Lone Star Legacy (19 page)

A volley of rocks tumbled down the cliff face, bouncing and clattering, the noise loud as cannon shot as it echoed across the land below.

Beth closed her eyes and said a swift, silent prayer. Sophie hovered over her, her eyes huge. She pointed uphill. “
Snake,
Momma.
Big.
”

Beth gingerly rolled to her knees. Eyed the cliff. The best place to go up was straight ahead—where there was quite possibly a rattler sleeping in the sun. To the right, the cliff jutted far out into space…but to the left, there was a narrow edge of rock that led upwards. Just a foot wide, narrowing to maybe half that for a good ten feet.

But the options…

She looked down. She fought to control her panic.

Sophie had been right. There
was
a rattler on that ledge. Huge and loosely coiled, its dusty gray diamond pattern blended perfectly with the gravel.

Below, at the bottom of the ravine, the guy had come back out of the trees. He was looking straight at her. And he very definitely had a gun.

“We’ve got to go, sweetheart!” Beth grabbed her hand and sidestepped along the rock, trying to calm her racing heart.

Praying that, above them, there’d be a highway. Passing traffic. And someone with the decency to stop.

Her foot slipped on loose gravel, and she teetered for a split second. Sophie screamed and tried to grab for her, nearly sending them both over the edge before Beth found her footing once more.

An eternity later they reached the top, and Beth collapsed stomach first on the wiry grass, exhausted, with Sophie at her side.

Ahead was a sea of pastureland, far as the eye could see. But twenty feet away lay the highway…a deserted black ribbon of asphalt that trailed over the undulating land to the horizon.

And there wasn’t a single vehicle or ranch building in sight. Beth closed her eyes briefly against the hopelessness of their situation.

There was no way they could outrun the man following them. There was no place to hide. He’d be on them in minutes…

And then, she remembered the snake.

B
ETH SCANNED
her surroundings desperately trying to find a safe place for Sophie in case her plan failed.

The surrounding grassland seemed to go on forever, without a hiding place in sight. She ran a few dozen yards, looking for the man’s car. Praying that he’d left the keys in the ignition.

If he hadn’t, they’d be at his mercy.

In the middle of nowhere.

Lord knew, he wasn’t coming after them to say hello. Which left her one other option.

Sophie stood clutching her doll, looking bedraggled and exhausted. “Can we go home, Momma?”

“Soon. We’ll be home soon,” Beth reassured her. “Now, I need you to do something, and I need you to listen closely. See those sagebrush bushes over there—the really tall ones? I need you to go over there and sit behind them, out of sight. No matter what happens, I want you to stay right there.”

“But—”

“Go.
Now.
”

Sophie gave her a long and desperate look, then her shoulders slumped and she did as she was told.

Beth turned back to the cliff and eased close to the edge until she could just barely peer over. The man was struggling up the steep incline, his shirt soaked in sweat. And he was coming up way too fast.

Her heart faltered when she got her first good look at his face. Ewen Farley—Patrick’s boss. And if he’d come all the way from Chicago, she had no doubt that he’d use the gun he held.

He was halfway up now. Three-fourths.

Almost…almost…

She picked up a handful of pebbles and held her breath. Closed her eyes briefly. Then watched as he reached for that final ledge and started to haul himself up onto it.

She dropped the pebbles and watched them ricochet crazily when they hit the ledge.

He looked up at her, his mouth twisted in a sneer. “You’d better be ready to talk, Lindstrom. Or you’re good as dead.”

But because he was looking up at her, he never saw what hit him.

The snake, irritated by the pebbles bouncing off its coils, drew back and struck so fast that Beth couldn’t be sure it had—until he screamed and grabbed at his face.

And then he fell backward—in slow motion—out into space.

Down and down and down. Bouncing like a rag doll off another outcropping below. He landed in a cluster of bushes partway down the cliff face, silent and still.

She rocked back on her heels, unable to take another look. Feeling faint and horrified by what she’d done.

Sickened by what might have happened if she hadn’t.

Shaking despite the blistering heat of the Texas sun, she ran to Sophie, knelt and enfolded her in an embrace. “We’re okay, sweetie. It’s all over.”

“D-did that man go home?”

“I think he did. For good.” Though whether to heaven or hell, Beth didn’t want to guess. “We’re going to start walking back toward town. Maybe we’ll find a car to use—or maybe someone will come along to help us. Then we can get Viper and Darwin, okay?”

“I’m
thirsty.
”

“Me, too. So let’s go.”

Waves of heat shimmered above the pungent, hot asphalt as they started down the dusty shoulder. Sophie balked, then hung back. “I’m
tired.
”

“Just a little farther…just over that next rise, okay?”

“I
can’t.
”

Poor thing. She’d been through a lot, and she looked it—from the scabs and scrapes on her knees to her tearstained, dirty face. And with the hot sun and parched landscape it wouldn’t take any time at all for dehydration to be a threat.

Ignoring her aching muscles, Beth picked her up and kept trudging up the hill. Where, she hoped, Ewen’s car would come into view. A car with keys, and enough gas to get back to Lone Wolf.

And if that prospect failed, maybe she could find the lip of the ravine and climb down to get at her rental trailer. At the last minute, she’d tossed in a twelve-pack of Coke that was probably plenty warm by now. But at least it would be wet.

“Momma.”
Her voice urgent and frightened, Sophie wrapped her arms tight around Beth’s neck. “He didn’t go home. He’s behind us—and he has a
gun.
”

J
OEL TOSSED
the stack of faxes on the front seat of his truck, climbed behind the wheel and careened out of his driveway.

One hand on the steering wheel, he called the sheriff’s office, then he shoved the phone in his shirt pocket.

Beth’s phone message had nearly stopped his heart.

He knew someone had rammed her car. She’d said how many miles she was out of town right then. But how far had she gotten after that? Was she racing scared up the highway toward Montana—or had someone run her off the road? And if he had, were she and Sophie hurt?

Joel had tried to call her a dozen times since then. Each time, the phone had rolled into voice mail, which just upped his anxiety more. It could be out of juice. She could be out of range.

She could be lying in a ditch somewhere, unable to answer…or she could be in the hands of her assailant. And if she was, she and Sophie might not have much time to live.

Miles of asphalt, then gravel disappeared under the wheels of his truck. Once on the highway heading north, he floored the accelerator and leaned forward, scanning the sides of the road.

Afraid he might pass her.

Afraid he might see her—with her SUV crumpled in a ditch.

Knowing it was all his fault.

He should’ve gone to Chicago sooner. He should have made the calls, done the legwork, pulled in the favors. Nailed the bastard before he had a chance to do any more harm. What kind of defense could Beth have against someone like Ewen Farley, who had everything to lose?

Twenty miles flew past. Fifty. At seventy-two, he slowed, watching for skid marks and tire tracks veering off the road. And then, at the top of a small rise, he caught a glint of sunshine on a windshield maybe a mile ahead.

A car, parked at a crazy angle, half off the road.

Even from here, he could see the arc of black skid marks where another vehicle had veered off the road. He swallowed hard. Slamming on the brakes at a high rate of speed could’ve done that—and the SUV wasn’t in sight.

The road dropped down into a creek bed, wound through some trees, then climbed back up. He slowed, then pulled off the road just before the top of the second rise. Grabbing flexible plastic handcuffs and a gun from his glove compartment, he rammed in a fresh clip and slipped quietly out of the truck. He ran up the hill on foot, staying on the asphalt and crouching low.

A good hundred feet ahead, a man slumped at the rear of the car, one hand braced against the trunk, but the gun he held was steady—and pointed straight at Beth and Sophie.

Beth darted a swift glance in Joel’s direction, then sidestepped slowly around the car, holding Sophie so the child wouldn’t see him—and keeping the man’s back toward Joel, as well.

She carefully put Sophie down behind the car. “I swear to you, Ewen,” she said clearly. “I have no idea where that key is. Patrick must’ve left it at his office. Maybe he never had it.”

“Not possible.” The man’s voice was slurred. His gun hand wavered. “If you want to die over this, ’iss okay with me. Your fool husband did, damn him.”

Joel moved into a firing stance, ready to call out—

But the man wobbled, his pale, sweaty face a mask of confusion.

“Give it up, Ewen—you need medical care or you’ll die, and there’s no one out here but me,” Beth said, her voice low and calm. “I can help you.”

He sank against the car, the motion exposing massive swelling and inflammation on the side of his face. His weapon fell out of his hand and clattered forgotten across the trunk.

And then he slid to the ground.

A L
IFE
F
LIGHT HELICOPTER ARRIVED
shortly after the sheriff. The flight nurse on board administered antivenin, then Ewen was airlifted to Austin for emergency surgery to release the swelling threatening to shut down his respiratory system.

The sheriff lingered, taking a full report, then went down into the ravine with Joel and Beth to survey the damage. His female partner stayed with the patrol car and Sophie, who’d fallen asleep in the backseat.

They found the trailer halfway down, its roof dented and back door hanging on one hinge, the contents littering the ravine.

“It looks like your friend was damn busy,” Talbot said.

“Ewen swore I had something he wanted—but I never found it,” Beth said forlornly, staring at the ruin of nearly everything she owned. An overwhelming feeling of exhaustion washed through her. “He said…he would kill me if I didn’t give it to him.”

“Apparently he didn’t find it.” Joel picked up a few books and stacked them at the back of the trailer. “We’ll get a wrecker out here today, and pay the guys to clean this up. Your SUV…”

“Totaled. It rolled a few times and ended up under some trees. My dog and cat are still there—I hope.”

The sheriff made his way down toward the vehicle, while Joel stayed and gently rested his hands on Beth’s shoulders. He studied her face, frowning at the cut above her temple, then drew her into an embrace. “It’s just incredible that you survived this.” He brushed a kiss against her hair.

“Walt said you’d left to discuss a job offer,” she said. “A-are you taking it?”

“I went back to turn in my resignation and clear out my things. Then I flew to Chicago, and did some research. When I found out about Ewen—”

She drew in a sharp breath. “You
knew
about him?”

“Not that he was here. I called in a few favors, and discovered that an embezzlement investigation was pointing at Ewen. A few days ago, they found evidence that he ensnared your husband in some sort of phony gambling setup—just dragged him in, deeper and deeper, to ensure his silence. Ewen disappeared after he was fired, though, and no one up there has seen him since.”

“He was here in Texas,” she breathed. “Probably all that time, just waiting.”

“I called Talbot and took the first plane home when I heard Ewen was missing, but I wasn’t nearly fast enough.”

“Can you imagine how desperate Pat must have been?” Beth felt a deep wave of sadness. “He was never the type who’d take chances.”

Joel nodded. “If Ewen survives, he’ll have a lot of questions to answer.”

“And in the meantime…” She looked at the wreckage of boxes, the clothes and household goods scattered everywhere. “I don’t even know where to begin. My car…my things…”

“Not a problem. You and Sophie can come home with me. We’ll have everything brought there, so you can salvage what you want.”

The sheriff came up the ravine, his face glistening with sweat. He held a cat carrier in one hand and Viper’s leash in the other. Straining at the leash, the dog jumped into Beth’s arms as soon as she was close enough. “Beth is right. That vehicle is totaled. You folks ready to go?”

At the top of the hill, Talbot turned and held out a scrap of paper, his expression wry. “I found this on the front seat. Someone must’ve been trying to watch out for you.”

Beth accepted the paper. It was the one she’d found in her car before leaving this morning, but she’d just tossed it aside. She opened it slowly and tried to decipher the childish, heavy scrawl.

Somebody is watching you. Be careful.

She thought of the man she’d seen in the shadows last night…and the way he’d once lurked across the street, then hurried away. Had Hubie been trying to protect her all this time?

“Guess it’s my guardian angel,” she said softly. “And I think I owe him an apology.”

B
ETH TAPED UP
another box and set it on the stack, thankful for Joel’s covered porch. A cool early morning breeze rustled through the oaks outside and sent a gentle rush of air through the screens.

It felt like heaven after yesterday—a day that had been pure hell.

After going with Sophie to the community hospital in Horseshoe Falls to be checked over, they’d both been released. Following a long discussion with the sheriff, she’d taken Sophie back to Joel’s place, where Sophie had been overtired and too upset to sleep.

Beth had finally let Sophie sleep in with her, but even then, Sophie had tossed and turned, and had awakened several times, screaming.

Yesterday evening a wrecker had hauled Beth’s SUV to a junkyard and the trailer here, so she could sort through her possessions, but she’d been too exhausted to even think about that task.

“Five boxes down, and eight to go,” she said wearily. “Though most of this is beyond saving. My dishes…glassware…most of it broke in the accident.”

“Or when your old friend tore into everything.” Joel looked up from a box of cookware.

“Ewen was never a friend.” Beth shivered. “Speaking of Ewen, have you heard how he’s doing?”

“The hospital refused to say. The sheriff tells me he’s going to pull through, but he’ll probably face a number of surgeries. There was tremendous swelling and tissue damage.”

“So he probably hasn’t been able to talk.”

“Nope—he was unconscious most of the night. Those diamondback rattlers are nothing to mess with, and he got hit in a bad place.”

Beth shook the dust out of a peach linen tablecloth and folded it. “Despite everything, I feel guilty about that. I could’ve warned him….”

“If you’d warned him, you and Sophie would probably be dead. Never think that you did the wrong thing.” Joel set aside the box he’d just repacked and came across the room to enfold her in an embrace. “You were totally isolated, yet you protected your daughter and yourself despite not having a single weapon. That’s amazing, in my book.”

She leaned her forehead against his chest. She could smell his familiar scents of Dial soap and Stetson aftershave; scents that she would forever associate with this summer, and with the man she’d come to love. A man she would soon be leaving behind. “I wish I had more answers. Even if he receives jail time for this, it won’t be for long. And then will he come after me again? What could be so important, that he’d risk everything to get it?”

She felt so warm and protected in Joel’s arms that it was hard to step away. She took a deep breath and tipped her head toward the piles of clothing, books and household goods still on the floor. “Guess I’d better get busy, so I can leave as soon as I have another vehicle.”

“Of course.” He released her with an easy, impersonal smile. “Talked to your insurance guy, have you?”

She bent down to pick up two of the antique decorative coffee tins, which were badly dented in the accident. Worthless now, except for the sentimental value, because Patrick had bought her four of them at an estate sale just after their wedding. Not long before his death, he’d joked about how they’d be worth a mint when she was old, and that she should never, ever sell them.

She wrapped each one in tissue and packed them, then searched for the other two. “The branch office in Austin is sending an adjuster down today. From what I understand, they’ll be giving me a check in a few days at the most.”

“I suppose you’re eager to leave.”

Was that a note of regret in his voice? “Not really. But I need to start my new job, and Sophie needs to be enrolled in preschool. It’s time.”

She found the other two coffee tins. These were older than the first two, but had survived unscathed. She wrapped one and put it into the box, then picked up the other. Both were still heavy with the original contents, which she’d once thought amusing. The coffee beans were certainly unusable, though, and the beans in this one must be bound together by mold and decay. There wasn’t a typical castanet sound when she shook the can.

She tried twisting off the lid, but rust and corrosion had sealed the threads. “Can you open this?”

Joel tried once, then held the domed lid with an old rag and wrenched it loose. He handed it back and turned away to pack another box with Sophie’s storybooks.

She lifted the lid to dispose of the moldering contents. Blinked. Then blindly backed up until a wicker chair hit her calves, and she sat.

It was heavy all right, but not with old coffee beans. It was packed tightly with a dense roll of papers. No—not just paper, it was money, wrapped around a folded envelope. The roll was so large that it didn’t fall out when she turned the can upside down.
“Joel.”

“What?” He didn’t turn around.

“Look.”
She tugged at the bills until several came free, and then the rest tumbled out into her lap. “I…I can’t
believe
this.”

He came over then, his eyes widening at the pile of hundred-dollar bills in her lap. Twenty…thirty…fifty…

She gave him a handful, then counted her stack more carefully.

Twelve thousand dollars.

The sheer number made her feel dizzy, just thinking about the credit cards and other debts she could pay off, once and for all…except this was probably money that would have to be returned. “So this is what Ewen was after.”

Joel handed her the rest of the bills. “Check the envelope.”

She tried stashing the money back in the coffee tin, but it no longer fit, so she dropped it all into an empty shoe box. Picking up the envelope from the floor, she pulled out a single sheet of paper written in Patrick’s hand. A small green safety deposit key packet was taped at the bottom of the letter.

She felt her eyes burn as she started to read.

S
OPHIE SLEPT UNTIL
almost eleven, then woke up with a fever and a sore throat, too ill and exhausted to travel. Every waking moment, she clung to Beth’s side, still shaken by the trauma of the day before.

So when Joel offered to fly up to Chicago with the key, Beth gratefully accepted and tried to pay for his ticket. He kissed her lightly on the cheek and refused.

He returned the next evening, after meeting with investigators in the white-collar crime division of the police department in Beth’s old suburb.

Beth met him at the front door of his house, one hand at her mouth. “D-did it go okay?”

Joel looked down at her and smiled. “Better than that. Before I left, an investigator had already followed the paper trail far enough to find the accounts where Ewen originally stashed the money he’d filtered from the company, and then to the accounts where he’d moved it later.”

“No wonder he was in a panic to find the key to Patrick’s safety deposit box.”

“My guess is that Pat threatened to reveal the evidence, thinking it would make Ewen back off…but instead, it drove him to murder.”

“But why, if he didn’t have the key yet?”

“He probably panicked, and thought no one would ever think twice if they found some old key, anyway. Then he probably had second thoughts later, and really wanted to tie up every loose end by getting it back. We’ll know more when he’s well enough for more questioning.”

She swallowed hard. “And what about Patrick? The accident?”

“They think Ewen ensnared him, then frightened him into complicity. Ewen already admitted forcing your car off the road on the night Patrick died.”

“The same thing he did to Sophie and me…and all because of sheer, stupid greed.” She sagged against the door frame as an overwhelming sense of loss rushed through her, followed by bone-deep sadness over all she’d lost because of one evil man. Her husband. Her home. The comfortable, safe life she’d always taken for granted. “At least I won’t need to look over my shoulder anymore.”

He searched her face. “Are you still planning to leave?”

She saw no warmth in his eyes. Nothing in his expression that made her feel as if he wanted her to stay. Maybe they’d faced a little danger together, but nothing else had really changed. Yet, what did she expect?

And why did she suddenly feel like crying, when so much was now resolved?

“The adjuster came today. He said I should have a check in a couple days, so then I’ll have enough to buy another car.” She managed a weak smile. “After that…yes.”

He stepped around her and dropped his duffel bag on the floor, then headed for the kitchen to draw a tall glass of water. “You do have more than just that insurance check.”

“Nope. That will go back into savings, with half as the start of a college account for Sophie.” She rested a hand on the refrigerator. “Are you hungry? I could grill you a hamburger, or something.”

He shook his head. “On my way home from the airport I stopped at Walt’s place.”

“For dinner?”

“More of a meeting, really…but there was food. And actually, I need to go back. Want to come along?”

“To Walt’s?”

“Sort of.”

Beth hesitated, remembering the sad farewells she’d already made, to people she already missed, but the thought of being alone tonight made the decision easy. “We’ll go.”

“Great.” He lifted his glass in a vague salute toward town. “Unless Sophie’s already asleep.”

“Nope—she’s in the den with Viper and Darwin. They’ve been following her like shadows after being locked in the Bravada for such a long time.” She started for the den, then turned back. “Speaking of shadows, I did borrow your car for a quick trip into town this morning. I ran into Hubie.”

“He’s back?”

“He actually talked to me this time, though he’s sure wary. He said he’d promised Crystal that he’d always look after her place when she was gone.”

“And she meant…” Joel shook his head slowly.

“Just when she was away, but I think he’s made it his lifelong mission, even though she’ll never come back. I was afraid he was my stalker. Instead, he was trying to be my guardian.”

“He probably helped keep Ewen away, too.”

“No doubt.” She sighed. “It’s sad, thinking about Hubie, all alone. People in town think he’s lurking around looking for trouble, but all he ever wanted to do was help his best friend—even after her death.”

J
OEL DROVE SLOWLY
through town, dreading the moment when they reached their destination. Dreading what might happen. So much depended on the next fifteen minutes—he felt as if his life had been hanging in the balance for years, just waiting for this point in time when the stars aligned and everything fell into place.

Or it didn’t, and he ended up with absolutely nothing.

Except Earl. Although the hound hadn’t been much company over the last few weeks, since he was still missing Viper.

Beth leaned forward and peered out the windshield, then frowned. “I thought we were going to Walt’s.”

“Not exactly.”

“Then where?” When he turned up the street to the clinic, she sat back. “The clinic, then.”

He let her think that until he passed the turnoff for the clinic and pulled to a stop in front of Crystal’s Café. The sun had set and shadows were lengthening across the front yard, but inside the lights were blazing both upstairs and down.

Now Beth’s eyebrows drew together and she gave him a suspicious look. “You wanted me to meet the buyers?”

He offhandedly shrugged and got out of the truck, rounded the front bumper and first helped Sophie climb out, then opened Beth’s door and offered her his hand.

She accepted after a moment’s hesitation. “This isn’t like, a party, is it? If it is, I sure didn’t dress up.”

The porch lights of the café highlighted the gold-and-ruby strands in her curly hair and cast shadows that accented her lovely, delicate face. Even dressed simply in khaki slacks and a dark green blouse, she was the prettiest woman he’d ever seen.

“I don’t think that matters,” he said. “But before we go in, I want you to know this was Walt and Loraine’s idea.”

“Ah. So they invited me. Not you?” She shot a teasing glance at him. “Good to know.”

He’d worked undercover, dealing with the worst of the drug element. He’d investigated serial killers and had tracked down cold-blooded murderers. But never had his nerves been as unsettled as this—when he reached for the front door and ushered Beth and Sophie inside.

A cheer arose from people who filled every table, the lunch counter, and who were standing two-deep across the back.

Gina and Anna rushed forward and hugged Beth and Sophie. And then Walt and Loraine did, too, as everyone laughed and applauded.

Beth looked stunned. “I—don’t understand.”

Loraine steered her over to a chair and made her sit down. “We’re all just grateful that you’re okay—and we wanted you to know how much we care.”

“And, we wanted you to know that you might be making a big mistake,” added Anna, who had picked up Sophie. “Just in case you didn’t know.”

Gina nodded. “Walt talked to me weeks ago, and pointed out what needed to change. Only trouble was, we had trouble making it happen in time—and then all of a sudden, you were rarin’ to head north.”

“Thought we’d have to go up there and fetch you back, except…” Walt’s eyes flashed fire. “Except for that bastard who ran you off the road and slowed you down.”

Walt’s housekeeper nodded vigorously. “Everyone was worried about you, you know. Trying to watch out—trying to see who could be causing you trouble. We did find out part of it—” She flicked a glance at Walt, who shook his head. “But not everything.”

“Walt figured the town needed this place—and you—so he’d just better buy it before someone else did.” Loraine looped her arm in Walt’s. “The only thing is, we need you to stay. This place needs a good manager, you know. Someone with a real flair.”