AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I don’t think so.” The feminine voice didn’t surprise him, but her gall did when she set the can down but didn’t budge. “You think you’re going to save that bitch? Think again,” she stated with contempt. Holding up a lighter, she flicked it open, the small flame enough to sicken him with fear for Lily.
Cocking the gun hammer, he gave her one more chance. “Close it, or I shoot. I won’t warn you again.”
She jumped away from the garden bed, tossing the lighter, her manic, cackling laughter revealing the depth of her depraved, unhinged mind. “Me or your precious Lily. You choose,” she taunted.
Bile filled his throat as the flames spread up the side of the house and traveled toward the rear, where he guessed she’d started spreading the gasoline. With no time to spare or think, he took a shot then tore toward the front, the woman’s sharp cry of pain echoing in the night air. His heart damn near pounded through his chest as he burst through the door, the house already reeking of smoke. “Lily!” he yelled, dashing inside in frantic haste only to come to an abrupt halt when she flew against him wrapped in a blanket. “That’s my girl,” he praised her, light-headed with relief. Picking her up, he hightailed it back outside.
Lily coughed, squeezing him until he couldn’t breathe, yet she managed to ask, “Did...did you...catch him?”
“Her, and she’s wounded.” Breathing heavily, Reed set her down on the lawn, hearing sirens seconds before seeing flashing lights and neighbors emerging from their homes.
Hugging the blanket with one hand, she laid the other on his arm, fingers trembling against his quivering muscles. “Go find her. I’m fine.”
In that moment, with her house going up in flames and nothing but grim resolve etched on her pale face, nothing could stop him from telling her what had been in his heart for years. “I love you.” Hauling her against him, he kissed her then took off, reached the backyard, and glimpsed the woman’s hobbling retreat behind the neighbor’s house.
Lily leaned against the police car, eyeing her burning house with stunned disbelief and a slow churning anger. It wasn’t the physical structure she cared so much about but the threatening risk to Reed. A fine mist from the firehoses sprayed her face, cooling her skin and clearing her head of the lingering fear. She had still been on the phone with 911 when she smelled smoke, her window glowing with the flames already licking around the glass pane, her first concern for Reed. Frantic to check on him and get to safety, she’d snatched the blanket and run, his voice adding to the watery sheen filling her eyes.
“Here, drink this.”
She took the bottled water from the cop, smiling in gratitude. “Thank you.”
He nodded, gazing at the fire-engulfed house. “Any idea what happened?”
“Not what, who,” she answered.Pam.That was who popped into her head the moment Reed corrected her withshe.
“Arson?” He cast her a skeptical look. “Are you sure? These older homes can have faulty wiring, or maybe it was a gas leak. We don’t have crimes like arson here in Eagle’s Nest.”
“Tell that to them.” Lily nodded toward Reed escorting a limping hooded figure across the lawn, breathing easier with his safe return. The woman lifted her head, the hood falling down, her identity another body-slamming shock.
“Delia?”
Reed signaled the paramedic before dragging Delia in front of Lily. “You two know each other, I presume.”
“How could you?” she choked out, shaking her head in disbelief. “What did I ever do to you?”
Delia yanked against Reed’s hold, trying to get in her face and failing. “If not for you, I would be with John now. He loved me, not you, but you refused to leave. Your delay cost me everything: the love of my life, his love for me.”
Delia and John?It shouldn’t surprise her, but, after all of Delia’s friendly overtures, it did. Thinking of her duplicity, plotting, and attacks, Lily set aside her sympathy for the blunt truth. “John didn’t love anyone except himself. I’m sorry you didn’t see that, but why take it out on me after I filed for divorce?”
“Exactly what I was thinking.” Reed glared at Delia then released her to the paramedics. “Keep talking,” he instructed. “It’s only a flesh wound.”
“He changed,” she snapped, fighting the paramedics until Reed helped them secure her on the gurney. Struggling against the leather straps on her wrists and ankles, she screeched, “He didn’t want me anymore, said he wanted to be alone after all you put him through.” Delia didn’t stop ranting even while they checked her wound. “I refused to let him deny our love, and gave him one more chance, only he was too pigheaded to take it.”
Delia snickered, the pure manic evil sending a shiver down Lily’s spine. Nausea churned in her abdomen remembering all the time she’d spent alone with someone she never really knew.
“You need help, Delia. Maybe a shrink can get through your delusions.”
“You think I’m delusional? Not so much that I got away with killing the son of a bitch.”
“Get her out of here,” Reed commanded, wrapping an arm around Lily’s rigid shoulders.
Lily shifted her gaze away from Delia’s red, angry face, leaning against Reed. “Tell me it’s over.” She glanced up at him, needing his reassurance, wondering if there were any more sucker punches she’d have to endure tonight. Unlike her, he didn’t appear surprised by Delia’s last admission.
She followed the slow turn of his head as he took in the police, firemen, and neighbors
who’d heard Delia’s deranged ranting and confession. “It’s over.”
“Thank God because I love you, too, and I couldn’t bear...” A sob escaped her and she sagged against him. “C-couldn’t stand it if...” He drew her close and she crumpled, his strength a soothing balm against her battered soul.
