Page 29 of Remorseless Sinner

He looked down at the chair legs as I stumbled away and got to my feet.

And I should have left without looking back, but some damn demon inside me made me turn around.

“Goodbye, Saul,” I said. “You didn’t win after all.”

But instead of looking baffled, Saul’s harsh lips were twisted up and his eyes were bright.

“Take your head start, wife,” he said. “You’re going to need it.”

And I didn’t bother to put my shoes on. I just ran.

As I burst out the door, I saw Mr. and Mrs. Potter in their matching velour tracksuits, coming back from their daily walk.

What if they somehow got in the way of Saul chasing me?

“You’re moving fast, there, young lady,” Mr. Potter said amiably, his eyes twinkling at me.

“Want to come over for tea later? I made raspberry scones with cream?” Mrs. Potter asked.

“Watch out!” I gasped, hearing the door slam open behind me. “There’s a man—behind me—he’s very dangerous. Stay—away!”

“A man? Behind you?” Mr. Potter said in a much different voice, sharper, tighter than his usual amiable tones, and they both looked behind me, but I couldn’t wait, charging down the lane and bursting out onto Main Street.

How strange it was to see all the people in Honeywood going about their daily activities, totally unaware that in our safe and happy village, there was a cruel, evil man.

They were filling the coffee shop with warm, happy conversation, light spilling out of the library door as William set up for the day.

Oh, William!

But once I got to City Hall, I would be safe. There were phones there, and the Sheriff.

I could find a way to annul this marriage and come back to Honeywood a free woman.

Saul might have won over Pastor Mickelson, but Sheriff McGinty was not involved in the worship of Nimhe at all.

There were crunching sounds behind me, like big, heavy boots on gravel, and I ran. As hard as I could, down the lane and into City Hall.

I had beaten Saul once.

I could do it again.

Oh, Eye-Bless, I had made it before him! Maybe Nimhe hadn’t abandoned me after all.

I threw open the door to City Hall, and luckily for me the Sheriff was at his desk. He was a tall white man with a broad chest and a gray-streaked beard, with a gun strapped to his belt.

I’d never seen him use that, but now I knew it was there.

“Oh, Gracie, what’s wrong?” Sheriff McGinty asked, turning around.

I clutched at his sleeve.

“Thank the Eye, thank the Eye,” I repeated, shrieking as my husband burst in the door three seconds after.

But this time he was too late!

Sheriff McGinty pulled up as he saw Saul’s massive body, turning sideways to fit through the door, blocking out all the beautiful sunshine of Honeywood with his bulk.

There was a frown on his face and the way the muscles in his forearms tightened and the one in his jaw throbbed, I would have had to tighten my knees together to keep myself upright if I didn’t know that I was safe now.

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