The Reunion

by Suzanne Rossi

  The weapon descended again. She jumped sideways, and Glory missed by inches, the breeze from the swing kissing Meghan’s cheek.

  “‘The wicked shall not be unpunished.’ Proverbs, eleven, twenty-one.” The crazed woman swung, this time making contact with Meghan’s arm.

  She cried out in pain, and her arm went numb. “‘Thou shalt not kill!’”

  “‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,’” Glory quoted back along with another swat with the tire iron.

  She missed, and Meghan circled to the left. Fleeing into the garden was not an option. She didn’t know the layout. Glory did. The terrace loomed above her. If she could make it to the steps, she had a chance.

  “‘Vengeance is mine.’” Maybe trading Bible verses would distract Glory from her mission. Meghan hoped she remembered enough of them. “Why, Glory? Why kill them?”

  “It’s in the diary.”

  “What diary?”

  “Divine’s. I found it and read it. It’s all their fault.”

  “Glory, put the tire iron down.”

  “‘The eyes of the wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape.’ Job, eleven, twenty.”

  A vicious chop to the head had Meghan jumping back just in time. Glory circled, in the opposite direction cutting off the steps to the terrace.

  “‘Judge not lest ye be judged.’ Matthew, seven, one.”

  Meghan kept her eyes on Glory’s face trying to anticipate the next blow. The woman telegraphed it. Meghan stumbled backwards and fell to avoid being hit in the side.

  Glory closed in. Her eyes glowed with what Meghan assumed was righteousness—or insanity. Reasoning with her was out of the question.

  “Zach! Help!” she cried out. Her ears roared from the blood pounding in them, and she wasn’t sure if she had screamed or whispered.

  “You fool, he’s not coming to help. I watched him get in the elevator and go to his room on the fifth floor. He’s sound asleep.”

  “No, he was changing clothes. We were going to the hospital to see Suzanne.”

  “She’s dead.”

  “No, Glory. She’s alive and can identify you.” She had no idea if any of it was true.

  “Liar!” She swung the tire iron wildly at Meghan’s head, but in her rage, missed. “It’s a sin to lie!”

  “‘Fear God and keep His commandments.’”

  “‘The name of the wicked shall rot,’” the insane woman screamed.

  The iron swished through the air again. Meghan rolled to her right and attempted to rise. Glory’s foot lashed out and caught her in the chest. She fell back. Glory wielded the weapon again and made contact with Meghan’s leg. She cried out and rolled. Didn’t anyone in the hotel hear the commotion? Something dug into her hip.

  The stun gun! I have a chance. She fumbled to remove it. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the tire iron aimed at her head.

  “‘The righteous shall rejoice when He seeth the vengeance.’ Psalms!” Glory shrieked. The weapon descended.

  Meghan rolled at the last moment. The tire iron struck the ground. She rolled again and regained her footing.

  “You see, Glory. I’m faster than Suzanne.” While she spoke she tried to wedge her hand into her front pocket and cursed the tight jeans.

  Glory didn’t answer, but swung again. The blow hit Meghan just above the left knee. She cried out and crumpled backward onto the steps. She twisted to the left in desperate attempt to avoid a whistling chop, the sharp stone of the step digging into her side. The iron struck where she’d lain.

  Her attacker’s movements slowed. Glory panted with exertion. Her aim was not as accurate as a minute ago and the blows, while painful, had diminished in intensity. Still, she raised the bar again. Meghan rolled to the right and Glory missed, the step taking the brunt of the blow again. The edge of the flagstone bit into her wrist. Blood flowed hot and warm into her hand, but her fingers finally touched the stun gun.

  The whoosh of air told her the tire iron was on the move. This time she didn’t move fast enough. It caught her on the shoulder. She screamed and grasped for the slender rod. It was slick with a slimy, jelly-like substance. Blood? Hers or Suzanne’s? Glory wrenched it away, hoisting it over her head. Meghan waited until the weapon began its downward arc, and then rolled to the left. At the same time, her fingers wiggled the stun gun from her pocket.

  Glory’s momentum carried her forward. Unable to stop, she screamed and stumbled against the step, then fell forward, the tire iron falling from her hands.

  Meghan staggered to her feet, switched the stun gun on, and charged.

  Glory crouched, reaching for the bar just as Meghan made contact with the side of the woman’s neck. She pressed the red button. The current flowed, sizzling and crackling. Glory jerked, and then fell onto her back.

  She finally released the button and gazed at Glory’s unmoving body, her eyes wide and staring.

  Oh, my God, I’ve killed her.

  Then the woman’s eyes shifted from side to side, and an odd gurgling sound emanated from her throat.

  Meghan sobbed and fell to her knees at the foot of the stairs. “‘With malice toward none; with charity for all.’”

  She was so exhausted and frightened, she didn’t hear anything until a voice boomed, “Don’t move. Stay where you are!”

  She looked up. Ray stood on the terrace with gun drawn. Zach and Tom burst through the doors behind them a second later.

  “Help me,” she said in a weak voice.

  Ray stared at Glory on the steps. “What happened?”

  Holding up the stun gun, Meghan declared in a shaky voice, “I zapped her,” then pitched forward in a dead faint.

  ****

  “I’m okay, really, I am,” Meghan insisted, looking into Zach’s worried eyes. “Just some cuts and bruises.”

  “Are you sure?”

  His hand gently stroked her arms and ribcage. She sucked in a deep breath as pain jabbed her side. Tears filled her eyes.

  He muttered something obscene under his breath. “You could have some broken ribs. Damn, I should never have left you alone, even to change clothes.”

  She stroked his cheek and blinked the dampness from her eyes. This man was a keeper.

  Her fainting spell hadn’t lasted long. She’d regained consciousness being carried through the ballroom in Zach’s arms. It was a nice way to awaken.

  “You should go to the hospital for x-rays and stitches,” the paramedic said, bandaging her right wrist.

  “I will in a while.”

  “I’ve never been so scared in my entire life,” Zach said. “When Tom told me he thought Glory was the killer and that you may be in danger, I didn’t know what to do. It sounded like the ranting of a madman.”

  “She came to the door and told me Tom was the maniac and that you were in danger.”

  She and Zach sat on the sofa in the lobby. Her gaze slid over to Glory who was seated a few feet away in a chair, her hands handcuffed behind her back. She swayed back and forth. The tangled hair escaping from the bun hung beside her face. Tom crouched in front of her, his hands cradling her face.

  “‘The memory of the just is blessed.’ That’s Proverbs. Chapter ten, verse eleven, I think, or is it seven. I can’t remember. Mama will beat me for forgetting,” Glory mumbled.

  “No, she won’t, honey. I won’t let her,” Tom replied with a sob.

  “You’re so good to me, darling. ‘A man’s foes shall be they of his own household.’ That one is Matthew ten, thirty-six. I know that’s right. I remember it. I used to tell it to Glory after Mother beat us. Where is Glory? Wasn’t she here a little while ago? I have to protect my little sister.”

  Meghan glanced at Zach.

  He shook his head and murmured, “Psychotic. Completely around the bend.”

  Ray walked up to them. “Sometimes she’s Glory and sometimes she’s Divine. Tom says she started slipping about a year ago. Had nightmares and kept referring to Divine like she was still alive. Ha
d entire conversations with her dead sister. Scared the hell out of him.”

  “Why didn’t he get her to a doctor?” Zach demanded.

  “He did. The doctor prescribed medications and therapy. Tom thought both had worked. Said she seemed better.” Ray shook his head. “Also told me the Prescott household was like living in hell. The old man screamed about hell and damnation, and the mother beat the crap out of them.”

  “We all knew the Prescotts were odd, but never abusive,” Meghan replied. “At least, I didn’t.”

  Ray shook his head. “I feel damned sorry for Tom.”

  “I just wish he’d paid more attention. He might have seen this breakdown coming.” Zach’s voice was low-pitched, but hard.

  “He loves her. I guess he couldn’t believe she was so far gone. What’s going to happen to her?” Meghan asked.

  “She’ll go to jail tonight. We’ll put her in an isolation cell until a judge can order a psychiatric evaluation, hopefully tomorrow. I’d have to say a mental institution is her next home.”

  “She must have suppressed things for years,” Zach said, shaking his head and brushing his hand down Meghan’s cheek again. “I wonder if Clara Sylvester knew. She often seemed to hover over the girls during youth night meetings at the church.”

  “I think we’ll find a motive for Clara’s death through that,” Ray confirmed. “Maybe she knew about the abuse, but said nothing.”

  “Could be.” Meghan shook her head. “I still can’t believe I bought her story. She was so convincing with the fright in her eyes and the tears streaming down her face,” she lamented. “She just seemed so…so harmless. Thank goodness, I was at the bottom of her hit list. God, she looked so frail, who would ever suspect she had that kind of strength to strangle and swing a tire iron?”

  Zach sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “None of us thought Glory could kill five people, attempt to kill a sixth, and critically injure a seventh.”

  “Yeah, but I’m an author. I should know better. No fictional heroine would be so stupid as to do what I did.”

  “You weren’t stupid, just unsuspecting.”

  “Same thing. I also can’t believe nobody heard me screaming.”

  “It’s four in the morning. People are asleep with the windows closed and the air conditioning on. Hell, we didn’t hear anything until we were in the ballroom.” Zach turned his gaze to Ray. “Any word on Suzanne?”

  “The last I talked with the hospital, she was doing well. Her vitals had returned to normal, and while she’s still unconscious, the doctors expect her to come out of it.”

  “Thank God,” Meghan said with a sigh. “Where did Glory get the tire iron? She didn’t have it when she came to the room. That I’d have noticed.”

  “After whacking Suzanne, she must have re-entered the hotel through the ballroom from the terrace. She hid it behind the draperies by the terrace doors. We found blood on the fabric. I’m sure we’ll find the weapon came from her own car.”

  “And I was so distracted by her hysteria, I never noticed that she’d changed clothes from earlier. When we were in the lobby, she had on navy blue slacks and a long sleeved T-shirt. When she came to the room, she wore a gray sweat suit. Must have had Suzanne’s blood all over her.”

  Zach glanced at Glory. “She missed her calling. She’d have been a great actress.”

  The paramedic finished with the bandages and rose. “I still recommend the hospital.”

  “I’ll see she gets there,” Zach promised.

  Meghan’s attention turned back to Glory and Tom.

  “Divine was the best sister in the whole world.”

  “I know, honey. She loved you very much,” Tom soothed in a soft voice.

  “Did you hear? Meghan and I exchanged Bible verses on the terrace. She knows a lot of them.” Glory’s gaze turned toward Meghan. “You did good, Meghan. But that last quote wasn’t biblical.”

  “I know, it was Abraham Lincoln. I ran out of Bible verses. You remembered more than I did.”

  “Oh, Daddy made us recite them every night. He’d give us a quote and we’d have to name book, chapter, and verse.” She gazed off into the distance, with blank eyes, her head cocked to one side and her face still as though listening. Glory’s lips curled into a strange smile. “Good one, Divine. Revelation, chapter six, verse eight.”

  Two policemen stood next to Glory. “Time to go, ma’am.”

  “Are we going home now, Tom?”

  “Soon. You go with these men and have a good night’s sleep. We’ll talk in the morning.”

  The men helped Glory to her feet and led her away. She turned at the doors.

  “Aren’t you coming, honey?”

  Tom smiled through his tears. “I’ll be along in a little while. I have to pack.”

  “Oh, yes, of course. How silly of me.” The entrance doors closed behind her.

  Tears welled in Meghan’s eyes.

  Tom looked at her and said, “I’m so sorry. She really isn’t…she doesn’t…” He didn’t finish. Just shook his head and turned toward the elevators.

  Meghan wanted to say something comforting to the poor man, but for once in her life words failed.

  “Come on,” Zach said, placing a hand under her elbow and pulling her upright. “To the hospital. I insist.”

  Ray removed his hat and scratched his head. “This has been a hell of a night. What was that last thing she said about a revelation?”

  Meghan let the tears overflow. “Revelation, chapter six, verse eight. ‘I looked and behold a pale horse; and his name that sat on him was death.’”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Meghan opened one eyelid, and then shut it again against the sunlight flooding the room through the window. She rolled over, her arm making contact with someone lying next to her in the king-sized bed. In spite of the bright light, she opened her eyes.

  Oh, yeah, Zach. She remembered him saying he wouldn’t leave her alone during what had been left of last night. The pain pill the doctor gave her at the hospital had kicked in sometime on the ride back to the hotel. Everything after that was hazy.

  Meghan peeked under the sheet. Her jeans and the canary yellow top were gone, but the underwear remained in place. Nothing happened. Dammit.

  Still groggy, she leaned on an elbow and gazed over Zach’s body to the clock on the nightstand. Nine-thirty. Oh, well, four hours of sleep was better than nothing.

  Flopping onto her back, she used her right arm to shield her eyes from the invasive sun. Exhausted from last evening’s events, they’d forgotten to close the drapes.

  At the hospital, Meghan had refused all treatment until seeing Suzanne. The redhead was tucked away in ICU with tubes and wires running from her body to beeping machines. Although unconscious, Suzanne muttered and moved restlessly. The doctors gave a cautious prognosis she would soon wake. Meghan stood by her earlier assessment. Suzanne was a fighter and would live.

  A bandage scraped at her forehead as she raised her arm, peeling back part of the gauze to examine her wrist. Ten stitches had taken care of the cut. Luckily, it hadn’t been deep, just ugly. Her fingers probed another bandage on her head near the hairline. It hurt like hell, and couldn’t remember how it had happened. Perhaps when she’d fainted. She moved her leg and winced. Damn, she hurt, but not as badly as expected.

  The phone rang scaring her half to death. Zach fumbled for the receiver and answered with a sleepy hello.

  “Yeah, this is Ms. Donahue’s room. Who’s this… Really? That’s great. Any specific time… Let us get cleaned up and something in our stomachs. We’ll meet you there.”

  “Who was that?” she asked when he’d hung up.

  “The sheriff. Suzanne’s awake and wants to see us. She’s already demanded a private room. The doctors have okayed an hour for visitors at one o’clock.” He turned his head to gaze at her. “How are you feeling?”

  “I’ll let you know as soon as I get out of bed and try to walk.”

  Zach ch
uckled, threw back the covers, and sat up. “Hungry?”

  “Starved.”

  He rose, and she admired the tanned, well-buffed body of the former computer geek. He looked damned sexy in his boxers. A shot of shame stabbed her in the gut. Never would she admit to Zach that she’d doubted him last night. Her gaze slid up and down his body again. Yeah, she was starved, but not necessarily for food. She considered doing something about it.

  “In that case, why don’t I call down for room service while you grab the shower first? What do you want to eat?”

  Meghan had an answer, but knew Zach referred to food. A warm gush of heat pooled in the pit of her stomach. Desire plucked at every nerve. Oh, the hell with it. I don’t care how many bruises I have, he’s worth it.

  Zach was reaching for his jeans when she murmured, “I’d like to start with your ear lobe, then work my way down to your neck before moving on to that chest. Want me to go on? I’m a writer. I can get very descriptive.”

  Zach grinned, dropped the jeans, and crawled back into bed, straddling her hips and bracing his arms on either side of her shoulders. “Yeah? I’m more of a hands on kind of guy.”

  His hands slid under the pillow, raising her head. His lips took hers in a hard demanding kiss. The heat turned into flames. The suppressed passion of the night before consumed Meghan. His tongue stroked while his hands caressed her skin, sending shivers of pure delight throughout her body.

  She groaned deep in her throat, kissing him back.

  Zach pulled away. “Are you sure you’re up for this?”

  Her hands ran up and down his back before slipping under the waistband of his boxers where she kneaded his tight derriere.

  “Oh, yeah, and then some. I can feel you are, too.”

  Zach smiled, his nimble fingers unclasping her bra. She struggled out of it, while he peeled her panties down her legs and off. Both items hit the floor. His boxers followed. Naked, they paused for a moment, staring.

  “God, Meghan, you’re gorgeous. I want you so bad, I hurt.”

  Her hand slipped over the sculpted muscles on his smooth chest. “I know. I feel the same.”

  His mouth descended again to claim hers. Ignoring a sharp pain in her hip, they rolled and thrashed across the bed like two animals with teeth nipping and hands stroking. The blood roared in Meghan’s ears. She cried out when his teeth found the erect centers of her breasts. Hot darts of raw desire stabbed deep inside her core. Her hand caressed and squeezed his erection, the heat burning her palm.