03 The Fate Of The Muse - Marina's Tales (35 page)

It was nearly completely dark outside, and I
looked up to see a red glow on the horizon, only it was not where
the sun had gone down. The glow was coming from the site of the
Edwards mansion. I looked up in the sky to see a thick column of
black smoke that stood out starkly from the misty white fog.

My heart was in my throat as I raced down the
dirt path, afraid of what I might find when I got there. I pushed
my way through the last few feet of shrubs to see a score of fire
trucks surrounding the house, men in full gear manning the hoses
and pumps. The enormous house was completely engulfed in flames,
popping and snapping loudly as huge streams of water gushing from
fire hoses hissed and steamed, no match for the intensity of the
fire. A couple of police cruisers sat in the driveway, red and blue
lights flashing on the hectic scene.

Barefoot and disheveled, I staggered a
little, finally wandering out onto the driveway in shock.

“Please God,” I whispered, thinking of Cruz,
“Please.”

CHAPTER TWENTYFIVE

INFERNO

I stood transfixed, looking up at the flaming
house in utter agony.

“MARINA!” a hoarse voice called out.

I looked up to see Cruz and Brad standing on
the sidelines, and my knees went weak with relief. Cruz came flying
at me, nearly knocking me over as he threw his arms around me with
a sob. We embraced, speechless, both of us crying with joy. As the
storm of our emotions subsided, Cruz pulled back to look at me with
a tear streaked face, “What happened? I thought–” the words caught
in his throat.

We hugged again, and I looked over his
shoulder to see Brad, standing off to the side awkwardly.

His pained eyes met mine, “I’m so sorry… I
had no idea… I still can’t believe it…” Brad’s eyes were as puffy
as Cruz’s, and I wanted to believe him.

Cruz drew back again, his hands clutching my
arms, “Marina! We didn’t see you make it out! You need to–”

“How did you get away?” I interrupted
him.

“Brad,” Cruz choked out, nodding this head
towards him, “But Marina–”

I wanted to trust him, but I had been burned
before, “How?” I repeated, sounding harsher than I’d intended.

“Oh God!” Cruz took both my hands, “It was
just like you said… The room they had me in. I was so scared… until
Brad came to rescue me.”

Clearly Cruz was no longer suspicious of him,
but I was. I faced him with blazing eyes, “How did you find him if
you didn’t know those rooms were there?”

Brad looked traumatized, “After I talked to
Cruz, I went down to the garage and started snooping around. I…I
always thought they were just storage rooms… but I saw all the
locks and it just didn’t seem right.” He drew a shuddering breath,
“So, I snuck into my dad’s study and I…I…”

Cruz took over for him, “There were a bunch
of security monitors, and Brad saw everything. He found the keys
and snuck past where they had you in the library.”

I remembered the cameras that had watched me
when I was held in Edwards little prison cell. I supposed it was
plausible that the monitors would be in his father’s study…

Cruz looked at Brad adoringly, “I’ve never
been so happy to see anyone in my life! But Marina, you really need
to–”

“MARINA!” another voice boomed out, and when
I saw a huge man rushing towards us in the eerie flickering light I
yelped, scared until I recognized Boris. He swept us off to the
side, his eagle eyes scanning the scene as he assessed the
situation. Brad stood watching the house burn numbly, finally
trailing behind us like he was lost.

“Boris! That guy… Yuri. The one from before–
he’s back! He took me out there and… and, he fell…” I looked over
my shoulder at the dark cliffs beyond.

“Vere?” Boris asked.

I pointed, “Just there… he actually saved my
life.” My voice cracked as I explained to them what I remembered,
“Barbara threw the ashtray at him… it must have started the
fire.”

“Stay here!” Boris commanded, stalking off
into the darkness.

I looked over at Brad, and then back to Cruz,
“Did everyone get out?”

Cruz shook his head no, “We called the police
and waited outside for help. We heard gunshots, but nobody came
out. Then the police showed up, and there was a ton of smoke and
they wouldn’t go in without the fire department…” Cruz’s eyes
filled up again, “I thought you were in there… I even called
Ethan!”

“Ethan?” I asked.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!
He’s here!”

“Where?” I cried, looking around.

“Come on,” Cruz took my arm and led me over
to a pair of police cars that were just past the fire engines in
the long drive. I could see Ethan’s truck parked behind them and my
heart leapt. I wanted nothing more than to feel his arms around me.
Cruz pointed to Ethan, sitting in the back of the patrol car, head
hanging down, shoulders slumped forward in an attitude of abject
despair.

“He went crazy,” Cruz explained, “The firemen
wouldn’t let him go in… he started fighting the cops… they had to
handcuff him…”

I rushed to the car, trying to open the door
but finding it locked, flattening my hand against the window,
hating to see him like that. He lifted his head, the eerie blue and
red lights reflecting off his handsome face. His eyes were wild
with pain and fear.

“Miss! Step away from the car!” I turned to
see a policeman trotting up.

Cruz jumped in, “Officer! Please let him go,
she’s the reason he was going nuts! He thought she didn’t make it
out…”

I looked up with pleading eyes and saw his
face soften.

“They’re gonna get married!” Cruz wailed.

The policeman sighed, reaching out to open
the door.

Ethan came pouring out of the car, calling my
name in a strangled voice. I rushed to grab hold of him, hugging
him with all my might. He buried his face in my hair, his breath
coming out in ragged shivers. His hands were still bound together
behind his back, and I tried to comfort him, stroking the back of
his neck. Gradually, his breathing slowed and steadied.

The policeman approached, removing Ethan’s
handcuffs, “Son, I’m gonna let you go with a warning this time. But
you’d best stay outta trouble.”

“He will,” Cruz volunteered with a big smile,
heading back over to Brad.

Ethan threw his arms around me, rocking back
and forth in relief. He drew back to look at my face, lifting a
shaking hand to smooth my tangled hair.

I tried to speak, but I found myself too
moved by what I saw in his eyes.

He pulled me close again, crushing me to his
chest. I whimpered involuntarily, the breath completely squeezed
out of me, “It’s okay,” I gasped, “I’m fine.”

“I thought you were in there,” he groaned in
a low shaken voice, plastering my face with kisses. His lips
finally covered mine, latching onto my mouth with a smoldering
intensity. The noises of the fire and the men fighting it faded
into the background as he kissed me like he wanted to consume me,
wrapping himself completely around me as we stood locked together
in the cool night air.

He ran his hands up and down my back, twining
his fingers in my hair as if to reassure himself that I was solid
and not some figment of his imagination. He stopped to pick a twig
out of my hair and brush some bits of leaves from the back of my
shirt.

“What happened to you?” he asked, pulling
back to inspect me more closely, “What happened to your shoes?”

I looked down, “I’m not sure… they drugged
me.” I searched my arm for the needle mark in the dim light.

“So Barbara Watson is Brad’s aunt?” he asked
angrily, “And Nathan Edwards is his dad?”

I nodded, looking back at the destruction
that was once a huge house. There was no way anyone inside could
have survived. If Barbara didn’t get out she was dead, and when I
remembered her plans for Cruz and Nixie the idea didn’t bother me
at all. “Good riddance,” I whispered under my breath.

Cruz came back to us, leading a dazed looking
Brad by the hand, “The cops want to talk to us… They want to know
what happened.”

Ethan looked at Brad angrily, his arm firmly
around my waist.

“We can’t tell them the truth,” I said. “We
can’t say why they took us.”

“I don’t get it,” Brad said woodenly, “Why
would my aunt do this to you?”

“Why don’t you ask your father?” Ethan said
angrily.

Cruz and I exchanged a look.

“Listen to me,” I said, thinking fast, “What
did you say when you called the police?”

“I said there was a kidnapping, and begged
them to hurry.”

“Did you say who?”

Cruz thought for a second, “No, I just told
them the address.”

“OK,” I said calmly, “We were visiting Brad’s
house after we went surfing and we saw some bad guys breaking in…
there were three of them… maybe coming after his aunt. We ran out
and got split up… that’s how you didn’t know where I was…
okay?”

“Sounds reasonable,” Cruz said firmly,
turning to Brad with a serious look in his eye, “Trust me, they’ll
never believe the truth.”

“What truth?” Brad looked sick.

A police officer approached our little group,
staring down Ethan with hard eyes,

“I need to make a report,” he announced,
“Which one of you called in the kidnapping?”

“That would be me,” Cruz volunteered, raising
his hand. He walked off with the policeman, animatedly recounting
my newly made-up version of events. I was surprised at how readily
Cruz adapted to the need to lie for me, and it made me a little
uneasy. However, there was simply no other way, for the real story
sounded like something out of a science fiction novel.

When Cruz left I turned to Brad, “I have just
one question… How is it that you were the reason I met your aunt in
the first place?”

“Oh God,” his voice cracked, and a look of
comprehension slowly dawned on his face, “She called me and invited
me to the gallery opening. I was flattered… because she hardly ever
talks to me. She said that she knew I was always looking for
artwork and that she wanted my advice on her campaign.” He looked
at me with shocked eyes, “She wanted to meet you!”

I looked at Brad, standing there confused and
devastated as his father’s house burned down behind him. My heart
went out to him, and I groped for the right words.

“I’m sorry,” was all I could say.

He swallowed hard, looking back at the
enormous burned out shell, “She never made it out,” he said.

“Your aunt was going to get rid of Cruz,” I
told him flatly, “They already brought Evie’s car back here. They
were going to send him off a cliff… exactly the same way that they
murdered Congressman Hill.”

Both Ethan and Brad looked at me in shock. I
suppose I’d blurted that out rather bluntly, but after the day I’d
just had I was simply in no mood to sugar-coat anything.

“It’s the truth,” I said wearily, “And your
father is in on it too. I had no idea you or your aunt were part of
the Edward’s family.”

Boris appeared from the shadows, surprisingly
stealthy for a man his size.

“Marina,” he gestured for me to follow him,
“Come… Evie needs you.”

Ethan clamped down on me in a panic, pulling
me behind him like a ragdoll, “NO!” he said harshly, “She’s not
going anywhere.”

I saw Boris sizing Ethan up, the two of them
staring at each other intensely. The last thing I needed was more
trouble. I felt weak and dizzy; all I wanted at the moment was a
hot shower and a long nap.

I pointedly shrugged out of Ethan’s grip, and
came around to stand between them, “Boris, I really need to go home
right now. Please warn Evie about Olivia. Tell her I’ll be in touch
soon. I need to speak with her alone.”

He nodded curtly, looking over my head to
address Ethan, “Keep your eyes open.” He turned and disappeared
back into the shadows, clearly in a hurry. I thought he must want
to get back to Evie. I sighed, and looked up at Ethan, too
exhausted to be annoyed.

“I’m sorry,” he said sheepishly, taking my
hands, “I just can’t let you out of my sight… I won’t.”

I slumped onto him, giving in to the need for
support, and yawned, burying my face in his chest, “I’m so
tired.”

He stroked the back of my head, “Yeah, me
too.”

I looked up to see Cruz returning, addressing
Brad, “Mission accomplished. They’re going to contact us when they
finish the arson investigation.” He paused uncomfortably, “They’ll
let us know as soon as they can get in and do a search. You’re
going to have to call your father…”

“What am I supposed to say?” he choked out,
still clearly in shock.

“He already knows that they took us,” I said,
“Barbara said he was on his way back to town.”

Cruz screwed up his face for a moment, “But
he won’t know what happened… All the surveillance tapes are gone…
Just tell him what I told the cops… Some crazy home invasion
robbers showed up after we went surfing and you helped me get away
from them.”

“We ran out and called the cops… We heard
gunshots… They must have started the fire,” Cruz’s eyes were
darting around as he thought.

“Yes!” I jumped in, “Brad can play dumb, say
that he thought they were after Barbara.”

Cruz jumped in, grasping Brad by the arms,
“Just tell the truth… You don’t know how Marina got out of the
house.”

“Be sure to mention that you didn’t see them
grab us.” I added. “It’s important to stay as close to the truth as
possible when you lie.” I should know, I thought.

Cruz nodded, “And don’t tell him that you
know Marina was here before! Can you do that?”

Brad nodded numbly, “But why?” he asked
again.

I looked at Brad, and then at Cruz, “I guess
you can tell him the truth… but take him home first.”

“Oh my God! Evie’s car!” Cruz wailed, “What
will she say?”