But, he knew she was in there, and he knew in his very gut that she was not alone. As he drew closer … closer still, his gut instinct proved right. He could hear the faint sound of voices coming from inside.
He moved even closer, hoping he could hear what was being said over the frantic pounding of his heart. "If you're going to shoot me, then just do it!" The sound of Lizzy's voice filled his very soul.
She was alive, but whoever was in there with her had a gun. That made whoever it was and Daniel even in the weapons department. The only additional weapon Daniel had on his side was the element of surprise.
As he moved to stand in front of the door, he hoped that was enough. Summoning all the strength he possessed, he kicked the door open and burst inside.
* * *
As Lizzy's attention shot to the door that had exploded inward, Sam managed to grab her and place the knife at her throat.
As Daniel froze and stared at the two of them, Lizzy realized that there was nothing quite so cold in the entire world as the blade of a knife held against your throat. The cold seemed to seep downward, and she forced against a tremble, afraid that the slightest movement would allow the knife to cut her skin.
She saw the stunned surprise in Daniel's eyes as he lowered the gun he held just a bit. "Sam, what's going on?" His voice was low and steady, as if he recognized the madness in Sam's eyes and didn't want to feed into it in any way.
"You should know what's going on!" Sam screamed, and Lizzy could feel his body vibrating with rage, with loss and with the aching need for revenge. "You don't get to be happy, Daniel. Your actions killed my sister, and now you have to pay."
"Sam, put the knife down and talk to me," Daniel said. He didn't move from his position, as if knowing Sam would see any kind of an advance as a threat.
"There's nothing to talk about," Sam replied. "I see the way you look at her, that happiness that jumps into your eyes. I'll never know that again. Cherry was my only sister, and you took her from me, just like I'm going to take Lizzy from you."
Lizzy felt the prick of the knife tip against her skin, a quick sharp pain and then the warmth of blood. Even when Sam had been beating her she hadn't felt this kind of terror. She also saw a flash of rage in Daniel's eyes, but he remained motionless.
"Sam, I didn't take Cherry away from you. A car accident took her away," Daniel replied, his voice deeper than normal. "And that same accident took away my wife."
"That doesn't matter," Sam replied through clenched teeth. "I don't care about Janice. All I care about is that you never be happy again. And if I kill Lizzy, you'll have the weight of her death forever on her soul."
"Sam, what in the hell are you doing?" Adam Benson stepped through the cabin door.
In the blink of an eye everything changed. As Sam's attention turned toward his brother, he lowered the knife just an inch and loosened his hold on Lizzy. Lizzy flung herself away from him and at the same time Sam pointed his gun at her.
"I don't want to kill you, Sam," Daniel said, his gun pointed at Sam's chest.
"Sam, for God's sake, put down the gun," Adam exclaimed. "What are you doing, man?"
"He took our sister, Adam. He killed her as surely as if he shot her in the heart." Sam's and Daniel's gazes remained locked, the air in the room so tense Lizzy felt as if she might faint. "Now I'm going to take from him."
"Cherry died in a car accident," Adam said, his voice holding a frantic appeal. "You know she always drove too fast. You yelled at her a thousand times about speeding. Sam, Daniel's been our friend since we were kids, and Lizzy has nothing to do with any of it."
"He loves her!" Sam screamed, his hand trembling as it held the gun pointed at Lizzy.
"And I loved Cherry," Daniel replied. His eyes were colder, harder than Lizzy had ever seen them, and she knew then that he would kill his friend to save her life. "She ate at my house, I danced with her at The Corral. We all had drinks together a hundred times. Sam, for God's sake, don't make me shoot you. Put down your gun."
There was a moment when Lizzy thought it was all going to be okay, when the gun in Sam's hand finally swung away from her and she drew in a desperately needed breath of air. But just that quickly it all changed again.
As if in slow motion she saw Sam redirect the gun at her, heard a deafening blast and squeezed her eyes tightly closed. Pain. She waited for it to explode through her as everyone seemed to shout at once.
When she realized she hadn't been shot, she was afraid that if she opened her eyes she'd see Daniel on the floor, dead because he'd made the mistake of loving her. The tremble she'd desperately tried to fight against when the knife blade had been against her throat swooped through her.
"Lizzy." Daniel's voice whispered in her ear, and she didn't have to open her eyes to know that it was his arms that drew her close against his chest. "It's okay now. You're okay."
She gasped in relief and opened her eyes to see Sam on the floor, writhing in pain as he held his bleeding thigh. Sam's gun was in Adam's hand, and Adam looked frozen with shock.
"Nobody move!" Cameron's voice yelled from the doorway. He grabbed the gun from Adam and shoved past him. "What is going on?"
"He shot me!" Sam screamed, in obvious pain. "Get me some medical attention before I bleed to death."
"He tried to kill me, Cameron," Lizzy said, not moving from Daniel's arms. "He's the one who attacked me here before, and in the barn. He was going to kill me and make it look like Candy's murder."
"And I shot him," Daniel said as he tightened his arms around Lizzy.
"She needs to die," Sam shrieked. "I want her dead." He glared at Cameron. "Shoot her. Kill her. He can't have her."
Suddenly the cabin started to fill with people. Daniel pulled Lizzy against a wall as paramedics arrived to load the still-raging Sam. Adam sank down in a nearby chair, his face buried in his hands.
When Sam was gone and Cameron had instructed Deputy Temple to ride with the ambulance, he stood against the wall opposite of Daniel and Lizzy, questions radiating from his eyes. "So, who's ready to talk?"
Lizzy stepped out of Daniel's embrace. "I'll start," she said. "I stepped out of the bathroom and he grabbed me and pulled me into this cabin. Sam is who attacked me the two other times. He just wanted me gone, and when I didn't leave town he decided I needed to die. He wanted to punish Daniel for his sister's death."
"I had to shoot him, Cameron. He was about to shoot Lizzy. I didn't go for a kill shot." Daniel's face was taut with sorrow. "Sam was my friend. I never dreamed he'd do something like this."
Adam raised his head. "He's never been the same since Cherry's death. I told him to get some help, to talk to a therapist or something, but he was just so angry all the time." Adam's dark gaze sought Daniel's. "I'm sorry, man. If I'd known he was really a danger to anyone, I would have done something about it myself."
"You don't owe me any apology," Daniel said.
Adam looked at Lizzy, his eyes filled with misery. "I can't believe he attacked you, that he hurt you so badly before. The man that was in here tonight wasn't my brother. I don't know who that man is."
"He didn't kill Candy," Lizzy said to Cameron. "He told me he didn't, and I believe him. He had a specific reason to come after me. He wanted to punish Daniel, but he had no reason to murder Candy."
Cameron swept a hand across his forehead as if he had the beginnings of a headache. "What I'd like now is for all of us to go down to the office where I can take some official statements."
"What's going to happen to Sam?" Adam asked.
"He'll get the medical treatment he needs and then he'll be arrested for attempted murder," Cameron said, his voice holding the hint of pity for the man.
Adam stood from the chair and straightened his shoulders. "I'll meet you at the sheriff's office, and in the meantime I've got to get hold of Nick. It's time for him to come home. I can't run that place all by myself."
As he left the room, despite everything that had happened, Lizzy's heart hurt for the man who had not only lost his sister but also, in another way, his brother.
Daniel once again wrapped an arm around Lizzy's shoulders, and as she leaned into him she realized for her it was over. The trembling began all over again as she realized just how very close death had come once again.