Best Kept Secrets

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.