She began to sob. Blood was smeared all over the steering wheel, and she couldn't loosen the knots that held her wrists. How much longer before Cal discovered her and finished what he had begun? The faint sounds of the orchestra drifted in through the window. The music sounded more beautiful than anything she had ever heard. Biting her lip against the pain, she worked the car into drive. Then she once again slammed her feet on the accelerator.
The car shot down a small bank and onto the side lawn. With her wrists tied, it was almost impossible to steer, but she wrenched the wheel to the right and rounded the back of the house. On the opposite side of the grounds, she could see a striped party canopy and white paper lanterns swinging from the trees. The car rocked violently as the right wheels rode up on the terraced slope of the hillside. For a moment she thought she was going to flip, and then she gasped as the wheels steadied on even ground.
A low wall of shrubbery loomed ahead. The car careened wildly as she plowed through it. She could see the people more clearly. They were turning toward her. A heavy urn planted with topiary scraped the side of the car. The vehicle shuddered but didn't stop. One of the garden's marble statues appeared on her right. She wrested her arms to the left, just missing it. Men in tuxedos and women in glimmering gowns watched in horror as she raced closer.
She lifted her legs to hit the brake, but her foot caught beneath the peddle. The fountain materialized ahead along with well-dressed party guests who were scattering in alarm. She sobbed as she freed her foot and slammed on the brake.
Stones flew up from the tires. The car fishtailed on the gravel path and skidded into the side of the fountain. Her body jolted as the engine shuddered to a stop.
She heard a woman screaming, the sound of people running, a man's voice, loud and incredulous. 'It's Susannah Faulconer!'
Someone was struggling with the door on the passenger side and then crawling over the seat to help her. Hands touched her wrists and tugged at the knots on the scarf. She whimpered with the pain.
More voices.
'She's tied. Why is she tied?'
'I'll call an ambulance.'
'She's bleeding.'
'Don't move her. You shouldn't move her.'
But her arms and legs were free, and she was being taken from the car. Held in someone's arms.
Mitch. Mitch had come to help her.
Her eyelids fluttered. She wanted to thank him. Tell him she loved him. She forced her eyes open and saw a lightning bolt of gray hair.
'Don't try to talk,' Cal murmured as he held her against his chest. 'Don't try to talk.' And then in a louder voice. 'I'm going to take her inside. She's in shock.'
Susannah tried to cry out, but she was dazed. He was moving more quickly. The paper lanterns flashed by in the trees overhead. A scream rose inside her, but the only sound that passed through her lips was a weak whimper. 'Paige…'
A flash of pink appeared at her side, a cloud of blond hair. 'I'm here, Suze. I'm here. Don't try to talk. Oh, sweetie, don't try to talk.'
'Stop him…' Susannah tried to force out the syllables. Cal's fingers dug more deeply into her ribs. 'Don't let him… take me… inside,' she gasped.
Paige stroked her head. 'Stop who, sweetie? It's all right.'
'She's in shock.' Cal picked up his pace. He was at the back of the house, stepping onto the patio. 'See to the guests. Make certain no one was hurt.'
'Stop… him. He tried… to kill…'
'What's she saying, Cal?' Her sister brushed her arm. 'Suzie, I can't understand you.'
'She's hysterical, Paige.'
'What's wrong, honey?' Paige murmured. 'We'll take care of you.'
Susannah pushed the words out. 'He… tried to kill me.'
'Don't listen-'
Paige's voice was flat. 'Stop for a minute, Cal.'
Cal kept moving. 'She's been hurt. I have to get her inside. Go see to the guests.'
'I said to stop!' Paige threw herself at him, the mother lioness protecting her cub.
Men appeared at her side. Cal let Susannah go, and Paige pulled her down onto a patio chaise. The world gradually steadied.
A crowd was forming around her. Through a breach she saw the buffet tables covered in rose-colored linen. Ice falcons with their wings spread in flight dripped into silver trays. Nicole Theroux, frightened and bewildered, was standing at Cal's side. Cal looked frantic, and people were staring at him. He tried to disperse the crowd, but no one moved. Susannah recognized several of the FBT board members and their wives, many of the same people who had witnessed her disastrous wedding.
Paige held her bleeding wrists and told her to lie down, but there was no time. Susannah turned to Paul Clemens, her father's friend. 'Paul…' Her voice was as weak as an old woman's. 'In the library. There's a tape recorder…' She told him where she had hidden it. The effort exhausted her.
Cal started toward the back door.
'You stay right here,' Paul said sternly.
The men at the gathering were accustomed to taking command, and without a word being spoken, they began to step forward in a silent cadre. Cal looked at them, his face haggard as he tried to comprehend the fact that his world was being ripped apart. Before they could get close to him, he broke away and dashed toward the side of the house.
Several of the men gave chase, but Cal was running with a strength born of desperation, and he eluded them.
Paul had fetched the recorder, and he rewound the small tape. No one in the crowd spoke. Susannah held her sister's hand as the tape began to play.
Later there was a doctor and the police. Paige tucked Susannah into Joel's old bed, murmuring over the white bandages that encircled her wrists. The doctor had given her a sedative, but Susannah struggled to tell Paige something before she fell asleep.
'I saw him.'
Paige gently stroked the damp, clean hair back off Susannah's forehead. 'Who did you see?'
'Daddy.' Susannah's eyes clouded with tears. 'He came to me when I was dying. Oh, Paige, Daddy came to me.'
Paige patted Susannah's hand. 'Go to sleep, Suze. You go to sleep now.'
Chapter 32
'I'm going to kill her!'
Pain had taken over every part of Susannah's body. She squeezed her eyes tight and wished that whoever was making so much noise in the hallway would be quiet. The sedative was powerful, and it took her a while to realize it was Mitch talking. Only a faint gray light seeped through the window. Why had he come to visit so early?
'How could she have done something so stupid?' His voice sounded like a jackhammer at dawn. 'I mean it, Paige. As soon as she wakes up, I'm going to kill her.'
'Shhh,' Paige hissed. 'You're acting like a wild man. Yank, make him be quiet.'
After Mitch's angry bellow, Yank's murmurings were like a soft breeze. Susannah drifted back to sleep.
When she awakened several hours later, bright sunlight was streaming through her window. Intermingled with the stiffness in her muscles was a piercing sense of joy. She was alive for a new day.
The mattress sagged. She turned her head and saw Yank lowering himself to sit next to her. His clothes were wrinkled, his hair rumpled, his face lined with worry. At the sight of that dear sweet face, everything inside her
