He wondered if she was still fighting him or if someone else was haunting her dreams. Now she lay so peacefully, her features delicate and exquisite, her hair a pool of gold to frame them.
He turned from her abruptly, walking away, staring into the fire.
He watched the flames. In time, he’d wake her. His fingers clenched his palms. Indeed. In time, he’d wake her all right.
CHAPTER 4
Half a continent away, a young woman hurried along a hallway carrying a pile of bath sheets and two large bottles of liniment. She was of medium height, but she moved with such carriage and grace that she gave the impression of being taller. Her hair was a deep, dark brown, just touched with hints of henna that gave it a rich, sable appearance. Her eyes were a dark, vibrant blue green, almost turquoise. Until her mother’s recent death, she might have claimed to have lived a happy life, despite the secrets of the past that had haunted them all.
But now…
In the last three weeks, she had faced far more than tragedy.
Horror itself had entered into her life. And surprisingly enough, she had discovered she had the strength to deal with it. Skylar had given her that strength. Skylar had always been there for her. She hoped that now…finally…they were managing to rescue one another.
Outside a doorway, she paused, squaring her shoulders. No matter what was said, she would play her part. Give nothing away. Nothing.
She pushed open the door. He sat there in his specially carved wheelchair, an afghan thrown over his useless legs. Still,he was somehow not a man to be pitied because when he gazed at her, the demons of cruelty and anger and…revenge…were in his eyes.
The doctor stood behind the chair. “Ah, there you are, my dear! The liniment, just as I’ve asked. Good. A number of towels, yes. Ah, there now, dear, fetch the brandy, a snifter for the senator…ah, yes, a good brandy relaxes the muscles, and the body?—”
“Doctor,” the senator said, shaking his head sadly. “Brandy, liniment. Relaxed muscles, tensed muscles! What does it matter, when I will never walk again?”
“Courage, now, Senator!” the doctor said. He was a bewhiskered old man. Sabrina thought he was doddering and wondered why the senator had chosen him for his treatments. Because the doctor wouldn’t ask too many questions? She’d been surprised at first that the senator hadn’t called in the police.
But then, if he’d thrown out accusations, he might have had a few accusations thrown back at him.
He was still staring at her. Smiling, a smile that conveyed no humor, no warmth. It was a chilling smile. One that warned, menaced…and promised as well.I will have my revenge!That smile seemed to vow.In my own way, my own time. And don’t doubt my power. God, no, girl, don’t you go doubting my power.
Perhaps, she told herself, determined not to respond to that smile in any way. If the doctor weren’t there, she might be tempted to laugh, to taunt him in return. You can’t hurt me now, you fool. You can’t hurt me. Skylar stopped you when you tried!
He was a good-looking man. Handsome, dignified. He was always so careful to speak in low, well-modulated tones. His constituents knew him as a kind man, a benefactor to so many worthy organizations, a strong man, always willing to fight.
God, they didn’t begin to know how willing he was to fight or to what levels he would stoop to win whatever it was he wanted. Whom he would hurt.
Whom he might have killed…
She handed him the brandy the doctor had ordered. She stared straight into his eyes as she did so. She didn’t allow his fingers to touch hers as she gave him the snifter. She hoped that God would forgive her for praying that he would be a cripple even when this life ended and he rotted in hell.
She hoped as well that God would forgive her since it had occurred to her to poison him when he had first fallen. It was Skylar who had made her see that they could not. Not out of fear for the law or any hangman. But for their own souls. “No, my God, we can’t. Don’t you see, we can’t become what he is, we can’t. We need to beat him in life, don’t you see?”
The doctor had turned to the table, sorting through towels and liniments. “We shall begin here momentarily!” he said with forced cheerfulness.
The senator kept smiling as his fingers curled around the snifter.
“What a good girl you are, Sabrina!” he mocked. “Such a comfort to me in my distress!”
“I hope you die!” she said in a calm, even whisper.
“But I won’t,” he promised her softly. “I’ll live a long life. And I’ll see to it that I carry out all the responsibilities I have regarding you, my dear. I’ll care for you, I swear it. I do so enjoy caring for you!”
“You’ll never even be able to attempt to touch me again, you bastard!”
“God takes care of the deserving.”
“Yes, he does.”
The senator started to laugh. The doctor turned. “Sabrina! Ah, doctor! She is, indeed, the delight of my discomfort.” Thedoctor turned back to his work. The senator leaned toward Sabrina. She backed away a step. His face lost the convivial smile that had fooled so many. His eyes burned. “Now as to the other one…well, she will have her comeuppance. You think you’re so clever. You little fools think that you’re free…well, you’re not. She’s dead! That’s what she is. No matter that you were there with your sweet, glib explanation of events…”
