The Butler's Daughter (20 page)

“I'll hold on to that thought.” With a wave, Annette descended the granite steps and disappeared into the night.

Juliana went upstairs to bathe Cort, dwelling on what Annette had said. Had that been Sable's plan—to make Ross and Lexi regret their marriage?

 

O
NCE THE STATE POLICE
fingerprint expert had taken the florist's fingerprints and removed several latent fingerprints
from the photograph, he promised to contact them as soon as he had any results. In the meantime, Hunter and Investigator Bradshaw headed to Long Island with the photograph in an evidence bag. Hunter wanted to look through the photo album of Ross and Lexi's wedding.

Stacey Kerr brought them the album and left them to work in private in Ross's study. The photos the photographer had taken of the bride getting dressed were near the beginning of the album.

Investigator Bradshaw tapped a photo of Lexi and her mother beside a wicker basket of flowers. “There's the basket. This is the same photo.” He laid the cut-out basket on top of the photo.

It was a perfect fit.

“Look at the truth it tells,” Bradshaw said softly.

Hunter swore as he studied the photo of Lexi and her mother. Mrs. York wore an expression of pride and joy as she adjusted her radiant daughter's tiara. Lexi looked like a princess. The love between mother and daughter was like a glass shell, enclosing them, excluding others. Annette was not included in the picture. Hunter had a stomach-clenching feeling there was some symbolism in her absence.

He thought of Juliana and her conviction that her father loved her brother best. Was that how Annette had felt about her sister? That Lexi was the favored child? Hunter checked the other pictures in the album. He found one of Annette and Lexi. But Annette's smile was forced as if she wished she were anywhere else but at her sister's wedding.

Hunter vaguely remembered Juliana repeating a comment Annette had made the day of the funeral about postponing her wedding to Darren Black because of Lexi's pregnancy. It hadn't registered then, but it registered now.

Sable Holden hadn't killed Ross and Lexi out of revenge.
Annette had. And she'd been misdirecting the investigation by casting suspicion on everyone but herself.

Hunter reached for his cell phone, fear dwelling in his heart. Annette was on FairIsle. He had to warn Lars and Juliana.

 

“W
HAT'S KEEPING
L
ARS
with your bottle?” Juliana asked Cort, smoothing his furrowed brow with her fingers. “I know you're tired, my grumpy pumpkin. Here, I'll put you down in your crib with your blankie and be back in a few minutes with your bottle.”

Cort started to fuss the moment she laid him down. “It's all right,” she murmured to soothe his cries. “I'll be right back. Lars probably got tied up with something.”

Juliana went out into the hallway and leaned over the banister, looking for the butler. “Lars?”

There was no answer from downstairs. The house was silent. Had he gone outside for a minute? Or taken a phone call?

She hurried down to the kitchen. Cort was so tired. If she didn't get his bottle right away, he'd probably fall asleep then wake up in a few hours hungry as a bear.

Lars wasn't in the kitchen. The overhead lights had been turned off, but the under-cabinet lights glowed softly on the granite countertops. Juliana grabbed a bottle from the refrigerator and popped it in the microwave to warm.

As she stepped back from the microwave, she slipped on a sticky substance on the floor. They must have spilled some red wine earlier. She crossed to the sink to grab a dish cloth, leaving a tacky trail. She swiped at the sole of her shoe, startled to see the stain was a vibrant red. Like blood.

Had Lars broken a wineglass and cut himself?

Juliana switched on the overhead lights. The blood was
more visible now on the black-and-white tiled floor. Alarm creeping through her, she followed the trail to the door of the butler's pantry and pushed the door open.

A scream rose in her throat.

Lars lay on the floor unconscious and bleeding. He'd been stabbed several times.

 

“O
H
, G
OD
. L
ARS
?”

Juliana felt in his pockets for his cell phone, panic spiraling through her. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be happening. Lars needed a hospital. Now.

His cell phone wasn't there. Nor was his gun.

But the butler was still alive; she could hear him breathing. She grabbed an apron hanging from a knob and bunched it over the wounds in his abdomen, laying Lars's hands over the cloth. She had to alert Del and Ty there was a dangerous intruder on the island.

The microwave pinged. Juliana nearly jumped out of her skin in fright. She needed to do something. Cort was upstairs alone. She had to find a phone. Get help.

A bead of perspiration rolled down her spine as she grabbed a marble rolling pin off the pastry board. Taking a steadying breath, she stepped back into the kitchen and made a wild dash for the portable phone sitting in its base at the message center.

She hit the talk button, then hit the button for the Chelsea cottage. Oh, damn. There was no dial tone!

A receiver must be off the hook in the house somewhere.

Juliana felt panic seizing her. What should she do? Go find the other security guards?

No! She had to get upstairs to Cort. Her baby could be in danger. Her gun, the replacement cell phone Hunter had given her and the safe room were up there, too. She could call for help for Lars from the safe room.

Not knowing whether Lars's attacker was still in the house, she moved cautiously through the house, avoiding the servant's staircase off the kitchen and the main staircase. She'd take the back staircase at the far end of the house that brought her near the nursery and Brook's suite.

Her heart beat with a deafening roar in her ears as she crept up the stairs. Please God, keep Cort safe.

She entered Hunter's room first, locking the door behind her and nearly succumbing to tears at the strong sense of his presence in the room. Give me strength, Hunter. Give me strength, she prayed.

She could hear Cort snuffling in his crib and her heart leaped. Almost there.

She eased the door open, entering the corridor that connected her suite to Hunter's. The door to her room was ajar—the way she'd left it. Her heart pounding wildly, Juliana crossed the corridor and locked her door. Then she peered into her dressing room, looking for places someone could hide. Satisfied that no one was hiding in wait, she grabbed her purse from the shelf and pulled out her gun.

Feeling safer, she lifted Cort from his crib and swaddled his blanket snugly around him. To her relief, he burrowed his head into the curve of her neck and sighed.

There was no sign of her cell phone. Where had she left it? In her room?

Somewhere in the house Juliana heard a door slam. The kitchen door, she thought. Oh, God!

She had to get Cort upstairs to Hunter's office. Now.

Gun raised, she unlocked the door to Hunter's room and crossed the hallway to the main staircase. It was the most direct route to Hunter's office.

One flight up to safety, and a chance to save Lars.

Hugging the wall of the staircase, she moved up the
stairs, praying Cort wouldn't make a noise and give away their location.

Five more steps. There! Her fingers shook as she punched in the code to Hunter's office:
Wife.
What a wonderful word! Thank God for a husband with backup plans. She pushed the heavy door open. Not a moment too soon.

Shots splintered the railing behind her and dug into the paneling to the left of the door. She darted into Hunter's office, closing the door behind her. Then headed straight for the bookshelf and the hidden button.

She could hear more shots being fired out in the hallway. She had no idea how long the door to his office might hold back an intruder. She wasn't taking any chances. Maybe there was a cell phone in the safe room.

She hit the button, and the bookcase and the panel behind it granted her access to the safe room. Relief poured through her as the entrance sealed automatically, securing them inside.

Juliana laid Cort on the carpet and searched the locker. There was no cell phone. But she found more guns.

She took one for backup, blessing Hunter for his cautious nature. Oh God, she wished he were here now! She was so scared.

She emptied the locker so she could use it as a crib for Cort. She couldn't take him with her. It was much too dangerous. He'd be safer here in Hunter's secret room. Her heart in her throat, she gave Cort a goodbye kiss and laid him in the locker. “I love you, baby. I'm counting on you to bring your sunshine into Hunter's life.”

Choking back tears, she hit the keypad for the emergency exit. She couldn't leave Annette and Lars to certain death. She had to find a phone that worked.

 

A
VOIDING THE PATH
, Juliana moved along the shore of the island toward Windermere, terrified that one false step in
the dark would send her falling into the river. The night was cold, the stars distant and blurred. But she couldn't think of failure. She had to think about saving Annette and Lars.

Somehow Sable had found out where The Guardian lived.

Juliana tripped over a rock and fell, scraping her hands on some stones. She didn't have time to feel any pain. Not when Lars could be dying. May already be dead. She glimpsed Windermere through the trees. Saw lights on. Saw a shadow move in front of the window and glimpsed the gold sweater Annette had worn to the house earlier.

Thank God she was unharmed.

Juliana crept up to the door of the cottage and entered without knocking.

Annette whirled around, dropping a cushion she had clutched to her stomach. “Juliana! What's wrong? What are you doing here?” she asked in alarm.

Juliana locked the door. “Quick! Try the phone. We need to call the state police. Lars has been stabbed. He's dying.”

Annette reached for the phone and lifted the receiver. Juliana cried out with relief at the sound of the dial tone. She snatched the phone from the smaller woman's hand. Setting her gun on the sofa table, she dialed for help.

“This is Juliana Sinclair,” she told the emergency dispatcher. “I'm on FairIsle. There's an intruder in the house. He stabbed the butler and hid his body in the pantry. I'm in the guest cottage with Annette York. There are two security guards on the island, but I can't reach them. We need help now!”

The dispatcher told her to remain calm, the police were
on the way. Juliana disconnected the call and pressed the button to reach Chelsea cottage.

The phone rang and rang.

“Damn!” She hung up in frustration. “Come on, we're getting out of here. We're sitting ducks.” She turned and reached for the gun. It wasn't there.

Annette had it. Her face was white and her hand was trembling. “I'm not leaving until you tell me where Cort is.”

“He's safe, Annette. I hid him.”

“Tell me where.”

Juliana thought about drawing the gun she'd tucked in the back waistband of her jeans. But she didn't want to risk either of them getting hurt. Annette was scared. She might pull the trigger. “Put down the gun. We don't have time for this. The killer could be headed for your cottage right now. I know a secret cave where we can hide. Hunter showed it to me.”

Annette motioned with the gun. “Let's go, then. Out the back door.”

Hunter was frantic.

He and Investigator Bradshaw had been trying the phone lines to FairIsle in vain as they flew back to the island in Hunter's helicopter. The main phone line to the house was busy. The cell phones belonging to the security team were not currently in service. There was no answer in Chelsea cottage. And Juliana's cell phone rang incessantly.

Investigator Bradshaw had called the state police to the island. Would they be too late?

Guilt and despair racked him at the thought of Juliana being ripped from his life. He saw her beautiful face as she'd dropped the towel from her body so he wouldn't forget where he'd left off.

As if he could.

Selfishly, foolishly, because he'd been too cowardly to make himself vulnerable to her, he hadn't told her he loved her.

He was an idiot. Not saying the words didn't negate the feelings. Didn't mean they weren't there, buried in him. Making him ache.

She could be hurt. She could be dying.

The most courageous woman in the world had told him she loved him today. Twice. And he'd failed her.

“How much longer?” he shouted at the pilot, searching the dark landscape below for familiar landmarks.

“Forty-two minutes.”

Investigator Bradshaw touched his arm. “The troopers will be there any minute.”

Hunter nodded grimly, tortured by the fear they would be too late. Just as he'd been too late to save his mother.

 

J
ULIANA KNEW SOMETHING
was horribly wrong when she heard Annette's voice. “I've got her. We're on the path heading toward the garden. Meet us at the fountain.”

She stopped and whirled around. Annette had a cell phone in her hand. The last thing Annette had said before she'd left the house this evening took on a new and horrifying significance in Juliana's mind. Had Annette wanted to make Lexi regret her marriage to Ross? To what lengths had she gone to bring pain and unhappiness to her sister's life? “You did this? How could you kill your sister?”

“How could I?” Annette gave a short bitter laugh. “Do you know what it was like being Lexi's younger sister? Lexi, who won beauty competitions. Who only had to walk into a room and people adored her. I was invisible! Nothing I did ever mattered. I got straight A's in high school. Was valedictorian of my class. When I got a scholarship my mother told me it was just as well because they couldn't possibly afford to put us both through college.

“I was engaged first. Did you know that? My one shining moment that eclipsed Lexi. Darren was a mathematician. An academic. He was going to be brilliant—and he loved
me.
For twenty-four whole days I had Mother's attention. She called me almost every day to talk about the wedding. And we even met for lunch. Lunch! That was something she normally only had time to do with Lexi. We
were planning
my
wedding. My future, my happiness. And it was going to be beautiful.”

Juliana tried to edge away from Annette and the gun in the dark. She could dart into the woods behind a tree and be in a position to defend herself.

“Is Darren helping you? Did he make the bomb?”

“No! You're so stupid. You underestimate me—just like Lexi. She told me they were going to see Cort and gave me the address. I made the bomb with castor beans—simple research on the Internet. Darren had nothing to do with it. I simply couldn't marry him, not after Lexi came home with the baron of Wall Street and announced she was pregnant and they were getting married.

“Pregnant.”
Annette spat out the word. “If I'd come home pregnant my parents would have disowned me. But not their beautiful, perfect Lexi who'd never so much as had a pimple her entire life. She'd nabbed a goddamn billionaire! Mother told me that we'd have to postpone my wedding because she couldn't possibly be expected to plan two weddings at once. Lexi's wedding had to come first because of the baby.”

Annette pointed the gun straight at Juliana's heart. “Of course, I understood. Lexi always came first. She was their princess and her marriage to Ross was my parents' crowning achievement. Now, keep your hands up and keep moving!”

Juliana's heart folded in two as she resumed walking. “Did you take Riana?”

“No, I only wish I had! For the first time, Lexi's life wasn't so perfect. She had to wallow in misery like the rest of us. Except Lexi's misery killed my parents. The doctor told me mother's heart attack was probably stress-induced because of Riana's abduction. And father, the police said he hadn't been paying attention while driving due to grief
over Mother's death. Lexi took everything from me! Now I'm taking everything from her.”

“By killing Cort?” They were nearing the fountain. Juliana could hear the splashing of water. “How can you kill him? He's never done a thing to you. I know what it feels like to be the least favored child. I had a brother whom my father still has on a pedestal even though he's been dead for twenty years. But Cort is just a baby. You're his only living relative. He'll grow up knowing you, loving you, maybe more than anyone has loved you in your life.”

“But he's
her
baby. Besides, I'm not going to kill him just yet, thanks to you. If Hunter was willing to marry you to give Cort a mother, he'll be willing to marry me. He's very handsome don't you think? More handsome than Ross—and he has the sexy alter-ego thing going.”

Annette's voice curled with disdain. “You were just Cort's nanny. I'm his godmother. And if Cort happens to die in a tragic accident a few years from now, no one will be the wiser. I can't inherit the Collingwood estate until Riana's been missing at least seven years and been declared legally dead. Marrying The Guardian will suit me just fine. The Collingwood estate was nice, but this is a
castle
and I'll be the undisputed queen. Mother and Daddy would be so proud.”

Cold fury raced through Juliana's blood. She wasn't about to let this woman harm Cort or claim Hunter's bed.

A male voice drifted across the garden. “Where are you?”

“Here,” Annette called.

Juliana's heart pounded in terror as the lights in the shrubbery revealed the approaching figure of a man clothed all in black. He had a gun in his right hand.

“Kill her.”

Juliana dived behind the boxwood hedge, reaching for
the gun hidden at her waist as shots fired in the night. Rolling onto her knees, she took a wild shot at them and followed the hedge west toward the woods as Hunter had told her.

“Where'd she go?” Annette screamed.

“Over there. I've got her.”

Juliana heard two shots and a grunt of surprise.

“You bitch. You shot me? What'd you do that for?”

Annette's voice was cold and unemotional. “Yeah, life is a bitch, isn't it?”

Another shot rang through the night. Followed by a chilling, horrifying silence.

Juliana kept her head low and made a straight cut across the path into the woods on the other side toward the shoreline. The police were coming. If she could beat Annette to the cave, she could survive. At least Cort was safe.

Four strides off the path, she tripped over a log and fell headlong to the ground. The gun flew from her grasp.

She patted the ground, looking for the gun. Where had it gone? Her hands found something. Cold fingers, attached to a body. She shrieked, nausea burning in her throat.

Oh, God, it was Ty! She could make out the white streak of skin at his neck. She thought he was dead.

She heard crashing in the underbrush somewhere behind her. Annette was coming.

Juliana rose, running blindly through the woods in the dark. Trying not to sob. Shots fired around her, instilling her with more terror. Annette was too close. Juliana wasn't going to make it to the cave.

The trees parted ahead of her. Juliana saw the rapid movement of the river and two police boats approaching the island, emergency lights flashing and floodlights blazing. A bullet whizzed past her head.

Juliana didn't think twice. Hunter and Cort needed her. She dived into the river and swam for her life.

 

H
UNTER FOUGHT TO CONTAIN
the panic roaring through him as the chopper neared FairIsle. Juliana was missing. The troopers had already landed on the island and found Annette bleeding from a stab wound in her left arm, screaming hysterically that an intruder had attacked them and Juliana had shot him. But she didn't know where Juliana, the baby or the intruder was. The troopers had searched the house and the island. They'd found Lars barely alive in the butler's panty. Hunter had given them instructions to the safe room where they'd found Cort safe and sound, sleeping. But there was no sign of Juliana.

The troopers were searching the other buildings on the island and the woods. Hunter counted off the last few minutes until the helicopter would reach the island, praying the troopers would find Juliana in the cave.

“Sorry, sir,” a trooper told Hunter over the cell phone. “We just checked the cave. She's not there. But we found both guards in the woods.”

Fear gripped Hunter's heart. “Are they alive?”

“One of them is. He's in pretty bad shape. African-American male in his thirties. He's been stabbed, too, like the butler. Looks like he crawled a considerable distance to try to get help.”

Del. Oh, no!

“I don't think the other guard knew what hit him, sir,” the trooper continued.

Hunter worked his jaw silently, grieving for Ty, praying he wouldn't be burying Lars and Del and Juliana, too. Where was she? Why hadn't they found her yet?

“We'll keep searching the woods near the cottages.
That's where she was when she talked to the emergency dispatcher.”

“Wait a minute!” Hunter said suddenly, his head shooting up. If Juliana had gone as far as the cottages to call for help, she'd have tried to make it to the safety of the cave from there. Unless she couldn't make it. Annette might have caught her off guard in which case Juliana would have fought back, perhaps have done something brave and unexpected to save herself.

Dread burned in his soul. He knew exactly what she'd done.

“Get a boat out on the river. I think she's in the water, and she's not a good swimmer.” He turned and tapped the pilot on the shoulder. “Bring us down low and approach the island from the east. The current will pull her that way.”

The pilot nodded and brought the chopper down.

Hunter and Investigator Bradshaw scanned the dark flowing water for signs of life.

 

O
NE, TWO, THREE
, B
REATHE
.

With a froglike motion of her arms and legs, Juliana popped her head out of the water and fought back fear. The current was rapidly pulling her farther and farther into the main river channel. Though she'd tried to draw attention to herself, the engines of the police boats had drowned out her cries for help.

But she wasn't giving up. Something glowed white in the water a hundred or so yards ahead of her. One of the markers that delineated the international border, she thought. At any rate, it would be something to hang on to until daylight. Tomorrow was Saturday. There would be plenty of boats passing that could come to her rescue. She was
not
leaving Cort and Hunter to Annette's mercy.

She and Hunter had unfinished business. Words and feelings still left unexplored between them. She didn't want to miss out on any of it—especially the joy of hearing him admit he loved her.

Juliana moved her arms through the water and lifted her head out to take another breath. A strange whipping noise reached her ears. What was that? Then, blessedly, she saw it. A halo of light descending from the sky, sweeping over the river. She lifted her arms, waving them over her head, and tread water. “Over here! Over here, please!”

The beam caught her in its glare a second before she caught a mouthful of river water that had her gagging and sinking into the water's powerful embrace.

No!
She flailed her arms like she was spreading peanut butter and kicked her legs like they were egg beaters, pulling herself to the surface again.

“Help!”

To her great joy, a figure dropped out of the helicopter and into the water. Seconds later, he surfaced and swam toward her.

“Juliana!”

Even beneath the roar of the helicopter she recognized that voice and swam toward the man she loved. Hunter had come. He'd saved her!

Relief and joy broke through Hunter when he covered the last few yards and stretched a hand through the water, grabbing Juliana's arm. “I've got you,” he said, pulling her into an embrace. “This is one hell of a way to pick up where we left off.”

She pressed her cold lips to his, her fingers clutching his shoulders. “I love you. Annette was going to marry you and hurt Cort. She wanted to destroy everything Lexi had.”

He didn't know what the hell she meant about Annette planning to marry him but it didn't matter. She was safe.
They had a lifetime together to sort out Annette's twisted schemes. He held his cherished wife close in his arms. “I love you, too, sweetheart. So much it scares me.”

For the first time since he'd found his mother's lifeless body, Hunter found real peace.

 

E
IGHT SOMBER DAYS LATER
, Hunter took Juliana's hand as she was preparing to leave for the hospital to visit her father and asked her to come out into the garden with him.

It was early October and the deciduous trees were showing their yellow and scarlet colors against the backdrop of the dense pine woods. In the last eight days they'd buried Ty and rejoiced at both Del's and Lars's recovery. And they were steadily weathering the media storm.

Surprisingly, Annette hadn't breathed a word about Cort's true parentage or Hunter's identify as The Guardian. Hunter suspected that Annette probably thought drawing attention to Lexi's son and his legal guardian would be like putting Lexi in the spotlight again.