Last Chance 05 - Second Chance

by Christy Reece

  twenty-nine

  Keeley woke to ink-black darkness. Her mind tried to comprehend where she was … what had happened. In a flash, she saw Jenna’s face, saw the knife pressed against Hannah’s throat. Dear God, it had been Jenna all along.

  Where was Hannah? Had Jenna hurt her?

  She tried to lift her head. Couldn’t move. And not only was her entire body frozen, she was enclosed in something. Her shoulders touched the sides of something. Where was she?

  Was anyone here? She willed her mouth to open. Oh God, it was as frozen as the rest of her body. She screamed through her barely opened lips. The sound, eerie and inhuman, bounced off the walls of whatever held her.

  An awful thought came to her, followed immediately by a flood of mind-numbing panic. No … it couldn’t be. Despite the silent scream of denial roaring through her head, Keeley knew she had to face the truth. She was inside a coffin.

  Sheer terror gave her the impetus to lift her pounding head. When she did, she butted up against the satin lining, confirming the fear. Her heart felt as though it would explode from her chest. Breath panted from her; a roar in her ears told her she was going to pass out.

  Stop it, Keeley. You can’t panic. You have two little girls depending upon you to be strong. Depending upon you to survive.

  The panic within her subsided. She had just gotten her children back; damned if she’d allow herself to be defeated like this.

  Cole.

  Before she drank the liquid, she’d pressed the tiny button on the watch. Had she been able to reach him? She refused to believe she hadn’t gotten through. He’d said the phone could reach him anywhere. Was he still in Thailand? If so, he wouldn’t be able to reach her in time. But someone could. He was her only hope.

  Concentrating as hard as she could, she willed her hand to move. Almost crying from the strain, she managed to raise her wrist. Jenna didn’t know about the watch. Cole had made her promise to tell no one. Her hand was stiff and uncooperative as her fingers crawled slowly across her stomach until she reached her other arm. She searched, feeling for her wrist. Yes, there was her watch. Her fingers stretched and felt around until they reached the tiny button. Now she could only hope. She held her breath. Praying he was there, Keeley forced her mouth open to speak.

  Cole shoved his fingers through his hair. He’d heard every word. Every. Damn. Word. And he hadn’t been able to do anything. Keeley had pressed the mute button … he was sure of it. But he’d heard and he had listened to the most terrifying conversation imaginable.

  How the hell had he missed it? Damn it all to hell, how had he missed it? Jenna, her best friend. The woman who’d been more like a sister to her than just a friend. The woman she’d trusted her children with.

  He was still half an hour out of Fairview. He was hoarse from calling Keeley’s name. He’d heard every word that was said, he knew where she was, what had happened … everything. He had listened to Jenna’s grunting and muttering as she moved Keeley’s body. And hadn’t been able to do a damn thing but listen.

  Honor had been his only hope, but he’d only gotten her voice mail. He left a detailed message, but had no idea if she would get it in time.

  He had called Miranda from the plane, claiming to be looking for Keeley, and had been relieved to hear Miranda say that Jenna had dropped Hannah by the house. She’d told Miranda that Keeley had never shown up. At least he knew Keeley’s daughters were safe.

  Miranda sounded surprised to hear from Cole, but he hadn’t told her what was happening. If Jenna knew they were onto her, there was no telling what she might feel forced to do.

  His cellphone rang: Keeley’s ringtone. A faint sound sounded in his ear. “Keeley? Can you hear me?”

  There was only silence.

  “Keeley, is that you? Talk to me.”

  The faint sound he heard … was it Keeley or just his imagination?

  “Keeley, dammit. Say something.”

  “Help.”

  She sounded far away, but he heard her.

  “Keeley, I can barely hear you. Scream if you have to.”

  He heard only a few words. “Jenna.”

  “Inside.”

  “Coffin.”

  “Listen, Keeley, I’m on the way … almost there. I heard you when you called before. I know Jenna’s the one. And I know where you are. You’re at the funeral home. Listen carefully. I’m just a few minutes from touching down at the airstrip. I will find you and I will save you. Just hold on.”

  Her faint voice said, “Hannah. Hailey.”

  “Miranda has both of them. They’re fine.”

  “Hurry.”

  He heard another sound.

  Jenna, her voice eerily calm, said, “Keeley, are you ready to see your mama again?”

  Keeley squinted against the harsh fluorescent light that blared in her eyes. Jenna’s voice. How could she sound so normal, so sane? So much like the friend she’d known forever? Why didn’t she sound like the crazed lunatic Keeley now knew her to be?

  Thank God Miranda had both girls. However, if she didn’t mention Hannah, Jenna would wonder.

  “Where’s Hannah?”

  “So you are awake. I thought I heard some sounds. Should have known a cow like you would have to have more drugs to keep her out.”

  “What did you do with my daughter?”

  “Relax, Keeley. I wouldn’t truly hurt Hannah. I dropped her off to stay with Miranda. Stupid bitch didn’t even bat an eye when I told her you’d never come for Hannah. Guess all of your friends have deserted you, haven’t they? Even Cole’s not around. Did he finally see behind that innocent façade? See that you’re nothing but a user?”

  Tears seeped from Keeley’s eyes. Hannah and Hailey were safe. That was the most important thing. And Cole was on his way. But she wouldn’t wait for him. If she had a chance to get away, she would. She was stronger than Jenna, always had been. She should be able to take her without any problem. Keeley ignored the inner voice that whispered, Yeah, if only you could move.

  She’d been able to move to call Cole. Already she could feel her limbs loosening up. Another few minutes and she would be able to act. Until then, she would stay still and allow Jenna to believe she had her whipped.

  “What did you give me? I can’t move.”

  “Just a little something to ensure your cooperation. It’s nice having contacts in the pharmaceutical world. Finding one who’ll put those pesky ethics aside was a bit difficult, but once I did, he hooked me up with major cool drugs.” She shrugged. “I couldn’t have you loose and moving around while we have our final girl talk.”

  “Why, Jenna? What did I ever do to you?”

  “The question should be, what haven’t I done for you?” She shook her head. “You couldn’t be happy with what you had … you had to have more. Whenever I let you have something, you took it and acted as if it was due you.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “We were the same, you and me, Keeley. From the same background. We were like that old song—it was you and me against the world. But that wasn’t enough for you, was it? You had to do more, have more. And what happened to me? I got left behind. Who wanted a pale, washed-out cripple around?”

  “Jenna, I never—”

  “Don’t try to deny it. You started winning all those awards for running. Got all that attention.” Keeley saw genuine pain in her eyes. “I couldn’t run like you. I wanted to, but you were tall, so much faster. I couldn’t compete with you, but I hated losing. So I went home after practice one day, took a hammer and cracked my knee.”

  “My God,” Keeley gasped. “You said your mother—”

  Jenna snorted. “That bitch was so drunk most of the time, she could barely lift a bottle to her mouth, much less a hammer.”

  “And all because I could run faster than you?”

  “You still don’t get it, do you, Keeley? We were supposed to be the same. We shared everything. And then you became something special and left me out.”r />
  Despite her horror at what Jenna had done with her children and what she intended to do with her, Keeley couldn’t stop herself. “I’m sorry, Jenna. I didn’t know.”

  “Of course you didn’t. You were too busy being special. And then you started getting attention for a whole new reason. You got boobs and a butt. Boys noticed you. We could be standing together and not a damn one of them even knew I existed.”

  “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “What did you want me to say? ‘Keeley, stop being prettier than me? Stop being taller than me? Stop growing tits’?”

  Jenna lifted her hand and Keeley swallowed a gasp. The knife she’d held against Hannah’s throat was in her hand. She waved it as she spoke, as if she didn’t even realize she had it. “And the thing was, you never even appreciated it, Keeley. Boys would ask you out and you’d say no. You got all this extra stuff and didn’t do a damn thing with it.”

  Tears glazed her eyes again. “And Mama. She was so proud of you. Acted like you were some kind of princess. Always bragging about you … she used to love both of us equally until you started doing all those special things.”

  “Jenna, I was hardly ever around your mother.”

  “I’m not talking about her … I’m talking about Kathleen. She was my mother, too. Maybe not by blood, but she took care of me the way a mother is supposed to. Then she got sick and I took care of her … the way a good daughter should. And what did you do? You went and competed in that race.”

  Keeley closed her eyes. Her biggest shame. At her mother’s and Jenna’s urging, she had competed in the race and had come back home to find her mother had passed away.

  “I knew you would come home with a medal. Knew you would be bursting with pride … I allowed you to have that but I had to take something away from you, Keeley. You do understand that, don’t you?”

  “What do you mean? What did you take away?”

  “Mama, of course.”

  Oh. Sweet. Lord. Sick nauseating horror flooded through her body; her throat clogged with emotion, she could barely get the words out, “What did you do, Jenna?”

  For the first time, Jenna looked defensive. “She was dying anyway. I just held a pillow over her face for a couple of minutes. She didn’t really try to fight me or anything. I think she was ready to go.”

  Her mother. Her sweet, precious mother had been killed by this lunatic and she never saw it. Never suspected. Jenna was right in one thing, Keeley realized. She was stupid … supremely stupid to have had this woman as her best friend for years and not once suspected her of anything remotely bad.

  Her voice husky with tears and pain, she whispered, “Did you have Stephen kidnapped, too?”

  “Now, that’s something I can’t take credit for. Wish I could. He was such a bastard.” She scrunched her nose up in such a cute Jenna way that Keeley let out a whimper. “He was terrible in bed, too. Even Wes was better than him. Stephen and I only did it for a few months. And every time, I had to do most of the work. You should’ve let Wes do you so you could have some kind of comparison.”

  “You set it up so Wesley could rape me?”

  “You needed to learn a lesson. He wasn’t going to kill you or even hurt you that bad … but you needed a reminder, Keeley. Seems like every time I turned around, you were forgetting about me. When you were happy, you didn’t need me.” She shrugged and gave a small, self-deprecating grin. “I like to be needed.”

  There was nothing more she could say that could hurt her. Jenna had taken her beautiful mother from her. The doctors had said she only had a few weeks left. Dammit, if only she hadn’t run in that race.

  Keeley forced away the pain and took a controlled breath to refocus. “So you had an affair with Stephen. When?”

  A smug smile brightened Jenna’s face. “A month or so after you were married, I showed up at his office. I was there barely five minutes before I went down on him, then we did it on his desk.” She grimaced. “Not the most romantic encounter, but it accomplished what I wanted. After that, we’d meet in a hotel outside of town.”

  She leaned down inches from Keeley’s face. “You really should thank me, because I’m the reason you got that nice fancy mansion. He felt so damn guilty for doing your best friend. And he made it so easy for me to hide those cameras, too.” Pride and glee glinted in her eyes. “I saw it all, Keeley. Every argument, every time you cried. And the day you found that pair of panties in his jacket. Oh, Keeley, I cackled like a wet hen for hours. That was so much fun.”

  She lowered her voice. “You want to know what the best part of sex with your husband was? Knowing that finally I had something you didn’t have. When Stephen was in bed with me, you didn’t have him.”

  Since the coffin covered her legs, Keeley squirmed, working her stiff muscles. She had to be ready when the right moment came. “If you didn’t have Stephen kidnapped, who did?”

  Jenna shrugged and backed away. “My money has always been on Elizabeth. I don’t know that for sure … don’t really care. Seeing you hurting like that …” Her eyes went vacant as an expression of absolute joy transformed her face, making her look like the young, pretty Jenna. “You needed me so much then.” Her gaze focused on Keeley again. “Remember, we talked about me moving in with you, but I knew if I did, you’d somehow figure out about me. Then what do you do? A year or so after Stephen’s death, you start getting your life back together again. You said you were going to sell your house, move away.”

  “That’s why you had Hailey and Hannah taken?”

  “I knew once you lost them, you’d never recover. You would always need me. Never leave me.” Her eyes glittered with tears again. “And I would have been there for you. Always. ’Cause that’s what best friends do.”

  Her head shook slowly. “But Keeley, you didn’t need me as much as you should have. Your babies had been snatched. You should have been inconsolable … should have needed me even more. But you didn’t. You started doing all sorts of things on your own to get your kids back.” She swallowed a sob and added, “You really disappointed me.”

  Then, as if she hadn’t had an emotional moment, she sneered and said, “That bastard Wesley wanted you, too, but I double-crossed him. Remember I was supposed to be on that picnic with you? Only I had to work because Mr. and Mrs. Pointer had been involved in that terrible accident? Remember?”

  “Yes.”

  “Wes arranged that.”

  Keeley gasped. “He killed the Pointers?”

  Jenna shrugged defensively. “Well, I had to have a good excuse not to be there, didn’t I? Besides, they were real old and it wasn’t like they suffered or anything. Car exploded on impact.” She shrugged again. “Wes just thought I wanted them dead … he didn’t know I was going to use it as an excuse not to come to the park. I was supposed to bring the lemonade. Remember?”

  “Yes.”

  “It was supposed to be drugged. Wes and his friend were just going to be able to come and pick all of you up without any problems. Of course, if I had been there, I would have been slightly hurt, trying to battle the two big, bad men.” She chuckled. “Wes was so pissed when he only got the girls and not you, too.”

  Keeley raised her one knee until it touched the top of the casket, then she raised the other one. She fought to keep the relief from her face as she asked, “If you hated me that much, why not just get rid of me?”

  Jenna’s face showed genuine surprise. “I don’t hate you, Keeley. Why do you keep acting like that? I love you. I even chastised Stephen for marrying you to spite his mother.”

  “You mean because his father was in love with my mother?”

  Jenna jerked a little, apparently astounded that Keeley actually knew something. And her taunt cemented Keeley’s suspicions of why Stephen had married her. She had to be the worst judge of character in the world. A voice inside her whispered, Cole is for real. He may have kept the truth from you, but he’s the real deal.

  “Aw, Keeley, don’t cry. It won’t
hurt much. You’ll eventually just run out of air and stop breathing.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “Well, duh. Did you think I put you in the casket just so you could take a nap? This is your final resting place. And it’s the nicest, most expensive coffin we offer here. Are you comfy? I’ve been in the business for a long time and never even tried one out.”

  “So you’re just going to bury me alive?”

  Jenna rolled her eyes. “You always were the drama queen. Besides, I’d have to have help to bury you, so I’ll have to cremate you instead. I’ll make sure you’re not breathing, though.”

  The horror of Jenna’s words barely registered as she continued to work her legs up and down. The top of the casket kept her from bending them far, but it was enough for her to realize that much of the drug had worn off. Soon she’d be able to push herself up and out of there. She just needed to keep Jenna talking for as long as she could.

  “How do you plan to explain my disappearance?”

  “Why should I have to explain anything? I was keeping Hannah, like the good friend that I am. You never came to pick her up. Someone must have nabbed you on the way to my house.” An exaggerated sigh. “Such a tragedy. And since I’ll be taking in little orphans Hailey and Hannah, I’ll be the hero.”

  “I have a will, Jenna. You won’t get my children.”

  “What are you talking about? I’m supposed to get them.”

  “I know we talked about it, but it made sense that Miranda get them. She’s their aunt and she has Maggie.”

  Jenna’s eyes bulged with fury; her face went purple with rage. “You bitch!”

  Before Keeley could move, the top of the coffin slammed down on her again and she was once more in darkness. She screamed but refrained from pounding at the top like she wanted. If Jenna knew she could move, she’d lock her in.

  Under the roar of panic and the triple pounding of her heart, she heard Jenna’s muffled words: “Scream as much as you want, Keeley. There’s no one left to hear you.”