Chapter Twenty
“Why aren’t you and Dan wearing shirts?” Laura asked puzzled, tracing a finger over his chest. Jake nearly laughed with relief. It was the first thing they’d gotten out of her since they’d left the forest. They were both sitting in a hospital cubicle, waiting for the results of her x-ray to determine if any of her ribs were broken.
“We used them to protect our hands while we broke down the shed door,” he told her softly, linking his fingers through hers.
“Well I wish you’d find something to put on,” she grumbled. “I’m sick of seeing the nurses ogling you.”
He did laugh then. Laura punched him gently in the chest and gave him a disgruntled look, which just made him laugh harder. He gently pulled her closer, planting a soft kiss on her lips, trying not to hurt her.
“They’d be wasting their time,” he told her, his eyes full of love. “I don’t see any other woman but you.”
Her heart turned over at his declaration. She sniffled. “Even when I look this bad?”
“You look so beautiful to me, no matter what,” he assured her. The doctor came in at that moment. Jake was relieved to hear that no real damage had been done, but Laura had sustained some fractured ribs and had a mild concussion from the blow to her head she’d received. With everything else that had gone on, Laura had barely remembered that.
They remained at the hospital a while longer as the doctor arranged for some painkillers for Laura and gave instructions to Jake on how to take care of her injuries at home. Laura was relieved they were letting her go home rather than making her stay in for observation. All she wanted was her familiar, safe surroundings and to be with her loved ones. She needed time to recover.
Jake helped her down from the examination bed and they left to collect Dan from the waiting room. He jumped up from his seat, relieved to hear the verdict on Laura. The hour was incredibly late by the time they reached the ranch. Kerry shot out of the house when she heard them arrive, Bill close behind. Both looked pale and worried.
“Oh Laura,” Kerry sobbed on seeing her face. “What did they do to you?”
Before Laura could reply, Jake interceded. “I think we can leave any questions until the morning, don’t you?”
“But the Sheriff phoned about five minutes ago. He missed you at the hospital and he wants to question Laura on the details leading up to Victoria’s death,” Kerry told them softly. “He wanted me to tell you he’s on his way over.”
Jake shook his head. “Call him back. He can come over in the morning. Right now she needs some food, a bath and bed.”
“What am I going to do about the diner tomorrow?” Laura worried. She wasn’t sure she was in any fit state to work. Her head had begun to pound and her ribs hurt like hell. She really hoped the pain killers she’d taken in the truck on the way home began to work soon. Now that her ordeal was over, every inch of the battering her body had taken was letting itself be known.
“I’ve already spoken to Martha. She knows what’s happened and she insists she doesn’t want to see you at work tomorrow,” Bill said with a pointed look.
Laura felt relieved. After everything she’d been through, she had barely any energy left in her. Slumping against Jake, she allowed him to lead her into the house. He ran her a hot bath while she choked down a little food. She wasn’t really hungry, but she knew the others would worry if she didn’t eat anything. The soak in the tub helped to ease out some of her pain and discomfort. By the time she got into bed, she was nearly completely done in.
Laura closed her eyes and tried to think on anything but what had taken place. Unbidden, the image of Victoria rose in her mind, making her shudder. A soft sound made her jump. Looking up, she saw Jake creeping into the room quietly to check on her. She held her arms out to him and he climbed into the bed next to her, pulling her against his chest.
“Please don’t leave me tonight.” she whispered into the darkness.
“I won’t,” he whispered back. “I’ll be here when you wake up. Don’t worry.”
Shuddering again, Laura attempted to sleep.
*****
They slept in late the next morning. It had been a restless night, with Laura waking up nearly every hour with nightmares. Jake had soothed her each time, but he felt pretty useless in the face of her trauma. He knew it would take some time before Laura would be able to put things behind her.
They headed downstairs at mid-morning, to find the Sheriff already waiting for them in the lounge. He paced back and forth across the room impatiently. Bill stood guard, his arms crossed over his chest and his expression mutinous. It was clear he’d been blocking the Sheriff from heading up the stairs. The man wasn’t at all amused by it.
“We need to talk!” he insisted the minute he saw them. “This can’t be put off any longer.”
“We haven’t even eaten yet Sheriff!” Jake growled.
“It’s fine Jake. We can eat and talk at the same time. I knew this would have to be done sometime. I would like to get it over with.” Laura touched his arm reassuringly. She glanced at Kerry, who was seated on the sofa. “Is Dan here?” she asked softly.
Kerry glanced at her startled and shook her head. “He thought it best to give everyone some space to process everything that happened yesterday.”
“Please will you call him and ask him to come over. There are some things I think he needs to hear.” Laura wouldn’t say more, even though Jake and Kerry battered her with questions. She wanted to be able to tell them all together what Victoria had told her. She hoped something good would come out of the horror that the previous day had been. They all deserved closure.
The Sheriff ground his teeth together impatiently. “Now see here, I need certain things answered and I won’t be put off any longer. There’s a dead body in the morgue and I need to know what happened that put her there.”
“I’m not trying to delay anything,” Laura assured him. “I’ll tell you everything that happened while we wait for Dan. Then I want to tell everyone what Victoria told me while she had me tied up in the shed.”
“What do you mean?” Jake asked puzzled.
“She told me why she wanted revenge on you. She obviously didn’t expect me to ever see you again to tell you the tale but since I did; I really feel it’s important to share it with you all. Especially as it so affected every one of you.” She wouldn’t say more.
Kerry phoned Dan while Jake made some toast and coffee. They sat at the kitchen table as Laura filled the Sheriff in on the events of the previous day. Dan walked in while Laura was still being questioned. Kerry offered him some coffee and toast as they listened in horror to the terrible ordeal that had happened to Laura.
When she’d finished, Laura felt drained. Her face was white from the effort of retelling how Victoria had died. She looked at the Sheriff with tortured eyes. “Have you told Walter yet?”
“Didn’t know it was that important for him to know,” the Sheriff shrugged.
“You need to tell him,” she said quietly. “She was his sister after all.”
Everyone in the room gasped in disbelief. “That is impossible!” Jake cried. “If they’d been related, wouldn’t there have been some family resemblance? For heaven sake, he talks with an English accent while hers was deeply American.”
“Not when she talked to Walter it wasn’t,” Laura informed him. “When they talked together, her accent was as English as his. They were brother and sister, she told me.”
Jake shook his head in bewilderment. “I don’t believe it!”
“There’s more,” she said softly. Quickly she related the tale Victoria had told her of her father and Jake’s. Both Kerry and Jake listened with their mouths hanging open.
Bill cleared his throat. “I remember something of that,” he said quietly. “Joe used to do quite a few of the racing circuits. I went along a few times. I remember one man in particular; nasty piece of work that one. He was always bating Joe and trying to get one over him. Joe never had mu
ch to do with the man. I wasn’t there the day he caught the man drugging one of our horses, but Joe talked to me about it after it happened. If I remember correctly, the man he put behind bars was called William Jamison, not Nobel or Price like Walter and Victoria.”
“They must have changed their names,” the Sheriff surmised. “They probably worried someone would recognise their name if they used their real one.”
“I don’t believe it. Walter was always asking people not to call him Mr Nobel because it made him look around for his father. Why would he say that?” Kerry exclaimed.
“Playing a part I guess,” the Sheriff said, shrugging his shoulders as if it didn’t really matter. “Maybe he thought it would be less suspicious or trying to make sure nobody ever connected him to Victoria.”
“So they were both this man Jamison’s children?” Dan looked as if he couldn’t take the notion in.
“Blow me, I would never have thought that man was married, let alone had children,” Bill blew out a deep breath. “Whatever Victoria thought, their father was guilty. Joe only gave a statement and the evidence he could provide, but the police were already investigating Jamison and had gathered a fair bit on him. They only needed Joe’s evidence for them to close the net, so to speak.”
Jake was sitting quietly, looking completely floored. “She knew who I was when we met?” he asked Laura in shock.
“Yes,” Laura confirmed. “Your meeting was not an accident. She planned it. Originally she and Walter wanted to take revenge on your father, but when they found out he was dead, they decided to take revenge on you instead. They wanted to pull your life apart, piece by piece. She made sure you met and that you fell in love with her. She targeted Dan on purpose, knowing what it would do to you if she slept with him.” She paused, gathering her thoughts together.
“She told me herself how frustrating it was that Dan wouldn’t give in to her. She was frantic by the time it came to the day before the wedding.” She looked at Dan, then at Jake. “You need to know, both of you, that they drugged Dan that night.” Everyone sat in shocked silence for several moments. “It was the only way they could get Dan to drop his guard and sleep with her. That was why he acted so out of character that night.”
Dan collapsed over the table, holding his head in his hands. “Why didn’t I see that before,” he moaned. “I knew the hangover I had the next day was far worse than anything I’d ever experienced before. There was even a strange taste in my mouth but I didn’t think much about it with the worry of what I’d done.” He shook his head, trying to take it all in.
Jake looked like someone had kicked him in the gut. His face had taken on a grey tinge. “I can’t believe this! All this time I refused to forgive Dan, thinking he’d made that choice, that he’d betrayed me and all the time……” he broke off swallowing hard, his hands clasped so tightly together, the knuckles were turning white. He looked at Dan with tortured eyes. “Can you ever forgive me?” he asked quietly.
Dan looked shocked. “What for? I would have thought the same as you, if the situation had been reversed. I don’t blame you for thinking the worst of me. I didn’t understand what had happened either.”
“But it was my fault she ever came into our lives. If I hadn’t fallen for all her lies and schemes, none of this would have ever happened.” Jake’s expression was full of guilt and remorse.
Dan gripped his shoulder. “None of what happened was your fault, my friend. How could any of us have even dreamed what was really going on in that woman’s head? We have all been victims in this. I think the blame lays solely with Victoria and Walter. We need to all move on from this and not let it colour our future.”
“I agree completely!” Kerry declared, hugging her brother and Dan at the same time. “That woman has taken enough of our lives as it is. If you two could see your way to becoming friends again, that would go a long way to healing the past. What do you say?”
“It may take some time to rebuild what we had, but I would very much like to give it a go, if you want to?” Jake held his hand out to Dan.
Dan gripped it firmly, a wide smile on his face. “It’s all I ever wanted. A clean break and a fresh start.” Kerry smiled broadly, tears of joy spilling down her face.
The Sheriff cleared his throat. “Well this is all well and good, but how did all the poisoning enter into it?”
“Simple,” Laura continued. “It wasn’t enough that they ruined Jake’s personal life, they wanted to kill his business too. Walter got the job here as a riding instructor. He made himself so popular with the clients, he’d managed to achieve getting to the point that if he walked away, so would most of them. All that remained was killing Jake’s breeding horses. Once two parts of the business collapsed, the remaining guest side of their business would soon follow suit, as there would be no horse ranch left for people to visit. Total ruin!”
“I can’t believe two people could work so hard to ruin a man’s life over such a long period of time. The planning they must have put into this!” the Sheriff shook his head in complete shock. “Well, I guess all I need to do is confirm that Walter’s real name is indeed Jamison. I will, of course, inform him of his sister’s death.”
“What happens with Laura?” asked Jake worriedly.
The Sheriff shrugged. “I guess she will be asked to testify at Walter’s trial, if it gets that far. He will be examined by a psychiatric assessor to determine if he is as crazy as his sister was. If he is, he may be admitted to a secure mental institution. If not, he will stand trial. As far as Victoria’s death is concerned, I have no doubt it will be termed accidental. After all, she fell on her own knife. Forensics should been able to determine that the only fingerprints on the knife are Victoria’s but considering Laura was kidnapped by them both, any force she used to escape would be deemed reasonable and self-defence.”
He got up to leave. “I’ll let you know of any developments if necessary. For now, I would try and pamper this little lady. I hope you won’t be too long in recovery and will be back at the diner soon.” He gave Laura a broad wink. “I’ll miss my breakfast.” He stuck his hat on his head. “And my lunch.”
They all smiled, Kerry walking the man to the door. “Thank goodness that’s done,” Jake sighed with relief.
“Unless I have to go to court to testify,” Laura said softly. She shuddered. “It will be hard living through it all over again.”
“Don’t worry sweetheart. If it comes to that, we’ll be there in the courthouse, supporting you.” Jake gently rubbed her back soothingly.
“I can still hardly take it all in,” Kerry remarked as she re-entered the kitchen. “I would never have guessed in a thousand years what those two were up to.”
“You knew there was a connection between the two of them,” Jake said to Laura. “I should have listened to you when you said it. If I had, none of this may have happened.”
Laura gripped his hand firmly. “We can’t go back,” she said, staring at each one in turn. “We can only go forward. Let’s just let go of the regrets and the what if’s. At least we are all here, safe and together again. We have to be grateful for that.”
They nodded agreement. “There have been several things I can’t understand. They’ve been churning round in my head driving me crazy. Maybe you can make sense of it,” Laura mused suddenly. “Firstly, how did you get my text? I know I didn’t get the chance to press send, so how did it end up on your phone?”
“Maybe Victoria or Walter sent it by mistake,” suggested Bill.
“I don’t see how,” Laura said doubtfully. “And then there was the ropes that fell away from my hands. It was like someone untied them or something. It was very strange.”
Jakes brow wrinkled in thought. “You know now you come to mention it, something strange happened with me too. When Walter was strangling me, he had me right where he wanted me. I don’t think I would have gotten away from him.” Laura shuddered at the thought, grasping his hand tightly. “Suddenly, he reared back an
d grabbed his butt like he’d been burned or something. It’s what gave me the chance to get away from him. I have no idea why that happened.”
Laura gasped in surprise. “Something happened like that with me,” she exclaimed excitedly. “When Walter was trying to force himself on me…..”
“He did what?” Jake roared.
Laura rubbed his hand with soothing little circles. “I’m fine, nothing much happened. Victoria was determined that he was going to get moving with the poison, so he didn’t manage to do much.”
“It’s a good thing he’s in jail or I’d kill him!” Jake thundered, his face going black with rage.
“The point is that the same thing you described happened to Walter when he was trying it on with me. And when Victoria was beating me, there was a loud crash outside. It’s what stopped her or she might have killed me.”
Jake shuddered at the thought. He pulled Laura from her seat and into his lap, rubbing her back gently. Whether it was to calm her or himself, Laura couldn’t quite tell.
She bit her lip in thought. “There has been something I’ve been thinking about with all of this. It was something I’ve heard other people talk about but I’ve never really believed in before. Now I wonder if there’s something to it after all. I can’t help wondering if we had help from unseen friends. There really did seem to be someone looking after us through that whole ordeal, don’t you think?”
“You don’t really believe that do you?” scoffed Bill.
“It’s a bit far-fetched really,” Kerry shrugged dubiously.
“I don’t know. So many things happened that can’t be easily explained. Anyway, if there was someone helping us, I would want to thank them with the whole of my heart,” Laura said sincerely.
“Me too,” Jake echoed, holding her close.
Unseen by any of the occupants of the room, two fairy godmothers inclined their heads in humble acceptance of their gratitude.
*****
Jake retrieved Laura’s car from town for her, along with the dress she’d bought to celebrate their engagement. She hung the dress up in the wardrobe Jake had given her in his room. She’d moved all her things in earlier that day, neither of them wanting to be apart any longer. She let her fingers drift over the soft fabric, wishing they’d had their night together. Something always seemed to come along to ruin it, she thought sadly.
Wild Fire (The Fairy Tale Match Series) Page 34