Raw Desire (24 page)

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Authors: Kate Pearce

BOOK: Raw Desire
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Ally progressed farther down the hall and into the kitchen. The glass in the door had been repaired, and there was no sign of any damage. A note from Rob was propped up against the ancient toaster. She read it out loud.
“ ‘All clear here. But come over and spend the night anyway—Rob and Jackson.' ” He'd added three
X
s and three interlinked hearts; that made her smile, which was probably exactly what he'd intended.
She propped the note up on the table and hesitated by the phone. Hadn't Jane said something about having a friend who was a Realtor? Maybe she should call Jane and get the number now while she was still determined to sell the place. She looked around the countertops. Where the hell was her cell phone? Had Rob put it somewhere safe for her? After a quick fruitless search, she used the landline to dial Jane's number, which she'd found stuck on the refrigerator under the pizza delivery service flyer.
“Hey, Jane?”
“Yes, it's me. What can I do for you, Ally?”
Ally propped her hip on the edge of the table. “I was wondering if you had the number of that Realtor friend of yours handy.”
“Alison Haymore? Yes, I'm sure I have it here somewhere.” There was a rustling sound. “Have you decided to sell the house already?”
“I'm thinking about it.”
“You're leaving town?”
Ally smiled at the hope in Jane's voice. “Well, I'm not sure about that yet, but I really want to get rid of the house.”
“Why's that?”
Despite the heat, Ally shivered. “Because it's full of ghosts.”
There was a pause before Jane replied, “Darn it, I can't find the number. I'll go look for it, and then I'll bring it over, okay?”
“Sure. I'm not going anywhere until nine tonight.”
“Great, well, I'll drop in later, then. Bye!”
Ally disconnected and then got herself a cold glass of water. She'd shower, finish reading Ruth's journal, and wait for Jane to turn up.
 
Two hours later, Ally was almost finished reading. Ruth's struggle with the cancer that had eventually killed her made Ally sad. She was just about to close the book when she noticed there was another page of text, and it was addressed directly to her. She turned the page and started to read.
 
Dear Ally, I hope you get to read these journals of mine and don't just throw them in the trash. There's a lot of junk in this house, and I can't seem to stop it growing. My friends want to help me clear it out, but if I let them do that, things might emerge that I'd rather not deal with. I'm hoping you'll deal with them for me, Ally, which is a lot to ask from a mother who sucked at mothering and let you down. But then, I've always been a coward. Perhaps you can set things right. Do you remember when you were a little girl and I taught you how to play hide-and-seek with that favorite teddy of yours? You didn't realize I'd stuff my drugs in the back of the teddy so that if we got busted, the cops wouldn't look there. Pathetic, I know. I'm almost ashamed to write it. But there it is. Find the teddy, find the truth, and do what you think best.
Ally closed the book and studied the black cover, her mind scrolling back through the years to picture the ragged teddy her mother was talking about. It was the bear Ruth had bought her at the zoo. She closed her eyes and evened out her breathing. Where had she hidden the thing? Her mother had always told her the best places, and Ally hadn't realized why.
What was her mother talking about anyway? What had she concealed, and why? Ally raised her head and stared blindly at the wall. It all made a terrible kind of sense now. Someone was after something in the house, and her mother was suggesting she had something to hide, but what?
The doorbell rang, startling Ally. She put the book away and went to open the front door. Jane was there, her smile beaming, her flowery pink dress making her look as fresh and cool as a morning breeze.
“Hey, Ally. I was going out, anyway, so I thought I'd bring the phone number by.” Jane walked down the hall and into the kitchen, her head bent as she riffled through her large flowered purse. “I have a flyer here somewhere with a discount on it.”
“That's great, Jane.” Ally followed her guest, her thoughts still far away.
Jane glanced at the back door. “I see you got everything fixed up nicely.”
“Yeah, Rob was very kind and did the glass for me.”
“Rob did?” Jane put her purse on the table and continued to rummage through it. “Darn it, I know I put the thing in here.” Her gaze fell on the note Ally had left on the table. “Oh.”
For some reason, Ally wanted to snatch the piece of paper away before Jane finished reading it.
Jane abandoned her search. “Why would Rob invite you to stay at his house when you're leaving?”
Ally shrugged. “He's just doing his job.”
“You think he invites everyone involved in a crime scene to stay over?”
Ally sat down at the table. “Rob and I have been friends for years. He's a bit overprotective.”
Jane took the seat opposite Ally, her cheeks now flushed, her mouth set in a firm, unyielding line. “You're seeing him again, aren't you?”
“I'm . . .” Ally wanted to squirm in her seat. “It's not like we're going out or anything, Jane. We just have a few things to sort out before I leave.” Wow, that sounded lame even to Ally.
“So you're going to sell this house and move in with Rob?”
“That's not what I said. Selling this house has nothing to do with him.”
Jane fiddled with the handles of her purse. “I suppose I should've seen it coming, really. I know what you're doing with Rob, Ally. I've seen you.”
“And I know you won't believe me, but it doesn't mean anything.”
“Because it's just sex?”
“Yeah.” Ally felt awful. “I know for you there's probably no difference between being in a relationship and just having sex, but for Rob and me, it's different.”
Jane's lip wobbled. “That's a lie, Ally. The kinds of lies men tell themselves so that they can get what they want from women. My dad was like that with my mom. I never thought I'd hear you use the same perverted logic.”
Ally couldn't answer. Trouble was, it was a lie. Ally knew she'd never been able to separate the sex from the love with Rob or with Jackson. She knew that whatever he claimed, Rob felt the same too.
She took a deep breath. “You're right, Jane. I didn't come back here to hurt anyone. I came to make amends, but I've realized that I do care for Rob.”
“And now you won't be leaving.” Jane opened her purse and pulled out a tissue to dab at her eyes.
“I'm not sure what I'll be doing yet. I'm still intending to go to college in the fall. That's the truth, Jane.”
Jane sighed and dropped the tissue back in her bag. “Well, you've made things very complicated for me, haven't you?”
“I'm sure if you just talk to Rob, he'll tell you how he really feels.”
“It's not just about Rob.” She gestured at the note. “That message has two men's names on it.”
Something in Jane's tone made Ally look up from her contemplation of the table. “Well, I know you don't approve of Jackson, either, but that doesn't have anything to do with your issues with Rob, does it?”
“You're sleeping with both of them, Ally. Of course it does.”
“How do you know that?”
Jane made a tiny gesture of distaste. “I saw them both pawing you through the window of the diner.”
A cold lump formed somewhere in the region of Ally's chest. “You were watching us?”
“I was walking my dog like any other citizen has a right to do and had to put up with that porn show.”
Ally felt herself blush. Jane must have gotten up pretty close to see through the blinds. There was nothing she could say about that night that wouldn't infuriate Jane. The most obvious question as to whether Jane had hurled a rock through the window to express her disapproval screamed danger.
Needing something to do to stave off her agitation, Ally got to her feet and went across to the refrigerator. How the hell could she contact Rob or Jackson without her cell phone? “Would you like a drink, Jane? I'm parched.”
“I don't think so, Ally.”
Ally turned back to Jane, and her throat went dry. Jane had produced a rather wicked-looking knife from her purse.
“I think I'd rather you tell me the truth.”
22
R
ob sighed as he crossed out the name on the whiteboard. It was late afternoon, and his shift was almost over. Despite the blinds being closed, it was still way too hot in his small office, and he was sweating. He and Jackson were staring at the incident board on the wall. He crossed out the name, Ted. “That's the last of Ruth's lodgers accounted for. He's in San Quentin.”
Jackson frowned at the board. “So who does that leave us with?”
“No one—or the whole town. Take your pick.”
“This makes no sense at all, does it?” Jackson looked. “We've eliminated all the suspects, including your sister, and we're still turning up blank.”
Rob sat down heavily behind his desk and shoved a hand through his damp hair. “Maybe it is just random acts of vandalism after all. Some kids who've heard the old stories and thought it would be fun to mess around with Ally now that she's back.”
“I suppose that could be it, but it feels way more personal to me. Do you get that?”
Rob nodded. “Yeah, like someone really wants to hurt her.” He grabbed his hat. “I'm going to talk to Lauren one more time, and then I'm going to take Ally her keys.”
“Try and persuade her to come to our place tonight.”
“I already asked her.” Rob paused in the doorway. “You okay with that?”
Jackson grimaced. “I'm hoping she didn't mean that shit she said about me.”
“I don't think she did. She was worried about you this morning.”
“Yeah?” Jackson smiled. “Good to know. I can work with that.”
“Then I'll catch you later.”
 
Ally swallowed hard and stared at Jane's smiling face. “Um, Jane? What's with the knife?”
“Oh, I brought that because I thought you might not want to talk to me. It's quite sharp.”
Ally retreated slowly toward the back door. “I'm happy to talk to you, so could you just put it away?”
“The back door is double locked, Ally, and you don't have the key—Rob does. I saw him leave with it. You won't be able to unlock it before I get to you.”
Ally went still. “Okay, so can we just talk?”
Jane patted the table. “Come and sit down, then.”
Ally didn't really want to go anywhere near Jane, but she had little choice. As she took her seat, she scanned the countertops again for her cell.
“Ally, I'm not stupid. I took your cell phone when I broke the glass last night. I wasn't very happy to see you'd changed the locks, but at least I got that. I thought it might come in handy.”
Ally studied Jane's pleasant face. “So this was about Rob all along?”
Jane smiled. “Not all of it. He's obviously not the man I took him for if he's hooked up with you again, is he?”
“So, what else?”
“I think you know, Ally. Why else did you mention
ghosts
on the phone? Taunting me like that was not a good idea. I refuse to be blackmailed by scum like you.”
Fear curdled in Ally's gut, but she concentrated on looking relaxed. Surely the longer she kept Jane talking, the more likely she'd find a way out of this nightmarish situation.
“I'm not sure what you mean.”
Ally jumped as Jane pointed the knife straight at her. “Don't lie to me.” Jane paused to push a stray hair back from her face. “Rob was coming around to the idea of marrying me quite nicely before you turned up with your slutty ways.” She sniffed. “I'm not surprised Jackson was sniffing around you, but I thought better of Rob.”
“Why don't you like Jackson?”
Jane opened her eyes wide at Ally. “I told you why. Because he wants Rob all to himself.”
“You also told me you hated him because he killed Susan.”
Jane shrugged. “Well that was just to make you suspicious of him. Unfortunately, it didn't work, but I had to try.”
Ally bit down hard on her lip. She felt as if she'd strayed into an alternate universe. Jane seemed far too calm and relaxed to be contemplating harm, but she had a knife. . . .
“So this
is
all about Rob. Don't you think you're being a bit overdramatic? Can't we all just sit down and talk it through like adults?”
Jane's smile disappeared. “It's about my life and my future with the man I love, Ally. I don't think that's being melodramatic at all.”
“I really don't know what you're after, Jane. If you wanted to scare me into leaving Spring Falls, you've pretty much achieved your aim. I'm terrified.”
Jane leaned forward. “You'll be leaving, one way or another, but not until you give me what I'm looking for.”
“Which is?” Ally hissed when the tip of the knife cut her cheek. She instinctively recoiled and pushed herself away from the table.
Jane stood up and looked reproachful. “I want the journal.”
Ally held her hand to her burning cheek and edged away from Jane. “Didn't you already take that?”
“I took your mom's journal where she talked about that night, but the pages I wanted were ripped out.”
“What pages?” Ally glanced at the doorway into the hall. Could she reach that before Jane and get to the front door? She wasn't sure.
For the first time, Jane looked agitated. “Your mom was writing stuff about me and what happened to Susan.” Her frown deepened. “After Susan's death, I came back here and told your mom that if she talked to the police about me being there, I'd tell them that
you
were with Susan when she died.”
Ally stretched out her hand for a piece of paper towel to mop up the blood rolling down her face. “But I had an alibi.”
“Your mom was so drunk, she didn't know anything, so she agreed to keep quiet. But now you're back disturbing everything, and I just know you're going to find those pages and give them to Rob, and I can't have that.”
There was a slightly hysterical note in Jane's voice that made Ally want to run like hell. Instead, she edged toward the doorway. “Then I think I might've found what you're looking for in the dining room. You can have the pages, okay? I don't want them. I really don't care what they say either. My mom wasn't exactly the most reliable witness in the world.”
Jane blocked her path and brought the knife up to Ally's throat. “Nice try, Ally, but I'm coming with you. We'll retrieve the pages together.”
Keeping the knife angled against Ally's neck, Jane picked up her purse and nudged Ally forward. “Where exactly did you find them?”
“They were down the back of the drawers. I found them when I was putting all the stuff back after you broke in.”
Jane stiffened. “I didn't ‘break in.' I just borrowed your back door key in case I needed to get my pie dish and you weren't home.”
Ally had nothing to say to that. Apparently Jane could justify the craziest actions imaginable.
“Did you read them?” Jane asked.
“No.” Ally tried to sound relaxed. “I only found them this morning, so I haven't had a chance. If you take them, you'll be the only one who knows what's written there.”
“I can't take that chance, Ally. Your mom probably told you all about it.”
“I haven't spoken to my mom in ten years.”
Jane put her purse on the now-cleared table, right next to the monitor and keyboard. She gestured Ally forward to the desk. “Give them to me.”
Ally hated having to turn slightly away from Jane, who was fishing for something in her purse again. It seemed that no one was coming to save her, so she'd have to do something to help herself. She opened the second drawer, which was full of her mother's black journals.
“Give me a minute, Jane. I put it right under all these books.”
She picked up a stack of about ten journals, spun around, and threw them at Jane's face. As Jane shrieked and lunged for her, Ally shoved the nearest chair across Jane's path and ran for the front door. She flung it open and spotted Rob's patrol car pulling into the drive.
Jane was behind her now, the knife blade glinting in the sun as she raised her arm. Ally saw Rob's startled face as he flung open the door of his car and faced them, his gun leveled at Jane.
“Put the knife down, Jane.”
“Or you'll shoot?” Jane smiled and grabbed Ally's braid, yanking her closer. “Shoot Ally. She deserves it, not me. I'm just trying to clear up a few things around here.”
Rob remained still, his pale gaze fixed on Jane. “Let Ally go and drop the knife. Then we'll talk, okay?”
Ally swallowed convulsively as Rob's gaze flicked over her and then fixed unerringly on Jane. “Drop the knife, Jane.”
“Well, for goodness' sake, there's no need to get so serious, Rob!” Jane tossed the knife away and released her hold on Ally's braid. Ally fell to her knees and forced herself to breathe. “Ally's just overreacting!”
Another patrol car rounded the corner at speed, and Jane's gaze narrowed. “I hope that's not Jackson. If he'd gotten here sooner, I might have held on to that knife so he could watch me stick it in you, Sheriff.”
Rob moved forward and kicked the knife away toward the gutter. “You going to come down to the station quietly, Jane?”
Jane frowned. “Why do I need to go anywhere? Ally's going to give me the pages, so everything's okay now. I didn't really hurt her. It's just a scratch.”
Rob stared at Jane. She sounded so normal, it was downright weird. He held open the door of his car. “Humor me, okay?”
Jane sighed. “Well, can Ally get my purse? I left it in the dining room on the table, and I hate not to have it with me.”
“I'll make sure you get your purse.” Rob motioned her toward the car. “I just want to ask you a few questions.”
Jane got into the back of the car and then froze and tried to grab his arm. “But Ally hasn't given me the pages. I can't go yet.” Rob pushed her back into the car, expertly handcuffed her wrists behind her, and shut the door. Her face contorted with rage as she realized she couldn't get out, and she started banging her shoulder against the glass.
Rob moved to where Ally still sat on the driveway, hugging her knees. “You okay, honey?”
“I . . .” She looked at him and shook her head. “What the hell is up with that woman?”
“I have no idea, but she sounds completely nuts to me.” He touched Ally's bloodied face and realized his fingers were shaking. “Do you need to go to the ER?”
A shadow loomed over them, and, thank God, Jackson was there. He had the knife in a plastic evidence bag, which he handed to Rob. “Take Jane in. Ally can fill me in on the details.”
Rob helped Ally stand up. Despite the heat, she was shivering. He didn't want to leave her, but he knew he had no choice. “Yeah, take her inside, Jackson, and look after her. She needs it.”
“Sure.”
Jane was red-faced and screaming now, all composure gone as she banged on the window. When he got into the car, Rob braced himself for a tirade of abuse, but Jane seemed perfectly normal again. He kept himself busy on the short drive, arranging for immediate backup from the county mental health department.
 
Jackson put his arm around Ally and walked her back into the house. She was shaking so violently he wanted to take her someplace quiet and just hold her. But he knew Rob would expect him to get some of the official details out of the way before he succumbed to his softer side.
She paused at the door of the dining room, and he noted the overturned chair and the journals scattered all over the floor. A big flowery purse sat on the table next to the computer. “So Jane had a knife, and you threw the book at her, literally, right?”
“I threw a whole pile of books at her, and then I blocked her by pulling the chair over. It gave me just enough time to get to the front door before she could get to me.”
Jackson squeezed her shoulders. “You did great, Ally. The worst thing to do is to try and get the knife off someone. Unless you know what you're doing, you usually end up hurting yourself.”
She gulped in a breath. “I remembered something about that from the self-defense classes I took when I lived in New York. I knew the best thing was to keep her away from me and run like hell.”
Jackson kissed the top of her head and set the chair upright. He pulled a thin pair of gloves out of his back pocket and opened Jane's purse. He took out a heavy plastic bag and showed it to Ally.
“Hell, she had a gun in here too.” He realized he sounded almost as shaken as Ally did. All-too-familiar gruesome images of what he and Rob might have found at the house if they hadn't gotten there fast enough flashed through his brain.

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