The Tempted

by Amanda Stevens

  “Tess? What on earth—”

  Tess pushed her way inside, gazing around frantically for the stairs.

  Behind her Willa said anxiously, “Is something wrong?”

  Tess whirled on her. “Where is she? Where’s Emily? I know she’s here. I saw her!”

  Willa calmly closed the door and turned to Tess. “I’m afraid you’re mistaken, Tess.”

  “I saw her! She was standing in the window upstairs!”

  Willa gazed at her sadly. “You didn’t see Emily, Tess. You saw Sadie.”

  Tess stared at her in shock. “Sadie?”

  Willa’s eyes brightened, and she clapped her hands together like an excited child. “Yes, isn’t it wonderful? I’ll be taking her home to her mother soon. Oh, I can’t wait to see Naomi’s face.”

  “Sadie,” Tess said numbly. “Sadie Cross is upstairs?”

  “Yes, of course. I’ve been waiting for just the right time to take her back home. I left that note on Naomi’s Jeep so she’d know the child was close by and unharmed—”

  “The note was meant for Naomi?”

  “Yes! I wanted her to know that her daughter was coming home, so I had Sadie write her a message.”

  “You mean Emily,” Tess said. “Emily wrote that note.” It must have been Willa’s partial fingerprint the police had found on the paper.

  “No,” Willa said stubbornly. “Sadie wrote that note. I watched over her while she did it.”

  It couldn’t have been Sadie. Tess knew that. Sadie Cross had disappeared ten years ago. She would be fifteen years old now. The tiny silhouette that Tess had glimpsed in the window was much younger. A five-year-old. Emily.

  Her gaze went to the stairs. “I want to see her.”

  “Sadie? I don’t think that’s a good idea. We wouldn’t want to confuse her.”

  Tess started toward the stairs. “Emily? Emily!”

  “I told you it was Sadie.” The voice was right behind her, and Tess whirled, surprised that Willa was able to move so quickly. And as she turned, Willa lifted something in her hand and swung it toward Tess. She put up a hand, blocking part of the blow, but the iron poker still clipped her forehead, and Tess sank to the stairs, dazed.

  Willa stood over her, her eyes—not crazed as Tess would have thought—but almost serene. Almost otherworldly. “I was at the hospital the night they took her other baby. I can’t let you take Sadie.”

  Tess blinked, then blinked again, trying to clear her vision, her mind. Tentatively, she put a hand up to her head, and when she drew it away, her fingers were covered with blood.

  “I’ve never forgiven myself for letting them take her baby, you see.”

  “Who?” Tess asked weakly.

  Willa ignored her question. Her mind had gone backward in time, to another night, another tragedy. “The other woman’s baby had died, and we were so afraid she wouldn’t be able to handle it. And there Naomi was with two healthy baby girls. And she was so young. Just eighteen with no husband. I didn’t know how she’d be able to take care of one baby, let alone two.”

  “What happened?” Tess asked softly.

  “‘No one will ever know,”’ she said in a different voice. “But I knew. I couldn’t forget. I used to dream about that baby every night. Sometimes I even thought I could hear her cry. And then when Sadie disappeared, I couldn’t believe the fates could be so cruel. Why did Naomi have to lose both her children?”

  Tess eased herself up on her elbows. “Did you take Sadie?”

  Willa blinked in confusion. “Take Sadie? Why on earth would you think such a thing? No, of course I didn’t take Sadie. I ached for her poor mother. I prayed that she would be returned to her, and then she was. When I saw her on the playground that day, with her little brown eyes and dark hair, it was like a miracle had happened. Sadie had come back, and I could take her home to her mother. I could finally make things right with Naomi.”

  She’s deranged, delusional, and God knows what else, Tess thought. But she couldn’t worry about Willa’s mental state. She couldn’t worry about her motive in taking Emily. Emily was somewhere in this house. That was all that mattered. All that Tess could afford to focus on.

  Her mind and vision clearing, she eased herself up. Willa held the iron poker down by her side, still at the ready, but this time she no longer had the element of surprise. Tess waited for a moment, gathering her strength, and then she lunged at the older woman, toppling them both backward down the stairs. They crashed into the wall, and Willa slumped to the floor.

  Tess left her where she fell. She turned and ran up the steps, calling frantically to Emily. She tried every door upstairs until she found one that was locked. “Emily?”

  Very faintly a sound came to her. Tess pressed her ear against the door.

  “Mama! Mama!”

  Tess’s heart almost fought its way out of her chest. She frantically shook the knob, then pushed against the door. When it wouldn’t open, she glanced around for a battering ram. “Emily! Mama’s here, baby. I’m going to get you out.”

  More clearly now, as if her daughter were pressed against the door. “Mama!”

  For a moment, Tess pressed her cheek against the wood, knowing that her daughter was on the other side. She wanted to claw the door open with her bare hands, but instead she ran downstairs and grabbed the poker from Willa’s hand. The woman groaned, but Tess gave her barely a glance. She flew back upstairs and said through the wood, “Step away from the door, Emily. Okay?”

  “Yes, Mama.” Then, more faintly. “Okay.”

  Like a crazy woman, Tess beat at the lock, then used the poker as a wedge between the door and the jamb. Within moments, she was gasping from her frenzied efforts, almost sobbing in frustration, but the door finally sprang free. She threw down the poker and stepped inside.

  The room was dark, but Emily stood at the window, back lit by the moon.

  “Emily?”

  “Mama? Mama!”

  Tess rushed toward her as Emily launched herself forward. They met in the middle of the room, and Tess fell to her knees, grabbing blindly for her daughter.

  “Emily, Emily!” She scooped Emily into her arms, holding her tight, her eyes burning with tears. “Mama’s here, baby! I’m finally here!”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Mama?”

  Emily drew back slightly, patting Tess’s hair, cupping her face in her little hands. “Mama,” she said in wonder, as if she couldn’t believe her own eyes.

  “Yes, baby, it’s me.” Tess forced back her tears as she planted tiny kisses on Emily’s nose, her chin, and in her hair. “I’m going to take you home.”

  “Home.” Emily started to cry then, and she wrapped her arms tightly around Tess’s neck, laying her head on her shoulder. Her little chest heaved up and down with her sobs. “I—I didn’t think you were c-coming.”

  “I know, honey, shush.” Tess smoothed her hand down Emily’s hair.

  “Sh-she kept showing me a pi-picture of this lady. She s-said it was my m-mama. But it w-wasn’t you. I was s-so afraid—”

  “I know, baby. I know.”

  “I was a-afraid you were in h-heaven with G-Grandpa, and I was g-going to have a n-new mama.”

  “Oh, Emily, no. No, sweetie, I’m fine.” Tess pried Emily’s arms from her neck and held her sweet little face, wiping away her daughter’s tears. “I’m here now, and I’m going to take you home.”

  “F-forever?”

  “Yes, baby. Forever.”

  Emily lay her head on Tess’s shoulder again, but suddenly she stiffened. She stepped back, her eyes filled with confusion. “Who’s that woman?”

  Tess turned. In her joy, she’d momentarily forgotten about Willa Banks.

  But it wasn’t the older woman who stood in the doorway. It was Ariel Spencer, and she had a gun pointed directly at Tess and Emily.

  Her heart pounding in terror, Tess rose and put Emily behind her.

  Ariel was a small woman, but the gun gave her formidable
power and she seemed to know this. She gestured with the barrel toward Emily. “I’m sorry, but I can’t let her be found.”

  Tess stared at her across the room, gauging the distance, analyzing the risk of getting to Ariel before she could fire the weapon. Her chances weren’t good, she knew. And if Tess went down, nothing stood between the gun and Emily.

  “Why?” she asked helplessly.

  “Because I don’t want to lose my husband,” Ariel said angrily. “If he loses the trust, what reason would he have for staying with me and the children?”

  The trust again. The money that had already led to violence. This was Davis Spencer’s legacy. To make his sons so competitive they would do anything to win. But Jared wasn’t like that. And it wasn’t Royce who stood before Tess now.

  Ariel shook her head sadly. “He didn’t love me when we married. It was all about the money. I knew that. But I thought in time—” She broke off, taking a step into the room. In the moonlight, her face looked thin and ghostly. “He couldn’t love me, you see, because he was in love with you.”

  Tess gasped. “No! That’s not true. He hardly knew me.”

  “I saw the way he looked at you. The way his eyes followed you around that night. I saw in his eyes what I never saw when he looked at me.” She paused, her gaze narrowing in the darkness. “I saw Royce and that…slut down by the lake that night. I knew they were planning to meet later, and I knew I would have to put a stop to it. But even so, she wasn’t the one I was worried about. I knew she was just another of his conquests. You were the one I had to get rid of.

  “When I came back down to the lake to confront her and Royce, I saw you talking to her. When you got in her car, I followed you. I thought, ‘Here’s my chance to get rid of both of them.’ It seemed so easy, so perfect. My only mistake was that I didn’t stay and make certain everything…was taken care of. But I had to get back to the house before I was missed. I had to be there when Royce set his plan in motion.”

  “The bracelet, you mean,” Tess said. Her mind reeled with everything Ariel had told her, but she tried to brush it aside. She had to keep a clear head. She had to find a way out of this. She had to protect Emily at any cost.

  “Come on,” Ariel said. “We’re all going to take a little drive.” When Tess hesitated, Ariel lifted the gun. “I don’t want to do it this way, but I will if I have to.”

  Tess took Emily’s hand. “Come on, sweetie,” she murmured.

  Emily hung back. “I’m scared.”

  “It’ll be okay. I promise.” Tess prayed it was a promise she would be able to keep.

  Ariel motioned for them to go first, and Tess, clinging to Emily’s hand, walked slowly out the door and then down the stairs, all the while gazing around for a weapon, a diversion, anything that would allow her to get Emily away.

  Willa still lay unconscious at the bottom of the stairs. When Emily saw her, she faltered and hung back, and Tess knelt to reassure her. She hugged her close, whispering in her ear, “When I say run, go out the front door, Emily. Run as fast as you can. Find a place in the woods to hide. Whatever you do, don’t look back. Understand?”

  Emily nodded.

  “What are you telling her?” Ariel demanded.

  Tess glanced up. “I was telling her that everything would be okay. The same thing you would be telling your children if you were in my place,” she said angrily, hoping to appeal to Ariel’s maternal instincts, if nothing else.

  For a moment, Tess thought it might work. A look of despair came over Ariel’s plain features, then her gaze hardened. “I’m doing this for my children. My son is the first Spencer grandchild. He’s entitled to that trust, and I won’t let anyone take it away from him. I won’t let anyone destroy my family.”

  “But you’re willing to destroy mine,” Tess said on a whisper. Slowly she stood to face Ariel. Putting herself once again between Emily and the gun, Tess grew suddenly calm, knowing exactly what she had to do. Images of her daughter flashed like a strobe through her mind. Emily, on the day she was born, clutching Tess’s finger. Emily, taking her first step. Emily, saying mama for the first time. Emily, starting kindergarten. Emily, one of the special ones. Emily, with her whole future ahead of her.

  Her mind flashed forward, and she saw Emily graduating from high school. From college. Emily, in a wedding dress…all the things that Tess would never see. A terrible sadness came over her, but she gathered her strength and courage.

  “Now, Emily, now!” she screamed as she lunged toward the stairs. “Run!”

  Ariel, stunned by the sudden attack, stumbled backward, grabbing hold of the stair railing to steady herself. But she never lost control of her weapon. Before Tess could reach her, she lifted the gun and fired.

  PEERING FROM BEHIND the dripping branches of a bush, Emily clutched Brown Bear tightly in her arms as she watched the woman with the gun come running into the woods. Emily hadn’t gotten very far into the trees when she’d heard the sound of footsteps behind her. She’d plunged into a thicket of bushes and tried to remain as still as she could, but she couldn’t control her trembling.

  “Emily!” the woman called. “Where are you, baby? It’s Mama.”

  Emily’s heart began to pound wildly. For a moment, she almost let herself hope that it was her mama who was calling to her. She even half stood from her hiding spot, but then she sank back down. She hadn’t let herself be fooled by that woman in the picture, and she wouldn’t be fooled now.

  She would wait. Mama would come for her again. She had to.

  But…where was Mama? And what was that loud noise Emily had heard as she’d torn across the yard toward the woods?

  She hadn’t looked back to find out. She hadn’t dared look back. Mama had told her to run as fast as she could, and that’s what Emily had done. But what was she supposed to do now?

  What if she had to stay out here all night? Emily couldn’t bear that thought. Her arms and legs stung from a million mosquito bites, and she could hear the pesky insects even now swarming around her head. But she didn’t dare swat them away.

  “Emily!”

  She eased forward, just a tiny bit, until she could see between the branches. She almost gasped in shock, and her hand went automatically to her mouth to keep from making a noise. The woman with the gun stood right in front of the thicket where Emily was hidden. She was so close Emily could reach out and touch her.

  The woman moved a few steps away. “Emily! Come out now. You can’t stay out here all night!”

  She didn’t want to stay out here all night. The mosquitoes were bad enough, but what if there were snakes, not the kind that had gotten into their house once, but the other kind? The kind that bit you and made you sick, and then you died. Copperheads and water moccasins. Emily knew about those snakes because Mama had told her about them when they’d gone walking together in the woods behind their house. She’d taught her about poison ivy, too. There was even a little poem. Leaves of three, let it be.

  Maybe that was why her legs itched so badly, Emily thought. Maybe she was sitting right in the middle of a poison-ivy patch. The more she thought about it, the more her legs itched.

  “Emily! I have a little boy your age. He always does what I tell him. He knows better than to disobey me. Come out, now. Do as I say, and I’ll take you to your mama.”

  Emily squeezed her eyes shut, as if she could blot out the woman’s voice. The almost irresistible temptation she offered.

  “Your mama’s going to be real mad at you if you don’t come out.”

  The mosquito bites were becoming unbearable now. Emily eased her hand down to the side of her leg, but as she shifted her position, her knee pressed down on a dead twig, snapping it in two. Emily froze.

  Through the leaves, she saw the woman whirl and start toward her. The gun in her hand gleamed menacingly in the moonlight. Emily had never seen a real gun this close before, but she knew about them. She knew what they could do. She hunkered down in the shadows of the bushes, her heartbeat
pounding in her ears.

  After a moment, she glanced up. The woman had moved away from her and was using the gun to poke at some bushes. Then she disappeared from Emily’s line of sight.

  Emily looked back at the house, her prison just a little while ago, but now she was drawn inexorably to the light pooling from the windows. Mama might still be in there. She might even now be waiting for Emily to come back.

  “Emily!”

  A warm, stray breeze carried her name back to her. The sound was distant, fleeting. She glanced back at the house. Scrambling out of her hiding place, she stood. And only then did she realize that someone else was in the woods. Only then did she realize that a new danger stood between her and the house.

  TESS LAY at the foot of the stairs, reclining against the bottom step as she surveyed the hole in her shoulder. Too high to have hit her heart, she decided. Too far over to have nicked a lung. Still, it was more than a flesh wound. Tess knew she was badly hurt, and judging by the size of the crimson bloom on her clothing and on the floor, if the wound didn’t kill her the loss of blood just might.

  She struggled to sit up. Willa was nowhere in sight, and for a moment Tess nursed the hope that she’d gone to protect Emily. But Willa was the one who had kidnapped Emily from school. Willa was the one who had held her prisoner here for a month. Melanie had told Tess that the police had interviewed the Fairhaven staff and faculty several times at school, but if only they’d come here to talk to Willa! They might have found Emily sooner. She might now be safe instead of pursued by a mad woman.

  But it was Ariel Spencer who wanted Emily dead.

  Using the banister, Tess pulled herself up, clinging for a moment as a spell of dizziness threatened to fell her again. Gritting her teeth, she staggered to the door, opened it and stumbled outside. She fell on the porch steps and tumbled the rest of the way to the ground, rolling on her back as she gazed up at the stars that had twinkled out since the storm.

  Her mind grew foggy, and suddenly she had no deeper ambition than to lie on the wet ground forever, watching those stars. She and Jared had made Emily under those same stars—