His Brother's Wife by Michelle Love (18)

Halsey gave a wry smile. ‘Apparently, your brother and Seb fancied themselves as detectives. Seb met with Dudek to try and figure out if he knew anything, or if he was acting strangely. Apparently, according to Cal, he was fine but clearly…’ He trailed off, glancing out of the office at his officers. ‘Wait here.’

He disappeared out of the door. Sam sat down next to Isa and kissed her cheek. ‘We’re getting somewhere at last.’

Tears started to drop down Isa’s face, but she pulled away from both of their comforting arms. ‘If I hadn’t been so sure it wasn’t Karl, Seb would be alive.’

‘You don’t know that.’

But Sam saw the devastation in her eyes and knew she would not be told otherwise.

 

A few days later, Halsey came to the hospital to update them.

‘Dudek’s been reported missing. And yeah, the dates tally with Seb’s murder and your shooting.’

Sam made a disgusted sound, and Isa tangled her fingers in his. Weirdly, since realizing Karl’s guilt, she had felt relieved. Not knowing who wanted to kill her was a hundred times worse – now she could put a face to the horror.

 

Bastard. Just put me in a room with him and a baseball bat, she thought grimly.

 

Halsey took in her expression. ‘Yeah, I’m getting to know that face, Isa. Don’t think you can handle this on your own. This isn’t some great feminist ‘I Will Survive’ crap. This is your life.’

Sam grunted his agreement, and Isa tried not to smile. ‘So, what can we do while he’s still out there?’

 

‘You can let Sam hire the best protection. You cannot object when he wants to take you away from the city. You have to take this seriously.’

Isa was silent for a moment, and when she spoke, her voice shook. ‘Detective, I watched my brother being murdered in front of me, watched him draw his last breath. I take this seriously.’

‘At last.’ Sam’s voice had a hard edge, and she swallowed, looking up at him.

‘I’m sor…’ she started but, smiling, he shook his head.

‘No, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that.’

‘It’s true, though.’ She took his hand and squeezed it. She looked back at the detective, and the thought came to her that he had become like a friend to them. She smiled gently at him. ‘No bullshit, I’ll do anything you want but please, don’t keep me out of the loop on this. I need to know what’s happening.’

 

Later, Sam lay with her as the evening turned to night. For a long time, they simply gazed at each other, wanting to drink the other in. Sam kissed her, his lips moving with hers slowly, tenderly. Isa sighed.

‘Sam…I just don’t know what to do anymore. I don’t know why this is happening, why he wants to kill me so badly. And why, why, kill Seb when he had me there? He should have just kil – ‘

‘Don’t say it. Please. Just don’t.’ Sam closed his eyes against the searing pain her words brought.

‘I told him to do it. I begged him to kill me and let Seb go. He liked the power; he wanted me cowed and begging and he enjoyed shooting Seb. God…’

Sam’s arms tightened around her. ‘Stop it. You’re making yourself crazy. This is not your fault; this is the work of a madman. It’s Dudek’s fault.’

 

Isa buried her face in his chest but stayed silent. After a few minutes, she pulled away and looked up at him. ‘What if we go public? The more we try to keep this all quiet, the more he gets to move around in relative anonymity. We could go to that art critic guy, the one who defended me, tell him the true story of why someone torched my exhibit.’

Sam looked doubtful. ‘Paul Carter? I don’t know – he’s not a feature writer but…’

‘I don’t want to come across as a victim.’ Isa’s voice was fierce. ‘I want to tell my story my way and send a message to Karl or whomever this is; I’m nobody’s victim.’

Sam’s jaw clenched. ‘You still doubt it’s Karl?’

Isa’s shoulders slumped. ‘I guess not. I just don’t want to believe it’s him.’

 

Sam nodded. ‘Let’s talk to Halsey, see what he thinks.’

To Sam’s surprise, Halsey was enthusiastic about the idea – although not as much as Paul Carter was. Seb’s murder was already page one news of the Seattle press and had even made the national press, and Carter was eager to get an exclusive. Isa was released from hospital and Sam arranged the meeting with Carter for the following week.

 

Isa sat down on the bed in the apartment Sam had rented. It was, of course, luxurious and stunning but she was too shell-shocked still to appreciate it. She sat down on the huge bed in the bedroom while Sam unpacked her stuff. She grabbed his hand as he passed.

 

‘Thank you, baby, for everything. For dealing with everything. For looking after me, and Zoe.’

Sam had arranged for Zoe to go stay with her sister in Georgia and Isa was grateful that her mother would be safe and with people she loved. Zoe had objected, of course, but between them, Sam and Isa had convinced her it was the best.

‘You call me every day, girl,’ she’d said to Isa, her arms wrapped so tightly around her Isa had trouble breathing.

The relief that Zoe would be safe helped Isa immeasurably, and now she just felt drained. Her shoulder ached, but the wound was healing nicely.

Sam sat down next to her, sweeping her hair away from her face and kissed her forehead. ‘You’re welcome. What do you want to do this evening? Sleep?’

She shook her head. ‘I want to eat…’

Sam grinned. ‘Of course, already taken care of. Room service will be here in a few minutes.’

She leaned against him, smiling. ‘You know how to treat a girl good, Mr. Levy.’

He stroked her face tenderly. ‘I wish there were something I could do help you feel better.’

Isa closed her eyes. ‘I’ll feel a lot better when we’ve done this interview.’

Sam sighed. ‘I’m still not sold on it. What if this is what Dudek wants? To be a superstar?’

Isa looked up at him. ‘Do you really think that?’

‘I don’t know what to think.’

‘All I know, Sam, is we can’t keep doing what we’re doing, cowering behind bodyguards, waiting for the police to find Karl – if it’s even Karl they should be looking for.’

Sam hissed, running a hand through his dark hair. ‘Fuck, this is driving me insane.’

‘You know what frightens me more? The thought that whoever it is isn’t someone we know. That he’s just picked up on our lives, the private details – like calling me Isa instead of Izzy - by just being close, flying under the radar.’

Sam hugged her. ‘The monster under the bed?’

Isa chuckled softly. ‘Just like that.’ She gave a wide yawn. ‘Sorry, that one caught me by surprise.’

There was a knock at the door, and Sam got up to answer it. ‘We’ll eat…,’ he looked back over his shoulder at her, ‘...then you’re going to sleep.’

 

Later, while Isa slept deeply, Sam stood at the window of the hotel and looked out onto the rain-slicked streets of Seattle. He barely registered the weather, though; his mind was churning, going over everything he could do to protect his love, his family.

 

He had already applied for a court order against Karl Dudek, but even he knew that it would be no protection if Dudek was determined. Sam’s security team, the four or five people who had been with him, even with his father some of them, had all told him they’d be okay with being thoroughly vetted by the FBI to prove themselves. He had hated to ask, but they told him not to worry.

 

‘All of us agree,’ his security chief, Jock, told him earnestly, ‘whatever you need to feel protected, whatever Mrs. Levy needs to feel safe.’

He’d told Jock to hire more people, extending the protection to Zoe and Louisa and anyone who came into contact with Isa or himself. Even Sandy, Isa’s old boss, had called him and offered his help. Sam had thanked him then asked if Sandy had felt unsafe and if he wanted protection. Sandy had politely turned him down. ‘It’s not as if I see Isa anymore,’ he said somewhat sadly, and Sam had immediately felt guilty.

 

‘You are always welcome here, Sandy, anytime, you know that. I know Isa misses you too.’

Sam looked over at the bed, at his beloved wife. She was laying on her stomach, her face resting on the pillow, dark hair was strewn about her, the sheet pushed down to her waist, the white dressing on her shoulder a vivid reminder.

 

Why would anyone want to hurt you, lovely one? Sam shook his head. No-one would ever get the chance again; he thought now, not ever again.

 

His thoughts shifted to Cal. Ever since Seb’s murder, he’d had a dread inside him that the killer would do the same to his younger brother too and the thought was crippling him. The haunted look in Isa’s eyes knew came from seeing Seb die and Sam was at a loss about how to erase that pain. He didn’t think he ever would.

 

He couldn’t help but feel that the interview with Paul Carter was a mistake. Like other rich men, he knew the key to security was a low profile, and this would only heighten it. Still, Isa was set on it, and he didn’t want to take away her choice, her opinion, her ways to get through all of this. Afterward, though, Sam would insist they go away again, out of the public eye, somewhere new. He had already put feelers out, discreetly, about some places – Italy, a place on one of the Lakes – not Garda, too conspicuous with Clooney already there – but other places. Some bolt holes that no-one would expect an uber-rich couple to go – a small gite in rural France; a ski-lodge in Austria; a small family home in the Auckland suburbs in New Zealand. Try and find us then, asshole. The one thing they had as an advantage was Sam’s vast wealth and he was damned if he wouldn’t spend every penny keeping his family safe.

 

A friend of his from the art world, Jakob Mallory, had offered him the use of a small apartment in Venice and Sam thought now it would be the perfect start to their life of…

Running away. God, damn it, he hated to think of it like that, but that’s what it was. Being hounded out of their home. He loved Seattle with all of his heart, loved the entire West Coast as he knew Isa did. You can’t run forever. No, we won’t. We’ll fight this, we will, and we will win. Whoever it is. Whatever they want.

 

Whatever it takes…

Part #4 Breathe Me

 

 

Isa felt excited – hell, she felt alive – for the first time in weeks as the plane circled around the airport in Venice. It was a gloriously sunny, if cold, and as she and Sam were taken into the city on a small speedboat, she leaned against the solid frame of her husband and felt her body relax. Surely, here, she was entitled to not feel hunted or stalked. Sam’s friend had loaned them a small apartment, had warned them it was basic but cozy and that was exactly what she needed right now. No over-the-top luxury, no hulking bodyguards watching her every moment. Trying not to think about Seb every waking minute would be wonderful; she felt guilty even thinking like that but the pain was so searing, the image of his murder so vivid in her mind she just wanted a break, a few days of blessed relief.

Sam was quiet, had been absorbed with something the whole flight, but his arms around her were comforting, and she looked up at him now as they neared their mooring.

‘Hey,’ he smiled down at her, ‘…we’re almost there. I hope Jakob was exaggerating about how basic it was; I’m starving.’

Isa laughed. ‘I’m sure Venice has plenty of culinary options – would I have agreed to come if it didn’t?’

Sam grinned. ‘Hell, no. Here we are.’ The boat slowed and pulled up beside a small bridge and Sam helped her out of the boat. Grabbing their cases, he led her into a small building and up a dusty, dimly lit flight of wooden stairs. Isa was already half in love when he opened the door to the apartment.

‘God, it’s so gorgeous,’ she breathed, taking in the small living room, exposed brickwork, with a tiny kitchenette off to the side. Two doors on the opposite wall led to a small bedroom and bathroom. Isa sighed happily. ‘This is perfect.’

Sam looked doubtful. ‘It’s tiny.’

Isa rolled her eyes at him. ‘Dude, it’s perfect for us. No grandeur, no state of the art electronics, just you, me and a big bed is enough for what we’ll need it for.’ She slid her arms around his waist, and he smiled as she pressed her lips to his.

‘Well, when you put it like that…’

Isa chuckled. ‘You’re so easily pleased. I need to take a shower before I do anything, though.’

Sam smiled and bent his head to kiss her deeply. ‘You sure?’

Isa moaned softly as his hands slid under her top. ‘Well, maybe a little prelude…’

He pulled her t-shirt gently over her head and kissed her breasts, flicking open the catch of her bra in one easy move. Isa sighed happily as his mouth found her nipples, teasing each one in turn.

She tugged his shirt from him, fevered now, and unzipped his pants. His cock lay hot and hard against her hand, and she sank to her knees to take him into her mouth, forming her lips over the wide crest of it, her tongue flicking around the tip. Her hand fisted the root of him, urging his cock to thicken and swell. Sam groaned as she worked on him, her tongue making him crazy with desire until he could stand it no longer and he took her there, on the floor of the living room. They fucked hard, eyes locked on the others as if casting off everything else at that moment but each other. Isa’s long, shuddering moan as she came made Sam’s skin tingle.

 

Later, sated, showered and relaxed for what felt the first time in months, they strolled to a local restaurant that Jakob had recommended and lingered over a meal that Isa deemed ‘heavenly’; lobster ravioli followed by a suckling pig so tender that Isa ate far too much of it, much to Sam’s amusement.

‘Thank God I married a woman who knows how to eat,’ he said fondly, and Isa laughed.

‘Right back at cha.’

Sam was quiet for a moment watching her with a soft, amused smile. Right here and now, he allowed himself to forget the horrors of the past few months, the fact that Isa’s would-be murderer was still out there, waiting for them to slip up and leave her exposed. For just now, he could believe she was safe. Without Isa’s knowledge, a few security guards were staying in around Venice – just in case, Sam told himself. Isa need never know.

She looked so beautiful in the soft light of the restaurants; the fire from the tea-lights on the table reflecting in her dark eyes. Her dark hair fell softly over her bare shoulders, the soft pink of her dress complimenting her dark skin. Sam reached over and ran a finger down her cheek, and she smiled at him.

‘You have the mushy eyes,’ she teased him, and he laughed.

‘Yes, I do. For you, always.’

She held his hand against her face and closed her eyes and for a second, he could see all the fear, all the grief pass over her lovely face. ‘It’s so nice to have this time,’ she said quietly, and he nodded.

‘Isn’t it?’

‘Thank you for bringing me here, Sammy.’

He grinned. ‘Well, now you’re welcome, gorgeous. I know how you can thank me later.’

Isa laughed. ‘You are just the dirtiest boy.’

 

After they got back to the apartment and made love long into the night, Isa couldn’t sleep. For a while, she lay curled against Sam’s big, warm body but then got up and padded out onto the small balcony. She had a view out onto the Lagoon and watched the lights of the city at night. What a glorious place, she thought and wondered if they could stay here forever. Her beloved Seattle had been tainted by everything lately; it broke her heart, but she dreaded going back. No, she told herself, you will not be driven out of your home by that fucker.

She thought about the interview with Paul Carter they had coming up. He had asked them to do a live television spot, and although Sam had protested vehemently, Isa had thought it was a good idea. Sam had chaffed against Carter anyway as the journalist had made no secret of his attraction to Isa. Isa thought the guy was a creep but good at his job so she tried to convince Sam.

‘I’ll think about it,’ was the only reply she got. I’ll try to persuade him, she thought now, try to make him see I need to say to the fucker who killed Seb that I’m not afraid of him. Draw him out.

Satisfied, she went back inside and snuggled back into bed with her lover. Sam stirred and wrapped his arms around her, falling back to sleep almost immediately.

Isa closed her eyes and prayed that she wouldn’t dream of Seb or the man who wanted to kill her.

Louisa left her office at five o’clock. Rain misted the streets, and she ducked into a bar near her workplace. She was exhausted and sad and irked. Everyone she worked with had been very kind after Seb’s murder, but also, she was sick of the scrutiny, of the unasked questions on their lips. She wanted to scream Just ask me! But she kept quiet, knowing if she started to talk about him, she would lose her grip on her fragile composure.

I miss you every day, she thought now. She sighed and ordered a martini. She wasn’t a big drinker, but she felt the need to relax, to unwind. She took her drink and settled into a couch in the back. She closed her eyes and massaged her temples, trying to ease the headache that beat incessantly at her brain.

‘Lou?’

Ah hell. She opened her eyes. ‘Cal?’ She was surprised; she didn’t know he came to this bar. It was not a high-end place, not for rich men like Cal.

Cal smiled at her. ‘May I join you?’ He had a full glass of beer in his hand, and she nodded, sighing inwardly. Then she felt bad; Cal had been very kind to her since Seb’s death.

‘Of course, it’s good to see you.’

Cal dropped onto the couch next to her and smiled at her. ‘This is a great place,’ he said, looking around and Lou looked at him askance.

‘Are you kidding? It’s a dive – admittedly my favorite dive – but I would have thought it would be a bit low rent for you.’

Cal laughed. ‘Lou, I didn’t grow up rich. It was only when my mom married Sam’s dad that we suddenly found ourselves in that sphere.’

Louisa looked at him curiously. ‘I’ve never heard you talk about your mom before.’

He shrugged. ‘She died a few years ago.’

‘From?’

‘Cancer. Or a broken heart. Sam’s dad wasn’t the warmest of men.’ He sounded bitter.

 

Louisa was shocked. ‘Really? That surprises me; Sam is such a stand-up guy.’

Cal was silent for a beat too long then he nodded briskly. ‘Yes. I just hope… never mind.’

Louisa was curious now as she studied him. Cal looked away from her gaze.

‘What, Cal? What were you going to say?’

Cal sighed, rubbing his hand over his eyes. ‘I hope he doesn’t do to Isa what his dad did to my mom. Withdraw when it gets too complicated, ignore her. Isa’s too special for that.’

Too special for Sam. Louisa was sure that’s what he meant to say. She frowned.

‘Cal, are you in love with Isa?’

Cal laughed, but it sounded fake. ‘Don’t be ridiculous; Isa’s like a sister to me.’

Louisa flushed at the rebuke and Cal’s expression softened. ‘I’m sorry, Lou, I didn’t mean to snap.’

 

She nodded, gave him a half-smile. Cal left shortly afterward, extracting a promise from her to join him for dinner and drinks later in the week. She watched him leave, go out into the rain, without once looking back. She had always been a little wary of the guy, but since Seb’s death, he had seemed mellower or rather her attitude to him had softened, but at the moment, tonight, he had seemed lost. Maybe it’s because Sam and Isa had taken off and not told anyone where they were going, not even Cal. Maybe he was irked that his elder half-brother hadn’t trusted him. Louisa couldn’t blame him for that; she’d be pissed too.

She finished her drink and hailed a cab. At home, she took a hot shower and curled up on her couch to watch television, her pet cat Fred tucked onto her lap. Like every night, she missed Seb’s warm presence, his laughing at a dumb show, his teasing of her crying over a stupid romcom. God, what she wouldn’t give to turn back time? She let the tears come then and sobbed until she fell into a restless sleep filled with nightmares and horror…

 

She was locked inside the other woman’s body. There was a pain, a terrible searing pain in her head, and wherever she was it was a cold, damp place. She was lying on concrete.

‘Isa? Baby?’

Not Sam’s voice but still familiar.

‘Cal?’ She opened her eyes. Cal had blood on his face, a streak from his forehead down his temple.

‘Ssh,’ he said, glancing around, panicked, ‘We have to get out of here.’ He helped her to her feet. ‘Where’s your coat?’ She was shivering in just her blood-stained gray t-shirt, but it wasn’t from the cold. She just shook her head. Louisa/Isa looked around. An old abandoned hospital, a building site, open to the elements. She felt sick, hurt, her limbs ached. Memories came back to her. A man. A man on top of her…oh God, no…

She moaned softly, and Cal hugged her to him.

‘Come on, beauty, let’s go home.’

She couldn’t walk. ‘Cal…’ Her voice was a whisper. ‘He… who is he? He made me… he forced himself… oh God….’

‘Christ.’ He pulled her tight to him. ‘Look, I know, baby, I know, but we can’t think about that now. We have to get out of here before he comes back.’

He practically carried her limping through the old building. As they reached the main staircase, he stopped. Louisa/Isa heard it too – a car. Was it him? She whimpered and pulled back for a second then gasped.

‘Isa!’ Sam. It was Sam. He was here. He was here to save her. Oh, thank God… His voice was still away, and she opened her mouth to scream his name – and Cal clamped his hand over her mouth.

Cal dragged her back away from the staircase, away from the sound of Sam’s voice. Louisa/Isa tried to wriggle from his grasp, confused, wondering if Cal hadn’t realized it was his brother. He pulled her into one of the rooms along the corridor, locking it behind him. Locking it.

What the hell was going on? Cal was facing away from her, his forehead leaning on the door.

‘Cal…that was Sam. Sam’s here.’ Louisa/Isa felt dizzy, her head whirling, concussed, breathless.

Cal’s voice was calm. ‘I know.’

Then he turned around and smiled at her. ‘I know it’s Sam, Isa. I just thought I’d have more time to do this.’

She frowned. ‘Do what? Cal, let’s get out of here.’

Cal was silent for a moment, and Isa started to get scared. ‘Do what, Cal?’

He walked toward her, and she backed up until her back hit the far wall. Cal leaned in to smell her hair, kiss her cheek, her lips. ‘To kill you, my darling Isabel.’

The breath caught in her throat, just a second then it was forced from her lungs as Cal stabbed her, driving the knife deep into her, twisting it in her belly.

‘No…No…’ But he kept stabbing her, tearing into the soft, vulnerable flesh of her abdomen, the knife slicing through the fabric of her shirt as he drove the blade into her again and again. Her legs gave way and Cal caught her, lowering her to the floor gently, continuing to plunge his knife into her. ‘Why?’ Her voice was a whisper.

‘Because you’re beautiful,’ his blows were becoming frenzied now, and Isa felt herself slipping away, ‘because you love him…’, he stabbed her deeply, plunging the knife into her stomach and she choked on her own blood, ‘because he loves you. You were dead the minute he touched you, Isabel…’

The darkness was coming. Louisa/Isa could smell her blood, feel it pouring from her wounds. He had stopped stabbing her now and was watching her die – and she was dying, she knew that. No-one could survive what Cal had done to her. Please let me live longer enough…. ‘Please let me say goodbye…’ She pleaded with him …’Please….’

Cal smiled, bending to kiss her one last time. He stared into her eyes. ‘No…’ he whispered, and he slid the blade into her heart.

 

Louisa awoke, screaming a terrible raw terror, sending her cat screeching away from her. She stumbled from the couch in a panic, tripping over the throw she had pulled over herself, crashing to the floor. Her head made contact with the sharp edge of the table just as she heard shouting from outside her apartment door, someone banging loudly, calling for her, coming to help.

By the time her neighbor broke down the door, she was already unconscious.

Isa closed her eyes as they were driven back from the airport. Their vacation in Venice had flown by, and now they had to face the reality of their existence back here in Seattle. Sam’s arm was around her shoulder, and she leaned into him, wanting to feel his big body next to hers.

Tomorrow they would meet with Paul Carter to tell him they had agreed to do the live interview. She had worn Sam down finally, telling him she wanted to shock her stalker into making a mistake and revealing himself. They had argued long into most of the nights of their vacation, but finally, Sam had given in.

‘Fine! But I’m doubling your protection.’

She agreed – after all if she was already being baby-sat, what difference did it make? They were being driven back to yet another hotel; Sam wanted to make sure that they weren’t being followed.

 

The hotel was, of course, luxurious but impersonal and Isa thought back wistfully to her old apartment, the one above the garage at Zoe’s house. Messy, basic but she had loved it, loved that she had first made love with Sam there. Now, she knew, it had been pulled down, demolished after the dead girl had been found there and a fire had ravaged Zoe’s home and gallery. So much has changed, she considered, in such a short time. She looked over at her husband, his finely angled features stern and brooding. I love you so much, she thought, but I can’t help wondering where I would be if we’d never met. Would Seb still be alive? Would the man who wanted her dead still be stalking her? She gave a deep sigh and Sam looked around at her, his green eyes soft.

‘You okay?’

She nodded, trying to smile. I could never give up any part of you, Samuel Levy. I would gladly die for you. She leaned over and kissed him. ‘Let’s go to bed, darling.’

Sam’s phone bleeped and he gave her an apologetic smile as he answered it. ‘Yeah? Hey, Cal.’

Isa watched his face change and felt her heart sink. Whatever Cal was calling about, it wasn’t good news. Sam finished the call then looked at her. ‘It’s Louisa. She had a fall at home, hit her head.’

‘Oh no. Is she okay?’

Sam shook his head. ‘She’s in the hospital, unconscious. They don’t know if there’s been permanent damage.’

Zoe Marshall flew back to Seattle the day of the interview with Paul Carter. Isa had objected over the phone when Zoe told her her plans, but Zoe had insisted.

‘There’s no way I’m going to be away from you at a time like this,’ she had said, and Isa had given in graciously.

‘It would be lovely to see you,’ she told her de-facto mother, and that had settled the matter. As Zoe grabbed her luggage and walked into the Arrivals area. She saw Isa, flanked by two enormous bodyguards waiting for her. Isa nodded imperceptibly at the men and rolled her eyes, and Zoe grinned. She hugged Isa tightly.

‘Welcome back, Mom,’ Isa said, and Zoe felt tears spring into her eyes. Dashing them away impatiently, she hurried them all to the waiting town car.

‘We’re to go straight to the hospital,’ she ordered the driver and Isa nodded.

‘Lou’s awake,’ she told Zoe, ‘but still a little out of it. Bad concussion but they’re hopeful she’ll be okay in the long run.’

Zoe frowned. ‘What about her family?’

Isa looked sad. ‘She doesn’t have any, to speak of. Not in Washington.’

‘Like you.’

Isa smiled. ‘I have you.’

Zoe squeezed her hand. ‘And Sam and Cal now.’

Isa nodded, and Zoe wondered if all was okay. ‘What’s going on? Are you having second thoughts about the interview?’

 

Isa shook her head. ‘No, it’s just…God, it sounds so ridiculous but Paul Carter was very, um, flirtatious yesterday and it really got under Sam’s skin. Like he has anything to worry about; Paul Carter’s a good journalist, but he makes my skin crawl. But I’m concerned that Sam will forget why we’re doing this in the first place.’ She looked apologetically at Zoe. ‘Told you it was ridiculous.’

Zoe smiled at her. ‘If the world had less male ego in it, it would be a better place, Isa. Sam knows the priority here, don’t worry.’

 

At the hospital, they found Louisa awake and happy to see them. Zoe was shocked at the dark circles under her eyes, and when Isa had gone to get them some coffee, she took the younger woman’s hand.

‘What is it, honey?’

Louisa sighed. ‘It’s the nightmares, Zoe; I can’t shake them. Images of Seb being killed, over and over. Of Isa being murdered in the vilest, horrific ways. And in all of them, the killer is the same person, and I can’t get it out of my head.’

‘Who?’

Louisa hesitated then met her gaze. ‘Cal.’

Zoe’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Lou, why on Earth?’

‘I know, I know, it’s crazy, and I have no earthly reason for even suspecting the poor guy.’

There was a silence, and Zoe waited for a beat before asking. ‘So why?’

‘He’s in love with Isa,’ Lou blurted out, wanting to get it out of her system. ‘It’s obvious to me, and I just was wondering if he would be capable of such violent jealousy that…’

‘No,’ Zoe said abruptly. ‘There’s no way. For one thing, he would never hurt Seb; they were as thick as thieves. For another, he’d never hurt Sam. And yes, he does have a crush on Isa, but they all know that. It’s harmless. Cal is harmless.’

Lou looked ashamed of herself. ‘I’m sorry. I guess I’m not dealing with things as well as I thought.’ Her eyes filled with tears. ‘God, I miss him, Zoe, Seb, I miss him all of the time.’

Zoe nodded, her dark eyes glistening. ‘I know, sweetheart, I know.’ She moved and held onto Louisa as she sobbed.

Outside the hospital room, he listened to the girl crying. That was my doing. Their pain made him smile. He moved away, fingering the knife in his pocket. He’d followed Isa to the hospital, knowing that there, she felt safe, that she sent her protection to wait in the relatives’ room.

Foolish girl. How easily he could corner her and kill her. He could… but he wouldn’t, not yet. It would be too rushed, too easily discovered. But he liked to follow her, know he was close, that in a place she should be safest, she was most at risk.

And it made him smile to think that soon, so very soon, she would be bleeding to death in his arms and no-one would be able to save her.

Sam shifted in the chair as the make-up person fussed over him, dabbing powder onto his face. He narrowed his eyes at Isa, who was struggling to hide a smile at his grumpy face. The studio lights were hot, and he felt antsy, irritated. His gut was telling him this was a mistake, especially taking into account the meeting he’d had with Carter yesterday when Isa had been at the hospital with Zoe.

He hadn’t told her about it, just ducked out of picking Zoe up, telling Isa he had a last-minute meeting. She had accepted his reason with no argument or suspicion, and he’d called Carter and asked him to meet him at Sam’s office.

 

Carter had turned up, smirking, looking like he knew what Sam wanted to say. Dammit, why did he always have a supercilious look on his face; made Sam want to punch it off of him.

‘I’ve not much time, Levy, preparing for the interview of course. What did you want?’

Sam didn’t mess around. The sooner this guy was out of his office, the better.

‘I don’t want Isa distressed by your questions tomorrow. I don’t want her humiliated or upset.’

‘I wouldn’t dream of it,’ Carter said smoothly, ‘That lovely young woman has been through enough.’

Sam gritted his teeth. ‘Yes, my wife has. So, I’m just warning you – if she doesn’t want to talk about something, don’t pressure her.’

‘I won’t. You have my word. You, on the other hand, I have some questions for.’

Sam nodded briskly. ‘Fine. Just leave them with my secretary on the way out.’

Paul Carter’s smile spread across his face. ‘I never do questions in advance, Mr. Levy. You know that. You shouldn’t be too concerned; your family’s history is well known.’

 

Sam had gone very still. ‘My mother’s murder is not up for discussion.’

Carter got up. ‘I won’t linger on it, but it is relevant, don’t you see?’

Sam couldn’t argue with the man, but he got up. ‘One more thing. Isa is my wife. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you sleazing your way around her. Back off, buddy, or I’ll make your life very unpleasant.’

Paul Carter flushed a beetroot red. ‘God, why do exquisite women always fall for such bastards? Don’t threaten me, Levy, or you’ll be sorry.’

He slammed the door on his way out and now Sam wished he hadn’t threatened him. That was all male pride talking, too, and it had been Neanderthal of him. Still, if this interviewer drew the killer out then he could live with it.

 

Paul smiled at Isa, ignored Sam, as he came into the studio. ‘Don’t look so scared,’ he said to Isa, ‘This will be easy.’

Sam cleared his throat but still Paul ignored him. Isa put her hand on Sam’s.

‘We’ll be fine,’ she said softly.

 

As the floor manager counted them in, Paul did an intro then they played some clips; the fire at the gallery, Seb’s body being taken away from the place they’d been held, some candid shots of Isa and Sam together at social functions.

Sam wound his fingers between Isa’s, felt her trembling. She turned to glance at him, her dark eyes scared. I love you; he mouthed, and she smiled gratefully at him.

Paul Carter, despite his many faults, was a superb interviewer and guided Isa gently through the toughest questions, about her abduction, Seb’s murder, finding the dead girl who looked like her in her apartment and knowing that horrific death was the one she might be facing.

Isa’s voice shook and a couple of times she had to stop, collect herself but she got through it. Paul looked at her sympathetically. ‘Are you scared, Isa? You have every right to be.’

She nodded. ‘Yes, I am. But more than that, I’m pissed. Monumentally pissed, Paul. I never asked for this, but I feel now that this comes down to me and him. So, I say, come at me. We’ll see what happens next.’

The anger in her voice silenced Paul for a second, then he nodded, his admiration clear. He looked at Sam. ‘You must be a proud man.’

Sam nodded. ‘I am. Proud and lucky to have met this extraordinary woman.’

Paul smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. ‘You’ve championed many artists as one of the leading art dealers in this country. Can I take you back to when you first met Isa? How did you spot her talent?’

Sam smiled and told who they met – minus the sexathon which followed later that same night. Isa grinned at him as he retold it, her eyes shining as she remembered it with him.

 

‘And you married just a few months later?’

Sam touched Isa’s face. ‘I wanted to marry her the minute I met her.’ Isa leaned into his touch.

‘Well, it certainly appears that you two are committed to fighting this thing together.’

Isa nodded. ‘We are. We are unbreakable.’

Paul’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Really?’

Isa frowned confused, and Sam sat up, glaring at the interviewer. ‘Of course.’

Paul tapped his pen on his notepad. ‘I just ask because surely you must have thought that the first time around?’

Sam went cold. ‘What?’

‘Your first wife, Casey Hamilton?’

Sam felt Isa go very still beside him; her hand froze in his. He managed to compose himself. ‘That’s not up for discussion.’ Fuck. Fuck. For a second he wanted to launch himself at Paul Carter but when he caught the other man’s eye, there was no malice just confusion, and he realized that Paul Carter hadn’t known that Isa was in the dark about Casey – why would he? Any normal person would have told his new wife about his old wife. Jesus.

 

Paul quickly changed the subject and brought the interview to a close. As soon as the floor manager called that they were off the air, Isa slid from her seat and stalked away from the two men staring after her. Paul looked at Sam.

‘She didn’t know?’

Sam shook his head. ‘Who told you?’

Carter’s eyes were hooded. ‘I can’t reveal my source. I’m sorry.’

Sam shook his head. ‘Not your fault.’ He got up and followed Isa back toward the dressing rooms. When he got there, only one of their security team remained. The man, Toby, looked awkward.

‘Sir. Mrs. Levy asked David to drive her home. She left you a note in the room.’

Sam nodded tightly and went into the dressing room. His heart faltered when he saw her note – and her wedding ring that was sitting on top of it. He picked the ring up, flipped open the note.

 

Don’t try to follow me.

 

That was all, and it was all she needed to say to break his heart.

Zoe frowned at her daughter as she sat in the small apartment. Isa had appeared at her door two days ago, and Zoe had known immediately that something big had happened – and it was not a good ‘something.'

‘He’s a liar,’ was all Isa had told her so far, and the heartbreak in her voice had made Zoe hold back from peppering her with questions. Sam had been calling, of course, but Isa wouldn’t take his calls. Zoe questioned him, growing increasingly concerned when Sam broke down on the phone.

‘Just tell her I’m sorry, and that I love her.’

Now Zoe took Isa’s hand. ‘You have to tell me what happened, Isa. I’m going crazy here.’

Isa sighed. ‘He was married before, Zoe. To Casey Hamilton.’

Anger rippled across Zoe’s face. ‘You’re kidding me?’

‘Nope. And he lied to my face about her. It took months for him to even admit he knew her, had an intimate relationship with her. Now I find he was married to her, married. What else has he lied about?’ She glanced at Zoe, her eyes full of pain, ‘After everything we’ve been through…how could he do this?’

 

Zoe wrapped her arms around her and held her as she sobbed, silently cursing Sam Levy. She, Zoe, had known him for years and she’d never even known about Casey Hamilton. Isa was right – what else was he hiding?

Across the city, Sam was equally as messed up. Cal had been trying to talk him down, but Sam’s distress was overwhelming. He didn’t blame Paul Carter one bit – this was all on him. Why the hell hadn’t he been honest about Casey from the start? He raged against himself, against Casey as Cal listened, watching him carefully. Finally, Sam sighed, shaking his head. ‘I blew it.’

‘Yes,’ Cal said, without much sympathy, ‘You did. What the hell were you thinking?’

‘It was almost like the lie got too big to retract, you know?’

‘You can’t be so naive to think it wouldn’t come out. However much you scrub the internet or hide records, Sam…’

‘I know,’ Sam interrupted, waving his hand at his brother. ‘It was dumb. It’s just, with everything else that’s been going on, it didn’t seem relevant, you know?’

Cal shook his head, his jaw clenched. ‘What if it’s connected? What if Casey is the one behind all of this?’

Sam shook his head. ‘A man abducted Isa and Seb.’

‘A man who could have been hired.’

Sam considered. ‘I know, but from what he said, how he behaved. It seemed like he was the one obsessed with Isa.’

‘I still don’t get why he didn’t kill her when he had her,’ Cal said bluntly, ignoring Sam’s wince. ‘I’m sorry, Sam, I just don’t get it.’

Sam sighed and rubbed his hand over his hair. ‘Look, I’m shattered. I’m going to bed. I’ll figure this out in the morning.’

 

After Sam had gone to bed, Cal stayed up, a bottle of single malt scotch in front of him. He took his phone out and texted Isa.

 

Hey, babe, I am sorry about all of this. If you need to talk, you know where I am.

He didn’t expect her to reply but a half hour later…

Thank you, Cal. I just need time.

 

Louisa had been out of the hospital for a week before she ventured out with her dog, a huge German Shepard called William, who hated everyone except Louisa. Except for Seb, she thought now, strapping on his harness. Even William loved Seb.

She drove out to the beach and let William off his leash. It was cold, and they were the only ones there.

Louisa breathed out a long breath. The last few weeks had been a whirl. Every day she thought of Seb. I love you. I’m in love with you. She sighed. He was right; she should think about it; it was the right thing, the appropriate thing. But she kept thinking of his lips against hers, the way his hands felt on her skin…

Her cell phone rang. Jumping slightly, she saw it was Cal calling.

‘Hey, how are you?’

‘Hello Louisa, I was wondering the same. I hope you’re feeling… well, perhaps better isn’t the word but…’

‘I know what you mean, Cal. Yes, thank you.’

There was a pause. Louisa frowned.

‘I hear water,’ Cal said, ‘Where are you?’

She told him. ‘William is misbehaving with the gulls.’ She laughed, and he joined in.

‘Well I was going to invite you to lunch but how about you stay where you are, and I’ll bring a picnic?’

 

Louisa hesitated – she was enjoying being alone – but relented. ‘Okay, Cal. That sounds like fun. I’m at the far-left side of the beach; you can’t miss me. I’m the only one here.’

‘I’ll find you. I’ll see you soon.’

Louisa slid her phone back into her bag. Too late she realized that William wouldn’t be happy with Cal there. She let him run for a bit then grabbed his leash and walked him back to her truck. William was used to being tied in the back of the flatbed and settled down with a mournful look at her.

‘Sorry, bubba. But I’d rather you didn’t eat Cal.’

She kissed the top of his head and headed back down to the beach to wait for Cal.

 

Louisa sat back. ‘Okay I think I’ve eaten more today than in the past week,’ She put her hand on her stomach and laughed. ‘That was delicious.’ She leaned back against the driftwood and grinned at him. It was strange; Cal was more relaxed around her than he’d ever been and Louisa found she was grateful for his company. She felt bad for having suspecting him.

Cal smiled and cleared their plates away. ‘Glad you enjoyed it.’

‘This was a good idea, Cal, thank you.’ Louisa started to help him clear up, but he shooed her away.

‘Dessert?’

‘I couldn’t.’ She sipped her lemonade. ‘I hope you didn’t make that too.’

Cal smiled. ‘Sara Lee.’ He raised his glass at her. ‘So, still think I’m crazy in love with Isa?’

She reddened. ‘Cal, God, I’m sorry. I think I was looking for things that weren’t there to distract me from the pain of losing Seb. You were just being a good brother to her. God, I hate what’s happening to Sam and Isa now.’

Cal nodded, his smile fading. ‘Me too. I honestly don’t know how they’ll come back from this. Sam’s a damn fool.’

 

Louisa was quiet then, and Cal sighed. ‘I know what you’re thinking – am I hoping to swoop in and seduce Isa? No, I’m not. I’m not that guy.’

Louisa felt stung. ‘Cal, I would never…’ But she stopped herself. She’d be lying if the thought hadn’t crossed her mind.

Cal was watching her. ‘Look, I’ll be honest. I did have a crush. A while back, when they first met. She’s gorgeous and sweet and talented and I’m only human. But I really am not that guy.’

Louisa felt his hand slip into hers. She opened her eyes, tears dropping down her cheeks. ‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered. ‘I’m such a mess. I don’t know what I’m doing, how I’m feeling. I’m not trying to make excuses. Cal, you have to understand, over the past year, I’ve lost so much.’ She choked back a sob. ‘Cal. Nothing is as it seems, well, that’s what it feels like to me. I can’t believe this is my life. I don’t know who to trust, what to think.’ She rubbed her eyes.

He waited while she took a deep breath in. ‘Cal, I think I’d better go home if you don’t mind.’

‘Of course not. Do you need me to drive you?’

She shook her head. ‘Just stay in touch. Promise?’

He kissed her cheek. ‘I promise.’

 

Cal went home to find Sam, still mooning around the apartment. ‘Dude, seriously. Distract yourself.

Sam’s cell phone buzzed and he snatched it up. His face fell when he saw it wasn’t Isa calling him.

‘Yeah?’ His expression changed as he spoke a few words then hung up. He looked up at Cal. ‘That was Paul Carter. He wants to speak to me at his place. Tonight. He says he has information for us.’

 

Isa parked her car down the street from Paul Carter’s place. In her rearview mirror, she saw her security team park a little further down the street. She was grateful they had insisted on coming with her, but she hated to have the constant reminder of Sam with her. Better that than your would-be killer getting free access to you, dumbass. She sighed and got out of the car, noting another car is driving up to Paul Carter’s house. Her heart faltered as Sam got out and turned back to see her. They stared at each other for the longest moment then Sam walked slowly to her. Isa felt her entire body trembling.

‘What are you doing here?’ She hated the way her voice broke. Sam lifted a hand to touch her cheek, and she jerked away, feeling immediately guilty about the hurt in his eyes. He dropped his hand.

‘Paul called me, arrange a meeting.’

‘Me too.’

There was a long silence then Isa tugged her coat around her as if protecting herself from further hurt. ‘You know, whatever he says, doesn’t change a thing, Sam.’

Sam nodded, his green eyes hooded and sad. ‘I know. Isa…I cannot begin to…’

‘Don’t,’ she said, tears springing to her eyes. ‘Please, just don’t say anything. I can’t hear it yet.’

Sam nodded somberly. ‘Alright. You take as much time as you need. Just know this; I love you.’

Isa dashed away. ‘I love you too, Sam, but it’s not enough. It’s not enough.’

‘I know.’ Sam’s voice was little more than a whisper. They suddenly found themselves gazing at the other and Isa opened her mouth to say something – just as Paul Carter’s home exploded.

 

The entire sky lit up. Paul Carter’s home exploded, and the concussion blew both Sam and Isa off their feet. Sam scrambled over to her as quickly as he could and shielded her. After a few moments, they risked getting up.

‘Oh, my God…’ Isa’s face was pale even in the orange light of the fire. Sam kept one arm around her shoulder as he called the emergency services. Isa’s eyes were filled with tears. ‘Oh, dear God, I hope Paul wasn’t in there…’

Sam pursed his lips, knowing the chances of that were slim; it had to be some kind of way to shut Paul up.

Jesus. How many more people have to die?

 

Bedlam. Fire crews were being called in from all over; the whole of Paul Carter’s house was an inferno. Isa and Sam watched from the Varsity as they cleaned up the broken glass from the windows. Hours and hours passed, the fire refusing to die despite the crews’ efforts. The smoke from the fire was being carried away from the street by a storm that had blown up from the Sound. Rain hissed against the asphalt, competing with the crackling of the fire.

Isa hung back, numb now, exhaustion, fear and sadness making her body feel heavy. She could feel herself breaking inside from the weight of all the horror, the death, the betrayal surrounding her. All she wanted was Sam’s arms around her, but at the same time, she couldn’t shake her anger at him. And now this…what had Paul Carter been about to tell them? She closed her eyes. At this moment, she wished the killer would just come for her, end all of this. Too many people were dying. If I knew who you were, I would give myself up to you. God, how low had her self-esteem sunk that she actively wanted to die? I’m not breaking, Isa thought desperately; I am broken.

 

Sam came over to her, hesitating at first then pulled her into his arms. She didn’t resist, her cheek against the warm, solidness of his chest. She sighed deeply and felt Sam’s arms tighten around her. ‘I have to wait for the homicide detectives,’ he said softly, ‘and they’ll probably want to talk to you too.’

She nodded but said nothing. ‘Isa? Baby?’ She looked up into his face, his beautiful face, his eyes that held nothing but love for her. ‘I don’t want to use this as an excuse, but I have no shame anymore. Will you come back with me afterward and talk things out? I promise I won’t hold anything back, and if you want to leave afterward, I won’t try to stop you.’

Isa felt her body wilt. ‘Yes, alright.’ Sam had to bend his head to hear her and then his mouth was an inch from hers, and she could feel his warm breath. He brushed her lips with his but then someone called his name, and he looked up. Sam shot her a disappointed look but stepped away to talk to the leading detective. Isa suddenly felt cold and wrapped her arms around herself. Why did she feel even now she was being watched? She scanned the people who had gathered around to watch the fire. Are you one of them? She shivered despite the heat of the blaze and felt exhaustion take her over.

 

He couldn’t take his eyes from her lovely face, so drawn, so tired and scared. It’s nearly over, he thought, so nearly over my darling. He could see she was broken, even from here, her body language was so defeated. He could imagine her giving herself to him, welcoming the knife that would slide into her body as a relief, her lovely rose-colored lips parting with gasps of pain as he stabbed her again and again. The sound her last breath would make, the smell of her rich salty blood.

Soon, Isabel, soon. Hours rather than days. He allowed himself a fantasy of walking up to her now and driving a lethal blade into her belly, in front of Sam, in front of the police. They would shoot him dead; he had no doubt, but he cared little for that. Isa would be with him in death. But no. He had a plan and, so far, everything was going exactly as planned.

Everything.

 

Isa saw her first. The smoke from the fire hung low around the street and at first, she didn’t know what she was seeing. She walked to the door and squinted into the gloom. Casting a glance over her shoulder at Sam, who were talking to some paramedics, she slipped into the street.

Casey was in a nightgown, the pale blue silk stained by the smoke. She was staring into the fire, confusion, disbelief, despair on her face. Isa hesitated and touched her arm.

‘Casey?’

Casey turned to her. ‘Isa.’ She said her name again, mouthing it. Her eyes didn’t seem to be registering. She touched Isa’s face. ‘Are you dead? Has he done it?’

Isa swallowed. ‘No… Casey, why are you out here? You have no shoes on.’

Casey shook her head, as if she didn’t understand. ‘You’re supposed to be dead. I don’t…’ She glanced at the fire. ‘Where’s Paul?’

‘We don’t know, Casey.’

‘Where is he? We were… he was going to kill you. Tonight. Then we were supposed to go away. I persuaded him. He was going to stab you to death; he showed me the knife. Then he was going to shoot Sam for me. You were both supposed to be dead by now. Dead. Where is he? Are you dead? Am I dead?’

‘Wait, Paul wanted to kill me?’

Casey gave a short bark of laughter. ‘No, not Paul, you fucking idiot, that pathetic sap just wanted to fuck you…’

Her eyes were wheeling now, looking from Isa to the fire back to Isa. Then she stared over Isa’s shoulder. Isa turned, half expecting to see someone coming at her with a knife. Even though Casey was rambling, the calm way she discussed Isa’s murder, and worse, Sam’s, made her tremble, nauseated.

 

She breathed again when she saw it was Sam.

‘Isa, what’s going on?’

She shook her head. ‘I don’t know. She’s out of it.’ She turned back to Casey who was gazing into the flames.

‘He was going to leave me behind. But I persuaded him. I made him love me. He was going to make everything better. Better.’

Sam took Casey by the shoulders. ‘Who, Casey? Who is it?’

Her eyes wheeling about, half-crazed, Casey looked back at Isa, her eyes searching her nemesis’s face. ‘How does it feel? How does it feel to be so beautiful? How does it feel to have someone love you so much he’d die for you?’

Isa said nothing. Sam came and stood next to her, put an arm around her. Casey looked at him, a half smile on her face.

‘How will it feel when you watch her bleed to death, Sam?’ She didn’t wait for an answer. She walked towards the fire. Sam stepped forward, but it was Isa who stopped her. Casey looked at Isa’s hand on her arm. She stared at her with tears in her eyes.

 

‘It’s not fair. Why do you get everything you want? Where’s my happy ending?’

Isa was angry now. ‘You spoiled, malevolent bitch. Do you think watching my brother murdered is a happy ending? Finding about you is a happy ending? Living with the fact someone wants to butcher me, a happy ending? Fuck you, Casey.’

Casey cackled, knowing she’d gotten to Isa. Isa clenched her fists. Sam, his face livid, stepped between the two women.

‘Casey, go home. I’m sure the police will want to talk to you.’

There was a commotion near the burning apartment. Men shouting. The lead detective, Mike Hamill came jogging over, exhausted and with a strained on his face. Sam stepped forward.

 

‘Mike?’

Mike took a deep breath in. ‘We found two bodies inside. One is obviously Carter – we think he was dead before the explosion. The other is burned too badly to recognize.’

Casey screamed. She started to run towards the fire, but Isa and Sam grabbed hold of her. She fought them, sobbing and howling, kicking and biting.

‘No, no! He’s not gone; he’s not gone, no! Get off me, get your fucking hands off me.’

She kicked Isa hard in the stomach, felling her then falling on top of her, attacking the prone woman.

‘Fucking bitch! You’re supposed to be dead, not him! I’ll kill you; I’ll kill you. I’ll rip your insides out. No! No!’

Mike dragged her to a police cruiser and shoved her, still screaming into the back of it. He told the young cop with her to take her to the station then came back to see if he could help them. Sam rushed to Isa’s side, his eyes filled with concern. She smiled at him, wincing a little. ‘I’m okay.’

Sam pulled her into his arms for a brief second. ‘I’m so sorry,’ he whispered, and she nodded.

‘It’s alright.’

Mike Hamill cleared his throat awkwardly. ‘Sorry folk, look, we need to get statements back at the station so can you both go straight there? Are either of you injured?’

They both shook their heads and Mike gave them the directions. Sam took Isa’s hand. ‘Look, I know you have your car but can I get one of my men to drive it back to my apartment? I would rather we go together to the station – forgive me for not wanting you out of my sight on this night.’

 

Isa agreed and as they sat in the back of his town car, his chief security guard Ken driving, Sam held her closely.

‘I’m so sorry for not telling you about Casey,’ he said softly, ‘it got away from me. I guess I didn’t want my past with her to affect this new life with you.’

Isa looked askance at him. ‘Well, you dodged that bullet, huh?’ She suddenly grinned and Sam laughed bemusedly.

‘I know, I know. God, what a mess.’

Isa’s smile faded. ‘Sam, look. I’m so tired of all of this. Maybe we moved too fast, got married too quickly.’

‘No,’ Sam said, his voice trembling. ‘We’re meant to be together, Isa, of that I am certain.’

She looked up at him. ‘I think so too, but we have to find a better way to communicate if we’re going to trust each other.’

‘I do trust you; you’ve never done anything to test it. I know I have and god, Isa, I’ll do anything to regain that trust.’

Isa sighed and let her body relax against his. ‘We’ll work on it. I swear to God, I won’t let this beat us.’

He kissed the top of her head. ‘Thank you,’ he whispered and felt her nod.

 

Casey Hamilton stared out of the back of the window of the police cruiser as it sped back toward the city. The young officer driving her, Zack, glanced back at her.

‘You feeling better now, ma’am?’

She tried to smile. ‘One man I loved is dead; the other is obsessed with that little tramp. So, no, officer, not really.’

Zack wasn’t impressed. ‘But you did try to have her killed, isn’t that right?’

Casey smiled without humor. ‘And I even failed in that. Or rather he failed me.’

‘Who is he? And why do you hate Mrs. Levy so much?’

Casey sighed. ‘Because she has everything. She’s beautiful, heart-stoppingly, unnaturally beautiful. She’s good and kind and smart and successful. Everybody loves her. My husband is...’ She laughed without humor, shaking her head. ‘I’ve never seen love like that. Never. He certainly never looked at me like that. I don’t know what that feels like. To be wanted so completely, to have someone want to crawl through glass for me, to die for me. I hate her because she is everything I could never be.’

Zack shook his head. ‘From what I understand, someone’s been stalking her and threatening to kill her for nearly a year. Would you wanna live like that?

Casey shrugged. ‘The sooner she’s dead, the better I’ll feel. But then again, doesn’t look like that’s going to happen now.’

Zack shook his head. ‘Who is he then? Your lover, the psychopath?’

The first few days after the fire had been surreal. After the emergency services had cleared out, Sam, Isa, and Zoe had watched them take the body away. Black-bagged and anonymous.

Later, at home, Isa had a million questions for Sam, but only one mattered.

‘Is it him? Is it Karl?’ The hope in her eyes had nearly floored Sam. He put his arms around her as Cal cast a worried look at him but nodded: Tell her the truth.

‘We can’t say. The police told me the body is male, tall but it’s in an appalling condition. We’ll have to wait for dental, or DNA to identify it.’

Isa wasn’t deterred. ‘But who else could it be? He’s the only one…’ Her voice trailed off as she saw Sam’s expression. ‘Sam… please. Please tell me it’s him.’

Sam swallowed over the lump in his throat. ‘Darling, we have to wait. Yes, it is probably him. But I want to be absolutely sure. You understand that, don’t you? I cannot risk being wrong and dropping our guard. I’m not gambling with your life. We need to wait.’

She nodded then, but he could see the disappointment in her eyes and ached for her. He knew she was at the limit of her strength, of being able to cope living under a death sentence. He pulled her into his arms. They could only wait now for the formal identification.

 

Every day she waited, longing to hear that the body in the fire was Karl’s. Sam still wouldn’t let her go anywhere alone; when Zoe left her side, Sam would arrive like clockwork. Isa tried not to feel irked by their constant and unswerving vigilance; she knew how scared Sam was, still but every day there was something, something that made her think it was really over.

 

Isa felt the tremendous weight of guilt. Seb. Paul Carter. Sam could see it crushing her. He finally sat her down one day, after she’s had an out of character freak out over something minor.

‘You listen good now. You are not responsible for everyone. You can’t save everyone. People make their own decisions. You are only responsible for the decisions you make. I know it will take time, but you need to start now today.’

She looked confused. ‘Start what, baby?’

He smiled and kissed her softly. ‘Letting go, darling. Letting go of the past because you know what?’

She smiled. ‘What?’

‘We have an awful lot to catch up on and a heck of a lot of living to do.’

She laughed then, but her eyes grew with the wonder of it. ‘We have forever?’

‘You bet your sweet we do.’

And finally, Isa believed him.

 

Two weeks before Christmas, on their way back from the city, Sam dropped Isa off at Zoe’s new place on his way to work. Isa waved him off then went in. She saw Zoe come out of the backroom and smiled at her friend. Then she saw her friend’s expression and felt fear shoot through her. ‘What is it?’

 

Zoe, her usual bravura missing, was pale. ‘I don’t know; I don’t know how she got in. I turned around, and she was there. She won’t let me near her.’

Isa frowned. ‘Who, honey? Who’s where?’

Zoe nodded towards the back room. Isa opened the door and gasped. Casey was sitting on the floor, facing away from her. There was blood everywhere, smeared across the walls, the floor, the counters. Words written in the blood.

You are next.

Isa swallowed. Casey was swaying from side to side, singing softly to herself. As Isa moved to her side, she recognized the song.

Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite…

Isa crouched by Casey’s side and touched her hand to the other woman’s shoulder.

‘Casey?’

The other woman turned and smiled, not really seeing her. With a lurch, Isa saw her wrists were cut; not deeply but enough to bleed heavily. For the first time, Isa felt real pity for the pathetic creature in front of her. She put her arms around Casey and pulled her up. She led her over to the couch and sat her down.

‘Zoe?’

Zoe came to the door. Isa nodded at Casey.

‘Can you get me the first aid kit and some hot tea?’

 

Zoe did as she asked, bringing her a bowl of warm water too. She grimaced when she saw Casey’s mangled arms.

‘I’ll call Sam,’ she said quietly. Isa nodded. Zoe squeezed her friend’s shoulder and disappeared.

Isa cleaned Casey’s wrists gently. Casey was as malleable as a child. Isa worked in silence, examining the wounds on Casey’s wrists. She wouldn’t need stitches, so Isa dressed them and wound a bandage gently around them. She held the cup of tea to Casey’s lips and made her drink. Casey sipped the hot liquid then looked at Isa, her eyes watery and red as they watched her enemy tending to her.

‘Why are you being so nice to me?’ Her voice was a whisper. Isa, surprised by the question, felt her face go red. ‘I tried to have you killed.’

 

‘Honestly? Because I want to believe that you’re not all bad. I want to believe you were just taken in by that monster that he promised you something you needed. I don’t know what, I’ve never known. I don’t pretend to understand you, Casey, or understand why you hate me so much. But I won’t let him ruin anyone else’s life. Casey, look at me.’

Casey looked up at her just as Sam appeared at the door. Isa shook her head at him as he opened his mouth to speak. She turned back to the other woman.

‘Casey, is Karl alive? Have you seen him?’

Casey gazed back at her and smiled.

 

Isa cleaned the last of the blood from the walls. Sam came back into the room as she was dumping the dirty water into the sink. She smiled at him.

‘Is she okay?’

Sam shook his head. ‘I don’t know, darling. She’s pretty messed up, but she won’t let me call a doctor. Can’t force her. I took her home, called Halsey. He’ll question her in the morning.’

‘I don’t think she meant to kill herself.’

‘No.’

She noticed his face was drawn. ‘Hey…’ She put her arms around him. ‘It’s okay, baby. After what’s been going on the last few months, this is nothing. It is a strange thing to say but a bit of blood on the walls…’

She slid her arms around his waist and kissed him. He responded and she felt him relax in her arms. He sighed and buried his face in her hair.

‘Do you believe her?’ He muttered.

‘That Karl is dead? I don’t know; I really don’t. I hope, though. I hope, is all.’

Sam nodded, glanced at his watch and smiled. ‘Well, would you look at that, managed to waste a whole day. C’mon bub, I’m taking you home.’

Sam’s cell phone buzzed. ‘Levy.’

Isa watched as his expression changed, brightened. He grinned at her. ‘Yeah, yeah, thanks. We’ll be right there. Tell him to rest, though, would you, I know him, he’ll be pacing the halls. Yeah, thanks.’

He clicked his phone shut. ‘That was Halsey. He’s got something to tell us.’

 

Isa felt as if she were moving through syrup – slow, confused and yet…

‘You’re sure?’

John Halsey grinned at Sam, who was smiling and shaking his head. ‘Yes, Isa, we’re sure. Karl Dudek is dead. The DNA, what we found of it, checks out. We think he murdered Paul Carter and set the fire but messed it up, got caught in the blast himself. He’s dead.’

Isa was quiet for one more second then burst into tears. ‘It’s over? It’s really over?’

Sam pulled her into his arms. ‘It really is, darling. You’re safe – at last.’ He sounded as if he didn’t quite believe it himself. All the months of tension, of grief, poured out of Isa then. Behind them, she heard Zoe start to cry to. Det. Halsey patted Sam’s shoulder. ‘I’ll give you some space.’

Isa beckoned Zoe into their little huddle, and the three of them hugged until finally, Isa’s sobs stopped. She wiped her face with the back of her hand.

‘I’m sorry, it’s just…’

‘No need to explain or apologize. We know,’ Sam said softly.

Zoe smoothed her daughter’s hair back behind her ear. ‘We can start rebuilding now. All of us,’ she said pointedly, glaring at the two of them and making them laugh. Sam took Isa’s hand, and from his pocket, he pulled the wedding ring she’d left him with. ‘May I?’

She nodded, and he slipped it back onto her finger. Sam held her gaze. ‘I love you, Isa, from now on, I promise, no secrets, no lies.’

Isa leaned over to kiss him. ‘Sounds good to me.’

Isa slid the tray of cookies into the oven and set the timer. The kitchen counters were full of the efforts of the morning, cakes, and cookies. The kitchen smelled gloriously of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Isa put the mixing bowl into the sink and squeezed soap into it. As she cleaned, she looked out over the snow-covered garden. She was beginning to feel like herself again.

In the three months since Karl Dudek’s body had been found, their lives had changed again. Sam had found them the perfect new home, out on one of the islands. Knowing Isa’s taste for the homely rather than high-end, for a family home rather than a billionaire’s mansion, he found the perfect – if very large – Cape Cod style home on the waterfront, with plenty of gardens and a little boathouse at the corner of the property. Isa had fallen in love with on site, and within two weeks, they had moved in. Zoe and Cal both stayed in the city but were frequent visitors.

And there was another reason she loved this house. Behind their large property stood the private high school where Seb had gone to school and both Zoe and Isa had become friends with the principal Bill. Isa had felt guilty about not seeing him for so long and now she was planning to take over some home-baked cookies for him.

Isa was reveling in her new life. Every time she saw Sam, realized she had him forever, her heart felt like it would burst. During the day, they would talk and laugh, and when they weren’t working, they would spend every minute together. At night, they would spend hours making love: all over the house, sometimes outside: against a tree in the wood, on the jetty in the cove, in the middle of the football field. Isa smiled to herself. That had been two nights ago, a full moon, bitter cold but they were both sweating by the time they broke apart. They lay next to each other, admiring the other’s body in the surreal pale moonlight. So still, so quiet. Isa, at that moment, believed that the world had gone away.

 

She made herself some tea and wandered into the living room. She grinned to herself as she looked at the Christmas decorations they’d put up yesterday. Sam had rolled his eyes as he pulled string after string of twinkle lights from the groaning cardboard box she’d brought from the city. She’d insisted – mostly to torture him – on using every single decoration she had. It wouldn’t win any interior design awards, but she loved it. It was just such a pure, happy thing to do and the fact she was able to do it with Sam… living with him was so effortless, so natural. She twirled a glittery bauble around on the tree, letting the light sparkle around the room. They should get a dog, she decided. They’d go to the pound after Christmas. Start building their family, at last.

The phone rang. ‘Hello?’

‘Hey, darling.’

She smiled into the phone. ‘Hey baby, you okay?’

Sam laughed. ‘Yeah, honey, I’m good. Just about to go to the ferry. You going to the school soon?’

‘Uh-huh, soon as this batch of cookies is ready.’

Sam hesitated. ‘Keep your gun in your purse, okay?’

Isa smiled to herself. Even though the danger was passed, Sam still worried and insisted she’d learn to shoot. She’d balked then surrendered. What did it hurt and if it made Sam feel better… ‘Honey, not sure taking a gun into a school is the best idea. Even when school’s out. Bill might think I’ve gone postal.’

He laughed. ‘Yeah. Right, sorry.’

‘Baby, it’s across the football field. Open space. I can see what’s coming. I’ll be fine, don’t worry.’

He sighed. ‘Okay yeah. Well, I’ll be back as soon as I can. I love you.’

‘Love you too. There’s something warm and spicy waiting for you here.’

‘Cookies?’

‘Nope.’

He laughed and said goodbye.

 

Louisa knew Cal was hiding something from her the second she saw him. He stood aside to let her into the apartment, and she stepped in – and stopped. ‘What? What is this?’

He shook his head. ‘Nothing. There’s just somewhere I have to be, is all.’

She looked around the apartment. ‘Are you moving out?’

There were boxes of his stuff everywhere, things shoved haphazardly in, scrawled addresses. She recognized the address of a storage company. ’Cal, what’s going on?’

Cal’s lips tightened. ‘I’m just going away for a while is all.’

Louisa stared at him. ‘You haven’t mentioned this before.’

‘No.’

Louisa shook her head. ‘Well, okay. It just seems a strange time to be taking off, with Christmas coming up. I thought we were going to spend Christmas with Zoe and Sam and Isa.’

For a second, she saw something else in his eyes when she mentioned Isa’s name. ‘Oh, Cal. You’re not over her.’

Cal laughed awkwardly. ‘Who? There’s no-one to be over, Louisa; I keep telling you that.’

Louisa put a hand on his arm. ‘Cal. Look, stay until after Christmas.’

‘That’s not going to work, Lou.’ He turned away from her. ‘Just leave it, please.’

‘Look, this family has practically been my own for the past few months, and I’m selfish, I want us all together.’

 

Cal laughed again, and she could see the tension in his back. ‘Lou, just because you fucked Seb a few times, doesn’t mean you’re a part of this family. Their family. Let’s be real – you and I are both excess to requirements.’ He looked up, his eyes cold. ‘I should know. I’ve been here many, many times before.’

The bitterness and malice in his voice shook her to the core. Surely, he couldn’t have had any hope that Isa would shift her love from Sam to Cal. That was just crazy. She knew Cal had been supportive when Sam and Isa were separated but…

‘Cal, you can’t have thought that…’

 

‘What?’ His eyes were alive with anger. ‘That I wasn’t being used? Of course, I was. I always am. By Isa, by Sam, by you. That’s all I’m good for, isn’t it? I’m always the consolation prize, expected to be there for everyone but no-one asks if I’m okay.’

He sounded like a spoiled toddler, Louisa thought, a spoiled psychotically jealous toddler. ‘Cal, look, let’s go talk with Zoe, I’m sure…’

‘No!’ His roar silenced her. Cal breathed deeply. ‘I’m sorry. Look, Lou, please, just go.’

She nodded and turned to go. Her coat caught the edge of a box on the table and sent it skittering across the floor. ‘God, I’m sorry.’

Cal practically pushed her out of the way to get to the spilled contacts. ‘Just go.’

Louisa bent down to pick up a wallet that had fallen from the box. It had fallen open and just as she held it out to Cal, she saw the photo, the name on the driver’s license inside it.

Karl Dudek.

Her entire body went cold. She looked up at Cal, who was staring at her with anger, and resignation.

‘Why didn’t you just go?’ He said softly. Louisa felt raw terror when she saw the knife in his hand.

 

‘My god. It was you, all the time, it was you.’ She backed away, but Cal was between her and the only door out. She screamed and then Cal was on her, hand clamped over her mouth and the knife plunging deep into her stomach. Oh no, no, god, no…

Cal was smiling as he stabbed her, as she collapsed to the floor. The pain was unbearable.

‘Yes, Lou, it was me. I killed Seb, and Paul Cater and Karl Dudek. And now I’m killing you and later today; I’ll stab Isa to death. You can’t stop me, now, Lou.’

In the seconds before she passed out from the pain, Louisa tried to speak, tried to reason with him, but then the darkness came…

 

Isa heard the oven timer ping and went to retrieve her cookies. Half an hour later, she walked over to the school. Crunching the snow under her boots, she scanned around the field, over to the tree line. Despite her bravado earlier with Sam, she felt jumpy, paranoid. A movement in the trees made her stop, a painful shot of adrenalin. She stared into the wood. A clump of snow fell from one of the long branches of a fir. Isa let her breath out in a long rush. She glanced back towards home, contemplating darting back into its warm security. She was closer to the school now. She started walking faster, feeling stupid but she was grateful when she saw the open gate of the school.

The school had shut down for the holidays, but Isa knew of old that the head, who lived in the small cottage on the campus, would still be working, even on Christmas Eve. She knocked on his office door.

‘Isa! Well, that’s a face I’m very glad to see, come in.’ Bill Patrick, a tall man in his sixties, smiled at his visitor. Isa smiled, a little shy, and offered him the tin she was holding.

‘Ambrosia of the Gods.’ Bill gestured for her to take a seat. ‘Thank you. You have been much missed, my dear.’

‘I’m sorry, Bill, I should have been over before.’

The headmaster smiled at her. ‘I understand, Isa. Seb left a huge hole here so I can only imagine…and I’m sorry to hear what happened to you a few weeks ago. Terrible, terrible business.’

His kindness made tears spring into Isa’s eyes, and she blinked them away, looking out of the window. She cleared her throat.

‘It’s Christmas Eve, Bill, and you’re still working. You’ll get into trouble with Marilyn.’

He laughed. ‘She’s used to it. And besides, I was planning to leave shortly.’

Isa got up. ‘Then I won’t keep you.’

He waved her back down. ‘Nonsense. Have some tea with me; I’m trying to be polite, but the smell of these cookies is driving me mad.’

She laughed and took her seat, opening the tin. ‘I remembered you always preferred oatmeal raisin to chocolate.’

Bill took a cookie then moved over to the small kettle he kept in his office. ‘Tea. Then you can tell me everything that’s been happening.’

 

Sam ducked out work early, grateful that some of his meetings had been pushed back until after the holidays. He hated being away from home now, away from Isa. No longer was he scared for her safety – although he still thought about it constantly – he just wanted to spend as much time with her as possible.

He went to a local bookstore to buy some of her Christmas gifts then caught the next ferry home. He stood on the desk, bitterly cold as it was, and looked out towards the island, remembering the time all those months ago, when he’d chosen to catch the ferry to Zoe’s gallery instead of going to work and had met Isa. The first time he saw her in that gallery. God, his entire body, had reacted to her, those dark eyes and that smile. The obvious instant animal attraction between them. Then, going up to her tiny apartment above the garage and screwing each other senseless. Sam cleared his throat and had to pull his coat around himself to hide his hard-on just thinking about her.

He caught a cab from the harbor to the house. Isa was still out, and he could see her footprints in the snow over to the school. He smiled. The proximity of the school to the house would come in handy when they started their own family.

He found some still warm cookies that Isa had left for him and went into his study, carrying the cookies and a tall glass of milk.

He flicked on the radio. The weather was closing in, and he glanced out of the window at the darkening sky.

The slight movement behind him caught his eye the second before something heavy crashed down on his head and Sam dropped to the floor, unconscious.

 

 

Cal stood above his brother, breathing heavily. He would take Sam out to the boathouse like he planned and wait for Isa to find him. Then, slowly, and painfully, he would kill her.

 

Isa felt like she had spent the past hour with Santa Claus. Bill was so warm, so empathetic. She didn’t know what having a father was, but she thought Bill was a wonderful role model and protector. She knew Bill and his wife Marilyn hadn’t been able to have kids of their own and felt sad for them. She waved at him as she set back over the snowy field.

The temperature had dropped, the sky overcast and dark, made worse by a freezing fog that settled low over the fields. She trudged back in her own footprints, eager to get back to the warmth of the house. She checked her watch and sighed. Sam would be gone for a few hours yet. She decided she would pack up some more of her cakes and cookies and drive into town, spend time with Zoe, planning Christmas. She reached the gate and was about to push it open when she saw the tracks. Footprints in the snow leading around the house. She frowned and looked around. Only her truck stood outside, covered in a thick blanket of snow. She looked down at the tracks and started to follow them.

‘Sam?’ She called out. ‘Baby?’ Nothing. She stopped, debating whether to follow the tracks or to go inside, into the warm house and call Sam. She chewed on her lip. If she was in any danger…she looked around. Listened. Silence. She made a decision, ran inside the house and went to find the little .22 from her purse. It was gone. Her heart clattered against her ribs. What the hell was going on?

She pulled the door open and went outside again, following the tracks around. There was a distinct set of footprints – by the size of them it must be men’s footprints – and next to it, it looked like something had been dragged. The delivery guy maybe, Isa thought, but her heart had started to thump uncomfortably. They led around the house and down to the shoreline. Isa’s breathing came in little gasps now as the fear inside her grew.

Then she saw the blood. Not much, a few drops, at irregular intervals along the tracks. After a few more feet, Isa stopped and closed her eyes. In front of her, the boathouse, its door flung open, the footprints leading inside. Bile rose up in Isa’s throat. The silence in the air around her made her heart sound like a drum. She opened her eyes and gripping the gun in front of her, covered the last few feet and walked into the boathouse. Then she saw him, and every muscle in her body went limp, and she fell to her knees.

Face down in the water, hands bound behind his back, a gaping wound on the back of his head.

Sam.

Coming around, Louisa crawled over to the phone, clutching her hands to the stab wounds Cal had inflicted upon her. God, the pain was excruciating but no matter now, she had to get to a phone. Whatever Cal had done to her, he would inflict a hundred times more on Isa. There was madness in his eyes, complete and utter obsession.

Zoe answered on the first ring and Louisa gasped out what she could. A stricken Zoe was calm, even though her voice shook.

‘Hold on, sweetheart, help is on its way, just hold on. Hold on. I’ll be with you soon.’

Isa scrambled over to Sam, her fingers hooking into his shirt, yanking him out of the water onto the frozen mud. He was blue, his eyes closed, unresponsive. Dead.

‘No, no, no, no…’

She bent her head to his face but couldn’t hear anything. No breath, no life. As she turned Sam onto his side and banged on his back to clear his throat of water, she realized she was screaming. Panic, grief, rage. She pounded on Sam’s back again and gasped as he choked out a mouthful of water.

‘Oh, my God, oh God, Sam.’ She sobbed as she pulled him into her arms, desperate to warm him. The stricken man coughed violently before gasping out her name, then falling unconscious. She clutched him to her, hearing him breathing. ‘Please wake up, baby, please. Tell me who did this to you.’

Then she heard the footsteps behind her, the quiet chuckle of malice. No…No, it couldn’t be

 

‘Hello, Isa.’

She closed her eyes, then, kissing Sam gently, she laid him gently back down to the earth, well away from the water and turned to face her tormentor. She should have known; she should have guessed. Cal leveled her own pistol at her and smiled.

‘Time to die, beautiful.’

Louisa could feel her life drifting away as the paramedics worked on her and she couldn’t speak, couldn’t scream, couldn’t tell them to go find Isa and Sam and protect them.

As her vision started to blur, she suddenly heard a familiar voice, one stricken with horror, calling her name.

Zoe.

She reached out a hand towards the voice, felt Zoe’s warm hand take hers, and felt her tears drip down onto Louisa’s face. ‘Oh sweetheart, sweetheart.’

Louisa summoned the last of her strength. ‘Zoe. It’s Cal… Cal is going to kill her, save them… save them…’

The last thing Louisa heard before she gave into unconsciousness again was Zoe telling her she loved her and that she would save them if it killed her to do it.

 

Cal lunged for her and dragged her away from Sam’s prone body. ‘No need for my darling brother to find out who killed his beautiful wife now is there?’

He dragged her through the snow back to the house, her strength no match for his. She struggled against him, yelling the whole way until he finally lost patience and, with the butt of the gun, cold-cocked her viciously, knocking her out. Finally, he picked her up into his arms and carried her to his killing room. The basement. He’d cleared it out, put a chair with binding at the center of it. He lowered Isa into it now, cutting the bodice of her dress open from throat to groin and bound her. Leather ties crisscrossed her body, the dark red of them against her dusky skin made Cal smile. They cross under her breasts, over her belly, around her hips. The effect was strangely erotic, and Cal felt himself get hard. No, stick to the plan, he told himself. Today, when she woke up, was the day when Isabel Levy would die. Slowly, in searing agony. He pulled up another chair and waited, tracing a light pattern with the knife around her deep navel. He could picture his knife sinking into it, the flesh parting as the steel sliced into her. He wondered if she would scream, or gasp, or beg him to stop. He hoped she would beg for her life.

He hoped that very much.

 

Sam opened his eyes, his vision coming in and out of focus. Isa. Isa had saved him. The pain in his head was excruciating, but he searched his vision for any sign of her. He knew she had been there; he could smell her perfume. Whoever had hit him from behind had been strong, very strong to be able to drag his six-five body out here to the boathouse. Isa would stand no chance against whoever it was. Sam staggered to his feet and lurched toward the house.

I’m coming, baby, I’m coming…

Cal couldn’t take his eyes from her, and he thought now that he couldn’t blame Sam and Karl for being so enchanted with this woman. Dudek – ha, he’d enjoyed torturing that sap before he had killed him – even then Karl’s loyalty to Isa hadn’t faltered. He had taken him to a small trailer out on one of the highways, a place no-one ever went, but was still connected to a power supply. The big chest freezer he’d installed only last week. He knew he would keep Karl’s body until he needed it. But first, he wanted to have some fun.

 

‘Strip.’

The gun was pressed to his forehead, but Karl Dudek didn’t move. Cal cocked his head to the side, amused. ‘You think you can disobey me, moron? Strip.’ Karl looked into the taller man’s eyes and saw the blankness there. No humanity. Trembling, he pulled his clothes off, let them drop to the floor.

Cal smirked. ‘And your underwear.’ Karl dropped his shorts, cupping his genitals. Cal motioned to the chair and Karl sat.

‘You don’t scare me.’ Karl’s voice was scratchy. Cal laughed, and pulling out a handkerchief, started to open the drawers in the trailer’s kitchen. ‘I ain’t got nothing worth taking.’

Cal turned back to him. ‘Now Karl, you do yourself a disservice.’ He pulled something out of a drawer and handed it to him. A knife. Karl frowned, fear starting to curl his stomach. ‘You have something I very much want to take.’

Karl stared at him, not understanding. Cal sat down on the bunk next to his chair, fixed the gun at him. ‘Slice your finger. Do it.’

Karl obeyed, slicing the tip of his index finger. Cal looked at the cupboards next to him. ‘Write…’I’m sorry.’

Slowly, Karl realized what was going to happen. ‘No. You wanna kill me, you’re going to have to shoot me.’ His face set with determination. Cal smiled. It was strangely sensual.

‘Karl… I know you want Isa to be safe…don’t you, Karl?’ He leaned in so his face was an inch from Karl’s. Karl tried not to show how scared he was.

‘You leave her alone.’

‘Well now that’s very much in your hands, Karl. Because by the end of the night one of you will be dead. And either you do as I tell you - sacrifice yourself for her - or I’ll put a knife in her gut. I’ll kill her and it won’t be quick, Karl, I can promise you that.’ He smiled pleasantly.

Karl was shaking uncontrollably. He smelled his own piss, warm, pungent, felt it pool on the seat, heard it drip on the floor. Cal looked at him, contempt. He gestured to the cabinets again.

‘Write.’

Karl obeyed. His whole body felt cold, numb. Cal watched him, his eyes unblinking.

‘Now,’ and his smile terrified Karl,’ disembowel yourself.’

Karl stared at him, uncomprehending. Cal sighed.

‘Cut yourself open. Can I make it simpler, moron? Either you stick that knife in your gut and slice it open… or she dies.’

Cal waited. Karl closed his eyes, murmured a prayer and, taking a deep breath in, rammed the blade into his abdomen. Agony beyond belief. He screamed and Cal shoved an oily rag into his mouth to silence him. Karl choked and gagged, jerking the knife along his belly, begging for God to take him now, please God, now…

As Karl Dudek cut himself open, Cal Petersen laughed, put his lips to the dying man’s ear and whispered. ‘You fool. You utter fool…you can’t save her, no one can. Hear this Karl, hear this. I’m going to kill her anyway….’

 

She knew it was over when she opened her eyes and saw how she’d been bound. This is it, Isa thought calmly; this is the end. She looked up and held Cal’s gaze, saying nothing.

He smiled at her. ‘Hey, gorgeous.’

Isa stayed silent. She would not give him the satisfaction. She kept her face calm despite the lurching terror she felt and when Cal showed her the knife in his hand.

‘You look so beautiful tonight, Isabel. So, beautiful.’

Silence. Cal smiled and ran the tip of the knife down her cheek. ‘No one is coming to save you now.’

‘Go fuck yourself.’ Quiet. Calm. Measured.

Cal smirked – and she saw him grip the handle of the knife. She waited for the pain.

‘Isa!’

A voice from far away. Sam’s voice. Both Cal and Isa looked towards it, then at each other.

‘Fuck.’ Cal stood, and suddenly Isa was scared he’d kill Sam. No. No-one else. But Cal turned back to her with a smile. ‘Shame. I was going to enjoy doing this slowly.’

‘Like I said,’ Isa said in a low tone. ‘Go fuck yourself.’ Then she drew in a long breath and screamed with all the strength she had left. ‘Sam!’

Cal growled and drove the knife deep into her belly. She gasped; the pain was unimaginable, but Cal did not stop, stabbing her over and over, frenzied, merciless.

Isa could taste blood – her blood – felt her entire body go cold as she bled out. Cal twisted the knife in her stomach, and she groaned as the steel sliced through her.

Sam… Isabel Flynn’s last conscious thought was of her love, her beautiful, wonderful, love and how he would be destroyed by this.

Sam…I’m sorry…I love you…I love you…I…

 

He heard her scream and adrenaline coursed through Sam’s body as he turned towards the sound of it. Then he heard another choked-off cry, a cry of agony.

No. No, this wasn’t happening.

Karl Dudek was dead, confirmed dead. She should have been safe. Sam stumbled through the house, trying to hear her voice again but now all he heard was the blood rushing in his ears.

 

Cal’s frenzy calmed, and he threw the knife to the ground, taking in what he had done. Isa was struggling to breathe, her lovely eyes agonized, confused, her beautiful body ruined by his knife. She choked, coughing up blood and Cal laughed.

‘Sam will be here any second. And he’ll know; he doesn’t win this time. He’s so goddamned crazy about you this will destroy him. Your death will kill everything he is; he’ll be broken.’

He stroked her face then cut her bindings and laid her on the floor. Her eyes were closed, and her breath was coming in faint gasps now. He bent down and kissed her still warm lips. ‘Goodbye, beautiful Isabel. This really is the end.’

He left her bleeding out and slipped into the shadows, wanting to hear the moment Sam found her.

 

‘Isa? Oh God, no, no, no, no, no, no… please… help me! Someone help me! Isa, please, no…’

 

Cal heard the horror in his brother’s voice, the heartbreak, the terror and he smiled. In a few hours, he would be by his side, comforting him, acting the strong supportive brother, telling him over and over that they would never stop hunting for Isa’s killer. In seconds, he was out of the hospital and into the inky Washington night.

 

Sam fell to his knees beside her. ‘No…. no…’ He couldn’t breathe. Isa. She was so still, so silent. God, what she must have gone through, the terror… the pain….

He gathered her to him, and she moaned slightly. Alive. Oh thank God…

‘Baby? I’m here, I’m here, please stay with me…’

Isa murmured something and Sam tried to make it out but then her head fell back, and she passed out. He scrambled for his cell phone, praying the attacker hadn’t cut them off. As he called the emergency services, he could not take his eyes from his love. Please, don’t let me be too late.

Isa opened her eyes and gazed at him, mouthing something. I love you…

‘I love you too, baby, just please, please hold on for me.’

She nodded and tried to speak again. He bent his ear to her mouth.

She said one word.

Cal.

And with that word, Sam’s world came crashing down.

 

Sam asked Cal to meet him at the apartment later that day. Sam waited for Cal to arrive, a feeling of calm in his body. He still couldn’t believe what Isa had told him. One word. Cal.

Focus. Breathe. See this through. Halsey knew, he was on his way. Sam had spoken to him at the hospital and Halsey, although conflicted, had said to him, ‘Do what you have to do.’

Sam was grateful to him. More than anything now, he needed to know. Why?

He closed his eyes against the images of Isa’s bleeding and broken body lying so still in his arms.

‘Bro? Where you at?’ Cal. So calm. So nonchalant. Sam looked up as Cal walked into the room.

‘What’s up? You look terrible.’ So much fake concern.

Sam fixed his brother with a stare.

‘Isa’s dead.’

Cal was staring at him in horror. ‘What?’

Sam gazed back at his brother. ‘She’s been murdered. I found her. God, so much blood.’

Cal shook his head. ‘No, no. God, Sam, I’m so… how?’

‘God, my god, my god, Isa…’ Even though he was giving a performance, the horror of what had happened hit him, Sam’s legs gave way, and he sank to the ground, sobbing. Cal rushed to him, holding his older brother as he cried out like a wounded animal. ‘Cal, how can she be gone? Why would anyone do that to her? My girl…. my girl…’

‘Christ, Sam, I’m so sorry.’

‘I call the paramedics straight away, but they couldn’t save her.’

‘Oh, my god.’

The two brothers were silent as Sam gathered himself. ‘Before she died, she told me something, Cal.’

 

Cal shook his head, smiling. ‘What was that?’

‘She told me who stabbed her.’

‘Did she?’ Cal was grinning now, knowing exactly what he was going to say.

Sam was very still. Taking in his half-brother’s smug, all-knowing, murderous smirk. How was this possible?

 

‘I can’t believe this is happening.’ Sam got up and threw up into a trash can. No, this couldn’t be happening. It was all true. Cal had stabbed Isa, had stalked her, terrorized her and then finally he had kept his promise and brutalized her. He couldn’t help but picture Cal stabbing his love, driving his knife into her again and again, wanting to see the light go from her eyes. Beyond doubt now, angry sobs coming from him, he turned – and Cal was pointing a gun at him.

‘You killed her.’

 

 

Cal smiled. ‘Of course I did. Do you want to know what it felt like to stick that knife in her? Heaven. After all this time. She was brave, very calm. And I told her why: that you have everything and I had nothing our whole lives. That she was the final straw.’

Sam shook his head. ‘How did you have nothing? You had everything I did: money, opportunity. Everything.’

‘Except our father’s love.’

Sam laughed humorlessly. ‘You’re kidding, right? You killed my beautiful girl because Daddy didn’t love you? You sick fuck. He never loved anyone after my mother was murdered. He took your mom in after she got pregnant with you and gave her a good life. Gave you everything I ever had. Yeah, he had trouble expressing love. Poor, poor, fucking psycho Cal. Did you do Paul and Seb too?’

Cal smirked nastily. ‘Yep. But Isa was the prize. God, you have any idea of how long I planned to kill her?’

 

He moved closer to Sam, who stayed silent, the rage in him building. Cal leaned in. ‘Since that first time you fucked her. I saw you, I followed you out to that island, to the gallery. When I saw her… god, I wanted her? Who wouldn’t? But of course, you got there first. How long was it before she let you fuck her? An hour? Two? Whore. When you two were asleep, I got into the apartment and just watched you. I wondered about putting a knife in her then, have you wake up to her dead beside you. But then, I thought: No. Let him fall in love with her, let him know he could never live without her and then take her away in the worst, most brutal way. Which what I did.’ He smiled. ‘You were too late by seconds, Sam. Seconds.’

Sam roared then and charged him. Cal fired at him, and Sam felt the red-hot iron of the bullet in his shoulder, but he didn’t care. He plowed into Cal and knocked him back, onto the floor, his hands around his half-brother’s throat. Cal was laughing.

‘Do you think I care if you kill me now, Sammy? Do you honestly think I care anymore? I did what I meant to do.’

He managed to ram his knee into Sam’s stomach, and the older man jerked backward, winded. Cal was up then, his fist connecting with Sam’s face. Sam staggered back, and Cal was on him.

‘You always had to have everything, didn’t you? Every single good thing. But not her…why should you have her and not me? My only regret is that I didn’t get to fuck her before I killed her.’

Sam roared, his rage all-consuming and then Cal could not match him. Sam slammed him back against the wall, Cal’s head perilously close to the marble fireplace. Cal gave him a bloody grin, his mouth cut open from the ferocity of Sam’s blows.

 

‘I don’t care what you do to me now, brother, I really don’t. Because I got to kill Isa, got to feel her blood on my hands.’

Sam suddenly stopped, his hands clutching Cal’s head, and his gaze bore down on his betrayer. ‘I am going to kill you, but there’s just one more thing, Cal, and I want you to die knowing it.’

Cal was smug. ‘And what’s that?’

Sam smiled then and bent his head, so his lips were at his brother’s ear. ‘Isa’s not dead.’

Cal’s eyes widened in stunned horror, but just for a millisecond before, with all his might, Sam slammed his head hard against the marble fireplace and cracked Cal’s skull wide open.

 

A few minutes later, Halsey arrived – alone. He took one look at Sam, sitting against the far wall away from his brother’s body. Halsey checked Cal’s pulse. Dead. Good riddance. He glanced at Sam.

‘Sam, go, get out of here. I’ll deal with this.’

Sam looked at him, confused. ‘John, I did this. I’ll come along with you; I won’t make a fuss.’

Halsey looked at him. ‘Sam, after everything you’ve been through…look, I should have…god; I don’t know but this I do. You’ve been through enough. Let me deal with this. Go see Isa. Tell her I hope she feels better soon.’

Sam scrambled to his feet and shook the other man’s hand. ‘Thank you, John, thank you. From the bottom of my heart.’

John Halsey nodded. ‘Get out of here.’

With a grateful smile, Sam shot one last look at his dead brother, and rushed out of the room. John Halsey looked down at Cal Levy’s body and shook his head.

‘Motherfucker,’ he said quietly and went to work.

Isa sat up in the hospital bed, feeling sore, wounded but relieved to be alive. It had been a close call, they had told her, but after being airlifted to the city, and taken straight into a seven-hour surgery, she’d pulled through.

When she woke two days later, she found Sam by her side and they stared at each other for the longest time before kissing.

‘What happened?’ She touched his bandaged shoulder. Sam shrugged.

‘He managed to get a shot off. It’s not bad. Nothing to what he did to you.’ He gave a strange, strangled laugh. ‘How the hell you’re still alive? Jesus. You’re made of strong stuff, baby.’

She laughed but then her face turned serious. She hesitated, looking away from him.

‘The body in the fire…’

Sam’s hand tightened on hers. ‘Honey. It was Karl. Cal murdered him weeks before, kept his body in a deep freeze.’

They looked at each other for a long moment. Isa swallowed the lump in her throat and asked the question she didn’t know if she wanted the answer to.

‘Is Cal in jail?’ Her voice was small.

Sam shook his head. ‘No, baby, he’s gone. Gone.’

‘Dead?’

‘Yes. Very, very dead. This time it really is all over, darling. All over.’

She let out a breath. ‘Good.’

He covered her mouth with his, feeling her respond and smiled. When they broke apart, he became serious.

‘Marry me.’

She stroked his cheek, chuckling. ’We’re already married.’

‘I mean, properly, in front of our friends, you in a big meringue dress, me in a morning suit, Zoe giving you away.’

Isa grinned, tears in her eyes. ‘You know what, just this once, yes. Okay. Let’s be ostentatious. I think we earned it.’

He kissed her. ‘God, Isa, I’m so sorry I didn’t stop him from hurting you. I just couldn’t believe he would do this.’

Isa shook her head, stroking his face. ‘None of us did, baby. At least no-one else died.’

Sam looked down and she frowned.

‘What?’

Sam was silent for a minute. ‘Casey’s dead too. Cal killed her. Halsey found her before he came for us. Cal shot her.’

Isa was shocked. ‘Oh, my God. I’m sorry.’

Sam’s hand tightened on hers. ‘I’m not.’

‘Sam!’

 

‘I’m sorry, Isa, but she got what she deserved. She was screwing him for years, even when I was married to her. She wanted you dead as much as he did. Together they planned your murder, Isa. They designed your murder.’

‘And paid with her own life.’

Sam nodded. ‘I guess she’d outlived her usefulness. After all, that was his endgame. Neither you nor I were meant to survive. I’m surprised he didn’t go after Zoe too.’ He sighed. ‘If Casey…. I want to blame her for everything. But I can’t. I blame myself.’

 

‘Don’t you dare do that, Sam Levy, just don’t. We all make mistakes and if you’re to blame then so am I. But the fact is Cal was psychotically jealous of everything you had. I was just an object for him to possess. And when I fell I love with you, the only way that his deranged mind could deal with that was to kill me.’

Sam flinched, and Isa reached for him, holding his face between her palms.

‘And he failed.’

‘He nearly succeeded. Look at you.’

Isa glanced down at the heavy bandaging around her abdomen. ‘I’m fine. How’s Louisa doing?’

‘Better. She’s already up and walking around.’

‘I’m so glad. God, when I think of what Cal did to her.’

‘I know. That’s how I felt when I saw you in that basement. I never want to see that again.’

‘You never will. It’s me and you now, for always.’

Sam stroked her face. ‘Do you want to go back to that house? I understand if you don’t.’

Isa’s face was fixed. ‘I do want to go back to our home. He doesn’t get to spoil that too. It’s perfect for us. Really, Sam, we need to remember – we survived him, so we get to win.’

‘Marry me.’ He said again, and she kissed him.

‘Yes, Samuel Levy, I will marry you.’

 

A while later, the nurse looked into the room and smiled. Both asleep, the young man was curved around the girl, holding her like he’d never let go. The nurse shut off the light and closed the door. She grinned at the other nurse at the station outside the room.

‘You ever see love like that?’

Her friend smiled back. ‘I wish.’

Epilogue

 

Three years later

 

‘Stop being a nag, I’ll do it,’ Isa grumbled, as Sam held her waist. She was standing on a chair trying to push the star on top of their Christmas tree.

‘You realize I can reach that without a chair?’

‘It’s my turn,’ Isa grumbled, ‘You did it last year.’

‘Yup, but I’m not the one who is eight months pregnant, am I?’

Isa placed the star and Sam lifted her from the chair and stood her on her feet. She grinned up at him.

‘Superhuman strength, Mr. Levy.’

They studied the tree. ‘It’s kind of lop-sided,’ Isa said, her head on one side.

‘Such problems,’ Sam muttered, and Isa poked him with her elbow, grinning.

‘Nice to have such problems,’ she said softly. Sam ran his hand down her silky hair.

‘You want me to go get another tree?’

‘Nah, I like it like that. Life is lop-sided. Ours, for sure. But at least we’re on the good side now. Oh...’ She put a hand on her belly. ‘He’s kicking again, the little slugger.’

Sam laughed, and she guided his hand to where his son was kicking him. Sam pulled her closer. ‘There was a time,’ he whispered, his face in her hair, ‘when I never thought we would get here.’

‘I know, me too,’ she said, ‘but we did, baby. We did.’

Later, Zoe and Louisa came over from the city. The two women had bonded during Louisa’s recovery, and Isa could see Zoe going into her ‘mom’ mode- just had she had for Isa all those years ago. Isa was delighted for them both – she adored Louisa, and they too had spent a long time together while they both recovered from Cal’s violence.

It was Christmas Eve and Sam and Isa were hosting a small party for their friends and neighbors. They had settled into the island community with ease – and even bought a rescue dog home with them, who was a much part of their family now as anyone. Bill and his wife Marilyn came over from the school; John Halsey came with his partner, Ryan. The detective had made Cal’s death look like a suicide - Sam would never know how he did it but he was eternally grateful.

 

Later, Zoe came to find Sam and led him outside onto the terrace to talk privately. She turned to him with concern in her eyes.

‘Sam, we need to talk. I know, this probably isn’t the right day, but in a way, it is. So near to the birth, and all I can think about is Isa and the baby and how wonderful this all is.’ She conceded when he grinned. ‘But I can’t stop thinking about Cal.’

Sam hugged her. ‘Zoe, he’s gone, he’s dead. He can’t hurt us anymore.’

‘Then why do I feel like this?’

Sam was silent for a moment.

 

‘Did you know that ghosts can't cross water? I didn’t. Isa told me that one night, another one of her useless factoids she’s gleaned from God knows where.’ He laughed, shook his head. ‘Ghosts can’t cross water.’ He looked inside to Isa, who was laughing with Bill and smiled at his sister. ‘Cal is dead, Zoe, and no-one will ever change that. He’s gone.’

‘And you killed him.’

‘Yes.’

‘And she doesn’t know.’

Sam shook his head. ‘No. There’s no reason to tell her.’

‘How can you live your life like that?’

‘I can live like that for her.’

‘But you’re starting your new life off with a lie.’

‘It’s a lie worth telling, don’t you think?’

Sam grinned at her, but Zoe was serious.

‘You can’t keep this from her, Sam. She trusts you completely. Again. At last. If she found out…’

 

‘She won’t.’

‘Isa’s smart.’

‘Yes.’

Zoe just shook her head at her brother. ‘I don’t even want to think about what would happen if she found out. What it would do to the both of you.’

‘She won’t. And is it worse than a life lived in fear?’

‘But you have to live like that.’ Zoe whispered to him, her eyes filled with worry. ‘Not knowing if they find Cal’s body if they’ll come for you.’

Sam smiled and shook his head. ‘No. I know what my life will be. That gorgeous girl over there, my darling love with my son growing in her belly. Building a life with her. A family. You. You and Louisa with any luck. This island. Cal doesn’t even figure into it. He’s a dead man. Ghosts can’t cross water. Now, let’s get to enjoying Christmas, Grandma.’

She swatted his butt. ‘Less of the Grandma – not yet I’m not.’

Isa and Louisa were waiting for them in the kitchen, and as Sam put his arm around his pregnant wife, he put his mouth to her ear. ‘I love you.’

Isa grinned up at him. ‘Right back at ya, big guy.’

‘Forever?’ He asked, and she chuckled and kissed him, wrapping her arms around him.

‘I promise,’ she said, ‘forever…’

 

The End.