Edge of Time (Langston Brothers Series) (21 page)

That
certainly was not her window
to the future.

Sticking up from the dirt was a partially buried human arm, hand reaching out of the soil, with every indication the rest of the body was still attached.

“Oh, my God.
” Craig
strode
past her.

“Why is he buried like that?” A cold trembling descended upon her as the mist swirled around them, rising from their feet to their knees.
Run!
A chill swept her spine as a whisper echoed on the breeze around her.

“Coyotes probably dug him up.”
Even Craig looked a little pale.
“We need
—
”

Snap!

Heavy feet crunched on the forest floor.
Marissa
grasped in panic at Craig’s arm
as a
n odd scraping noise
pierced the thicket not twenty yards away. It sounded like
something being dragged through the underbrush.

With a gentle urgency Craig put a h
and on her waist.
“Move, now!” They
ran
to the edge of the woods before dashing to the tethered the horses.

Toughie squalled anxiously from his pen.

The crack of a gunshot sounded behind them and simultaneously an ominous whistling zipped past Marissa’s ear.

“Jesus
,” Craig blasphemed, grasping Marissa about the waist and heaving her onto his buckskin before swinging an agile leg up behind her. Grabbing the reins of the old bay mare he urged them to a breakneck pace as another shot cracked behind them.

Shaking uncontrollably she clung to the strong arm clamped around her waist and cringed into the broad expanse of Craig’s chest as a thir
d shot sounded behind them.
Carolyn’s bay mare crumpled, letting out a pitiful grunt of anguish as she thrashed behind them. Craig dropped her reins and spurred his buckskin on.

“Maggie! No!” A hysterical sob escaped her lips. Craig seemed not to hear as he crushed her more snuggly against his chest, hunching over Jeb’s haunches, urging the horse to an even faster pace.

Thundering down the dusty road Marissa became absolutely positive of two things: one the woods really and truly were haunted…
Run…
echoed through her thoughts, and two: she was never going home.

Flying over the rise leading into Charleston, Craig sawed on the reins, halting them just outside the city. “Are you all right?” He pulled her around until she sat somewhat awkwardly facing him half in his lap and half in the saddle, one knee looped around the saddle horn. She hadn’t realized quite how hard she was shaking until she nearly rattled off her perch and his strong arm curled securely around her, anchoring her.

His eyes blazed against the red hues of the twilight sky and Marissa felt the familiar quickening of her pulse and the breathlessness that seized her every time his gaze locked on hers. His hair glowed reddish gold in the lingering beams of sunlight and for a moment she was unable to tear her eyes away as the oddest sensation of being safe,
protected
with him descended upon her. “I th-th-think so,” s
he stuttered, swallowing
convulsively as the memory of that partially buried body in the woods flooded over her again, along with the fact that someone had been
shooting
at them! She’d seen trauma; she’d always prided herself on being level headed and cool under pressure, but never before had she felt truly traumatized herself. In that moment she had new empathy for the countless hysterical accident victims she’d rolled her eyes at in the past.

“We need to find Sheriff Hudson and tell him about that man buried behind Genie’s house,” Craig said,
gently
stroking her hair.

“Oh, Craig!” She half choked on a strangled sob
. “You could have been shot! I-
I’m so sorry.” Sobs racked her as she clung to the strength of his body, clutching the thick wool of his jacket and listening to the steady thudding of his heart. What would she have done if he’d been hurt
—
and all because of her? For a moment his long fingers calmly, soothingly stroked her hair as he nudged Jeb into a slow walk into town. She sniffed. “And poor Maggie! How am I going to tell Carolyn I killed her horse?”

*
             
*
             
*

Craig swallowed a small smile. He wasn’t entirely sure why, but there was something inexplicably funny about her last statement. It was
so
like Marissa to worry more about the horse tha
n herself. “Don’t worry about it
, I’ll replace the horse.” He fit her more snugly against his chest
, if in fact that were possible.
“I’m sure everyone will just be glad you’re all right.”

“What were you doing out there, Craig?”

“I was looking for you.” He sighed, pressing his lips to the top of her head
, breathing in the rosy scent of her soft hair
.

“Why?”

“Because I was worried after you took off in such fit, and then Paul Christenson was nosing around again. It made me nervous.” He paused contemplatively. “But we’ll talk about this later, all right?”

S
he nodded
, relaxing a bit
against his
chest.
God, but she felt so tiny and fragile nestled against him…
It brought out every
protective instinct
inside him. I
f anything had happened to her…

“You saved my
life,” she murmured.
“
If you hadn’t come looking for me
…
”
She shivered.
“Craig?
”
She reached up to touch his cheek and he glanced down, meeting her eyes
. “I do love you. Whatever happens, I want you to know that.”

“I love you too,” he replied without hesitation,
kissing her hair once more.

Expertly maneuvering the horse through the city streets he pulled it to a stop outside the jailhouse and hopped to the ground, reaching back to lift Marissa from the mount before flipping the reins loosely over the hitching rail. Jeb was well trained. He’d stay.

Their eyes locked as his large hands encompassed her
slender
waist. The waning light cast reddish-purple beams of radiant light across the loose thickness of her
pale
hair as colorful prisms danced across her face
,
turning it into a beautifully surreal mask and making her dark liquid eyes unreadable. He held her for a moment suspended i
n time, drinking her in, knowing
she could have been lost to him… forever.

“Dr. Langston,” Sheriff Hudson
’s
voice sounded from the jailhouse door “What brings you two here? Not trouble, I trust.”

“George.
” Craig
nodded a grim greeting, leading the way into the jailhouse. He quickly relayed
the
evening’s
events. Throughout the telling he kept an arm securely about Marissa’s waist. He couldn’t help but worry over her. He’d never seen her so stricken or so pale. No, that wasn’t entirely true. The day he’d run into her in the field she’d looked this way… stricken. She’d also been in an equal state at the officers’ ball, when Kirsten Jamison had bothered her.

“I can take you back to where we found the body,” Craig assured the sheriff, “but we’re going to need a whole posse if whoever shot at us is still out there.
And first, I want to get Miss McClafferty
back to her aunt. She’s had a bad scare.”

“I’d appreciate it, but if the killer has half a brain he’ll be long gone before we get back out there.”

Marissa’s
gripped the arm
not fitted about
her waist. “Don’t leave, Craig.
Please.”

He hesitated, giving her a reassuring
squeeze. He understood she didn’t want him t
raveling back to the place where they’d been shot at
, but at this point he saw little other choice.

Sheriff Hudson glanced briefly between the two of the
m and waved dismissively.
“It’s all right, Doc, see to your girl. I’m sure my deputies and I can find it. Where is Mrs. Harris?” he went on. “I’ll need to speak with her about this.”

“We’ll tell her, Sheriff,” Craig offered, “we’re headed over to the Reed’s house now.”

Following Sheriff Hudson through the wide door of the office Craig led her to where Jeb waited obediently beside the hitching post.

*     *     *

“You found a dead body in my woods?” Genie asked, outraged, planting both hands on her hips. She didn’t bother asking what Marissa had been doing out there. Obviously, she knew. “And then you were shot at?”

Solemnly Craig and Marissa nodded. “The sheriff is on his way there, now,” Craig replied, pulling
a
chair out from the table for Marissa.

“Does he have any idea who it is?”

Craig shrugged,
resting his hands on her shoulders, lightly rubbing them. “
I still think Paul Christenson is behind this.”

“Aarr
gh!” Thumping angry fists on the table, Genie harrumphed and plopped onto a third chair. She held her head in her hands. “What am I going to do? I can’t go home because there is
a
madman cavorting about my woods shooting people!”

Rising, Marissa moved to her friend and wrapped sympathetic arms around her. “I know this is hard, but Sheriff Hudson and the other deputies will catch him. I’m sure of it.”

Genie looked back at Marissa with troubled eyes. “I guess now we know where the legend about the murderer came from.”

Marissa nodded slowly. “Not a made up horror story after all.”

*     *     *

Stepping onto Carolyn’s back porch to steal a moment alone with Marissa, Craig turned her to face him. “Are you really doing all right?” Reaching out he brushed a thumb across her cheek as worried eyes roamed over her face.

She
nodded. “I’ll be fine.
”
R
eaching up
, she
brush
ed
a stray lock
of hair from his forehead and
drew a shuddering breath
.
“I’m just glad you’re
al
l
right
.” Their eyes
locked and in that moment everything became timeless…
still.