Killer Desires

by Becca Collins

  In her confused state, Sarah tried to recall that conversation with Shane. She knew there was more to it, but just couldn’t pull the memory out. “Amber, listen, I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings. It wasn’t intentional.”

  Amber almost giggled and all anger fell from her face. “Oh,” she began, her voice dripping with fake concern, “in that case, it’s all better now.” Sarah watched as her features returned to stone, wondered how someone could so easily change their emotions and expressions.

  Amber turned her attention back to the road and cautiously passed a semi. Sarah stole at glance at the speedometer and noticed Amber was keeping to the speed limit. She almost laughed at the irony and then Amber continued. “You know, I always tried to protect you and you didn’t give a damn what happened to me. You just ran off with Chad like nothing else mattered. You didn’t even invite me to your fucking wedding!”

  “Amber, I’m sorry,” Sarah cried. “The wedding, oh God Amber, I was pregnant, that’s why we eloped the way we did! Amber I swear to you…”

  “I know.” Amber stated simply, and Sarah’s mind raced.

  “That was one of the biggest ironies. Chad ran off to Washington with you to raise that bastard’s baby when he could have stayed with me and raised his own. I told him you were a lying whore, you know? I tried to warn him.”

  “Who? Chad?” Sarah asked, though she wasn’t sure which of Amber’s ramblings she was questioning first.

  “Of course, Chad. He had the right to know about your little fling with that bastard! We were supposed to be a team,” she sighed. “I did my part. I got Brett out of town. With Chad’s help, sure, but it was my idea for him to propose to you that night, and I’m the one that was in charge of getting the bastard there.

  “I kept up my end of the bargain. But once you and Chad got what you wanted you just left town and forgot all about me and what you owed me.”

  “I’m your best friend, Amber,” Sarah pled, “I never forgot about you.” She tried to get herself in Amber’s head.

  “Yes, you did. You always thought you were so much better than me. You were just like Shane and Chad and those two got what they had coming. Now it’s your turn, Sarah.”

  Realization hit Sarah with the force of a Mack truck and she sucked in a breath. “You killed Chad.” She almost whispered.

  “Well, looky there. Miss Brilliant is finally putting the pieces together.”

  “Why, Amber?”

  “Jesus Christ, you always were clueless. How you managed to be valedictorian is beyond me.”

  Sarah turned and looked out the window. Her headache cause nausea to roll her stomach and she didn’t want to vomit all over the truck.

  “Why? Because I don’t like to be lied to.” Amber lowered her voice to mock Chad’s. ‘I love you, Amber. If I could divorce her, I would marry you in a heartbeat, but you know what that would do to my career.’” Her voice returned to her own and she continued. “But it was all a lie. When Chad told me about Lindsey, I knew that would spell the end of your sham of a marriage. I mean, how could Chad stay with you after finding out he’d raised a baby that wasn’t even his? Especially, if you consider that he’d given up raising his own child.”

  “What child? Amber, I don’t understand.”

  “Of course you don’t. You didn’t care enough to notice what was going on right before your face. I was pregnant, too, Sarah. I found out right before your graduation party. And when I told your precious brother, he just handed me a check and told me to take care of it. God, he was an idiot. It wasn’t even his kid, but I knew Chad was going to marry you. I hoped the baby would bring me and Shane together, so we could all be a family. But, he abandoned me and by then Chad had everything he wanted. He no longer gave a shit about me and I had to give up my baby.

  “That’s why when he finally told me he was divorcing you, I was so happy. Why wouldn’t I be? I was finally going to get everything I wanted. He’d always said if he could figure out a way out of the marriage, he’d leave you and marry me. Now he had one, a big one. You lied to him about his kid. But, he was a liar, too. He never had any intention of marrying me. By that time he was already fucking that stupid little bitch, Lauren. Chad was just using me, just like your brother did, just like my father used my mother. And then that fucking bastard came back to town looking for his father and I just knew I was going to lose everything.”

  When Amber pulled the car onto the exit ramp, recognition flared in Sarah’s brain but she couldn’t put the pieces together. “Amber, I don’t understand. Is this about Chad or is this about Brett?”

  “Both, you stupid bitch! I wasn’t going to take Chad’s shit, but I couldn’t figure out how to do it. Then, fate handed me a gift: your boyfriend. I knew why he was back. Jack’s secretary inadvertently gave me my father’s file containing his new will. I learned all about my long-lost brother, Brett, coming back to take half of my money! Oh, wait. There was a catch. He couldn’t be a felon. Well, now,” Amber tapped her fingers on the steering wheel as if she were in deep thought. “How could I kill two birds with one bullet? Here I have a man that was using me, lying to me, and another one who wants my money. And what do these two men have in common?” She turned her head and pointed at Sarah. “You. One little twist of fate and everything comes together. It was almost too easy. Men are such creatures of habit. When Chad mentioned that he was supposed to meet Jeffrey at Patrick’s, all I had to was go to the diner and let Brett overhear me making plans with you to meet next door. I knew he wouldn’t be able to resist.”

  “We didn’t have any plans to meet there.”

  “No shit, Sherlock. I never said I had to make the plans, just have him think I had. God, what an idiot! If he wasn’t so obsessed with you, he wouldn’t be in this mess. I guess that’s true with all of the men in your life though, huh?”

  “How did you get the gun?”

  Amber’s maniacal laugh filled the cab of the truck and Sarah shuddered. “Ah, yes, another gift from fate and a stroke of genius, I might add. Years ago, Cole had asked me to wait at Brett’s to let in some repairman. The roof was leaking or some such shit. Anyway, I was bored waiting and started going through some boxes. Then a few months ago, I remembered it was there and went back. That garage was not difficult to get into. But imagine my surprise when your idiot of boyfriend didn’t even change the locks after he knew someone had been in there. I’ve gotta tell you, I didn’t think I was going to be able to get back in to get the truck. Yep, you got yourself a real winner there, Sarah.”

  Sarah ignored the comment and looked past Amber at the street onto which they had turned. “Why are we really going to my house?”

  “Well,” Amber continued, ignoring Sarah’s question. “Fate apparently hadn’t planned on you being an idiot, too. You weren’t supposed to help him. You were supposed to believe he killed your husband, for Christ’s sake. I couldn’t have imagined that, rather than frying the bastard, you’d start fucking him again.”

  Amber paused as if coming to a realization and then laughed. “Well, maybe you aren’t a total idiot after all. You know, actually it’ll work out much better this way.” She pulled the car into the driveway and pulled out the opener she’d apparently taken from Sarah’s car. With the push of button, the door began to rise. Amber pulled in and closed the door behind them. She pointed the gun at Sarah and warned her.

  “Don’t do anything stupid, Sarah or I’ll take out every member of your family, starting with your adorable daughter.”

  Amber let Sarah out of the car and followed her into the house, the gun trained on her at all times. She put Sarah into a kitchen chair and retied her hands to the wooden arms.

  “Amber,” Sarah began cautiously. “I’m so sorry for everything that’s happened to you, but we can still change this. I’ll help you, I promise.”

  “Like I believe a word that comes out of your mouth,” Amber replied as she pulled out the chair opposite Sarah.

  “Seriously,” Sarah continu
ed. “I never realized that you loved Shane so much. If you’d have told me I would have encouraged him to marry you.” She saw an opening and hoped that Kristen would forgive her next words. “Actually, with Kristen gone, now he can. Just untie me and we’ll go see Shane. He woke up earlier today and he asked about you.”

  “He did?” Amber asked and when she looked up, Sarah saw the hope in Amber’s eyes. She finally realized how sick her best friend really was, and felt a little bad to be playing on her emotions. But, not bad enough to stop.

  “Yeah, he did. You see, it can still all work out. We can still be sisters.”

  Sarah watched as Amber’s eyes welled with tears. “What about Brett?”

  “What do you mean?” Sarah asked cautiously.

  “You’ll need to tell the police that he was the one that killed Chad and ran Shane off the road. You have to confirm their suspicions or it’ll never be over.” Amber’s tone was so normal she could have been talking about the weather.

  “Okay,” Sarah agreed. “I’ll call Detective Hunter right now. Just get me the phone.”

  Amber responded by walking over and retrieving the cordless phone from its base on the wall. When she sat back down, her eyes were dry.

  “Do you think I’m fucking stupid?” Amber demanded. “You’re the idiot, Sarah, not me.”

  Amber picked up the phone and pushed the green button. “You call your bastard boyfriend. Tell him to get over here. You say one word to him and I’ll kill you, then I’ll kill him and your stupid daughter, too.” She looked up at the ceiling and scratched her head.

  “Wait, on second thought, maybe you should tell him to bring Lindsey. We don’t want any more heirs popping up later.”

  “Amber, no,” Sarah sobbed. “No one knows any of this. There’s no one to tell Lindsey.”

  “Kristen figured it out. How do you know she didn’t tell Shane? No, I can’t have Lindsey running around just waiting to steal the money I worked for my whole life! Yeah, bitch, I worked for that money! I pretended to love that old bastard even after he killed my mother!

  “Brett and Lindsey,” Amber demanded as pressed the button to put the call on speaker and shoved the ringing phone in Sarah’s face. “Get them out here, now!”

  Sarah choked back a sob as she heard Brett answer the phone.

  “Sarah? Sarah where are you?”

  “I… I’m at my house. I’m having car trouble. Can you come here and pick me up?”

  “I thought you were on your way here.”

  “I was and then I… I realized I needed to get a few things. Now my car won’t start.”

  “Sure, darlin’ I’ll be right there. But listen, have you talked to Amber tonight? Your father and Jack are here. They need to talk to you , And to Amber. It’s about…”

  “I know,” Sarah muttered, fear for Brett and Lindsey strengthening her resolve. “Listen, Brett, get Lindsey and get the hell out of town! Amber…”

  Amber pulled the phone away from Sarah’s face, slammed it down on Sarah’s cheek before putting it to her ear.

  “Hello Brett,” Amber said calmly into the phone. “Your little girlfriend doesn’t follow instructions and she’s going to have to pay for that.”

  “Amber, please, what do you want? Just tell me what you want.”

  “Well, you, of course,” she giggled. “You have thirty minutes to get here or I’ll kill her. Oh, and Brett, you know better than to call the cops, right?”

  Amber closed the phone without listening to Brett’s reply. She glared down at Sarah.

  Looking at Amber’s face, struggling against her bounds, Sarah’s fear was overwhelmed by sheer anger.

  “What’s your plan here, Amber?” Sarah demanded. Amber responded to the outburst with a laugh.

  “So, like you,” Amber laughed, “always making demands when you have absolutely no power.” She paced a circle around the room. “But, I’ll humor you this time. Clearly we need to tie this up all neat and nice. I’m thinking that the two of you couldn’t live with the prospect of going to prison for murder so you formed a little suicide pact. How does that sound?”

  ****

  “Amber has her already,” Brett informed Jim and Jack. “They’re at Sarah’s house in the city.”

  “Let’s go,” Jim cried but Brett was already racing toward the door. Brett heard Jim shout something to Cathleen but didn’t register the words. As long as he knew someone was there to look after the kids, he didn’t need the details. As he approached his truck he looked back to see Jim pull out his phone and stopped in his tracks. “She said no cops,” Brett said without thinking.

  “So?” Jim asked as he continued to dial and walk toward the truck.

  “You’re gonna get her killed,” Brett yelled advancing on Sarah’s father.

  “Just calm down,” Jim warned. “Think about what you’re saying. Do you really believe the best course of action is to storm in there with no backup?”

  Brett recognized his error and forced his breathing to slow. He was surprised at how quickly years of training escaped him when it was someone he loved in danger. He looked back to Jim. “You’re right,” he agreed and pulled out his own phone to send a text. “We need a plan.” He looked back at Jim. “Let me figure one out and then we’ll call for backup.”

  The three men climbed into Brett’s truck and they were approaching the highway before anyone spoke.

  “Any idea what made her go off the deep end?” Brett asked whoever had an answer.

  “I think I may,” Jack volunteered from the backseat. “I told you that she saw a file of her fathers’. It contained an updated version of his will.”

  “So? What does that have to do with Sarah?”

  “We have to assume Amber knows that Tom included you in the will.”

  Brett looked in the rearview mirror at Jack. “Call her. Tell her she can have the money. I just want Sarah back.”

  “I think it’s way too late for that.” Jack warned. “Since Tom didn’t know where you’ve been or what you’ve been doing these last few years, he had some conditions on your ability to inherit. The largest of which was that you couldn’t be convicted of a felony.”

  “You think she’s doing this to set me up?” Brett’s mind reached the obvious conclusion before Jack answered. “She already did,” Brett mumbled. “Oh my God.”

  “Are you saying that Amber killed Chad?” Jim asked. “And ran my son off the road?” He shook his head. “I’ve known Amber her whole life. This isn’t possible.”

  “Oh, Jesus,” Brett cried. “This is all my fault. If I hadn’t come back to town, she wouldn’t have felt so threatened. If I hadn’t told Kristen about looking for my father, Amber wouldn’t have targeted her. Now, she has Sarah.”

  “All of this to eliminate an heir,” Jack said, mostly to himself.

  “Jim, call the Sheriff and send him to Shane’s house,” Brett advised. “Tell him not to let Lindsey out of his sight.”

  “But,” Jim stared at Brett in confusion, “you said they were at Sarah’s house in the city.”

  “That’s what Sarah told me and I know she wouldn’t lie to me but, they have vehicles. They could have left and if Amber is trying to eliminate heirs…” He abruptly ended his sentence, realizing what he was about to say. It was too late. Jim had made the connection.

  “Lindsey’s your daughter?” Jim asked, though his voice was barely audible over the roar of the truck as they screamed down the interstate.

  “Yes,” Brett admitted. “Lindsey’s my daughter. And just so you know, I only found out a few weeks ago.”

  “We’ll deal with that later,” Jim warned and dialed the Sheriff.

  ****

  Sarah cringed as another pain shot through her arm. Her bound hands had long since lost feeling, but the occasional shooting pain reminded her they were still there. It had been nearly thirty minutes since Sarah had placed that call to Brett. Amber had spent most of that time pacing around the room and peeking through blinds to
check the yard. Apparently, she wasn’t certain her threat about the police was going to work. Sarah was pretty certain that Brett would have called the police immediately after coming up with a plan to rescue her. While he had been set up for murder, it hadn’t affected his confidence in law enforcement.

  Sarah tried to open and close her fists. Brett would be here soon and she had to be ready to assist him in whatever plan of attack he’d formulated. It would certainly require working hands. Distracting Amber couldn’t hurt.

  “So, you’ve been fucking Chad this whole time?” Sarah asked.

  Amber stopped pacing and turned toward Sarah. Her expression betrayed her confusion. “Does it matter?”

  “Not really,” Sarah admitted. “I’d just really like to know exactly how long my best friend has been lying to me.”

  The corners of Amber’s mouth upturned into a sly grin. “Did you really think Chad was abstaining with you back in high school? Oh, but then you weren’t exactly abstaining yourself, now were you?”

  “And you got pregnant?”

  “Why did you think I moved to St. Louis immediately after graduation? Look, I’m not going to talk about my baby with you. You don’t deserve it. Besides, Brett should be here any second and I can finally get this over with.”

  “I’m happy to hear I’ve been reduced to an item on your to-do list,” Sarah groaned.

  “You have no one to blame but yourself,” Amber retorted. “I tried to keep you out of this but you had to go and choose that bastard over me.”

  “Tried to keep me out of it? You killed my husband and essentially framed me as an accomplice. How in the hell do you consider that keeping me out of it?”

  “I couldn’t predict that you’d start fucking the man accused of killing your husband, Sarah, and without that little tidbit the prosecution would never have even looked at you. Again, that’s your fault, not mine.”