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The Tessarae Inn |
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Suspicions In Scarlet Repose PART II GUILTY KNOWLEDGE
CHAPTER 12 Heather stared at the grimy cement walls of the jail cell and immediately started crying. Again. She tried to get her emotions under control. At least, now she knew why she had been so weepy and tired lately. She wiped her eyes and sat up straight. How in the hell was she going to get out of this mess? Her father made it very clear that she couldn’t count on him. He blocked access to any funds and then refused to send even one of his lowliest, flunky lawyers to see about getting her out—told her to get a public defender. The memory of the sound of his voice when he said that still sent a chill across her soul. Although she'd heard that tone before, he'd never used it with her. Despite everything that had happened between them, until that moment she'd continued to think she would always be his Number One. Now she knew differently. If he had his way, she was going to be in here until she was sufficiently mauled and maimed enough to fall to her knees, bare her throat and kiss his feet, like so many others before her had done. He was probably somewhere right now waiting with a drink in his hand and a gloat at the ready. Gotcha! Payback. How many times had she joined him in such celebrations? A downturn for some real or imagined enemy was always an occasion for a toast. Now it was her turn to be the reason for the celebration. It wasn’t nearly as much fun being on the other side of the gloat, but she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her crawl back to him. There were other people in the world that would help her. Travis? She snorted at her own flight of fantasy. Robyn and Travis wouldn’t cross the street to help her much less an ocean and there was no one else. At least no one who could afford to come forward right now. She rubbed her right hand along her left forearm and then leaned forward. This place was awful and she wasn’t nearly enough of a spoiled princess to believe that wherever they sent her next would be any better—it would be a million times worse. “I don’t know what to do, Pumpkin,” she whispered and rocked back and forth. “Maybe if your daddy knew about you it would make all the difference in the world. He would hurry.” Or not. In her heart of hearts, she knew this was not the time to tell Bryan. This situation was complicated enough and if she did try to tell him he probably wouldn’t want to believe her. And, when he finally did see the truth, he still wouldn’t want her and probably not the baby either. So what was there to gain? At best, if he accepted the truth, he would want to spend some time with the baby but that would be all. For the rest of their life they would be connected by a thin thread attributable to a miracle of biology but nothing more. Nothing more. How could she live with that? Thinking about it physically hurt. How stupid was it to love someone that much? How stupid was it to realize that too late? And how very stupid was it to let herself be in this awful place right now? She stretched out on the lower bunk and turned toward the wall. She needed to think. “Heather.” She rolled over slowly then sat up. She was determined not to cry. She stared at him for a few seconds and reminded herself of who she was and what was at stake. She took a deep breath, stood up and walked close to the bars of the cell. "Hey," he said softly. She nodded at him but averted her eyes slightly because all she really wanted to do was reach through the bars and touch his face, feel his chest, know that he was real and safe. She stilled her mind and tried to see him clearly. “Are you here to get me out?” Dammit. She sounded like a scared little girl. She hated sounding so weak and pathetic—so damn needy but she did need him now more than she ever had before. “You’re scheduled for arraignment tomorrow. I’m sure your father will work his magic.” She didn’t like the tone of his voice or the edge either. “Why are you here then?” “I have a question for you.” A question? He risked coming down here to ask her a damn question? What was he thinking! “I want to know what the hell is wrong with you?” His voice was low and soft but there was obvious anger bubbling under the surface of each word. “Why did you kill her?” She stepped back and stared at him. Was he crazy? Had he totally lost his mind? She wanted to scream at him but somehow she couldn’t get her voice to work. “I knew you were jealous but I never thought you’d go that far. Why did you do that?” The words that before had been trapped in her head burst out. “You think I killed her? I don’t freakin' believe this.” “I heard they found you with the knife in your hand standing over the body." She stared at him, once again speechless. "Of course, to your father’s pack of lawyer that is just a minor inconvenience. By the time this is over they will twist things so you’ll probably receive a medal for killing her.” This was insane! She gripped one of the cell bars to maintain her balance. Maybe he was having one of those episodes she’d heard about. He didn’t know what he was saying. His face contorted and he narrowed his eyes. “I asked you a damn question. Answer me NOW.” She stretched her neck then stepped back from the bars. “What was she to you?” “You don’t know that yet you killed her? Same old Heather MO. Stab now. Ask questions later. Except this time you used a real knife.” Crazy or not this was going to stop right now. She leaned forward and locked her eyes on his. “I saw you, Bryan. I know you were there.” “Where?” “At The Palace. I saw you.” He folded his arms over his chest. “Yeah, right. Now I get it. You just accidentally-on-purpose bumped into Carmen and then killed her in a jealous rage based on your crazy delusions.” What the hell was wrong with him? She took a step forward and gripped a cell bar. “Do I mean anything to you?” His eyes flashed and his mouth twisted into a sneer. “You want to know? You want to know what I think of you? I’ll tell you. You’re just a freakin' rich, spoiled psycho who I wish I’d never met.” The words seemed to crawl into her consciousness and then slowly expand as if to fill every available space. A chill crept up her spine and straightened it out like an iron rod coated in ice. “Well, I guess that’s that.” “That’s that! That’s all you have to say? Do you have any idea the kind of attention this is going to rain down on me? We almost got married. This is going to hit the papers like a ton of bricks. It’s going to tar everyone who’s ever been within ten feet of you.” All he was worried about was HIS reputation! She felt her knees buckle but she held onto the bars and refused to give into the weakness. He stepped closer. “Why did you do it, Heather? I just don’t understand why you did it. I know you get upset and all but I never thought you’d go that far. You have no idea what was going on between Carmen and me. You should have stayed out of it.” Damn him. Damn him to hell. He was going to let her swing for this. He actually hated her that much. She bit her lower lip and shook her head. She felt as if she was walking out of a fog. What in the hell had she been thinking? She backed away from the bars. He studied her through narrowed eyes. “Dammit, Heather, talk to me. I need to understand this. You can’t sweep this one under the rug.” “From here on out I’m taking responsibility for my own actions and for my stupid choices.” “A little late for melodrama isn't it? What do you want now, an Oscar for best performance in live action or documentary?” She looked him in the eye. “Have you always been such as ass?” His eyes softened. “Look, I know you’re scared. Your father will fix everything.” “My father suggested I get a public defender. And now I have a suggestion for you.” “Do I even want to know?” “Go away, Bryan. And stay away. Leave me the hell alone.” She turned around and walked back to the lower bunk and stretched out with her back facing him. She was tired but she wouldn’t be tired forever. He was right about one thing. She would get herself out of this mess and he'd already given her the key to her biggest problem. She shut the door to her heart, locked it and threw away the key. “Heather.” She didn’t answer him and finally he went away. And she didn’t cry—not for one moment, not for one minute, not for one second.
“By the end of the day tomorrow, Carl. By the end of the day.” “We’ll see.” “Your ex-future son-in-law was quite a tad bit upset earlier.” “Wants me to get Heather out. Claims she is losing her mind in there. Something about her turning her back on him or some other crazy shit.” “You think she did it? You can tell me because I understand it has nothing to do with whether you let her go to prison or not. Just sitting back watching her stew a while is the way I figure it.” “Number One forgot that I’m captain of this damn ship. Needs to see there's a cost for trying to be the boss.” “I know what you mean about ungrateful children. Mine disappointed me left and right. How I managed to raise such judgmental young guns I’ll never know.” “Yeah, well, all I did was try to protect her. Treyscott is not what she needs. Never was.” “Maybe you need to tell him that because he’s sniffing around her like she’s in heat.” “Not going to happen. I won’t let it happen.” “May need to rethink that plan. Cassie’s a sap for romance. Need to show her your warm fuzzy side. By that, of course, I mean you need to fake it.” Carl glared at Asa. One of these days he was going to have to rub Asa’s nose in a particularly messy cow chip or two. Asa chuckled quietly then drained his glass. He stood up and tipped his hat. “See you at the roundup, Carl. I’ll bring the bourbon. You can bring the barbecued crow.”
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Suspicions In Scarlet Repose FAN FICTION SLIDESHOWS
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