Daddy's Home (35 page)

Holly nodded and went to work closing the drapes, her little dog still going berserk.

“Shut that fucking rat thing up before I blow its brains out!”

“Petie, hush! Come here.” Petie ran to Holly with his tail tucked between his legs. She scooped him up.

“I don’t know if you want to do that. You might want to lock him away considering I am going to blow your fucking brains out. Unless you want to take the dog with you.”

Okay, keep her talking. Keep her talking. Brendan will be here soon.
“Follow me. I’ll put him in here,” Holly said and walked down the hall to her office where she locked Petie into the room.

“Into the bathroom.” Darla pointed the gun at her.

Holly didn’t like the sound of this. She showed her to the bathroom.

“Turn around.”

Holly did and faced the bathtub of her small Nantucket-style bathroom.

Darla reached into her suede-coat pocket and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. “These come in real handy. Multi-purpose deal. Great for sex games and for dealing with bitches like you. Gunter always liked handcuffs. We had a lot of fun with them through the years.” She snapped them shut over Holly’s wrists.

“You don’t have to do this.”

“I don’t? Yes, I do. Now get in, and sit down.”

Holly stepped into the bathtub. If she could just kick her . . . But Darla had her positioned so that it was nearly impossible. Her hope was that she would play along and Brendan would arrive soon. But Brendan didn’t have a gun either. He might wind up getting hurt or killed himself. Holly had to think quick. Darla proceeded to tie her ankles together into a very tight knot. Holly didn’t realize that the woman was so strong. She then placed a strip of masking tape over her mouth.

“Now you get to listen to me.”

This ought to be good.

“You murdered my one and only love. Oh, sure, many would say that what we had together was sick, but it wasn’t. It wasn’t at all. Gunter loved me. He did. And I loved him.” Darla reached over Holly’s head and turned the spigot on. “Ooh, nice freezing water. The kind you killed my Gunter in. You destroyed any chance of us ever being together, and now you’re going to pay with your life.” With that Darla brought her arm back and swung hard, hitting Holly on the side of her head with her gun.

Holly’s head bobbled and she fell to the side of the tub. Everything was hazy, but she wasn’t completely knocked out. Not yet.

Hang on, just hang on.
She had to fake unconsciousness for a chance at staying alive. But what then? She was exhausted, shackled, and near blacking out. She was feeling very woozy and bile rose in the back of her throat. This was not good. The water was getting higher. As she started sinking into the water, she thought she heard Darla say, “Who the hell are you?” But it was so distant that she wasn’t sure anyone was saying anything. It was like being in between dreaming and waking up, fuzzy and confusing, and Holly felt she was going deeper into the dream state.

“Leave me alone!” Darla screamed. “You’re always ruining everything! I knew you’d come back! I just knew it! How did you find me?”

“Turn it off, Jennifer. Turn the water off and let her go. Don’t ruin your life. They’re gone now. You don’t have to pretend anymore. You’re not like them. You’re good. Please, Jennifer. Daddy and Gunter are gone. You can get over this. Turn the water off.”

A woman’s voice. Who was it? Who was Darla Monroe talking to? Jennifer? Darla Monroe
was
Jennifer Drake. Who was the other woman? Was Holly dreaming? Was she dead? Where was Brendan?

“You never understood. You never will,” Darla yelled. “You weren’t one of us. You hated us because we loved each other, and the only one who ever loved you was that bitch mother of ours.”

“She was the only good one. And you’re right, she did love me, and I loved her very much. But you don’t have to be like them. You don’t have to be like Daddy and Gunter. Please put the gun down, turn the water off, and leave. Go! You don’t want to kill her. Think of all the horrible things they did to you. That wasn’t love, Jennifer. It wasn’t. It was cruel and hurtful. Gunter did not love you and neither did Daddy. They couldn’t love anyone. Please, please don’t do this.”

Crying. Darla Monroe, or whoever she was, was crying.

Then the other woman was screaming, “No, Jennifer! No, don’t do it!” A loud bang.

Crying of a different kind. Water covering Holly’s face. Was she dead? Was this what it was like to be dead? Had Darla Monroe shot her, and who in the hell was the other woman?

Someone lifting her. Water not running anymore. Her face out of the water.

“What the hell?” She heard Brendan yelling.

“Call an ambulance, please! Call an ambulance. I didn’t do this. I really didn’t,” the other woman said.

Seconds, minutes, hours later, Holly wasn’t sure, she was being lifted onto a gurney and prodded with needles.

“Looks like she got hit pretty hard.”

“I’m okay,” Holly muttered.

“Holly?” It was Brendan.

“What happened?” She opened her eyes. Brendan stood over her, a concerned look in his eyes.

“You got thunked on the head by a lunatic, that’s what happened to you.”

“No. I know that. Who was the other woman in the room?” As Holly asked, a woman of about thirty approached them and looked down at Holly on the gurney.

“I’m Kimberly Drake. I’m sorry about this.”

“Kimberly Drake? You’re . . .” Holly said.

“Yes, I’m Gunter Drake’s sister, and the woman who did this to you was our sister, Jennifer Drake.”

“Darla Monroe.”

Kimberly nodded as tears came to her eyes. “Yes.”

“What happened?” Holly asked again.

“She shot herself,” Brendan replied.

Holly knew by the look in Kimberly Drake’s eyes that her sister was dead. “I’m . . . sorry.”

“It’s okay. Maybe now I can let it all go and leave everything behind. I’m the one who sent you the photograph of my family. I was set to leave for France when I did that, but something pulled me back. Against all that I ever wanted to do, I came out here. By the time I arrived and had the courage to track you down, the fiasco with my brother had already taken place. But I knew deep down it wasn’t over. Nothing with Gunter was ever over. I had hoped I could find my sister and track her down before she came here. I looked everywhere. Then I decided to come and speak to you tonight and warn you that revenge is huge in my family. That you were in danger. I got lucky when I saw my sister’s car out front. At least I hoped it might be her car. The plates said ‘Godiva’ on it, and everyone in my family always called her Lady Godiva because of her long blonde hair. It made her feel special. I didn’t think . . . I just walked into your house, knowing she was inside and that something bad was going to happen.”

Holly smiled and took her hand. “I understand.”

“Okay folks, we need to get her to the hospital and checked out,” the EMT said.

“Will she be okay?” Kimberly asked.

“She should be.”

“My girl is tough,” Brendan said. “She can take a lump on the head.” He stroked back Holly’s hair. His look didn’t match his words.

“I’m fine. I’ll be okay. You’re right, I’m plenty tough.”

“Would you like me to go to the hospital?” Kimberly asked.

“No, please. Don’t worry about me. Thank you for saving my life. The best thing you could do for me is to go and catch that plane to France.”

Kimberly Drake leaned over her and said, “Thank you for saving my life, too. If you get a postcard from a Karen Whitley, just know that’s me.” She smiled.

And that was the last Holly saw of Kimberly Drake.

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

It was all behind them now. Gunter Drake was dead. Jennifer Drake a.k.a. Darla Monroe was also dead. Kimberly Drake had moved to the French Riviera to put her childhood and the horrid memories behind her once and for all. Holly took in a deep breath as she reflected on the past few days, where she’d survived death more than once.

She had one more item to take care of before she could really move forward. She picked up the phone and placed the call.

When she hung up, she kissed Chloe on the cheek. Meg was on the sofa watching TV. Brendan and Maddie would be by in a couple of hours. He’d taken her to the latest Disney movie.

“Meg, can you watch Chloe for an hour? I have to take care of something.”

“Sure.”

So she had at least an hour to put this to rest.

Holly made her way up to Birdrock. She walked up the front porch and knocked on the door.

Anne Nickels answered.
“I thought you’d be back eventually,” she said and swung the door open. “Come on in. Tea is already brewing. Chamomile, right?”

Holly nodded and followed her inside the house, where she sat down on the chenille sofa. “I want to apologize for the way I acted the last time I was here. Seems that many of your predictions or feelings about my case were correct. We did catch him.”

Anne nodded. “You don’t need to apologize. Sometimes the things I say are not what people want to hear, but I have a responsibility to my clients to relay what I intuit, even if I don’t understand it myself.”

“I’m here because obviously so much of what you said was accurate, and now I need to finish up on a personal note.”

“Jack?”

“Yes.” It amazed Holly that she knew his name and knew exactly what it was that she’d come to discuss.

“When we spoke before I felt this sense about him, that he hadn’t died, that somehow he was alive. I saw the fire, but usually when someone passes on, I see a grave or some other type of object that is reflective of a passing. I did not get that with him. I saw a handsome, vital man, still very much alive.”

“Okay.” Was this what Holly wanted to hear? She wasn’t sure, but she had to know. “Is that what you still see?”

Anne set down her teacup and closed her eyes momentarily. “Actually, no. Interesting.” She paused and crossed her legs. “I now understand why I saw things the way I did on your first visit. The reason I saw Jack so alive was because you had kept him that way, Holly. You were not willing to let go, and because of that he was so prevalent in spirit within your heart and mind. That’s what I was reading,” she said gently. “You’ve let go, and that is all Jack ever wanted. Now he can go on into the light and be where he’s supposed to be. You see, if we hold the dead so strongly with us, they cannot truly pass on. So it’s good for both of you.”

Holly didn’t know what to believe.

“Also, Jack is aware of the new man in your life.” Anne smiled.

“Huh.”

“He likes him. He says go for it and live your life. He says that you and Chloe have an angel watching over you, but that you should let this new man be your angel here on Earth.”

Holly teared up. The sense of fear that she had felt for so long was replaced with relief.

She stood and gave Anne a hug. “Thank you.”

“Anytime.”

Holly closed the door behind her, got in her car, and headed home to her Earth angel and their girls.