With a burst of renewed energy, Gwenyth dashed through the shrubbery of another building and found herself running down a side street with houses situated in it. Now if only she could make it to one with a light on before Devin made it to her and her unborn child.
Gwenyth clutched her belly with her hands and ran as fast as her legs would carry her. Please dear God, she prayed, just let someone be home.
* * * * *
A million and one memories flitted in and out of Sam’s mind as his Mercedes barreled down the streets of Hyde Park. The ice cream cone he’d bought Gwenyth when she was five years old. The jersey he’d thrown her way after he’d won the big high school game—the jersey his wife still wore at times. The way she smiled. The way she laughed. The strawberry scent of her beautiful, tawny hair. The sound of her climaxing when they made love. The way she’d rub her belly and smile down at their unborn child.
Sam had never felt so helpless and desolate in his life, as he felt right now. The people at Mr. Wok’s had said she’d left half an hour ago. Gwenyth wasn’t at home, she wasn’t at Willy and Verlene’s, and she wasn’t at Candy’s. The remaining possibility was not a pleasant one.
Sam backtracked once more, taking the side roads he assumed Gwenyth would have taken on her way back from Mr. Wok’s. At the next left, he swerved his Mercedes into an alley, then brought it to a screeching halt.
Gwenyth’s jeep. Gwenyth’sabandonedjeep. Parked next to an abandoned white sedan.
Sweet Jesus.
Sam threw the gear into reverse and peeled out of the alley.
* * * * *
Gwenyth could hear Devin’s shrill, unnatural laughter. It was hollow and taunting and far too close. He was gaining on her again. He was gaining on her and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it. And yet she kept moving.
On some surreal, abstract plane, it occurred to Gwenyth that whenever characters in the movies and in books are faced with similar situations, their lives always flash before their eyes. She wished something like that would happen to her now. It would give her something peaceful to dwell on instead of the unadulterated terror that she felt. She had nothing left in her. Her tired body was operating on pure adrenaline, on a primal instinct of survival. But even adrenaline could only run so long.
The sound of a car tearing down the street brought Gwenyth’s chin up. Though still at a distance, there was something vaguely familiar about that car. It almost looked like—“Sam!” Tears pooled in Gwenyth’s eyes as she waved her hands frantically at the oncoming Mercedes. “Sam!”
The Mercedes peeled to a grinding stop a moment later and Sam jumped out of the car. “Gwen!” He sprinted towards his wife at top speed. “Baby, are you okay?”
Gwenyth threw herself into Sam’s arms and buried her face against his chest. “He was going to hurt me!” she sobbed. “I almost didn’t make it!”
Sam recognized that his wife was hysterical and for good reason. He also recognized, however, that Devin was getting away—again. “Baby get into the car and call the police.” He swatted her toward the Mercedes. “Do as I say now. Go on!”
Gwenyth’s teeth clamped down hard on her lip as she watched her husband chase after Devin Green. The sounds of police sirens blared in the background, drawing closer and closer with each heartbeat.
Just a few seconds later, Sam caught up with his wife’s stalker. Gwenyth had no idea whatsoever what Sam was doing to him, but the sounds of Devin’s screams carried through the dimly lit street. Gwenyth closed her eyes and cried softly. She almost hated herself for enjoying it.
Almost.
Chapter 24
“So that bastard was actually related to the former Senator Green?” Candy accepted a glass of wine from Marc, then plopped down onto the sofa next to Gwenyth.
“His brother.” Gwenyth shook her head. “I still can’t believe it. All this over some freakin’ photographs.”
“Not just any photographs,” Marc added, “but extremely famous photographs.”
Gwenyth’s head shot up. She turned her bemused gaze onto her husband’s handsome friend and future business partner. “I suppose the black bar the Miami Herald placed over Devin’s groin was a tad on the small side, but I wasn’t the one who actually put it there.”
“God I feel so guilty,” Candy admitted forlornly. “The pictures were all my idea to begin with.”
“Don’t do that to yourself, Can, because it isn’t worth it. The man is behind bars where he belongs.”
Sam pulled his wife onto his lap and made her stay put. He wouldn’t let the woman out of his sight for a long, long time. At least not until he was totally over this. Like when he was dead. “I for one am just glad this is all over with.” He lowered his face to meet Gwenyth’s lips and nipped at them lovingly. “And that the hospital gave my wife and child a clean bill of health.”
Marc raised his wineglass in salute. “Hear, hear.”
“There’s something I don’t get.” Candy shook her head thoughtfully, her eyes expressive as she turned toward Marc. “How is it that you never put two and two together and figured out that Devin was Larry Green’s brother?”
Marc shrugged. “At work Devin always went by his mother’s maiden name of Coltrane.”
