“You didn’t try to help that girl.”
She whimpered. “No.”
“And then you took the overdose and ended up at Shady Grove.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell Elizabeth?”
She began to weep. “I wanted to tell her and I almost did. And then I left the camp and life went on. I thought what was done was done.”
“Do you want to say you’re sorry to Elizabeth now that you’re dying?”
“I don’t want to die!”
“Are you sorry ?”
“Yes.”
The tape clicked off.
Tears dampened Greer’s face as she mourned not only for Jeff and Sydney but also for Jennifer. Greer understood carrying a burden so heavy your knees threatened to buckle.
“So you see,” Dr. Stewart said, “the accident wasn’t your fault.”
Greer wasn’t sure if she’d ever truly believe that. She shouldn’t have been driving that night. She’d been too young and too inexperienced. Would an experienced driver have avoided Jennifer? She’d never know.
Though she struggled to keep alert, the drugs took a stronger hold. Though her mind rapidly fogged, one thought was razor sharp.
She wanted to live.
“You must hate her,” Dr. Stewart said.
“No,” Greer said. “I don’t. I want to move on with my life.”
He smoothed soft fingertips over her hair. “You can’t move on. You’re trapped in the past. You have been since the accident.”
She had been trapped. But she wasn’t like that anymore. Somewhere along the way that first forced step toward the vineyard had been her journey to freedom. And now she had the beginnings of something with Bragg. A future to anticipate.
Her tongue felt thick in a cottoned mouth. “My head is spinning.”
He picked up her wrist and traced the faint scar. “Yes, it must be spinning hard. Soon, you’ll fall asleep, and as you do I’ll cut into this tender flesh as you did once. That’s what you wanted all those years ago . . . to just slip away. Now you can.”
She clung to consciousness. That last time she’d cut her own wrist it had been seconds before the drugs had pulled her into unconsciousness. She’d not cared as her life had seeped from her body.
Now, an unwelcome specter of death frightened her. She blinked hard and thought about Bragg and Mitch. Would they know this man had killed her or would they believe she’d taken her life? And dear God, her mother. What would she say when her body was found on Jeff’s grave? She’d be devastated.
Anger rose in Greer and cut through some of the fog. “I’m not going to die. I am not.”
His smile was gentle. “Of course you are, but don’t worry, I’m going to be right behind you. When you’re gone, I’ll find the courage to finally take the leap and follow you. We will all be together forever. Happy. Complete, just like at Shady Grove.”
“Why do you want to die? You have so much.”
His dull gaze reflected sadness. “Not really. The only person I ever really cared about was Meg and then you. I stayed here for you, but Meg keeps telling me I can’t stay here anymore. She is tired of waiting.”
“What?” She struggled to sit up and when she couldn’t she focused on stringing her thoughts together.
“My sister. She is with me always. She won’t leave me alone.” His voice grew agitated and he cursed.
The connections between her thoughts frayed more and more with each passing second. She wanted to understand him. Wanted to ask questions but she couldn’t summon her voice.
He rubbed his hand over her head. “That last night at camp you said we’d all be friends together and we all made a pact. We all promised we’d be friends. And then everyone left one by one. I thought you’d stay but you left and simply vanished.” He shook his head. “I didn’t think you’d leave me.”
“We barely spoke at camp.” She tried to pull her wrist away from his grasp but he held her steady. She barely had the energy to lift her head.
“But when we did, it was special. I recognized the connection and so did you.” He traced the old scar. “You wanted to die. Pills and a razor. Yes, you wanted it.”
She shook her head and managed to ball her fingers into a fist.
And then the glint of a razor in the moonlight. “No.”
“Yes.”
The slice was quick and clean and over in an instant. Warmth spread over her cold skin. She opened her eyes. Blood trailed from her wrists.
Greer shook her head. “No, I don’t want to die.”
The ping on Mitch’s cell phone led Bragg to the cemetery. He glanced at the digital map on the laptop in his car and traced the road ahead up a small hill. Jeffrey Templeton’s grave was at the top of that hill.
He cut the lights of his SUV and scanned the hill ahead. Red running lights burned in the distance. For a split second Bragg was faced with a decision. Gun the engine and risk Stewart’s being alerted and killing Greer or cutting the engine and running the rest on foot hoping for the element of surprise.
Greer’s life rested on a split second.
He gunned the engine, his tires eating up the distance in seconds. As he crested the hill he saw Jack . . . Dr. Stewart . . . leaning over Greer. Blood from her wrists glistened under the glare of his headlights.
Stewart rose and reached his hand around to his waistband. Bragg didn’t hesitate. He drew his weapon and fired three times, hitting Stewart squarely in the chest. The doctor stumbled back, but then lunged at Bragg. Many thought a bullet could bring a man right down, but shock and adrenaline could keep him moving for several more deadly seconds. Bragg fired again, hitting Stewart who this time fell beside Greer.
Stewart gasped. His breath gurgled in his chest and he reached for Greer’s hand and whispered, “We made it, Meg. You, me, and Greer. We’ll be on the other side soon.” He closed his eyes and his breathing stopped.
Bragg holstered his gun and ran to Stewart, handcuffing the man’s hands behind his back and rolling him away from Greer.
As he pulled a bandana from his back pocket to wrap around her wrist, sirens wailed in the distance. He tightened the knot and tightly gripped the makeshift bandage, hoping the extra pressure would stem the flow of blood.
He held Greer close against him. Pale in the moonlight, her face possessed a deadly stillness. “Greer! Baby. Wake up!”
She didn’t move or speak.
“Greer! Open your eyes! Open them, goddamn it!”
Her eyes fluttered open and then focused on him. A smile flickered at the edges of her mouth. “Bragg.”
“It’s going to be all right, honey. Help is on the way.” As he spoke the sirens grew louder and louder until finally the flash of red lights radiated around them.
“I didn’t do this. I didn’t . . .”
He cradled her close, keeping a tight hold on her wrist. “I know. I know.”
“Mitch?”
“He’s okay. At the hospital.”
“Thank God.
”
Tears choked his throat. He’d grown accustomed to a solitary life, making peace with the fact he was destined to be alone. Now the idea of living without Greer made him angry and fearful.
She was his life, and he would be damned if he’d lose her.
Epilogue
Eight months later
When the transfer to El Paso had crossed Bragg’s desk, the decision to retire had come more easily than he ever could have imagined. He’d loved being a Ranger. He had been with DPS ten years. But that part of his life was over.
As he drove up the drive, the star pinned to his chest for the last time, a sense of peace washed over him as he stared at the rolling landscape. He turned off the rural route into the entrance of Bonneville Vineyards. He was home.
The winter had been mild and the vines were strong and promised a good harvest come summer. Greer checked her vines daily and though they’d not seen each other in a week, he talked to her daily. He was anxious to hold her.
He parked in front of the winery, now abuzz with activity. Construction of the winery, was complete and the fermenters and tanks had arrived last week. Out of the car, he savored the cool temperatures of early spring.
The sound of a barking dog greeted him and Jasper, still the ugliest dog he’d ever seen, came bounding around the corner. At nine months he’d grown to his full size, which wasn’t saying much. He couldn’t tip the scales at twenty pounds, but he barked as if he were massive. When he spotted Bragg he wagged his tail and ran up to him.
Bragg knelt down and scratched the dog between the ears. “How are you, boy? Keeping everyone safe?”
The dog barked and licked and ran around in circles.
Greer appeared at the winery’s main door. She’d bound her dark hair in a braid. Jeans and a white blouse hugged her figure and already he imagined peeling both off.
She smiled when she saw him and crossed to give him a kiss. She felt warm and soft in his arms and he hardened at her touch. “I was beginning to think you got lost.”
“Had some final paperwork to fill out. Never thought retiring would be quite that much work.”