Find Me

by Debra Webb

  Sarah couldn't see her face… but she now recognized the voice.

  She moved from the chief's motionless body to where Sarah lay. She stared down in disgust. "Bitch," she snarled. Sarah stared up at Lynda Pope who clutched that big knife in her hands.

  "Why'd you kill the chief?" Sarah swallowed back the taste of bile. "He was on your side…" Something Sarah had missed. She'd just thought the chief was too stubborn to listen to her.

  "Don't worry about him," she snapped. "You have bigger problems." She waved the knife in Sarah's face. Oh, well, Sarah mused. The story of her life. Despite the pain, Sarah did what she always did, she questioned. "You should've been thankful your husband took the fall for you. You could have gotten off scot-free. No one suspected he wasn't the killer except me, and I was leaving."

  "You are so stupid."

  Her foot connected with Sarah's rib cage. This time she puked. Great.

  Sarah raised a shaky hand to wipe her mouth. Her equilibrium wouldn't find its footing. Her stomach roiled. She knew the symptoms. Concussion. Fucking great.

  "That was the plan," Lynda scoffed. "Those self-serving little bitches would die, all the evidence would point to Jerri Lynn." She laughed, an evil, grating sound. "I knew Jerald would try to save her. All I had to do was strike once more after that and ensure Jerri Lynn looked guilty. With her father in custody, there would be no escape. You were actually a great help to me. If only that idiot hadn't jumped the gun." Lynda kicked the chief's motionless body. "Now things are… complicated."

  Since he didn't even grunt, Sarah assumed he was dead. Or well on his way. Damn.

  "How're you going to explain this?" she prompted. Keep her talking. Form a plan.

  "I have a new plan," Lynda explained in that condescending tone she had mastered. "Poor Jerri Lynn was so distraught over her father's arrest. I tried to reason with her but she wouldn't listen. She blamed the entire situation on you. She ran from the house ranting madly. Of course, I called Ben and told him. He rushed to save you and, well, you both lost in the end. And Jerri Lynn just couldn't live without her father so she came home and took a whole bottle of my medication. When I discovered her and tried to wake her, she, of course, was dead, too."

  "There's this thing," Sarah decided to mention, "called divorce. You couldn't take that route?"

  "I loved him." She sighed. "I waited so long for him to choose me over her, but he never did. I gave him opportunity after opportunity. Until I'd had enough." Lynda laughed. "Then all I wanted was for him to suffer. He forced me to bring that selfish brat into the world and I wanted him to know the pain of losing her. With them both out of the way, everything is mine."

  Damn, what kind of mother hated her child that much?

  "How did he force you to have a child?" Sarah had to get this spinning-room problem under control so she could make a run for it… or defend herself somehow. The longer she could keep Lynda distracted, the more time she had to pull herself together.

  Lynda sighed again. "He was gone all the time. I never saw him. So I found myself a distraction." She gestured to the chief. "He wore a uniform, carried a gun, it was fun… for a while. It didn't mean anything. But Jerald got suspicious and started pressing the issue of a child. For a while I put him off, but then, when those two girls were murdered and left at our regular meeting place, Ben and I decided we were better off as friends. I knew Jerald had figured it out. I knew it was a warning."

  "Took you long enough to figure out a plan," Sarah muttered. "What were you afraid of?" Had Lynda known Jerald was a killer? If so, that made her one sick bitch.

  Lynda reached down, grabbed a handful of Sarah's hair and gave her head a shake. "You know who my husband is! I had to wait for the perfect time. When she was old enough… when all the circumstances were perfect. Otherwise I'd be dead!"

  Sarah gave her head a moment to stop exploding in agony. "Good point," she agreed, biting back the groan of pain. So she was a sick bitch.

  Lynda crouched down to Sarah's eye level. "After the Enfinger development came to town, people started talking about the curse. I knew the time had come. I began my role. I made Jerald think I was afraid of our daughter. That she was somehow trying to hurt me or to frame me. It worked like a charm. He was so convinced he took her SUV away the other day. She came home to find a tow truck waiting to haul it to storage. Imagine the poor child's surprise. How could daddy be so cruel?" She said the last in a high-pitched whine.

  Sarah thought about that a moment. "Your husband is a very smart man. I can't believe he would be fooled so easily."

  "No more talking." Lynda shoved a small plastic container at Sarah. "Take these."

  Sarah reached out, took the container. Prescription bottle. She couldn't read the label without more light. "What is this?"

  "Don't you know?"

  Propranolol. Panic flared in Sarah's stomach.

  "Now, take them," Lynda ordered. "All of them."

  Sarah's mind frantically searched for a way to keep her talking or to somehow get out of this… but she couldn't think.

  "Do it!" Lynda positioned the tip of the knife against the side of Sarah's neck.

  It would take time for the pills to enter her bloodstream.

  Maybe if she went along the bitch would get overconfident and…

  Sarah was fucked.

  "I still don't understand how you got the chief to help you." She was grasping at straws, but she was damned desperate.

  Lynda made a derisive sound. "All I had to do was threaten to tell his wife and my husband and he did whatever I asked. After all, he wasn't killing anyone, I was. He whined and cried about it, but he did what he had to. I think he was more afraid of Jerald finding out than his wife."

  Sarah tried to summon another question, couldn't get her brain to work.

  "Take the pills!" Lynda jabbed her with the tip of the knife.

  Sarah opened the bottle and looked at the dozen or so pills left inside. More irony. She'd considered doing this very thing, only with sleeping pills, several times as a teenager. But she'd backed out each time. Maybe this was the Big Guy's way of letting her know He really did exist and she should have started respecting Him long ago.

  "Pour all of them into your mouth." The knife tip pierced Sarah's skin.

  She tipped her head back and let the pills fall into her mouth.

  "Now drink."

  Sarah reached for the bottle of water Lynda offered, the nasty taste already leaching into her mouth. She untwisted the top and took a sip, trying her best to keep the dissolving pills from going down her throat.

  "Swallow!" Another gouge with the knife.

  Fuck it. Sarah downed a gulp of the water, let the lethal dose slide down her throat. She tossed the bottle aside. "Happy now?" The panic welled and welled.

  Lynda smiled. "Yes."

  She pushed to her feet, turned toward the chief and shook her head. "He should've listened."

  Sarah bolted into action.

  The world tilted again as she rushed to her feet. She flung herself at Lynda.

  The two tumbled to the rocks. The knife clanged and scooted across the rocks.

  Lynda grabbed Sarah's hair. Pain erupted and Sarah screamed. They rolled. Sarah punched and kicked. Lynda pulled her hair harder, banged her head against the rocks.

  Sarah's hold on the bitch loosened as blackness threatened. The pain was overwhelming.

  She was going to die.

  "That's right," Lynda taunted as she settled astride Sarah's stomach. "Die!"

  No fucking way.

  Sarah bucked. Lynda wasn't expecting the move. She reeled sideways. Sarah bucked harder. Flung her body weight against her enemy, then rolled. Sarah was suddenly on top. Lynda reached frantically for the knife. One hand on the bitch's throat, Sarah reached out with the other and snagged the knife. She settled her weight fully on the woman's chest, using her thighs to trap the bitch's arms against her sides.

  She smiled at the panic in Lynda's eyes. "Now who's go
ing to die?"

  Rage rushed through Sarah's limbs, making her stronger. Making her want to kill this bitch more than she'd ever wanted anything in her life.

  If your first instinct is to kill…

  Pope's words echoed in Sarah's head.

  She hesitated. Stared into the face of the bitch who had killed three people, two of whom had been innocent victims… she had terrorized an entire village. She had been prepared to kill Sarah…

  She tossed the knife aside.

  Lynda grinned with triumph. "I knew you couldn't do it."

  "Shut the fuck up." Sarah grabbed two handfuls of the bitch's hair and banged her head against the rocks a couple of times. When her eyes rolled back in their sockets, Sarah figured that was enough.

  But she wasn't taking any chances. Keeping one hand on the bitch's neck, she reached for the duct tape lying on the ground. She grabbed the end between her teeth and pulled a good length free, then tore it off. She scooted backward, manacled her prisoner's hands together. As she tore off another length of tape, Lynda came to enough to try and fight. Sarah banged her head against the rock twice more and Lynda went lax.

  "Bitch," Sarah muttered.

  She wound the tape around Lynda's wrists several times before doing the same to her ankles. She didn't bother taping her mouth shut. If she woke up, let her scream.

  Sarah moved over to the chief, checked for a pulse. Nothing. She put her cheek to his face, felt for breathing. Nothing. Her head still spinning, Sarah attempted CPR until she became too groggy. Still no pulse.

  Shit.

  The pills. She had to find help. Sarah tried to stand. Didn't make it.

  Wait. The chief would have a radio or cell phone. Sarah dug around in his pockets. No radio… her fingers wrapped around what felt like a phone and relief rushed through her. She could call for help once she got outside.

  She managed to stand and then stagger toward what she hoped was the mouth of the cave.

  The ground tilted under her feet. The rock walls moved and shook.

  By the time she was outside it was almost impossible to keep her eyes open.

  She fumbled with the chief's phone. Kept dropping it. What the hell?

  The pills. Shit. All the adrenaline was amplifying the affect.

  Sarah dropped the phone and did the only thing she could. She shoved her fingers down her throat. She gagged. Repeated the process. Then she puked.

  One more time. Gag. Puke.

  Hopefully she'd gotten rid of some of those fucking pills.

  Groggy as hell, she reached for the phone again. Couldn't make it work. Shit! The keypad was locked. Her heart thumped. She didn't know the right password or code.

  Dammit!

  Get up. Walk. Find help!

  Sarah struggled to her feet. After three attempts she managed to stand.

  One foot in front of the other.

  Again.

  Keep going.

  Her mouth felt dry. The ground kept moving. Her vision was narrowing.

  "Damn."

  She fell forward in the snow. Told herself to turn her head to the side so she could breathe.

  Maybe she did… maybe she didn't… she couldn't say for sure.

  She thought about Kale Conner and his family… about how it felt to be with him… she should have been nicer to him…

  She must have turned her head because she could see the moon reflected in the water. She could hear her heart beating. Slower and slower.

  She was dying.

  Tae would be pissed.

  Her shrink would nod and say she suspected it would happen.

  Kale would be sad.

  Something hot rolled over her nose and onto her cold, cold cheek where it rested against the snow.

  A tear.

  Shit.

  Then Sarah did something she hadn't done since she was nine years old… she prayed.

  Please, God… let him find me.

  "Sarah."

  Her lids fluttered helplessly. Had someone said her name?

  "Sarah, wake up."

  Sarah struggled to force her lids open. Finally she managed a narrow crack. She smiled. "Matilda." Sarah licked her lips. Her mouth was so dry. "I thought you were gone."

  "You needed me."

  Sarah tried to laugh but the sound was more a grunt. "No shit. I think I might be dead already." As if on cue, her lids grew too heavy to keep open.

  "Stay awake, Sarah!"

  Sarah jerked at the loud command. Her lids fluttered open again.

  "You have to stay awake," Matilda told her. "If you go to sleep you won't wake up. Ever."

  "Sorry…" Sarah needed a drink of water. "I can't…"

  "Stay awake, Sarah. I'll send help."

  Silence echoed around Sarah. She focused on opening her eyes once more. She blinked. Where was Matilda? Had she imagined her?

  Sarah tried to stay awake like Matilda said… but she just couldn't…

  Funny… she was pretty sure she was dead since she couldn't feel her heart beating anymore.

  She couldn't feel… anything…

  CHAPTER 48

  A steady beep, beep, beep filtered through the haze.

  Was she in the fog?

  Sarah told her eyes to open so she could see.

  Didn't happen.

  Her head felt like it weighed a ton.

  She tried to lift her arm, her right, then her left.

  That didn't happen, either.

  Go for something little.

  She wiggled her toes, or tried to.

  She wasn't sure if it worked or not.

  Okay, focus.

  Open your eyes!

  Bright light.

  Her lids clamped shut.

  Shit. She was dead.

  Wait. There had been something in the light.

  Working up her courage, she forced her eyes open one more time.

  Damn, that light was bright.

  She blinked a couple of times.

  Something blocked the light.

  A face.

  "There's my girl."

  Tae?

  Okay, she wasn't dead. Tae was too mean to die.

  "We thought we'd lost you."

  Was that emotion she heard in his voice?

  She licked her lips… tried to swallow. Her throat was seriously dry.

  "Where am… I?"

  "Well, it ain't the Waldorf-Astoria, sweetheart."

  Now that sounded more like Tae.

  "What happened?"

  "I'll let your friend give you the official details. Right now all that matters is that you're back." Tae squeezed her hand. "My time's up. But I'll be back soon."

  He was gone before she could say anything. What did he mean his time was up?

  She didn't know how long he'd been gone when warm fingers closed around hers. Her gaze moved upward and dark, dark eyes held hers.

  Kale.

  "You scared the hell out of me."

  Her heart did something weird. Not quite a flutter. "Sorry."

  Flashes of memory from those minutes in the cave bounced around in her head. None of it fit together.

  "Lynda Pope is in custody. Your buddy August got the whole story out of her. The chief, unfortunately, didn't make it."

  Panic started to well in Sarah's chest. She was alive. Okay. Calm down.

  "Barton Harvey is a couple floors down from you," Kale told her. "He's been charged with assault and battery."

  Sarah tried to frown but it hurt. There was something she should remember about the innkeeper. "Why's he here?"

  Kale lifted an eyebrow. "You don't remember?"

  She started to shake her head but a burst of pain warned her not to. "No." Damn.

  "You found where he'd buried his father's diary and he popped you on the back of the head with a shovel."

  Damn, and she didn't even remember. Asshole.

  "He claims he realized he'd overreacted and dragged you into his mudroom to call for help, but then someone bonked him on
the head. Of course we know now that was Lynda."

  "Looks like you were right," Kale concluded. "It was a woman."

  Yeah, yeah. "I'm always right."

  Kale chuckled, the sound rusty and weary. "That's a fact, lady."

  Sarah felt her lips smile. She loved his voice. Even when he sounded so tired. Her smile drooped. "Wait. What's the deal with the diary?" She vaguely remembered finding a journal or something in the dirt.

  "Oh, sorry." Kale cradled her hand in both his. "Deputy Brighton cleared that up. Barton found the journal a few years ago. He read the journal notes about those two murders twenty years ago and thought the entries meant that his father had committed the murders. He couldn't ask his father because he'd had a stroke and can't speak or respond in any way."

  "Why was his father keeping a journal?" She needed Kale to get to the point. Her head was killing her and she was so damned tired. The only thing keeping her focused right now were those dark, dark eyes of his. She loved looking at his eyes.

  "Barton's father and the former chief of police were planning to write a book about Youngstown's first murders. Mr. Harvey kept the notes in that journal. Then when Chief Boggus passed away, Mr. Harvey decided not to move forward with the project. All this time Barton thought his father was a killer and he was trying to protect him."

  There was still a part missing. "But why did he make Valerie Gerard cry?" Melody had told her about that. Funny Sarah could remember that but she couldn't remember the innkeeper hitting her in the head with a shovel.

  "Apparently, he found Valerie at his desk and he yelled at her. It was nothing. But even his daughter was worried that you suspected her father and she broke into your room to check up on your activities." Kale shook his head. "She fell apart when August questioned her and said it was her fault because she told you what happened with Valerie. The whole family's been walking an emotional tightrope since you got here."

  The really dumb part was that it was their reactions to Sarah that made her suspicious in the first place. "So it wasn't Harvey who was involved with Valerie?"

  Kale moved his head side to side. "It was the Reverend Mahaney."

  So that was the reason Valerie stopped going to his church. Wait, Tamara had told her something about that. "Did his niece turn him in?"

  Kale frowned. "His niece? No. His wife had gotten worried that his secret would be discovered so she decided to take care of the situation. She gave him an overdose of his heart medication."