Patrick pumped his brakes in an attempt to slow the car. The monument circle was too close. Several seconds of fancy steering kept the car from slamming into the concrete and metal statue. He left the engine running and leaped out. Long strides carried him to the path leading to the Overlook. The scuffled snow bore witness to Susan's struggles.
"Susan," he shouted. The wind flung the words against his face. He used the stone wall beside the path to propel himself up the trail. Evidence of her fight grew with each step he took. At the midpoint, he paused and gasped for breath.
A siren blared and ended in a gurgle. "Pat, wait," Greg shouted.
"I can't. Susan's alone with a madman."
"Be careful. He may be armed."
Instead of growing cautious, Greg's warning spurred Patrick along the path. Was Martin armed? Wouldn't he have shot Susan at the house? Patrick's breathing became labored. On Monday he intended to start working out. He gathered a handful of snow and lunged the final few feet to the level area.
The struggling couple teetered at the edge of the Overlook. "Fight, Susan, fight." As he ran toward the couple, he aimed and hurled the snowball. His foot hit an icy patch and he fell to the ground.
* * *
"Fight, Susan fight."
He flinched. The commanding voice startled him. Who had come here and why? This was his special place. "No," he screamed in defiance.
Not fair. Not fair. Why would anyone want to save Susan? He had trusted her. She had let Mommy die.
A lightning storm of pain, exquisite and awesome built in his chest. Numbness crept down his arm.
"Mommy, help me," he cried. "Not yet. Not yet. It's much too soon. Help me, please help me." Tears ran down his face. He braced for a final attempt to push Susan over the railing. "Help me, please help me."
* * *
"Fight Susan, fight." She heard Patrick's voice, but he wasn't here. The words rose from her unconscious mind. There was only the cold, the snow and the man who wanted to kill her. The encouragement acted as a goad. She had to save herself.
"Mommy, help me. Not yet, not yet. It's much too soon. Help me, please help me."
The volunteer's desperate and strained cry brought the realization that his exhaustion was as deep as hers. She shook her head. Why had he asked her for help? Why did he want her to contribute to her own death?
She gulped a breath of frigid air and braced herself. The pressure of his hands against her shoulders slackened an infinitesimal degree. She tightened her muscles and lunged against him. He staggered back. She pushed again, then twisted her body and smacked him with her hip. He toppled. She landed on his chest and rolled across him. She stared at the snow. Exhaustion kept her from accepting the chance to escape.
Like a crab, he moved across the ground. Hypnotized by his steady progress, she stared until some niggling thought told her she was the quarry. She slid away.
"No," he screamed. "Mommy!"
His cry extended into infinity. Susan collapsed with her cheek against the snow. She felt so cold. She had to move. Finally, she lifted her head and watched the man lying on the snow.
There was something she had to do. She pushed to her knees and got to her feet. Her hands brushed her snow-clotted coat. The world narrowed to focus on the man who stared at the dark sky.
She knew him. His hands clawed the snow the way his mother's had clawed the sheets.
"Mr. Martin, are you all right?" The familiar words formed a path through the chaos of her thoughts. She knelt beside him. His hands stilled. His eyes lost their terror.
Dead, he was dead. She smiled, then shook her head. How could she rejoice over a death? She was a nurse. Nurses helped people. A response, carefully honed and nurtured, guided her actions. Her fingers touched his neck and searched for a carotid pulse.
Patrick gasped for breath and rose to his knees. The belly whopper on the snow-covered grass had winded him. Slowly, he got to his feet and stared at the scene on the other side of the picnic area. What was Susan doing?
"Mr. Martin, are you all right?" she shouted.
Her question startled Patrick. He strode past the picnic tables. Was she crazy? CPR for the man who had murdered her friends and tried to kill her?
"No pulse. Check respirations."
Her toneless voice frightened him. Her hazel eyes, devoid of expression, stared into the distance. "He's dying. Call a code."
"You're not at the hospital."
"He killed Leila, Trish, Barbara, Mendoza and De Witt. He hurt Julie. He has to live so he can pay."
"Did he kill Dr. Barclay?" From the corner of his eye, Patrick saw Greg and the uniformed officer top the rise.
"He must have. Who else wanted him dead? No. De Witt did. He saw it happen." Tears flowed down her cheeks. "I have to help him."
"Someone else will." Patrick drew her away from the body. He touched her hair and wiped her tears with his fingers. "You're safe." He pulled her into an embrace. The instant his arms tightened around her, she began to struggle.
Though she felt too exhausted to fight the arms that held her too tight, too close, she tried. She didn't want to die. Patrick waited for her and she wanted to live and be with him.
Why was Mr. Martin so strong when she was so weak? She put her hands on his chest and pushed. She kicked at his legs. Tears born of her frustration fell freely.
Lips touched hers. She twisted her head away from the kiss. Hands caught her head and held it fast. She stared into blue eyes, not dark ones glittering with madness.
"I love you."
The whispered words removed the last vestiges of her fear-edged insanity. "Patrick." She clung to his name and to him.
"Why didn't you wait for me this afternoon? Why did you leave work early? Why didn't you stop to see Julie before you left the hospital? You could have been killed and left me to endure a long and lonely life. I want you in my arms forever, but if not, for as long as you'll have me."
His words battered her. His confession soothed. She waited until he sputtered to a halt.
"I love you," she said.
His lips brushed her cheek. "I'm glad."
While still held in the circle of his arms, she looked back at the volunteer. "Did I actually try to revive him or was that part of the nightmare?"
"You tried. I thought you'd gone crazy."
"I had. Thank you."
"For what? You saved yourself."
"For being here. For being you." She smiled. "Do you think we can learn to be partners?"
"We're going to try." His kiss was tender yet filled with desire and love.
She felt as though she had come home. Patrick wasn't Jim. Silence would have been her husband's punishment for her failure to step to his tune. She leaned against Patrick. "Let's go home."
"Shouldn't you go to the hospital to be checked out?"
"Home. Everything I need will be there."
Patrick squeezed her hand. Tomorrow there would be questions and answers. Tonight, she wanted to be held and loved by him and no words.
The End
Books We Love
Books by Janet Lane Walters
Seducing A Pair of Blakefield Friends
Seducing the Blakefield Sisters: Double Feature
Seducing the Blakefield Brothers
Seducing The Baker (At First Sight Book 6)
Seducing The Attorney (At First Sight Book 5)
Seducing The Doctor (At First Sight Book 4)
Seducing the Innkeeper (At First Sight Book 3)
Seducing the Chef (At First Sight Book 1)
Seducing the Photographer (At First Sight Book 2)
The Cancer – Capricorn Connection (Opposites in Love Book 4}
The Gemini – Sagittarius Connection (Opposites in Love Book 3)
The Taurus – Scorpio Connection (Opposites in Love Book 2)
The Aries – Libra Connection (Opposites in Love Book 1)
A Marriage Takes Two
Sanctuary's Ending (The Goddess of Solunda Bo
ok 1)
Dragons of Fyre (Island of Fyre Book 2)
Wizards of Fyre (Island of Fyre Book 3)
Temple of Fyre (Island of Fyre)
Pursuing Doctor West
Bast's Warrior (An Alternate Egypt Book 1)
Horu's Chosen (An Alternate Egypt Book 2)
Toth's Priest (An Alternate Egypt Book 3)
Amber Chronicles
Shattered Dreams (Moonchild)
Rekindled Dreams (Moonchild)
Melodic Dreams (Moonchild)
Divided Dreams (Moonchild)
A Double Opposition
Moon Summoned
Lines of Fire (The Guild House - Defenders Hall)
Code Blue
The Doctor's Dilemma
Heart Throb
Books We Love Special Edition - Janet Lane-Walters
Gemstones
Choices
Healwoman
Young Adult books By J L Walters
Escape (Affinities Book 1 - Young Adult Fantasy)
Havens (Affinities Book 2 - Young Adult fantasy, Books We Love)
Searches (Affinities Book 3 - Young Adult Fantasy, Books We Love)
Confrontations (Affinities)
Janet Lane Walters was born in Wilkensburg, Pennsylvania on July 17, 1936, reported to be the hottest day of the summer. She has been a published author since 1968 beginning with short stories and moving into novels when an editor told her a short story sounded like a synopsis for a novel. In the 1970s and 1980s she published four sweet nurse romance novels. Then she returned to school to earn a BS in Nursing and a BA in English. Returning to work as a nurse to help put four children through college, she put her writing career on hold. In 1993 she retired from nursing and began writing again. A new nurse romance followed in print. Then she discovered electronic publishing and since 1998 has been electronically published.
Janet calls herself an eclectic writer since she moves from genre to genre. There are mysteries featuring Katherine Miller, a former nurse who seems to stumble over bodies wherever she goes. Using her interest in Astrology, she has several series that use Astrology as a premise for the stories. Once she earned enough money to travel to Ireland by casting charts for people. She has many books in the romance genre, some of them are contemporary and are nurse romance, and others fall into the fantasy or paranormal forms of romance. Interested in reincarnation, she has used this as a jumping point for at least two novels. Two of her novels deal with alternate worlds using a love affair with Ancient Egypt.
Under her other name, J.L. Walters, she has written a YA fantasy series called Affinities. She has also written a non-fiction book with co-author Jane Toombs that won the EPIC Award in 2003 for best Non-fiction. During her career she has received other awards and has a number of great reviews.
Besides her four adult children, she has seven grandchildren. Five of them are the models for the YA series. The other two arrived too late to play a large role in the series. Four of her grandchildren are bi-racial and three are Chinese so the eclectic even invades her family. She has been married to the same man for more than 50 years. He's a psychiatrist who refuses to cure her obsession for writing.
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