Star Bright (50 page)

Parker fixed anguished eyes on the officer’s face. “She’s fadin’ out on me. I can barely feel her pulse. The bastard gave her a bunch of sleeping pills and made her drink wine.”

The man pressed his fingertips to Rainie’s throat. His brown eyebrows drew together in a concerned frown. “It’s faint, but there. The ambulance will be here shortly.”

Parker didn’t know if Rainie would last that long. He hunched his shoulders around her. The pain in his chest was so sharp he could barely breathe. “I can’t lose her,” he said raggedly. “I just can’t. You know? How will I live without her?”

The cop picked up the bottle of sleeping pills from the counter, pulled his radio from his belt, and left the kitchen. Parker heard him talking in the living room, but most of it was police jargon he couldn’t understand. A moment later, the officer returned and said, “I gave the EMTs a heads-up. They’re on the line with the hospital right now so they can start treatment immediately. She’ll make it, son. Those boys are very well trained.”

Parker could only pray the man was right. Her body felt as cold as death.

Moments later, the ambulance arrived, and four EMTs raced into the house with a gurney. Parker was forced to relinquish his hold on Rainie as the medics went to work, one taking her blood pressure and pulse while another inserted an IV catheter in her arm. Before Parker could inquire about her condition, they had pumped her stomach and had her on a gurney to remove her from the house. Heart in his throat, he followed them out.

“Is she gonna be okay?” he asked as they pushed the gurney into the back of the ambulance. Two men jumped in with her. The remaining two closed the doors.

“We’ll do all we can!” one of them called as they circled the vehicle.

The next thing Parker knew, the ambulance was leaving, siren blasting and lights swirling. He ran to his truck to follow it to the hospital.

Rainie awakened slowly, first becoming aware of light sifting through her lashes to hurt her eyes and then registering sounds around her. Footsteps, a clank of metal, distant voices. She blinked and opened her eyes.

“Hello, beautiful. It’s about time you woke up.”

Parker’s dark face came into focus. Smiling sleepily, Rainie determined that he was sitting on a chair beside her bed—only it wasn’t her bed or her room. Bewildered, she glanced around. “A hospital?”

He stood and stepped over to gather her into his arms. Deep lines of exhaustion scored his cheeks and fanned out from his eyes. His lips looked pale, and his hair lay in furrows over his crown, as if he’d repeatedly raked his fingers through the thick strands.

“Parker, are you okay?”

He laughed and buried his face in her hair. “Am
I
okay? Ah, Rainie, I’ve never been so scared for anyone in my whole life. Don’t ever put me through this again. My heart can’t take it.”

It all came back to Rainie then in a horrifying rush. She hooked an arm around Parker’s neck. “Oh, God, Parker. Peter was in my car when I came out of the supermarket. He put a knife to my throat.”

“I know,” he whispered. “It’s okay, sweetheart. You kicked his ass good and proper.”

Rainie shivered at the memory. And then she laughed shakily. “I
did
, didn’t I? I pretended to fall asleep so he’d lower the knife. The instant he did, I smashed the wineglass in his face.”

He tightened his arms around her. “I almost lost you. Thank God they pumped your stomach before all the wine and Ambien got into your bloodstream.”

Rainie stiffened. “Peter. Is he . . . dead?”

Parker chuckled. “No, but he probably wishes he was. You worked him over pretty good. He’s here in the hospital, too, only he’s under armed guard. Once he can be transported, he’ll be taken into FBI custody and will stand trial. Special Agent Slaughter called. He says the bastard went into a rant when he woke up, furious because you’d bested him. How the hell could a stupid little pea brain like you outwit him? He’s the great Peter Danning, who’s committed two perfect murders. He was so fit to be tied that he confessed to killing his first two wives in front of two doctors, three nurses, and a handful of cops.”

Rainie smiled blearily. “That is
so
like Peter. His temper always gets the better of him.”

“His highfalutin attorney will try to say he was on pain medication and didn’t know what he was sayin’, but Slaughter says he divulged too many details about how he committed the murders. The poison he used to kill his first wife, for one, some weird chemical that leaves no trace. How would he know about it if he didn’t actually use it? He also admitted to hirin’ White to mess with Clarissa Danning’s brakes and then killin’ the bastard to keep him quiet. He knew too many details about exactly how White died not to have been there. Slaughter says Danning will be behind bars for the rest of his natural life.”

Rainie hooked both arms around his neck. “Oh, Parker, I love you. When Peter put the knife to my throat, I kept thinking that it couldn’t end for us that way. And I couldn’t remember if I’d ever told you how very grateful I am for all the wonderful gifts you’ve given me. The list is as long as my arm.”

“The feelin’s mutual, sweetheart. That’s what love is, you know, a fabulous, wondrous gift.” He ran a hand into her hair. “I just have one bitch.”

She stiffened. “What’s that?”

“I wanted to kick his sorry ass myself, and you kicked it so good, there was nothin’ left for me to obliterate.”

She smiled drowsily. “Yes, well. It was an ass I needed to kick.”

“I know,” he whispered. “And you did a fine job of it. No more lookin’ into mirrors and feelin’ lost, Rainie mine. You put an end to his control over you forever. I’m so proud of you.”

Rainie was proud of herself. Even as sleepy as she still was, remembering that moment when she’d shoved the broken goblet into Peter’s face gave her a sense of liberation.

“They told me that you can be released as soon as you wake up. If you’re feelin’ up to it, darlin’, I’ll take you home.”

Rainie smiled dreamily and breathed deeply of his scent, that fabulous, intoxicating blend of smells that was exclusively his own. Oh, how she loved him. “I’m already there,” she whispered.

“You’re already where?” he asked.

“Home,” she whispered. “Already home.”

As Rainie said those words, she knew they were absolutely true. She was finally, at long last, right where she belonged.

In Parker Harrigan’s arms.

Epilogue

O
n a crisp, snowy Saturday a few months later, Parker and Rainie’s wedding took place in the Catholic church that Parker had attended all his life. Because it was a small, rural parish, it had been fairly easy to book the church, and Father Mike had bent over backward to get the marriage scheduled as quickly as possible. Clint was Parker’s best man. Quincy, Zach, and Samantha’s husband, Tucker Coulter, were his groomsmen. Along with all the Harrigans, the entire Coulter clan was inside the church proper. Tucker’s sister, Bethany; her husband, Ryan; and her in-laws, the Kendricks, were present as well. Rainie loved the thought that her new family had so many members, in-laws, and friends. There would be frequent social gatherings for her and Parker to attend.

Out in the vestibule, Rainie trembled with a bad case of nerves, not because she had a single doubt about marrying Parker, but because there were so many people in the pews, filling both sides of the church. As she walked down the aisle, every eye would be upon her. Janet straightened her veil and winked at her.

“That Parker is so gorgeous. I’m thinking that Quincy needs a sweetie. What do you think?”

Rainie could only laugh.

Maggie handed her the bouquet. “I’ve got dibs on Zach. He is
so
sexy. Still eclectic in his tastes, unfortunately, but I’m thinking I might addict him to one flavor.”

Samantha, Rainie’s matron of honor, shook her head. “My poor brothers don’t stand a chance.”

Rainie just giggled again. She was too nervous to think clearly. As her matron of honor and bridesmaids fell into formation and proceeded into the church, she clutched the wool sleeve of her escort’s black tux. “Oh, Grandpa, what if I trip and fall on my face?”

Marcus Hall Sr. chuckled and patted her hand. “Don’t worry, honey. I’ll catch you from falling.”

Tears filled Rainie’s eyes as she gazed up at his face, an older version of her dad’s, a visage she’d thought never to see again. Silly of her. She was about to marry a man who’d presented her with her very own star to serve as her guiding light and had filled her life with love and joy. She really shouldn’t have been surprised when he worked another miracle by locating her paternal grandparents. Marcus and Sybil Hall, Ohioans of long standing who’d mourned the loss of their eldest son for many years, had never received any of Rainie’s query letters. Unfortunately, she hadn’t had Parker’s investigative resources to find them. They’d been delighted to learn that they had a granddaughter.

“I’m so glad you’re here to give me away,” she whispered tremulously. “It’s almost as good as having Daddy with me.”

Marcus’s eyes went bright with tears. He blinked them away, smiled, and bent his silver head to kiss her cheek. “My only regret is that I haven’t been with you all your life.”

Rainie shared the same regret. From her grandparents, she’d finally learned why her father had severed all contact with his family. Rainie had guessed it mostly right. Her mother had met with her grandparents’ disapproval, not because they were snobs who looked down on an orphaned young woman, but because Rainie’s mother had spent her teens in a reformatory for female juvenile delinquents and had a rap sheet. In addition to drug-related offenses, she’d been convicted of prostitution and armed robbery before she turned sixteen.

The mother Rainie remembered had been a wonderful, sweet, understanding woman with a gentle smile and soulful eyes. It boggled her mind to think that her mom had once sold her flesh to get money for a fix and had held a gun to a man’s head, ordering him to empty a till. But facts were facts. After hearing the story, Rainie had researched her mother’s past, and sure enough, Susan Hall had been found guilty on both counts. That didn’t alter Rainie’s love for her mother. Instead it had driven home to her an important life lesson: Some people were capable of changing, and when they did, it was wrong to hold their past mistakes against them.

Sadly, her grandparents had learned that same lesson the hard way, destroying their relationship with their eldest son in the process. Now, at around seventy, they were helpless to correct their own mistakes. They could only move forward, trying to forge a strong and loving relationship with their long-lost granddaughter. Rainie was more than happy to give them that opportunity.

After their honeymoon in Hawaii, Parker and Rainie planned to fly to Ohio to meet the rest of her paternal relatives. According to her grandparents, she had three aunts, four uncles, a passel of first cousins, and too many second cousins to count. Rainie looked forward to seeing all of them, and wished they could have attended her wedding. Airfare for so many would have been a huge expense, though. It made more sense for Rainie and Parker to make the trip.

The vibrant strains of the organ filled the church. Her grandfather smiled down at her. “You ready to walk down the aisle and let me give you away to that young whippersnapper?”

Rainie nodded. As she and her grandfather began the halting journey up the center aisle, her gaze drifted to the left side of the church, which was filled with people who’d chosen to sit on the bride’s side to keep the numbers in the pews fairly equal.

Through her veil, Rainie watched Tucker Coulter’s niece, Chastity, who was Bethany and Ryan Kendrick’s four-year-old daughter, walk before them down the aisle, scattering rose petals over the burgundy carpet to blaze a trail for the bride. She was darling in a lacy pink dress, with her sable curls bouncing over her shoulders. Ahead of her, Clint and Loni’s son, Trevor, was the ring bearer. He looked so cute, a miniature of his father and uncles, and took his role very seriously.

Parker’s side of the church was packed with his family, shirttail relatives, and friends. All her life, Rainie had yearned for a sense of belonging, and now she had finally found that. Someday when she and Parker charted their family tree in the Harrigan Bible, her side would have plenty of limbs and branches after all. That was a glorious thing to know as she moved toward the rest of her life.

He stood to the right of the altar, so handsome in his black, Western-cut tuxedo and dress Stetson that Rainie’s heart felt as if it might burst with happiness. She had taken instruction to become a Catholic, and today, in addition to entering into holy matrimony, she would receive her first Holy Communion.

Parker’s heart was in his eyes as he watched her come toward him. When at last Rainie reached him and her grandfather stepped aside, she took Parker’s hand with a joyous sense of rightness. He smiled at her through the folds of her veil, telling her without words that he felt the same emotions.

As they stepped forward as a couple to kneel before the altar for Father Mike’s blessing and their nuptial Mass, a shimmer of multicolored light from the stained-glass windows fell over them. That felt right to Rainie, too, symbolic of the inextinguishable light within her that Parker had helped her to rediscover.