She was truly insane.
Lenora stepped in front of Alice, and a smile slowly spread across her face. “You, my dear, are the perfect bride. Are you ready for your wedding?”
“No.” Alice made a face. “I can’t get married without my ring.”
“What?” Lenora’s voice dropped so low it was a deep growl. She grabbed Alice’s hand and her eyes widened. “What happened to your engagement ring? I know you had it on.”
“I took it off in my cell. You’d better send your daughter to get it.”
“No.” Lenora’s face hardened. “We’ll do without it.”
Alice’s heart sped up. “But what about the perfect wedding? It can’t be perfect without the ring. You know that!”
Lenora swore and started hitting herself in the forehead. “Stupid, stupid, stupid fool, Lenora!” She slapped herself hard across the face. “I’ll go get it, Father.” She turned to face the opposite direction and her voice changed. “No, I will, stupid girl!” Then she turned and scurried away.
Alice resumed rocking, gradually increasing her momentum, like a pendulum swinging back and forth, until at last she lightly struck the corpse standing next to her. Swallowing her disgust, she kept rocking and hit the corpse harder. The woman teetered, but didn’t fall.
Alice gave one final push and slammed into the corpse. This time it fell, knocking into the unity candle. Together the candle and corpse fell to the floor.
As Alice came to rest, she found herself looking away from both Aunt Haddie and the woman’s corpse. “Did it work?” she asked.
“Oh, no . . .” Aunt Haddie gasped. “Alice, she’s on fire!”
Alice exhaled. “That’s what we want. It will set off the sprinklers and the fire alarm.”
“When do they go off?” Aunt Haddie asked, her voice rising.
Alice sniffed. She could smell smoke behind her and was starting to feel some heat.
“She’s going up like a pile of dry kindling!” Aunt Haddie’s chair scraped on the floor. “You’d better try to move, baby. It’s spreading.”
A cloud of black smoke crept along the ceiling. Alice strained forward and pushed with her toes. She managed to hop a couple of inches. Clenching her jaw, she did it again, wobbling at the end of the jump. Sweat made her skin glow and refracted the fire’s light.
She could see Aunt Haddie now, pushing back with her toes. The chair scraped on the floor, but it barely moved an inch.
“Oh, good Lord.” Aunt Haddie’s eyes were wide.
Alice hopped again. Behind her, there was a whooshing sound and a blast of scorching heat.
Lenora burst through the door. “No!” She raced through the warehouse screaming as if a part of herself was dying. “Not my dresses!” She scooped up an armful of wedding dresses off one of the racks. The hem of one was burning brightly. As she fled down the long warehouse, pieces of the burning dress broke away into flying fiery embers, starting dozens of little fires all over.
“There’s no alarm, Alice!” Aunt Haddie said.
“There should be! And the smoke should have set off the sprinkler system.” Alice hopped again, but this time, she went too far. She wobbled on the landing, tipped forward, and crashed to the floor, her side taking most of the impact.
A huge cloud of black smoke now covered the ceiling.
Aunt Haddie was coughing. A deep, dry cough, it rattled her entire body.
Flames licked at Alice’s feet. She tried to roll, but couldn’t.
Aunt Haddie closed her eyes and began to pray.
Alice crushed the flowers in her hand. She was supposed to get married in this dress, but now it would be her death shroud. Her plan had backfired. And now she’d killed Aunt Haddie, too.
Even if Jack knew where they were, there was no saving them now.
58
The Charger’s tires squealed as it rounded the corner. Marisa clung to the roof handle as Jack straightened out the steering wheel and jammed the gas pedal to the floor.
“Jack, look!” Marisa pointed at the three-story warehouse that loomed ahead. Black smoke billowed out of the top-floor windows.
A quick internet search by Marisa had told Jack he had two choices—Lorenzo Soriano’s shop downtown or the warehouse where they kept the fabrics and dress templates, and shipped out all over the world. Jack had already called Morrison, but with the police stretched out all over the county, who knew when backup would arrive.
“Call 911. Wait for the fire department and tell them I went in.” Jack opened his door as the Charger skidded to a stop, jumped out, and bolted toward the burning building.
As he reached the huge front door, broken glass rained down from a window shattering above. The door was locked, so he stepped back and kicked it. The wooden casing splintered and the old door broke inward.
“Alice!” Jack shouted as he ran for the staircase.
The fire breaking out here, now, was too much of a coincidence to be random. Jack prayed that somehow Alice was behind the blaze and it wasn’t the killer using the flames to hide his tracks and destroy any evidence.
“Alice!” he shouted again and again as he took the stairs three at a time. The air got worse the higher he climbed, and an acrid stench of burning synthetics stung his nose and eyes, but he kept shouting.
Just as Jack reached the third floor, Alice’s terrified cry rose above the roar of the fire. “Jack!”
“I’m here!” he bellowed. “I’m coming!”
A cloud of black smoke already covered the ceiling. In an effort to stay below it, Jack hunched as low as he could and ran forward in a crouch. The smoke wafted into his throat, making it a dry tomb, and he coughed and wheezed as he moved. He found himself in a large room full of flaming clothing stretching off in every direction, giving the black smoke an amber glow.
He almost tripped over Alice’s body on the floor. She was strapped to some metal contraption, and flames were only yards from her feet.
Jack pulled at her straps, but with his bandaged hand it was no use. Instead he grabbed her and hefted her upright. The metal frame doubled her weight, but his adrenaline was surging, and he barely noticed it. He grabbed one of the straps with his good hand and wrapped his arm around Alice’s waist.
“Get—Aunt Haddie!” Alice said through coughs.
“Where is she?”
“Right here, Jackie!” Aunt Haddie’s voice was weak. She was tied to a chair that was tipped over and facing away from him. The smoke was so thick he could barely see her.
Jack righted the chair, tipped it back, and dragged her over to Alice. He was unable to grab Alice with his bad hand, so he wrapped his arm around Alice’s waist and, tuning out the pain, dragged them both toward the stairs. He’d taken only two steps before Alice’s stand caught on the uneven floorboards and nearly tipped over.
“Take Alice, Jackie. Take her and come back for me,” Aunt Haddie coughed.
“No!” Alice shouted. “Jack, take Aunt Haddie.”
The smoke was getting thicker by the second. Jack’s eyes burned, and sweat rolled down his face. Again, he tried to get them both; he wasn’t about to choose between them. He tipped Alice toward him and managed to hook his arm on Haddie’s chair back. This time he made it three steps before Alice’s stand slipped. Jack pivoted his weight to try to keep hold of her, and all three of them ended up crashing to the floor. Flames roared all around them.
“Jackie, please listen to me!” Aunt Haddie begged. “Leave me!”
Tears ran down Alice’s cheeks. “Jack! Don’t you dare. You can’t leave Aunt Haddie to burn. You can’t!”
Jack’s heart was breaking. He couldn’t get them both out. They’d never make it.
Please, God.
Somewhere, glass shattered from the heat. The smoke rushed in that direction for a moment, but Jack’s hope was quickly gutted as the increased oxygen only fed the flames.
“Let me go, Jackie. I’ve lived the life I was meant to. I want to go home and be with my Alton, Chandle
r, and Michelle.”
“No!” Alice coughed as she struggled against the straps. “Don’t leave her, Jack. I could never live like that.”
Jack again started dragging them both backward. Aunt Haddie’s chair caught on a rack of clothes. Gritting his teeth, Jack yanked her free.
“Now you listen to me! Both of you,” Aunt Haddie wheezed. “I’ve lost two babies. I can’t lose you too. Please, Jackie! Please!”
Jack tore at his gauzed hand with his teeth, freeing his fingers. Screaming with a mix of rage and pain, he hooked his injured hand under the loop of Alice’s lashed-together wrists and tightened his grip around the back of Aunt Haddie’s chair.
Like a lumberjack dragging two logs, he leaned forward, dragging Alice and Aunt Haddie down the crowded aisle, burning dresses washing waves of heat over them from both sides. Alice’s frame and Haddie’s chair caught against racks and floorboards. Jack’s lungs burned and his vision blurred. He strained, pulled, and yanked. Each step was a fight. And he was losing. Every breath was getting shallower.
Alice and Aunt Haddie had stopped pleading. They were just struggling to keep breathing now. Jack stumbled and fell to his knees. The stairs were so close, but his leg muscles were deprived of oxygen, and he felt like he was stuck in mud.
“Jack!” Marisa emerged from the smoke and leapt over a burning box. She looked as fierce as the female gladiator statues that used to adorn her tattoo parlor. “I’ll get Haddie!”
She took hold of Aunt Haddie’s chair and started to drag it toward the stairs. Jack dug down deep within himself and managed to get to his feet. He grabbed Alice and stumbled after Marisa.
A monstrous racket behind them announced that the ceiling was crashing down. A wave of heat and flames washed over them just as Jack yanked Alice clear of the fire and down the stairs.
From somewhere above them floated a woman’s pitiful wail, cut off by a single gunshot.
The four of them dropped to the ground outside like shipwreck victims coming ashore. The sound of sirens filled the air. Firefighters rushed to their aid, moving them to safety on the far side of the parking lot. Jack knelt between Alice and Aunt Haddie as the EMTs administered oxygen and cut them free of their restraints.
A second ambulance team was treating Marisa. She met Jack’s gaze and gave him a weak thumbs-up. Jack returned the gesture. It was a feeble way to thank her for saving all of their lives, but there was nothing he could ever say or do to repay her. The gift she’d given him was priceless.
The EMTs loaded Alice and Aunt Haddie onto stretchers. But when an EMT tried to evaluate Jack, he waved him off. Stampeding bulls couldn’t keep him from riding with Alice and Haddie to the hospital.
He squeezed Alice’s hand. She reached up and pulled her oxygen mask to the side. Jack leaned down and kissed her sooty cheek.
She pulled him closer and whispered, “I knew you’d come for us.”
Jack gave her a crooked grin. “The hard part’s over. Now we just have to survive the wedding.”
59
When the doctor finished bandaging Jack’s hand—she’d had to redo the stitches, too, as Jack had managed to pull out every last one in the fire—Jack wiggled his unwrapped ring finger. “Thanks for leaving this one free.”
The doctor smiled. “I’m happy Alice will be able to put a ring on it. But you’re going to need to keep it elevated and ice it every couple of hours to keep it from swelling.”
“I will.” Jack held his other hand up in a Boy Scout salute. “How’s Alice?”
“She’s eager to go home, but I got her to agree to stay overnight for observation by placing her in the same room as Haddie. Considering how strong Haddie’s vitals are, I would expect them both to be released tomorrow.”
“That’s fantastic news. How is Marisa?”
“You know with HIPAA, I can’t give you specifics, but I think they’re about ready to release her.”
“Thanks again, Doc.” Jack shook her hand and hurried out of the room.
A nurse called after him about making a follow-up appointment, but her words barely even registered. Jack’s focus was on Marisa, who was standing in the hallway, her dress smudged with soot and grime. She looked like a sexy chimney sweep, her tousled hair adding to the ensemble. Her Mona Lisa smile appeared.
“How are you?” they both asked in unison.
Marisa laughed until she coughed. “I feel like I’ve been sitting in a smoking lounge for a long weekend. You?”
“Same.” Jack held up his bandaged hand. “At least I can still get a ring on it.”
Maria’s smile vanished. “And that’s a good thing?”
“Marisa . . .”
She stepped forward and took his good hand. “Bad joke. Really.” Her brown eyes met his, but there was something different about them now. There was something missing.
She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. The corner of her mouth brushed against his, but she didn’t linger, and though the kiss felt nice, Jack didn’t feel the magnetic pull to lean into it. He rocked back on his heels to look at this beautiful, strong woman who had given him so much.
Whenever she had looked at him before, Jack had felt as if she were searching his face for some hidden answer. The problem was, Jack had never known what the question was. What did she want to know? Or what did she want him to know? As long as he’d known Marisa, she remained an enigma.
Marisa smiled. It was big and genuine, but her eyes glistened. “When I first heard you were getting married, I thought . . . well, a lot of things can happen. And I thought maybe there was still hope for you and me. But when I saw your face in that warehouse, I knew I had lost you. I wasn’t surprised that you were willing to run into Hell to save Alice—you’re a born protector. But when I came in after you, I saw it in your eyes: you would have chosen to die with her rather than live without her. You love her.”
Jack nodded. “I do.”
“Believe it or not, I’m happy for you. For you both. You’re a good man, Jack Stratton.”
“Jack!” a man called out from down the hall.
Jack turned to see a tall, handsome man with wavy brown hair and an expensive gray suit jogging toward him. There was no mistaking Pierce Weston.
“How’s Alice? I came as soon as I could.”
Jack’s head tipped to the side. There had been a time—before Jack saved Pierce’s life and they became friends—when Pierce was romantically interested in Alice. Now, his question pricked Jack’s jealousy. A small taste of what Alice was sure to have felt with Marisa’s appearance.
“I’m fine. Thanks, Pierce.”
Pierce waved his hands dismissively. “I can see you’re fine.”
Jack held up his bandaged hand.
“Maybe not totally fine,” Pierce conceded. “But Erica called and said Alice was nearly killed.”
“By your seamstress.”
“She’s not my seamstress. I just hired her.”
“Which makes her . . .” Jack moved his hand in a circle trying to get Pierce to admit the truth.
“Technically, I hired her father.”
Jack rolled his eyes. “I hope you have learned the value of a good background check.”
“Come on, Jack! The woman was completely unglued! She was impersonating her father; I doubt a background check would have saved me from hiring her.” Pierce winced like he’d bit down on an olive with a pit. “There is one more employment issue that’s come up—Erica.”
Jack rolled his eyes. “She’s probably freaking out that the dress is ruined and—”
“She quit,” Pierce said. “I tried to double what I was paying her, but she said no one could pay her enough. She’s already flying back to California.”
Jack ran his hand down his face.
“I can find a replacement,” Pierce offered, taking out his phone.
“Nope.” Jack crookedly grinned. “I know the perfect Replacement. Alice will be delighted to take charge and let the whole thing ride.”
&n
bsp; “I’ll help her, and I’m sure the bridesmaids will too,” Marisa offered then looked at Pierce. “Don’t feel so bad. Jack has a way of making some people run away screaming,” she said jokingly.
Pierce turned to Marisa, and his deep-green eyes widened. Jack understood. She had that effect on most men.
“Pierce, this is Marisa Vitagliano. Marisa, Pierce Weston.”
Pierce did a double take. “Not the Marisa who lives in Hope Falls?”
Marisa shook his hand. “The same.”
Jack leaned toward Pierce and gave him a sympathetic look. “She’s the beautiful lady I thought might show you around town.”
Jack was surprised that Pierce didn’t smack himself in the head, but he did look like he wanted to kick himself. “I didn’t— I thought— I’m so sorry.” His shoulders slumped.
“As I told your secretary,” Marisa said confidently, “not a problem.”
“Actually . . .” Pierce cleared his throat. “I’ve managed to free up some time on my calendar after Jack’s wedding, and I was hoping . . . your kind offer was still available?”
Marisa crossed her arms and looked the handsome billionaire right in the eye. “And what’s the reason for this sudden turnaround?”
Pierce swallowed and looked down at the floor like a shy schoolboy. Jack let Pierce squirm for a moment. He’d have to have a talk with his friend. The one attribute that Marisa valued more than anything was honesty.
“Two things, I imagine,” Jack said. “The first is, he saw you.”
Marisa bristled. The last thing she wanted was a man who was attracted solely to her looks.
“But that’s my fault,” Jack continued. “I was kinda kidding Pierce about the royal tour of Hope Falls and I might have described you as a cross between Danny DeVito and Maleficent.”
Pierce nodded—a little too rapidly. “Exactly. Jack’s such a kidder.”
“The other reason is, I’ve been trying to sell him on Hope Falls,” Jack said, “and he’s finally realizing he needs to get to know the place.”
Jack of Diamonds Page 25