Chapter 84
He glared down at Fiona. "The old man wrote everything down. He had a journal and put everything in it-even boasted to me once about how he'd bashed his old lady on the head because she'd tracked him down and threatened to expose him-Gretchen. Must be the body you found here. He made me sit and listen to him, time and time again, over and over. He promised he'd leave me the money, but there wasn't any mention of it in the will. Nothing. And then he gave this shop to her. It was a slap in the face, after all I'd done for him, sitting and listening and keeping it all a secret."
"Were you the one blackmailing him, then?" Gideon asked.
"Me? No, d.a.m.n it. Wish I'd thought of it, to be honest, but once he told me about his past, I knew I couldn't. But I believed Uncle Nevio when he told me he'd leave me the bank accounts and the journal so I could destroy them. It was Rudy and Viola who were blackmailing him. He knew it all along, and he d.a.m.n well paid them-that I can't understand." Barnaby shook his head, then glared anew in the low light. "The d.a.m.n journal's around here somewhere-and I can't find it, so the whole place is going to be torched. Can't take the chance it'll be found. I'd hoped to track down the numbers of his bank accounts in Switzerland...but your d.a.m.n girlfriend wouldn't tell me that either." He brought back his foot and, before Gideon could react, rammed his toe viciously into Fiona's still body.
Gideon's vision blazed red, and he caught himself just before making what would have been a fatal move toward Forth-for the gun was pointed right at his abdomen.
"Now, now, Nath...I didn't realize you had a temper like that. Why don't you just-"
Forth didn't finish his sentence, for all of a sudden, another whoosh of something blasted by them. It was stronger than before, palpable and cold, and it ruffled their hair. The scent of roses was accompanied by a faint moaning, whistling sound.
"What the h.e.l.l is going on?" Barnaby whirled to look behind, and Gideon took his chance, surging toward him.
Barnaby turned in that split second, swinging his gun, just as Gideon slammed into him. As they fell, Gideon banged his head on the edge of a heavy table, and heard the crack of the gun firing near his head. He wasn't hit, but his head swam with pain. He looked up to see Barnaby poised with the gun, kneeling above him, and just as the man swung it to cold-c.o.c.k him, Gideon rolled, and the metal crashed harmlessly onto the cement floor.
Pulling to his feet, Gideon staggered against a table and looked down to find the gun trained at his forehead.
"Say goodbye to your girlfriend, Nath. I promise to take good care of her."
Gideon froze and watched as Barnaby's finger squeezed the trigger. Suddenly, the lights went out, plunging the shop into total darkness. Gideon jumped to the side as the sound of the gun's retort filled the s.p.a.ce. Then, silence.
Gideon, who'd fallen on the floor when he moved, silently s.h.i.+fted backward, trying to keep his breathing soft and silent.
It was so dark...dark enough that he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. Then he noticed two tiny lights glowing from the back of the shop, and Gideon felt his body numb as the lights moved, coming closer...and then he recognized them as belonging to the cat, Gretchen. She was stalking them, moving toward them, her green eyes fixed, unblinking, in a manner that made the hair on the back of his neck rise again.
His attention whirled to the front of the shop when a light suddenly blinked on...then off...then another came on...then off...and then another and another.
Gideon gaped at the display, and, in the dim light, saw Forth staring toward the front of the shop. Even in the soft glow, he noticed the other man's jaw sagged in shock, and from his silhouette, he could see the gun hanging uselessly by his side.
One light stayed on, and all of a sudden, the moaning sound came back, along with another blast of wind-this time as though it were coming down the stairs to the second floor. It was as loud as a train, roaring and cold, and beneath it that eerie moaning noise.
"What's going on in here?" Forth shrieked, his eyes wild.
A crash splintered the air, and Forth jumped, whirling around and fired in the direction of the noise, the sound metallic and sharp compared to the horrible moaning sound. He shot again, and something near the front of the store exploded into pieces.
Gideon didn't move-he just stood there, frozen in fascination and horror. His hands turned clammy and his heart raced inside as he wondered, too, what was happening-but whatever it was had served to distract Barnaby. Gideon groped along the table for the bra.s.s Buddha he'd seen earlier, and hefted it gently in his hand.
Just as he turned his attention back to Forth, all of the lights in the shop went black. He heard Barnaby's gasp, then jolted when Forth fired his gun again into the silence.
Then, nothing. It was dark-black-and silent and cold...very cold.
And the smell of roses was very, very strong.
Gideon thought he heard a whimper from the other man, but he did nothing but tighten his grip on the statue.
The air moved. Something cool brushed past him, and past Barnaby, who gave a low shriek.
Then all at once, every light in the shop blasted on at full brightness. Gideon saw the frozen, terrified look on Forth's face before everything went black again.
The sound of heavy, short breathing rasped in the air, grating in the silence. A stale smell permeated the room, growing stronger and closer over the essence of roses, filling Gideon's nose with such horror that he wanted to choke. It didn't smell rank or putrid...it just smelled cold and stale and...dead.
He drew in a deep breath through his mouth, trying not to smell it, and trying to remain calm. A soft groan from below alerted him to Fiona's movements next to him on the ground, and Gideon stepped closer to her. He felt her s.h.i.+ft against him just as the roar of wind came through the room again.
Barnaby fired again, and then, again, all was still, there in the smothering blackness.
But this time, when Gideon turned, he saw something that made his hair lift all along the back of his neck.
It was an amorphous shape...greenish, yellowish, and it glowed there in the dark as it wisped like curls of smoke right in front of Barnaby.
The man's illuminated face was frozen in an expression of slack-jawed terror, and he gasped for air as though something pulled
He watched. The hair and nerve endings all along his arms fairly vibrated as the figure took shape, the face evolving into a clear, detailed image...one that was so familiar to him that he glanced down to make sure Fiona was still there next to him. She moaned, s.h.i.+fting against his legs, and he looked back up.
"Gretchen." He whispered her name.
His fingers were cold, but he wasn't frightened. He gripped the smooth statue, slick now from the sweat on his palms, and watched the ghostly figure seep back into nothingness as though her work was complete.
There was darkness, then another loud crash next to him. Then, just as Gideon brought the statue down on the back of Barnaby's head, there was abrupt, dead, silence.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE.
When Fiona opened her eyes, she saw Gideon's face, close to hers, his eyes bright with concern.
She blinked, struggling to collect her murky thoughts. Something was wrong...her brows drew together and she swallowed, her dry throat rasping with the effort.
Then she remembered: Barnaby.
"Shh...he's not going to hurt you, baby," Gideon told her, and she realized she must have spoken the man's name aloud. "Although I'd rather hoped my name would have been the first thing you said...." He smiled gently.
Fiona couldn't hold back her own painful grin. She didn't know what happened, or how Gideon had managed to be there, but he had made a rare joke, so that meant all was right.
He pressed a kiss to her forehead, murmured something that sounded like "I love you" and then pulled back to look down at her. His face was so dear to her, so handsome and familiar and wanted...Fiona felt like she was going to get lost in the warmth and love in his eyes.
Something had changed. The shutters had come away from his face, and it was open, glowing, soft.
Fiona became aware that they weren't alone and she struggled to sit up on a sofa. People were moving around, talking, lights were on....
They were in the shop, she realized, her mind still foggy as she recognized the back room. Yes, that was right-Barnaby had brought her here, then pulled a gun on her.
She shuddered, and Gideon pulled her close to his warm, solid body that smelled-not of overpowering cologne, but of maleness and strength. Gooseb.u.mps lifted on her bare arms, and he smoothed his large hands over them, up and down, slowly, as she gathered her thoughts and looked around the room.
"What happened?" she managed to say, just as a uniformed man walked up to them.
"How do you feel, miss?" he asked, reaching for her wrist to check her pulse before she could reply.
Fiona endured several moments of being fussed over-and it reminded her of Gideon's annoyance the night he'd been injured during the first break-in at the shop. Now she understood why he hadn't wanted to be dragged off to the emergency room. "I feel fine," she told the paramedic. "I just have a headache."
As the medic lifted her arms and checked her lumps and scratches, Fiona returned her attention to Gideon, who'd been holding her hand through the whole thing. "What happened Gideon?"
He told her that Iva and Hollis had been worried about her, and that was why he'd tracked her down at the shop-only to be accosted by Barnaby.
"How did you get the gun away from him?" Fiona asked, glancing at her date for the evening, who had been handcuffed before he roused from his position on the floor.
Gideon looked uncomfortable, as though he couldn't find the words. "He got-er-uh-distracted, and I smashed him on the head with that Buddha statue."
"Distracted?" But Fiona suspected she knew what had happened.
Gretchen's Lamp-perhaps Gretchen herself-had helped them out. She reached to touch Gideon's cheek. It was warm and p.r.i.c.kly from the stubble that had already begun to spring up, and she slid her hand around to cup his jaw. How she'd missed touching him!
Then she remembered...Leslie. "Where is she? Leslie?" Her heart hammered in her throat as her joy drained away. No. She couldn't endure losing this closeness again. Fiona looked aside before Gideon could see what was in her eyes.
"She's not here, Fiona. She's not going to be here...it's over between us."
"No, Gideon, you can't-" With every last remnant of strength and integrity, Fiona turned to look at him, fierceness in her eyes. She wouldn't let him do that.
"Shush, baby...shhh...It's over and it's all right." He pressed a kiss with exquisite tenderness to her forehead. "The baby isn't mine, Fiona, it's not mine and she sent me to you. She told me tonight, after you left...after you and I talked." He gathered her close, pulling her away from the medic, who finally got the hint and gathered his equipment up to leave. Gideon held her as joy rebuilt inside her.
"Gideon..." she murmured into his broad shoulder. "Oh my G.o.d, are you sure?"
He nodded against her, his face b.u.mping into the top of her head. "She even showed me the DNA results...I made her prove it. I didn't want there to be anything hanging between us any more. Fiona, I've been lost without you...I want you in my life. I love you."
"I love you, Gideon. I thought my heart would break when I had to tell you to go to her..."
He held her for a long moment there on the floor, in the corner and away from the police and medics who were attending to Barnaby and the other evidence. Suddenly a familiar peremptory bellow reached their ears. "Gideon! Fiona!"
Gideon Senior and Iva burst upon them, both demanding to know if they were all right. Gideon's grandfather's gla.s.ses were askew, and Iva was wearing some sort of house slippers...and they both carried worried and concerned expressions on their faces.
"Sit down Iva!" Gideon Senior yanked a chair over for them and propelled her into it. "You can see they're all right now, so you can stop your yammering!"
Fiona saw that despite his harsh words, his attention raced over Gideon and herself to make sure they were, indeed, all right.
Trying to make light of the situation, she looked at Iva and grinned. "Reading Tarot cards now, are you?"
Iva flushed and looked down at her hands. "Well, I thought I'd give it a try. My first time, and since you were on my mind...and Gideon, and the whole situation...well, I just meditated on you and pulled a few cards."
Gideon Senior rolled his eyes, smiling now that all was well. "Foolishness! Such foolishness I never heard, eh, Gideon? What are we going to do with these two women and their penchant for the mystic?"
Fiona felt Gideon s.h.i.+ft beside her, and she looked to see a very sober expression on his face. "Grandfather, I have to say...I'm never going to poke fun at them again." He hesitated, then glanced at Fiona and closed his mouth.
She took a quick look at Iva, who was watching intently, and then reached to touch Gideon's face. "You saw her, didn't you? Gretchen?"
He nodded and Iva gasped in what could only be described as disappointment. Gideon Senior gawked, his mouth hanging open. "What are you saying, son? You think you saw a ghost?"
Gideon bit his upper lip, raised one eyebrow as though he didn't believe it himself, and nodded. "I saw a ghost." He said the words and looked over at Fiona. "It was definitely Gretchen, and she looked just like you-except for the hair."
"You really saw her?" Iva asked, her blue eyes perfectly round and her cheeks flus.h.i.+ng in excitement. "What did she do? What did she look like? What happened?"
"She scared the bejesus out of Barnaby," Gideon replied. "She was kind of greenish yellow, and she had a h.e.l.l of a gust of wind behind her. It felt like a d.a.m.ned tornado in here. She broke a lot of lamps-a lot of things. I don't know if it was the wind or just her...moving things." He shook his head. "I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't experienced it for myself...but I did." He looked into Fiona's eyes with an uncertain gaze-as though he were afraid she'd laugh at him.
Before she could respond, a shout from one of the cops drew their attention. "Hey, did you see this mess over here?"
Fiona and Gideon pulled to their feet when they saw where he was standing-next to the big old desk where Gretchen's Lamp had stood.
The old white lamp was no longer in its spot on the desk-now it lay smashed on the floor. "Right over here was the last crash I heard," Gideon told Fiona as they stooped to look at what remained of the lamp. "Gretchen must have destroyed it as her last act."
"What's this?" Fiona reached for a wad of papers-a small notebook that had been folded in half and lay among the shards of milk gla.s.s. "It must have been inside the lamp."
As soon as she pulled it out, the gla.s.s tinkling to the floor under it, she knew what it was. "Valente's journal." She and Gideon looked at each other. "That's what Barnaby was looking for," she told him. "And some bank books too."
He took the journal and flipped through it. As she leaned over his shoulder, Fiona saw the brown spidery writing that had faded over time.
"I'm sure it tells the whole story in here," she said. "It'll say that he was Josef Kremer, one of Hitler's elite, and that he came here to start a new life after the war."
"And that his first love-Gretchen-found him, and when she came to visit him, he killed her for fear she'd divulge his ident.i.ty. He actually killed the woman he loved-or at least had loved once upon a time."
Gideon sat back on his heels and looked at Fiona, warmth s.h.i.+ning in his eyes. "I just want you to know, my love, that no matter how long we're married, and how angry you might make me...I'll never bash your head in and leave you in a closet under the stairs." He grinned a crooked, gentle grin.
Fiona felt a wave of love and tenderness as she fell into his gaze. She smiled, reaching to touch his warm, dear face. "Another joke from you, Gideon? Two in one day? Are you really the man I love, or are you an imposter?"
She leaned forward to press a kiss to his mouth, and felt like she'd come home. This was where she'd be, this was where she'd stay. Her home, her life, her commitment...her responsibility. Lifelong love with this man.
"I love you Gideon. And if that's a proposal, I'll accept it...but you're really going to have to stop making so many jokes."
THE END.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR.
Colleen Gleason is the international best-selling author of the Gardella Vampire Chronicles, a historical urban fantasy series about a female vampire hunter who lives during the time of Jane Austen. Her first novel, The Rest Falls Away, was released to acclaim in 2007.
Since then, she has published more than fifteen novels with New American Library, MIRA Books, and HarperCollins (writing as Joss Ware). Her books have been translated into more than seven languages and are available worldwide.
She loves to hear from readers, and can be contacted through her website or via Facebook.