CHAPTER 27

“Jennifer Arthur, you’re under arrest for violation of Massachusetts General Law Chapter 265, Section 43, also known as the Anti-Stalking Law,” Cole stated authoritatively.

Jenny’s eyes went wide as Cole cuffed her hands behind her back and methodically read her her Miranda rights. “What? Oh, my, gosh, this can’t be happening! Lexie!” she beseeched. The entire staff of the LMK stopped what they were doing in the kitchen and turned to watch the action unfold.

Lexie looked at Jenny and shook her head. No.

“Lexie! I didn’t do it!”

“No,” Lexie said, holding up her hand. “Don’t deny it. I saw you.”

“We have you on camera, Miss Arthur,” Cole confirmed.

Jenny looked shocked. “C-camera? Where?” She looked around nervously.

“We installed it under Buster’s window, and it gave us a clear line of vision to the back door of the restaurant,” Cole said. “It’ll hold up as pretty compelling evidence in court.”

Jenny slumped as she realized that she had been caught. Her petite frame looked even tinier, more fragile, next to Cole’s robust form. “Lexie, I’m so sorry.”

Lexie nearly melted, but instead she crossed her arms in front of her, forcing herself to remain steely. “Why? Why did you do it?” she asked quietly.

“Remember, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law,” Cole cautioned.

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” Jenny said miserably. “Everything’s ruined.”

“Then tell me why,” Lexie implored. “I need to know why you’d do this to me.”

Jenny spoke slowly, her eyes downcast. “I … I wanted to start my own restaurant. I was planning on quitting in a few months. I’ve been taking cooking and baking classes at the culinary institute for the past year, but nothing I make is as good as that cake. I thought,” she swallowed before continuing, “I thought if I had one really great recipe, I’d be set.”

“You were going to open your own place with a recipe you stole from me?” Lexie asked incredulously. With a start of surprise, Lexie came to the unsavory realization that every excuse Jenny had given her over the past year had been a lie. “I trusted you.”

“I know,” the young woman said, sounding even more pathetic than she looked. “I know. And I used you.”

“Why did you send me those horrible notes?”

“I tried every way I could think of to get ahold of that recipe. First, I asked if you would let me do the evening baking with you. I thought you might just give me the recipe. But you always said no.”

“I needed more help with food prep than with the baking,” Lexie murmured.

“Then I tried to get the recipe from your filing cabinets, but it wasn’t in there.”

“I didn’t write it down.”

“I’m sorry. So sorry,” Jenny said, beginning to weep. “I thought if I pushed you a little, you might give it up.”

“It didn’t push me to do anything. For the longest time, I thought it was Paige Sinclair playing a sick joke. When I realized it might not be her—” Lexie shook her head, recalling how afraid she’d been. “Jenny, you were a great employee. I would have encouraged you to attend culinary school and flex your muscles a bit more in the kitchen. I would have helped you make a signature dish that was all your own. This could have turned out much differently. Instead, you deliberately lied to me, threatened me, and tried to steal from me.”

Fat tears rolled down Jenny’s cheeks as she sobbed in earnest. “Please forgive me, Lexie. You’ve been nothing but a great boss. I’m so sorry,” she cried.

The young woman looked wretched. Her face was red and blotchy from crying. Several strands had come free from her ponytail, giving her an even more bedraggled appearance. Jenny Arthur was utterly defeated.

All Lexie felt for her was pity. “I’m sorry, too,” she said quietly. Then she looked away.

Except for Jenny’s crying, the kitchen was dead silent. Cole’s footsteps sounded hard and hollow on the stone floor as he led Jenny away. A burning sensation warmed Lexie’s cheeks and her head throbbed. Jenny was the criminal, yet she was the one who was embarrassed. The irony wasn’t lost on her. She gave an incredulous little snort. Before she burst into nervous fits of laughter, she felt a comforting warmth around her shoulders.

Buster. Her rock.

Gently, he walked her into the now-empty dining room and nudged her into a booth. Then he brought her a cup of tea.

“Glad it’s over,” he said.

The most wonderful thing about Buster was that because he didn’t talk much, he never expected a response in return. Lexie could simply sit there quietly and settle her body and her mind. And so she did.

Lexie wrapped her fingers around the teacup, feeling its warmth seep into her hands, then up her arms. She took a sip. The tea slid down her throat—hot, smooth, and simply perfect. The lines on Buster’s craggy, worn face were as comforting to her as the drink was.

Slowly, she started to feel better. In a half an hour, when customers started to trickle in for lunch, she nodded to Buster. He nodded back and together they returned to the kitchen. Things were in full swing, and—to her staff’s credit—no one gave her any odd looks. She was simply enveloped back into the rhythm of the day as if it had never been interrupted. Pleased and proud of their professionalism, she vowed to take each person aside to thank them.

But later. Much later. Now, she would work.

It wasn’t until later on in the evening, after all the unfortunate excitement had died down, that she had a chance to think. Her staff had gone home and even Buster had called it a night, telling her he was going to Boston to take care of something urgent. The front of the LMK was dark and the kitchen was quiet once again, the only sound being the slow drip of the faucet she had yet to get repaired. In the morning, she’d have Buster call Luke Bedwin to come out and take a look.

As she gently mixed muffin dough, Lexie smiled wearily to herself. She had to be over the hump, right? For better or for worse, Sebastian was out of her life, even though living without him was going to be tough. And things were running smoothly with LMK Catering. In fact, she had three big events coming up over the next few weeks, including Cameron’s cocktail party and the Millers’ Thanksgiving affair in Boston. Was it really almost Thanksgiving? Time seemed to slip by so quickly these days.

So why wasn’t she feeling better, then?

After the dough was prepared, she covered it and put it in the refrigerator to bake tomorrow morning. Heading to the pantry to gather her coconut cake ingredients, she realized she was out of cream of coconut.

“Damn,” Lexie cursed out loud. Martins’ Market had long since closed, and there was no convenience store in town that would carry it, even if one happened to still be open. Then she remembered that she might have some in the root cellar.

A flicker of doubt crossed her mind—she’d been told not to go anywhere alone—but she quickly brushed it aside. It would take only a few moments, and besides, she couldn’t live her life in fear.

Grabbing her coat from its hook, she slipped out the back door into the quiet, chilly alley behind the LMK. The small, bare bulb above the door frame provided the only illumination, but it was just five feet to the entrance of the root cellar, and Lexie knew the way blindfolded. The smell of a wood fire suffused the air, and beneath it she could sense the distant smell of snow. Winter would soon be here, blanketing Star Harbor in icy coldness.

She reached the wooden doors to the cellar and quickly undid the always unlocked bolt that secured the doors together. She lifted first one door, then the next, flipping both 180 degrees on their hinges so they were laying on the ground. A rickety wooden staircase led six feet below to the cellar, and Lexie gamely clambered down. Thanks to Buster’s improvements, a small light fixture was waiting for her at the base, and she pulled the metal string.

Dim light spread into the cellar, not quite reaching the crevasses of the still-dark corners. The root cellar wasn’t huge—maybe fifteen feet by twenty. Five large metal utility shelves were arranged in the center of the room, and neatly stacked bushels of hardy fruits and root vegetables lined the walls. The remains of an old hearth, part of the building’s original foundation, was situated to the right of the stairwell.

If Lexie remembered correctly, she’d placed the cream of coconut cans on the back side of the far shelf. She walked toward it, but just as she reached it, she heard a creaking sound. Whirling toward the stairs, all she saw before the light went out was a broad back.

Panic filled her chest and a rush of adrenaline coursed through her body. Who was there? “Buster?” she called out, before she could stop herself. Inwardly, she cursed. Idiot! If it wasn’t Buster, she’d just revealed her location to whoever was in the cellar with her. She had no idea where the person was, but there was no way out except up those wooden stairs. As silently as she could, she crept around the back of the last shelf toward the stairwell, hoping that the intruder would head toward the sound of her voice.

Within a matter of moments, she reached the stairs. Knowing that they would creak when she used them, she planned to race up as fast as she could. Then, she made her move. Swiftly, she climbed up, but before she’d even reached the third step, she felt a hand clamp on her upper arm.

She shrieked as she was violently jerked back down the stairs. “Get off me!” Lexie lashed out with her hands, but her wrists were quickly pinned to her sides. When she kicked the space in front of her, she heard a low grunt before she was knocked to the ground.

Though she twisted and fought, she was easily flipped onto her back. Her attacker straddled her body, his heavy weight pressing down on her hips, as he kept her arms pinioned above her head. Lexie did the one thing she could do. She screamed as loudly as possible.

“Help! Help me! Help!”

Her assailant released one of her hands to strike her in the face. She screamed again.

“Shut up, Alexandra.”

Stars swam before her eyes as she reeled from the hard hit to her cheek. Oh, God, she recognized that voice. In a million years, she’d never forget it. That slightly gravelly whine that could by turns wheedle and plead, then get nasty in a flash.

It was Frank. He was here.

Panic swelled into outright fear, but she had to stay strong. Had to stay focused so she could get out of here. “Wh-what are you doing here?” Shocked as she was, her voice came out sounding slightly strangled. She struggled against him. “Let me up! Please!”

“Not a chance, Alexandra. I’ve waited too long to have you under me. Where you belong.”

“Frank,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady. “Why don’t we get out of here, go up to the restaurant and talk? I’ll make us some tea and we can—”

“Tea? You think I came all the way to Star Harbor to have a cup of tea?” He snorted.

“Look, I can’t even see you,” she said, tamping down the fright that threatened to overwhelm her. He would hurt her badly if he was this angry. She had to keep him calm. “Let’s just go upstairs and—”

“I said shut up. This is the first time in years I’ve had you alone and all you can do is gab, gab, gab. Well, it’s my turn to do the talking. I’ve been creeping in the shadows for long enough. I’m tired of it. I’ve watched you for months, waiting to make my move. Did you know that I came clear across the country? Took me some time to find you, too. Calling yourself Lexie instead of Alexandra. Taking your mother’s maiden name to make yourself harder to trace. That was smart. Real smart. But not smart enough.”

“You were the one who attacked me on the Green that night, weren’t you?”

“Yes. I wanted to finish it right then and there. But when you got away, I realized how much more exciting it would be to scare you. To make you afraid. Especially when you started sleeping with that big guy. Too good for me, huh, Alexandra?” he said bitterly.

She ignored him, needing to get to the bottom of this. Needing to know that everything could be traced back to Frank. “So it was you again on Halloween.”

“I scared the crap out of you, didn’t I?” He laughed.

Lexie didn’t bother to respond. “Did you mess with my gas line too?”

“I thought that if something happened to your place, you might be forced to come back to California.”

“You could have killed someone, you know that?”

“Whatever,” he scoffed. “Anyway, nothing happened. That guy you have working for you really knows his stuff.” Then his voice hardened again. “But all that is over. I’m done playing, and now I’ll tell you exactly what’s going to happen. First, I’m going to screw you the way I wanted to the last time we were so rudely interrupted.”

“Let’s call it what it was, Frank. You were trying to rape me because I’d broken up with you.”

“Ha! You wanted it bad.”

“You’re delusional,” she said calmly, as if she were speaking to a child. “Why was I kicking and screaming when you were on top of me? David practically had to drag you off of me, and then I went to the police and filed a—”

“I said shut up!” Frank hit her again.

Lexie gasped as the crack of his hand laid into her cheek. It hurt even worse than the first time he’d done it, likely because he’d smacked exactly the same spot. “Frank, stop!”

“I won’t stop,” he said, holding both her hands above her head in his strong grip as he roughly pushed her skirt up with his other. “Always so accommodating, Alexandra. With your little skirts and dainty blouses. Always ready for me.”

Things were rapidly spiraling out of control. She had to keep him talking. “Why are you even here? It’s been three years. You should’ve forgotten me and moved on.”

“Forget you?” He laughed evilly, his clammy hand stilling on her thigh. “I could never forget you. I’ve spent three years trying to track you down. The Internet has made things a lot easier, but I wasn’t able to make any headway until people started posting reviews of your restaurant. ‘Best coconut cake east of the Mississippi.’ That’s when I knew it had to be you.”

She’d been so careful not to put anything personal online. How ironic that her professional reputation had been her undoing! Still, why had he spent so much time thinking about her when she was long gone? Why hadn’t he moved on?

“Why would you even want me when I didn’t want you?” she asked, her voice sounding hollow.

His silence was deafening. And then she realized why. Because he couldn’t get over the fact that she’d escaped from him. To lose his power over her was too big a blow to his ego. He needed her to succumb to him again. Craved it. Except this time, he wasn’t going to be satisfied with just her mind or her body. He wanted her soul, too. He would take and take until there was nothing left.

As Frank squeezed her leg and pushed her skirt up higher, there was no question in her mind that he was going to rape her and then he was going to kill her. “No,” she said, shaking her head back and forth. “Not like this. Please.” She had to do something. He was so strong, even if she could manage to free her hands, her body would still be trapped under his weight. Still, she had to try. She struggled to recall what she’d learned in that self-defense class she’d taken years ago, just after moving to Star Harbor. She’d taken it to empower herself, never anticipating that she’d need to use those lessons against the very man who’d motivated her to take the class.

“Your begging only makes it more exciting,” he said, wedging her legs apart with his knee. “I can’t wait until I see the look on your face as I push myself into you. When you submit to me.”

Nausea rose in Lexie’s throat. She forced it down as best she could. This was exactly how he wanted her—scared, helpless, and weak. She needed to prove him wrong, to stay strong and wait for her chance to escape. Perhaps something would distract him and there would be an opening for escape. She stopped struggling in anticipation of making her move.

He must have taken her stillness for submission. “That’s right,” Frank said, his voice smug. “I’m in charge and you’re going to give me what I want.”

He shifted his body on top of hers. At the very moment that she heard Frank unzip his pants, she bucked her hips up and twisted her body to the side, hard. The motion caused Frank to release her wrists, and he let out a shout of surprise as he toppled off of her. Lexie scrabbled on her hands and knees as fast as she could go, trying to put as much distance as possible between them.

Her hands touched soft dirt, and she realized she must have crawled into the hearth. Almost immediately, Frank had her by the ankle. How he’d grabbed her so quickly, she had no idea. Realizing she had just seconds before he would haul her back, she desperately groped for something—anything—that she could use to defend herself.

Frank pulled her leg with both hands, and just as she felt herself being yanked toward him, her fingers clutched onto something hard and metalic. He flipped her onto her back once again and her head hit the hard dirt floor with a sharp crack and a burst of pain.

“Bitch,” he spat. “That’s the last time you’ll ever run from me.”

As hard as she could, Lexie swung the metal object into the direction of his face, trying to gouge him. She hit flesh and something harder—night vision goggles. No wonder he’d said something about the look on her face. He could see her in the dark!

“Aigh,” he screamed. Distracted by the pain she’d inflicted, he let go of her, allowing her to flip away once again. For good measure, she kicked back in his direction, feeling the satisfying thud of her foot against his body, before she scuttled toward what she hoped were the stairs. She felt the bottom step and began to climb. Lexie was sure she was home free when she felt the cruel bite of his grip on her leg.

Kicking furiously, she knew she couldn’t let herself be dragged back down again. He’d shown his hand. She’d have no chance if he got his way. She had to break free, but he was too strong.

“No!” she gasped as she was yanked down the stairs, the fingernails of one hand scratching at the wooden steps, the other hand still clasping the metal object. He grabbed her waist, but she pushed him hard while stomping on what she hoped was his foot, and he let go. She was rewarded by a scream and the sound of breaking glass.

Just then, she heard a deep voice call from street level. “Lexie?”

She’d never been so glad to hear anyone’s voice in her entire life.