Blue Sage (Anne Stuart's Greatest Hits Book 3)

by Anne Stuart

  “Of what?”

  “I don’t know,” she said. The sheet was covering her bandaged arm, and only for a moment did she consider showing it to him. Tanner was right, they couldn’t trust anyone. There was something about Doc she didn’t understand, hadn’t recognized before. She didn’t think it was violence or anger, it seemed to be composed more of sorrow and disappointment, but she couldn’t be sure. “Just watch out. Tanner hasn’t been behind the incidents that have been plaguing Morey’s Falls.”

  “Which means that someone else has?”

  Ellie nodded. “Just keep your eye out, okay?”

  The gaze behind the horn-rimmed glasses looked back into the hazy, blood-soaked past, and a shudder of remembrance shook his body. “I’ll watch,” he promised. “Goodbye, Ellie. God bless you.”

  “Aren’t you going to kiss me goodbye?” she cried forlornly.

  A smile crept beneath Doc’s thick mustache as he shook his head. “Nope. Ask Tanner why not. Maybe he’ll tell you.”

  And without another word he was gone.

  Ellie stood in the center of the room and listened to the old pickup truck lumber off down the road. With an economy of motion she pulled on her clothes, ignoring the pain in her arm, ignoring the stiffness in her knee. If she hurried she’d have time to straighten everything up before she went to get Tanner. The first thing she’d do would be to pour out that hideous coffee, maybe even ditch the battered coffee pot that made such a bitter brew.

  She didn’t hear the sound of the car, but then, BMWs ran very quietly. She didn’t hear the footsteps on the grass, but then, the stalker was used to moving silently. She didn’t hear anything until the horrifying, familiar telltale click of the gun behind her.

  She shut her eyes tightly, willing it to be a dream. But she knew it wasn’t. She could feel the presence behind her, the eyes that had watched her, the creature that had hidden beneath windows and waited. Slowly she turned and looked into Lonnie Olafson’s mad blue eyes.

  * * *

  Chapter Twenty-one

  * * *

  Everything inside her crystallized into icy fear as she stared into the eyes of the man she’d once thought she might be able to love. He was wearing an old army uniform—she’d seen enough M*A *S*H episodes to know it came from the Korean War. The weapon in his hand was just as old. She didn’t know much about guns; she’d deliberately avoided all knowledge of them, but even in her ignorance she recognized what was probably an M-l rifle. She shut her eyes for a brief moment. She didn’t want to die. She wanted to live, with Tanner. She didn’t want to repeat the nightmare that had haunted her for fifteen years. She’d survived the first time—she doubted she’d be lucky enough to make it the second time around.

  She opened her eyes, forcing a gentle smile to her stiff face. “Hi, Lonnie,” she said softly.

  “Hi, Ellie.” His voice was the same, slightly high-pitched, but his eyes were blinking rapidly behind the clear-rimmed glasses, and the gun trembled imperceptibly in his hands. “Where’s he gone to?”

  She didn’t waste time asking who. “Tanner’s gone to Addie’s for cigarettes,” she said. “He’ll be right back.”

  “You’re lying, Ellie.” His voice was sorrowful. “Tanner stopped smoking two weeks ago. After he spent the night with you up on the mountain. He wouldn’t have gone for cigarettes.”

  “But he wasn’t seeing me for two weeks, either. I think I bring out the smoker in him.” She was still holding the pot of coffee. If she threw it at him the hot liquid might scald him enough to make him drop the gun. It would give her a running chance to get to her car.

  “Put the coffee down, Ellie,” he said. “I’m not ready to shoot you yet, but I won’t be picky if you don’t do as I say. And don’t bother thinking about running. I’ve gotten very good with a rifle in the last few years. People don’t realize, they think I’m just Poor Lonnie, who can never do anything right. They don’t know I’ve been practicing, for hours and hours. I can hit anything I want.”

  She took a deep breath and set the coffee pot down. “So why did you miss yesterday?”

  He didn’t bother to deny it. “I didn’t want to kill you. I wanted to warn you, to give you one last chance to get away from him.”

  “When did you carve my name on the monument?”

  He laughed, the sound soft and eerily familiar in the quiet morning air. This was Lonnie, whom she’d laughed with, joked with, grown up with, almost made love with. This was Poor Lonnie, poor mad Lonnie, and she was going to die.

  “I did that more than a week ago. I wondered how long it was going to take you to find it. I was afraid you were going to miss it entirely.”

  “I would have seen it today when they unveiled the monument,” she said.

  He laughed again. “No, I don’t think so. Of course, I haven’t made up my mind, but I don’t think I’ll wait for the unveiling.”

  “Wait for what, Lonnie?” But she already knew the answer. “To take my place in history,” he said simply. “I’m not going to be Poor Lonnie any more. I’ve watched, you know. I’ve watched all these years, when the most important person in this town was Charles Tanner. In a few short minutes he changed the lives of everyone around here. He’ll never be forgotten. They still bring him up on the national news whenever there’s a new killing. People don’t forget, they sit up and take notice.”

  “Yes, they do,” she said carefully. She was close enough to the coffee pot to grab it again. Tanner hadn’t been gone more than forty-five minutes. He wouldn’t start to worry for at least half an hour, maybe more. He wouldn’t come in time to save her, but at least he wouldn’t walk into a trap.

  “Even Tanner,” he continued, his voice aggrieved. “Do you think anyone would have paid any attention to him if it weren’t for his father? He’d be wandering around here, being Poor Tanner, if it weren’t for what his father did.”

  “Do you really think so?” She meant to keep the question light, to keep him talking, but his eyes narrowed and the gun swung angrily in her direction.

  “I suppose you think it’s because he’s something special. All the women in town are panting after him. Even you couldn’t wait. You had to soil your body with filth like him, when you’d been keeping yourself for me. I know you had. You would have been mine, too, years ago, if I hadn’t changed my mind and decided to wait.”

  That wasn’t the way Ellie remembered that embarrassing night. She remembered Lonnie’s tears, his vain attempts, and sorrow swept through her.

  “I’m sorry, Lonnie,” she said gently.

  “You’re no better than the rest of them. You’re trash, falling for a no-good drifter like Tanner, for the son of a killer…”

  “I thought you admired Charles Tanner,” she interrupted him, no longer able to bear the hideous words that were tumbling from his mouth. “I thought you wanted to be like him.”

  “I’m going to make Charles Tanner look like an amateur. When I’m finished everyone in this country will remember the name of Lonnie Olafson.”

  “I think they will anyway, Lonnie. You don’t have to kill anyone to do it.” Her voice was eminently reasonable, but Lonnie was beyond reason.

  “You don’t understand!” he cried, and he sounded like a petulant teenager. “I told you, I have to do it. And you’re the first. I want you to move away from the stove.”

  “Why? You can shoot me here as well as anywhere,” she said calmly.

  “I don’t want to. I think I want to tie you to the chair and shoot you then,” he said, his voice dreamy. “Yes, that’s what I want to do. When I’m finished with you I’ll go on into town and wait for the ceremony to begin.” He gestured with the rifle. “The chair, Ellie. I’m getting impatient.”

  She moved, slowly, so as not to alarm him, and sat down on the rickety seat. He set the gun down, and once more she considered trying to run for it. He followed her gaze, and giggled.

  “Don’t bother, Ellie. I took the keys to your car, and I’m a good sho
t. I don’t want to shoot you in the back, but I will if I have to. Sit still and let me tie you.”

  She tried to struggle, but Lonnie, weak, useless Lonnie who’d never done a day’s worth of manual labor in his life, was far too strong. The ropes cut into her wrists and ankles, and she was trapped, helpless.

  “Now,” said Lonnie, perching on the table and pouring himself a cup of Tanner’s horrible coffee. “I want you to tell me about it.”

  She eyed him warily, still afraid to display any of the hostility that might ignite the smoldering violence lurking beneath his nervous exterior. “Tell you about what?”

  “About what he did to you,” he said, his voice low and excited. “I want to hear everything. Where he touched you, what he did to you. Everything.”

  “No, Lonnie.”

  “Tell me!” he screamed. “I know he had you. All I had to do was look at your face that day and know you betrayed me!” The muzzle of the gun was up against her throat. “You’ll tell me,” Lonnie said. “I’ve got plenty of time before I get in place.”

  “In place? Where are you going to be during the ceremony?” Knowing probably wouldn’t help—it didn’t seem likely that Lonnie would give her any chance to warn somebody, but she needed to ask.

  He didn’t move the gun. “Exactly where Charles Tanner stood. On the roof of the Gazette building. There’s a wonderful view there, and no obstructions.”

  “You’ll be there, waiting?”

  “I’ll be there. You, however, will already be dead.” He nudged her lightly with the gun. “Are you going to make it hard or easy, Ellie? I want you to tell me what it was like to bed Charles Tanner’s son.”

  A blast of white-hot rage suddenly raced through Ellie’s trussed-up body. Fury washed over her as she faced her tormentor, fury and a reckless abandon. Too many men had taken guns to prove their manhood, and now another one was facing her. She no longer cared what he did to her; she had to fight back.

  “All I’ll tell you,” she said, “is that he could do it and you couldn’t.”

  She was unprepared for his reaction. Lonnie burst into tears, his handsome face turning red as his narrow shoulders shook beneath the old army uniform. “No,” he wept, sinking down on the floor. “No, no, no.”

  If only she’d put up more of a fight earlier, she thought regretfully. He was so absorbed in his misery that if she weren’t tied to the chair she could walk right by him and he wouldn’t notice.

  “Lonnie,” she said gently, when the storm of weeping had abated somewhat. “You don’t want to hurt me. Untie me. We’ll get help for you.”

  He looked up then, the tears vanishing, and his mouth curved in a sudden crafty smile. “You’re wrong, Ellie” he said. “I don’t need help. And I do want to hurt you. Very much.”

  Lonnie was staring at her, a bemused expression on his face. Suddenly he pulled back the gun. “I’ve changed my mind,” he said abruptly.

  “You’ll untie me?”

  “Oh, no. You’re going to stay right here. But I’m not going to shoot you. I’m going to let you live. Another survival, Ellie, with everyone you love dead around you. I think that would be even nicer, don’t you think? I’ll just leave you here to wonder if I found your lover. I think I have enough time to stop by Maude’s house. Even if Tanner’s not there, Maude will be. And you know I’ll find the rest of the people in the town.”

  He leaned over and kissed her on the lips, a light, gentle touch, like that of a sixteen-year-old on his first date. His breath smelled like toothpaste, his hair like shampoo, his skin like Lifebuoy and dried sweat. “Goodbye, Ellie,” he said gently.

  She sat there, disbelieving, as she heard his car drive away. And then she began to struggle.

  He’d been much too clever for her. The ropes were so tight they cut off the circulation to her hands and feet. If she’d only had her wits about her she might have done something. She’d read enough books, seen enough movies. Weren’t there ways she could have held her wrists, so that tight bonds loosened?

  Well, she’d been too scared, and now wasn’t the time to worry about lost opportunities. She had no idea what time it was—probably sometime around noon. The ceremony was scheduled for one o’clock, more than enough time for Lonnie to take his place on the roof of the Gazette building. And he was absolutely right, the worst thing he could do to her was leave her as a survivor once more. Particularly if he killed Tanner.

  She looked around her in desperation, searching for something to cut her bonds. Nothing looked promising—the only possibility might be if she managed to break the heavy earthenware coffee mug on the rickety table.

  He’d tied her ankles to the chair legs, twisting her knee just enough to make each move agonizingly painful. Ellie ignored it, jerking and yanking the chair after her as she edged across the room. When she got within reach of the table she set her jaw, shut her eyes, and deliberately toppled over against it.

  She landed with a crash on the rough flooring, the table beneath her, the still-hot coffee drenching her, the cook stove crumpled, and the mug still intact. Ellie had no time for pain, no time for recriminations. Ignoring the scaring pain in her arm from her reopened bullet graze, she hunched along the floor, the chair still an unwanted hitchhiker, and picked up the mug in her teeth.

  She wasn’t able to hurl it with much force, and the miserable thing bounced. No wonder Tanner carried it with him on the trail. It was completely indestructible.

  But she wasn’t going to give up. Damn it, she couldn’t. It didn’t matter if Lonnie had taken her car keys, she could run, she could crawl, she could make it into town if she had to drag herself. But she didn’t think she could make it with the chair still clinging to her.

  She allowed herself two minutes of furious, impotent tears before heading toward the mug again. She’d thrown it too far, and each scrunching, sideways move across the rough plank flooring drove splinters into her skin.

  This time she heard the sound of the car down the deserted gravel road. She stopped, just within reach of the coffee mug, and held her breath. It had to be one of two people: Tanner or Lonnie.

  Even though the last few minutes had seemed eternity, Ellie knew full well that not much time had elapsed since Tanner had left for Maude’s house. Not enough for him to start to worry, to come back to check on her.

  That left Lonnie. He must have changed his mind, decided to use his M-l rifle on her first. She lay there, listening for the sound of the car door opening, for footsteps on the path, and shut her eyes.

  “Ellie!” It was Tanner, Tanner beside her, his hands freeing her, holding her, soothing her, his voice murmuring endearments and savage threats and words of love all tangled into an incomprehensibly reassuring monologue.

  She allowed herself only a moment of comfort before she withdrew from the shelter of his arms. “We’ve got to stop him,” she said fiercely. “He’s going to kill everyone.”

  “Lonnie?”

  “How did you know?” She rubbed her ankles briskly. In the few minutes she’d been tied the rope had burned deep scores into her pale skin, and her feet were numb.

  “Part animal instinct, part logic,” Tanner said, pulling her upright, holding her again when she swayed against him. “I think having me show up was the final straw for him.”

  “I don’t know. It sounded as if he’s been planning this for years. He would have cracked sooner or later.”

  “And this time I’m here to stop it,” Tanner said grimly. “Where’s he gone?”

  “He said he was going to wait on the roof of the Gazette building and open fire during the ceremony.”

  “The ceremony starts at one, and it’s a little after twelve-thirty. We don’t have much time, Ellie.”

  “Let’s go.”

  “I think you should stay here.”

  “Why?” she demanded:

  He reached out, taking a moment to frame her face with his long, hard hands. “Because I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop him in time. And I don
’t want you to be in the line of fire, and I don’t want you to have to watch anyone shot ever again.”

  She covered his hands with her own. “I have to, Tanner. Don’t you see, if we can stop him, it will somehow balance out what happened fifteen years ago. If we can keep it from happening again then the town has a chance of recovering.”

  “Forget the town. It’s you I’m worried about.”

  “There won’t be any future for me if it happens again,” she said bleakly. “Lonnie knew that—that’s why he didn’t bother to shoot me. If you go to stop him and fail, that means he’ll kill you, too. And there’s no life at all for me without you.”

  He stared down at her for a long moment. And then he kissed her, long and hard and deep, sweeping her into his arms and holding her.

  When he released her they were both breathless. “All right,” he said. “But keep down. And that goes for me too, you know. There’d be no life for me without you.”

  * * * * *

  The town of Morey’s Falls was mobbed. People had come from all the neighboring towns, the state and even some of the national media were out in full force, and the smell of roasting chicken hit Ellie’s stomach like a fist. Amid all the out-of-state cars it was hard to find Lonnie’s BMW, and when they finally discovered it abandoned in front of Pete’s Fireside Cafe the digital clock on the Morey’s Falls Bank and Trust read twelve-fifty-three—and eighty-five degrees.

  Tanner slammed Maude’s old car to a halt behind the BMW. “Stay put,” he ordered. “He might be nearby.”

  “The hell I will.” She’d already reached for the door handle when he leaned over and yanked her back.

  “Stay put,” he said again. “Or I’ll drive you out of here and let the town of Morey’s Falls fend for itself.”

  She knew he meant it. “All right,” she said. “But let me at least show you the back way up to the roof.”

  “There’s no need. He’s not up there,” Tanner said flatly.

  “How do you know?”