Somewhere I'll Find You (47 page)

He knows,
Paige thought. 
Somehow
,
in the back of his mind, he’s always known.  But . . . his accent.  That’s not Michael standing there . . . that’s Daniel.

Alistar’s eyes turned wild.  “That voice . . .” he muttered, his voice high with hysteria.  “I remember it.  Odd . . .” He stared at Michael.  “All this time I thought that you were that damned actor but you’re . . . you’re Flanagan!”  His eyes flickered wildly between the arrogant man leaning so casually against the door and th
e woman he held at gunpoint.  “But …
but,
”
he sputtered, “then who is she? 
She
has
to be Jenny.”

“She’s the other life that ya
took
wit’ that gun o’ yours when ya shot Jenny,”
Michael
replied coolly
. . . or wa
s it Daniel speaking
?  Paige didn’t know for sure.

“Jenny was pregnant,” continued that strange voice that was Michael’s and yet
was
something more.  “Paige is the child that Jenny and Erik should have had.”

A cold wind blew through the room without stirring either the pretty curtains or the roses, but Paige’s flesh rose in goose bumps just the same.

A deep, echoing growl rose into the air, hot on the heels of the frigid breeze.  It was a
sound that
could have only come from a large dog.

The air rippled and bent as
it slowly gave way to allow the appearance of
a familiar
man and
the
dog
that had uttered the menacing growl
. 
Two pairs of eyes glistened with hate, one
canine,
and one human, but both
seemed r
e
ady to take revenge on their old enemy. Advancing slowly
towards the fireplace
,
one of Erik’s
cold hand
s
gently brushed Paige aside.

“No,” Alistar gasped
, stumbling away
. “You can’t be here . . . you’re dead. 
Dead.” 
Blubbering, Alistar
scrambled
away
, his back
slamming into the fireplace.

“Do you remember?”
asked a hollow voice
that, Paige
realize
d, she could hear as well as Alistar could
.
  “Do you remember killing Jenny on the very spot that you now stand?  Do you have any idea of the years that passed while I watched helplessly as you moved further and further up the ladder?  Unable to move . . . unable to prove the perfidy that you did?  How I’ve waited for her . . . waited for her to come and forgive me for not seeing you for what you are?  For failing her when . . .”

Suddenly, there came the sweet smell of ga
rdenias, the air shimmering with
a
golden light.  The source of the illumination was shimmering
from gray eyes that glowed
as
a slender form took place in the empty air.  There was a choking sob torn from Erik’s throat as
t
he ghost
stared in disbelief.  In awe, Paige watched tears gleam in Erik’s insubstantial eyes, and she wondered
. . . could ghosts
truly weep?

“
All these years, I’ve waited,”
the actor’s shade breathed. 
“I kept my promise and stayed . . . stayed long after my time had passed.  Waiting to set things right.
I’ve waited so long to see you again, my Jenny …
”

The sound of a warm voice, filled with love echoed in the silent room. 
“I know, my dearest.  Now, it’s time for us to leave, to go to where we can be together, forever.  It is their time
now;
ours is finished.  Come with me.” 
For a brief moment, the woman with the golden hair brushed Paige’s cheek with a gentle hand.
“I would have been proud of you in any age . . . my lovely daughter.”

Paige could only stare as she watched Erik.  Together, man and dog went toward the light that bloomed around the beautiful woman.  Perhaps it was only Paige’s imagination
, but a change seemed to trans
form the anguished actor.

Gone was the dark shirt and flamboyant cravat.  In the translucent light
, there
stood a man with dark
hair that touched his broad shoulders
, clad in Sherwood green, while the woman at his sided shone like the sun itself, her
gown of gold cloth shining in the light as its sleeves fluttered in wind that no one else could feel.

A low whimper
broke
from Alistar’s thro
at,
his f
r
ee hand fluttering to his throat as he watched Michael pull Paige behind him, his weapon once more in his hand.

No one remembered the large dog.  No one remembered Argo or the love he had held for the two humans in his life.  And
,
to the dog, that
love
meant
there was
a debt remained to be paid.

Again, the sound of an unnatural growl filled the air.

The pistol in Alistar’s hand clattered to the floor.  Panic filled him as the dog stalked closer, his teeth bare and gleaming.  With a high-pitched scream, Alistar backed away.

Backed toward the fragile wooden door
that was Alistar’s only protection against the ragged cliff on which the cottage sat
. 

Despite Paige’s cry of warning, the man refused to listen, whimpering as he continued moving
ever backwards
.

“Alistar
,
stop!
Don’t
run
– it’s
not safe!”  She reached out, but the dog
still barred the way.
In a desperate attempt to flee
the menacing shade of Argo
, Alistar shouldered though the fragile door,
stumbling over the rocky
path that
wound around the side of the house and marked the edge of the cliff.

Helplessly trying to catch his balance, Alistar staggered forward instead of to the side, towards
the ragged cliffs that waited there.  His scream – Paige shuddered away at the single note of triumph she thought she heard within it – echoed up to them as he pitched over the side, falling towards the churning water, hundreds of feet below.
 

Argo looked at her, his eyes gleaming with an unearthly intelligence
,
and then
vanished at the sound of a piercing whistle from a distance too great to be counted.
“Michael?”
Paige asked weakly.

Instantly, Michael’s arms were surrounding her.  “It’s all right now – I think.”

Burying her face in his broad shoulder, she couldn’t help remembering the night they had met.  Of the
stranger,
that had saved her life and captured her heart.  “That dog . . . he saved our lives. 
Erik . . .
he’s been guiding us all along.”

“So it would seem.” 
Michael
didn’t believe in ghosts, he told himself, and after the shock wore off, he wouldn’t believe in them again.  Or would he?

In the distance came the wail of sirens and the closer rumble of a
speeding
car.  Brakes screamed
; within seconds,
the cottage was filled with a burly group of armed security and police officers, all barking urgent commands and questions.  Above it all, the voice of Miles O’Brian rose above the uproar, snapping out a harsh rain of commands.

But Paige and Michael heard none of it.

Their bodies were locked where they stood, a perfect line of unity in the bright sun.

“Together,” Michael
insisted
harshly, his fingers buried in her hair while his heart still raced.

“Forever,” Paige agreed softly.  Towards the golden future.  Towards the man, she loved more than her very life.  It was a tribute to them, to what would come, but it was also for, two lovers who had been parted by a tragedy so long ago.

As she said the word, Paige felt the hole in her mind begin to close.  The shadows that she had lived in began to
drift away
.  She knew that the circle had finally been broken and that she had found her way home at last.

Home to
a
man with an arrogant grin and jade green eyes.

“Does anyone want to tell me what in the hell happened?” Miles demanded.

“It’s a rather long story. You’d better check the cliff,”
Michael
nodded towards the
shattered
door.  “I’m afraid that’s where Carver is.”

Crouching
over the edge of the cliff, leaning cautiously
out the broken door
with his gun in his hand
, Miles shook his head
and returned to the house
. “He would never have survived that fall
, but I’ll arm a crew and get them down there anyway.
”  Frowning
,
he noticed the couple walking away.  “Sinclair!  Where are the two of you going?  Have a heart, there’s paperwork to fill
out .
. . statements to be made.”

Turning, Michael’s eyes were cold and flat.  “I won’t ask you why you never told the whole story.  You wouldn’t tell us now, anyway.  But we’re finished,
so
tell your new boss that, whoever
he’ll be
.”