Dark Water (16 page)

Sarah closed her eyes briefly, remembering the horror and the fear.

“It was still dark, and I hid in the closet with my hands on the doorknob because there was no lock. I heard the intruder running down the stairs and then past the closet where I was hiding. And then the footsteps stopped and began coming back. I was so scared. I just knew I was going to be found. Just as he was about to open the door, the power came back. I could tell it startled him. He turned and ran. When I came out, I was alone, and then I turned and saw Tony and…” She covered her face with her hands.

Ron touched the crown of her hair briefly, absently noting that it was as soft and silky as it looked, then turned to the man who was in charge of the security team.

“Did your men see anything?”

“Not a damn thing,” he said. “We weren't aware of any problem inside the house until we heard Miss Whitman scream.” Then he added, as if absolving them of any blame, “We were assigned to the exterior of the property. We had no way of knowing that the security team inside had been immobilized.”

“It's okay,” Sarah said. “No one's blaming you. I just thank God you were there.”

The man looked at Sarah for a moment and then made some sort of decision. “I'll have men posted directly outside the house, as well as on the property, until Mr. DeMarco orders otherwise. No one will enter the house without our permission.” Then he walked away, giving orders as he went.

Sarah stood abruptly, gathering her robe around her.

“Where are you going?” Gallagher asked.

“To get dressed. I'm going to the hospital to see Tony.”

Ron sighed. “Go ahead and get dressed,” he said. “I'll take you myself.”

“I have a car,” she said. “It's not that far into Marmet.”

“They've taken Tony to Portland,” he said.

Sarah groaned. “That far?”

“Like I said, I'll get you there, but you're going to have to put up with a bodyguard.”

“Better than the other two, I hope,” she muttered.

“I heard one of the paramedics say they thought the men had been drugged.”

Sarah frowned. “That makes no sense. How could they have been drugged? Tony said they're into health food. I think they even prepare their own meals.”

“I don't know. That's just what I heard. They'll know more after they run tests on everyone concerned. Now, if you don't mind, I'll accompany you upstairs and we can see if anything is missing.”

Sarah flinched as if she'd been slapped. That was something she hadn't even considered.

“I just assumed the intruder was looking for me.”

“Probably,” Ron said. “But we'll check to make sure.”

They started up the stairs with Sarah sandwiched between the sheriff and an armed security guard carrying a semiautomatic. If she hadn't been so scared, she would have laughed. This was like something out of a bad B movie. Girl running for her life in a dark house, then finding her lover unconscious and bleeding. Enter the police, and pitiful heroine is reduced to having total strangers guarding her as she dresses.

“Have mercy,” Sarah muttered.

“You say something, miss?”

“What? Oh. No,” she said, and made a mental note to keep her thoughts to herself.

 

It wasn't until she was dressed and looking for her shoes that Sarah realized what was missing. She turned abruptly, looking at the table where the box with her father's things had been sitting.

“The box! It's gone!” she cried.

Ron had already inspected her room and was across the hall in Tony's room, trying to see if anything had been disturbed, when Sarah cried out. He came running back, his weapon drawn, although the security guard was still outside her door.

“What's wrong?” he asked, as he ran into the room.

She pointed to the table. “I didn't notice it before, when we were looking through the room, but the box with the things from my father's desk was on that table. Now it's gone.”

“You're sure you didn't put it somewhere else and then forget?”

“Positive,” Sarah said, and sat down on the bed with a thump. “Why would anyone want to steal a box of silly little keepsakes?”

“Maybe there was more in there than you thought,” Ron said.

“The only thing that might have been useful was that calendar,” Sarah said. “Thank goodness you have a copy of the pages.”

Ron frowned. “How many people know that?” he asked.

She shrugged. “I didn't tell anyone, so no one except me, Tony, you and your staff. Oh…and Maury Overstreet.”

“Who's Maury Overstreet,” Ron asked.

“The private investigator Tony put on the case.”

“Oh yeah, right. For now, let's just keep it that way,” he said.

Sarah nodded and then remembered her shoes. “I can't find my shoes,” she said.

The sheriff turned around, searching the room, then pointed at the closet.

“Have you looked in the closet?” he asked.

She grimaced. “I know this sounds silly, but I never put my shoes in the closet, at least, not the ones I wear every day.”

Ron went to the door and opened it. “Are these the ones?” he asked, pointing to a pair of black loafers.

The skin crawled on Sarah's back. “I didn't put them in there.”

“Maybe Tony did.”

“They were by that chair when I went looking for him.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Because I saw them there when I turned on the light to get my robe.”

Ron frowned and looked at the shoes again. “Are you saying that the intruder put your shoes away?”

She couldn't quit shuddering, imagining the man going through her personal belongings. She felt violated, as if she'd been raped.

“He was the only other person up here besides me.”

Ron spun immediately and ran to the door, then yelled down the stairs.

“Evans! Bring me a large evidence bag!”

A minute or so later, one of his deputies came running and handed the sheriff a large plastic bag. Ron knelt, lifting Sarah's shoes with the tip of a ballpoint pen and dropping them into the bag.

“Hope you've got another pair,” he said.

Sarah shrugged. “Tennis shoes and slippers.”

“I'd recommend the former,” he drawled. “May I?” He pointed back into the closet where a pair of white tennis shoes with blue trim were sitting.

“Please,” Sarah said. When he handed them to her, she put them on quickly and stood, her coat and purse in hand. “Now will you take me to Tony?”

“Yes.”

 

By the time Gallagher drove into Portland, daybreak was on the horizon. The drive had been quiet. Only a couple of times had Sarah even bothered to start up a conversation. The last time she had, she'd asked Ron to watch out for her aunt and to see that she reached Tony's house safely. He'd promised her that and would have promised her more, but she needed nothing from him but his badge. However, over the past few days, he'd had a revelation about the woman on the seat beside him. It wasn't that he dreamed of having a relationship with her. Not in reality.

What he really wanted—and needed—was absolution. He'd been part of the past that had destroyed her family, and it was something he would always regret. But solving this twenty-year-old crime, knowing that he'd been as instrumental in clearing her family name as he had been in ruining it, was all he would ask.

“There will be an armed guard posted at the hospital,” he said. “They're guarding Tony in case anyone comes after him again. And I'm going to insist one of them stays with you at all times.”

The look in Sarah's eyes was haunted. “Will this ever be over?”

“Yes, Sarah. I give you my word.”

Her shoulders slumped as he took a turn into the parking lot of a large hospital, but she managed a faint smile.

“I would like to be one of the survivors, when all's said and done.”

“You already are,” Gallagher said. “Just remember that and you'll be fine.”

Sarah thought about his words all the way up to Tony's room. Ron got her past the head nurse on the floor, then past the policeman standing guard outside Tony's room, but once inside, she was on her own. He left her at the doorway with a promise to return the moment he was needed.

Impulsively Sarah hugged him and then went to Tony.

Ron Gallagher flinched only once when her arms encircled his neck, and then he patted her gently, as he would have a child, and left in haste. There was a lot to do before the day got any older.

S
arah raced to Tony's side. He was asleep or unconscious, she wasn't sure which, but the monitor hooked to his heart showed a steady, even pulse, so she willed herself to relax. Except for a small white bandage on the side of his head just above his right eye, he appeared to be sleeping.

She leaned over and brushed his cheek with her lips. His skin was warm and supple. Cautiously she pulled a chair up beside his bed. For a moment she sat and watched his face; then, gently, she threaded her fingers through his, laid her head on the side of the bed and closed her eyes. She fell asleep with the memory of her own screams replaying in her mind.

 

Tony flinched as he opened his eyes, then wondered why it hurt to move. Groaning softly, he reached toward his head and saw he'd been hooked up to an IV.

“What the—” Suddenly he remembered. Sarah. Dear God, what had happened to—

“Tony, darling, don't move.”

Her voice—her sweet, bossy voice—was next to his ear. All he could think was,
Thank you, God.

“Sarah?”

She cupped his cheek, then patted his hand, easing his arm back onto the bed before he could disturb the IV.

“I'm here.”

“He was in the house.”

“I know, sweetheart. Please don't move. Just rest. We'll talk about it later.”

But Tony wanted to talk about it now.

“What time is it?” he asked.

“Almost noon.”

“Is it still today?”

“Technically, yes. The attack happened after midnight.”

“I heard something downstairs and thought it was Dunn. He was on duty first. When I didn't find him, I went to his room. Dunn was lying on the floor. Farley was on the bed. I reached down to check on him, and someone hit me from behind. I turned my head just as I sensed their presence, but was too late to see anything but some black pants and black shoes.”

“Gallagher said he heard the paramedics talking. They were guessing that both men had been drugged, and I've been trying to think when it might have happened. Now I think I know.”

“But how?” Tony asked. “They were with us all the time.”

“Right,” Sarah said. “At Moira's party.”

“You think someone slipped something to them there?”

“Where else?” she said. “I know they had a thermos of coffee with them. I saw Farley set it on the table in the foyer when Moira let us in.”

“Did you tell Ron?”

She nodded. “I mentioned it on the way into Portland, but I had no idea who could have done it. During the evening, it could have been any one of the guests. We were all over the house, remember? Moira dragged us into the library to see her late husband's paintings, then back into the living room for an after-dinner brandy. I know I saw four different people talking to the bodyguards at one time or another, and everyone there was talking about them.”

“But that means it was one of the guests.”

“Not necessarily,” Sarah said. “Someone could have come in and done it when we were all elsewhere in the house.”

“Damn,” Tony said. “For a minute I thought we had narrowed the field.”

“I haven't done anything but cause you trouble,” Sarah said. “And just so you know, I'm thinking seriously of leaving as soon as my father's remains are released.”

He grabbed her hand. “No. You can't leave, Sarah. How will I know you're safe?”

“I don't know. I'll manage. But if I leave, at least I'll know you're out of harm's way.” Then her voice broke. “When I saw you…just for a moment, I thought—”

Tony groaned softly, then pulled her close to him.

“Don't, baby. Don't cry. I knew what I was getting into. I was just careless, that's all.”

“You don't owe me this kind of loyalty,” she said. “Don't you understand? Whatever debt you feel you owed my father has long since been paid. Please, Tony. For your sake and my sanity, let me do this my way.”

His chin jutted angrily. “No.”

Sarah sighed. “You're crazy, you know that?”

“Crazy for you.”

“Ah, Silk…there you go talking pretty.”

“It's in my nature, baby. I can't give you up, so don't ask.”

A long look passed between them, and finally she lowered her head in subjugation.

“I want to go home,” Tony said.

Sarah grinned wryly.

“What's so funny?” he asked.

“The doctor…he was here earlier. I told him you'd say that.”

Tony's smile was a bit wan, but the cockiness was still there.

“So what's holding up the process?”

“You,” she said. “You wouldn't wake up.”

“I'm awake now. Go find the man. I want out of here.”

“He'll be back in a—”

“Either you find him or I will,” Tony said. “There's nothing wrong with me but a bump on the head.”

“Lord,” Sarah muttered. “Give me a few minutes, okay?”

She had started toward the door when it occurred to Tony that he didn't want to let her out of his sight.

“Wait!”

“What now?” she asked.

“I don't want you wandering around the hospital by yourself. That nut might have followed you here.”

“Oh, don't worry,” she said. “Gallagher has a guard on your door and one outside assigned to me.”

He relaxed, but only slightly. “Okay, then, but hurry back.”

Sarah put her hands on her hips in a gesture of frustration.

“Either I find the doctor or I stay here, but I can't promise to hurry when I don't know where he is.”

He grinned. “I like it when you get ticked.”

She smiled back. “Oh…you have yet to see me really mad.”

His eyes widened. “Am I going to like it?”

“Depends how much bloodshed you can stand.”

He was laughing and holding his head when she left the room.

 

The ride home from the hospital would have been long and uncomfortable for Tony unless he'd gone in an ambulance, which he refused to do. So, being the take-charge man that he was, he'd chartered a helicopter. Sarah was still coming to terms with the ride when the pilot began circling the area over Flagstaff Lake near Tony's property. Tony had assured the pilot that there was ample space behind his house, but because of the slope of the land, the pilot had opted for the front area instead. That made a phone call necessary, and moments later they watched from the air as people spilled out of the house to move vehicles. Sarah counted two police cruisers, two vans belonging to the security team, the car in which Dunn and Farley had arrived, and another she didn't recognize. When an armed man came out of the house and moved it, Sarah suddenly remembered her aunt's imminent arrival and guessed it might be hers.

As for poor Dunn and Farley, they were no worse for wear once the sedatives they'd ingested had worn off, but they hadn't been any help in figuring out what had happened. Whatever they'd been given had not only knocked them out but had rendered their short-term memories blank. Their images had been tarnished, and the ride home in the chopper dashed what was left. Dunn had used the only airsick bag on the plane, so Farley had to use his hat. Both gruesome little mementos were tossed out of the chopper over a river, and Sarah had grinned as she'd watched the objects falling, hoping there were no unsuspecting fishermen below who were about to get a rather nasty surprise.

A minute or so later, the area in front of Tony's house was completely devoid of vehicles. The pilot gave Tony a nod of approval and down they went. Sarah heard Dunn burping behind her, and Farley made a slight gagging sound. Tony turned around and gave them a look, after which there was silence.

Moments later the chopper was on the ground. As soon as the doors opened, security spilled from behind every tree and out of the house until it looked as if the president of the United States himself must have landed. Sarah stifled a giggle of disbelief. She wanted to ask if all this firepower was necessary, but she knew that were it not for Tony's influence and interference in her life, she would already be dead.

“Wait,” Tony mouthed, motioning for Sarah to stay inside, when she started to dismount.

She sat with the wind currents from the circulating rotors whipping her hair about her face and in her eyes until she thought she would go blind. It wasn't until a good half-dozen armed men stood before her that she was allowed to get out. Then they encircled her quickly. Before she could look to see where Tony had gone, she felt a guard on either side of her slide an arm around her waist. Her feet left the ground as they started to run. They carried her the entire one-hundred-plus yards from the chopper to the front door before they put her down. She was too taken aback to do more than mutter a quick thanks before they shoved her inside the house and shut the door.

She spun immediately, looking for Tony. He was, after all, the one who needed to be in bed, but he was nowhere in sight. She had started to backtrack, when someone called her name. She turned.

“Quite an entrance, baby girl,” Lorett Boudreaux drawled.

“Aunt Lorett! Thank God you're here.”

Sarah fell into her arms and just held her. She was safe. Now she was safe. Then she remembered Lorett's youngest daughter.

“Michelle…is she all right?”

Lorett smiled as she brushed her hands across Sarah's windswept hair.

“She is fine,
chère.
Don't you worry none about Michelle. Francois arrived. She has no more need for her mama.”

“I have need of you,” Sarah said, and then her eyes filled with tears. “Oh, Aunt Lorett. Terrible things are going on.”

“I know, baby, I know. Some I knew before I came. Your sheriff, he has told me the rest.”

“I don't know what to do,” Sarah said. “I've put Tony in terrible danger by being in his home.”

“He made his choices,” she said. “I think he is man enough to stand by them.”

At that point the front door opened and Tony walked in. He took one look at the woman beside Sarah and knew that Aunt Lorett had finally arrived. She was looking at him, then almost through him, and in that moment he knew Sarah had not exaggerated Lorett's talents. He grinned.

Lorett's nostrils flared slightly as she looked at the man who had stolen her baby's heart. And she knew it was so, whether they did or not. His clothes were expensive—she could tell by the way they fit his body—and his olive-colored skin was pleasing to her eyes, as were his thick black hair and dark eyes. His body was muscular but lean, and his legs were long and strong. The small white bandage on his forehead was, to Lorett, a badge of his courage. He'd been hurt protecting her child.

“Come here to me,” she said softly.

Tony found himself following her orders. When he stood before her, he held out his hand.

“Welcome to my home, Ms. Boudreaux.”

“Lorett,” she said softly, and hugged him.

Tony was surprised by the gesture, but pleased. It never hurt to be on the good side of one's in-laws-to-be, even though he had yet to inform Miss Whitman of his intentions. Then, to his further surprise, Lorett put her hand on his forehead and closed her eyes. Almost immediately, he felt heat.

Startled, he began to move back, but she gripped his arm, holding him fast.

“It's okay,” Sarah said. “Trust me.”

He stood still. Moments later, Lorett released him and stepped away.

“You were injured protecting my baby girl. I thank you.”

Tony nodded, a little embarrassed in spite of himself, and quickly changed the subject.

“Have you found a room yet?” he asked. “There's one next door to Sarah.”

She looked at Sarah and then Tony. Her lips twitched, but she didn't smile.

“I chose one downstairs,” she said. “It is close enough.”

Sarah blushed. Good Lord. Was she never to have a secret from this woman? Aunt Lorett knew that she and Tony were lovers. How embarrassing was that?

Tony grinned again, and this time he was the one who gave Lorett a hug.

“I knew I was going to like you,” he said, and kissed her soundly on the cheek.

Lorett's laugh broke the tension between them, and she turned to Sarah.

“This man…he is something, Sarah Jane. You do not let him get away.”

Sarah didn't know whether to say, “Yes, ma'am,” or tell her aunt to shut up. She opted for cautioning Tony instead.

“You need to be in bed,” she said shortly.

A very devilish smile spread slowly across his face. “Why, Sarah, can't you at least wait until dark?”