Killing Me Softly (31 page)

The sounds of the farm greeted her as she walked outside – horses whinnying, sheep bleating as they were rounded up, the sound of an engine starting and disappearing into the distance. It wasn’t as cold as it had been. Spring was well and truly here. She walked past the evidence of it – the fresh buds on the rose bushes, the white- and pink-covered fruit trees, the sweet scent of hyacinths and jonquils in Bev’s garden – without stopping to appreciate it.

Blind to everything that would normally have delighted her, mind swirling with thoughts and feelings she couldn’t grasp, she wandered into the walled garden, along the winding path to the fountain at its centre where she paced, unable to sit.

As the water tinkled its trickling music, her thoughts and feelings coalesced until one memory broke clear.

Daemon standing there, heart in his eyes as he laid himself bare to her. He told her she was courageous enough to face anything, but if she felt she wasn’t, he would be there with her, facing the world together.

He said he would never leave her – and God help her, there had been such a look of honesty on his face as he’d said it that she couldn’t help but believe him. He’d said that in the face of his love, nothing else mattered.

His words played in her head like the sweetest counter melody.

‘You are my heart. All I’m asking is that you let me love you.’

Could it be that simple? Was that all she had to do – let him love her?

No. That wasn’t all she had to do. She had to let him know he was her heart and she loved him back.

Oh God! She loved him and despite her little epiphany last night about embracing life, she’d driven him away with her stubborn stupidity and ancient fears. He was right. He knew who she was. He was the only one who’d ever really, truly got it.

She deserved a life. She deserved to love and be loved. She deserved to be happy and damn anyone who might want to get in the way of that, including herself.

She’d been so afraid of losing him, but that was exactly what was going to happen if she didn’t step forward and take what he offered. All of her other excuses – the press intrusion, his lifestyle forcing him to leave, her having to stay here for Cat – were just excuses born out of that fear.

But she wasn’t afraid any more.

She loved him.

She had to tell him. She had to get him to come back.

She took off, racing through the garden, skidding on the crushed shells of the path as she navigated its twisting route. She almost fell as she turned the corner out of the garden but righted herself with a whirl of her arms and continued to run, her heart beating loud in her chest, a painful thump, thump that raced in time with the sound of her feet on the path.

She flew down the slope beside the manor to the Dower House, almost slamming up against the door in her haste. Gasping for breath, she pulled at the door, before realising she needed to put in the entry code to open it. Goddamned security!

She had to enter it three times before the light turned green and the door beeped and opened – her fingers were trembling so much.

‘Daemon,’ she yelled out as she ran inside. ‘Daemon?’ He wasn’t in the family room or the dining room or kitchen. Where was he? She needed to talk to him before the security guards arrived, because there wouldn’t be time after that until much later in the day.

And this absolutely, definitely, couldn’t wait.

She was just about to run down the stairs to the small studio in the basement when two men walked out of the door that led to the garage.

‘Oh, shit,’ Lexi gasped, putting her hand to her chest. ‘Nigel. Lyall. You startled me.’

Nigel chuckled. ‘Sorry, AJ. We just came in to drop our bags off and freshen up before going to face the press at the hospital. Flying Lis out today is going to be a circus.’

Lexi grimaced. She’d forgotten all about that. ‘I appreciate the way you’ve kept the press away from here.’

‘Dae said you would prefer to stay out of it, and none of the press knows this is where the band have been. Besides, the boys have kind of liked the cloak-and-dagger business of swapping cars and sneaking in and out the kitchen entrance at the hospital. We’ve also given the press plenty of interviews, so it’s less likely they’ll try to follow them around – it hasn’t been too hard to keep them away.’

‘Regardless, I really appreciate it.’ She noticed Lyall glancing between her and Nigel, a frantic expression in his eyes, and a concerning thought dawned on her. ‘I hope you’re not hurrying Melissa into the flight because of me or Cat, though.’

‘No. Of course not. Purely on the doctor’s recommendation. We must do everything we can to make certain Lis and the baby have the best of care.’ He puffed his chest up. ‘They’ve asked me to be surrogate grandpa.’

Lexi smiled and touched his arm. ‘You are going to be the best surrogate grandpa a kid could have. Don’t you think, Lyall?’

‘Yes. He would have been.’

Shivers chased up her spine at his tone, but her attention was pulled from him as Nigel said ‘Well, we better get going.’ He began to move past her. ‘If you’re looking for Daemon, he’s already left for the hospital. You can come in with Lyall and . . . ’

There was a muffled pop. Something warm and wet sprayed Lexi’s face and chest.

Nigel’s eyes went wide and he stumbled forward as if he’d been shoved, his hand raising to his chest where a black hole had appeared in his shirt, red blooming on the white.

She watched, horrified, as in slow motion, Nigel turned slightly, his mouth open, the bag dropping from his hand as he tipped sideways to smack against the tiles at her feet.

Her gaze lifted, slowly, to Lyall, a sneer twisting his face as he looked up from Nigel, past the gun in his hand, to Lexi.

‘What did you do?’ Her voice was loud and echoing in the sudden silence.

His sneer turned to wild glee. ‘What I had to. Finally, I get you alone. Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for this?’

‘No.’ Lexi dropped to her knees, rolled Nigel over and pressed her hands to his chest. He looked up at her, his eyes filled with a kind of stunned pain. ‘It’s okay, Nigel. I’ll call for help. You’ll be okay.’

‘No, he won’t.’ Lyall grabbed at her arm, tried to pull her to her feet, but she used all her weight to pull against him.

‘Let me go. I have to help him.’

‘Why are you worried about him?’ He cocked his head, looking at her with a kind of childish curiosity at odds with the gun in his hand.

‘Because he’ll die if I don’t.’

‘Then he’ll die.’

Tears stung her eyes as she pressed harder on the wound in Nigel’s chest, warm blood flowing too freely over her hands. ‘How could you do this? Nigel trusted you. You were helping us, using your contacts in the police to find out more about my stalker.’

He laughed wildly. ‘Yes. I thought it was rather funny, given I am your stalker.’

Lexi knew she should be shocked, but it all kind of made horrifying sense. ‘Who are you?’

‘You had my brother put in jail. He died because of you. And now I get to make everything right. Finish what my brother started.’

Nausea roiled through her as she looked at his face, his wild eyes, insanity glinting there in their cold, grey depths. ‘Lyndon James didn’t have a brother.’

‘Yes, he did. The family hid me away. But I got free and then I came to find you. Lyndon made me watch while he took your sister – I wasn’t allowed to touch. But now that doesn’t matter, because I get to have what he never had . . . You!’

He reached out, wiped his finger down her face and held it up to show her Nigel’s blood that had splattered all over her. ‘Blood for blood. He wants it all.’

‘No!’ She smacked at his hands as he reached for her again, but he managed to grab her arm, his grip a vice as he pulled her to her feet.

‘Lyndon wants me to have you. He told me you were mine. You and your sister.’ He laughed. ‘And lucky me . . . she’s woken up, just in time.’ He smiled, a smile that took her back to the most terrifying night of her life. Lyndon had smiled at her like that as he leaned over her, poised to rape her, eleven years ago.

She began to scream, to fight him, slashing out with her nails, hitting him with her fists, kicking with her feet as she struggled to make him let go. She knocked the gun out of his hands and it went skittering towards the corner. She lunged for it but he tackled her and they fell to the floor.

Her head hit the floor with a sharp smack as Lyall’s weight crashed onto her. Stars sparked in her eyes but she kept trying to reach for the gun. Her fingers touched the edge of the black metal when her hair was grabbed, her head lifted.

‘No you don’t,’ Lyall grunted as he smacked her forehead into the floor.

With a cry of pain, she fell into darkness.

‘Lexi?’ Cat gasped. Choking, dark, blinding panic shrieked in her ears, making her drop the weight she was working with on the floor with a loud crack.

‘Cat? What’s wrong?’ Billy asked.

She shook her head, trying to pull in a breath past the chokehold of panic.

‘Cat?’ Billy’s voice was tripping over from concern to fear.

She grasped hold of his arm, trying to anchor herself in reality. But the feeling coming through the twin bond was so strong. ‘It’s Lexi. Something’s happened to Lexi.’

‘How do you know?’

Cat shook her head. ‘I just know.’

She shuddered. ‘Something’s terribly wrong.’ She held his arm tighter. ‘Billy . . . We have to find her.’ Her voice rose. ‘We have to find her.’

‘Okay.’ He gripped her shoulders. ‘It’s okay. We’ll go now.’ He began to walk, his arm around her, guiding her out of the gym.

‘Where? Where are we going?’

‘I thought I saw her walk into the walled garden when we came into the gym. We’ll check there first. If she’s not there, we’ll go to the studio and then the Dower House. If we don’t find her there, I’ll contact Karl, get him and his men out to search.’ His grip tightened around her. ‘Don’t worry. She’s probably just had a fight with Daemon.’

Cat shook her head. No. She knew her twin. This was something worse. So much worse.

Daemon wondered what Alexia was doing now as he and Craig walked into the hospital.

He probably should have called her to let her know where he was, but he wanted to let her sleep. She’d been exhausted last night and he’d pushed her almost to breaking point this morning after they’d made love. Hopefully when he got back from the hospital, she’d be rested and more able to accept what he’d tried to tell her in the early hours of the morning.

It was probably a good thing that Lis was being flown to London today to be under the care of her ob-gyn. Being here at the hospital to support Phil and Lis and speak to the press made certain he wouldn’t go running back to Alexia to beg and plead which would probably only make her run even faster in the opposite direction. He had to play this carefully now he’d placed his heart at her feet.

But God! He felt so torn. He wanted to see her now. He wished there wasn’t a need to stay away. That she already understood that happy ever after was within their grasp. He would never leave her. He loved her with everything in him.

‘That’s a strange look, Dae.’ Craig’s voice broke through his thoughts. ‘What are you thinking about?’

‘I want to marry Alexia.’

Craig almost choked on the coffee he’d been sipping. ‘You what?’

‘I want to marry Alexia.’

‘Oookaay.’

Daemon chuckled at the look on Craig’s face. ‘Don’t worry. I haven’t lost my marbles. And I’m not saying I’m going to rush home and propose, but I’ve realised that what I feel for Alexia, it’s a forever kind of thing.’

‘So, have you sorted out your issues?’

‘Not fully. She thinks I’m going to leave because of the band.’

‘Well, she’s kind of got a point. We can’t stay here forever.’

‘I don’t see why not.’

Craig snorted. ‘Right, now I do think you’ve lost your marbles. Have you forgotten the charity gigs we said we’d do in Paris and Prague and the promo tour we have to do to prep for the album release? Not to mention the actual tour we have plugged in for early next year?’

‘Okay, okay. I haven’t forgotten those. But that’s not what I meant. I know I have to travel, but why can’t this be my home? We all have some place we go back to. There has to be a base. Why can’t this be mine? It’s ideal. I can write here. I feel free here. She’s got a world-class studio that means we can record here – so less time away. I love it here. It’s perfect.’

‘It’s sounding like you love the place, not Lexi.’

Daemon wagged his finger at Craig. ‘You’re trying to take the piss, but I’m not going to bite. I love it here because she’s here. I love it because she loves it. I love it because she created it to suit her and I love her, so it suits me, too. More than I ever imagined it could.’

‘Fuuuck me!’

‘What’s wrong now?’

‘I just never thought I’d live to see it. You really listened to me the other day. Will wonders never cease!’

Daemon smacked Craig over the back of the head, but smiled as Craig burst into laughter.

‘What are you two laughing about?’ Phil asked as they walked into Melissa’s room.

‘Just the possibilities of the future,’ Daemon replied, a big smile plastered on his face as he turned to Melissa.

‘Love takes you that way, doesn’t it?’ Melissa said, her eyes darting to Phil, the smile on her face so gentle and full of love it made Daemon’s heart ache.

‘Lis.’ He leaned forward, giving her a kiss. ‘It’s so good to see you truly back with us.’

‘And I’m happy to be back with you.’ Her hand cupped her stomach and she smiled, looking past him. ‘Where is Nigel? And Lyall?’

‘They arrived just as I was about to leave. I told them to settle in and then come along. There was time.’

‘Well, I hope he gets here soon,’ Phil commented, sitting back down on the chair next to the bed and taking Melissa’s hand in his. ‘I really don’t want Lis to have to deal with the press waiting outside when we wheel her out to the chopper.’

‘I’ll be fine. I can handle the press. It’s what I do, remember?’

‘But you don’t have to do it now. It’s my job to look after you. Please let me.’

‘I love you,’ she said softly.

‘You’re my life. You and the baby.’ Phil leaned forward to kiss her.

Daemon and Craig looked at each other and smiled.

‘If you can make it up with Lexi, that’s going to be you one day,’ Craig smirked.

‘I could only be so lucky.’ Daemon quirked his brow. ‘And so could . . . ’ His phone began to ring.

‘Saved by the bell,’ Craig muttered as Daemon fished his phone out of his pocket. ‘It’s probably Nigel letting us know when he’ll be here.’

Daemon frowned as he saw the number and pressed answer. ‘Billy? What’s up ma—?’

Billy’s voice barked out of the receiver so loudly Daemon had to hold it away from his ear. ‘Whoa, hold on. Say that again.’

‘Lyall’s got Lexi.’

‘What? Do you mean she’s coming into the hospital with him and Nigel?’

‘No. Lyall shot Nigel. We just found him.’

‘What?’

Billy’s words spilled out so fast Daemon could barely make sense of what he was saying.

‘He was barely conscious – he’s lost a huge amount of blood. Doctor Carlton’s doing first aid, but he’s not certain he’ll make it. An ambulance is on the way. Nigel was trying to use his phone when Cat and I found him. He managed to tell us that Lyall did it before he passed out.’

‘Fuck.’ The others were staring at him, but he shook his head, stopping their questions as he asked, ‘Why? Why would he shoot Nigel?’

‘He’s the stalker. He’s also Lyndon’s brother. He took Lexi. But we’ve got no idea where.’

Ice ran down Daemon’s spine. ‘I’m on my way.’

He turned, but Craig’s hand on his arm stopped him.

‘What happened?’

‘Lyall’s the stalker. He’s shot Nigel and taken Lexi. We have to get back. We have to figure out where he’s taken her. We have to stop him before he . . . before he . . . ’ He couldn’t finish the thought.

‘Go.’ Phil said.

‘Save her.’ Lis said through tight lips. ‘Please, just save her.’

Daemon swore and began to run.

Craig took off behind him. ‘Christ. How could it be Lyall?’

Daemon shook his head. ‘I don’t know. But we led him right to her.’

They burst out of the hospital doors. The press tried to stop them by shoving microphones and cameras at them, but they pushed through and sprinted toward the car.

They reached the car, both of them panting. Daemon jumped behind the wheel.

‘Perhaps you should let me drive,’ Craig said when he fumbled with the keys in the ignition.

Daemon just shot him a vicious look as he started up the car, slammed it into gear and took off out of the car park with a squeal of tyres.

When they were on the road, Craig asked, ‘Why would he stalk her?’

‘Because he’s Lyndon James’ fucking brother.’

‘How do you know that?’

He told Craig what Billy had told him. He hit the steering wheel, blasting the horn when they came up behind a truck trundling slowly along the road, taking up a lane and a half of the narrow road, making it impossible for them to pass. ‘Get out of the fucking way.’

‘Calm down, Dae. We can’t afford to have an accident.’

Daemon turned to glare at him. ‘He’s the brother of the bastard who raped and tortured Cat; he raped and murdered that young girl, Jenny, slaughtered Alexia’s horse and almost killed Lis and the baby, and he’s shot Nigel. And now that sick fuck’s got Alexia. How on earth am I supposed to calm down?’

‘You’re right.’ Craig leaned over and hit the horn, too. The truck pulled across enough to let them pass. The tyres spun and the back of the Aston Martin fishtailed as it touched the soft soil on the edge of the road, but Daemon steered out of it and hit the accelerator as they swung back onto the road and sped along it, too fast for safety.

But he wasn’t thinking about safety. All he could think about was finding Alexia before Lyall did anything to her.

Please God. Let me find her in time.

Lexi’s head spun. She tried to sit up but something was holding her down. Pain, sharp and intense, stabbed behind her eyes and at the base of her skull. Why did she hurt so badly? She tried to bring her hand to her head to rub where it was sore and discovered she couldn’t.

What the hell?

She tried to move her arm again and felt something tight pulling around her wrist. She tried to move the other one, but couldn’t. Turning her head and opening her eyes almost made her vomit. She closed them and went still, willing the nausea to fade enough for her to try again.

At first she couldn’t focus. The room swam in front of her eyes. The light was dim and she couldn’t make out the shapes or even basic colours to tell her where she was or what she was doing there. Trying to blink away the fuzziness, she groaned as she turned her head. She had to try to figure out why she couldn’t move her arms.

She blinked a few times, trying to clear her vision.

There was a wooden stake in the ground near her hand. She lifted her wrist and saw a rope tied around it. She tugged, feeling the burn as the coarse fibres rubbed against her wrist. A tug on her other arm created the same unpleasant sensation.

Why was she tied, arms out on either side, to wooden stakes that had been pounded into the ground? And why was she so cold?

Lifting her head slightly, she saw she was naked and lying on the ground.

She was outside! The realisation was like a slap as memories flooded her mind. Nausea rose in a wave and Alexia could do nothing but turn her head to the side as her stomach convulsed and she vomited.

‘Filthy bitch.’

Icy water hit her in the face. Her breath puffed into the air as she coughed and spluttered. Licking the water from her lips, she tried to take stock. Her head throbbed. Thoughts whirled, making no immediate sense.

A man had spoken before the water had hit her face.

Lyall. Lyndon’s brother.

He was her stalker.

Lexi could hear him as he crashed around the clearing, muttering to himself, talking to someone else. Was there another person here? Maybe she could plead with them to let her go. She opened her eyes and tried to lift her head again. Her vision swirled, but she persevered.

She could just make out Lyall’s shape. He was standing by a jeep, gesticulating wildly, talking to the air. He was alone. The futile hope faded and she dropped her head back to the ground, wincing.

Think, Lexi. Think.

Closing her eyes, she tried to sort through the memories still swaying sickly in her head. But she didn’t want to think about Nigel and the blood. She could get lost in that moment of panic and horror. She had to think past it. Keep a clear head. It was her only hope.

Firstly, she had to figure out where he’d brought her.

Lifting her head again, she tried to make out her surroundings. There were trees surrounding the clearing. He’d been able to drive his jeep here. The place had to be private enough for no-one to see or hear what he was doing. Still, that information didn’t tell her where she was. Trying to calm her frantic mind, she listened for clues. Listening was what she did for a living, expressing thoughts, feelings, emotions in a multitude of sounds. Now she had to use that talent to save her own life.

Breathing evenly, she listened. There was a sound she could hear behind his raving and the rustling of the wind in the trees.

He’d thrown water in her face, the cool clean water of the stream. She could hear clearly the constant tinkling, lapping sound of water rushing around rocks and slipping against the riverbank. She could smell grass and soil and another, acrid coppery smell she couldn’t place. In the distance she heard the whickering of a horse followed by the low vibrations of hooves on the hardened turf. A cow lowed, followed by the higher-pitched bleating of its calf. Horses, cattle, a stream and trees in a clearing with car access.

She moaned.

She knew where she was.

Her dell. He was following a pattern his brother had begun – bringing her to a place she loved.

Except she didn’t love it now. He’d killed and mutilated Viking here. The coppery smell was Viking’s blood soaked into the soil.

Was he going to do the same to her? Torture her before he killed her? He’d said as much in the letters. He’d said he owned her, that she was now his wife as she’d been his brother’s. Not that she’d ever been Lyndon’s wife. He was completely insane. She couldn’t guess at what he would do.

He had a gun. Maybe he would just shoot her.

He could shoot anyone who came along.

Lexi swallowed hard.
Oh God. What if Daemon came? Or Billy and Cat. Or Karl? Craig had wandered down here a few times to write
. There were so many people to worry about. They were more than friends. They were her family. And she couldn’t lose a single one of them.

She had to do something. Had to stop him. She didn’t want to die. Especially now. Especially when she’d just figured out that she wasn’t alone any more. Especially when she hadn’t even told Daemon that she loved him.

Teeth gritted, she pulled against the rope tying her down. Nothing happened. She rolled, pulling against one side with all the weight of her body. The rope cut into her skin, the pain burning and sharp, her head swimming, but still she pulled.

This could be her only chance while Lyall was occupied ranting at the sky.

Rolling the other way when she could no longer stand the pain, she realised her feet were free. A sharp jolt of hope thrilled through her. At least she could kick out at him when he came for her. She could defend herself in some small way.

The thought spurred her on. She pulled harder, trying to pull the stake from the ground using the rope. Ignoring the pain as the rope cut into already damaged skin, she kept going. The rope was tight. But there! She felt the slightest give. The stake was giving way! All she had to do was keep on pulling.

Cat watched as the ambulance officers ran out of the Dower House, the stretcher Nigel was on between them as they wheeled it up the path to their ambulance.

Billy, Bev, Karl, Doctor Carlton.

Nobody saw her when she picked up the gun that was lying on the floor in the corner – probably dropped when Lyall had knocked her sister unconscious. After all, what did he need with a gun when Lexi was tied up and at his mercy as Cat had been at Lyndon’s mercy eleven years ago?