A Pacific Breeze Hotel (8 page)

“What are you talking about?” she asked in confusion. “We’ve been through this before. It wouldn’t have worked.”

“It would’ve worked!”

Felicia jumped at the harsh note in his voice.

“I’ve been doing some thinking,” Vance said slowly, his voice growing in authority. “We’re meant for each other and we can’t let anything keep us apart ever again.”

“I don’t understand why you’re talking like this.”

“I guess you’re not as bright as you seem to think.”

Vance pulled a metal object from his jacket pocket―a small-caliber revolver. Before Felicia could react, he pushed the cold, black barrel against her throat.

“Why couldn’t you love me?” His eyes were those of a stranger. “I’ve been waiting for you since the sixth grade. You loved me back then, didn’t you?”

Felicia stared at him with mounting horror as comprehension dawned. A tremor of fear crept up her spine, and her breath came with labored effort. O’Rourke said the stalker was someone she knew.

Someone who knew her. The words echoed over and over in her mind.

But it couldn’t be Vance!
Not the little boy who had rescued her puppy.

She couldn’t believe it, wouldn’t let herself.

“I followed you to the studio that day.” Vance stared out the windshield at the empty parking lot and the darkness beyond. “I saw the old guy paw at you and tear your dress. I couldn’t let him hurt my best girl. My only girl.”

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Josie A. Okuly

“Vance please...” Felicia swallowed and her saliva went down as a hard lump. “Put away the gun and we’ll talk about it.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.” Vance’s emotionless tone frightened her more than his anger did.

“If you ever loved me, please put the gun away,” she pleaded.

Vance continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “Now I realize nothing I did ever mattered to you. I’ve never wanted anything in my life as much as I’ve wanted you to love me. But it didn’t matter.” A single tear rolled down his cheek. “I stopped that old coot from attacking you and then you take up with a cop. I know he spent the night at your apartment.”

Vance pressed the gun deeper into her flesh. Felicia tried to pull away but his other hand gripped the back of her neck and held her in place.

“You’re hurting me.” She felt the strength drain from her body, replaced by paralyzing fear.

“Mustn’t do that.” Vance released his grip on the back of her neck, but kept the gun at her throat.

Felicia tried to keep him talking while she figured out what to do.

“That cop you saw was assigned to guard me. He thought...he thought I saw the person who shot DeWarner, but I didn’t.”

“You seemed chummy with him.”

“No,” she croaked. “He’s just some lowlife cop. I don’t even know his first name.” Which was true. She knew very little about O’Rourke, except for one very important thing. She was in love with him.

Vance seemed satisfied. “That’s what I thought. Kind of makes me sorry I took a shot at him this afternoon.” He grinned and it was the ugliest thing Felicia had ever seen. “But I didn’t mean to shoot your girlfriend.”

“It was just a ricochet. Lila will be fine.”

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Pacific Breeze Hotel

“Maybe she’ll be out of the hospital in time to be a bridesmaid at our wedding.”

Felicia stared at him with tear-filled eyes. Could this be the same boy who had gone to school with her? Who had pledged his eternal love when they were just children? Surely some monster had taken over Vance’s body and the real Vance was back home in Arizona. Felicia was caught in a riptide of insanity, and she was rapidly losing her struggle to stay afloat.

She lunged for the door handle. Startled by her sudden movement, Vance grabbed for her. She bit him, sinking her teeth into his flesh until he yelped in pain. The gun slipped from Vance’s fingers, bounced off the seat, and then skittered across the floorboard.

Felicia felt desperately around the darkened car until she located the gun. She tried to hurl it out the window but Vance was too quick for her.

He clasped a brawny hand around her wrist and tightened his grasp until she cried out in pain. As she struggled to keep control of the gun, the dark hole of the barrel angled toward her chest. A thousand thoughts flitted through her mind. If only she could see O’Rourke again. She would tell him she loved him. She would find out his first name. She would…

The revolver went off, shattering the silence of the empty parking lot.

ÇÇÇ

O’Rourke wondered about Vance Morgan. Did Felicia have any lingering feelings for him? Was there any chance they would rekindle their romance? He admitted to himself Morgan was probably attractive to women, with his blond crew cut and well-toned physique. But that didn’t mean O’Rourke had to like the guy.

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Josie A. Okuly

There was movement in Morgan’s car, but even with binoculars, it was too dark for O’Rourke to see the two people in the front seat. Their vehicle was hidden from view by thick, leafy bushes. Suddenly, a gunshot reverberated across the still night. O’Rourke jumped from his car and sprinted forward, plowing through the bushes and across the parking lot to where Morgan’s car was parked.

He yanked open the car door and nearly retched at the site of the blood splattered across the front seat. He was a hardened detective, but this time, the victim was someone he loved. Blood flowed from a wound in Felicia’s upper arm and stained the material of her dress bright red.

There was no sign of Morgan. O’Rourke leaned forward and checked for a pulse in her neck. He detected a beat, but Felicia’s head lolled back on the seat and her mouth was slack. O’Rourke put pressure on the wound, all the while praying to God he wouldn’t lose the woman he’d waited a lifetime to find.

ÇÇÇ

“So you’ve decided to go home to Phoenix?” The familiar and much loved voice sent a tingle up Felicia’s spine.

O’Rourke stood beside her bed at Heart of Mercy Hospital. Her wounded arm was bandaged from shoulder to elbow and Felicia counted herself fortunate the bullet hadn’t struck any vital organs. In fact, she was due to be released that afternoon.

“Yes, I’ve had enough of Hollywood to last me awhile.” And that was the understatement of a lifetime.

“Yeah, I’m beginning to feel the same way about Los Angeles. It’s lost some of its appeal for me.” He paused. “Not that it had much to begin with.”

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Pacific Breeze Hotel

O’Rourke walked over to the window and stared down at the parking lot. Felicia knew she would miss a few things when she returned home, like the beach and her friend Lila. But, most of all, she would miss him.

This tall, handsome man who had saved her life.

“Thanks for taking me to the hospital.” Felicia remembered his taut mouth and pale complexion as he had carried her to his car. As she’d slipped in and out of consciousness, he’d tried to make her comfortable before speeding out of Griffith Park. His encouraging words had made the pain bearable. When they’d arrived at the hospital, he’d kissed her cheek when the nurse insisted he could follow her no further. When she awoke in her hospital room, he sat beside her bed and held her hand.

O’Rourke walked back to his chair and sat down. He took her hand in his. “It was my pleasure.”

As her hand rested in his, Felicia knew she’d never felt happier in her life, despite the circumstances. It seemed as if O’Rourke had always been part of her life, and always would be. Then reality crashed down on her.

She was leaving California and might never see him again. Then she remembered Vance, who’d been the cause of her misery. Somehow, she couldn’t hate him for what he’d done. If not for him, she’d never have met O’Rourke. Still, a man lay dead because of Vance’s jealousy.

“Is Vance…?” Felicia bit her lip and prepared for bad news.

O’Rourke’s expression darkened. “They picked him up in Griffith Park. He was incoherent, stumbling around the park mumbling to himself. He’s been arrested for first degree murder. They’re trying to determine if he’s fit to stand trial. He may be transferred to a psychiatric facility.”

“We were struggling for the gun. He didn’t mean to shoot me.” Felicia closed her eyes and rested her cheek on the cool pillow.
This is all a
nightmare. I’ll wake up soon.

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Josie A. Okuly

“Do you need a ride home?” He squeezed her hand, but she couldn’t bear to look at him any longer.

She shook her head. “Lila is giving me a lift. She had lunch with Detective Nolan and she’ll probably be here any minute.”

“What I meant was,” O’Rourke paused. “Do you need a ride home to Phoenix?”

Felicia opened her eyes and stared at him in confusion.

“I was thinking I could take some vacation time and see if the desert climate agrees with me.” O’Rourke gave her a sheepish grin, but his gaze was sharp as he studied her face. “I thought I’d see if there were any openings with the Phoenix Police Department.”

Felicia’s eyes widened and her heart brimmed with happiness. “You just made this decision on the spur of the moment?”

His gaze held hers. “I guess I did.”

“Won’t you miss your job?”

“I can get a job anywhere.” O’Rourke gave her a warm look which melted her heart and fired up her blood. “But I’ll never find anyone I could love more than you.”

Felicia gazed deeply into his wide-set gray eyes.
These are the eyes of
a warrior, a true knight in shining armor,
she thought. But no, that wasn’t true. They were the eyes of a decent, honest man who never claimed to be a hero. O’Rourke didn’t have a way with words. He was no Romeo with a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a well-worn vocabulary of charming lines in the other. In spite of his brusque manner, he projected a diffident, boyish charm, which had intrigued her from the moment they met. He was her diamond in the rough.

O’Rourke gazed at her like a puppy that had brought a stick and was waiting for a pat on the head. Felicia knew he was waiting for her answer, and what she said next would determine her future happiness.

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Pacific Breeze Hotel

Her heart slammed against her chest with hard, almost painful, thumps.

The sound was so loud, she was certain he could hear it.

She took a deep breath. “In that case, I’d be grateful for a ride home to Phoenix. On one condition.”

O’Rourke’s brows furrowed and he looked at her questioningly.

“What?”

“That you finally tell me your name.” Felicia squeezed his hand. “After all, I can’t spend hours driving through the desert with you and not even know your first name.”

A look of relief crossed his face. “Oh, my name... My name is Sean. I should have mentioned it before. It’s just that Nolan and I have the same first name so we...”

“I like it,” she interrupted.

O’Rourke sighed. “I’m glad.”

Felicia thought it was a romantic name for a tough guy. It didn’t really go with his stern, rugged features. Or perhaps it did. Felicia intended to discover everything there was to know about the kind-hearted man who lived under the hardboiled facade of Sean O’Rourke.

The End

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Josie A. Okuly

Josie A. Okuly began writing stories when she received her first diary at the age of nine. In college, she studied history and archaeology as she pursued her dream of becoming an explorer of lost civilizations. She didn't become the next Indiana Jones, but never lost her love of the written word. Years later as a stay-at-home mom, Josie submitted some of her poems and short stories and was delighted when they were accepted for publication.

Josie's work has appeared in the Adirondack Review, Adoption Week, Anotherealm, Cold Glass Magazine, E Street Journal, Long Story Short, Millennium Shift, Nuvein Magazine, Tapestry, and The Harrow.

These days, Josie is a wife, mother, substitute teacher, and writer.

She shares her busy life with her husband Rick, her son Sean, and a spoiled cat named Frodo.

Visit Josie's website at: www.JosieAOkuly.net

If you love romantic suspense, you’re sure to enjoy…

Secrets and Shadows

Copyright © 2006 Meg Allison

Available August 22, 2006 from Samhain Publishing Jason Sinclair has to keep his employer’s daughter safe from evil that lurks in the shadows … but he can’t forget the love she once offered.

Sabrina Layne left her wealthy father years ago, vowing to never return. But she’s back for his funeral and to evade phone calls haunting her nights. Can she avoid another rejection from her first love?

Jason leads a double life working for the CIA – posing as a chauffeur while uncovering terrorist sympathizers among the elite. Murder in his home town forces him to face the friend he hurt years ago.

Together they might uncover secrets that lurk in the shadows before another life is lost. But Jason isn’t sure Sabrina will forgive his lies when she learns the full truth.

Excerpt from Secrets and Shadows by Meg Allison
She stared out the window of the low, black Mercedes as countless trees rushed by in the outer beam of the headlights.

Everything…everything…everything…

The word echoed through her mind like a mantra. What could one person do with so much wealth?

“Sabrina?” Jason’s quiet voice stole through the fog in her brain. She turned her head to look at him.

His long, lean hands smoothly turned the steering wheel, guiding the thousand-pound piece of luxurious steel along the winding mountain road. There were no streetlights to guide them, only the soft white beams of the car, the red aura of taillights glowing behind as they curved ever higher up the sloping road.

“You still with me?” His gaze remained intent on their destination.

Sabrina nodded. “Yes, I think so. It’s just that I didn’t expect this.”

Her voice trailed off as he swung the car around a sharp bend. She knew if she could see far beyond her window, the view of the downhill side of the mountain might make her sick.

Sabrina had always had an unreasonable fear of falling. In her mind she could see, almost feel, the ground give way as she tumbled into blackness. The knowledge that this was how her father had died―his car plunging down the placid, tree-covered mountain―had given her very vivid nightmares.