PassionsPoison (21 page)

Susan bit her lip as Phillip came out of the guestroom.
“Were you able to…?”

He shook his head. “She won’t have me. She’s says she’s in
love with this Zach guy. I thought she’d be over him by now. She should be with
me. We’re supposed to have a family.”

Susan’s heart felt like the tree in her backyard, split in
half by lightning. She couldn’t let her daughter die this way. Yes, she had
wanted her to marry, but never expected her to be so heartbroken she didn’t
care about her own existence. She would do anything to save her. She grabbed
Phillip’s arm. “There has to be something you can do for her. You said you’ve
been working on an antidote. Please, Phillip. If you love her, for goodness
sakes do something.”

Phillip patted her hand on his arm. “What I’ve developed
hasn’t been tested yet. Bea wasn’t interested.”

“It can’t hurt to try.” Susan’s voice rose, but she couldn’t
control it. “She’s dying in there! You two can’t ever be together if she dies.
I know you love her. Please, you have to try.”

Gerry stepped up behind her. “Is this true? Do you have an
antidote that will release her from the poison?”

Phillip raised his finger. “I do, but I wouldn’t be able to
guarantee anything. It might even make her worse.”

Gerry pulled Susan out of the way. “Do it. Do it now.”

“Very well, but remember, I’m not sure of the results.”

While Phillip went to his car with Gerry as a personal
escort, Susan walked into her guestroom and sat on the bed. Bea had used the
toy she’d given her and her temperature had gone down a few degrees, but it was
only a matter of time. “Bea?”

Bea opened her eyes.

Susan stroked her daughter’s cheek. “Phillip is going to
give you the antidote he discovered. You’ll be cured and then you can have a
normal life.”

Bea’s eyes brightened in her otherwise pale face. “Really?
He would do that for me? Are you sure I won’t have to marry him in exchange?
He’s still in love with me, Mom. If I loved someone that much, I don’t think I
could watch them have a life with someone else.”

Susan lied easily. “No, honey, he just wants you to live.
When you love someone that much, you want what’s best for them.”

Bea turned away. “How would you know?”

Ouch, that hurt. Taking her daughter’s face in her hands,
she gazed into her eyes. “Because I love you and would gladly give up what I
have for you if it would help. I would give Phillip anything to save you.”

Bea’s eyes started to water and Susan hugged her. “I need
you to live, honey.” When her daughter hugged her tightly, she couldn’t hold
back the tears.

“Okay, let’s get this show on the road.” Gerry carried in a
cooler and set it down on the dresser.

Susan wiped her face before she moved to allow Phillip
access. “She’s all yours, Phillip.”

He lifted his brow. “Thank you. You don’t know how long I’ve
wanted to hear those words.”

Bea had the covers grasped tightly to her chin. “Are you
sure this will work?”

Phillip laid a hand on her head. “Trust me. You’re in good
hands.”

As Phillip injected Bea in the arm, Susan watched. Her
daughter’s eyes widened. “Oh wow. I feel a change already.”

Her color came back quickly and her breathing returned to a
normal pace. Susan couldn’t believe it. If this worked, maybe she could be
cured too.

Cured? It had never occurred to her. If her poisons were
gone, she could have a normal life, but she didn’t want a normal life. She
liked her men. She liked having four men who adored her and six men who loved
her daughter. She shook her head. Her daughter and she were complete opposites
in every way.

Phillip spoke. “How do you feel, Bea?”

Susan looked down again and noticed Bea’s flushed face.

“Wonderful, except I feel a little hot. Is this what a hot
flash feels like?”

Phillip fidgeted. “That’s good, that’s good. That means the
medicine is working. You know I always wanted to be with you, Bea. I just
needed time to find the antidote. But I always watched out for you. I even sent
you letters to help you make the right decisions, but you disappointed me. I
wanted us to be together forever. But I guess that can’t be.”

Bea stared at him. “You sent the letters? Why?”

He shook his head. “I was trying to make you see that your
life was headed in the wrong direction. We were meant to be together, but you
wouldn’t listen.” He stood. “I’m sorry, Bea. But if I can’t have you, then no
one should. You were supposed to be mine.”

As Phillip left the bedroom, Susan grabbed his arm. “Where
are you going? Is it going to work?”

Phillip halted and looked at her in triumph. “Exactly as
it’s supposed to. Goodbye, Susan.”

At his words, instinctual fear skittered around her heart
and she ran back into the room. “Bea, how do you feel?”

“Not good. I’m cold now. Really cold and my feet feel numb.”

Gerry’s face mirrored her own worried thought. Was her
daughter having an allergic reaction? She turned to him. “What should we do
now?”

He ran his hand over his bald head. “I’m not sure. Maybe we
need a real doctor now. If she is cured, she could be having a reaction to the
medicine.”

Susan twisted her hands. “Gerry, Phillip said if he can’t
have Bea, then no one can. Do you think he meant…?”

Gerry’s eyes rounded. “That bastard! He said that?”

She nodded. Gerry couldn’t hear from his left ear so of
course he’d missed Phillip’s remark. If he had heard it, Phillip would be lying
on the floor in agony right now.

“Mom? Mom?”

Susan ran to Bea’s side and took her hand. It was like ice.
“I’m right here, honey.”

“Mom, I’m really, really cold.”

“We’ll get you another blanket.” Susan looked at Gerry.
“Grab a blanket from my bed.”

Bea squeezed Susan’s hand. “Mom, I just wanted Zach. I love
him. Phillip ruined it with his damn letters and photos of me.” She stared at
the dresser before returning her gaze to Susan. “I don’t think he cured me. I
think he’s killed me. Please, Mom, I need Zach. I want to say goodbye.”

As the tears rolled down her daughter’s cheeks, Susan broke,
giving in to the despair that had been beating on the door to her brain.
Dropping her head onto the bed, she allowed the pain in, taking her breath
away.

When Gerry came back with three blankets, he piled them on
Bea. The shaking stopped and Susan lifted her head to see her daughter had
fallen asleep.

Gerry pulled Susan into his arms and escorted her to the
living room. He sat her on the sofa.

She pulled away. If she let him hold her again, she’d turn
into a blubbering mess. She didn’t want to be a mess. She needed to save her
daughter. “I don’t think this is good. I’m afraid she’s dying. She asked for
Zach because…because…she wants to say goodbye.”

Gerry stood. “Then that’s what she’ll get. I’ll call my
boys.”

“Gerry, I think I should call all her fathers.”

He rubbed his hand over his smooth head. “Yeah, I guess.”

She stood next to him. “I mean
all
of them.”

He pulled her into his arms and she squeezed him hard. As he
tipped her face for his kiss, she caught sight of a tear on his cheek. He might
be her big biker dude, but he loved Bea as much as she did, as much as all her
fathers.

Gerry hugged her for a moment then pulled away. “I’ll get
Charlie on the way to this guy’s place in case he tries to make a run for it.
Do you know where this Zach lives?”

She gave him directions from her conversation with Bea the
night she’d been snowed in with Zach. The same night she had convinced her
daughter to put her heart on the line. Ignoring the cloud of guilt threatening
to break through her defenses, Susan plopped down on the couch. She heard the
door slam at Gerry’s exit and she picked up the phone. She had to believe
between the six of them, one of them could save Bea. She’d start with the
farthest away and the one with the most resources. “Hi, Jim, you need to get
here right away.”

* * * * *

Zach left the downstairs shower in a pair of clean jeans and
dragged his butt upstairs to the living room. Josh was sacked out on the couch,
which looked like a good idea. It was late afternoon and he’d finished the
carving for the inn. A few touch-ups with the detail lines and it’d be ready to
go. The sooner he delivered it, the sooner he could cut all ties to anything
reminding him of Bea. He didn’t give a damn when Ice-Out happened anymore.

After grabbing a beer from the fridge, he collapsed on the
other couch. The television was on, but Josh had it on mute, so Zach clicked it
off. Taking a swallow of Bud Light, he gazed outside.

The sun lit the open area in front of the deck, but the
house shaded the driveway, one reason the ice hadn’t melted there yet. The
bright scenery did nothing to ease the ache inside his chest, but at least the
physical exertion of making the chainsaw obey his commands had tired him out.
Maybe he could have a sober, forgetful sleep.

Josh snored and rolled over.

He toasted his friend with his beer then took another swig.
Maybe he needed to get out and meet a new woman. He’d never had a woman betray
him before, not even his many short-term relationships. Maybe that was the key.
He’d stayed with Bea longer than usual. If she hadn’t screwed around on him,
she could have ended up dead like Danielle and Lisa.

Bea’s sexy eyes and brilliant smile hedged into his
thoughts. She was too beautiful. He would have been more than willing to
satisfy her sexual needs even if they had to spend days in bed. Why did she
have to stray? Why did she stay away for days at a time?

He took another gulp. It didn’t matter. She’d probably
picked up a couple more suckers to sleep with. No wonder she went for him. She
obviously wasn’t interested in long-term either.

He set the beer on the table and stretched out on the couch.
Closing his eyes, he tried not to think of Bea, but found himself sketching her
in his mind.

A hand around his throat brought his eyes wide open. “What?”

A bald giant with a goatee bent over him. From the tattoos,
earring and black tank with a faded Harley logo on the front, Zach hoped the
man had seen his own bike parked in the driveway where Josh had left it.

The giant spoke. “You Zach Woodman?”

Zach glanced at the other couch to see Josh in a similar
situation, a hand on his throat and scared shitless. What the hell were these
guys doing in his house? Anger built. He stared the giant in the eyes. “What if
I am? What’s it to you?”

That was the wrong answer if the lack of air getting to his
lungs was any indication.

The giant’s eyes became slits. “Don’t play with me, man. I’m
not in a pleasant mood and I have no time to make nice.”

When the pressure on his windpipe let up again, Zach
attempted a civil answer. “Yeah, I’m Zach. Who are you?”

The hand around his neck left, only to find purchase on his
arm to yank him up. He vaguely wished he had a shirt on.

The giant thrust his chin toward Josh. “Who’s that?”

Cooperating seemed like the right way to go for now. “That’s
Doctor Josh Sutton, a well-known scientist in the state. You don’t want to harm
him if you want to avoid the police.”

The giant glanced at Josh then grinned. “Perfect. Bring him
too.”

Zach scanned his living room to find no less than six bikers
surrounding them, plus one short, stocky guy who looked as if he didn’t belong
but was completely at home in their company.

Zach spoke to the giant. “Where are you taking us?”

The giant’s brows lowered. “You’re both coming to Susan
Rappaccini’s house.”

Zach tugged at his arm, breaking the giant’s grip. “I’m not
going anywhere near there. I don’t know what Bea’s mother told you, but forcing
me to her house is not going to change anything. Bea’s a nympho. I prefer not
to share my woman.”

The jaw-splitting punch caught him completely unawares. For
the second time that day he found himself staring at his living room floor.
Gingerly, he moved his mouth and spit out a piece of one of his teeth. Holy
hell, who was this guy? He didn’t have much time to ponder that statement
before two of the bikers lifted him by his arms to face the giant.

Oh fuck, he wished he was still on the floor. The fury in
the man’s eyes made him seriously think his time on Earth was limited. He
wished his brain would work faster because he had no idea what he could say to
save his life.

The giant approached.

Zach tensed.

The little man stepped in front of him, shielding him from
the giant’s murderous intent. “Whoa, Gerry. I think Bea would like to see the
guy breathing, don’t you?”

He would have to buy the little man a drink if he got out of
this alive.

The giant wasn’t moved. “Come on, Charlie, you heard what he
said about our daughter. I don’t think she’d mind too much if he was missing a
limb.”

Daughter? Holy shit! He was fucked. These were two of Bea’s
fathers.

Charlie shook his head. “I don’t think so, Gerry. We need to
bring him whole. Then depending what happens, you can always beat the pulp out
of him later.”

Gerry wasn’t too happy. “All right, but no interference
later if I decide he needs to be taught a lesson, agreed?”

Charlie nodded.

Gerry turned to his friends. “Okay, guys, let’s go. Bring
the doc too.”

Zach waited until they had all made it to the basement
before speaking again. “Uh, mind if I throw on a shirt and boots? I’ll freeze
my tits off out there.”

Gerry stepped in front of him. “Aw, wussy girl has to get
dressed to go outside?”

Zach smirked. “I don’t know. Are you willing to strip and
try it?”

Gerry pulled back his arm when Charlie stepped between them
again. “Gerry, why don’t you head outside? I’ll take care of this.”