Authors: Penny Childs
Chapter 28
“Matthew, you must
do
something immediately.” Arlene wrung her hands together and looked out the big
bay window into the darkness.
“And just what would you
have me do, Mrs. MacGreggor? I can’t send a search party out in the storm in
the dark. It would be irresponsible at best. And then we’d have more than just
two people missing.”
She didn’t give a whit
about the Waring woman. She was the cause of this whole mess anyway, as far as
she was concerned. “JD isn’t just anyone,” she argued. “He’s a United States
Senator. That should pull some weight.” Her chin lifted and her eyes sparkled
with pride.
“I’m well aware of that,”
Matt answered on a tired sigh.
“Mom, JD will be fine,”
Josh told her, hoping like hell that was the truth. “He knows these mountains.”
“Certainly there must be
something you can do,” she told Matt.
“I can organize some
people to head out at first light. That’s the best I can do.” He rubbed a hand
over his face. “You’re sure Lizzie and JD didn’t head out together?” he asked
Josh.
“Positive. Cory says she
came here this afternoon alone. She asked for a horse, eluding to the fact she
and I were good friends and we’d met at the hospital. Cory assumed I was seeing
her and he didn’t want to put her off.”
Arlene made a face. “Lying
white trash tramp. It’s not bad enough she’s used one of my boys, now she’s
after you too.”
Josh rolled his eyes and
ignored her. “He told her to stay on ranch property and she told him she would.
That’s all I know.” Going to stand in front of the fire he added, “JD must have
seen her vehicle at the barn and took off after her.” They’d been over all of
this earlier but since he felt useless at the moment it didn’t bother him to
repeat himself. “The General showed up outside the barn without a rider. He’s
the horse Lizzie took.”
“Shit,” Matt muttered,
earning himself a dark look from Arlene. “JD should know better than to go
running off half-cocked with a storm rolling in. Is there anywhere out there he
could hole up for the night if it comes to that?”
Josh thought. “Depends on
which way he went. I mean, there’s always Katy’s place, but I suppose if he’s
that close to home he’ll call or come on back here. And there’s Uncle Colbert’s
old hunting shack, but that’s a ways out and truthfully I don’t know that he
even would remember it or where it is.”
“That old thing should
have been burned down years ago,” Arlene snarled. “Why the devil you keep it up
I’ll never know.”
“What kind of shape is it
in?” Matt asked Josh.
Running a hand around to massage
the back of his neck, Josh told him, “Well, I put enough work into it over the
summer to make it useable this last fall for hunting. I mean it has walls, a
roof, a fireplace and a cook stove. No running water or electricity. It’s
pretty rustic but it would work in a pinch.”
“Jeramiah will come
home,” Arlene told them. Staying in a shack in the woods was not something she
could imagine her oldest boy even contemplating. Especially with that woman.
Her skin heated at the thought. What if that damn woman managed to get her
claws into her boy again? No, she decided. That would not happen. He had too
much going for him to fall for the likes of her again. So what if he’d made the
mistake of creating a child with her thirteen years ago? That mistake could be
overlooked. It happened to men all the time. “I don’t know what he was thinking
chasing after that woman in the first place. She rode off on her own, he should
have left it at that.”
“JD’s not built that way,
mom,” Josh told her, nearly growling it. God, what the hell was wrong with the
woman? His gaze bored into her. His mother. At the moment he wondered if she
were really his mother at all.
“I told him that woman is
nothing but trouble and I meant it.”
JD had nearly passed
by the little shack in the dark. But luck had been on his side and he’d shined
the light over just the right spot, catching the snow covered building. The
windows were all shuttered which he counted as a blessing. The wind and cold would
at least be blocked out. Riding the mare right up to the front door he eased
Lizzie around and out of the saddle then slid her as gently as he could down
the mare’s side and to the ground, wincing when she landed in a heap. Jumping
off the horse he lashed the reins around a small tree and went to Lizzie,
kneeling next to her. “You know, you could help me out a little,” he grumbled
as he picked her up. Holding her to his chest he headed for the front door,
praying it would be unlocked. He hated the thought of having to break in the
door because it would then be a bitch to keep the cold out. Taking the knob in
his shaking fingers he said a silent prayer and when it turned he let out a
breath of relief.
Shining the flashlight
around he found lanterns scattered about the one room shack. A threadbare sofa
sat before the fireplace. He deposited Lizzie upon it and went to the fireplace
mantel where he found a lighter which he used to begin lighting the lanterns.
When he had the room lit he did a quick survey and was rewarded by finding the
wood box next to the hearth full of dry wood along with a smaller box
containing kindling papers and twigs. “I’ll kiss ya, Josh,” he whispered as he
began placing the makings of the fire in the wrought iron wood basket.
In no time he had a fire
started and rubbing his hands together briskly, he turned to Lizzie. She hadn’t
so much as moved, which terrified him. God, she wasn’t even shivering. Was that
a bad sign? Was that worse than her shivering her bones loose? He didn’t know,
but he knew he had to get her warm as fast as possible. Standing, he went to
the sofa and pulled it across the wood plank floor so that it was closer to the
fire. That was fine and dandy, he thought, except it would take her forever to
warm up that way.
“It’s not like you
haven’t seen her naked before,” he told himself. But then he’d wanted her. He’d
loved her. “Still do, you fool,” he chastised himself roughly.
He found blankets on a
shelf and as the little shack finally began to warm some he gently began to
remove her wet clothes, hanging them on a chair in front of the fire. A fluffy
hat with ear flaps, insulated gloves, a heavy winter coat… the more he peeled
off the more his blood heated. “You’ve been a lot of trouble this time around,
Lizzie,” he told her as he covered her with the blanket. Squatting down next to
her he smoothed some black strands off her cheek. At least her color was
starting to come back and her lips were returning to their normal color. She
shivered violently under the blanket and he took that as a good sign too. “All
right darlin’, I’ve got a horse to see to and I’ll be back.” He wanted to get
the mare as much out of the weather as he could and if he remembered right
there had been a small shed type barn with a couple stalls in it. If Josh had
been putting work into the shack he’d bet money he’d taken care of the barn as
well.
The mare nickered softly
to him when he came back out with the flashlight in hand. “I know, sweetie,” he
told her, brushing snow off the saddle and her hips. “We’ll see about getting
you out of this shit.” Taking her by the reins he led her around the side of
the shack through the knee deep snow, smiling when he flashed the light across
the little barn. “See, all cozy,” he told her as he slid the door open and led
her in. The only change he could see was Josh had taken down the partition
between the two stalls and made one big area out of it. Closing the door behind
them he walked to the front of the stall and out, flashing the light around. A
few buckets sat in one corner along with a few bales of hay. An old hand water
pump stood near the wall and keeping his fingers crossed he grabbed a bucket
and started pumping, hoping the damn thing would prime. When water finally
gushed out, rusty and smelling of iron, he nearly hooted. “We’re in luck,
girl.”
She drank the water down
as he removed the saddle from her back and ate hay as he rubbed her thick
winter coat out. Satisfied she would be all right until morning he left her in
the stall and headed back for the shack. Back to Lizzie.
She was much as he’d left
her though he noticed she’d snuggled more deeply into the blanket, pulling it
nearly to her nose. Standing over her he felt something stir in him and as much
as he tried to tamp it down, he could not. He still loved her. “Damnit,” he
muttered crossly as he forced himself to turn away from her. She’d crossed a
line he wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to uncross. She’d taken money from his
mother to hide his child from him. It made him ache all the way to his soul.
Rummaging through the
cupboards he found a glass container of instant coffee crystals, a jar of
frozen peanut butter and half a bottle of whiskey. The good stuff. A shot glass
sat next to it and he pulled both from the shelf. Pouring himself a shot he
gave Lizzie’s form another long look. What he wouldn’t give for things to be
different. But they weren’t. Tipping his head back he swallowed the shot,
letting the liquid warm a trail from the back of his tongue to this stomach
before walking back to her. She was still shivering under the blankets, her
teeth chattering.
“All right, honey.” He
was only doing it to warm her. Nothing more. That’s what he kept telling
himself as he removed his own clothes and slid under the blankets with her.
That’s what he kept telling himself as he pulled her to him and wrapped himself
around her freezing cold body. That’s what he told himself as he lay there
listening to her soft breathing, letting it lull him to sleep.
Chapter 29
He stepped into the
hospital
lobby, his eyes scanning the room. It was late, so there weren’t
too many people around. No one he knew. Which was good. It was time. Tonight.
Things were coming to a head and now it was time to deal with Katy. He knew
damn well she was faking her so called coma. He just knew it. She was a superb
actress, as she’d proven so many times in the past with her little hustles and
scams. He’d never seen anyone who could lie with the ease and success she
could. She would have made a killing in Hollywood.
Tonight he would end all
of her lies. For good. He didn’t need her anymore. Now he knew where the money
was hidden. And damn that bitch, Lizzie, she’d known too, hadn’t she? She’d
thought to go get it for herself tonight but she’d managed to lose her horse.
So he’d take care of Katy
and then he’d go to the shack. He could be there by first light, before any of the
search parties could make it there. Maybe Lizzie had made it there, maybe she
hadn’t. Maybe JD was even with her. If he was… well, he’d have to be dealt with
as well. No one was going to stop him anymore. He wouldn’t allow it.
He’d taken the stairs to
avoid running into as many people and as he rounded the corner in the nearly
deserted hallway of floor 3 he looked to room 318. The sheriff’s deputy was nowhere
to be seen. Just as he’d known he wouldn’t be. The guy had a new girlfriend and
he liked to sneak over to the hotel across the street to meet her on his lunch
hour.
Good for him. Bad for
Katy.
Unable to sleep,
Josh stalked the living room of the ranch house. Though he’d repeatedly told
his mother JD was fine he wasn’t really as confident as he tried to make her
believe. The snow was coming down hard. The wind was howling. The temperature
had dipped below zero. JD had not come back to the ranch, so he was out there
somewhere. Josh just hoped like hell he’d remembered the shack and made it
there. It wasn’t the Ritz, but it would be shelter against this bitter cold.
Stopping by the fireplace
he added another log and stirred the ashes, his mind playing a hundred
different scenarios through while he squatted there. Cursing himself for even
entertaining thoughts of his brother freezing to death he poked the logs,
sending sparks flying.
“I always did like
looking at you, cowboy.”
Though the voice surprised
him he didn’t jump up. Instead he turned slowly on the balls of his feet to
look across the room at her. “Katy?” He wanted to smile, seeing her standing
there like he had on numerous other occasions. But it was the middle of the
night and she was supposed to be out cold in the hospital. If she’d woke,
Sandra, a friend of his at the hospital, would have phoned him. So he was
surprised she was here. Yet he wasn’t. Katy, he knew from experience, was
always up to something. Standing and brushing his palms on the thighs of his
jeans he calmly asked, “What are you doing here?”
“My first choice was my
sister but I can’t very well go strolling into the hotel looking for her.”
So she didn’t know. He’d
get to that in a minute. First and foremost he walked across the carpet to her.
She looked like hell. Her face was pale, dark circles hung under her eyes and
she seemed to need the support of the wall to stand. “I’m guessing they didn’t
release you from the hospital.” He took her by an elbow and led her to the
couch, where he sat her down. Taking a seat next to her, he said, “Far as I
knew you had a babysitter at your door. How’d you con your way past him?”
She frowned. “I didn’t.
He was across the street getting laid.” Waving a hand at him, she sighed. “I
take it you’re pissed off at me for the thing with your sister.”
She was so blasé about it
he did get pissed. “Thing?” he asked incredulously. “It’s more than a thing,
god damnit. You were blackmailing her. And it got way out of hand, now didn’t
it? Someone tried to kill you. And Julie… she tried to kill herself over this
whole mess you made. That’s not to mention the danger you’ve put your own
sister in.”
She sat up straight, her
eyes widening. “Danger?”
“Grady Summers paid her a
visit the other night,” he growled heatedly. “He held a knife to her throat and
demanded she tell him where you’d hidden the money. If you don’t care about
anyone else maybe you at least give a shit about her.” She still looked so
frail he wanted to take her in his arms and protect her. He also wanted to
choke her.
Katy stiffened but
managed to keep her poker face.
“How could you employ the
help of a piece of shit like Grady Summers after what you told me he did to
you? Or was that all a lie to get sympathy from me?”
She lifted a shoulder
carelessly. “It was not a lie.”
Josh wanted to grab her
and shake her silly. “He raped you, Katy! Repeatedly! And you bring him into
this little scam of yours?”
“I know what he did,” she
hissed, her face coloring crimson. “And I don’t answer to you, Josh.”
He rubbed his temples,
feeling a headache of monster proportions coming on. “No, you don’t. You don’t
answer to anyone, do you?”
Her chin lifted a notch.
“Never have. Look, I came here for one thing.”
He lifted a brow. “I can
hardly wait to hear this. Because if you think I’m helping you break any more
laws you’re out of your mind. What I ought to do is bundle you off to the
sheriff’s station. I’m sure they have some charges they’d like to file against
you.”
She scowled. “I don’t
need any of your shit right now, Josh. What I need is a phone. I don’t have my
cell and you’d think pay phones had gone the way of dinosaurs.” She looked him
in the eyes. “I need to get a hold of Lizzie right away. One phone call and
then I’ll be out of your hair for good.”
The corners of his mouth
turned down. She was a pain in the ass but the thought of never seeing her
again didn’t sit well either. “Well now, that’s gonna be a tricky request to
honor.”
Worry lines sprang up on
her brow. “What do you mean?”
“I mean your sister took
off on one of my horses this afternoon. The horse came back to the ranch.
Lizzie didn’t.”
Katy jumped to her feet.
“And you’re just sitting here on your ass doing nothing?”
Calmly he said, “Pretty
much. Matt as much as ordered me to stay home and wait. He’s not letting anyone
go out looking right now and as much as I don’t like it I know he’s right. He’d
just wind up with a bunch more people lost out there.”
Her face paled again.
“Matt?” she whispered.
“Yeah. You know. The
sheriff. We called him as soon as we knew we had two people missing out on the
mountain in this storm.”
“Two?”
He squeezed the bridge of
his nose between his forefinger and thumb. “Yeah. JD took off after her. The
fuckin’ blockhead.”
“JD.” Her voice held a twinge
of relief.
He told her about Lizzie
conning her way onto a horse and him coming home to find not only her car down
by the barn, but JD’s rig too. And then about the horse coming galloping back
home without his rider.
“Does JD trust Matt?”
Katy asked, staring at the fire.
Josh scowled. “What? Of
course he does. They’re best friends. Or they were back in the day. They still
hang out when JD visits.”
Katy began to pace the
room, muttering to herself.
“Why would you ask if JD
trusts Matt?” Josh asked suspiciously.
“Which direction did
Lizzie ride off in? Any idea?”
“West. Why’d you ask
about Matt like that?”
“West,” she repeated
thoughtfully.
“Yeah. I’m hoping she was
headed for the hunting shack or something and actually made it there. Maybe the
horse got loose from her there.” He watched her pace. Watched her start biting
a fingernail in earnest.
“Of course she figured it
out,” Katy muttered to herself just loud enough for Josh to catch.
“Figured what— Damnit,
Katy!” He stalked to her and grabbed her by the wrists. This time he did shake
her. “You hid the fucking money there, didn’t you? Is that why Lizzie went
there?”
She tried in vain to pull
away from him. “Oww!”
“Why did you ask about
Matt?” he shouted, wanting the answer, but also fearing it.
She met his direct gaze
with one of her own. “I think you’ve got it figured out, cowboy. But in case
you don’t, he’s the one screwing around with your little sister. And he’s the
one who tried to kill me.”
He dropped her wrists as
though they’d burned his hands and backed away from her. “I assumed… I assumed
it had been Grady who had tried to kill you.”
She smirked at him. “You
know what they say about assumptions.”
Backing up he allowed
himself to sink into the sofa. “Matt?” he asked, still dumbfounded.
“Yeah. Get over it. Did
you mention the shack to him?”
He scrubbed a hand over
his face and looked up at her with fear in his eyes. “Of course I did. I told
him everything. I even drew him a fucking map just in case he’d forgotten how
to get there.”
Katy closed her eyes and
groaned. “We have to stop him before he goes after them.”
Josh nodded his head. “We
can call the state police. But we might be too late.”
“What are you talking
about? You told me he said it was too dangerous to go out in this weather.”
“He did say that. But he
could go alone. He’s a competition level cross country skier and he can snow
shoe like no tomorrow. He could get out there if he really wanted to. And under
the current circumstances I’d bet he’s really gonna want to get out there.”
Her heart sank and her
knees were weak. What the hell had she done? “Then we have to get there too,
Josh.”