by Rita Herron
He felt ill thinking about it. If he was wrong, if Kelly truly was a friend, Sydney and Kelly would never forgive him. But if Sydney was in danger...
He spotted a pay phone, swerved into a parking spot and jumped out, then dialed her number as fast as he could. The phone rang once, twice, three times, four, then finally someone answered. A voice he feared he recognized.
“Can I speak to Sydney?” he asked, working to keep his voice calm.
“She can’t come to the phone,” the woman answered. “Why don’t you come over here, Mr. Cash.”
His heart thudded to a stop. Kelly. The woman’s soft, Southern drawl hammered into his subconscious, and Collin’s hand tightened around the phone. The images of the town faded. Once again the cloudy shadows, the grays and blacks blurred before him, replaced by the shimmering light of metal glinting in the darkness. Another vision. He was being swept back in time to the murder he’d witnessed.
Kelly’s face was cast in shadows, haunted by anger and fury as she lifted the gun and pointed is at him. He trembled, holding out his hand, shock riveting his body as he tried to coax Kelly to put down the weapon. But she smiled, a peaceful look washing over her as she pulled the trigger. He clutched his chest, his body bouncing backward, blood seeping from the wound. She fired again. He tried to call for help, then saw himself falling, collapsing onto the hard, cold floor. More blood, draining from his body, trailing onto the green Oriental rug. His head lolled to the side, his breath ragged He closed his eyes, knowing he was going to die.
Jerking himself back to reality, Collin dragged in deep breaths, then pressed the phone back to his ear. “Kelly, are you still there?” Silence. “Kelly, hello, are you still there?”
A beeping tone pierced the awful quiet, then the phone went dead. He jumped into his car, praying as he raced toward Sydney’s. God, please let her still be alive.
SYDNEY LAY STRETCHED OUT on the sofa, more relaxed than she’d been in weeks. “This wine is wonderful. This is the first time in ages I feel like I could go to sleep and sleep forever.”
Kelly smiled and cleared the dishes. “I bet you will sleep a long time tonight.”
“Leave those and I’ll do them later,” Sydney said, starting to get up.
Kelly waved her off. “No, I don’t mind. You lie there and rest.”
Sydney drained the glass, then placed it on the table. “You’re such a great friend, Kel. I don’t know what I would have done without you the past few months.”
Kelly paused, an empty plate in her hand. “We’ve helped each other,” Kelly said softly. “Having Meg all alone has been so hard.”
“I know,” Sydney said. “Have you thought any more about contacting the father? You could at least get child support.”
Kelly shook her head. “He didn’t want anything to do with her. He’s completely out of the picture now.”
“I’m sorry, Kel. I really am.”
“Me, too,” Kelly said, wiping away a tear.
A knock sounded at the door and Sydney jumped.
“I’ll get it,” Kelly offered.
But the door swung open, and Collin burst into the room. “Sydney...” He paused, looking first at Kelly, then at her. “I needed to see you,” he said in an odd tone. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine.” Sydney waved a hand, feeling dizzy. “Just tired, but Kelly and I have been having wine.... What are you doing here? I thought you’d left for Charleston.”
“I couldn’t leave with things unsettled between us,” Collin explained. He turned to Kelly and Sydney squinted through blurred vision. Her head was starting to hurt.
Collin’s jaw hardened. “You put something in her wine, didn’t you?”
Kelly backed toward the sofa table, a strange look in her eyes. Sydney tried to sit up, but the room tilted. She grabbed the sofa edge for support. “What’s wrong, Collin?”
“I know what happened, Kelly.” Collin stepped in front of the sofa, positioning himself between her and Kelly.
“What exactly do you know?” Kelly’s normally cheery voice turned cold.
Collin stared at her. “I saw you murder Doug Green.”
Sydney gasped. Kelly pulled a small pistol from her waist and pointed it at Collin.
“How could you see it? You weren’t there.” Kelly’s voice shook with rage.
“I have Doug’s eyes,” Collin said. “I’ve been having visions of the murder.”
“Kel, what are you doing?” Sydney tried to stand, but Kelly waved the gun toward her.
“You’d better not move, Syd. Then I won’t have to hurt yon,” Kelly warned.
“What?” Sydney swayed drunkenly. “Kelly, I don’t understand. Why do you have a gun?”
“She killed Doug,” Collin replied.
“Shut up!” Kelly shouted. “You weren’t supposed to come to Beaufort.”
“I’m not sure why she murdered him, but I think it has to do with Megan,” Collin said quietly, leveling a look at Kelly. “Megan is Doug’s baby, isn’t she, Kelly?”
Kelly nodded and Sydney gasped, then pressed her hand to her stomach. shock riveting through her.
“Yes, he was her father,” Kelly said, her voice furious. “But he wouldn’t even acknowledge her. Can you imagine that? A father so despicable he wouldn’t even admit he had a child. Megan’s such a sweet baby—she deserved better than that.” The pain in her voice tore at Sydney. And the realization that Doug had fathered a child with her best friend sent her mind reeling.
“That’s why you killed him,” Collin said. “Because he wouldn’t take care of Megan?”
“Oh, it was more than that,” Kelly said, waving the gun back and forth between Collin and Sydney. “It was way more than that.”
“Tell me about it,” Sydney said, her chest tight. “I thought we told each other everything, Kel.”
Kelly twisted her mouth sideways, her chin trembling. “He loved me, you know. He did, that is, until he met you, Sydney.”
Sydney’s stomach churned. “Doug didn’t know the meaning of the word love, Kelly.”
“Well, he was mine first And I had his baby. I met him when I was working for that eye doctor,” Kelly explained.
“Darber, the one who performed my eye transplant,” Collin said.
“Yes.” Kelly swiped at her face angrily, giving up any pretense of control. “I’d been working for Darber for a couple of years. Then I fell in love with Doug. He was so smart, so industrious. I knew he was going to make millions.”
“And the two of you had an affair,” Collin supplied.
“I thought we were going to get married.” Kelly had a faraway look in her eyes. “I knew some of Doug’s deals weren’t on the up-and-up. But I didn’t care. I was raised dirt poor and I wanted better, and Doug could give it to me. Then I found out Dr. Darber was overcharging rich patients so he could afford to perform surgery on other people who couldn’t afford it.”
Collin frowned. A piece of the puzzle he hadn’t detected.
“So Doug and I decided he’d be perfect to help us out. We blackmailed him into giving experimental drugs to patients, ones Doug was trying to market. Darber would sign off that they’d passed clinical tests, and Doug could get the FDA approval in record time.”
“Then he’d sell the product, make a lot of hype about it, the stock would escalate, and he’d cash his stock in before anyone found out about the fraud,” Collin added.
“It was a great plan,” Kelly said.
“Why did you come to the clinic the day Darber removed my bandages?”
Kelly laughed wryly. “I wanted to see if your eyes looked anything like Doug’s, if they would haunt me forever.”
“I don’t understand all this,” Sydney said, feeling weaker by the minute. “Why didn’t you sue Doug? You could have won child support.”
“She couldn’t go to court for fear they’d find out about the other activities,” Collin explained.
“You think you’re so smart, Mr. Cash. I never
dreamed you’d come here looking for Doug’s murderer.”
“Well, you were wrong, weren’t you?” Collin took a step toward her. “You tried to kill me with that fire and the bomb, didn’t you?”
“I wanted you to go away,” Kelly said, her voice petulant like a child’s.
“And what about me, Kelly?” Sydney asked. “Did you want to kill me, too?”
Kelly made a pitiful moaning sound. “I didn’t...I don’t want to kill you, Sydney. But I can’t go to jail and give up Megan. She’s my life.”
Sydney remembered Doug’s vasectomy and the pain overwhelmed her. He’d had a child with Kelly. “I thought you were my friend, Kelly.”
The pupils of Kelly’s eyes darkened with fury. “I hated you at first,” she admitted. “You were the reason Doug wouldn’t marry me. When I came here, I was going to warm up to you to make Doug nervous. Then I got to know you, and I actually liked you.”
“If you like me, how could you do this to me?” Sydney asked in a ragged whisper.
Kelly’s face twisted with rage. “Because Doug offered me money, money, to go away, to have his baby and stay out of his life so he could marry you!”
Sydney pressed her hand to her mouth, rocking back and forth, feeling woozier with each passing minute. Not only had Doug betrayed her, but so had her best friend. No, Kelly wasn’t a friend at all; it had all been a pretense, more lies. Just like Doug. And Collin. The room blurred, spun around her. She closed her eyes, fighting the nausea.
“But he offered me a pathetic amount, pennies compared to the money he’d earned.” Kelly’s hand shook with the gun. “And then he married you. Married you, when we could have been a family, when I had his little girl.”
“You framed Sydney for Doug’s murder, didn’t you?” Collin asked, his voice menacing.
Kelly made a mewling sound and brushed at her eyes. “It was the only way, Sydney. I couldn’t go to jail and leave Megan motherless. And with you in jail, I thought I could get Doug’s money for Megan.” Kelly began rambling incoherently, her hand shaking as she kept the weapon trained on Collin.
“So you’re going to kill me now?” Collin asked, inching toward Kelly.
“And me, Kelly—are you going to kill me, too?” Sydney asked. “When will you stop?”
“I don’t want to kill you, Syd,” Kelly said. “But Collin, he has to die. And...and I’ll frame you for it. I’ll say Collin realized McKenzie’s wife didn’t kill Doug, that you knew Collin was on to you, so you killed him. It won’t take much to convince Raeburn.” She gave Sydney a pitying look. “And when that sleeping pill takes effect, you’ll sleep for hours. You may not even know when the police get here and find him dead. Then it’s off to jail for you, Sydney, and Meg and I can leave town.”
“But I’ll tell the truth,” Sydney argued.
A harsh laugh escaped Kelly. “It’ll be my word against yours, and you know the police won’t believe you, not after they find this gun in your hand. And not after I give you a shot of this wonder drug I have in my purse.”
“What drug?” Collin asked.
“It’s not on the market yet, because it has a few nasty side effects to be worked out.” Kelly smirked. “It messes your memory up so you don’t know your own name. Sydney’ ll probably admit to killing you and Doug.”
Sydney gasped. “Kelly, don’t do this. Please don’t do this. You need help.”
But Kelly raised the gun, the planes of her face hard and determined, her eyes wild. Collin gave Sydney a beseeching look. In that split second, Sydney saw the love shining in his eyes and knew he would take the bullet for her if he had to. But she loved Collin, and in spite of his deceit, he was a decent man, a man she could depend on. A man who had loved her more in one night than her husband had in two years.
She couldn’t let Kelly kill him.
She dived forward, praying she could distract Kelly long enough for Collin to grab the gun.
“No!” Collin bolted sideways to stop her, but too late. The gun discharged, and Sydney cried out and slumped to the floor when the bullet found its mark.
Chapter Fifteen
“Sydney!” Collin dived at Kelly, praying he could block Sydney from the line of fire as the gun discharged again. Dear God, he had to save her!
The shot went wild. Collin knocked Kelly’s arm upward and sent the gun flying. When it hit the floor, it skidded several feet away.
“Let me go!” Kelly tried to jerk away, but he grabbed her wrist and pinned her against him. His heart pounded with fear. Sydney was lying in a heap on the floor with her blood spilling onto the carpet. No, Sydney, no, please don’t die....
Kelly sagged against him as he tightened his grip. “You’re going to jail for this,” he ground out. “And you’ll stay there for a long time.”
“It wasn’t fair!” Kelly cried. “I only wanted things for my baby.”
“Be quiet,” he growled. “And tell me what you put in Sydney’s drink.”
Kelly didn’t answer. He jerked off his belt, wound it around her arms, dragged her to a chair and tied her to it. “I asked you what you put in her drink. A sleeping pill, narcotic? What?”
“It was just a sleeping pill from the hospital,” Kelly answered in a hollow voice.
He grabbed the phone and punched 911, kneeling beside Sydney. “I need help,” he said. “Send an ambulance and the police. A woman’s been shot. Hurry!” He rattled off the address, taking Sydney’s pulse and praying at the same time. Please, dear God, please let her be alive....
He found a weak pulse, and his chest heaved in relief, then he gently rolled her over. Blood poured out of the wound, soaking her blouse. He ripped the material apart to examine the damage. The bullet had hit her upper body, above the heart, near her shoulder. He ran to the kitchen and grabbed towels, then pressed them to the wound.
“Collin...” Sydney murmured groggily.
“Yes, love, I’m here.” He tucked her hair behind her ear, his throat thick with emotion.
“You’re okay?” She reached up and brushed his cheek.
He nodded, so touched by her concern for him that he couldn’t speak.
“I...” She coughed and he pressed his finger to her lips.
“Shh, it’s okay, I’m going to take care of you,” he whispered, his eyes filling with moisture. “The ambulance is on its way.”
Her eyelids fluttered, and he kissed her forehead gently. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, so sorry.”
She called his name again weakly, and he lowered his head so he could hear her.
“What is it, honey?”
“I...I love you.”
He gently laid her head in his lap, wanting to say the words back, but emotions clogged his throat. Then she lost consciousness and his breath locked in his chest. He placed his head over her heart, weeping when he felt the soft rhythmic beating, even though it was weak.
“How many pills did you give her?” Collin croaked.
Kelly wrestled against the chair. “Just two.”
“She’d better make it.” He kept pressure on the wound, ignoring Kelly’s sobs as he held Sydney and prayed the ambulance would make it in time.
HOURS LATER Collin sat beside Sydney’s hospital bed, frantic with worry, staring at the clock as the minutes dragged by. He watched the slow rise and fall of her chest. The doctor had said she’d come through the surgery fine, but she needed rest. He was waiting for her to open her eyes so he could see for himself.
She’d seemed so pale and lifeless on the long ride to the hospital. The three words she’d whispered to him had played over and over in his head, balm to his wounded soul. Damn it, why hadn’t he told her he loved her? Well, it would be the first thing he’d tell her when she woke up. Would she be able to forgive him for lying to her? Would he still remind her of Doug’s deceit?
When they’d arrived at the hospital, she’d been whisked off to surgery. He’d paced the waiting room and almost lost his mind. When he’d gotten the news she’d made it throu
gh surgery, he’d bought a dozen yellow roses, then held them the whole time she’d been in the recovery room, nearly crushing the fragile blooms as he’d paced some more.
Now the roses sat on the table beside her, wilting. His fingers curled around a cup of cold coffee. He sipped at it just for something to do with his hands.
He’d called Raeburn. Kelly had confessed to everything. She’d admitted to knowing enough about cars to tamper with Sydney’s breaks and the fire had been easy to set, but McKenzie had helped with the bomb. She’d promised to help him get credit for the weight-loss prod uct if he made the bomb. Darber had turned himself in. He’d cried like a baby when he heard Kelly had tried to kill Sydney, had blamed himself for not blowing the whistle on Kelly and Doug for blackmailing him. He would undergo a medical review for unethical practices.
The rustle of sheets caught his attention and he froze. But she’d barely stirred. He reached out to cover Sydney’s free hand with his own.
“I need you, Sydney,” he said softly. “I didn’t want to need you. I didn’t want to need anyone ever again.” Moisture stung his eyes and he remembered his own stay in the hospital, those long, dark hours of waking up all alone. Of wanting someone to be with him, someone who cared. Now he’d found that special someone, and he’d never let her go.
And if she came up with some garbage about saying those three little words because they’d been in danger, he’d tell her she was the one lying this time. She loved him, he knew it; he’d seen the emotion brimming in her eyes right before she’d dived in front of the bullet to save his life. It should have been the other way around, he thought, with helpless fury. He was supposed to have protected her, taken the bullet, not her.
He gently stroked the soft skin beside her eyes, letting his fingers trace a path down her cheek, memorizing each and every feature of her lovely face. “Please wake up and look at me, sweetheart.”