I'm just really going to miss you, and Halle will, too. You're one of a kind."
"I'll stay until you find a new nanny to take care of her," I said. Tate leaned in to kiss me, but my emotions overwhelmed me, and I pulled away from his embrace. I ran from the room, not wanting him to see me fall apart.
I wanted his last memories of me to be good ones, not images of me sobbing uncontrollably. He needed at least one happy memory to be able to take with him from this mansion, and I hope that our brief love affair could be it.
Chapter Eighty: Rachelle
I ran up the stairs, blinded by my tears, but when I got to the top, I didn't know where to go. I couldn't go to the master bedroom that I shared with Tate, so I fled to the little bedroom connected to the nursery that was meant to be the quarters for the live-in nanny. This room had been mine when I first moved into the mansion so long ago, and it only seemed fitting to return to it now.
Once inside, I locked the door and flung myself onto the narrow bed. I buried my face in the pillow and sobbed all the pain and heartbreak I felt over having to say goodbye to Tate and Halle. They were the only two people I loved as much as Mama, but my loyalty had to remain with her.
<
br /> After all, she had raised me from birth, and we'd supported each other through good times and bad. I owed everything to her, even the happiness I'd found with Tate. After all, it was Mama who had suggested I apply for the job as a nanny, and all the blissful happiness I'd found as a result could ultimately be traced back to her love and guidance.
If I had to sacrifice my future happiness for her, it only seemed fair in light of all the sacrifices she made for me over the years, especially after my father died and she had to raise me alone as a single mother. I just wished there had been a way that I could have had both.
I cried into my pillow until there were more no more tears left in my entire body, and I finally drifted off to sleep, utterly exhausted from the emotions of the day.
I awoke late the next day with the late morning sun high in the sky, and Tate's tender touch, gently stroking my back until I came into fully awake.
"Good morning, sleeping beauty." He grinned at me as I rubbed my eyes and sat up in bed.
"How did you get in here? I thought I locked the door." I blinked.
"You locked the door leading to the hall, but you forgot the one leading to the nursery." He chuckled. "It's a good thing I had Emma take Halle to stay at the hotel, or she'd have been in here at dawn, jumping on your bed and waking you up."
"I wouldn't have minded." I smiled wistfully. "I had gotten used to having her for an alarm clock. I'm going to hate going back to the electronic kind."
"Well, you won't have to." He looked down at me with that sexy grin I always found so irresistible. "I thought about it long and hard last night, and I'm not going to let you go."
"But, my mother needs me."
"I need you," he insisted, and without warning, he pulled me to him, crushing my round breasts against his hard chest. I started to object, but he silenced me with a kiss that overtook my mouth and stole my breath away.
