Forty-seven
"Sarah Jo!" Alex cried. "What on earth are you doing?"
Sarah Jo smiled placidly. "I followed you here from my
house."
"Why?"
Alex's eyes were on the knife. It was an ordinary kitchen
knife, but it didn't look at all ordinary in Sarah Jo's hand.
Always before, her hand had looked feminine and frail. Now
it looked skeletal and ominous around the handle of the knife.
"I came to rid my life of another nuisance." Her eyes
opened wide, then narrowed. "Just like I did back in Ken-
cky. My brother got the colt I wanted. It wasn't fair. I had to get rid of him and that colt, or I could never be happy again."
"What . . . what did you do?"
"I lured him into the stable by telling him the colt had colic. Then, I locked the door and started the fire."
Alex swayed in terror. "How horrible."
"Yes, it was, actually. You could smell burning horseflesh for miles. The stench hung on for days."
Alex raised a trembling hand to her lips. The woman was obviously psychotic, and therefore, all the more terrifying.
"I didn't have to start a fire the night I murdered Celina."
"Why not?"
"That idiot man, Gooney Bud, had followed her to the
inch. I met him on my way out of the stable. He scared the living daylights out of me, standing there in the shadows so quiet He went in and saw her. He fell down on top of her and started carrying on something awful. I saw him pick up
Collins's knife." She smiled gleefully. "That's when I
new I wouldn't have to start a fire and destroy all those lovely horses."
"You killed my mother," Alex stated tearfully. "You killed my mother."
"She was a trashy girl." Sarah Jo's expression changed drastically, becoming spiteful. "I prayed every night that she would marry Reede Lambert. That way, I'd get both of them
nit of my life. Angus didn't need but one son, the one I gave him," she cried, thumping her chest with her free fist. "Why
lid he have to keep that mongrel around?"
"What did that have to do with Celina?"
"That stupid girl let herself get pregnant. Reede wouldn't
lave her after that." She clenched her teeth, distorting her delicate features. "And I had to watch when Junior stepped in to take Reede's place. He actually wanted to marry her. imagine a Presley marrying a lowlife with an illegitimate baby. I wasn't going to let my son ruin his life."
"So, you looked for an opportunity to kill her."
"She dropped it into my lap. Junior left the house that
night, disconsolate. Then, Angus made a complete fool of
himself over her.''
"You overheard their conversation?"
"I eavesdropped."
"And you were jealous."
"Jealous?" she said with a musical little laugh. "Good
heavens, no. Angus has had other women for almost as long
as we've been married. I might not even have minded him
having Celina, so long as he set her up out of town and away
from Junior. But that silly bitch laughed at him--laughed in
my husband's face after he had poured out his heart to her!"
Her eyes were blinking rapidly now, and her meager breasts
were rising and falling with each strenuous breath. Her voice
had grown shrill. Alex knew that if she was going to talk
herself out of this, she had to tread softly. She was still trying
to choose her next words when she caught the first whiff of
smoke.
Her eyes moved beyond Sarah Jo to the hall. It was filling
with smoke. Flames were licking up the walls of the living
room beyond.
"Sarah Jo," Alex said in a quavering voice, "I want to
talk to you about this, but--"
"Stay where you are!" Sarah Jo commanded sharply, brandishing
the knife when Alex took a hesitant step. "You came
here and started causing trouble, just like her. You favor
Reede over my Junior. You're breaking his heart. Angus is
upset and worried over Joe Wallace's death, which is all your
fault. You see, Angus thought one of the boys killed her."
She smiled impishly. "I knew he would. I knew that the
boys wouldn't ask any questions, either. I depended on their
loyalty to each other. It was the perfect crime. Angus, thinking
he was protecting the boys, made his deal with the judge.
I hated that Junior had to get married so young, but I was
glad it was to Stacey rather than Celina."
The smoke was growing thicker. It was swirling around
Sarah Jo, though she seemed unaware of it. "You started
asking too many questions," she told Alex, drawing a sad ,face. "I tried to scare you off with that letter. I made it look like it had come from that crazy Reverend Plummet, but I sent it." She seemed quite pleased with herself. Alex used & her complacency to creep forward, moving slowly, one step
at a time.
"You still didn't take the hint, so I ran you off the road
with one of the company pickups. Judge Wallace would probably
still be alive, and the deal Angus made with him would still be a secret, if only you had died when your car crashed.''
She seemed genuinely perturbed. "But, after today, I won't
have to--"
Alex lunged forward and struck Sarah Jo's wrist. She was
stronger than she appeared. She managed to maintain her grip
on the knife. Alex grabbed her wrist and hung on, trying to
dodge the stabbing motions aimed toward her body.
"I won't let you destroy my family," Sarah Jo grunted as
she plunged the knife toward Alex's midsection.
The two women struggled over control of the knife. They
fell to their knees. Alex tried to dodge the downward arcs of
the blade, but the smoke was getting too thick for her to see
it well. Her eyes filled with tears. She began to choke. Sarah
Jo knocked her into the wall. Upon impact, she felt the stitches
in her scalp pop open.
Somehow, she managed to get to her feet, and began dragging
Sarah Jo down the hallway, where smoke was billowing
around them. All the rules of fire escape fled Alex's mind.
She tried to hold her breath, but her lungs demanded oxygen
for the difficult task of pulling Sarah Jo along with her.
They had almost reached the living room before Sarah Jo
realized that Alex had gained the upper hand. She renewed
her efforts and came back stronger than ever. The knife
slashed Alex's ankle and she screamed. Its serrated edge
caught her again in the calf, and she staggered back toward
the living room.
Suddenly, she lost her grip on Sarah Jo. While seconds
ago, she'd been fighting for her freedom, she now panicked
at the thought of losing her attacker in the suffocating black
smoke. It was so thick that she couldn't even distinguish an
outline of the other woman.
"Sarah Jo! Where are you?" Alex gagged on a mouthful
of smoke. Stretching her arms far out in front of her, she
groped for the woman, but touched nothing except the searing
air.
Then, survival instincts took over. She turned, ducked,
and plunged through the hallway. In the living room, she
dodged burning furniture and ran blindly in the direction of
the door. The door was intact, but smoldering. She grabbed
the knob; it branded the palm of her hand.
Screaming in fear and pain, she barreled through the door
and out onto the porch.
"Alex!"
She stumbled in the direction of Reede's voice and saw
through smoke-damaged eyes the wavering image of a Jeep
coming to a screeching halt only yards in front of her.
"Reede," she croaked, reaching for him. She fell. He
leaped from behind the steering wheel and bent over her.
"Sarah Jo," she wheezed. With an effort, she raised her hand
and pointed toward the house.
"My God, Mother!" Junior went over the side of the Jeep
and hit the ground at a run.
"Junior, come back!" Stacey screamed. "No, God, no!"
"Son, don't!" Angus reached for Junior's arm as he sped
past. "It's too late!"
Reede was already on the porch when Junior knocked him
aside. Reede fell backward down the steps and onto the
ground. He made an unsuccessful grab for Junior's ankle.
"Junior, you can't!" he roared.
Junior turned and looked down at him. "This time, Reede,
I'll get the glory."
He flashed Reede his most beautiful smile, then ran into
the burning house.