Free Fate and Destiny by Claire Collins

replied, “Your eggs are burning.”

9.
    Removing the eggs from the
flame, turning off the stove and the radio, Andrew kept his eyes on
Destiny without leaving the kitchen. His mind raced. He was falling
in love with this woman.
    He went from saving a life
to harboring a fugitive, not that he had any choice.
    She couldn’t be a
killer.
    Except she was.
    She did kill her uncle,
even though it was in self-defense. 
    So, maybe the news report
was wrong and this was all a terrible mistake. Or had he made the
mistake in bringing her to his cabin? Shaking his head, closing his
eyes, he concentrated on the facts.
    A wounded woman is dropped
on the side of the road. The kidnappers surely thought she was dead
or dying. Could she have planned the whole thing? How did she get
to the boulder then? There hadn’t been a car on the road that he
could see. What could she gain by defrauding him? He was
comfortable but certainly not wealthy. Okay, that ruled out the
conspiracy theory. No one would collect life insurance if he died.
Someone left her for dead. She said she was kidnapped.
Feasible.
    Kidnappers think she knows
too much, take her, rough her up and drop her on a mountain. Sounds
like a movie, but still possible. But those eyes, and that smile.
She didn’t seem to have a vicious bone in her body. She probably
didn’t even step on spiders, just scooped them up in a paper cup
and freed them back to nature.
    Regaining the ability to
put one foot in front of the other, he moved to her side and took
her in his arms. Stiffly, she did not return the
embrace.
    He
carefully softened his tone, “Destiny, honey, I don’t believe you
killed anyone, please, just tell me what’s going
on?”    Destiny quickly turned her head towards him, shoving his hands
away from her. Her eyes were piercing daggers. Andrew let his arms
fall but did not back away.
    “ You do think I killed
him.” Her voice was as steely as her eyes. “If you didn’t believe
that, you wouldn’t have jumped all over me with those
questions.”
    Keeping his voice soft, he
tried to defend his actions and calm her at the same
time.
    “ I was just shocked
Destiny.” He paused, hoping she would listen. “Why do they think
you killed him?”
    Her green eyes held a wild
sheen as she stared at Andrew for a moment. Then her face twitched,
her eyes moistening as though something inside her snapped. She
looked away from him, wrapping herself in the security of the
blanket.
    “ What if I did kill
him?”
    Andrew could barely hear
her. Even as the words registered in his brain, he couldn’t believe
what he was hearing. Ideas about Destiny’s role in the death of
Marcus DeMont surged back. Maybe she really did kill the old man.
His mind swam with thoughts and questions.
    Destiny wrestled with
similar thoughts and questions. She already bared her soul to this
man. He needed to know all of it, especially since she needed his
help, but she wasn’t sure if anyone could help her. Andrew may be
the only person in the whole world who cared about her. The only
one who could save them both.
    “ After I heard the news
report about Marcus’ death being labeled an accident from a fall
down the stairs, I had no clue what to do. I called the police and
told them what I saw and they still labeled it an accident. I knew
that meant Charles was still out there somewhere getting away with
murder.
    “ I was still lying in bed
the next morning, trying to figure out what to do when that news
report came on. I hadn’t slept at all that night thinking about
what I could do. I figured it was just a matter of time until
Charles got smart and associated me with the details of the
finances.”
    She refused to look at him,
drowning in her own guilt.
    “ I should have gone
straight to the police. I should have shown Marcus the proof at the
casino so he would have had security to protect him. If I hadn’t
been secretive, he would still be alive. Instead, I decided to run
and hide somewhere until