She's lost it. "Fine," Tess said. "I'll leave Chase."
"Oh, like I'm going to believe you. I'll let you go and then you'll run right to him."
She may have been nuts but she was smart. Audra had already proven that she was dangerous. Tess couldn't take another blow to the head so fighting with her was out of the question. She'd have to outwit her.
"You're going to call him and tell him it's over and that you need some time alone."
"He's not going to buy that." Tess shrugged. "He knows me better than that."
"Then you're going to have to be real convincing. Not only will I lock you in here but I'll make sure your father's insurance gets messed up enough that he's stuck in some low rent rehab place for months."
"Chase would never let that happen."
"If you're here withering away, he'll think you left him. What reason would he have to take care of your disabled father if you're not in his life?"
"Why would you want a man who doesn't want you? A man who has been sleeping with me for months?"
"You gave him no choice. Flaunting yourself in front of him every chance you got. Look what you did to poor Tanner. That shameless display with the strawberries. Poor Chase was so in lust with you that he couldn't help himself. Once you're out of the way, he'll see what a stupid mistake he made. He'll come back to me."
"What if he can't get over me? He's relentless. He won't walk away from me easily."
"You do think highly of yourself, don't you?" Audra cackled. "You're not that special. I've been in his bed too. I know what works."
When Audra got up and walked around the room, going on about her sex life with Chase, Tess scanned the room looking for something that would help her get out of there. The cabin had sat abandoned for quite a few years so there wasn't much she could use to her advantage.
She stood, feeling lightheaded and woozy but she had to get out of there.
"Chase is always at his best after a stressful week at the office. Don't you find that too?" She turned her back and fiddled with the dusty trinkets on the mantle.
He's always at his best with me.
"He's absolutely animalistic then," Audra continued.
She had to make a run for it. Audra was so caught up in her memories of Chase that she didn't even hear Tess come up behind her and shoved her as hard as she could. She went crashing into the fireplace, losing her balance and tumbling hard into the hearth. Tess turned and ran for the door.
Dead bolted! She pulled on the knob as she jiggled with the bolt. Her heart pounded with adrenaline. She had no idea what she was going to do once she got the door open. They were in the middle of nowhere and the nearest house was a good three miles away. She'd worry about that once she was outside and away from that delusional woman.
Come on! She pressed her hand flat against the door panel and forced the lock free but as she opened the door, Audra slammed her into it causing it to shut. The crazed woman grabbed her by her hair and spun her around, wielding a large piece of glass in her face. When Tess had pushed her into the fireplace, it shattered the doors in the hearth. Audra had picked up a piece of the broken glass.
"Where do you think you're going?" she asked as she threw her onto the floor. "You couldn't just leave him alone. You had to go after him. Take him away from me."
"That's not what happened." Tess tried to reason with Audra but it was a losing battle. "I didn't even know you were seeing one another."
"If you had, would you have backed off?"
"Yes." Tess would say anything to get this woman to leave her alone.
"Liar." She lunged at Tess, gripping her hair and holding the glass to her cheek. "Why couldn't you leave him alone?"
Tess closed her eyes as Audra pressed the edge of the glass against her face. But before Audra could cut her, Chase burst through the cabin door with Tanner close behind.
"Audra!" He shouted. "Don't."
Chase...
Chapter Twenty-six
Tess sucked in a breath and waited for the cruel slash on her face. The pounding in her head intensified but fear dominated every emotion. She wanted to be happy to see Chase, but now she worried that Audra would not only kill her but hurt him too.
He moved closer to them, but Audra pressed the glass to Tess's throat. "Chase, I can get rid of her."
"No." He shifted his gaze from Audra to Tess. The terror evident in his eyes. "There's no need to do that."
"She won't leave us alone. She's trying to steal you from me." Her hand trembled but Tess tried to stay still. One wrong move and she'd be bleeding out all over the cabin floor. "There can't be an us as long as she's here."
"You're wrong." Chase dropped to his knees. "I'm here because of you."
"What?" She tightened her grip on Tess's hair, tugging her head back. "Not her?"
"I asked Tanner to bring me to you because I wanted to apologize for treating you the way I did this morning." Chase held out his hand. "All you have to do is let me help you. Like I did before."
"No!" Audra tensed against Tess's back, clearly agitated by what he'd just said. "It's not like before. I don't need to go away. I don't want to leave you again. I have everything under control."
"Of course you do, counselor." Chase smiled, softening his stance. "In order for us to work, you have to let Tessa go. You know that."
"Counselor," she whispered. "You haven't called me that in so long."
"I've been stupid," Chase said. "But I've seen my mistakes. I won't make them again."
"Her mistakes." She pulled Tess's hair harder than before. "She's the reason we're not together. Let me fix this." Tess stared into Chase's eyes, letting him know whatever he had to do to get them out of this mess would be more than fine with her.
"It's my job to fix things." He inched closer to them. "I'll take care of you but you have to let me."
"How?"
"First you have to let Tessa go. That's why I brought Tanner. He'll take her away and I'll stay with you." He reached out, but when he tried to take the glass, Audra moved it to Tessa's throat.
"No," Tess whispered, trying to break free but Audra held her still.
"Audra," Chase continued. "You have to listen to me. We can't be together if you don't let her go."
"She'll always be there bothering us." She pushed the edge of the glass to the big artery in Tess's neck. Tess took a deep breath, trying to gain the upper hand in her mind, but there was no viable solution with that sharp object just a shiver away from ending it all. "She won't leave you alone, Chase. You're weak. She'll tempt you every chance she gets. You need me to get her out of our lives."
"I won't bother him," Tess said in a raspy voice. "I can see how much he wants to be with you. I can't compete with that."
"Let me take Tess," Tanner said. "Then you can be alone with Chase. Isn't that what you want? Why you needed my help?"
"If you had done a better job I'd alreadybe with him." Audra glared at him. "But it wasn't all your fault. I thought she would cooperate and make my life easier."
"She'll cooperate now," Chase said as he held Tessa's gaze. "She'll leave us alone."
"Do you think I'm stupid?" Audra snapped. "I can see how you're looking at her. Even now."
Because he loves me, you stupid bitch.
"I tried to get her away from you. I even sent her mother to talk some sense into her. I told her you were just using Tessa for sex. I should have known that low life woman would take your offer over mine."
Audra was the reason her mother came to see her? Of course, that's why her mom wanted Tess to leave with her. Audra offered her a payoff but Chase won the bid. Her mother had always been smart and she could see that Audra had nowhere near the money Chase had.
Audra looked up at Tanner. "And you! You were the biggest disappointment. All you had to do was make Tessa sleep with you. Chase could never forgive that betrayal."
"Why don't we rethink this?" Tanner moved closer. "Let Tess go and we'll figure this all out."
"There is nothing to figure out!" Audra yelled. "Once this little twit is out of the picture Chase will realize he made a really big mistake. It's not your fault. She's evil," she said. "She has a power over you. She's tricked you. Didn't you?" She tugged on Tess's hair. "Tell him."