Pendelton Manor

by B J Wane

  Sophie could tell by the rigid set of his shoulders and that icy look in his eyes that he intended to have it out with his cousins. Laying a hand on his arm, she cautioned, “Adrian, maybe you better…”

  “Go upstairs, Sophie, and wait for me,” he stated coldly, leaving her no choice. Looking at Nora and Rachel, he added, “Thank you for coming to our help today. You two need to head home now.” Expecting to be obeyed, he turned and walked out.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “My office, now,” Adrian greeted Adam and Ash as they came in the front door. Both men cast him wary, startled glances before following him into his office.

  “What burr has crawled up your ass this time?” Ash drawled, his blue eyes wary as he watched Adrian pace like a caged tiger.

  “I wouldn’t call having my brakes tampered with as a burr, you asshole.” Adrian’s eyes bored into him, his fists clenched to keep from striking out physically. Not since they were boys had they gotten into a brawl, and he wasn’t going to resort to that now. “If it had been just me, it would’ve been no problem. As you both know, I can handle these roads with my fucking eyes closed, but Sophie was with me and had I not gotten it under control without swiping the passenger side into the trees, she would’ve been hurt. That is unacceptable.”

  “Wait one fucking minute,” Adam snapped. “Are you now accusing one of us of deliberately tampering with your brakes? For God’s sake, Adrian, why? Why in hell would we do that?”

  The surprise and anger on both of their faces wasn’t feigned, but Adrian figured one of them was just surprised he was getting close or shocked that he was finally bringing this out in the open. “Because you wanted Sophie to think it wasn’t safe to be with me. What? Did you want her for yourself, Adam, even though you have Nora wrapped around your finger? Or is it that you just don’t want me to find happiness with another woman?”

  “Try listening to some of this crap you’re dishing out, you moron.” Ash’s face had reddened with anger on his twin’s behalf and he wasn’t about to stand there and listen to him being maligned. “For months we’ve told you repeatedly we had nothing to do with Nicole, nor did we have anything to do with these recent problems.” Throwing up his arms, he added angrily, “For all we know, they’re just a series of misfortunate happenings, nothing more.”

  “One or two maybe,” Adrian snapped back, refusing to give credence to his words. “But there’s no way I’ll believe this number of things could be simply delegated to a series of bad luck. No. Fucking. Way.”

  “I’ve been hooked up with Nora since before Nicole’s death, Adrian,” Adam said in a calmer, more reasonable tone in the hopes of getting him to listen to reason. “I had no interest in Nicole other than as a friend and sister-in-law. Nora’s the one I want, the one I’ve wanted for a long time now.”

  “Yeah, right,” Adrian answered derisively. “You want her so bad you haven’t taken any steps toward a commitment. You’re still seeing other women, that’s how bad you want her.”

  Ash rolled his eyes. “Good lord, are you telling me you fell for that ruse about him dating Cynthia off and on?” Grinning at his twin’s startled expression, Ash smirked, “Yeah, brother, I knew you were just trying to make Nora jealous. Shit, if you two would just look at each other and maybe talk, you might actually get somewhere.”

  Adrian felt his heart clench at the byplay between the two. They had always had a special bond, close as only twins could be, and he had never envied that closeness. Until now. Was this an act by one or both of them? Was one of them covering for the other? Son of a bitch, this had to end, and end now.

  “Nice ploy you two, but it doesn’t wash. I’m going to find out one way or another which one of you is guilty if it’s the last thing I do. And, I’m warning you now, Sophie’s off limits.”

  The sound of their angry voices behind the closed door of Adrian’s office followed Sophie to the elevator. She spent the evening in his suite alone, flipping through his multitude of television channels and listening for his arrival, which didn’t come. By eleven o’clock, she gave up and raided his dresser for a tee shirt of his she could wear to bed. If she couldn’t have his body against hers, she would settle for something of his covering her. And how pathetic was that, she thought, as she slipped into bed and once again found herself listening for him. She knew once this was over, she was going to have to come to a decision about their relationship and stick to it, but right now all she could do was worry about him, wonder where he was and if he was all right.

  Several hours later, Sophie barely registered the dip in the bed as Adrian finally joined her, his breath reeking of liquor as he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her back against him.

  “Adrian, are you all right?” she asked him drowsily, her hand clutching his arm as he held her tightly.

  “Shh, Sophie. Go back to sleep.”

  Adrian held her close, his alcohol laden body ready to join her in sleep, but his mind refused to cooperate. They had argued and talked for hours, he, Adam and Ash, to no avail. They vehemently denied any involvement with Nicole or with the recent accidents. He went over each incident, pointed out that they were the only ones on the property, the only ones with easy access to the generator, Sammy, the lighthouse and his car. The only ones with a motive and no alibi the night Nicole died. The argument ended abruptly when Adam simply stated he had had enough and left to spend the night in town with Nora.

  Ash had said coldly that he refused to let Adrian bully him out of his home, especially when he hadn’t done anything before storming upstairs. Their departure had left him with an inexplicable feeling of loneliness and a warning voice whispering in his head that he had just made a huge mistake. For the first time since moving Sophie into his suite, he had been in no hurry to join her up here. Too many questions were still unanswered and Nicole’s death still remained a mystery.

  Maybe, he had thought as he poured the first drink, he ought to just let it go as all of them urged him to do. Even if her lover had been there with her on the cliffs, there was no way to prove he had a hand in her going over. Her fall could’ve been an accident. By the time he had dulled his senses enough that he wasn’t making sense even to himself, the need to feel Sophie against him, hear her soft voice in the dark, sent him stumbling upstairs.

  Slipping his hand under her shirt, he cupped her breast and fell asleep.

  Adrian was in a sour mood the next morning, but did a good job of trying to keep it from her. No one was around when they went downstairs, but the coffee was made indicating someone was up and gone. After downing one cup and pouring one to go, Adrian kissed her and told her good-bye. The day was quiet and seemed to drag for Sophie, so she finally gave up after lunch and struck out for her walk. James was somewhere on the property on the riding lawnmower, but she didn’t see him as she set off from the back yard. She was actually glad for the solitude today. The sky was as dreary as her mood and dark clouds loomed on the horizon, but the weather forecast said the storm was hours away and she simply couldn’t stand being cooped up when she was in one of her depressed, melancholy moods.

  The bleak look in Adrian’s eyes this morning had little to do with being hung over and she surmised a lot to do with the rift between him and his cousins. Anybody who spent any time around the three Pendeltons could see the close relationship they had, they familial love they shared. They were close, they were family and family was… everything. Emily had been her family, the only family she had ever had, and she had been everything to Sophie. Emily’s love for her had been so pure, sweet and innocent and she had cherished every second of it.

  As she walked along the cliffs, Sophie wondered if Adrian thought about how he’d feel if one of his cousins did betray him, how he would feel if that special bond they shared, the love they had for each other was destroyed, gone forever. She could tell him the betrayal wasn’t as bad as the loss would be, but she doubted if he’d believe her or even listen. He was adamant in his belief, even if it was kill
ing him to think one of them could perpetrate such acts against him.

  Stopping a moment to brush her hair out of her face, she glanced out across the ocean again and thought the dark storm clouds looked a lot closer. Jagged streaks of lightning already heralded its arrival, making her shiver. Huddling against the wind that was picking up, she turned back towards the manor, praying the storm brewing out on the ocean and the one brewing at home would both soon pass with relative calmness.

  James just pulled the riding lawnmower onto his trailer and shut it off when his phone rang. Noticing Rachel’s number, he answered with a smile. “Hey there, sweetie. I finished early because it looks like that storm is coming in sooner than forecasted.” As he listened to her, his good humor was slowly replaced with despondency. He knew he was on borrowed time, knew the past would catch up with him, especially after the happenings of the past few weeks, but he was hoping he had more time, especially with Rachel. With her voice screeching ‘You son of a bitch, I trusted you’! he slowly ended the call and went in search of Sophie. He had some explaining to do before Adrian got home.

  Adrian hung up the phone slowly. The mechanics had just confirmed that his brake line had been cut, allowing a slow leak. He had had the presence of mind to check his Cherokee over thoroughly this morning before driving it into work and didn’t find anything wrong, but everyone knew he preferred his Mercedes and rarely drove the SUV. Having his suspicions confirmed did nothing to ease his conscience or defuse his anger. He hadn’t seen Adam or Ash this morning, he didn’t even know if they were in the office. The three of them usually ate lunch together; sometimes they met James at the diner downtown, depending on their schedules. Today the lunch hour passed quietly and he found the emotional struggle between deep seated anger and an unsettling feeling of helplessness and loss wearing on him.

  Just as he was giving in to the temptation to seek out his cousins, the door to his office was flung open and Rachel and Nora came stumbling in. “What the hell is going on?” he snapped angrily, then, as he noticed the tears running down Rachel’s pale cheeks and the tight grip Nora had on her hand, worry replaced anger. “Rachel, what’s wrong?”

  “This,” she said tossing a medicine bottle on his desk. “That’s what’s wrong.”

  Picking up the bottle, he read the label. “Why is James taking Valium?”

  On a sob, she choked, “I don’t think he is. I think he’s been putting it in my wine before bed on certain nights so I won’t wake up when he sneaks out.”

  Adrian felt a roaring in his head as his heart clutched in icy fear as he realized the implications of her discovery. All this time, all the facts never once pointed to James, but now that the blinders were off, it made complete sense. James and Nicole had been a couple for a short time before he and Nicole hooked up. Obviously, James had fallen harder for her than she had for him.

  “Sit down and explain, Rachel,” he told her before he jumped to the wrong conclusion, again.

  “Just don’t be an ass to her,” Nora said, anger for her friend evident in her tone.

  Adrian’s first reaction was to snap back at her, but he quickly reined in his anger. After all, it wasn’t their fault he may have screwed up royally with Adam and Ash. With a nod, he encouraged Rachel to talk.

  “Yesterday morning, when I didn’t wake up until almost noon, it reminded me of a few other times I had fallen asleep and not woken until late the next morning, which is really unusual for me since I’m a morning person. But when you called about your car, I really got suspicious. The nights I slept so soundly, James always gave me a glass of wine before bed. Wine he had poured while I was out of the room.”

  “The night Nicole died?” he asked already knowing the answer.

  “Yes.” Another sob broke as the three of them realized the depth of James’ betrayal. Nicole and Sophie weren’t his only victims.

  “I’m going to have a talk with him,” Adrian said as he rose from behind his desk and walked around to them. “He’s at the manor today, and….”

  “Oh my God!” Jumping up, Rachel, grabbed his arm in a desperate grip. “Adrian, I called him. I was so upset, so mad and hurt….”

  “Shit. Stay here.” With terror driving him, Adrian sped for home, and for Sophie.

  As usual, Sophie found herself farther from the manor than she had thought and now worried she might not make it back before the storm broke. She had an hours walk back, at least, but maybe if she hurried she could make it. She didn’t look forward to spending a stormy afternoon alone, even if she had been grateful for the quiet solitude this morning. As much as she was beginning to love the manor, it could be an eerie, daunting place under certain circumstances.

  She was over half way back when she looked up and saw James walking swiftly towards her, a look of worry on his face. The wind, which was always blustery along the cliffs, had whipped up even more, and the sounds of the approaching storm were coming closer. Relieved that she was going to have company, at least until they got back, she waved to him.

  “James, I’m so glad to see you. It was nice of you to come see me back. I hope I didn’t worry…” her voice trailed off as she saw the look of quiet desperation and sorrow on his face, his green eyes as stormy as the cloud laden skies. “James, what’s wrong?” Clutching his arm, she fretted, “Is it Adrian? Has something happened?”

  She took a hasty step back when anger suffused his face and he snarled, “Adrian, it’s always Adrian, isn’t it, Sophie? Fuck Adrian. If it wasn’t for him, none of this would have happened.”

  “What are you talking about? Where is he?” Sophie quickly forgot the danger of the storm as she sensed more danger coming from the man in front of her as he grabbed her arm in a tight, bruising grip. “Ow! James, you’re hurting me,” she cried out softly as she pleaded with him to let her go. “Leave me alone, I want to get back before the storm hits.”

  “The storm has already struck, Sophie,” he said in an achingly soft voice as he loosened his hold on her. “I’m sorry, so sorry for so many things. I wanted a chance to explain before he got here, a chance to tell you I never meant you any harm. I swear it. Please tell me you believe that, if nothing else.”

  With the next flash of lightning, a light bulb went off and Sophie put the pieces together. “It was you?” she asked disbelievingly. “James, why? Why would you do those things?”

  Running his free hand through his hair in frustration, he practically growled, “The generator, I was just so pissed when you returned from your walk looking a little scared and sad, you always look so sad, Sophie. Then you asked for Adrian, in your time of need, it was him you thought of first and it just pissed me off. I struck out, knew that you’d be even more scared if the lights stayed off. Shit, it was petty and mean, I know.”

  “And Sammy? What did poor Sammy do to make you want to kill her?” she choked out as she realized the depth of his betrayal.

  Just that quickly, he went from contrition to anger, snapping as he jerked her to him, “Instead of cowering in your room, what do you do? God damn it, you ran to him, to that son of a bitch who took everything I loved. Why? Why did you do that?”

  He was Nicole’s lover, she thought, and possibly responsible for her death. Strangely enough, she didn’t fear for herself. He was right about one thing, his actions were never intended to harm her. It was Adrian she feared who would have difficulty in dealing with this betrayal from a man who had been as close as a brother to him for thirty years.

  “I didn’t want to be alone, that’s all there was to it, James. But Sammy didn’t deserve your anger and you scared the hell out of me when you locked me in the lighthouse. I can’t forgive you for that,” she told him in a stronger voice.

  “For two days I had been struggling with the anger that Adrian had taken up with you, that he cared for you more than he has for anyone lately, and it fucking pissed me off. The way he looked at you that Saturday night, it was all I could do right then not to wipe that possessive look off his unsuspe
cting face. However, having you suck my cock worked almost as good. It’ll kill him now every time he remembers how he shared you with me that night.”

  Sophie swallowed the bile lodged in her throat and struggled to free herself. “Let me go, James, please. Just let me go and leave, leave all of us alone. No one need ever know…” She stopped as he shook his head regretfully, his eyes now sober and sad.

  Reaching up, he pushed her windblown hair back and ran his knuckles down her face. “It’s too late, Sophie. Much too late. Nicole’s death was an accident, I swear it, but no one will believe me now.”

  The look of resignation on his face scared her more than any of his revelations and Sophie took a step back as she began to struggle in earnest. But instead of her foot landing on solid ground, she felt nothing under her and then she was screaming as she went over, her hand now trying to cling to James instead of pushing him away.

  “Sophie, no!”

  Adrian came upon them just in time to see Sophie struggling with James, just in time to see her take that step back and fall over. Both he and James called to her simultaneously, but as James desperately leaned over and made a grab for her, he lost his balance and followed her down, his yell drowned out by a loud clap of thunder from the now roiling, black storm clouds hovering above them.

  Fear like he’d never known choked Adrian as he ran to the ledge and looked over, replaced by relief so consuming it made him lightheaded as he saw Sophie clinging to a rocky ledge, her face pale and looking up at him with heart wrenching defeat.

  Laying on his stomach, he leaned over as far as he could, stretching his hand out to her. “Take my hand, Sophie, I can pull you up,” he yelled over the storm now raging down on them.

  Calmness settled over Sophie as she realized she wasn’t going to make it. The jagged ledge she clung to cut into her palms and already she could feel her blood slick hands slipping. Her first thought was she would be able to see her beloved daughter again, maybe, God willing, she would hear her laugh and hold her small body again. It’s all she wanted really, to be with Emily, Emily who had needed her for so short a time, Emily who had been everything she lived for.