Killing Me Softly (32 page)

Nobody saw her tuck the gun in her jeans. Nobody saw her when she stopped walking with them, staying in the shadows the Dower House cast over the grounds as the sun slipped closer to the horizon beyond the western fells.

She watched, silent as she’d been for so many years, as they followed behind the stretcher, deep in conversation, faces as grim as death. Bev was wringing her hands so hard, Cat wondered why they weren’t bleeding. All of them were too focused on Nigel and trying to figure out where Lyall might have taken Lexi to take any notice of her.

She’d not made a sound after she and Billy had found Nigel, after all. They probably thought her incapable of doing anything but following blindly behind them, sticking close to those who made her feel safe.

But there was no way she could ever feel safe now. And she wasn’t going to cower blindly in the corner and let others fight her battle. Not again.

This was her moment for revenge.

Nigel had managed to tell them Lyall had muttered something about following his brother’s lead as he’d picked up the unconscious Lexi.

Billy hadn’t realised what he meant. But Cat did. He was going to take Lexi to the place she loved most., echoing his brother’s actions all those years ago.

The place Lexi loved the most on the estate was the dell where Viking had been slaughtered.

She was certain that was where Lyall had taken Lexi.

As the others disappeared over the rise, she turned and ran toward the stable. Feeling the burn in her chest, she realised she’d been holding her breath. Gulping in air, she ran into the stable and stopped.

Nobody was there to stop her.

There was only her fear. Touching the gun in her waistband, she determined to never give in to that fear again. But she wasn’t stupid. Sure, she wanted to get there first, face him first and make him pay for what he’d done to Lexi and her. She’d leave a clue. Let them know where she was going.

There was a paint tin in the corner. After she’d used it, she grabbed a saddle and bridle, and walked into Kelsey’s stall.

Her horse whickered in greeting and nuzzled at her hand.

‘Later boy. First, we’re going for a ride.’

Lexi was certain she’d almost got the stake clear when she heard Lyall coming.

She went still. She couldn’t let him know she’d almost managed to get free.

He dropped a bag at her side and then knelt beside her. She cringed as he leaned over her. He ran his hand down her side. His lips touched her breast. She shuddered. She wanted him to move. If he moved down a little, she could kick him.

His mouth moved over her skin and she couldn’t stop the moan of fear that escaped her lips. He lifted his head and looked into her eyes.

‘You like that, don’t you?’

Lexi tried to speak but only one word formed on her lips. ‘Cold.’

Lyall frowned. ‘Of course you are. You’ve got no clothes on.’ He tipped his head to the side as if listening to someone. ‘Yes. A blanket. She can’t catch cold. We can’t teach her the lesson if she catches a cold and dies.’ He turned away and began to look through the bag. ‘A blanket. A blanket. My kingdom for a blanket.’ He giggled. ‘Ahh, here is a blanket.’

He laid the blanket over her. She didn’t have to lift her head to know it was Viking’s; the scent of horse was strong. Tears pricked the corner of her eyes. But she wouldn’t let the hopelessness overwhelm her.

She didn’t want to die. Nobody knew where she was or that he’d taken her. But they’d find Nigel soon and then they’d come looking. She had to have escaped Lyall by then so he couldn’t hurt anyone else.

Closing her eyes against the useless tears and panicked thoughts, she swallowed hard and willed her mind to work.

‘What are you going to do?’ she croaked.

He turned and ran his hand gently down the side of her face. As she cringed, she pulled on the rope to her left – the one where the peg seemed looser.

He didn’t seem to notice.

‘Oh, my love. We will do things that are beyond your imagining. I know you’ve been with that Irish-born bastard but that will pale in comparison to what we will do with you.’

Lexi frowned. ‘Who is “we”, Lyall?’

He cocked his head. ‘Why, my brother and me of course. Who else?’

‘Your brother is dead.’ She cursed under her breath for her stupidity as his face went white, his eyes widening in horror and fury.

‘He is not dead!’ He spat. ‘He is alive! He is alive in here.’ He tapped his head so hard she could hear the sound in the still twilight air. ‘He has always been in here. He has led me every step of the way. He talked me through tampering with the brakes on your parents’ car . . . ’

‘No! You bastard.’ She struggled, wanting to lift that stake and ram it into his neck, but he put his hands on her shoulders, holding her still.

‘They had to die. They were in the way. Besides, they did not stand up for you. Did not defend you. That was left for me to do.’ Keeping one hand on her chest so she couldn’t move, he turned, burrowing in the bags behind him, mumbling. ‘But you weren’t grateful. You disappeared and my family took me away, kept me drugged for the longest time. But I escaped because Lyndon said I must find you. You had to be punished. You had to be brought back into the fold of the righteous. This is your punishment. Then you will get your reward.’ She saw the glint of the knife just before it flashed down, cutting into her flesh just above her left breast.

She cried out. Blood, warm and thick, ran across her chest and down her side. The cut burned like a firebrand.

‘I know it hurts, my love. But it is the only way to teach you.’ He pulled his shirt aside and she saw the scores of long puckered scars on his chest. ‘It’s the way Lyndon taught me.’

The knife slashed again, a shallow cut across the right shoulder. As the pain sliced through her, she yelled out, ‘Go to hell, you mad fuck.’

He smiled at her, sliced her again. ‘Oh, no, my love. You have that wrong. I have lived in hell. Now I reach for heaven by sanctifying myself with you.’

He bent over her. She felt his tongue as he licked at the blood dripping from the shallow cuts he’d made. She tried to move, pulling against the ropes and bucking up with her body. He still wasn’t where she could kick him.

But he was relentless. Another shallow cut. Another lick. Tears seeped from her eyes.

This was it.

That was when she heard the sound of horse hooves thudding along the cold, hard ground.

Daemon and Craig arrived just as the ambulance was leaving.

Daemon pulled up next to Billy and the others with a spray of dust and pebbles and jumped out without turning off the car.

‘Where are they?’

Karl shook his head. ‘My men are searching. So far, they’ve found nothing. We saw him arrive, saw him pull out again. We assumed the person in the jeep with him was Nigel and they were going to the hospital. We’ve got the police looking, they’ve put out roadblocks. But so far, nothing.’

Daemon grabbed him by the lapels. ‘You were supposed to keep her safe. Where’s the security you organised? Why aren’t they here yet?’

Karl didn’t move to defend himself. ‘I don’t know.’

‘How could you just let him carry her out of here?’

‘Dae, mate. Let go.’ Craig’s hand on his shoulder pulled him back. ‘It’s not Karl’s fault. You said it yourself. He tricked us all.’

Daemon reluctantly let go of Karl’s shirt, jaw clenched tight. ‘I know. But where is she? Where has he taken her? We have to find her. We have to.’

They turned at the sounds of hooves thundering out of the stables.

‘What the hell . . . Cat, no!’ Billy shouted.

‘Oh, Lord. What is she doing?’ Bev cried.

Billy was already running down the hill towards the stable, Daemon, Craig and Karl on his heels.

‘What is she doing?’

‘She knows where he took her,’ Billy shouted. ‘I should have thought of this before but I . . . with everything . . . ’

He raced into the stables and headed to a stall.

Daemon grabbed his shoulder. ‘How does she know where he’s taken her?’

Billy shrugged off Daemon’s restraining arm. ‘Because he’s following the same pattern as his brother. He’s taking her to a place she loves. Just like Lyndon did to Cat eleven years ago.’

‘Holy shit!’ Craig said. ‘The dell.’

Daemon didn’t wait to see Billy nod, just turned to Karl and said, ‘Get the saddles.’

He pulled Old Sarge out of his stall and quickly saddled up.

Fury rode over him, stamping out his fear. ‘I’m going to kill him.’

Karl swung up onto Jimbo, not bothering with a saddle. ‘I don’t have men anywhere near the dell.’

‘A fact Lyall would have known, given he knows about your security measures,’ Craig said. Daemon mounted up and looked down at his best mate. ‘Call the police. Tell them where we’re going, then grab the truck and meet us there.’

Craig nodded. ‘Don’t get hurt.’

Karl looked down at Craig, a rifle slung over his shoulder. ‘I’ll make certain they don’t come to harm.’

‘Go get the bastard,’ Craig snarled.

A gunshot rang out.

The horses snorted and pranced nervously beneath them as Daemon shared a look with Karl and Billy. Without saying a word, they kicked their mounts to a dangerous gallop, thundering out of the stables and jumping over the gate without a thought for their own safety. As they rode their horses across the uneven ground, Daemon couldn’t allow himself to think of what that gunshot meant.

Lexi watched, fear spearing through her, as her sister cantered into the clearing, gun in her hand. She didn’t think her rescuer would be Cat. Karl or one of the farmhands, but not . . . ‘Oh God. Cat no! Run.’

‘Get off her, you sick fuck.’

Lyall pushed upright and turned around.

Cat fired.

The bullet hit Lyall, spinning him around.

Blood splattered across Lexi’s face. The thud as he hit the ground beside her vibrated along her bare skin.

‘Get up you bastard. I only winged you.’

Cat’s voice quivered with rage as she dismounted and strode towards them, gun held in her outstretched hand. Lyall hadn’t moved. Lexi could hear him breathing.

‘Cat!’ Her voice came out a whisper. ‘Cat, he’s got a gun.’

Cat waved the gun in her hand. ‘He left it behind with Nigel. Get up, you mad fuck!’ She pulled the trigger again, the bullet hitting the ground beside him, sending up a little spray of dirt. ‘Get up and face me like the man you’ll never be, you cowardly shit!’

Lexi saw him move. Saw him roll and throw the knife. Before she could scream, it hit Cat in the chest. Cat looked down, shocked. She dropped the gun, stumbled back, hands around the knife. Before Lexi could tell her not to, she pulled the knife out and then crumpled to the ground.

‘No!’ Lexi screamed. She kicked out with her feet, hitting Lyall in the groin. Fury rose in her, a wild thing, hot and terrible. She could taste it in her mouth like the bitter tang of copper. Her fury lent her strength as she wrenched against the rope, tearing the wooden stake from the cold, hard ground. Able to sit up, she pulled the other stake free a few seconds later.

Lyall stood and began to stagger towards Cat. With a wild howl like a deranged animal, Lexi hurled herself at him, driving him down to the ground and began to beat at the back of his head with the stake. He struggled against her, slamming his elbow into the side of her head, knocking the stake from her hand. She flew at him again, knocking him over as he scrabbled to pick up the gun Cat had dropped. They tumbled onto the ground.

Rolling over, he pinned her under his weight.

She clawed at his face with her fingernails.

He hit her.

As her face slammed sideways, Lexi saw the wooden stake lying just beyond her reach. Her fingers scrambled as she tried to buck him off, but he hit her again. She rolled, her fingers touching the edge of the peg. Desperate now to do something, anything, to get him off her so she could get to Cat.

Cat!

Her sister’s name was a sob in her mind.

His shrieking barely registered on her, neither did the pain as his fingers and nails tore at her skin. In one swift move she grabbed the stake and rolled back, stabbing. The wood caught him in the shoulder, jamming there.

He howled and fell away.

She kicked at him again, her feet just missing as he pulled the stake from his shoulder, lunging at her. They struggled and she was pinned under him again, this time with nothing to defend herself. His blood, warm and sticky, dripped onto her skin as she pushed at him, smacking his hands away. She saw a fresh knife in his hand, saw his arm rise high and swing to plunge down into her chest.

Half his neck exploded. Blood and gore sprayed across her. For a moment he hovered over her, surprise in his eyes, the knife falling from slack fingers as the blood pumped from the gaping wound, soaking her and the dry ground. Then as if in slow motion, he slumped forward on top of her, a heavy dead husk.

Shocked, Lexi looked over Lyall’s shoulder to see Cat stagger sideways, his gun still clasped in front of her. She could see the dark patch of blood soaking her sister’s top just below her breast from the knife wound. Then slowly, Cat collapsed.

Adrenaline pumped through Lexi. Pushing and shoving at the dead weight of Lyall, she managed to crawl out from under him. She grabbed the knife, threw it away and crawled the few metres to where her sister lay.

Looking down at Cat’s pale face and blood-soaked chest was like reliving the nightmares. She touched her sister’s face, so cold. ‘Cat?’ she sobbed. ‘Cat, please don’t die. Please. Don’t leave me again.’ Tears ran down her face and she screamed with pain and fury into the night. ‘Help me! Somebody help me. Don’t do this to me again!’ Her sob echoed in the clearing. She bent to pick up Cat’s still body, cradling her.

Cat’s eyes flickered open, a small smile twisting her mouth. ‘I thought I was the drama queen.’

Lexi’s sob caught on a laugh as she grabbed Cat to her, hugging her tightly. ‘Don’t ever do that to me again!’

‘Once was enough,’ Cat mumbled into her ear.

Lexi held her more tightly, laughing hysterically.

‘Do you know you’re hurting me?’