Flames Of Deceit (18 page)

Fire. A coffin. She was trapped alive and moving steadily toward the fire that would turn her body to ashes. She tried to fight, to get out, to move, but she couldn’t escape. She tried to see, but everything was black. She was trapped in a coffin. She was going to die. Who put her in this box, alive? Why? Who had she harmed?

The stench of smoke filled her nostrils as she pulled herself out of the nightmare and sucked air in her lungs. With each breath, she became more conscious.

The movement she’d felt was her head sagging on her chest.

She smelled smoke and coughed, winching at the pain in her head. Chills shook her body, but she couldn’t move. Squinting, she saw her arms were pulled behind the tree at her back, her hands tied. Blinking against the sickening pain, she forced her head up and stared through smoke surrounding her. Was she back in the courthouse again?

No. Where was she? Where was Jake?

Then, through the wispy plumes of smoke, she saw him. He was about four feet away, and tied against a tree. His head rested on his chest. The rope around his feet and hands held him upright, but she couldn’t tell if he was breathing.

Was he alive?

“Jake!” The hoarse whisper scraped her throat. Looking again, she realized she was tied in the same position as Jake, and a roaring blaze burned close in the brush behind them.

She struggled against the rope, trying to loosen her hands, but nothing happened.

She couldn’t move.

Smoke filled her nostrils and lungs.

Her old nightmare flashed through her head like a horror movie, but this was not a dream.

This was real. She wasn’t in a coffin, but still at risk of burning alive.

This new danger was worse than any dream.

If she and Jake couldn’t escape, no one would know who had burned them alive.

Twisting and tugging, she pulled against the rope. And twisted. Turned. Pulled. But she couldn’t free her hands.

Coughing against the clogged air, she stared at Jake through the smoke. He looked so helpless, hanging against the tree, with his head drooping. Pain squeezed her chest. How could their future end like this? Jake was all she had ever dreamed of finding in a man to love. And the slasher was stealing her dreams.

Anger and pain twisted inside her. Love for Jake surged through her. Teeth gritted, she tugged at the rope on her hands with new strength.

Wiggling pulled the rope tighter. She tried to bend her knees to move her body down the tree, but the way her feet were tied, she couldn’t move.

The wind blew smoke in her face and plastered her wet jeans against her legs. The chill felt good after hearing the blaze burning behind her.

“Jake!” She couldn’t see behind her to check how close the fire was, but she felt the heat. Heard the snapping and crackling, and smelled the smoke. Panic grew inside her.

“Jake?” She had to wake him, needed his help, needed to warn him of the danger. “Jake!”

She heard the pain and fear in her voice, and fought for control.

Control
. The one thing she had never achieved. Her parents, then her mother’s ambitions for Phil had taken charge of Mia’s existence. She loved her family, but it was time for her to take charge.

She had survived the culvert...her jeans were soggy and she smelled worse than wet tennis shoes, but she’d crawled out of that culvert in one piece.

She had fought her fear of the dark and won. She would fight her fear of fire and save Jake.
She was his only hope
.

The fire crackled closer.

She tried to think of a plan. Flames burned brush littering the ground and danced around her feet. The blaze was close enough to make her jeans steam, but she didn’t feel pain.

Then…watching the steam, a solution popped in her head.

Was she brave enough? Desperate enough?

Jake moaned.

She was more than desperate. She was in love with Jake. She had to save him.

“Jake.” She stared through the smoke. His body sagged from the tree, but he didn’t respond. “Jake? Can you hear me? We have to get free from this rope or we will burn alive.”

Rope!

Now she remembered. She’d seen the rope coiled over the slasher’s shoulder when she hit him with the limb. He had come prepared.

She started shaking. The slasher had planned the way he wanted them to die. Why? She still didn’t know who he was.

Images of that encounter came back in a flash. She’d swung the limb at his head. At the last second, he’d raised an arm and the limb landed a glancing blow to the coiled rope. The shadowy figure had whirled on her.

So, now she knew how they ended up tied to trees.

But she had to figure a way to get them free. The years she spent in fear of burning alive, became a reality as the sound of the blaze came closer. “Jake!”

It was no use. She had witnessed his beating. She’d been too late to help him fight off the slasher. She had to help him now. There was no other choice, if she wanted to get out of this alive.

Looking through the smoke at Jake’s sagging form, she remembered how he had protected her since the day they met. Now, he was unconscious and she had to save him.

One of them had to survive to tell police what they’d learned.

Fighting back panic, she focused on the heat at her feet. Her socks and jeans were wet from the culvert, but the rope wasn’t. If she could ignore the warmth on her skin, maybe the rope would burn.

She focused on questions. Tried to reason out the slasher’s plan, instead of thinking about the fire burning so close to her body.

Why had the slasher taken time to tie them up? To avoid any chance one of them might regain consciousness and get the other to safety. Seemed reasonable.

Why here
? Why on the tobacco trail? Because they had dashed this way to escape, making it easy to dispose of them. They were in a deep wooded section of the trail. The twenty-mile trail provided a close glimpse of nature.

Too, close, this time.

Was the slasher still out there? If he returned, he could end her attempts to escape. If he knocked her out again, she and Jake would both die in the flames.

Then she felt it.

The pressure holding her feet against the tree, eased.

She wiggled and realized her feet were free. The rope had burned through...but she wasn’t free. Her hands were tied behind her.

Wet jeans had protected her legs, but nothing would protect her hands while flames destroyed the rope. She had to try…had to face her fear of burning if she wanted to escape. Jake’s life depended on her actions.

It was now or never.

If she passed out from pain, maybe she would fall forward enough to keep from burning...but commonsense told her delaying wouldn’t make the situation any better. No white knight was going to ride up and cut her loose. She had to risk being burned to make her escape and save Jake.

Squeezing her eyes tight, teeth sinking in her lip, she slithered down the tree.

Heat flared around her hands. The instinct to jerk away was so strong she could barely resist, but she pulled her wrists as far apart as she could and waited.

Images from her nightmares flared through her head. Memory of burning her hand as a kid flashed in her mind.
What if.
..

Then, miraculously, her hands fell free. She tumbled forward, landing on her face and knees in the leaves and twigs on the ground. Jerking upright, she slapped at the smoke coming from the sleeves of her sweat jacket. Thank heavens polyester melted instead of burning.

Her hands ached. In the dim light from the flames, she couldn’t see the burns but that wasn’t her main problem. Flames were two feet from Jake’s tree. She had to get him untied.

“Jake? Can you hear me? Please wake up. I need to get you away from this fire.”

“Don’t move,” Jake whispered. “He might still be out there.”

“Oh, Jake.” She bit back a sob. “I thought we were going to burn alive.”

“We aren’t out of the woods, yet.” Jake winched. “If he’s watching, we’re still in danger. I’ll keep an eye out in front, you watch behind me.”

She attacked the knot in the ropes at his feet, but the pain in her fingers made her feel faint. “I can’t untie you. My hands are burned.”

“Burn them off like you did yours.”

“You were awake? Why didn’t you say something?”

“Don’t look at me.” He cautioned. “I couldn’t help, so I kept watch.”

Picking up a burning limb, she smothered a gasp of pain, and held the flame to the rope at his feet. “The next part is tricky. I have to get your hand free.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Jake reminded her, with a glance out of the corner of his eyes.

Lip clenched between her teeth, she held the flame close to the bindings on his wrist. With the knot in the middle, she had to burn through the thickest part to avoid contact with his skin. Even then, she worried she would burn him. The pain in her hands cautioned her to avoid that possibility.

If Jake flinched, she didn’t notice. After long moments, the rope gave way. His hands were free. Mia dropped the limb and rushed around the tree. “Let me help you.”

Jake clamped back a groan and straightened. “I’m okay. Keep alert. If he’s watching, he knows we’re free.”

“What are we going to do?” She searched the darkness. “Is he waiting for us in the dark?”

Jake took her in a careful grip and examined her hands. “Your burns aren’t as bad as I feared.” He stared in her eyes. “Can you last a little longer?”’

Biting her lip, she nodded.

Jake pulled out his phone. “It’s time to talk to the police, agreed?”

Staring at him for long speaking seconds, she tipped her head in a nod.

Jake held her gaze as he called nine-one-one to report the blaze. Then he called his friend at the police station.

“Chief? It’s Jake. Sorry it’s so late, but the murderer made another attempt. This time he tried to burn me at the stake. I called the fire in to nine-one-one.”

Mia’s knees almost crumpled under her as Jake answered the chief’s questions. Was the slasher still out there? Was he watching? Would he attack them again?

“We have a suspect.” Jake watched as Mia leaned against a tree. “Thomas Goldman.”

He frowned. “Yes, the big wig with Stern-McHamlin. This isn’t your jurisdiction, but I thought you’d know who to call.”

Turning the phone off, Jake stared at the fire. “I can’t walk away and leave this blaze. Can you sit by that tree for a few minutes?”

Twisting a limb off an evergreen tree, Jake beat the flames. His attempts seemed futile, at first, but he made progress, except for the hottest portion of the blaze.

The stench of smoke, the ache in her hands and her stinging eyes reminded Mia of her past fears. Thinking of her efforts to get free the past few minutes, she realized she was stronger than her fears. She had faced the darkness of the culvert and crawled out. She’d held her hands to a blaze to burn her bindings free. She’d faced her nightmares and won. She had saved Jake. Did she dare pursue her feelings for him and risk rejection?

The person trying to kill them was still out there. She couldn’t stop fighting until he was caught. Was it Thomas Goldman? Why?

She stared into the darkness, watching. “Will they arrest us?”

Jake stood on the opposite side of the fire. The assailant hadn’t put a lot of effort into setting the blaze. He had tossed sticks in a pile behind the trees, and left the leaves on the forest floor to do the rest. Recent rains had left the leaves damp and not easy to burn.

“I don’t think so.” He winched. “If my face looks like it feels, police will know we didn’t do this to ourselves.”

The first responders arrived on four-wheelers. Two with firefighters and a third with EMTs. The firefighters rushed to action instantly, forcing Jake to turn to the medics.

Mia’s hands were examined, ointment applied.

The second EMT examined Jake. “You need x-rays. Do you feel dizzy? Nauseous?”

Jake answered no. After a ride out to the highway, a uniformed officer greeted them. “Durham County police. Come with me.”

Hours later, a nurse rolled Mia’s wheelchair out of the emergency room. “I can walk.”

“You’re injured. Let someone look after you for a while.” When she wheeled Mia in the waiting room, half the occupants in the room jumped to their feet.

Jake came toward her, a metal brace taped to his nose so he looked like raccoon robot, with the bandages on his face.

“Are you okay?” he demanded the instant he reached her side.

Mia nodded. “Are you? I hope I look better than you do.”

“Don’t worry,” He grinned and winced. “Firefighters are tough.”

“Oh, Mia! I was so worried.” Her mother pushed past Jake and leaned down to hug her shoulders. “You are always so reckless.”

“Mom?” Mia started to remind her mother that she had started this whole thing. Then Phil and Ellen with their two kids, stepped close to the wheelchair. “How long have you been here?”

“We came as soon police called.” Phil gave her a one armed hug and stepped back. Ellen moved close to give Mia a watery smile, and whispered, “Thank you.” The kids hung back, staring at the bandages on her hands.

Phil wrapped his arm around Ellen’s shoulders. “We had a long talk. Ellen said if you could risk your life for me, she thinks I’m worth a second chance. Thanks, sis.”

Blinking tears from her eyes, Mia opened her mouth, but no words came. Her mother stepped close to Mia and filled in the silence. “It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have called you for help.”

“The thing is, sis, you’ve always been the strong one.” Phil voice was low so that only the family gathered around her chair, and Jake could hear. “If I’d been more like you, none of this would have happened.”

Mia made a face. “Are you kidding? You are the one with a family, a wife and kids that love you. I want what you have, Phil. Don’t ruin it.”

“Mia, promise me you won’t take risks like this ever again.” Her mom urged. “I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you. Since your father died, you’re the one I turned to. Phil has Ellen, the kids and his career. I’ve poured all my worries on you.” Tears filled her eyes. “Promise you’ll be more careful.”

“Mia Clark?” A uniformed police officer demanded in a loud voice. Everyone in the waiting room turned to stare. “Chief wants to see you and Jake Stone, downtown.”

Mia waved to her family, noting the perplexed expressions on their faces as Jake wheeled her toward the exit.

Funny, how those closest to you go separate ways, but in an emergency, you can always count on your family.

***

Three hours later, the chief returned to the interrogation room.

“Goldman claims he didn’t kill the model. DNA results won’t be back for two days. What makes you so sure he’s the one who tried to kill you?” He pulled out a chair on the opposite side of the table and sat down. There were bags under his eyes and wrinkles in his suit from the long day.

“I studied all the files I collected on the four vice-presidents and my interviews with them. I interviewed Pam Foley the night she died. I confronted my brother and all the evidence points to one of the vice presidents. I think Thomas Goldman is the father of Leigh Anne Saddler’s baby.” Mia tried to keep her tone level and not sound like a recording, but it was hard after repeating the same information for hours.

“Level with me, Ms. Clark. If your notes had pointed to your brother, would you have turned him in?”

“Thankfully, I didn’t have to make that decision. Phil made mistakes, but he didn’t kill anyone.”

The chief waved a hand. “Yeah, that’s what Goldman said before he lawyered up. Now, he won’t say a word.”

“You let him go?” Mia almost banged her hand on the table. “You can’t.”

“Innocen—”

“Until proven guilty,” Mia snapped. “I want to leave.”

The chief leaned across the table, bringing his fleshy face near hers. “There’s a little matter of trespassing and this evidence you claim to have.”

Her head started swimming. “I’ve been attacked twice and nearly burned alive, twice. Are you seriously going to talk about trespassing?”

“What about your evidence?”

“The cigarette butts we saved for DNA and my computer are in the lake house where we were hiding.”

His breath spewed out. “This isn’t over, Ms. Clark. We’ll talk when the test come back.”