Touched by Lightning [Dreams of You] (Romantic Suspense) Page 21

  Fear marked her soul with its cold grip. She ducked away from the doorway, hardly able to breathe. People were screaming, and when she heard the screams so near, she realized they came from her own mouth. Her body trembled so violently she could hardly think, much less move. Someone out there wanted her dead. Again. She searched for signs of Adrian. Oh, how she wanted to find him, make sure he was all right. A man rushed inside and screamed, “Call an ambulance! A man’s been hurt out here.”

  Without thinking about it, her hand reached out and gripped the man’s arm. “Does he have longish, dark hair? Is he big?”

  “Sounds like him. He’s bleeding something terrible.” He freed himself from her grip and returned to the chaos outside. Sirens wailed across the air as she pushed her way through the crowd. A swarm of people surrounded a man lying on the ground. She desperately searched for Adrian among those who were standing but only found his rental car, covered in fragments of metal that were still aflame. Who had done this? Was he here, making sure the bomb had worked?

  Nikki battled with the overwhelming need to see Adrian and her sense of survival. She couldn’t help him, but if he was conscious, she wanted him to know she was there and alive. She took a step in his direction when two fire trucks and an ambulance screeched to a stop several yards away from where flames still poured out of the van.

  “Everyone clear the area!” one medic shouted, waving his arms madly. “The gas tank could explode any second.”

  The curious were pushed back, and the injured were helped to an area a safe distance away. Two paramedics raced over to Adrian, led there by the man whose arm she had grabbed. If she went forward now, she would be highlighted for everyone to see. It didn’t matter. She had to get to him.

  As the crowd backed away from the scene, they pushed her farther away from Adrian. Within seconds, the paramedics had him strapped to a gurney and slid into the ambulance. She saw blood all over his face, horrifying amounts of it.

  “Let me through,” she screamed, but the noise level was louder than she could ever be. “Please!”

  No one seemed to even see her there. The ambulance raced off into the night, the siren becoming an eerie backdrop to the melee in front of her. People were sitting inside the diner, covering bloody wounds with their hands, rocking back and forth in pain.

  “If there was anyone in the van, they didn’t make it. No way,” she heard one of the paramedics.

  “Maudine,” she whispered, her trembling hand covering her mouth. “I’m so sorry. He wanted me.”

  This was worse than last time. Mixed in with the excited chattering of those who had seen everything were the moans of those in pain. An older woman had a shard of glass sticking several inches out of her arm. “Ooh, take it out, please.” Another woman kept saying, “Don’t pull it out. Let the medic do it, Gladys.”

  Nikki closed her eyes a brief second. Other people got hurt this time. The fire roared as the firemen battled to put it out. Her eyes stung when she opened them again and stared at the flames. She was supposed to be in there. Then Devlin could inherit her share of the money. He could have the money, but she wasn’t going to let him take her life, too. Her survival instinct kicked in, and she found where she’d dropped her coat by the restroom door. Slipping the hood over her head, she ducked through the crowd, her shoes crunching over bits of glass. As soon as she got out of there, she would find a phone booth and call the hospital.

  Several hours passed before the hospital would release any information on Adrian. The operator knew her voice by the tenth call. Nikki wanted so badly to see him, but she was too afraid to leave her safe cove on the outskirts of the city. She was drenched, shivering, but she didn’t care. Nothing mattered if Adrian died.

  “Ma’am, I show him being in stable condition this morning. He’s regained consciousness.”

  “Thank God,” she said in a rush of breath. “And thank you.”

  She had to see him, to let him know she was all right. Yesterday newspapers had the explosion all over their front pages. Today she didn’t even look. It was eerie to see her name as the deceased, but she didn’t dare come forward and correct the misunderstanding.

  No one knew about Maudine, and no one would report her missing. Nikki had read that nothing but a ring and blood matching her type was found to tie the charred bones to her. The ring had been hidden in the glove box. They were curious that no teeth had been found, but that didn’t surprise Nikki—Maudine only had a few left that hadn’t rotted out of her mouth. Maybe she wasn’t so bad off after all. Now she was free of that ragged body and lonely life of paranoia and sorrow. A tear slid down Nikki’s cheek, and she wiped it away. No, it still wasn’t fair for Maudine to die in her place.

  Nikki had the whole day to think about the situation. All she knew right now was that she had to get far away from here. It was no longer safe. New York wasn’t an option either. Her mind had been frozen in terror, but now it was thawing. She had a couple of things to do before she left. One was to see Adrian and let him know she was alive. Maybe he didn’t yet know she was supposedly dead, but she didn’t want to put him through that. She had to make sure he was all right. Then she would see Ulyssis and do the thing she detested, but had to do: ask him to get her another car. Living on the streets in her van had been one thing, but the thought of spending yet another night actually sleeping on the sidewalk petrified her. He was the closest thing she had to family, and she at least wanted to let him know she wasn’t dead.

  Nikki slipped into the hospital unnoticed. With her hair tucked beneath the hood and her jacket covering the clothes she’d been wearing since the explosion, she could pass for someone normal. She already knew what room he was in, so she made her way to the stairs. Whenever someone passed her on the way to Adrian’s floor, she averted her attention.

  A policeman stood in front of one of the hospital rooms, and she was startled to realize it was Adrian’s. Why were they guarding his room? Was he in danger? Her hand went to her mouth, and she turned away. What a mess. Nikki dashed to the stairway and made her way to the lobby. She found the phones where she could dial the rooms directly, but realized that maybe it was safer for her to call from outside the hospital. She would walk back to her safe place and call him.

  The bright morning light betrayed the dark turmoil inside her. It was cool and breezy outside, and the wind pushed her hood back. She pulled it over her head again and walked along the rows of cars.

  A white van drove slowly beside her, but she kept looking ahead and walking. She heard the door open, and before she could look, strong arms wrapped around her and yanked her backward. A sweaty palm covered her mouth in the same instant, but she was too startled to call out.

  She was shoved into the open door of the van. When the driver jumped in behind her, she grabbed for the passenger door’s handle. The van was already speeding through the parking lot, then pulling out onto the road. There was no escape.

  CHAPTER 17

  “Nikki!”

  The voice made her start, and she looked at her captor. She felt disoriented. The word would hardly push out from her tight throat. “Jack?”

  He looked as startled as she did as he kept staring at her between dodging through traffic. He reached over and squeezed her arm, a smile slowly forming on his face.

  “Nikki, you’re alive. I can’t believe you’re alive.”

  That was evident by the shocked expression on his face. “Jack, what’s going on? Why are you kidnapping me?”

  “I’m not kidnapping you exactly.” His eyes widened, and his grip on her arm tightened. “You didn’t see Adrian, did you?”

  She wriggled out of his grasp. “No.”

  “Does anyone else know you’re alive?” When she didn’t answer right away, he said, “I’m afraid for you. I don’t want anyone to hurt you.”

  “Then please take me back. I’m safe where I am.”

  “I’m taking you someplace safer. Let me take care of you, sweetheart. That’s all I ever wan
ted to do.” His blue eyes grew hard as he stared ahead. “And you ran away from me.”

  “I didn’t run away from just you, Jack. I ran away from everyone.”

  He turned to her, that caring expression gone from his face. “You didn’t trust me, did you?”

  “It wasn’t that I didn’t trust you. I didn’t want to put you in danger, that’s all.”

  His eyebrow lifted. “Really?”

  “Really. Now please take me back.”

  His fingers gripped the steering wheel. The nails were chewed to the quick, unlike the cool Jack she knew. “Don’t you trust me now, Nikki? Don’t you think I’ll protect you?”

  “It’s not that. I’ve been protecting myself for two years now, and I don’t want to drag anyone else into my problems.”

  Jack leaned over while they sat at the light and kissed her. Not the soul-searing kiss that ignited her from the inside. Like Adrian’s kisses. Jack’s kiss was hard and demanding, as it had always been.

  “Nikki, I’m so glad you’re alive.”

  She was relieved when the light turned green and he turned his attention back to the road. She didn’t want to kiss him, didn’t want to be around him. The shiver of panic trickling through her was probably her desperation to get back to Adrian.

  “Who died in the explosion?” His voice was calm as they continued to thread their way through traffic into Palm Beach.

  “A friend.” She couldn’t bring herself to talk about Maudine.

  “What was she doing in your van?”

  “I let her drive it around sometimes when the police harassed her.”

  “That’s too bad,” he said, looking ahead.

  “It was more than too bad. It was horrible. A lot of people got hurt when that bomb went off.” She didn’t know why her voice was rising, but Jack glanced at her, noticing it, too. The mansions of Palm Beach slipped by as they drove further in. The panic became a tremble that seized her insides and made her hands shake. “Take me back to the hospital. Stay out of this.”

  He patted her hand. “Don’t worry. I’m going to take care of you. No one will hurt you again.”

  His words sounded hollow, but it was hard to tell with her heart pumping blood right next to her eardrums, pounding the century-old rhythms of a tribal drum. They were heading toward her old mansion, or maybe Adrian’s house. A police car passed them, and Jack’s hand tightened on hers.

  “Jack, what is going on?”

  “Trust me, darling.” He smiled, but his words sounded much sterner than a request.

  A cell phone lay on the floor where she had probably kicked it when Jack shoved her inside. She reached for it and started dialing before Jack could do anything. It rang.

  “Who are you calling?”

  “I have to let Adrian know I’m alive.” The switchboard operator answered, but before Nikki gave her Adrian’s room number, Jack snagged the phone from her and pressed the end button.

  “I can’t let you do that.” He dropped the phone between the seat and the door on his side.

  She fought to keep the panic from her voice. “Why not? Why are you doing this?”

  The gates of the Madsen mansion loomed ahead, and he pulled right through. For a second, she was paralyzed with fear. Jack was taking her right to Devlin, the man who had tried to kill her twice. He parked the van and grabbed for her hand as she reached the door handle.

  “Don’t be afraid.” He smiled, but Nikki saw an urgent gleam in his eyes. “I can’t let you talk to Adrian, because he’s the one who tried to kill you.”

  She wanted to spit in his face, but her throat was too dry to accommodate her. “Let me go! I’ll never believe that.”

  Without loosening his iron grip, he reached into the interior of the van and pulled out that day’s newspaper, The Palm Beach Post. The headlines screamed a terrible lie: Premier photographer charged with devastating explosion that killed Nicole Madsen. And in smaller print below: Was it obsession that drove Adrian Wilde to a gruesome murder?

  She threw the newspaper at Jack as if the flames in the photograph had burned her hand. “It’s not true! He wouldn’t do that to me.”

  Jack leaned back against the door but still held her hand in his grip. “He was there, wasn’t he?”

  “Yes, but he wouldn’t try to kill me.”

  A trickle of sweat ran down Jack’s neck and down the front of his chest. His white cotton shirt was damp beneath the arm pits. Yet he looked so calm. “Why, because he told you that he loved you?”

  “Yes,” she said, the word barely above a whisper.

  “Did he tell you that he came to see me a couple of days ago?”

  “No.” An ache deep inside her widened to encompass her entire midsection.

  “He paid Devlin and I a visit at LandCorp. He had a business proposition for us.”

  The ache spread to her limbs, her head. “No,” she said, this time sounding more like a whimper. Adrian had gone to two meetings but wouldn’t tell her who they were with.

  “The morning of the explosion, and the day before that.”

  She wouldn’t believe that Adrian had set up that explosion. “You’re lying.” But he had the times right; the times Adrian had disappeared. “Trust me,” he’d asked of her. Her eyes filled with tears, but she refused to shed them.

  “I’m sorry, sweetheart.” With his other hand, he reached over and touched her cheek. She jerked away before he made contact. His hand remained suspended in midair. “You loved him, didn’t you?”

  She didn’t answer. Her hand was busy trying to subtly find the door handle. When she touched it, she grabbed hold and yanked it down. Nothing happened.

  “It’s locked.” He pulled her toward him. “You don’t have to be afraid of me; I’m trying to help you. Let’s go inside.”

  “No!” she screamed, but the van’s windows were closed, and her voice was so thick, she knew no one had heard.

  “I’m sorry I had to be the one to tell you about him, but you had to know, didn’t you? I couldn’t let you waltz into the hospital and tell him his plan hadn’t worked.” With her face only a few inches from his, he leaned forward and kissed her, this time more gently. “Don’t you remember, I loved you before you left me? I have always loved you, though I could never understand why you didn’t trust me enough to tell me where you were. I could have helped you.”

  “I didn’t need your help. And I don’t need it now.” She felt numb, but there was something about Jack that made her distrust him. Maybe it was the tidal wave of betrayal that rocked her, making her doubt everyone. “Let me go. I promise I won’t see Adrian, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’ll disappear.”

  “I’m not going to let you walk out of my life again, driving me crazy with worry. I want to take care of you, and I won’t let you put yourself in jeopardy.”

  She glanced at the house sitting in front of them. “Then why did you bring me here?”

  “Because Devlin went up north to spend some time with friends, to overcome the devastating loss of his sister.”

  A cruel laugh escaped her. “That’s ridiculous. The police would never let him leave the state.”

  “They have no evidence to hold him, though they did tell him to stick around in case they had any other questions. He has an airtight alibi for the time during and before the bomb went off in your van.”

  Nikki was baffled. Devlin had an alibi? If the bomb was triggered by the car’s ignition, then it would have had to been put in during the thunderstorm, after she’d parked it in the alley. Something wasn’t right.

  “It had to be him.”

  Jack shook his head. “He didn’t. He was at Bradley’s most of the afternoon and evening, drowning his financial sorrows. Adrian Wilde is the only suspect they have. They’re talking about it all over the radio, television. I can turn it on.”

  She put her hand over his, stopping him from turning the knob.

  His voice was soft. “You’re going to have to accept that he was the
one who tried to kill you. But you’re safe now. Let’s go inside. Devlin won’t be back for a week. He was on the edge of a nervous breakdown and couldn’t stay around here any longer. I promise you that he won’t come back and hurt you. Trust me, Nikki. I’m the only one you can trust.”

  She looked at him with his earnest expression and boyish lock of blond hair hanging over his forehead. How could she ever trust anyone again? Somehow she had a feeling that Jack wasn’t going to let her go. She wasn’t sure why he had become so protective of her, but she wasn’t going to trust him. For now, she would play along.

  She glanced at the house, so hauntingly familiar. “Why here? Why not your house?”

  “Because I don’t want the help to see you and realize who you are. I don’t want anyone to know you’re alive until we can figure out what’s going on and where you’ll be safest. Even though they have Adrian Wilde in custody, he mentioned an uncle with whom he was working. If this guy is real, he may be out there.”

  “What about Devlin’s help? Surely they’ll tell him that I’m here?”

  “There is no help anymore.”

  “No help? No servants, no maid? For this whole house?”

  “Nope. Devlin doesn’t have the money to keep it up.”

  Her gaze scanned the windows along the front. It looked dark, quiet. “Okay, I’ll go inside.”

  He seemed to relax, then opened the door on his side and helped her out. “Good. You can freshen up, get some rest, and we’ll catch up on everything we’ve missed.”

  “We haven’t missed anything,” she said, following him up to the house. “How did you get a key, anyway?”

  But the door wasn’t locked. “Devlin asked me to take care of the place while he was gone.”

  The gardens in the courtyards on either side of the entrance were now straggly and malnourished. The rose bushes her mother had loved so much were nearly dead.