“No one will believe Reed would kill me. We’re lovers.”
“Ah, but you see, I’ll have to confess to the police that, in confidence, you told me you realized Reed was only using you and you asked him to meet you at the cabin so you could break things off with him. Of course, in a rage over being rejected, Reed killed you.”
“You’ve thought of everything, haven’t you?”
“I believe I have.”
This is going to happen if you don’t do something, Ella told herself. You can’t just stand here and not put up a fight. You’re bigger than your mother. You should be able to overpower her. But Carolyn had a weapon, and an accomplice waited patiently to come to her assistance if necessary. Ella knew her best bet was to escape. But could she? She tried again to get away from Carolyn, but once again Carolyn outmaneuvered her. You’re going to have to run, Ella told herself. Go out the back door as fast as you can and try to get to the car. No, no, she couldn’t do that. The keys were lying on the kitchen counter. No way to get to them. She could run down to the pier. Her father’s motorboat was moored there. If she could get to the boat and start the engine, she could escape.
“You’re trying to think of a way to escape, aren’t you?” Carolyn shook the knife at Ella in the way a teacher would shake her finger at a naughty child. “If you run, Viola and I will come after you. You can’t get away from both of us. Two against one isn’t fair, I know, but then I always prefer the odds to be in my favor.”
Ella glanced toward the open door. There stood Viola, the loyal, obedient servant. She had never liked her mother’s nursemaid, and now she realized that even as a child she had sensed an innate evil in the woman. If only her instincts had warned her against her own mother.
“See, you can’t get out the front door, not with Viola waiting there,” Carolyn said.
“I don’t see Viola,” Ella lied.
Carolyn glanced over her shoulder quickly, but that hasty look gave Ella the opportunity she needed. She scurried past her mother and headed toward the back door, which opened onto a screened porch facing the river.
“Stop! You fool, you can’t escape,” Carolyn called as she ran after Ella.
Ella grasped the doorknob, twisting and turning it. The door was locked. Hurriedly, she undid the bolt and turned the knob again. Just as she swung open the door, Carolyn came hurtling toward her, reaching out for her. The knife in Carolyn’s hand sliced through the back of Ella’s dress, directly above her waist. The sting of the blade ripping across her flesh halted Ella in her tracks, but only for a moment. Intense pain radiated through her body. She had no idea how badly she’d been cut, but she didn’t have time to worry about it now. She had to keep moving. Her only hope of escape was not to slow down, not to give her mother a chance to plunge the knife into her back.
Ella ran out onto the porch, flung open the screen door, and rushed down the steps. Carolyn came after her, all the while screaming for Viola to hurry to the back of the house and head Ella off.
Run. Run. Run. No matter how much your back hurts, keep running. Don’t slow down.
Ella headed for the pier, but immediately saw that Viola had somehow managed to get there first. Viola blocked the path to the boat—so much for an alternate means of escape.
Just hold on, Ella told herself. Find a way to hide from them. Reed should be here any minute now and…Reed wasn’t coming. Not until eleven. Unless she was able to get away, she would be dead long before then.
Ella headed straight for the wooded area that flanked the cabin. She could find a place to hide. Carolyn and Viola wouldn’t be able to see her shrouded in darkness, surrounded by trees and brush. She ran until she was breathless and the pain in her back overwhelmed her. She stopped, braced one hand against a tall pine tree, and breathed deeply. Folding her left arm at the elbow, she slid her hand across her back. Her fingers encountered the tear in her dress and the wet stickiness of her own blood.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Carolyn said, her voice a maddening sing-song chirp.
Keep moving. Damn it, you cannot let her catch you. The sound of footsteps crunching over dried leaves and rotting underbrush alerted Ella that Carolyn and Viola were coming after her. Gulping in air, she shoved herself away from the tree and started running again. Farther into the woods. Deeper into the darkness.
Reed zoomed Cybil Carlisle’s T-bird into the driveway behind Ella’s Jag. He’d driven a hundred miles an hour all the way from Spring Creek. Sitting at his side, Cybil had used her cellular phone to call the police, alerting them that Ella was in danger. Reed didn’t know what to expect when he jumped out of the T-bird and rushed toward the open cabin door. Once inside, he scanned the vast room and saw no sign of Ella and no indication of a struggle. The back door stood wide open. Reed’s heart thumped wildly. When he reached the porch, he surveyed every inch of the screened area. Large dots of a dark substance marred the weathered surface of the porch floor. In the semidarkness he couldn’t make out exactly what it was. Just as he knelt and ran his finger across one of the spots, Cybil came barreling through the back door.
“What is it?” she asked.
Reed brought his finger to his nose and sniffed, then he put his finger to his lips and tasted. “Blood,” he said.
“Ella! Where is she?”
“We’ll search the house and if we don’t find her—”
A voice calling Ella’s name came from somewhere to their left, off in the wooded area that ran along the riverbank. Cybil grabbed Reed’s arm.
“Yeah, I heard,” he whispered.
“That voice…”
“A woman’s voice,” Reed said.
“That’s Carolyn’s voice.”
“What?”
“Carolyn. My sister Carolyn. What is she doing here?”
“Your sister must have been the one who phoned me pretending to be you. She’s the one who—”
A piercing scream rent the stillness of the humid summer night. Reed and Cybil ran down the porch steps and out into the woods, following the lingering echo of that terrified scream.
Chapter 29
Viola Mull blocked Reed’s path. Stupid woman. Did she think she could stop him? As he drew closer, the moonlight reflected off the gun in Viola’s hand. Damn!
“Stop right there, Reed Conway,” Viola instructed.
“Where’s Ella?” Reed asked as he crept, inch by inch, closer and closer to Carolyn Porter’s companion.
“It’s unfortunate that you arrived so early,” Viola told him. “But no matter, we will simply have to readjust our plans. Perhaps we can arrange it so that it looks as if Ella was able to shoot you before she died.”
“Where is she?”
“Don’t come any closer,” Viola said. “If you do, I’ll be forced to shoot you right now.”
“You’re going to shoot me regardless,” Reed said just before he rushed her.
Taken off guard by Reed’s bold move, Viola didn’t get off a shot before Reed tackled her. They struggled on the ground, the gun held tightly in Viola’s hand between them. Suddenly the gun went off. Reed heard the shot echo inside his head. He rolled Viola off him and over onto the ground. She stared up at the night sky with sightless eyes. With only the moonlight for illumination, Reed could see her dimly, but well enough to believe she was dead. He felt for a pulse. There was none.
Cybil ran toward Reed. He rose to his feet just in time to put his hand over her mouth.
“Don’t say anything,” Reed whispered.
Cybil nodded.
And then they heard the voice again. “Ella, did you hear that gunshot? Viola just killed someone. Do you think perhaps Reed showed up earlier than he should have?”
Cybil’s eyes rounded with shock. “It’s Carolyn’s voice,” she murmured. “How is it possible that my sister is out there in her wheelchair in the woods with Ella?”
If Ella was still alive, that meant he had to get to her, had to save her from her own mother. “Viola is the one
who’s dead,” Reed shouted.
“Reed!” Ella screamed.
Reed plowed through the dark woods, heading straight toward the sound of Ella’s voice. But if he could follow her voice, so could Carolyn. How the hell was the woman maneuvering in a wheelchair? The explanation hit him about two seconds before he came upon Ella struggling with her mother, both women standing upright.
“Get away from her,” Reed said as he zeroed in on the two.
Ella shoved Carolyn, who just barely managed to remain on her feet. Ella slumped to the ground. Reed rushed Carolyn, but before he could overpower her, she stabbed him in the shoulder. Instinctively Reed grabbed his injured shoulder, and when he did, Carolyn whirled around and lifted her knife, bringing it down toward Ella.
Reed lunged for Carolyn, but before his body made contact with hers, a gunshot blasted from behind him. Carolyn went limp when the bullet struck her in the back of her head. She crumpled into a heap as her life’s blood drained from her. Reed didn’t glance backward. He rushed to Ella, lifting her up onto her feet. When she fell against him, he swept her up into his arms.
Cybil, still tenaciously grasping Viola’s gun in her hand, walked toward Reed. “Are you two all right?”
“Yeah, thanks to you,” Reed said.
Cybil reached out and tenderly ran her fingertips over the wound in Ella’s back. “We have to get her to a hospital. And, you, too.”
“Mother…Mother…” Ella moaned.
“God!” Cybil glanced down at her sister’s lifeless body. “She could walk. She wasn’t paralyzed.”
“She killed Junior,” Ella whispered, then started coughing.
“Hush, darling girl.” Cybil caressed Ella’s cheek. “Time enough for explanations later. We have to get you to the hospital right away.”
As Reed carried Ella toward the cabin, Cybil followed, the gun still clutched in her hand. Off in the distance, the sound of sirens grew louder and louder.
Carolyn Walker Porter was laid to rest in the family plot at Spring Creek Cemetery directly following a brief private service. Only her husband, her daughter, her sister, and brother-in-law attended. Carolyn’s funeral had been delayed at Ella’s request. She had asked her father to wait until she was released from the hospital—four days after her mother had tried to kill her. Viola Mull’s body had been cremated, as her will had requested, and her ashes left for the funeral home to dispose of as they saw fit.
When the black limousine pulled up in the driveway at the Porter house, a police entourage kept the reporters and sightseers at a distance. Reed, who waited on the porch, came out to meet Ella. The moment she saw him, she rushed into his arms. He led her up the walkway toward her home. Her father, aunt, and uncle followed, keeping their backs to the press and ignoring the shouted media questions.
Little had been said among the family members at Carolyn’s funeral. Indeed, what was there to say? In the emergency room that night after the incident at the cabin, both Cybil and Reed had told Frank Nelson what had happened, and Ella had given a statement the following morning. The Junior Blalock murder case had been officially reopened, and it was only a matter of time before Reed was exonerated of all charges and given a full pardon.
As she started to enter the living room, Ella caught a glimpse, in her peripheral vision, of Judy Conway standing at the end of the hallway, near the entrance to the kitchen. Regina was at her side. Ella stopped, turned slowly, and headed down the corridor toward Reed’s mother and sister. Reed went with her, but before they reached their destination, Webb Porter called out to them.
“Ella, I asked Judy and Regina to come here today,” Webb said.
Ella approached Reed’s mother and sister.
“I’m very sorry about Carolyn,” Judy said. “She must have been truly sick in her mind to have been capable of doing the things she did. But if it is any comfort to you, I know that she once loved you very much.”
Ella reached out and grasped Judy’s hand. “Thank you. I appreciate your being so kind, especially considering how destructive my mother—Carolyn was to you and your children. She tried to ruin all your lives.”
Reed tightened his hold around Ella’s waist. “This could have waited.” Reed glanced back at Webb, his gaze accusatory, then looked straight at his mother. “Why did you agree to come here, today of all days?”
“Your mother and sister are here at my insistence,” Webb said. “I realize we could wait, but I see no point in continuing the lies one day longer. It’s past time for the truth to be told—the whole truth.”
“I think we know the truth, don’t we?” Ella felt certain that she knew all the hard, cold facts about her parents and about her own life. Her mother had been a murderer, a woman who had hated her enough to kill her. The father she had always worshiped had a biological daughter that he could now claim. No matter how much Webb Porter loved Ella, wasn’t it possible that Regina would now take her place in his heart? All she had was Reed, to whom she clung. But even her relationship with Reed wasn’t something she could count on. He had made her no promises, made no plans with her about a future together.
“Mark Leamon is waiting in the den for us,” Webb said. “Please, if all of you will bear with me, I’m prepared to put an end to a lifetime of lies.”
When Webb held out his hand, it wasn’t to Judy Conway, as Ella had expected. Instead it was to her aunt Cybil, who gave her husband a sad, forlorn glance, then walked to Webb’s side and accepted his outstretched hand. Together they entered the den, followed slowly by a puzzled Ella, who still depended upon Reed’s comforting support. Within minutes the den was filled to capacity. Webb seated Cybil at his desk and took his place behind her, his hands resting on her shoulders. Mark Leamon nodded a greeting to the others as they filtered into the room, then motioned for Regina to come to him, which she did instantly. Judy Conway gazed at Webb, a wealth of love and sympathy plainly visible in her eyes. Ella searched for her uncle and found him standing in the doorway. Their gazes met. He smiled at her. Tears misted his eyes.
A knot of anxiety tightened in Ella’s stomach. Reed guided her toward the sofa, but she shook her head when he tried to help her sit. “I’ll stand,” she told him.
“Whatever Webb has to tell us, we’ll deal with it together,” Reed told her.
She nodded, then turned her attention to her father, who cleared his throat several times before he spoke.
“I believe everyone here knows that I’ve been in love with Judy Conway most of my life.” Webb gazed at Judy for just a moment, then visibly tightened his hold on Cybil’s shoulders. “And I think everyone knows that she and I had an affair that resulted in a child.” Webb looked at Regina, who tilted her chin and stared straight at her father. “I intend to publicly acknowledge Regina as my child, and she, along with my older daughter, Ella, will become my legal heirs. Regina, I don’t know if you can ever forgive me for not claiming you long before now, but your mother and I thought we were doing the right thing for everyone involved, considering the circumstances.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say,” Regina told her father. “I’m really not sure how I feel about you.”
“Fair enough,” Webb said. “All I ask is that you give me a chance to be a father to you…because you see”—he looked at Judy again—“when a decent amount of time has passed, I’m going to ask your mother to marry me.”
Ella gasped. Reed squeezed her hand. Ella felt as if her entire life were evaporating before her very eyes, as if she had never truly existed. Her mother was gone—a mother who had wanted to kill her. And her father had a child who was truly his. And one day soon he would marry Reed’s mother and build a new life with her and their child.
“I don’t understand why this family meeting was necessary,” Ella said. “All of us already knew everything you’ve told us.”
“There’s more,” Webb said.
“Perhaps I should explain.” Cybil took a deep breath, then released it slowly. “Thirty-one years ago, W
ebb found himself trapped in a marriage to my sister. She’d been paralyzed in a riding accident and Webb wouldn’t leave her.” Cybil looked point-blank at Jeff Henry. “I was young and foolishly in love—with a man who loved my sister.”
Ella watched the play of emotions on Jeff Henry’s face. Shock. Disbelief. Amazement.
Cybil continued. “After Carolyn’s accident, Jeff Henry thought that perhaps he had a chance with Carolyn. Even then, he still wanted her.” Cybil breathed in and out through her nose as she clenched her teeth, obviously in an effort not to cry. “I hated Jeff Henry because he couldn’t love me, and I hated Carolyn because she toyed with Jeff Henry, keeping him emotionally on a string, not wanting him, but never letting him go. So I decided to seduce Carolyn’s husband.” Cybil laughed, the sound hollow and sad. So very sad. “This happened a little over a year before I married Jeff Henry. I was only seventeen.”
Ella’s gaze traveled around the room, studying the faces of the principal players in this game of absolute truth. She could tell by the expressions on their faces that whatever her aunt Cybil was about to reveal wasn’t news to either Judy or Jeff Henry.
“Webb and I were both miserable. He loved Judy. I loved Jeff Henry. We couldn’t be with the ones we loved, so we turned to each other for solace—once and only once.” Tears misted Cybil’s eyes.
“Let me take over from here.” Webb tenderly patted Cybil’s shoulders. “Cybil came to me a couple of months later, after our one night together, and told me she was pregnant.”
Both Ella and Regina gasped. Reed glowered at Webb but never released his tight grip on Ella’s hand.
“I concocted what I thought was a brilliant plan,” Webb told them. “I spoke to Carolyn about our adopting a child, and to my surprise, she agreed. Cybil moved away, supposedly to college, until after the baby was born. Then my lawyer, Milton Leamon, arranged a private adoption. Carolyn never knew the baby girl we adopted was my biological daughter. Mine and Cybil’s.”
Every Move She Makes Page 33