Hearts On Fire (5 page)

Chapter 9

    
Lizzie had forgotten
just how isolated the little house on the mountain could make a person feel.
And for some reason, isolated made her feel good tonight. No ringing phone, no
cars streaking past the house, no television blaring some senseless chatter
only a twelve year old could endure… she sighed. She missed the boy though. She
missed Sean even though she’d just spoken to him on the phone not ten minutes ago.
He’d been animated tonight, going on about some girl in one of his classes who
liked to pass notes to him. He noticed girls now, even thought some of them
were pretty, but he was much too busy playing whatever sport was in season to
take them seriously. Yet. She knew the time was coming. One day he would wave a
hand of dismissal at them, the next he would have his heart broken because one
had rejected him. So went the circle of life.

     On that note her mind
drifted to the evening she’d just spent with Matt. He’d made sure to tell her
beforehand it would not be a date. And then he’d gone and taken her to an
intimate restaurant. She frowned. It was obvious Matt wanted to pursue her,
even though she’d made sure to tell him repeatedly she’d be going back to Seattle
after she found her sister. She supposed Matt might just be looking for an
affair and she was someone new to the town, relatively speaking.

     A fire roared in the
fireplace not so much to keep the place warm, but to make it feel cozy. She’d
noticed right off Katy had gotten rid of the old wood burning stove which had
sat in the corner of the living room when she’d grown up. In its place on the
wall was a thermostat which controlled the furnace in the back utility room.
She wondered who Katy had taken the money from to do that and scowled at
herself. Why, she mused, must she always think the worst of her little sister?
Picking up her mug of hot tea she sipped. Chances were good Katy had purchased
the unit with ill-gotten gains. Or maybe money she’d “borrowed” from her big
sister.

     She was just setting the
mug back on the little table next to the couch when she heard it. A thump at
the front of the house. The wind had died down some time ago and it had not
snowed. No trees were close enough to the house to drop a branch on it or the
front porch. She stiffened, her ears straining to hear any sound.

     Again, another thump.

     Heart racing, Lizzie
stood slowly and went to the fireplace where she picked up the poker, her eyes
never leaving the door.

    
Thump
.

     It could be an animal,
she told herself. Maybe a bear or a raccoon. In fact, she relaxed a little bit.
That was what it had to be. An animal come searching around for some scraps or
garbage. The garbage was kept locked up in the garage just to keep them away, but
she knew in the dead of winter they would come around homes anyway, just in
case someone got careless. And Katy was notoriously careless. They probably had
found leavings here before.

    
Thump
. This time
right on the front door.

     Lizzie nearly jumped out
of her skin, then reprimanded herself. More out of embarrassment than any
bravery, she crossed to the front room, still carrying the poker. When she
reached the door she flicked on the porch lights just as the doorknob jiggled.
This time she stifled a scream. What kind of raccoon tried the door?

     A hand slapped against
the glass next to the door. This time Lizzie
did
scream, good and long,
as she watched the hand slide down the glass, her eyes riveted to the white
palm, the long delicate fingers covered in blood and mud.

     “Oh my God,” she
whispered, now frantic not to get away from the specter outside, but to get to
it. She fumbled with the lock on the door a moment and then ripped the door
open. “Katy!”

     The bleached blonde head
tilted back. Wide blue eyes, full of terror looked up from a bruised and
battered face caked in mud. “Lizzie,” she groaned. “Oh, God, Lizzie. Help me.”

    
“I don’t know what
else
I can tell you, Matt,” Lizzie stated from the chair next to her
sister’s bed. Clutching Katy’s hand she didn’t even look up at Matt. Katy had
passed out in her arms at the threshold of the house and had not regained
consciousness since. Tests had been performed. Only preliminary results were
in. A concussion, Lizzie hoped, would be the worst news she would get. “She
stumbled to the door, fell against it…” she squeezed her eyes shut, still
seeing her sister’s palm sliding down the glass next to said door. Still
hearing the sound her flesh dragging against the glass had made. “I opened the
door and she begged me to help her. That’s all there is.”

     “And you drove her here
instead of calling for an ambulance.” His voice was soft but carried a hint of
disapproval.

     Now she looked up to him,
the corners of her mouth turned down. “I got her here faster than they would
have, for one thing. For another, I am a doctor, you know.”

     He raised a brow. “A
plastic surgeon,” he pointed out.

     “I still went to medical
school.” She shook her head at him and sighed tiredly. “I felt it was important
to get her on her way here right away. She would have awaited medical treatment
for just as long either way. She’d made her way to the house from… wherever,
so—” Cutting herself off she let out a long, controlled breath. “Why am I
justifying my actions to you anyway? You should be more worried about what
happened to her and how she got in this condition than why I chose to drive her
here myself.”

     “I am,” he assured her.

     “You have your people
searching the woods around the house. Have they reported anything to you yet?”

     The brow shot up again.

     “Don’t give me any shit
about it being confidential police information or anything either, Matt,” she
told him, standing to face him. “She’s my sister and I deserve to know what’s
going on.”

     She still had that grit
she’d had as a kid, he’d give her that. Removing the gray Stetson from his head
he ran his fingers through his hair. “No news so far. They’ve traced her steps
to the river. From there they lost the trail. I requested dogs to see if they
can take us to wherever she was being held, if indeed she was.”

     “She was,” Lizzie told
him, looking back to the bed where her sister lay. “That much is obvious.
Someone tried to strangle her.”

     “We don’t—”

     “Look at her
neck
,
Matt,” she whispered harshly. “If those aren’t marks from someone’s fingers I don’t
know what they are. And the dirt, the mud and the leaves in her hair, under her
fingernails…” Her eyes closed again. Bile rose in her throat. To think… “God,
Matt, it looks to me like someone might have tried to bury her.”

     He grimaced. “Let’s not
get ahead of ourselves here, Lizzie. When Katy wakes up maybe she can fill in
the gaps.”

     “In the meantime?”

     “In the meantime we keep
trying to piece it together ourselves. Which means I need to make sure you’ve
told me everything.”

     “Of course I have.”

     “She didn’t say anything
to you? Not who did this or what it was about?”

     “If she had don’t you
think I would tell you? Jesus, Matt.”

     He winced. “Okay. I had
to ask one more time,” he told her, then smiled a little. “Lizzie, you’ve been
here over seven hours now. You must be exhausted. Why don’t you let me drive
you home?”

     She shook her head. “No
way, Matt. I’m staying with her. I want to be here for her when she wakes up.”
Not to mention the fact that she was afraid if someone had tried to kill Katy
once they might try again.

     “Lizzie,” he pressed,
“You heard the doc just as well as I did. He doesn’t think she’s going to
regain consciousness any time soon.” He saw the worry etched into her features.
He also saw a woman who looked ready to fall out. “Let me take you back home.
I’ll have a deputy bring your car to you later.”

     Still she refused.

     Finally understanding a
couple things he said, “How about you get a room at the hotel? It’s walking
distance from here. They can call you there as soon as she wakes.” He picked up
one of her hands and looked deep into those eyes of hers. “I’ll post a deputy
at her door too. Just to make sure whoever did this doesn’t come by to try and
finish the job.”

     She sighed, both in
relief and utter exhaustion. She didn’t want to leave Katy but she knew she
should get sleep and a shower. Maybe some food later. If she didn’t, she
wouldn’t be any good to her at all. And there was one thing she knew with utter
certainty. She was going to find out who had done this to her sister and why.
Come hell or high water.

Chapter 10

    
Even though JD had not
seen her in years, he would have known her anywhere. The mahogany colored hair
which caught the sunlight, the reds sparking fire, the curve of her jaw, the
flair of her hip… He stopped halfway into the driver’s seat of his brother’s
old truck and watched her walk down the sidewalk on Matt’s arm. Leaning on him.
Smiling up at him. And they were headed toward the hotel. Heat rose up his
neck. Anger had his fist clenching. And then he laughed at himself. What the
hell was he doing getting mad? Even worse, what the hell was he doing feeling
even a morsel of jealousy? He’d let her go thirteen years ago, hadn’t he?
Pushed her out of his life. And then when he’d realized what a mistake he’d
made it had been too late. She’d been married herself. And pregnant with Brian
Castellano’s child. At first he’d been furious with her. How could she go from
him to Brian so quickly? He’d wondered if she’d been seeing him all along. But
over the years that anger had faded. Because he’d come to realize what a jerk
he’d been. “All turned out for the best,” he whispered into the wind.

     He’d thought she was
staying at Katy’s place. Matt walking her into the lobby of the hotel seemed to
contradict that information. But it didn’t surprise him in the least. He knew
what her life had been like in that house up the hill. He knew the hardships
she’d endured along with her little sister. And where those hardships had
hardened Katy to the world, Lizzie had remained vulnerable and soft right up
until the day she’d run away with Brian. And now? Was she hardened or was she
still sweet and soft? Would she still have the power to drop him to his knees
with want just by looking at him?

     He got into the truck and
slammed the door against both the cold and his memories. Thinking about that
time in his life wasn’t going to do him any good. And standing on the side of
the street staring after her and Matt wouldn’t either. But still… he twisted
the key in the ignition and growled under his breath. She’d been in town all of
a couple days and she was already taking up with Matt? Again, none of his
business.

     And still, he thought
about it all the way to his mother’s home. Thought about what had been and what
could have been. And when the house came into view his mood darkened. His
mother had never approved of Lizzie. She’d considered the Waring family
pedestrian because they didn’t have money, didn’t go to all the right shops and
restaurants. Because they didn’t dress to a certain standard. Arlene MacGreggor
was and always had been a snob.

     He parked his car and
sighed. Lizzie was a doctor. And a damn good one too, from what he’d dug up on
the internet last night as he’d sat in bed leaning on the headboard. She and
Brian owned their own practice. A thriving one. They not only catered to those
in dire need of reconstructive surgery, but to some well-known celebrities as well.
In an interview he’d read when Lizzie had been asked if she thought the work on
the celebrities belittled her practice she’d been quoted as saying, “Hell no.
The money they pay us enables us to do the work on the less fortunate of
society at little to no cost to them.” Like the little girl who’d been in the
car accident and lost part of her face. Brian and Lizzie had done the work on
her free of charge. And the boy who’d been terribly burned in a fire. And
countless others he’d found record of.

     And still, he knew his
mother would look down her nose at Lizzie. She would still consider her
sub-par. Because she’d grown up in poverty. His mother was the kind of woman
who believed if a person didn’t grow up with money they had no class. She was
his mother and he loved her in his own way. But God she was a snobbish bitch.

     And she was waiting for
him as he walked in the front door. A frown tugged at the corners of her mouth
which was painted with deep red lipstick today. Her scent, some kind of
flowery, very expensive perfume, carried to him. “Mother,” he said politely as
he stripped off his coat and hung it in the closet.

     “You’ve missed
breakfast,” she told him.

     “That’s okay, I picked
something up in town.”

     “In town,” she repeated
slowly, obviously upset. “You could have let me know. Your sister was asking
after you and I didn’t know what to tell her.”

     Christ. “I needed a few
things at the office supply store.” And he’d forgotten how his mother fretted
over appearances. Even within their own family. He’d also forgotten just how
controlling she was. Not outright, no, not Arlene MacGreggor. She used guilt
like a chisel though, slowly chinking away until you begged forgiveness. He
wasn’t going there today. Best to just give her what she wanted now to avoid
the long drawn out version. “I’m sorry, mother. It was extremely rude of me to
run off like that.”

     The frown faded from her
lips and she came as close to a smile as she ever got. Taking one of his hands
in her own, she patted it lightly. “You have to speak to your sister, JD.”

     The worry in her voice
stopped him cold. “What’s the matter?” She’d seemed to be bouncing back
yesterday.

     “I… I don’t know. We were
waiting for breakfast in the sun room and she was watching television. The news
came on and all of the sudden she just seemed to freeze. She asked where you
were and when I told her I didn’t know she just left. Ran out of the house and
left.”

     Come to think of it, he
hadn’t seen her car in the drive. He’d assumed she’d wrangled a spot in the
garage out of their mother. “Did she say where she was going?”

     “She would only mumble to
me.”

     “Okay. What was on the
news that upset her? Was it something about Ken’s accident again?”

     Arlene shook her head.
“No. That’s what I don’t understand.” The frown returned. “Evidently they found
that Waring girl. Kathleen.”

     “Why would that upset
her? We all figured she’d come back home eventually.” And as far as he knew
though they were near the same age Katy and Julie didn’t really even know each
other.

     “Kathleen is in the
hospital. The report was sketchy. She has some injuries or something and her
sister took her to the hospital.”

     It still didn’t make
sense. “You’re sure that’s what set Julie off?”

     “No, I’m not. She’s not
been herself lately.” Arlene’s lips turned inward. “That other Waring girl is
here. The one you were taken with for a time. Elizabeth.” She nearly spat the
name out.

     “Yes, I’d heard.” And
seen.

     “You didn’t tell me?” she
asked, astounded and hurt.

     “There was no reason. She
was here looking for her sister.” And, it would seem, she’d found her.

    
Julie paced the wood
plank
floor of the old boat house. Waiting. She hated having to wait for
him. She hated having to hide her love for him. But she had to. She’d always
had to. When she heard his footsteps on the dock and heard the door squeak open
her heart fluttered in her chest. Sunlight streamed in behind him and looking
at him standing there nearly took her breath away. He was perfect. Long and
lean. Muscled. So strong and confident. So masculine.

     He closed the door behind
himself and came toward her, his look one of worry. “We shouldn’t be meeting
like this, you know that. It’s dangerous.” But he hadn’t been able to tell her
no. She’d been in a downright panic on the phone. Taking her face in his hands
he kissed her before asking, “What’s wrong, darling?”

     “I… I saw the news this
morning.” She saw the light of knowledge flash in his gaze before he could
control the reaction. “They found Katy Waring.”

     “She came home,” he
corrected. “Like everyone thought she would.”

     “She had to be taken to
the hospital.”

     “Yes,” he said slowly,
skeptically. “What’s this all about?”

     “Someone beat her up.
Someone tried to kill her.”

     He arched a thick brow
and caressed her jaw with a thumb. “How would you know that?”

     “I called a friend of
mine at the hospital. She’s a nurse there. She told me.”

     “Your friend could get in
a lot of trouble for talking about patients in the hospital, you know. She
should be more careful.”

     Julie huffed out a
breath. “She only told me.” Now was the time. “You knew, didn’t you? You knew
what she did to me. What Katy did.”

     Blinking slowly, a corner
of his mouth lifted. “Did you think I’d let her get away with hurting you? With
dragging you down into the mud with her?”

     Oh. God. Her heart
thundered in her chest now. She trembled uncontrollably. “Did you… did you try
to kill her?”

     “I thought I
had
killed the little bitch,” he growled, dropping his hand from her face. Turning
suddenly, he stalked the boathouse.

     Sucking in a sob of
terror, Julie felt her knees weaken beneath her. Backing up she let them fold
under her and fell to a fish cleaning bench.

     He stared out a window at
the lake, watching ice fishermen at work. “There was no way I was going to let
her rob you of a quarter million dollars, Jules. No fucking way.” He turned
back to her.

     “I paid her,” Julie
whispered.

     “Yeah, and you would have
kept on paying her for the rest of your life!” He turned a tight circle. “Fuck.
I couldn’t find the money, either. I wanted to get it back for you.”

     “She said—”

     “I don’t give a fuck what
she said. She’s a liar and a thief.” And she was supposed to be dead,
Goddamnit! “She knows about us, Julie! She knows!”

     And now she knew her
lover was a killer. Julie looked up at him through long lashes, suddenly colder
than she’d ever been in her life.

      Crossing to her he
dropped to his knees in front of her. “I did this for you. For us. Don’t you
understand? We’ll never be free as long as that bitch is alive.”

     The air in the boathouse
seemed to disappear. The room seemed smaller. “What do you mean? What are you
going to do?”

     “Finish what I started. I
don’t have any other choice now. If she wakes up and talks she’ll tell them
what I did to her. But worse, she’ll tell them about us.”

     “Maybe it’s time—”

     “No. They’ll throw me in
prison.” He shoved his fingers through his hair before taking her face in his
hands again. “You have to trust me, Jules.”

     Could she? Lips
trembling, voice a bare whisper, she asked, “Tell me. Did you have anything to
do with Ken’s accident?”

     His eyes widened and he
shook his head furiously. “Oh course not!” He blurted out the lie, knowing she
could not handle the truth.