The Edge of Destiny

by Emma Easter

  A light entered Olivia’s eyes, and she sighed heavily. “You’re right, Rachel.” She began to sob. “What have I done? I should never have called you to come to the house. I should never have left. It was so selfish of me.” She hugged her boys to herself and wept, causing them to begin to cry as well.

  Lily put her hand on Olivia’s shoulder, and Rachel said, “It’s not your fault, Olivia. You did the right thing.”

  Daniel came back, and Rachel said to him, “Please take the boys upstairs and find somewhere for them to hide.”

  He nodded.

  Another loud gunshot sounded, and Rachel felt like she was going to explode. She took Emily from Keith and hugged her tightly. Emily began to cry, and she tried to soothe her little girl. Someone yelled from outside. “Fifteen minutes left!”

  Davina whimpered and paced the common room. “What will we do now? Mike’s going to kill us all.”

  “He isn’t!” Keith roared. “I won’t let him.”

  “You can’t do anything about it!” Davina screamed, tugging at her hair. “What are you going to do? Fight off all his armed men with your bare hands?”

  “Davina, please calm down,” Rachel said, even though she was freaking out herself. “Let’s try to think about solutions rather than the problem.”

  “There’s no solution or anything to think about.” Olivia stared at her. “We have to go out and meet Mike. We have only fifteen minutes.”

  “Maybe I should go outside and see if I can try to talk some sense into him,” Rachel said.

  Keith shook his head. “No, Rachel, you’re not going anywhere. You know Mike resents you. Actually, he hates you for marrying me. He’s definitely going to hurt you if you go out there.”

  “But we can’t stand around here waiting for him to come in and kill us all,” Rachel said.

  Olivia began to head toward the door, but Rachel pulled her back.

  Lily said, “Maybe Taylor can help. We should call him.”

  Rachel put her hand on her forehead and shut her eyes. “Why didn’t I think of that? Lily, please call him. Tell him to call the police in Prospect.”

  “But what can the police do?” Davina screamed. “Before they get here, it’ll be too late. Mike will have massacred everyone.”

  Rachel sighed. In spite of how hysterical Davina was, she was right. “That’s true,” she said, “but we should still call Taylor so he can inform the police of our situation while we figure out what to do here. We might have to go out to buy the women some time.”

  Lily shifted on her feet. “Rachel, you should call him,” she said, looking down at the floor. “He might not pick up my call, and we need him to answer quickly.”

  “Why wouldn’t he pick up your call?” Rachel asked, and then waved her hand before Lily could answer. “Keith, do you have your cell phone here?”

  Keith dug his hand into his pocket and brought out his cell phone. He handed it to her. She glanced at the time on the phone and almost collapsed in fear. They only had five minutes.

  “We have to go out and meet Mike now,” she handed the phone back to Keith. “Call him, Keith. Tell him what’s going on.” She turned to Olivia and Davina. “We need to go out to meet Mike.”

  “But he asked for his children as well,” Davina said. “He might not be satisfied with just the three of us.”

  “You’re not going out to meet that crazy man,” Keith said to Rachel.

  “Call Taylor, now!” Rachel yelled. She sighed and said softly, “Please, Keith.”

  Lily asked, “What if we send someone out to give him a message?”

  “A message?” Rachel looked at her.

  “Yes. We can ask him to give you guys a bit more time to come out since you have to gather the children together. That will buy us a bit of time while we try to figure out what to do.”

  Rachel nodded. “That’s a good idea. It might not work, but I have nothing else. Who will go out to speak to Mike?”

  Daniel stepped forward. “I’ll go and give Mike the message. I don’t have to step out of the gate. I can stay just inside and tell him what you want me to.”

  Rachel shook her head slowly. “No, Daniel. A man, especially a former member of the squad team, would be too threatening for Mike and his men. They will kill you as soon as they set eyes on you. That might set Mike off, and he’ll storm in here in anger with his men. Besides, we need you here. I’ll go.”

  “No, Rachel,” Keith said, the cellphone pressed to his ear. “I’ll go.”

  “Certainly not, Keith,” Rachel said. “You heard what I just told Daniel. Besides, Mike despises you more than anyone else here. I’ll be fine. I won’t leave the premises. Mike won’t try to grab me since he doesn’t want just me. He wants all of us. I’ll tell him it will take a bit more time to prepare Emily and the boys to come out and meet him.” She went and kissed Keith’s cheek and then opened the door and walked out of the house.

  She walked to the gate, her heart pounding with fear. The gate was slightly open, and she knew the men would have stormed in at Mike’s request a long time ago if not for the fact that the Mike she knew was even now taking obscene pleasure in his ability to make them all squirm in prolonged terror. She opened the gate slightly and stuck her head out. “Mike,” she called to him. He was standing right in front of the gate, but he turned around. When he saw her, a triumphant smile touched his lips.

  “Mike, I need to speak to you.”

  He smirked and shook his head. “Your time is up, Rachel. You all need to come out.”

  “Please, just give us an hour more. You know how the kids are. They are refusing to cooperate. We need some time to soothe them and prepare them to come out. Emily’s been asleep. We need to wake her up and get her ready to come out.”

  Mike stared suspiciously at her and then nodded. He glanced at his wristwatch and said, “You have ten minutes. There’ll be no more excuses once your time is up. We’ll come in, take all that belongs to me, and kill everyone else.”

  “Mike, why would you do such an evil thing?”

  He glanced at his wristwatch again. “Nine minutes and fifty-three seconds.”

  She glared at him and then turned around and hurried back into the house. Everyone gathered around her, and she said “We have about nine minutes. After that, he’ll come in and his men will start shooting.”

  “That beast!” Keith growled.

  Olivia was standing near the window. She stared outside and said, “It’s Mike’s way. He’s extremely jealous, especially over things he thinks belong to him. He believes we — his wives and children — are his property and that we were taken away from him. He has to get us back no matter what it costs.” Olivia’s face twisted with pain. “I should have known all this and not done what I did.”

  “Stop it, Olivia,” Rachel said. “You did the right thing.”

  Keith went to Rachel and put his arms around her. “I won’t ever let you go,” he said, hugging her.

  She smiled sadly and then pulled away slightly to look him in the eye. “I might have to, Keith. I can’t let Mike come in here and harm these innocent women. You know that would be wrong.”

  “I’ve told Taylor everything,” Keith said. “He’s probably made the call to the police station now. Maybe they’ll be able to come before crazy Mike has a chance to do anything. Then you don’t have to go out.”

  “You know that’s unlikely,” Rachel told him. “There has to be something we can do,” she desperately looked around her.

  “What?” Davina asked angrily. “I don’t see any way out of this.”

  “There has to be a way,” Rachel answered. And yet she couldn’t think of anything. Davina was right. Unless a miracle happened and the police arrived in less than nine minutes, they would all perish or be taken captive by Mike. She would never see Keith again, even if she survived, because Mike would definitely kill him. Fear gripped her once more, but she pushed it away. Think of a solution, Rachel.

  Keith said, “What if
you all go out to meet him and, after he has you, he still tells his men to come in and kill everyone in here?”

  Rachel tugged at her hair, fear and desperation overwhelming her. She took a deep breath to try to calm herself down and said, “That’s very possible, but we still have no choice. Like Davina said, I don’t see a way out of this except to go out and meet Mike with the kids.”

  “We’ll find a way,” Keith told her. “God will make a way.”

  Rachel nodded but Keith’s words of assurance did nothing to calm her fears. If the Lord was going to help them, He had to do so now, before they ran out of time.

  Chapter 17

  Taylor finished making the call to the police station and began to pace his living room. His hands shook and his legs trembled, and he had to sit back down again. “No, Lord! This can’t be happening!” Fear threatened to consume him. “Lily is in there, Lord. And Rachel. Please help them.” He felt like storming out of the house and rushing to the Restoration House to fight off Mike and those evil men of his. But that wouldn’t be possible. He felt an overwhelming helplessness settle over him and he groaned.

  “Lord, all those women in the house. Lily! Why didn’t I make her come with me?” He had never felt this afraid before. What would he do if he lost Rachel and Lily? He placed his hand on his forehead and shut his eyes. He couldn’t bear to imagine it. He groaned again. He could not let anything happen to them. He had to do something. The police wouldn’t arrive in time.

  He stood up and paced the living room again. He couldn’t just sit down when the life of his sister, his niece, and all those innocent women were in danger. When the life of the woman he loved was on the line.

  He wanted to pass out as he thought about Lily. How would he go on if anything happened to her? Lily, I’m so sorry. He loved her with everything in him. Now he could admit it. He had been wrong for ignoring her. He’d thought that keeping his distance was the right thing to do because of their extreme attraction to each other. Because he didn’t want to betray the memory of his wife. But he had to tell himself the truth. He was hopelessly in love with Lily, and if anything happened to her, he wouldn’t be able to go on. He couldn’t let anything happen to her.

  “Lord, what do I do?”

  An idea came to him, and he took a deep breath and mulled it over. It wasn’t much of an idea. It was unlikely that bull-headed liar would help him, especially with the vendetta he had against Rachel. If Taylor had known the full story, he would not have been so quick to help that man out. He’d been lied to, but Rachel had told him the full truth. The man owed him his life and those of his men. It was the reason why he had not gone after Rachel since.

  Taylor dialed the phone number quickly. It didn’t matter that Dennis Hamilton had a vendetta against Rachel. He needed the man’s help right now. Dennis had told Taylor he owed him a huge debt of gratitude.

  Taylor sighed. Dennis owed him much more than he realized. Dennis had withheld the truth from him for a long time, not telling him that he’d nearly killed Rachel to hold on to his grip on power. If not for the Lord, Taylor would have sent that man packing from his house. The flood that had swept Dennis and his men into the river had not been accidental, as Dennis had told him, but a supernatural act to save Rachel and Keith. Rachel would be angry with him for keeping such a huge secret from her, but then again, if Dennis could help, she might thank him for it later.

  He waited as the phone rang, and finally Dennis’s voice came on the other end of the line. Without greeting the man, he said, “I need your help!”

  “What is it?”

  “The Restoration House is in trouble, Dennis. My sister, her friend, Lily, her husband and their child, and all the women there are in danger.” He told Dennis in as few words as possible everything Keith had told him and said they had little time left. “You have to go and help them. You and your men.”

  Dennis laughed. “You’re kidding, right? You know what your sister did to me, and yet you want me to help her?”

  “Dennis! You kept the truth from me for a long time, and I only found out recently that you tried to kill my sister and her husband. And yet I still let you and your men stay in my house. Now, you will help me get rid of Mike.”

  “I won’t, Taylor!”

  “Did you hear me?” Taylor yelled. “Gunmen have surrounded the Restoration House and will kill all the women there in a few minutes. You have to help them. You owe me. You promised.”

  “You should have known better than to believe me when I make a promise,” Dennis said. “Please, Taylor. I don’t want to hear anything about Rachel anymore. It’s enough that I’m hiding in Fallow Creek like a fugitive. A place I used to lead. I haven’t bothered her at all because of you. That is the promise I made to you. But I draw the line there. I’m not going to help her or any one of those women in that House. Now if there’s nothing else you want to tell me, I have to go.”

  “Dennis!” Taylor screamed in desperation. “Listen, Rachel told me your wives and children are in that house.”

  “That’s a lie! You’re just saying that in order to get me to help her.”

  “Do you want to stake their lives on it? I’m not lying.”

  For some seconds there was silence, and then Dennis groaned. “Fine! I’ll go and fight off Mike Cadwell.”

  “Good,” Taylor said and ended the call. Rachel had told him that Dennis’s wives had come to her for help along with their children, but he was not sure they were at the House. He’d told Dennis Hamilton what he had out of desperation. Hopefully, the remaining squad members who were with Dennis would be enough to face off with Mike and his men and defeat them. One way or another, there would be a bloodbath, but he hoped the blood that was shed would not belong to any of those innocent women at the House.

  His mind went back to Lily, and then to Rachel, and he held his head in his hands, his heart pounding. “I can’t lose them,” he muttered. “Lord, please help me. Please protect everyone at the House, especially my sister and Lily. I’m sorry for how I treated her.”

  He had acted as though he didn’t care when Lily had told him she wouldn’t be coming to stay at his house. But he had cared. He understood why she had refused to go with him. After how he’d constantly ignored her over the past few days, she’d probably grown tired of him and felt more comfortable staying with Rachel. How he wished that he had insisted she come along. If only he’d treated her better, she would have followed him home, and she wouldn’t be in the situation she was in now.

  He moaned. He felt like throwing up as fear coiled around him, threatening to suffocate him. He would give anything to tell her how he truly felt about her and to hide nothing from her. He had been trying to keep his distance to give him time to process his feelings, but he should have learned from his late wife’s death that life was short. Why had he wasted so much time that he could have spent making his feelings known to Lily? Now, it might be too late to do so.

  “Lord, if you save her, I promise I’ll tell her how much I love her.”

  Faye was dead and gone, and as much as he had loved her, he had to move on. She would have been happy that he had found someone who he loved with all his heart. Yes, it was barely a year since she’d died, but he couldn’t help how he felt about Lily. As for Josh and the promise he had made to him, he would have to explain to his son that sometimes things did not always pan out the way people thought they would. Josh would understand... someday. Hopefully, sooner rather than later.

  “Lily! Rachel! Lord, please protect them. Please help them.” He picked up his phone again and dialed Lily’s number, his hand shaking. It rang and rang, but she didn’t answer.

  Rachel’s eyes widened as Mike opened the gate of the House of Refuge and yelled, “Your time is up! We’re coming into the House!”

  A gunshot pierced the air, and Rachel bit her lip. Upstairs, women screamed in fear, closet doors shut loudly, and feet scampered about.

  Rachel sighed and stared out the window again. Keith stood
at her side, peering out. Daniel stood at the door, his gun drawn and pointed toward it. Olivia, Davina, and Lily were sitting on one of the sofas in the common room. Davina and Olivia wept.

  Lily came to stand behind Rachel and put her arm around her.

  Rachel looked back at Olivia and Davina and said, “It’s time to go out.” She had given Emily to one of the women upstairs to hide her along with Olivia’s boys. They would have to go out — she, Olivia, and Davina — and find another excuse to give to Mike as to why they couldn’t bring out the children. Who knew what Mike would do?

  “We need to go out now, ladies,” she said again. “Mike and his men will come in any moment now, and we can’t afford to let that happen.”

  Keith shook his head and said, “I can’t let you go.”

  “I have no choice.”

  Mike yelled again, “Your time is up! We are coming in.”

  Rachel began to move toward the door and then froze when a loud voice said, “No, you aren’t going into that house!” Her mouth fell open, and she could not believe her ears. That voice. It couldn’t be. She turned to Keith. His eyes were as round as dinner plates. “Is that...? It can’t be.”

  Keith nodded slowly. “After spending hours in his study for days, talking with him, I would recognize that voice in my sleep.”

  “But how is he alive?” Rachel asked, and then screamed as a series of gunshots exploded simultaneously.

  Olivia yelled, “We need to go. They’re coming in!”

  Davina wept.

  Rachel covered her mouth and shook her head. “They’re not coming in, Olivia. Someone else has come to fight Mike on our behalf. Dennis Hamilton.” Another series of gunshots sounded, and Rachel jumped.

  Olivia gasped and rushed to the window. “How can that be? Dennis Hamilton is dead!”

  The house seemed to shake as gunshots rang continuously. Rachel’s mind traveled back to that fateful day when Dennis Hamilton and his men had fought with her stepfather and his men. Dennis had won that battle, but God had won the war. How was Dennis even still alive? Had he been living in Fallow Creek all this time?