CHAPTER THIRTY SIX

 

As Adrienne crept softly and quietly through the house, she recognized a familiar change coming over her.

She no longer felt like the kindly woman who called herself Eris, that part of herself who comforted other suffering women in LifeGrasp meetings.

Her feelings of warmth and goodwill were giving way to …

Fury, she realized.

She could feel wrath beginning to flood her body.

She thought she became something different when she felt like this.

She was sure that she became one of those mythical Greek spirits of vengeance called Furies—wild, violent women who avenged terrible wrongs.

They were said to have snaky hair, like Medusa, and wings like bats.

She knew the Greek word for such a creature was Erinys.

That’s what I am now, she told herself.

An Erinys.

A Fury.

Like a true Fury, she had to sublimate her rage just enough to keep her head clear. The important thing was to carry out the task at hand.

To do that, she had to stay quiet and unnoticed, so she moved slowly through the silent house.

Although that poor woman who called herself Hecate hadn’t said much until today’s meeting, Adrienne had noticed her many small injuries. She had no doubt at all who had inflicted them.

So Adrienne had been preparing for tonight’s task for several days now.

She’d hacked municipal records to find this house’s blueprints, so she knew the interior well. And of course, she’d been fully prepared to hack the house’s security system from her van.

SafetyLinks! she thought with contempt.

Just like Harter’s house!

Didn’t people know how easy that system was to disable, even from afar?

She was pleased with how deftly she’d thwarted the system. The doors had unlocked on command. She’d found it easy to slip inside and locate an appropriate knife in the well-outfitted kitchen.

Now she would grant yet another woman the freedom that the Furies had granted her. That young man who had killed her husband hadn’t realized that he was setting her free. He’d thought he was acting out of his own grievances. But she was sure that Bradley Cruickshank had merely been a tool of the Furies, an unknowing male Erinys who had taken away her tormenter.

After Knox was gone, Adrienne had realized that she owed the Furies a debt of gratitude. She had to do for other women what that young man had done for her.

She moved across the open living area to the stairs and began to ease her way upward.

 

*

 

Riley hung on for dear life as Jared drove crazily through the streets.

She could see that Bill was similarly unnerved as he sat in the front passenger seat.

He was now on the phone, notifying the local police that a violent crime was likely in progress.

Jared had insisted on driving, and with good reason.

He knew the streets of Marshfield well enough to find the address they were looking for.

And they couldn’t get there a moment too soon.

Maybe it’s too late already, Riley thought.

She tried to push the thought out of her mind …

It can’t be. It just can’t be too late.

A few moments ago, Van Roff had told her what he’d done to be “creative.” He’d hacked into the security systems of the other two houses—not to disable them, but to monitor them.

And sure enough, the security system at one of the houses went down.

Roff was absolutely sure that it was the work of a skilled hacker.

Riley had tried calling the house to warn its occupants, but she’d only gotten an answering machine.

She snapped at Jared …

“Drive faster!”

Jared snapped back …

“Do you want to get there alive or what?”

As they neared the address, Riley saw that the house wasn’t as large as the other mansions, but it was impressive and comparatively tasteful. Sure enough, a white Ford van was parked on the street near the house.

There was still no sign of any police.

Riley tried to fight down her worry, but she couldn’t help but wonder …

Did the cops take Bill’s call seriously?

She also knew that suburban cops could sometimes be slow to answer emergencies, especially at night. But she thought they’d respond to a high-end neighborhood like this.

As Jared entered the driveway, Riley said to him, “Check the van, see if she still might be in there.”

Jared said, “OK, but what are you going to do?”

While the car was still in motion, Riley jumped out.

She heard Bill call out to her …

“Riley!”

But Riley was already running to the front entrance. She pushed the door, which opened easily. She found herself in a dimly lit, open, modern interior. No one was in sight.

Where should we look? she wondered.

Then she spotted a flight of stairs.

 

*

 

Adrienne moved down the wide upstairs hallway to where she knew two large bedrooms were located. The doors were on opposite sides of the hall.

She paused for a moment.

Hecate had mentioned a couple of meetings ago that she and her husband were now sleeping in separate bedrooms. The Erinys was sure that both the husband and wife were in their rooms asleep …

But which room is which?

Which one is he in?

She smiled, rather amused by her little conundrum.

It was nothing to get worried about, after all.

If she peeked through the wrong door and found the woman asleep, she’d simply sneak away to the other room.

She reached for the knob of the door on the left and gently turned it.

 

*

 

Harlan Ford wasn’t a deep sleeper, so he was easily awakened by the light footsteps moving across his bedroom floor.

He was pleased by the sound.

Nora slept in the bedroom across the hall these days, but …

She must have had a change of heart tonight.

She must have come over here to join him.

He’d been lying on his side facing away from the door. When the footsteps stopped at the edge of his bed, he turned over to greet her.

“Nora,” he said in a welcoming voice and holding out his hand. “Join me.”

But the silhouetted figure had raised her arm, and something metallic glinted in her hand.

Then the arm plunged down fast and he felt a sharp and shocking pain.

She’s gone crazy! he thought.

She wants to kill me!

 

*

 

Damn it! Adrienne thought as she landed a clumsy stab in the man’s shoulder muscles.

She hadn’t reckoned on having her prey wide awake.

The other men had been either fast asleep or deeply relaxed when she’d delivered the first blows that had incapacitated and subdued them.

She pulled the knife back and climbed onto the bed, prepared to lunge again.

“Nora!” the man cried. “What are you doing?”

Adrienne screeched back at him, “I’m not Nora. I’m an Erinys. I’m Nora’s avenger.”

The man was twisting and struggling wildly now.

His arms flailed, intercepting the swings of her knife, and although she knew that he must already be bleeding badly, she was displeased with how this was unfolding.

Nevertheless, she told herself …

In a few moments he’ll be dead.

That’s what matters.

 

*

 

Nora snapped awake at the sound of her own name being shouted …

“Nora!”

… followed by words she couldn’t understand.

It was her husband. Yelling from across the hall in his bedroom.

Then she heard a woman’s voice roaring with anger.

What’s going on? Nora wondered.

She scrambled out of the bed and rushed out of her room into the hallway. She flung open the door that led into Harlan’s bedroom and switched on the light.

For a moment she was sure she was hallucinating. Her husband had often said she imagined things.

So had her therapist.

Could what she saw now really be happening?

Harlan had tumbled from the bed. He was writhing on the floor, bleeding badly.

A knife-wielding woman stood spread-eagle above him as if ready to strike, her face wild with hatred.

Nora recognized that mane of red hair.

All at once, she knew this was real.

“Eris!” Nora yelled.

The woman looked up, distracted by Nora’s voice.

Some of the hatred faded from her face and was replaced by sheer confusion.

Then she pointed the knife toward Nora.

“Stay back,” Adrienne hissed. “I’m not Eris now. I’m doing this for you.”

The look of hatred returned as she raised the knife again.

“No!” Nora yelled. “Eris, stop!”

The woman froze in place and stared back at her.

Nora felt a massive shock of realization.

She suddenly understood something terrible and heartbreaking.

The abuse she thought she’d suffered at her husband’s hands—he hadn’t done any of that at all.

He’d been trying to convince her of the truth all along, and so had Dr. Ridge.

The bruises, burns, cuts, and scratches …

I did them to myself!

And through it all, despite his own pain and confusion, Harlan hadn’t stopped giving her his love and support.

That realization gripped her with a feeling of shame and sorrow.

She burst into tears and screamed …

“Harlan never hurt me. He’s never hurt me once since I met him. He’s the kindest soul I’ve ever known.”

Eris’s widened with perplexity.

She looked down at Harlan, and then again at Nora.

“You’re either lying or stupid,” she said.

Nora threw herself across the room and against the woman she knew as Eris before the knife could plunge down again.

 

*

 

Riley heard an uproar as she dashed up the stairs.

As soon as she reached the hallway she saw the light from an open door.

She rushed into that room and was baffled by what she saw.

A man lay bleeding and barely conscious on the floor, and two women were struggling over him, trying to wrest a knife out of each other’s grasp.

One woman was wearing a nightgown, and the other was dressed in black.

Riley recognized both of them.

She knew perfectly well which was the killer.

But in this wild tangle of bodies, she didn’t dare use her weapon.

Instead, she rushed forward and forced the women apart.

The woman in black had the knife in her hand.

She slashed horizontally at Riley.

She knows how to handle a knife, Riley realized.

In a fight, slashing motions would cause the most damage.

But Riley knew how to thwart her. She dived sharply against the woman’s legs, toppling her to the floor.

Riley and the woman rolled together several times until Riley managed to pin her arms down. Riley looked up in time to see Bill crouching over the man’s body, working to stop his wounds from bleeding.

Nora was weeping, trying to help him.

Gasping, Riley said to the woman she was holding down…

“Adrienne McKinney, you’re under arrest.”

As Riley read Adrienne her rights and put her in handcuffs, she finally heard approaching sirens.

It’s about time, she thought.

She saw Jared step into the doorway. He stared around the room with his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open.

“Damn,” Jared said.