Hearts On Fire

by Childs, Penny

  “I don’t know what else I can tell you, Matt,” Lizzie stated from the chair next to her sister’s bed. Clutching Katy’s hand she didn’t even look up at Matt. Katy had passed out in her arms at the threshold of the house and had not regained consciousness since. Tests had been performed. Only preliminary results were in. A concussion, Lizzie hoped, would be the worst news she would get. “She stumbled to the door, fell against it…” she squeezed her eyes shut, still seeing her sister’s palm sliding down the glass next to said door. Still hearing the sound her flesh dragging against the glass had made. “I opened the door and she begged me to help her. That’s all there is.”

  “And you drove her here instead of calling for an ambulance.” His voice was soft but carried a hint of disapproval.

  Now she looked up to him, the corners of her mouth turned down. “I got her here faster than they would have, for one thing. For another, I am a doctor, you know.”

  He raised a brow. “A plastic surgeon,” he pointed out.

  “I still went to medical school.” She shook her head at him and sighed tiredly. “I felt it was important to get her on her way here right away. She would have awaited medical treatment for just as long either way. She’d made her way to the house from… wherever, so—” Cutting herself off she let out a long, controlled breath. “Why am I justifying my actions to you anyway? You should be more worried about what happened to her and how she got in this condition than why I chose to drive her here myself.”

  “I am,” he assured her.

  “You have your people searching the woods around the house. Have they reported anything to you yet?”

  The brow shot up again.

  “Don’t give me any shit about it being confidential police information or anything either, Matt,” she told him, standing to face him. “She’s my sister and I deserve to know what’s going on.”

  She still had that grit she’d had as a kid, he’d give her that. Removing the gray Stetson from his head he ran his fingers through his hair. “No news so far. They’ve traced her steps to the river. From there they lost the trail. I requested dogs to see if they can take us to wherever she was being held, if indeed she was.”

  “She was,” Lizzie told him, looking back to the bed where her sister lay. “That much is obvious. Someone tried to strangle her.”

  “We don’t—”

  “Look at her neck, Matt,” she whispered harshly. “If those aren’t marks from someone’s fingers I don’t know what they are. And the dirt, the mud and the leaves in her hair, under her fingernails…” Her eyes closed again. Bile rose in her throat. To think… “God, Matt, it looks to me like someone might have tried to bury her.”

  He grimaced. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves here, Lizzie. When Katy wakes up maybe she can fill in the gaps.”

  “In the meantime?”

  “In the meantime we keep trying to piece it together ourselves. Which means I need to make sure you’ve told me everything.”

  “Of course I have.”

  “She didn’t say anything to you? Not who did this or what it was about?”

  “If she had don’t you think I would tell you? Jesus, Matt.”

  He winced. “Okay. I had to ask one more time,” he told her, then smiled a little. “Lizzie, you’ve been here over seven hours now. You must be exhausted. Why don’t you let me drive you home?”

  She shook her head. “No way, Matt. I’m staying with her. I want to be here for her when she wakes up.” Not to mention the fact that she was afraid if someone had tried to kill Katy once they might try again.

  “Lizzie,” he pressed, “You heard the doc just as well as I did. He doesn’t think she’s going to regain consciousness any time soon.” He saw the worry etched into her features. He also saw a woman who looked ready to fall out. “Let me take you back home. I’ll have a deputy bring your car to you later.”

  Still she refused.

  Finally understanding a couple things he said, “How about you get a room at the hotel? It’s walking distance from here. They can call you there as soon as she wakes.” He picked up one of her hands and looked deep into those eyes of hers. “I’ll post a deputy at her door too. Just to make sure whoever did this doesn’t come by to try and finish the job.”

  She sighed, both in relief and utter exhaustion. She didn’t want to leave Katy but she knew she should get sleep and a shower. Maybe some food later. If she didn’t, she wouldn’t be any good to her at all. And there was one thing she knew with utter certainty. She was going to find out who had done this to her sister and why. Come hell or high water.

  Chapter 10

  Even though JD had not seen her in years, he would have known her anywhere. The mahogany colored hair which caught the sunlight, the reds sparking fire, the curve of her jaw, the flair of her hip… He stopped halfway into the driver’s seat of his brother’s old truck and watched her walk down the sidewalk on Matt’s arm. Leaning on him. Smiling up at him. And they were headed toward the hotel. Heat rose up his neck. Anger had his fist clenching. And then he laughed at himself. What the hell was he doing getting mad? Even worse, what the hell was he doing feeling even a morsel of jealousy? He’d let her go thirteen years ago, hadn’t he? Pushed her out of his life. And then when he’d realized what a mistake he’d made it had been too late. She’d been married herself. And pregnant with Brian Castellano’s child. At first he’d been furious with her. How could she go from him to Brian so quickly? He’d wondered if she’d been seeing him all along. But over the years that anger had faded. Because he’d come to realize what a jerk he’d been. “All turned out for the best,” he whispered into the wind.

  He’d thought she was staying at Katy’s place. Matt walking her into the lobby of the hotel seemed to contradict that information. But it didn’t surprise him in the least. He knew what her life had been like in that house up the hill. He knew the hardships she’d endured along with her little sister. And where those hardships had hardened Katy to the world, Lizzie had remained vulnerable and soft right up until the day she’d run away with Brian. And now? Was she hardened or was she still sweet and soft? Would she still have the power to drop him to his knees with want just by looking at him?

  He got into the truck and slammed the door against both the cold and his memories. Thinking about that time in his life wasn’t going to do him any good. And standing on the side of the street staring after her and Matt wouldn’t either. But still… he twisted the key in the ignition and growled under his breath. She’d been in town all of a couple days and she was already taking up with Matt? Again, none of his business.

  And still, he thought about it all the way to his mother’s home. Thought about what had been and what could have been. And when the house came into view his mood darkened. His mother had never approved of Lizzie. She’d considered the Waring family pedestrian because they didn’t have money, didn’t go to all the right shops and restaurants. Because they didn’t dress to a certain standard. Arlene MacGreggor was and always had been a snob.

  He parked his car and sighed. Lizzie was a doctor. And a damn good one too, from what he’d dug up on the internet last night as he’d sat in bed leaning on the headboard. She and Brian owned their own practice. A thriving one. They not only catered to those in dire need of reconstructive surgery, but to some well-known celebrities as well. In an interview he’d read when Lizzie had been asked if she thought the work on the celebrities belittled her practice she’d been quoted as saying, “Hell no. The money they pay us enables us to do the work on the less fortunate of society at little to no cost to them.” Like the little girl who’d been in the car accident and lost part of her face. Brian and Lizzie had done the work on her free of charge. And the boy who’d been terribly burned in a fire. And countless others he’d found record of.

  And still, he knew his mother would look down her nose at Lizzie. She would still consider her sub-par. Because she’d grown up in poverty. His mother was the kind of woman who believed if a person di
dn’t grow up with money they had no class. She was his mother and he loved her in his own way. But God she was a snobbish bitch.

  And she was waiting for him as he walked in the front door. A frown tugged at the corners of her mouth which was painted with deep red lipstick today. Her scent, some kind of flowery, very expensive perfume, carried to him. “Mother,” he said politely as he stripped off his coat and hung it in the closet.

  “You’ve missed breakfast,” she told him.

  “That’s okay, I picked something up in town.”

  “In town,” she repeated slowly, obviously upset. “You could have let me know. Your sister was asking after you and I didn’t know what to tell her.”

  Christ. “I needed a few things at the office supply store.” And he’d forgotten how his mother fretted over appearances. Even within their own family. He’d also forgotten just how controlling she was. Not outright, no, not Arlene MacGreggor. She used guilt like a chisel though, slowly chinking away until you begged forgiveness. He wasn’t going there today. Best to just give her what she wanted now to avoid the long drawn out version. “I’m sorry, mother. It was extremely rude of me to run off like that.”

  The frown faded from her lips and she came as close to a smile as she ever got. Taking one of his hands in her own, she patted it lightly. “You have to speak to your sister, JD.”

  The worry in her voice stopped him cold. “What’s the matter?” She’d seemed to be bouncing back yesterday.

  “I… I don’t know. We were waiting for breakfast in the sun room and she was watching television. The news came on and all of the sudden she just seemed to freeze. She asked where you were and when I told her I didn’t know she just left. Ran out of the house and left.”

  Come to think of it, he hadn’t seen her car in the drive. He’d assumed she’d wrangled a spot in the garage out of their mother. “Did she say where she was going?”

  “She would only mumble to me.”

  “Okay. What was on the news that upset her? Was it something about Ken’s accident again?”

  Arlene shook her head. “No. That’s what I don’t understand.” The frown returned. “Evidently they found that Waring girl. Kathleen.”

  “Why would that upset her? We all figured she’d come back home eventually.” And as far as he knew though they were near the same age Katy and Julie didn’t really even know each other.

  “Kathleen is in the hospital. The report was sketchy. She has some injuries or something and her sister took her to the hospital.”

  It still didn’t make sense. “You’re sure that’s what set Julie off?”

  “No, I’m not. She’s not been herself lately.” Arlene’s lips turned inward. “That other Waring girl is here. The one you were taken with for a time. Elizabeth.” She nearly spat the name out.

  “Yes, I’d heard.” And seen.

  “You didn’t tell me?” she asked, astounded and hurt.

  “There was no reason. She was here looking for her sister.” And, it would seem, she’d found her.

  Julie paced the wood plank floor of the old boat house. Waiting. She hated having to wait for him. She hated having to hide her love for him. But she had to. She’d always had to. When she heard his footsteps on the dock and heard the door squeak open her heart fluttered in her chest. Sunlight streamed in behind him and looking at him standing there nearly took her breath away. He was perfect. Long and lean. Muscled. So strong and confident. So masculine.

  He closed the door behind himself and came toward her, his look one of worry. “We shouldn’t be meeting like this, you know that. It’s dangerous.” But he hadn’t been able to tell her no. She’d been in a downright panic on the phone. Taking her face in his hands he kissed her before asking, “What’s wrong, darling?”

  “I… I saw the news this morning.” She saw the light of knowledge flash in his gaze before he could control the reaction. “They found Katy Waring.”

  “She came home,” he corrected. “Like everyone thought she would.”

  “She had to be taken to the hospital.”

  “Yes,” he said slowly, skeptically. “What’s this all about?”

  “Someone beat her up. Someone tried to kill her.”

  He arched a thick brow and caressed her jaw with a thumb. “How would you know that?”

  “I called a friend of mine at the hospital. She’s a nurse there. She told me.”

  “Your friend could get in a lot of trouble for talking about patients in the hospital, you know. She should be more careful.”

  Julie huffed out a breath. “She only told me.” Now was the time. “You knew, didn’t you? You knew what she did to me. What Katy did.”

  Blinking slowly, a corner of his mouth lifted. “Did you think I’d let her get away with hurting you? With dragging you down into the mud with her?”

  Oh. God. Her heart thundered in her chest now. She trembled uncontrollably. “Did you… did you try to kill her?”

  “I thought I had killed the little bitch,” he growled, dropping his hand from her face. Turning suddenly, he stalked the boathouse.

  Sucking in a sob of terror, Julie felt her knees weaken beneath her. Backing up she let them fold under her and fell to a fish cleaning bench.

  He stared out a window at the lake, watching ice fishermen at work. “There was no way I was going to let her rob you of a quarter million dollars, Jules. No fucking way.” He turned back to her.

  “I paid her,” Julie whispered.

  “Yeah, and you would have kept on paying her for the rest of your life!” He turned a tight circle. “Fuck. I couldn’t find the money, either. I wanted to get it back for you.”

  “She said—”

  “I don’t give a fuck what she said. She’s a liar and a thief.” And she was supposed to be dead, Goddamnit! “She knows about us, Julie! She knows!”

  And now she knew her lover was a killer. Julie looked up at him through long lashes, suddenly colder than she’d ever been in her life.

  Crossing to her he dropped to his knees in front of her. “I did this for you. For us. Don’t you understand? We’ll never be free as long as that bitch is alive.”

  The air in the boathouse seemed to disappear. The room seemed smaller. “What do you mean? What are you going to do?”

  “Finish what I started. I don’t have any other choice now. If she wakes up and talks she’ll tell them what I did to her. But worse, she’ll tell them about us.”

  “Maybe it’s time—”

  “No. They’ll throw me in prison.” He shoved his fingers through his hair before taking her face in his hands again. “You have to trust me, Jules.”

  Could she? Lips trembling, voice a bare whisper, she asked, “Tell me. Did you have anything to do with Ken’s accident?”

  His eyes widened and he shook his head furiously. “Oh course not!” He blurted out the lie, knowing she could not handle the truth.

  Chapter 11

  How could she live with herself now? How could she? Julie stared out her bedroom window, which overlooked a large pond, frozen over now. The frozen water reminded her of him. Of her visit with him earlier in the day. Of what he’d done. For her. He claimed to have done it for her out of love.

  Julie squeezed her eyes shut but the tears fell anyway. The image of Katy Waring, laying unresponsive in her hospital bed, was burned into her mind. The marks on her throat had been a vivid purple. And her face… God, it had been black and blue. Her friend had confided to her that Katy had bruises all over her body. As though she’d been beaten with something.

  A sob wracked her. He hadn’t just tried to kill her. No, she knew that now. He’d tortured her first. In an effort, she was sure, to make Katy tell him where the money was hidden. Had she told him? she wondered now. Had she told him and now he was keeping it for himself? Which begged another question. Was he with her just for the money? Had he killed Ken so that he could take his place? She remembered the talks they’d have sometimes. About how they could be together some
day. How she would stand up to her mother and just leave Ken. But her lover had always talked her out of it, reminding her of what she would be losing. It was telling, wasn’t it? Now that she looked at it, at him, for what he was.

  A knock sounded at her door and like the first five or six times today, she ignored it. No one loved her for what, for who, she really was. Everyone wanted her to be someone else. Wanted to mold her to their liking. Even him. Even her lover.

  “Julie, damnit, will you please open up?”

  JD. Her heart wrenched. Maybe there was someone who loved her after all. JD never judged her. And he was always there for her. And he knew what it was to bend to their mother.

  “Julie, come on. Talk to me, will ya? I don’t know what’s going on with you, but whatever it is we can work it out.”

  There was no working this out. On a weary sigh Julie turned from the window and walked to the door. She threw the lock and returned to her spot at the window.

  Cautiously, JD opened the door and stuck his head in. “You’re scaring me, kid,” he told her.

  “I don’t mean to. I just…” She shook her head. He wouldn’t understand.

  “Try me,” he told her. When she started and turned at his comment he smiled. “You were going to tell me I wouldn’t understand, right?”

  “Maybe.” She hugged herself tightly.

  “Does this have anything to do with Katy Waring?” He closed the door at his back so they would have the privacy he knew she required.

  Her nod was hesitant.

  “You want to tell me why her coming home and landing in the hospital sent you into a tailspin?”

  “I can’t,” she whispered miserably. No, she couldn’t. JD would come unglued and he would hurt him. Even after what he’d done she couldn’t bear the thought of him being hurt. Which really left her only one choice, didn’t it?

  “You can tell me anything, you know that.”