Read Fatal Impulse: A Widow's Web Novel Online
Authors: Lori L. Robinett
Fatal Impulse: A Widow's Web Novel
FATAL IMPULSE
Lori L. Robinett
Copyright © 2015 by Lori L. Robinett
Cover Design by www.selfpubbookcovers.com/Daniela
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Kindle Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
ISB
N
978-0692401774 (paperback)
ASIN B00UB2U7WS (ebook)
Three Creeks Press
1880 State Road E
Auxvasse, MO 65231
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is dedicated to my friend, Lisa Oliver, and her mother, Cindy March, who helped me plot this story out during our girlfriend getaway in 2014.
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Contents
A
ndi felt her husband's glare from across the room, like a red hot laser boring into her. She nodded and smiled as the gray haired gentleman beside her at the bar talked, but she didn't hear his words. Instead, she plotted her escape before Chad got any angrier.
She raised two fingers in the air and caught the bartender's attention. "Two red wines, please."
The man continued, his eyes bright with enthusiasm, "There is treasure on this island, just waiting to be discovered. The geology is right for it."
The brunette behind the counter set two glasses on the bar. Andi picked them up by the stems and murmured to the man beside her, "Good luck with finding that tanzanite."
"Tourmaline," he corrected her.
She turned away and froze. Chad stood in front of her, inches away. His steel gray eyes bored into hers, narrowed and suspicious. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your new friend?"
She blinked and turned towards the man. "Chad, this is Mr. Franklin. Mr. Franklin, this is my husband, Chad Adams."
The man stuck his hand out, "Nice to meet you, Chad."
"It's Doctor." Chad grasped the man's hand and pumped it once, "Dr. Adams."
The man hesitated, then said, "Dr. Adams, then. Please, call me Carl."
The chill in Chad's voice matched his eyes. "How do you know my wife?"
Andi handed her husband a glass of wine. "We just met."
"I own a jewelry store in Buccaneer Bay." Carl produced a business card from his breast pocket, "And I'm an amateur rock hounder. Afraid I get so excited about my hobby, I talk about it at every opportunity."
Chad took a sip of his wine, then settled onto her bar stool. "Really, why don't you tell me about it?"
Lightning slashed the sky above them, thunder rolled and the wind swept the rain in sheets across the blackness of the Atlantic that stretched away to the East. Andi hugged herself to calm the shivers. The wipers slapped at the rain while Chad berated her for the way she acted that evening. She stared out into the inky darkness.
He glanced at her. “You act like you don’t know what to say or do when we're out in public. You ignored me during dinner, and giggled like a schoolgirl at Carl Franklin at the bar.”
He overlooked the fact that
he
monopolized the gentleman’s time after dinner, leaving her alone in a sea of strangers. He accused her of flirting with other men on a regular basis, and that night was no different. Hopefully the anger would get out of his system before they got home.
“You make me look bad when you flirt like that,” he continued. “It’s not like Carl Franklin would ever be in the least bit interested in you, even if you weren’t my wife.”
It never occurred to him that his wife found the man’s hobby of rock hounding to be interesting. His accusations stung, and he didn't always stop with words. The two celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary the previous May, and she was determined to make her marriage work. Her parents raised her to believe marriage is forever, ‘til death do you part, so she would not leave him. No matter what.
A sharp bang interrupted his tirade.
The SUV swerved on the wet pavement, throwing her sideways into the door. The seatbelt grabbed and held her in place, and she braced herself against the dash with her hands. Her head jerked from side to side as the vehicle fishtailed back and forth until Chad slowed the Grand Cherokee. He held the steering wheel with an iron grip and guided the vehicle to the side of the road, the blown tire thumping. He set the emergency brake with a sharp yank, then turned to look at her, his dark eyes narrowed. He looked evil in the amber glow of the instrument panel.
The interior light blinked on when he opened his door, bathing the inside of the vehicle with harsh light. He started to get out, then paused, one foot in, one foot out, and turned to stare at her.
“I had control. There is no need to grab the dash like that. As you may recall, this vehicle is equipped with airbags. Had they deployed, your arms would have been broken.” That low, smooth voice that had once impressed her now gave her chills. "Snap."
The door slammed shut behind him and darkness washed over her. She bit her lower lip, angry at the tremble she felt at his sharp words. She watched the driver side mirror as he stalked around and opened the back hatch. He shoved his golf clubs to the side and yanked the jack out of the back of the SUV.
She took a deep breath and got out. With winter's last gasp, the rain plastered her thick hair against her head and the clothes against her back. Her thin, sequined jacket did little to protect her from the cold rain that stung like needles where it struck her exposed skin. Her heels sank into the soft shoulder with every step, and the wind pushed her so hard her left leg bumped the steel guardrail. She glanced over the rail. The angry waves crashed into the rocks far below them, but she couldn't see anything but darkness.
He cursed under his breath as she squeezed past him, then said, “Make yourself useful and hold the damned flashlight for me. There’s one in the emergency kit.”
A dark colored sedan splashed water as it sped by. She reached in the back and fumbled around for the flashlight. Her fingers closed around the black metal barrel of the Maglite. The beam sliced through the night as she took up a position just behind her husband and shone the light wherever he directed. The wind whipped and howled around them. Chills racked her body and her hands shook, which made him madder by the minute.
Finally, he yanked the shredded tire off and lifted the spare on. After a few spins of the tire iron, he let the jack down with a thump and rolled the shredded tire past Andi, then settled the jack and iron back into their places. He stuck out a hand and demanded her jacket.
“What?” She blinked as a raindrop struck her in the eye.
He shook his hand in her face. “Your coat. Give it here. I need something to lay the old tire on so the carpet doesn’t get dirty.”
She shivered in the rain while he spread her black sequined wrap out and laid the muddy tire on top of it. He slammed the hatch shut, then turned to sneer at her. “It’s a wonder I got that thing changed with you shaking that light around all over the place.”
She opened her mouth to apologize, but stopped when his eyes narrowed. He grabbed her ponytail and jerked down, forcing her to look up at him.“It’s a damned good thing you’ve got me around to take care of you –
you
never could have kept control when that tire blew, and you sure as hell wouldn’t have been able to change a tire in good weather, much less in the driving rain like this.” He released her ponytail and poked her chest with his index finger, hard. "Stupid bitch."
He laughed that cruel, mocking laugh of his and rocked back on his heels, his head thrown back. Lightning flashed across the sky, and he looked like a madman. His laugh echoed around them, mixed with the roar of the waves, as though the ocean itself was mocking her.
She tightened her grip on the Maglight, and swung it like a baseball bat, just like she'd been taught that summer she played softball as a kid back in Missouri. He blinked and stammered as he stepped backwards. The back of his knee hit the guardrail and he tipped over, his legs flying up in slow motion. He looked at her as he fell, eyes wide with surprise, and then he was gone. His scream echoed against the cliff and then there was silence.
The flashlight felt heavy in her hand.
The emergency flashers continued their steady throb.
Thunder shook the ground beneath her. She stood there, numb, staring down into the darkness.