A Modern Love Story (41 page)

There was no answer.

*****

Robbie was a ball of throbbing fury by the time she leapt out of her car and stomped to Payten’s door. A piece of tape over the doorbell had her pounding an impatient fist on the door instead, and she was pleased when it swung open under the force of her knock.
 

“Payten?!” Robbie yelled, knowing full well she was home—Payten’s car was in the driveway.

“Robbie?” She sounded pleasantly surprised. “Please, come in. I’m in the office—second door on your right.”

Robbie scowled at the nerve of that bitch, and stormed in without a second thought.

The minute she stepped into the dimly-lit room, the stereo assaulted her ears with the melody of ‘Kashmir’. Her breath caught and held as her muscles locked up. Fighting the roaring in her head, Robbie struggled to fill her lungs with oxygen. She made a wheezing sound, her heart thundering, and for a moment all she could do was hold onto the edges of consciousness. But, suddenly, cutting through the din, was a sharp jab in her neck. Heat radiated from the pinprick of pressure, then raced down her shoulder.

Her legs felt like wet noodles as she slumped to the floor, falling into a pile. She rolled on her side as the music cut off.

“Well. That was certainly easier than I thought it’d be.”

Robbie shifted her gaze to look at Payten. She had a satisfied smile as she tapped the stereo remote against her thigh.

“
Wha
—” Robbie swallowed thickly. Her mouth felt like it was filled with sand.

“I imagine it’ll be hard for you to speak, so you needn’t bother trying. Besides, I can’t think of a single thing you’d have to say that I would actually want to hear.”

Robbie fought to make her tongue cooperate and found if she worked at it, she could speak. “I know what you did to me.”

Payten’s eyebrows arched as she brought a hypodermic needle up for her inspection. “Really? I was told this drug was still in the experimental stages.”

“Colin,” Robbie clarified.

“Oh, that.” Payten tossed the needle on her desk and leaned a hip against it. “Yes, well. You do what you need to in the name of love.”

“Love?”

Payten’s eyes narrowed. “You have only yourself to blame for all this, Robbie. I told you Luc was mine, but you continually failed to realize the truth of it all.” She spread her hands out in front of her. “And to think I had tried to
help
you, to do you a favor.”

“A favor?”

“Yes,” Payten snapped. “Richard was a gift to you when I discovered your real family had died years ago. He was the perfect choice in that he was at least partially genuine. You see, he’d grown up with your father, so at least the stories of your father’s childhood rang true. He was resistant to the idea of portraying Colin at first, but he needed the money more than a clean conscience. Turns out, that wasn’t enough. Richard had become quite fond of you, and had decided to tell you the truth. I just couldn’t let that happen.”

“What did you do?” Robbie breathed, trying to move her heavy limbs.

“Don’t concern yourself. He proved useful, in his own way, when he was cooperating. How’d you think I knew when you were coming back, so I could
conveniently
be at Luc’s place when you did? How’d you think you came into the
inheritance
money funding your new life away from
my
man?” Payten crossed her arms as she studied Robbie. “I do wonder though, what is it about you that gets these men all keyed up about you? It’s a shame I don’t have enough time to learn your secret. Although, I suppose, in the end it has done you no good. You cost Colin his life when he tried to protect you, you gave your own life for trying to take what’s mine, and if Luc doesn’t fall into line, you’ll cost him
his
life as well.”

“No,” Robbie whimpered, screaming inside to move a leg, an arm. Anything!

“Oh, don’t you worry about Luc. I imagine he’ll come back in no time. After all, he’ll need to lean on to someone after your tragic suicide. Sure, it might destroy him, but you know what they say: You always hurt the ones you love.” She gestured vaguely at Robbie. “You’d know about that, wouldn’t you?”

“I wouldn’t—I won’t…”

Payten sneered as she taunted. “What could I do? I just walked in and found you had bled out all over my floor. I tried to resuscitate you, but you were already gone. And I’ll have your blood on my hands, evidence that I tried to help. I’m a highly skilled actress when I need to be. Always have been—even at the tender age of seven when my mother plummeted to her untimely death. Everyone felt so sorry for me—a child crying and screaming for her mother as gray matter oozed from her crushed skull. My father was beside himself as he tried to comfort me. It was easy to manipulate him—the man was a fool. But he gave me everything I ever wanted in life…including Luc.”

“You killed your own father?”

“Just like my mother, it served a purpose, and therefore, suited my needs. Besides, the man had outlived his usefulness. There wasn’t a thing he could provide me that I couldn’t gain for myself now. Except Luc, as it turned out.” She smiled as she mused, “It was about time my father proved useful again.”

The phone ringing had Payten glancing away, but she didn’t bother to pick it up.

“Don’t hurt him,” Robbie mumbled, feeling the fatigue washing through.

“Who? Luc? Only if he denies me again, but there are ways around that. He resisted me in the past, but I made him fall in line.” She smoothed back her hair and glanced at her watch. “Ya know, I heard from Luc that you have a thing for little-known-facts. I bet I have some for you: Did you know that Rohypnol, in small doses, can cause someone to lose their inhibitions
without
knocking them out?
Ketamine’s
pretty handy, too—it can make someone mellow and relaxed, more open to suggestion… Unfortunately,” she added with a sour expression, “it can make you very depressed as well. Ecstasy…well, we all know what that one can do.”

“You had to…drug him…to have sex with you? Pathetic.”

“Pretty ballsy for someone about to die,” Payten said, pulling a scalpel out of her desk drawer. “I believe an anthropologist would have access to these at work, correct?”

Robbie tried to struggle when Payten bent over her, but her body didn’t move an inch. She pulled Robbie’s arms out from her side and rolled her on her back. When she was satisfied with the positioning, she moved in.

Robbie felt the bit of the knife despite the odd paralyzing of her limbs, and then the shooting pain as Payten dragged the scalpel down, cutting her vein open lengthwise.

“An anthropologist would also know the right way to do this. It’ll show you meant business. Don’t worry. You’ll go fast. Faster than you deserve, no doubt.” She glanced at Robbie’s face, then grimaced when she noticed Robbie’s hand twitch. “And not a moment too soon, apparently. It seems the drug is starting to wear off. Thank goodness they’d have no reason to test your blood,” she muttered under her breath. She shot Robbie a smile. “Not that they’d know what they found if they did.”

Robbie’s mouth moved, but no sound came out.

Payten leaned down to whisper in her ear. “I always get what I want, Robbie. I don’t care who gets in my way. That’s why I always win.”

*****

Traffic had them slowing and Luc’s anxiety kicked up. Grabbing the metal mesh between them, he shouted, “Can’t you go any fucking faster?!”

“Shut it, sit back, and buckle up!”

“Fuck you! Get me to Rob!”

“I’m trying,” the detective murmured, weaving through traffic.

“Shit! She’s not answering her phone! Hurry up!”

When they raced up Payten’s driveway, Luc’s heart jumped into his chest as he spotted Robbie’s car. “Get me the fuck out of here,” he demanded, shoving at the locked door.

“I go first, or you don’t get out.”

“Fine.” He flew out of the backseat, and straight into Payten’s house with the detective cursing behind him.

*****

The phone ringing brought Payten to her feet, but again, she didn’t answer it. She simply locked onto Robbie’s gaze as she leaned back and waited for her to bleed out.

Robbie didn’t know how long it had been, but she could actually feel the life draining out of her. The pleas running through her head went unspoken, the curses and anger went unexpressed. She could only hope and pray no one else would be hurt by this bitch.

Instead of saying her goodbyes to those she loved, questions raced through her head: Would the L’s be in danger now? Would Luc ever find out the truth? And then she heard Luc, calling her name. It was faint and echoed, as if sounding through a long concrete tunnel. She tried to chase his voice, but she couldn’t hold on as it wavered in and out.

Everything faded to black.

*****

Luc couldn’t fucking believe what he was seeing as he slid through Rob’s blood on his knees. He grabbed onto her wrists, but it kept coming. “Robbie!
Godammit
, Rob! You wake up right now! Merrill, call an ambulance!”

“Let her go, Luc. Just back away.”

Luc looked up to see Payten aiming a gun at him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Merrill pull his piece.

“Freeze, Payten. Put the gun down. You don’t want to do any more damage.”

She shook her head. “If I can’t have him, then no one will.”

Robbie shifted in Luc’s arms, drawing his attention. “Robbie! Come on, babe. Come on. Hold on for me.”

He faintly heard the click as Payten cocked her gun. He looked up in time to see a bullet explode through her chest, spraying a mist of blood onto the window behind her.
  

“Jesus,” Merrill muttered, keeping his gun on Payten and pulled the trigger again as she swung her weapon toward him.

Her body fell straight back, her gun skidding across the floor.

Merrill grabbed a radio out of his pocket and called for an ambulance as two more cops rushed into the room. One of them raced to Payten’s body, and the other flew at Luc.

The cop took her pulse. Nodding, he looked to Merrill. “It’s weak, but there.”

“They’re on their way.”

Luc stayed glued to Robbie’s side, murmuring encouragements into her ear as the cop did what he could. When the EMTs arrived, he was unceremoniously shoved aside to allow them to work. Merrill grabbed Luc’s arm as the EMTs checked her vitals.

“She’s flat lining,” an EMT barked, grabbing his paddles as the other abandoned the IV he’d started.

“Clear.” Her whole body bounced off the floor.

“Robbie!” Luc moved to rush forward, but Merrill held him firm. He restrained Luc’s arms behind his back when he continued squirming.

“Let them work, Luc!”

“Clear.” Her body convulsed again, flopping limply in the pool of blood surrounding her.

“Jesus Christ! Let me go! Robbie!” Luc thought he was going to go fucking mad, standing by helplessly as she died right before his very eyes. “Don’t you fucking leave me!”

*****

 
“Luc. You can’t stay here forever. You need to go home and get some rest.”

Luc stared blankly at Leah. “What if she wakes up?”

“Sweetie, she’s not going to wake up from a medically-induced coma.”

“I know that,” he grumbled, taking another drink of his cold coffee. “They’ve been testing her off the ventilator, and her vitals have been stable. I don’t want them to bring her out when I’m not here.”