The apparition stood behind her with his hands on her shoulders. “You became me,” Caleb crooned in her ear.
She shook her head vehemently. “No. That’s not true.”
“Aww, but it is, Viviane,” he cackled and leaned forward to kiss her.
Her scream ripped through her body as she tore at him. “Get off me!”
The door flew open. “Doctor! What’s wrong?”
Her mad gaze met his. “You can’t see him?”
He approached with caution. “See who?”
Again, she looked in the mirror. There was nothing but herself and the minion who just walked in, yet she felt the evil all around her. Dear God, what had she done?
The maniacal voice replied, “You gave me your soul when you let vengeance have your heart.” His icy fingers clamped her jaw. “And I will never let you go.”
The young man stood in complete bewilderment watching the beautiful doctor fight some invisible thing. He backed away, wanting no part of this level of crazy. Making his way outside as quick as possible, he needed to tell the authorities. Unsure of who that man was inside, but fairly certain, he wasn’t there of his own free will. He did not know what role Dr. Thompson played in any of it, and he didn’t care. He slid behind the wheel of a car but only made it to the front gate. A huge truck plowed into the driver’s side, killing him instantly.
The large man behind the wheel hopped out to examine his mess. “Stupid kid,” he mumbled while cleaning up the remains. They never learned. Once you were part of the organization, there was only one way out…death. Clark would have it no other way.
Chapter Twenty
Keeley sat on the back patio sipping coffee. God, Tar and her had an amazing night. She was sore in all the right places. A wicked grin crept along the corners of her mouth as he walked out to join her.
“How y’doin’, gorgeous?” He bent to kiss her sweetly but should’ve known where Keeley was concerned that wasn’t possible. They were both breathless when he pulled back and spoke what was on his heart, “Marry me?”
She sat staring at him for a moment before she asked, “When?”
He grabbed her shoulders. “Is that a yes?”
“It is,” she nodded.
Tar swept her into his arms and locked his mouth on hers. She was tugging his T-shirt up when Lacey interrupted the passionate scene, “Hey now, I’m not into voyeurism. Keep him dressed, please.”
Keeley giggled against Tar’s lips. “Oops.”
He beamed and swatted her ass. “We’ll talk about this later.” He winked and turned to hug Lacey. “Hello, sister dear.”
Lacey didn’t miss the implication. “No way!” she squealed.
Tar could not keep the huge smile off his face. “Figured it was ‘bout time I made an honest woman out of her.”
Lacey smacked his shoulder. “I never doubted you loved her and were fully committed to her.”
“Damn good thing,” Tar affirmed. “I’ll let the two of you talk.”
Keeley tugged his hand to stop him. “No. I still need to talk to you.”
“This the same thing from last night?” He cocked his head, studying her.
“Yeah.” She grabbed her sister’s hand. “And Lacey needs to hear it too.”
They all took a seat and gave Keeley a few minutes to gather her thoughts.
She peeked over the rim of her mug. “I went to see Mom.”
Lacey gasped, “Ohhh.”
Keeley nodded. “She’s not doing well, Lace.”
“How so?” concern in her voice and etched around her eyes.
“She’s broke. And not eating.”
Lacey stood so fast she bumped the table, spilling the contents.
Tar rushed to grab towels as Keeley pulled cell phones out of the liquid pooling.
“I promise we’ll go back over there. Just let me fill you in on what happened first.”
Lacey agreed as they all cleaned up the mess.
Sitting back down, Keeley continued, “I found her at the cemetery. We talked and she forgave me. I forgave her.”
“God, Kee, I should’ve been there.”
“I thought that, too. But actually it worked out better than I expected.” Keeley went oddly still after saying something so positive.
Tar held her hand. “Go ahead, Beautiful. We’re right here with you.”
Lacey added, “No judgement, Keeley. We love you.” She had a hold of Keeley’s other hand.
“Well, once Mom and I settled some things, I knew I had to talk to him. Dad might be dead, Lacey, but he needed to hear me out.”
Both sisters were crying and Tar was at a loss on what to do for them. Keeley noticed how uncomfortable he was. “Baby, you can’t fix everything for me. Please know I don’t expect you to, ever.”