Another Chance (10 page)

“We don’t want
to be a burden to you,” Feather stated.
 
“But that sounds wonderful.”  They agreed what time Feather would
call from Montgomery the next night and said goodnight.

As Jordan
replaced the phone to its cradle, she wondered if she had totally lost her
mind.  She had just offered to cook supper for two people she didn’t even
know and she didn’t even cook for herself.  And what about keeping people
at arm’s length?  She frowned as she looked down at Bhrandii.  She
must be getting lonely.
 
“So that means
you aren’t doing enough to keep me company.  I don’t want to start having
friends
. 
It makes life complicated.”  Oh well, she decided, the invitations already
extended.  I just won’t let it go any further than that.

In the
sleeping compartment of the trailer at the campground just outside Ft. Smith,
Arkansas, Wolf turned sharp eyes on his sister’s face.  “Now don’t you go
makin’ social arrangements that include me.  I’m deliverin’ a horse, and
then I’m restin’ before I start lookin’ for a job.  Unless the sheriff of
one of those counties needs a deputy and Captain Ferguson is able to talk them
into givin’ me a chance, I’ve got to find a way to feed and house us.  We
don’t have much savin’s left to fall back on, and I don’t want to dip into the
money you got for sellin’ the ranch.”

Feather stuck
her tongue out at him.  “I’m sure you will want to eat supper sometime
that night.  It will be nice to share a meal with someone who knows the
area.  Besides, I like Jordan.  She seems to have a good mind and I
imagine she will have questions about Pride.”

He chuckled
deeply.  “She has a good mind?  You sound like you’re talking about a
horse.”  As he spoke, he stepped through the door to the outside. 
She knew he was making a final check on the horses and giving her a chance to
change into her pajamas which she did.  When he came back in a few minutes
later, she was sleeping soundly in the big bed in the elevated neck of the
trailer.  He quietly unrolled his sleeping bag and settled in for the
night.

The three
horses slept on a picket line stretched from the back of the trailer to a
nearby tree.  Wolf had given them enough room to turn around and to lie
down, but knew they would have been better off in a field.  Traveling
meant they all made sacrifices, and that included the horses.  He left the
screened window open, knowing that any unusual sounds would bring him wide
awake.  He closed his eyes and was asleep.  Taking turns driving and
sleeping, he and Feather had put in twelve hours today and tomorrow would be
another long day.

In her bed,
Feather slept soundly.  They were now a long way from the people who
wanted Wolf dead.  Each day of travel gave her greater peace of
mind.  Her nightmares had not come with them and her sleep was untroubled.

Frankie loaded
the last of their luggage in the back of the car, then waited impatiently while
Ruby gave final instructions to the real estate dealer who already had several
clients with appointments to see the house.  Frankie smiled.

It should sell
pretty quickly.  He knew the neighborhood was a nice neighborhood and not
too far from downtown.  However, there was enough land with the house that
new owners could add a pool, a tennis court or both.  It had beautiful
older trees that sheltered it from the street and Ruby’s father had made sure
it was well maintained as long as he lived.  After his death, Ruby had
hired a contractor and renovated the kitchen and the den.  It was now,
much more modern inside than it looked from the outside.

He would make
sure Ruby kept close contact with the realtor.  If it sold real fast, they
could find a place to receive a fax so she could sign the papers and get the
deal finalized.  A packing company could come in and pack up everything
that was personal and put it in storage.

He would allow
Ruby to live that long.

She arrived at
the car, stopping next to him, then turned and looked back at the house. 
She reached for Frankie’s hand and he let her hold it.  Her eyes filled
with tears.  “You know, I’ve lived my whole life in that house, and now
other people will make it their home.  I hope they will love it as much as
I have.  I know we’ll be happy in New York, but leaving here still makes
me sad.”

He pulled her
close and wrapped his arms around her.  “You won’t be sad when you’re
looking down into the Grand Canyon.”  He assured her as he patted her
shoulder tenderly.  Then he ushered her into the seat on the passenger
side and practically skipped around to the driver’s door.  His steps were
leading him to Jordan!

They traveled
several hours that day and the next.  Frankie stopped before they actually
reached the Grand Canyon, wanting to begin the day with only a short drive,
then have the whole day to enjoy the sights.

Before they
retired for the night the realtor called Ruby’s cell phone telling them the
papers were being drawn up.  The second family that looked at the house
had fallen in love with it and couldn’t wait to move in.  The sooner they
could sign the papers and get them back the sooner the deal would be made.

Ruby became
emotional and handed the phone to Frankie.  He told Ms. Hamilton that they
would sign the papers and fax them back as soon as they got them.  With
that in the works, they decided to spend the next three days at the hotel right
on the rim of the canyon.  Ruby was an emotional wreck.  One minute
she was so excited and the next, she would think about selling the house and
just bottom out.  Frankie had to force himself to be the patient, loving
husband that she needed and in spite of his own anxiety he managed to comfort
and support her.  He signed them up for a helicopter tour, they visited
all the museums and hiked along the rim for hours at a time.  The exercise
seemed to help Ruby and when the fax arrived, they both signed the papers and
faxed them back, Frankie took a deep breath.  Now all they were waiting
for was conformation that the money was in the bank.

They had prime
rib to celebrate the sale and Frankie assured her that he had a realtor in New
York looking for the perfect apartment for them.  It would be high,
overlooking a park on one side and the city on the other.  He led her in
long discussions about decorating and furnishing it.  It helped keep her
mind off the house she had just sold and he’d had about all he could stand of
her sniveling about the house.

Finally all
the paperwork was done and the money safely in his account.  They checked
out of the hotel and quickly left it behind.  Frankie drove to Flagstaff
where he picked up Interstate 40 and headed east.  He had planned to kill
Ruby somewhere outside Amarillo, Texas, but east New Mexico was pretty desolate. 
They spent the night at a small hotel in a small town and left the next
morning.

At Tucumcari
he left the Interstate and took a smaller state road north east, into the
desert.  He convinced Ruby that they needed to see some of the desert
while they were there.  They drove around most of the day, then after
stopping for gas, he told her he was taking her to the only place where she
could see wild horses still running free.  He wanted her tired.  They
had left the roads behind and were driving in the desert.  Finally he
stopped the car.  They hadn’t seen a car or a house for hours and Frankie
figured it was as good a place as he’d find.

 “We need
to walk up to the top of that rise.  The guy told me there is a waterhole
on the other side where the wild horses come to drink late in the day.” 
Dutifully, Ruby followed him out of the car.

“I don’t know
how you knew which rise he could have been talking about.  This land all
looks the same to me,” she said as she closed the car door behind her.

“I’ll get us a
bottle of water out of the back,” he offered while she let her legs stretch,
“because that rise is at least a half mile away.”  He didn’t reply to her
correct observation.  They were surrounded by gentle areas of rising land.

While he got
the water, he also slipped the 38 pistol he had purchased for this occasion
into his pocket.  Together they walked to the top of the rise.

Ruby looked
around, searching for the water hole.  “I don’t see….”  She heard the
metallic clicking of metal against metal as he cocked the pistol and she
started to turn.

She never
heard the sound of the gun going off.  She crumpled to the ground dead
from the bullet that ripped through the back right quarter of her skull and out
the front.

Frankie walked
back to the car and found a little spade he had packed,
just in case. 
Then
he returned to her body.  He quickly scrapped back enough dirt to roll her
into a shallow grave, along with his clothes that had received some spatter
from the close shot.  After he covered her with as much dirt as he could
scrape over her, he pushed some rocks on top of that and returned to the
car.
 
He donned fresh clothes, got behind
the wheel and drove away, never once looking back.
 
That was finished, over with, no need to
think about it again.

He drove back
to the highway and continued on for another hour before turning back into the
desert again.  This time, he dug a deeper hole, drug Ruby’s luggage,
purse, the spade and anything else he could think of that would identify her or
tie them together and chunked it all in the hole.  It was two o’clock in
the morning when he siphoned enough gas from the car to douse her belongings
with, and then he struck a match and tossed it into the hole.  The burst
of flames was instant and Frankie backed off to watch it burn.  He found a
long piece of wood that he used to stir the fire when it had burned down some,
and by the first rays of daylight he could see there wasn’t much left unburned
in the hole.  He pushed the dirt back into the hole with his feet until it
was level with the rest of the landscape, then got in the car and drove away.

He had made
Ruby’s dreams come true.  In his twisted mind, that made him a good
husband.  Now he was free!  Free to begin his hunt for Jordan. 
He turned the car toward Poplar Bluff.  He had been up for almost
twenty-four hours and wasn’t even tired.

The road ahead
of him seemed to stretch on forever, but his heart was light and he did enjoy
driving.  Every mile would mean he was that much closer to Jordan.

 Feather
was driving when they pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant where they
had agreed to meet Jordan Lanier.  Her brother was slumped against the
passenger door catching some much needed sleep.  After driving most of the
day before, he hadn’t rested well at the last campsite and had bags under his
eyes.  She had taken the wheel when they pulled out this morning and had
insisted that he close his eyes and sleep.  He had tried, but it wasn’t
until about two hours earlier that she could tell he was actually sleeping. 
His breathing was deep and steady and she was sorry they were stopping because
now, he would wake up.

Sure enough,
when she brought the truck and trailer to a complete stop, his eyes opened and
he sat up straight.  Then he turned a questioning look at her.

Feather
shrugged.  “We’re here.  I didn’t see the truck Jordan said she would
be in.  Do you want to go in and eat while we wait?”

He shook his
head negatively.  “No.  Call her.  Tell her we’re here.”

As he spoke, a
truck pulled into the parking lot and stopped beside them.  Feather turned
and looked.

She was
surprised by the beauty of the blond driver who was smiling a greeting at her.

“You must be
Feather?”

Feather
nodded.  She couldn’t help noticing the huge red dog that sat comfortably in
the passenger seat of Jordan’s truck.

“I’ll turn
around and lead the way, unless y’all want to eat?”  Jordan said.

Feather shook
her head negatively.  “No, we’ll follow you.  We’d like to get the
horses out on dirt as soon as we can.”

Jordan nodded,
pulled past them and turned around, returned to lead them the short drive to
her farm.  She took her time, knowing that a loaded trailer can’t just
come to a sudden stop at a light that turns red.  Watching in her rearview
mirror, she led them through the short part of town that they had to traverse,
and then out into the country.  When she turned off the small highway into
her private road, the butterflies in her stomach were going crazy.

She pulled her
truck into its accustomed parking place under the ancient oak tree and hopped
out.  Bhrandii hopped out behind her.  Feather stopped her rig in
front of the barn entrance.  Jordan hurried to the back of the trailer,
anxious for the first glimpse of her new horse.
 
When she saw the tall man round the trailer from the passenger side, she
held out her hand.  “You must be Daniel.  I can’t tell you how
thankful I am to you and Feather for bringing my horse all the way from Idaho.”

A smile spread
his lips as he took her hand, revealing straight white teeth.  When his hand
closed around hers, she felt a surprising strength and warmth wash over her.

“My sister and
I are grateful to you for allowin’ us to keep our horses here until we can find
a place.  I assure you, it won’t take long, because I plan to start
lookin’ tomorrow,” he said.  His voice was deep with an almost velvet
smooth drawl to it.  His hand swallowed hers.  Besides the strength
she felt in his grip, there was something else she felt there.  She felt
kindness and a powerful animal attraction unlike anything she’d ever felt
before.  Surprised at her reaction to him, she looked up and found herself
captured by startling blue eyes.

Jordan slowly
withdrew her hand and looked away from him to the back of the trailer, her hand
still radiating his warmth.  She did not notice him flexing his own hand
in surprise.