The Biker's Protection - Book 3 (Motorcycle Club Romance) (Ghosts of the Prairie Motorcycle Club) (12 page)

She pondered. Why would the arsonist let Beau out of the house before he torched it? Any normal arsonist would’ve torched the guesthouse, then the house. Unless it was somebody who knew Beau and didn’t want to see harm done to him. What if it was somebody who loved animals? A vet? Susan?

Yes, the thought was crazy. But letting Beau out before she set the fire gave her away. Unless one of the firefighters let Beau out when checking the house to see if it was clear.

She reached for her phone and called Trenton. She didn’t want to alarm Foley or have him thinking she was blaming an innocent woman over jealousy issues. She had to be sure before she said anything to him.

“Hello, Trenton,” she said.

“Hi, Savannah. What’s up?”

“I need you to answer a very important question. Do you know if anyone let Beau out of the house the night of the fire? How did he get out? Did somebody let him out? Did one of the firefighters go in my house for any reason?”

“Why does it matter? Beau is safe. That’s the important thing.”

“He should’ve been in the house. The house was locked up tight. But the arsonist had a heart for the dog. He let him out before he burned down the house.”

“Except he was caught. And had to abandon his post. Couldn’t finish the job, lucky for you.”

“Or she?”

“She?”

Savannah told him all her suspicions.

“That’s a big leap to say Susan is the arsonist. She’s a respected member of our town.”

“I know it’s crazy, but hear me out. She was friendly to me in the beginning. But once I started dating Foley, everything changed. And our dates kept getting interrupted with fires that he had to fight. She knew he’d be called to them.”

“Are you saying she set fires to stop your dates?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“It’s crazy! But…”

“But what?”

“The pieces of the puzzle are coming together. Susan is Paul’s sister. She’s the lawyer’s sister.”

“So maybe she torched his office building as a favor.”

“He needed the insurance money. But he wouldn’t burn down his own building. And he wouldn’t let his sister do it either.”

“So, she was randomly setting fires to keep Foley busy. And thought, hey, while I’m at it, I might as well burn down my brother’s office to help him out.”

“I think so.”

“Paul is in jail because of the arson charges.”

“It’s his sister who needs to be in jail.”

“We’ll talk as soon as you get here. Hurry up. We’ve got to tell the guys.”

“I’m almost ready.”

“Hurry up.”

“I will.”

She wobbled down the hall to the bathroom with her stacks on. As she looked in the mirror to put her earrings on, a face appeared behind her. She jumped startled and spun around. 

It was Susan Gretsky.

“What the fuck are you doing in my house?” Savannah said. “Get the hell out.”

Susan eyed her up and down. “Did you get dressed up for us?” she asked sarcastically. “You look smashing, dear. I bet Foley would fuck you properly with a body like that. Too bad that’s never going to happen.”

“How the hell did you get in my house?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Leave!”

“Not yet.”

“Why are you here?” she asked. “Are you looking for Foley because he’s not here? I thought he was with you.”

“I sent Foley on a wild goose chase,” she replied.

Savannah caught sight of the blade Susan was holding. Her heart thundered. This was more than some stalker walking into her house. Susan came here with a plan, intent to kill.

The bitch was fucking nuts! 

“I’m supposed to be somewhere soon,” said Savannah coolly, thinking that would frighten her. “People will know I’m missing.”

“Well, then I’ll just have to make this quick,” she said. “And don’t worry about Foley. He’s going to need me shortly when he learns his little tart has lost her life in yet another arson fire. I will take good care of your dog here. I’m a vet you see, and I love animals.”

Savannah’s gaze drifted to the can of gasoline by the door. “It’s you. You’re the arsonist!”

“Busted!”

“If you’re going to kill me. You might as well tell me what’s going on.” Savannah hoped her plea made her seem weak and defeated. But she wasn’t going down without a fight. The bitch didn’t know what she’d do when she was backed against a corner. Savannah would fight like hell. She covertly worked her stack shoe off so that she could fling it and nail Susan with it.

“Why did create the fires? To stop our dates?”

“It’s a little drastic, but it worked like a charm.”

“You’re crazy!”

“Just think of each burning building as my fiery wrath. Because that’s what I was feeling every time he went out with you or spent time with you.”

“I don’t believe you’d do this.”

“I tried to talk you out of ever dating him, but that didn’t work. I tried to get you jealous. It’s why I called you to do that follow-up with Beau. I wanted you to see Foley at my office with me. But none of it worked. So I had to move to the extreme. And that’s killing you.” 

So what made you so pissed at me?” asked Savannah. “Foley and I aren’t even serious. We haven’t even been casually dating that long.”

“It’s more than casual,” she said.

“Why are you throwing everything away?” Savannah asked.

“So me, Foley, and Beau can be one big, happy family. Now move it."

Chapter 17

“I said, move it!” Susan yelled.

"Where are we going?" asked Savannah.

"We're going to stage your demise," Susan said.

Savannah laughed.

“What’s so damn funny? I am about to kill you, and you’re laughing?” she asked.

“Well, they found a surveillance system,” Savannah said.

She struggled to speak. “You’re lying, bitch!”

“My dad has a surveillance system. Hooked up to the electronics,” she said finally.

“Fucking bullshit,” said Susan. “If that were the case, you would have had something on me before.”

“We just found it,” said Savannah, “when we were watching movies.”

“We?” asked Susan with a touch of jealousy in her voice.

Savannah rubbed it in.

“Yes, the Ghosts of the Prairie. Danny, his wife, Trenton.”

“I know who they are,” Susan snapped. 

"In a few minutes they're going to be here. They’re probably watching us now," said Savannah.

“You’re bluffing,” said Susan.

“Nope. I think I can even show you,” she said. “Before my father died, his wife was cheating on him with his lawyer. I’m not sure whether he knew that or not but he did know that someone was taking things.”

As Savannah was explaining all of this, she realized that her dad probably put the home theater in as a cover for the surveillance system. And that he probably didn’t know his wife was up to something. That made total sense. Which meant the house was probably being recorded. Savannah was confident that she was no longer bluffing her. 

“What do you mean you ‘think’ you can show me?” Susan asked incredulously.

“I’m not good at technology shit. But, you can access it on the home theater screen. It’s just a matter of pulling up the menu.”

“That doesn’t mean it’s operating now,” she replied though she was nervous, Savannah could see. 

“No, the guys recognized it, and they turned it on. Trenton and a couple of the other guys have it, so they are monitoring the place from their phones. They turned the files over to the sheriff’s office,” said Savannah.

While talking to her Savannah slowly moved her fingers towards her shoe. 

“If they had anything on me, I would know it by now,” she scoffed.

“Suit yourself. If you want a chance at Foley, you’ll stop right now,” Savannah warned.

She could touch her shoe, but it was cumbersome, and she had to really get a good grip to be able to hurl it with any force. All without being obvious.

“No, I have to get you out of the way,” she said with frustration. “He came over to see me just now. It was short and sweet. Usually, his talks are gentle and long winded. Trying to ease my clutches off of him. I guess I just don’t want to be divorced from him. But today he told me, plain and simple. He’s fallen in love with you, and I have to let him go. He wants to move on with his life without me. What kind of life is that?”

Savannah tried not to smile at the thought that Foley was in love with her, but she almost couldn’t help it. She loved him back. The image of his wonderfully handsome face filled her mind.

“Why did you break up in the first place?” Savannah asked.

“He never told you in all your pillow talk? It’s not nice to keep secrets so early in the relationship.”

Savannah glared.

“I made a mistake,” she said. “I didn’t know how much I loved him until I lost him. And now I’ll do anything to get him back.”

“Even resort to murder? You’re a vet for goodness sakes!”

“And I know when to put down a dog.”

“Susan! This is murder. And this isn’t you. You have a kind heart, a loving one.”

“On your feet,” she ordered.

Savannah carefully pondered everything as she slowly moved. She replayed over and over in her mind, rehearsing what she was going to do and how. She knew one thing for sure, she had to take the fucking bitch down.  

“Move it!” yelled Susan.

Susan howled an ear-piercing scream and lunged. Susan came at her with the knife. Savannah blocked it as best she could with the heel of her shoe. Miraculously, the blade did not go all the way through the shoe. Susan realized as the metal sliced into the shoe that it could have cut clean through and into her thigh. It had, in fact, got stuck temporarily which gave Savannah some control. With one hand, she gripped the shoe with everything she had and jerked. Cell phone in the other hand, Savannah swung and cracked Susan in the head.

She staggered but did not let go of the knife. Savannah shoved again with the shoe as the control and the blade cut through. Her blood pounded. She hit her again with the cell phone and Susan dropped to the floor. The knife fell carelessly onto the carpet.

As Savannah went to get control of the knife, Susan grabbed it first. They wrestled on the ground. Susan desperately tried to stab her. Pain exploded in Savannah’s shoulder, then her chest. Shit! She’d been stabbed. The knife came at her again. Savannah grabbed her wrists and held the weapon back.

“Stop fighting this!” Susan screamed. “Why won’t you go easy?”

“Fucking bitch!”

Savannah felt the edge of the knife penetrating her neck. She held her hands away, but Susan was so damn strong, not to mention, she was pinned down by her weight. Fight, Savannah, she screamed in her head. She couldn’t let this bitch win. Adrenaline flooded her. Savannah kicked her back with every ounce of might she had. Susan flew back. Savannah used the opportunity to scramble to her feet. Glaring, Susan was back up and ready to continue fighting. As she came at Savannah, they collided. The knife dropped.

Savannah threw a punch. Susan countered and threw a bunch of punches in rapid succession. Savannah threw her against the shower, and the glass shattered as Susan crumpled into a trembling heap. Her eyes fluttered shut. Blood was everywhere.

Was she fucking dead? Savannah felt for a pulse. She was alive so she dialed 911 to get medics to help her. She didn’t mean to throw her through the glass shower door. Her shoes crunched over broken glass and blood smeared as she took a few steps back in complete and utter disbelief.

A motorcycle wound its way to down her drive. It sounded like Foley’s bike. Out of her mind, Savannah screamed his name, over and over until she herself sank into darkness.

Chapter 18

Savannah stirred. Her eyelids opened, and she could hear the sound of someone watching a show off in the distance. She was in the hospital. Fuck, she’d been stabbed. 

The smell of flowers, particularly stargazer lilies filled the room. It took her a moment, but the room was packed with vases packed with flowers. She looked at one card. These were flowers from the Ghosts of the Prairie. Savannah was awash with the feeling she was cared for. 

She looked around to see what time it was, what day it was. She pushed the call light button. Very quickly, a high-strung nurse appeared and explained her injuries. She examined her and called in the doctor.

An hour later, Sheriff Doug was given permission to come in.

Savannah was becoming more and more clear headed. And while she was looking at Sheriff Doug, she was missing Foley, and she was missing Beau. She had to know they were okay.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey,” she replied, fear and emotion bubbling up within her.