Pendelton Manor (27 page)

As she walked along the cliffs, Sophie wondered if Adrian thought about how he’d feel if one of his cousins did betray him, how he would feel if that special bond they shared, the love they had for each other was destroyed, gone forever. She could tell him the betrayal wasn’t as bad as the loss would be, but she doubted if he’d believe her or even listen. He was adamant in his belief, even if it was killing him to think one of them could perpetrate such acts against him.

Stopping a moment to brush her hair out of her face, she glanced out across the ocean again and thought the dark storm clouds looked a lot closer. Jagged streaks of lightning already heralded its arrival, making her shiver. Huddling against the wind that was picking up, she turned back towards the manor, praying the storm brewing out on the ocean and the one brewing at home would both soon pass with relative calmness.

James just pulled the riding lawnmower onto his trailer and shut it off when his phone rang. Noticing Rachel’s number, he answered with a smile. “Hey there, sweetie. I finished early because it looks like that storm is coming in sooner than forecasted.” As he listened to her, his good humor was slowly replaced with despondency. He knew he was on borrowed time, knew the past would catch up with him, especially after the happenings of the past few weeks, but he was hoping he had more time, especially with Rachel. With her voice screeching ‘You son of a bitch, I trusted you’! he slowly ended the call and went in search of Sophie. He had some explaining to do before Adrian got home.

Adrian hung up the phone slowly. The mechanics had just confirmed that his brake line had been cut, allowing a slow leak. He had had the presence of mind to check his Cherokee over thoroughly this morning before driving it into work and didn’t find anything wrong, but everyone knew he preferred his Mercedes and rarely drove the SUV. Having his suspicions confirmed did nothing to ease his conscience or defuse his anger. He hadn’t seen Adam or Ash this morning, he didn’t even know if they were in the office. The three of them usually ate lunch together; sometimes they met James at the diner downtown, depending on their schedules. Today the lunch hour passed quietly and he found the emotional struggle between deep seated anger and an unsettling feeling of helplessness and loss wearing on him.

Just as he was giving in to the temptation to seek out his cousins, the door to his office was flung open and Rachel and Nora came stumbling in. “What the hell is going on?” he snapped angrily, then, as he noticed the tears running down Rachel’s pale cheeks and the tight grip Nora had on her hand, worry replaced anger. “Rachel, what’s wrong?”

“This,” she said tossing a medicine bottle on his desk. “That’s what’s wrong.”

Picking up the bottle, he read the label. “Why is James taking Valium?”

On a sob, she choked, “I don’t think he is. I think he’s been putting it in my wine before bed on certain nights so I won’t wake up when he sneaks out.”

Adrian felt a roaring in his head as his heart clutched in icy fear as he realized the implications of her discovery. All this time, all the facts never once pointed to James, but now that the blinders were off, it made complete sense. James and Nicole had been a couple for a short time before he and Nicole hooked up. Obviously, James had fallen harder for her than she had for him.

“Sit down and explain, Rachel,” he told her before he jumped to the wrong conclusion, again.

“Just don’t be an ass to her,” Nora said, anger for her friend evident in her tone.

Adrian’s first reaction was to snap back at her, but he quickly reined in his anger. After all, it wasn’t their fault he may have screwed up royally with Adam and Ash. With a nod, he encouraged Rachel to talk.

“Yesterday morning, when I didn’t wake up until almost noon, it reminded me of a few other times I had fallen asleep and not woken until late the next morning, which is really unusual for me since I’m a morning person. But when you called about your car, I really got suspicious. The nights I slept so soundly, James always gave me a glass of wine before bed. Wine he had poured while I was out of the room.”

“The night Nicole died?” he asked already knowing the answer.

“Yes.” Another sob broke as the three of them realized the depth of James’ betrayal. Nicole and Sophie weren’t his only victims.

“I’m going to have a talk with him,” Adrian said as he rose from behind his desk and walked around to them. “He’s at the manor today, and….”

“Oh my God!” Jumping up, Rachel, grabbed his arm in a desperate grip. “Adrian, I called him. I was so upset, so mad and hurt….”

“Shit. Stay here.” With terror driving him, Adrian sped for home, and for Sophie.

As usual, Sophie found herself farther from the manor than she had thought and now worried she might not make it back before the storm broke. She had an hours walk back, at least, but maybe if she hurried she could make it. She didn’t look forward to spending a stormy afternoon alone, even if she had been grateful for the quiet solitude this morning. As much as she was beginning to love the manor, it could be an eerie, daunting place under certain circumstances.

She was over half way back when she looked up and saw James walking swiftly towards her, a look of worry on his face. The wind, which was always blustery along the cliffs, had whipped up even more, and the sounds of the approaching storm were coming closer. Relieved that she was going to have company, at least until they got back, she waved to him.

“James, I’m so glad to see you. It was nice of you to come see me back. I hope I didn’t worry…” her voice trailed off as she saw the look of quiet desperation and sorrow on his face, his green eyes as stormy as the cloud laden skies. “James, what’s wrong?” Clutching his arm, she fretted, “Is it Adrian? Has something happened?”

She took a hasty step back when anger suffused his face and he snarled, “Adrian, it’s always Adrian, isn’t it, Sophie? Fuck Adrian. If it wasn’t for him, none of this would have happened.”

“What are you talking about? Where is he?” Sophie quickly forgot the danger of the storm as she sensed more danger coming from the man in front of her as he grabbed her arm in a tight, bruising grip. “Ow! James, you’re hurting me,” she cried out softly as she pleaded with him to let her go. “Leave me alone, I want to get back before the storm hits.”

“The storm has already struck, Sophie,” he said in an achingly soft voice as he loosened his hold on her. “I’m sorry, so sorry for so many things. I wanted a chance to explain before he got here, a chance to tell you I never meant you any harm. I swear it. Please tell me you believe that, if nothing else.”

With the next flash of lightning, a light bulb went off and Sophie put the pieces together. “It was you?” she asked disbelievingly. “James, why? Why would you do those things?”

Running his free hand through his hair in frustration, he practically growled, “The generator, I was just so pissed when you returned from your walk looking a little scared and sad, you always look so sad, Sophie. Then you asked for Adrian, in your time of need, it was him you thought of first and it just pissed me off. I struck out, knew that you’d be even more scared if the lights stayed off. Shit, it was petty and mean, I know.”

“And Sammy? What did poor Sammy do to make you want to kill her?” she choked out as she realized the depth of his betrayal.

Just that quickly, he went from contrition to anger, snapping as he jerked her to him, “Instead of cowering in your room, what do you do? God damn it, you ran to him, to that son of a bitch who took everything I loved. Why? Why did you do that?”

He was Nicole’s lover, she thought, and possibly responsible for her death. Strangely enough, she didn’t fear for herself. He was right about one thing, his actions were never intended to harm her. It was Adrian she feared who would have difficulty in dealing with this betrayal from a man who had been as close as a brother to him for thirty years.

“I didn’t want to be alone, that’s all there was to it, James. But Sammy didn’t deserve your anger and you scared the hell out of me when you locked me in the lighthouse. I can’t forgive you for that,” she told him in a stronger voice.

“For two days I had been struggling with the anger that Adrian had taken up with you, that he cared for you more than he has for anyone lately, and it fucking pissed me off. The way he looked at you that Saturday night, it was all I could do right then not to wipe that possessive look off his unsuspecting face. However, having you suck my cock worked almost as good. It’ll kill him now every time he remembers how he shared you with me that night.”

Sophie swallowed the bile lodged in her throat and struggled to free herself. “Let me go, James, please. Just let me go and leave, leave all of us alone. No one need ever know…” She stopped as he shook his head regretfully, his eyes now sober and sad.

Reaching up, he pushed her windblown hair back and ran his knuckles down her face. “It’s too late, Sophie. Much too late. Nicole’s death was an accident, I swear it, but no one will believe me now.”

The look of resignation on his face scared her more than any of his revelations and Sophie took a step back as she began to struggle in earnest. But instead of her foot landing on solid ground, she felt nothing under her and then she was screaming as she went over, her hand now trying to cling to James instead of pushing him away.

“Sophie, no!”

Adrian came upon them just in time to see Sophie struggling with James, just in time to see her take that step back and fall over. Both he and James called to her simultaneously, but as James desperately leaned over and made a grab for her, he lost his balance and followed her down, his yell drowned out by a loud clap of thunder from the now roiling, black storm clouds hovering above them.

Fear like he’d never known choked Adrian as he ran to the ledge and looked over, replaced by relief so consuming it made him lightheaded as he saw Sophie clinging to a rocky ledge, her face pale and looking up at him with heart wrenching defeat.

Laying on his stomach, he leaned over as far as he could, stretching his hand out to her. “Take my hand, Sophie, I can pull you up,” he yelled over the storm now raging down on them.

Calmness settled over Sophie as she realized she wasn’t going to make it. The jagged ledge she clung to cut into her palms and already she could feel her blood slick hands slipping. Her first thought was she would be able to see her beloved daughter again, maybe, God willing, she would hear her laugh and hold her small body again. It’s all she wanted really, to be with Emily, Emily who had needed her for so short a time, Emily who had been everything she lived for.

“No, Adrian, my weight’ll pull you over with me. I have to tell you, James…”

“No, I’m telling you, grab my hand, God damn it. Trust me, Sophie, I won’t let you fall.” Adrian cursed angrily when it looked like she was giving up.

“I won’t risk you...”

“You go down, I go down, Sophie. Either way, I won’t lose you. So choose and do it fucking quick,” he rasped in a strangled voice filled with desperation. Keeping his eyes off the body of his best friend lying just inches from where Nicole’s body had been found, he strained to get to her, and prayed he wasn’t going to lose her now that he succumbed to his feelings.

The rain started then, but for the first time since she was five, Sophie didn’t fear the storm. Looking up into Adrian’s face, the determination to either save her or go with her she saw reflected there scared her. And with blinding clarity, she realized that Emily no longer needed her, was in a good place and was being cared for and was happy. She would mourn her till her dying day, but the black eyes staring down implacably at her, eyes she had always thought were so cold, were now heated with a need so strong it left her shaken. Here was someone who did need her, needed her now and suddenly she knew what she had to do. Knowing it was now or never, she just nodded to him and reached for his hand.

Adrian caught her hand, but her bloody palms made it difficult to hold onto her. Just as he felt her slip, two more arms and hands reached down from each side of him, Adam and Ash grabbing her wherever they could and between the three of them, hauled her up until she fell against him in a wet, shaking heap.

“You did it,” she sobbed over and over. “You did it, Adrian.”

Even though Adrian’s heart was still beating frantically, the fear induced adrenaline still whipping through his body, he lifted his face to his cousins and said, “No, we did it.”

“Damn right,” Ash said as he stood up and held his hand out to Adrian. “What do you say we all go home?”

Keeping one arm around Sophie, he took Ash’s hand and sent Adam a look of gratitude as he supported Sophie on the other side. By the time they stumbled into the manor soaking wet and more than a little shaken, the police were already on the cliff making plans to haul up another body.

SIX MONTHS LATER

“No fair,” Adrian said as he and Sophie entered the den to see Nora and Rachel already strapped down on the benches, their nipples stiff peaks pointing straight up, their pussies gleaming damply between their spread legs. “You were supposed to wait until we cleaned up the kitchen.”

“Says who?” Adam grinned as he ran a finger slowly down Nora’s slit. “You know how demanding my wife is and how I aim to please.”

Nora rolled her eyes, muttering, “Please,” then cried out as Adam slapped the flesh he had just been teasing.

Sophie smiled at the couple, happy for the two of them. James’ death had affected all of them in different ways, and for Adam it had worked as an eye opener about his relationship with Nora. One month after James’ funeral, they were married and couldn’t seem happier. Surprisingly, it was Ash who had changed the most and who took it upon himself to be there for Rachel who fell into a deep depression they all worried she wouldn’t pull herself out of. After giving up his out-of-town flings and practically moving in with Rachel, she seemed to come around slowly and just within the past few weeks had started teasing and smiling again. Her eyes were still shadowed with pain though, and they all figured it would take a lot more time to forget how badly James had used her.