Replacing Gentry (27 page)

Like coughing up little pebbles of shame and compunction, my past flowed from my lips, the weight growing lighter with each expelled detail. Lighter, but not easier. The memories of that time stirred back to life and rose up with a vengeance, ripping and slashing at my frail soul.

“Oh, Marlie,” he said, hurt in his eyes. “But why was Johnny at our home the night of the party and why did you call him for help last night? Why is it so hard for you to keep away from him?”

“I wish I knew,” I said. “But I don’t regret it. He believed me when I said I was innocent. He risked everything to get me out of the hospital and to safety.”

“It’s not a risk when one has little to lose,” Daniel said disdainfully. “Did you sleep with him?”

“Of course not!”

“I believe you.” Daniel reached his hand out to me. “Marlie, it’s time for you to come home.”

He appeared sincere but still, I held back. “Are you sure you still want me?”

He dropped his hand. His chin came down in a subtle nod. “I’ve always wanted you. Since the night I sat across from you at the ball I’ve known that you were the one. You seemed so pure, untainted, the opposite of me. I knew you were the perfect person to raise my boys and that Gentry would approve. I practically panicked when you disappeared from sight that day at the airport.” A shy, plaintive smile tormented his lips. “I’m sorry I let Paul and the Iphiclesians come between us. I’m sorry if you felt like I abandoned you, and for every second you felt alone since comin’ here.”

He pulled the Iphiclesian gold ring from his pinky finger, tossed it away and then reached out again. “I can do better. I promise to do better. From now on it’s just goin’ to be you and me.”

“And the boys?” I asked, watching his face. “What about them? They need you too.”

His shoulders caved. “I know,” he said, glancing away.

“Why is it so hard for you to look at them, to give them the attention they need from you?”

He searched the rug as if the answers he sought were concealed within the tightly woven fibers. “When I found their momma was gone, I wanted to lay down and die too. Every time I look at them, I see her and think about how it’s my fault she’s dead. And what’s worse, that no matter how hard I’d tried, I couldn’t be with her in the end.” He looked up. “I know it sounds crazy, but I feel like a coward because I’m still alive.”

His pain reached out to me and I grabbed hold, reeling in the ache, hand over hand, until I held an equal share. “You’re not a coward; you’re the bravest man I know. Gentry wouldn’t want you with her right now. She wants you here with your children. Here where you can continue her work. Here where you can raise those boys to be great men just like their dad.”

A smile pulled across his face, touched the sadness in his eyes. “I love you, Marlie. Come home.” His invitation drew me in. “It’s where you belong.”

“You’re right,” I said, and for the first time I wholly believed it, believed that I belonged here with him.

And then out of nowhere, Johnny appeared and stepped between us.

Chapter Thirty-one

H
olding his hand back to stop me, Johnny turned to Daniel. Peeking out from the pocket of his blazer, I could see two plane tickets. Air Alaska was printed across the top.

“No, you can’t have her,” Johnny said, his words growling up from deep in his throat. “I won’t give her up again.”

Daniel took an aggressive step forward. “It’s not your decision, Johnny,” he said, his eyes narrowed and threatening. “It’s hers. It’s always been hers.”

“Who’s going to protect her?” Johnny asked. “As we can all see, you haven’t been doin’ a very good job.”

Daniel looked offended by the accusation but held his temper. “I will this time. I’m leaving the Iphiclesians, once and for all.”

Johnny kept his focus on Daniel a moment before turning back to me. “No. It’s not safe. He can’t just quit. It’s not that simple,” he said, his words determined. “You need to stay with me, Marlie. You know you do.”

Daniel took a step forward. “No, Marlie! You’re
my
wife,” he insisted. “You belong with me. I love you and you love me. We’re a family.”

My gaze darted between the two men. First to Daniel, where I felt a strong pull toward my husband, and then to Johnny as another force beckoned, significant enough to give me pause.

“I—I don’t . . .” Suddenly I felt confused. Daniel was right. He, the boys, and I were a family. No way could I walk away from him much less from Bridger and Bodie. They were innocent victims in all of this. And then, Johnny was right too. My heart was pulling me toward him. And yet, I knew there was only one logical decision.

“Johnny, I appreciate the risk you took for me but you have to understand that this isn’t just about choosing between you and Daniel. I have the boys to consider. They’re my sons now,” I said, my voice catching. “I can’t just desert them.”

Johnny’s gaze turned to stone. “That’s your choice? No matter what your heart’s tellin’ you, you’re not goin’ to listen? It’s tellin’ you that I’m the one you want, and still, you choose him?”

“Johnny, please,” I pled. “You have to understand—”

“Oh, I understand just fine,” he said, his words seething through a clenched jaw. “Good ’ole Marlie, forever determined to do the right thing.” Moving back, he indicated an open path for Daniel to pass. “Go on then, the both of y’all deserve each other.”

I could see that Johnny was hurting. How could I leave without letting him know how much I appreciated what he’d done, and was willing to do, for me—what his friendship meant? “Johnny . . .”

“Come on, Marlie,” Daniel said with finality. “Time to go.”

I kept my gaze locked with Johnny’s, attempting to convey the difficulty of my decision. But the cold stare he was returning told me it was too late for apologies. Something deep inside me felt like it was ripping apart. I looked away.

But no sooner had I shifted my focus than a commotion erupted. Johnny had taken hold of Daniel around the neck with one arm. The hand of the other was smashing a half empty wine bottle against the buffet table. Burgundy droplets splattered across both their faces as Johnny brought the jagged edge of the bottle to Daniel’s throat. Daniel struggled against Johnny’s grip to no avail.

“Johnny, what are you doing?” I gasped.

“I changed my mind,” he said in a menacingly calm voice. “This time I’m not lettin’ you go without a fight.”

As Daniel struggled, I could tell he was trying to speak, but Johnny’s grip was tight and cutting off his air. Johnny pressed the bottle to Daniel’s throat. The jagged glass sliced. A single drop of Daniel’s blood rolled down his skin.

I had to do something and fast.

“All right Johnny, you’re right.” I held my hands out to him as if surrendering. “I do want to be with you. But Daniel’s my husband. Don’t hurt him. His boys need him,” I said, hating myself for twisting my affection for Johnny and using it against him. “Since the first day we met, I knew there was something between us, a connection I couldn’t deny. When I’m with you, I feel like I’m home, like everything is going to be all right.”

Johnny’s hard expression softened. “You mean that?” he said, his grip on Daniel’s neck slackening just enough.

I pressed my palms to the center of my chest. “With all my heart,” I said and watched as Daniel’s trapped gaze shifted, transforming from victim to predator. A half-instant later, his elbow jerked forward then crushed back into Johnny’s gut with a force that had Johnny doubling back.

The bottle fell to the floor.

Seizing his opportunity, Daniel spun away, his fist coming back around to make direct contact with Johnny’s chin. Johnny arched back from the blow, his feet stumbling out from beneath him as he fell against the wall. Daniel moved between us, his fists in fighting position, ready to inflict another blow.

“Stop it!” I hollered, pulling on Daniel.

Johnny regained his footing and whirled around. “Nice try,” he said, twisting his head slowly from side to side as if working out the effects of Daniel’s punch. “Gettin’ your wife to distract me so you can take a cheap shot?”

“You’re half right,” Daniel spat back. “She is
my
wife.”

The sneer drained from Johnny’s face, his eyes on fire as he lunged at Daniel again. Daniel brought his forearms up to deflect the blow but wasn’t fast enough to stop Johnny’s fist from slamming into his ear. Daniel stumbled. Before he could recover, Johnny was off his feet, his body spinning around, his heel rounding up with a kick to Daniel’s ribcage.

The altercation playing out before me moved as if in slow motion. I watched my husband’s body fall back. I tried to get to him but he might as well have been a mile away. I gaped helplessly as his head smacked against the corner of the table and he slumped to the floor.

“Daniel!” I tripped over my feet and dropped down next him. He wasn’t moving. “Johnny, what did you do?” I pressed my fingers to Daniel’s throat and felt a faint pulse beat back against my skin. A weak sigh slipped through his lips, his head rolling from one side to the other.

“Call 911,” I said, but Johnny didn’t move. “Why aren’t you calling?” I yelled.

“You love him, don’t you?”

I looked up at Johnny. He just stood there, hovering over me, his expression blank.

“Of course I do,” I said. “What did you think?”

Johnny gazed back at me, hopeless and defeated, before he said, “Marlie, I—”

The sound of splintering wood followed by determined footsteps closed around us, seemingly coming from all directions.

“Federal agents!” Anna-Beth’s voice broke the tension with a new threat. “No one move!”

I scanned the room to see men in shirtsleeves sheathed in bulletproof vests, holding pistols in the striking position and directed at Johnny and me. Slowly I straightened, my hands in the air. “Daniel’s hurt,” I said. “Please, someone call 911.”

Pressing a finger to her ear Anna-Beth said, “I need medics in here, ASAP. There’s a man down.”

Steven bent Johnny’s arms behind his back, securing his hands with a black plastic tie. Johnny didn’t resist except to sear Steven with a stare over his shoulder.

My panicky gaze darted from one heavily armed man to another, pausing briefly to see Electra hanging back by the entrance holding an icepack to the back of her head. There hadn’t been time for anyone to summon the authorities, so Anna-Beth and company had to have already been on their way, but why?

“What’s going on? Why are you here? Why are you arresting Johnny?” I asked. “He was only helping me. It was my idea to escape from the hospital. I forced him to help me. I’m the one you’re after, not Johnny.”

Anna-Beth holstered her gun. “That’s very noble, Marlie, but this has nothing to do with you or the charges against you,” she said, motioning to the others to lower their weapons.

“Then why?”

Steven tucked his nine-millimeter into his belt. “He’s one of
them
,” he said, exaggerating his look of disgust.

A dreadful feeling corkscrewed around my gut. “One of who? Of what?” I asked, growing certain I wouldn’t like the answer.

Steven took Johnny by the chin and twisted his face toward me. “He’s an imposter,” he said, spewing tiny droplets of spittle with his words.

I turned to Johnny, studying his eyes. He kept his focus just off center of mine, but still, I couldn’t see anything that hadn’t been there before.

“No, his eyes are the exact same color.”

Steven tightened his grip on Johnny’s chin, twisting his face harder in my direction. The tendons in Johnny’s neck knotted in defiance. “Take a closer look,” Steven hissed through his teeth. “Amber surrounded by green.”

“Yes, the contrast is unique but what does that prove?” I charged back.

Anna-Beth put a hand to Steven’s arm. After another firm squeeze to Johnny’s face, Steven let go.

“Yes, but not with that much distinction. Central heterochromia,” Anna-Beth explained using the professional tone I was still unable to equate to my college roommate. “We’d have missed it too if he hadn’t have been so reckless as to break you out of the hospital. Pretty gutsy move.” She slapped Johnny on the shoulder. “We’ve had our suspicions but after last night, we now know who you really are.”

I pressed my hands against my head, trying to smother the truth before it could surface.
No, he couldn’t be, he wasn’t like Paul, like the woman from the cemetery.
It wasn’t true! How could I have felt such a keen closeness to someone so villainous? My mind skipped back, replaying the first time I’d met him that day at the reception and then to all the inscrutable things he’d said and done along the way.

We
all
tried to warn you,
Paul’s words echoed again in my head.

“Johnny?” I implored.

Johnny lifted his chin. “When you came back to Nashville and then again when you called me last night and asked for my help, I thought fate had brought us back together,” he said like we both knew what he was talking about. “I’m sorry, Marlie. I never meant to hurt you.”

My mouth turned down in confusion.
Fate?
“Sure, you’ve done and said some mean things, but you didn’t hurt me,” I said, shaking my head. “You helped me. You got me out of the hospital. You were going to help me prove my innocence.”

His eyebrows pulled into a frown. “No, that’s not what I’m talking about,” he said, his eyes seizing mine with a heartrending stare. “I hope that some day you’ll be able to forgive me for leaving you—”

Steven yanked back on Johnny’s cuffed hands, turning him toward the door. “All right, that’s enough. This touching moment is bringing a tear to my eye.” He brushed a finger mockingly across his cheek.

I looked to Anna-Beth for answers. My mind raced back to the day her man had kidnapped me and the way she’d said,
Finn is gone.
Gone—not dead. “Wait,” I said, knocking against the dining room chairs, trying to get to Johnny. “Stop!” I yelled.

Reaching out my hand, I lifted Johnny’s chin until our eyes met straight on. And that was when I saw it—the answer to the riddle he had taunted me with all along. Though his eyes were not what I remembered, deep down there was an undeniable familiarity that reached back in time and into my soul.

“
Finn?”

A sad smile drew up the corners of his lips. “I never wanted to hurt you,” he said. “I loved you.”

I took a step back. “Then why?”

Straining against Steven’s grasp, Johnny . . . Finn, tried to close the space between us. “I joined the Iphiclesians before I met you. I wanted to make the world a better place,” he explained, his tone desperate. “When I asked you to marry me I was already in too deep, but I was too young, and too stupid, to realize it. I thought I could keep you safe.

“But you’ve always been so damned curious. I knew you’d discover the truth of what they wanted from me sooner or later, and when you did, you’d leave me. Or worse, they’d get rid of you. Either way, I’d lose you. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you when you needed me—when you lost our baby.”

This was not happening. Finn, my Finn, the man I’d been hopelessly pining after for a decade, had not become this creature. He had not murdered someone and taken his place, stolen a husband from his wife, a father from his children. And yet, here he was looking at me through eyes that weren’t Johnny’s but not Finn’s either.

Tears flooded my eyes. “So you made up that story about choosing your inheritance over me for my own good?” An insurmountable grief exploded in my chest. “You broke my heart,” I sobbed.

“No,” he shook his head, adamant. “I saved your life.”