Elizabeth opened her eyes and smiled at Reece, assuming he had awakened her for more lovemaking. She reached out for him, but instead of encountering his sleek, naked body, she felt her clothes thrust into her arms.
"Get dressed as quickly as you can, Lizzie," Reece whispered. "Tracy Stanton is here. She's brought one of her lovers. They're on the porch, and they're both drunk."
Elizabeth jumped out of bed, pulling on her clothes as quickly as possible. "What's she doing here? Did you know she used this place in the winter?"
"There's no time for questions. We've got to get out of here." Reece pulled Elizabeth into his arms, slipping the keys to the Thunderbird into her hand. "I'll take the Jeep and go straight to the sheriff. You go to Sam's motel and tell him what's happened."
"Oh, God, Reece, they'll hear us when we drive off."
"Probably." He gave her a quick kiss. "No matter what happens, just keep driving. Don't look back. Don't think about me. Don't worry about me."
"What about our bags, our food?" Elizabeth didn't hesitate to follow Reece when he pulled her out of the bedroom and into the hall.
"We'll take our bags." Reece lifted both bags off the floor. "We won't need the food."
"They'll call the sheriff as soon as they hear us. They'll think we're burglars."
"My guess is that Tracy won't call the sheriff. If she did, she'd have to explain what she was doing out here."
"What if we can't get out without their seeing us?"
"Hush. Listen." Reece stopped dead still just before entering the foyer. Keeping Elizabeth behind him, he glanced out into the entrance hall. The front door swung open. The overhead light came on. Tracy Stanton stood in the doorway, her slender body wrapped in a gray fox jacket.
"Come on, Jeffie. Make us a fire in the fireplace so we can warm up."
A tall, lanky young man came up behind Tracy, grabbing her around the waist. "I can warm you up just fine without building a fire."
Pulling out of her lover's embrace, Tracy headed straight for the living room. "You get a fire started, and I'll pour us some drinks."
Elizabeth peered around Reece's side, watching as the other couple went into the living room.
"We'll go out the kitchen door," Reece told her. "We'll have to squat down behind the counter. Be as quiet as you can."
Elizabeth nodded agreement, the roar of her heartbeat drumming inside her head.
"Look, Trace, there's already a fire in the fireplace," Jeffie said.
Elizabeth froze. Reece nudged her. Together they walked out into the foyer and toward the kitchen, Reece carrying their bags, hers in his hand, his over his shoulder.
"So there is," Tracy said. "Isn't that odd. I didn't see a car out front. Wonder who's been here."
"Maybe your parents," Jeffie said.
"They're in Gatlinburg skiing all this week."
Knees bent, Elizabeth squatted beside Reece behind the kitchen counter and they did a quick duck-walk toward the back door. Reaching up in the darkness, Reece grabbed the doorknob, turning it until he heard the lock release.
The lights came on in the living room. Reece jerked open the back door, pulled Elizabeth to her feet and ushered her outside.
“Reece!'' Tracy screamed his name.
"Keep running," Reece told Elizabeth. "Get in your car and go straight to Sam."
"She saw you. She knows it's you!"
"Go, Lizzie. Go, now!"
Obeying, Elizabeth made a mad dash through the backyard, but before she could get to Sam's Thunderbird a car pulled up behind her, the headlights blinding her.
"What the hell?" Reece said, turning sharply when he heard the vehicle.
The driver kept the motor running. The bright headlights cut through the darkness, trapping Elizabeth and Reece in their glare.
"Lizzie, come here to me." Reece's gut instincts told him that whoever the driver was, he wasn't the sheriff or any law officer. A shiver of apprehension raced up Reece's spine.
Elizabeth began walking away from the T-Bird and toward Reece. A car door slammed.
"Stay right where you are, witch-woman. Reece's little psychic whore. He can't help you, and you can't help him anymore."
Reece dropped their bags to the ground. Sweat beaded his upper lip and forehead, despite the cold air whipping around him. The sharp, metallic taste of fear coated his tongue. Harry Gunn!
"Let her go, Harry," Reece said. "This is between us. She's got nothing to do with our fight."
Dammit all, why hadn't he remembered Kenny saying that Harry had been following Tracy around? If only he had remembered, he might have been prepared. And Elizabeth. Why hadn't she sensed Tracy's arrival or Harry's? Had she been so consumed by their lovemaking that all else had been obliterated from her mind?
Elizabeth breathed deeply, uncertain what to do. Harry Gunn had come to kill Reece. There was no doubt in her mind about that one fact. But why hadn't she sensed that Tracy Stanton would bring a lover to the cottage, and Harry Gunn would follow her? Only the strongest thoughts and emotions could have blocked out her precognitive powers. Making love to Reece had consumed not only her body, but her mind and her heart. And all her thoughts of the future had centered on the child Reece had given her.
Tracy Stanton ran out the back door, Jeffie following her. "My God, Reece! I had no idea you'd ever come here to the cottage."
"Yeah, pretty good hideout," Harry Gunn said, his voice loud and clear. "I knew if I kept following your brother's wife around, sooner or later she'd lead me to you."
"Are you crazy, old man?" Tracy screamed. "Do you think I'd have helped Reece?"
"When a woman's got the hots for a guy as bad as you do Reece, she'll do anything for him." Harry Gunn stepped around the front of his car, out of the direct glare of the headlights. He held a gun in his hand-an old .38 caliber revolver.
"What are you going to do?" Tracy asked.
"Hey, man you can't-" Jeffie said.
"Hush!" Tracy gave Jeffie a sharp jab in the ribs.
"I'm going to kill Reece," Harry said. "Then I'll call the sheriff and collect that big reward your husband is offering."
"No." The word escaped from Elizabeth's lips like a whisper on the wind.
"Look, Harry, I know you hate me, and if you're determined to kill me, then so be it." Reece took a tentative step toward Harry. "But there's no need to involve anyone else. Let everyone else leave and you and I will settle this between ourselves."
"Stay where you are." Harry pointed the gun directly at Reece. "Nobody's going anywhere. I'm ready to kill the lot of you, if I have to."
"You don't have a quarrel with anyone else," Reece said.
"Maybe I do and maybe I don't." Harry waved the gun in the air, then aimed it at Reece. "He was a smart-mouthed kid." Harry glanced over at Elizabeth. "Always trying to stick up for his mama. His sweet, whore of a mama. How the hell was she supposed to forget about B. K. Stanton when the man's bastard was around all the time?"
Elizabeth sensed an unnatural hatred for Reece emanating from Harry Gunn. She shuddered at the thought of the man's rage. He wanted to see Reece dead. Nothing else would satisfy him.
"Yeah, Blanche never could get over being in love with Stanton," Harry said. "She never loved me. It was always B.K."
Elizabeth knew with certainty that Harry Gunn had hated B. K. Stanton enough to kill him, but she could not sense his guilt or innocence. Harry was too consumed with his hatred for Reece, his determination to kill his stepson.
Harry stood several yards away from Reece, who was only a few steps from the back door where Jeffie held Tracy in his arms. Reece heard Tracy speaking to her lover in a quiet, quick voice.
"Go back inside the house and get to my car. I've got a cellular phone. Call the sheriff's office and tell them what's going on."
Harry jerked his head around, his gaze momentarily leaving Reece to focus on Tracy and Jeffie.
Now, while Harry was momentarily distracted, might be Reece's best chance for jumping h
im. If Harry was intent on killing him, he might not be able to stop his stepfather, but there was a chance that he could save Elizabeth, as well as Tracy and Jeffie, if he could wrestle the gun away from Harry.
"What are you mumbling about?" Harry asked, staring at Tracy. "You cooking up some scheme to save your old lover? Well, don't try nothing. Harry Gunn ain't no fool."
Tracy glanced over at Reece, then back to Harry. "You're wrong if you think I give a damn whether you shoot Reece full of holes or not. He doesn't mean a thing to me. Hell, if he's dead or rotting in prison, he can't collect his share of B.K.'s fortune, can he?"
"You're lying." Harry turned completely around, grinning at Tracy. "You think I don't know all that boy's talent is between his legs. Women been chasing him all his life. If he was a girl, he'd be a whore just like his mama."
All the anger, the pain, the uncontrollable hatred Reece had felt boiled up inside him. In one, quick calculated move, Reece rushed Harry Gunn, who turned sharply, the gun in his hand gleaming in the glow from his car's headlights.
"Now!" Tracy cried out. "Go now, Jeffie."
Jeffie rushed inside the cottage. Tracy leaned forward, her feet unmoving as she opened her mouth in a silent cry. Just as Reece lunged forward, Harry turned, aiming his gun. Elizabeth ran between Reece and Harry. The gunshot exploded, the sound echoing over and over again in Reece's ears. Somewhere, as if at a great distance, he heard the sound of a woman screaming. Tracy.
Elizabeth felt the impact of the bullet when it entered her side. Searing hot pain gripped her. The world began spinning around and around. Slumping over, clutching her side, she fell to her knees.
Reece slammed into Harry Gunn with deadly force, like the bullet that had wounded Elizabeth. Knocking his stepfather to the ground, Reece grabbed for the gun that Harry held tightly. Reece swung his fist into Harry's face, then lifted the man's head and beat it against the cold, hard earth. Harry's hand opened. The gun fell onto the damp grass.
Mindless, feeling nothing except pure hatred, Reece hammered his fists into Harry Gunn's pale, wrinkled face, then sent several hard blows into Harry's midsection.
Tracy ran out into the yard, kneeling beside Elizabeth. "Jeffie's calling the sheriff. They'll get you to the hospital."
Elizabeth clasped Tracy's arm. "Stop Reece. Please stop him from killing his stepfather."
"Why the hell would you care?" Tracy stared down at the blood covering Elizabeth's side. "The guy shot you."
"I don't care about Harry Gunn," Elizabeth said. "I care about Reece. No matter how much he hates Harry, he would never forgive himself if he killed him. Please, Tracy. Stop Reece."
"All right. I'll try."
Reece drew back his fist to strike again. Tracy grabbed his arm. "Don't hit him anymore, Reece. He's unconscious."
"I'll kill the son of a bitch! I'll kill him."
Tracy circled Reece's arm with both of her hands, tugging on him, trying to pull him away from Harry. "He can't hurt any of us now. He's unconscious. Do you hear me? Elizabeth... Elizabeth wants you to stop."
Reece tensed at the mention of her name, suddenly realizing where he was and what he was doing. "Elizabeth."
"She doesn't want you to kill Harry."
Reece glared down at his stepfather, a crumpled heap of flesh and bones, a dirty, stinking, sick old man. Reece stood, his whole body trembling. He saw Elizabeth huddled on the ground, her life's blood seeping out of the bullet wound in her side.
God in heaven, don't let her die. Reece fell to his knees beside her, then sat on the ground, lifting her into his arms. "Elizabeth?"
Gazing up at him, she tried to lift her hand. "Don't worry. I'll be all right."
"Sam knew this would happen. This was what he was afraid of." Reece held her close, tears forming in his eyes. "It's my fault. You shouldn't have been with me. Oh, God, Lizzie, don't die, sweetheart. Please don't die."
"I'm not going to die," she told him. "Not for a long, longtime."
"Are you looking into your future?" He kissed her forehead.
"I did that.. .last night." Despite the pain and weakness, Elizabeth felt a great sense of peace. How could she tell Reece that she knew she wasn't going to die because she had to live to give birth to their child?
Jeffie ran out the kitchen door, halting abruptly when he saw Reece sitting on the ground, holding Elizabeth. "What happened? When I heard a gunshot, I thought old Harry had killed Reece."
"Elizabeth ran between Harry and Reece," Tracy said.
"Damn! Is she hurt bad?" Jeffie walked out into the yard and slipped his arm around Tracy.
"I don't know."
"She's going to be all right," Reece said, cradling Elizabeth in his arms, holding her close. Tears streamed down his face.
"I called the sheriff," Jeffie said. "I told him to send an ambulance."
Elizabeth closed her eyes. She felt herself drifting. Reece kept repeating her name, calling her Lizzie. She opened her eyes and lifted her hand to his face. She touched his wet cheek.
"You're crying," she whispered. "Oh, Reece." Then Elizabeth closed her eyes again, drifting into unconsciousness.
Reece had no idea how long he sat on the cold ground, holding Elizabeth in his arms-five minutes, ten minutes. Finally Tracy touched him on the shoulder.
"Let's take her inside where it's warmer."
Reece lifted Elizabeth in his arms and carried her into the cottage. He laid her down on the bed they had shared only hours ago. Reece clenched his teeth at the sight of her bloody sweater. Lifting her sweater, he used it to wipe away the blood. The bullet had entered her upper left side and exited from the front, at her waist.
Tracy stood in the doorway, Jeffie directly behind her, both of them looking into the bedroom.
"Is there anything we can do?" Tracy asked.
"Yeah, go back outside and make sure Harry doesn't come to."
"I'll handle that," Jeffie said.
"I don't know what to do to help her." Reece sat on the side of the bed, holding Elizabeth's hand to his chest. "If it was the other way around and I was lying there, she'd know what to do. She'd go outside and pull up some weeds and grass and perform a miracle."
"You really care about her, don't you?" Tracy walked over, standing by the bed.
"She believes in me." Reece lifted Elizabeth's limp hand to his lips. "She's gone through hell for me because she wants to help me. Me," Reece said with a laugh, the sound an anguished cry, "B. K. Stanton's worthless bastard."
"She loves you, Reece. She risked her life to save you." Tracy laid her hand on Reece's shoulder.
Reece jerked away from her touch. "Where the hell is that ambulance?"
Reece looked up to see the medics carrying a stretcher into the bedroom. Sheriff Bates walked in behind them, two deputies following.
Reece kissed Elizabeth, then moved out of the way. The medics lifted her gently onto the stretcher and carried her outside to the waiting ambulance. He stared at Simon Bates, who aimed his automatic directly at Reece.
"You won't need that." Reece held his hands over his head in a sign of surrender.
The deputies cuffed him, both young men moving quickly to accomplish the task. Reece heard the sheriff speaking, talking to him, barking out orders, but he couldn't distinguish the words. All he could think about was Elizabeth. She filled his mind and heart completely.
Elizabeth opened her eyes to see Sam Dundee looking down at her. She smiled at him. If Sam was with her, then she was safe. Her mind felt fuzzy, her body weightless. What was wrong with her? Why did she feel so strange?
With sudden clarity she remembered the events that had brought her here. She was in a hospital. She glanced around the room, a private room, her bed the only one.
"Hey, kiddo." Sam brushed her hair away from her face with a gentle hand.
"Reece?" Was he in jail? Yes, of course, he had to be. He ad promised he'd turn himself in to the sheriff.
"Landry's in jail," Sam said. "They took him there ye
sterday morning while they were bringing you to the hospital."
"He's all right, then?" Elizabeth tried to lift herself up in the bed.
"Stay calm, honey." Sam laid a restraining hand on her shoulder. "You've got a pretty big hole in your side. The doctors stitched you up, but it'll take a while for you to recover. You'll probably be in here for a few days, maybe a week."
"Is Reece all right? Y'all told the sheriff that he planned to turn himself in, didn't you?"
"Gary Elkins is taking care of everything, so stop fretting."
"What about Harry Gunn?" Elizabeth could see Harry's warped smile, could visualize the gun he'd aimed at Reece, could feel the bullet enter her body. She trembled.
"Are you all right?" Sam took her hand in his.
"Reece didn't kill Harry, did he?" Elizabeth looked up at Sam with pleading eyes. "I can't sense anything. I can't get a handle on... Oh, Sam, please tell me. I... I..."
"Harry Gunn is under guard here at the hospital. He's got a broken nose, a concussion and several fractured ribs, but he'll live."
"Harry hated B. K. Stanton enough to have killed him." Elizabeth held tightly to Sam's hand. "And he is capable of murder. I sensed that about him. And he hated Reece enough to have framed him. That way he could have destroyed the two people he hated most."
"Yeah, you're right, kiddo." Sam stroked the back of Elizabeth's hand, making circles around her knuckles. "The only problem with that theory is that I don't think Harry Gunn was smart enough to have planned the frame-up. Whoever framed Reece was as shrewd as he was devious."
"What about Kenny Stanton? He has no alibi, and we can prove he threatened to kill his father the day of the murder."
"Elizabeth, will you stop upsetting yourself. It's not good for you. You've done all you can to help Reece. Leave the rest up to me and to his lawyer."
"I want to see him."
"Honey, you can't. He's in jail and you're in no shape to go traipsing over there."
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