Abandon the Dark

by Marta Perry

  Nodding, Lainey led the way, thinking just about anyone would be better at this than she was. Still, Aunt Rebecca relied on her to handle it, and that warmed what was left of her heart after the pummeling it had taken from Jake.

  They reached the second level. Lainey pointed to the stone wheel, trying to remember what Jake had said about it. “That’s the original stone, apparently. I suppose it might be used as a sort of decorative element.”

  “Excellent,” Jeannette said, but she was eyeing the ladderlike steps that led up to the top level. “I’d like to see what the view is like from the top.”

  “Be careful,” Lainey cautioned, starting up. “It’s a bit rickety up here.”

  “I suppose it is,” Jeannette said. “But I’m very sure-footed.”

  Her voice sounded a little odd, despite her claim. Lainey could only hope the woman wasn’t afraid of heights. She wouldn’t like to try getting Jeannette back down the ladder if she became dizzy.

  Lainey emerged onto a platform at the top. It was nothing more than a sort of catwalk, hardly wide enough for two. Jeannette reached the top behind her, brushing against her jacket.

  “Can you move a bit farther along so I can see?” she said.

  Lainey nodded, taking a few more steps, only too aware of the rickety railing between her and the drop to the mill floor. “This has fallen in a good bit, as you can see.” She attempted to sound as if she knew what she was talking about. “Still, I suppose you’d be gutting the inside anyway.”

  “I don’t think I will,” Jeannette said.

  Lainey half turned to look at her and caught a flash of movement from the corner of her eye. Something struck her, and pain flared in her arm and shoulder. An accident, a beam breaking loose—

  She was hit again, hard, knocked off balance, the boards creaking and cracking under her. She was falling, swinging out into space, scrabbling with her hands and feet for anything solid to hang on to.

  And all the while Jeannette was swinging a length of board at her, trying to knock her off.

  Lainey managed to drag her gaze from the board to the face of the woman who wielded it. She knew, beyond all doubt, that she was looking into the face in her nightmare.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  JAKE HAD TRIED to settle in at the office after he left Lainey, but found it impossible. Her face kept coming between him and the papers on his desk.

  Finally he gave up. With a muttered excuse to the receptionist, he escaped to his car, not sure where he was going, but convinced he couldn’t sit there any longer, visualizing the pain Lainey had tried so hard to hide.

  Hadn’t she realized that he’d been hurt, too? That his anger was because she hadn’t leveled with him? It didn’t have anything to do with what had happened in her previous relationship. People could make stupid mistakes when they thought they were in love. He was certainly the perfect example of that.

  If Lainey had only told him, so he hadn’t had to find out for himself—

  But he hadn’t exactly found out for himself, had he? Someone had sent that link to him, and that someone had been careful not to let himself be identified.

  Just a nasty-minded individual who delighted in stirring up trouble? Or the same someone who’d been going to such lengths to chase Lainey out of town?

  Without his even realizing it, he’d driven to Rebecca’s house. Well, maybe his subconscious mind knew what he ought to be doing. He needed to talk to Lainey calmly, without anger or pain intruding.

  His good intentions seemed doomed to failure, though, when no one came in answer to his repeated knockings.

  Jake was turning away from the door, when Meredith hailed him. She was coming toward him across the lawn. “Are you looking for Lainey?”

  He nodded. “Did she go to see her aunt?”

  “I think so.” Meredith’s steady gaze seemed to measure his mood. “She looked upset when she went out. That wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with your earlier visit, would it?”

  He raised his eyebrows, trying for a humor he didn’t feel. “Spying on your neighbors, are you? What next?”

  “Hey, if you live in a small town, you’d better get used to it.” Her momentary smile faded. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on between the two of you, but I care about Lainey, and I think she could use a friend just now.”

  His gaze fell before hers. “Seems like she has a good one in you. Maybe I’ll see if I can catch up with her.”

  All the way up the hill to the rehab center, he rehearsed what he was going to say. He’d have to be careful in front of Rebecca, since Lainey probably hadn’t told her anything about this.

  But he didn’t want to wait any longer to talk to her. Quite aside from anything personal between them, if sending the link to him was another attempt to chase Lainey away, she’d better be prepared for this anonymous somebody to deliver their message to other people besides him.

  But when he walked into Rebecca’s room, she was alone except for an aide who was helping her to a chair.

  Rebecca managed a faintly crooked smile. “Jake.”

  “You’re looking better every time I see you.” He held her hand for a moment. Don’t upset her, he reminded himself. “Has Lainey been in? I wanted to talk to her about something.”

  Rebecca studied his face much as Meredith had done. Was something written there that they seemed to read? Then she nodded to the chair next to her.

  He sat down, trying to suppress the little spurt of nervous energy that was insisting he should find Lainey.

  “She was here.” Rebecca formed the words carefully. “She left a—a few minutes ago.”

  “Do you know where she went?”

  Rebecca frowned. “She...” She gestured with her hand. “Message. On her phone.”

  “She got a text from someone?”

  “Ja. Text. To meet at the m-mill.”

  “Someone wanted to meet her at the old mill property?” He frowned in response to Rebecca’s nod. That didn’t make sense. “Do you know who?”

  “Buyer.”

  That made even less sense. Anyone who was interested in the property should be going through Colin, not contacting Lainey directly.

  Rebecca was beginning to look concerned, so he managed what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

  “That’s fine,” he said. “I’ll just go and catch up with them there.” He pressed her hand and then left the room quickly, getting out his cell phone as he went.

  A quick call to Colin should settle this. Skirting a cart filled with trays, he punched the number. By the time Colin answered, he had reached the parking lot and was striding toward his car.

  “Listen, did you give Lainey’s number to the party who was interested in the old mill property? Someone apparently asked to meet her there.”

  “Of course not. There’s been some interest in the property, yes. I told you that. But I certainly didn’t tell anyone to get in touch with Lainey. At this point, a prospective buyer wouldn’t have any way of knowing who the seller is.” Jake could practically see Colin’s frown through the tone of his voice as he slid into the car and turned the ignition.

  “I don’t like this,” Colin said. “I’d never give out a client’s number.”

  “I don’t like it either.” Jake accelerated out of the parking lot, fear for Lainey scraping along his nerves. “I’m going out there now.”

  Maybe this was the result of some confusion or missed communication. He could be totally over-reacting.

  Or maybe it was something much more serious. His fingers tightened on the steering wheel. Either way, he wouldn’t be satisfied until he saw for himself that Lainey was all right.

  * * *

  LAINEY’S BREATH CAUGHT, and she tried to steady herself. Somehow, she wasn’t sure how, she’d ended up clinging to some sort of brace or bracket beneath the catwalk. Hands clenching the rough wood, she felt beneath her for a foothold. There had to be something, had to be, because if there wasn’t...

  She glan
ced down, a dizzyingly long way to the floor. But just below her there was a projection in the wall—a nice sturdy bit of wood. Groping with her toes, she managed to get both feet onto it.

  The strain on her arms eased instantly. The ledge was wide enough to hold her feet, no wider. But it was enough. She was clinging to the wall like a spider, but for the moment she was safe.

  Lainey looked up, moving her head cautiously. Jeannette looked back at her from four or five feet above, anger and hatred twisting her face.

  “Why didn’t you fall? You have more lives than that stupid cat.” Jeannette swung the board she held ineffectually, the angle at which she was leaning making it impossible to hit Lainey.

  She couldn’t count on that lasting, though. Sooner or later, Jeannette would think of some way of knocking her off her perch. It wouldn’t take much.

  Lainey slid her arm over the bracket, the rough wood scraping her skin through the sleeve of her jacket. That was better, wasn’t it? She was facing the wall, arm securely anchored through the—

  A metal pipe thrust in front of her face, grazing it. She gasped, recoiling, and nearly lost her balance. Jeannette had been quicker than she’d thought. She was poking a length of metal pipe through the slats in the catwalk. One strike from that on her head, and—

  Another thrust, and she slid to her right, trying to keep the bracket between herself and the pipe.

  “Jeannette, this is crazy. What are you trying to do?”

  “What I should have done twenty years ago.” Jeannette moved, probably trying to get a better angle. “I nearly caught up with you then.”

  A shudder went through her. The nightmares were true. “You were chasing me. Aunt Rebecca was calling...”

  “I almost had you when you fell, but Rebecca was too close. She’d have seen me.”

  “You killed Aaron.” She didn’t remember seeing it, but she must have. “Why? What did it have to do with you?”

  “Everything!” Jeannette took a wild swing with the pipe, nearly losing her own balance. “Everything. Laura was everything to me—so pretty, so popular. Nobody ever even noticed me until Laura became my friend. Then I was somebody, too.”

  Lainey bit back a response that teenage popularity wasn’t worth someone’s life. “Laura counts on you. Everyone knows that.” To think she’d thought Laura was the unbalanced one. If only she could calm Jeannette, could somehow reach the rational adult that must exist within her.

  “She always did. I was the one she trusted. The one she confided in. But people kept trying to spoil it.” Jeannette swung again, the pipe grazing Lainey’s head.

  Lainey fought back a wave of dizziness. Not now, she couldn’t let herself lose focus now or she’d be gone.

  “You must have known she’d fall in love.” Was that the right thing to say or would it push Jeannette farther? She didn’t know, couldn’t imagine what it was like inside Jeannette’s head.

  “In love, yes. Someday. With the right person, the one who could give her everything.” Jeannette made a strange sound deep in her throat, and Lainey realized she was choking back a sob. “We had it all planned. We’d go to college together, have fun, get away from this god-awful place. And then she had to fall for Aaron, of all people.”

  There was no mistaking the hatred in her voice. “Aaron would have ruined it all, getting her pregnant, convincing her to marry him. I had to get rid of him so Laura could have the life she was meant to have. So we could both have it.”

  People talked about how devoted Jeannette was to her friend. They thought it was admirable. No one seemed to suspect just how twisted that devotion was.

  Lainey sucked in a breath, trying to ignore the pain in her arm and shoulder. Hang on. Just hang on.

  “I didn’t intend to kill him. I was just going to convince him to let her go, but he wouldn’t listen. I was angry. I pushed him in. And then I heard someone and saw you, running away.”

  Jeannette was sitting on the catwalk now, busy doing something with the length of pipe. Probably trying to figure out a more effective way of using it.

  “I’m surprised you didn’t sneak into the house that night and finish me off.” Try to sound calm, but think.

  The cell phone was in her pocket. She’d have to let go with one hand to get it. Panic edged through her at the thought of releasing her grip. But she didn’t have a choice.

  “I should have.” The venomous face thrust over the railing, and Lainey froze. “But I was young. Scared. And everyone knew about your sleepwalking. They say a sleepwalker doesn’t remember. You went away the next day, and I was safe. But you came back. I knew, once I heard you were coming, that I’d have to get rid of you.”

  Lainey realized what she was working on, and a bolt of fear shot through her. Jeannette was tying the pipe to the length of wood to give herself a longer reach. With that, she’d knock Lainey from her perch as easily as she might swat a fly.

  Clutching with the arm and hand she’d gotten over the bracket, Lainey forced herself to let go with the other hand. Her fingers were numb. She rubbed them together, trying to get some feeling back. She couldn’t risk dropping the phone. She’d only have one chance. She groped in her pocket for her cell phone.

  Luckily Jeannette was still talking. Maybe she was glad to have an audience after all these years. “Laura’s parents were so happy to have me to rely on. And Victor, of course. Victor was easy. All I had to do was convince him that Laura had pushed Aaron. He would do anything I said if it meant keeping her safe.”

  “Including killing Meredith’s mother and trying to kill her.” Nausea gripped her at the thought.

  Aaron. Meredith’s mother. Victor. How many lives was Jeannette prepared to sacrifice? At least one more, it seemed.

  “I thought you’d be so easy to get rid of.” Jeannette was talking again, a querulous note in her voice, as if Lainey’s persistence had disappointed her. “A simple internet search told all about you. You’d already made plenty of enemies. All I had to do was post your location in one of the chat rooms. I thought they’d do the rest.”

  That explained the source of the anonymous letters and calls. Apparently when that hadn’t worked to chase her away, Jeannette had had to take a more active role. Like attacking her. And poor Thomas.

  Had Laura known? Was that what she’d wanted so desperately to tell Lainey?

  The cell phone was in her hand now. She tried to feel the numbers without pulling it out where Jeannette might see, but it was hopeless. She had to get it out, punch in 911 as quickly as she could—

  But Jeannette was too fast for her. The pole came down, longer this time, striking her arm, sending agonizing pain shooting through it. The phone went flying, down, down, the way Lainey would go—

  No more time to think, only to react, trying to dodge out of the way of the pipe. Back and forth, inches each time, trying to gauge where it would come. Jeannette had the range now, she’d only need to connect once more, and Lainey would be gone, she was tiring, the pain in her arm, her shoulder, her feet slipping, she couldn’t do this much longer—

  Jake—she’d never be able to tell him how sorry she was. She was losing....

  A shout from below echoed to the rafters, shocking her into hanging on. Jeannette jerked around, the heavy pole in her hands swinging outward, out of her control, throwing her off balance—

  For an instant she seemed poised above Lainey like some large, ungainly bird about to take flight. And then she was falling, screaming, a scream that seemed to go on and on— A thud that shook the building. Then silence.

  “Lainey!”

  Jake’s voice. She ought to answer, but she couldn’t seem to move. She could only stand on her ledge, face pressed against the rough timbers, trying to breathe.

  She could hear him scrambling up the stairs, hear his frantic voice on his cell phone calling for help. She wanted to tell him to be careful, but she couldn’t seem to make any words come out of her mouth.

  And then he was there, above her on
the catwalk, lying down so that he could see her. “Lainey.” She heard the strain in his voice. “Are you all right? Tell me where you’re hurt.”

  “My arm.” It was pressed against her side. She wasn’t sure if she could move it or not, but she didn’t intend to try.

  “Can you reach up and take my hand?” He was leaning down precariously far. “Maybe I can pull you up.”

  “No.” That sounded abrupt. “Sorry,” she added.

  “Don’t be sorry.” There was almost a laugh in his voice. “The police and the fire department are on their way. All you have to do is hang on until they get here with their equipment. Can you do that?”

  Given that the alternative was plunging after Jeannette, there was only one answer. “Yes.”

  “You can. You can do anything you put your mind to, and I’m going to stay right here with you. Okay?”

  “Okay.” She managed to turn her head enough so that she could look up into his worried face. “I’m okay,” she murmured, and turned her face back to the wall.

  “I’m going to keep talking until they get here.” She could hear rustling movements, as if he were changing his position. “You don’t have to answer me. I just want you to stay alert and keep holding on.”

  She managed to nod. It might sound ridiculous that she could relax in this position, but he was right. Now that the worst danger was past, a peculiar lassitude was taking over, making her limbs heavy, her brain sluggish.

  “It was Jeannette,” she said.

  “I know.” He sounded very close. “I heard some of it. The one person we never suspected. The nice, helpful best friend.”

  “She made Victor think Laura killed Aaron.” If she didn’t make it out of here, it was important that the truth be known.

  “I know. Don’t worry about it. She’s not going to be causing any more trouble for anyone.” His voice was grim.

  “She’s dead?” She hadn’t really doubted it.