Fall of Night, page 29
Lou’s eyes widened as she saw the car they’d nearly collided with an hour earlier, waiting near the barn. A shadowy figure dumped something large and bulky into the trunk.
Levi shoved past Lou. “You there!” he bellowed. “What’re you doing on my proper—?”
A gunshot rang through the night, the window next to Lou exploding in a shower of glass. Seconds later, the silver car peeled into the darkness, spraying gravel behind it.
***
Rich woke to the rumble of an engine and the steady vibration of wheels on a gravel road. He knew the sound. Recognized it. But it made no sense for him to be here. The floor bounced under him and he rolled to his side, groaning. His head felt like thunder, the pain of his arms—tethered behind his back—an agonizing stab.
He’d felt like this only one time before.
For one confusing moment, Rich was back with Colton Calhoun, pleading for his life. Rich thrashed in panic. He tried to sit up, but only succeeded in banging his forehead on the ceiling, less than half a foot away. The pain in his head surged.
“What the fuck?!” He struggled to see, but the darkness was solid. The engine roared.
I’m in a car.
Rich’s confusion faded as memories of the evening returned. He remembered walking into the barn, finding it empty. He recalled hearing someone open the door behind him. He’d turned, and then… Nothing.
Rich struggled to free himself. His panic only tightened the knots that held him and eventually he fell back against the floor of the trunk, panting. The car slowed and the road grew bumpier. Heading onto the back roads. Realizing it, fear hit him like a splash of ice water. He was in the trunk of a car. The driver was taking him who-knew-where. He struggled to pull back the last minutes before he’d lost consciousness, to catch the thread of his memory, but the only thing he could recall was the sound of the barn door opening. Everything after that was absent, a skip in the record. Gone.
Understanding arrived like a light in the darkness.
“Oh my God…” Rich gasped.
Waterton’s killer had him. And no one else even knew he was gone.
***
The cougar’s eyes narrowed.
“No,” Sadie said. “Not like this.” She lifted her chin and took several deep gulps of cold night air.
Stay sharp! a voice said. You’ve got to be ready!
Exhausted, Sadie forced herself to remember what she’d seen before the cougar had appeared. Were there any sticks on the ground? Any yard tools? She thought there’d been a rake, but where?! If she had that, she could use the branch as a weapon. Or if she could throw something to distract the cougar for a few seconds, she might be able to make it to the back door of the police station.
Her gaze scanned the area around her, belatedly catching on a broken branch. It was smaller than she wanted, but it’d have to do. Eyes never leaving the mountain cat, Sadie reached down and grabbed it. She swung it above her head.
“Go away!” she screamed. “I’m NOT giving up! You’re gonna have to fight me!”
The cougar’s ears flattened and it hissed. It stepped backward one step, two. Sadie swung the branch wildly, her voice booming. “GET OUT OF HERE!”
The cougar’s hackles rose, a golden line across its back and shoulders. Sadie gave one last primal scream and lunged toward the animal. It bounded through the trees, disappearing between one breath and the next. The club fell from Sadie’s fingers and she let out a sobbing laugh. She’d done it. The cougar was gone. She was safe.
She took two steps and stumbled, catching herself against a nearby tree. The motion swung her around. Sadie gasped.
Jim Flagstone stood before her.
***
Levi had known Louise wouldn’t find anything in the barn. His eyes might not be good, but the man they’d seen had been loading something in the trunk. Levi just didn’t know if the ‘something’ was dead or not.
The door to the house swung wide, Lou rushing back inside. Her cheeks were tear-streaked, breath ragged.
“I need to go!” she said. “Call the police, Levi. Tell them to get out here. Rich is in danger!”
Levi put his good hand on the chair’s arm and hoisted himself upward.
“If you’ll wait a minute, I’ll—” She slammed the door, cutting off the rest of his words.
Levi dialed the police first.
“Waterton Police Station. This is Liz. How may I—”
“Less chatter, woman,” Levi snapped. “I need Jordan Wyatt out here at the ranch right quick.”
There was a pause. “I’m sorry, who is calling?”
“It’s Levi Thompson,” he growled. “There’s trouble at the ranch. You tell that Wyatt boy to get out here. Somebody kidnapped Rich Evans.”
“Kidnapped?!”
“Yes!” he snapped. “That’s why I’m callin’! Now get me someone on the double!”
“Hold on, Mr. Thompson,” Liz said. “I need some information.”
“I don’t have time! I’m trying to catch this guy!”
“Sir, you need to stay right where you are!” Liz said. “I’ll send someone out right away, but first I need a description of the—”
Levi hung up the phone.
“Don’t got no time for this foolishness. Time’s a wasting.”
He shuffled to the closet. The interior was full of coats, but he reached up to the shelf above them, fumbling blindly for the cool bite of metal. His fingers wrapped the double-barrel of the shotgun and he pulled it down. Levi grabbed the box of shells next, filling his pockets with them the way he’d done when he was duck hunting with his Pa. Finished, he peeked out the window. Louise rushed from one side of her truck to the other, the woman’s panic palpable.
“You ain’t got no keys,” he muttered.
Outside, a storm was brewing, black clouds pouring over the mountains and spreading across the prairie. Levi grabbed his coat from the hanger, wriggling the one arm on and leaving the other dangling over his shoulder. It annoyed him, but it was too cold to be running around in the dark with only a shirt. A blanket… An uneasy emotion rose inside him and he pushed it away. Levi grabbed his cowboy hat; pushed the brim down. He tucked the double-barrel shotgun under his arm, wedged the front door open, and stepped through.
A blast hit him. It was the icy north wind that stole your breath and made your eyes water. Snow’s coming. He squinted through the yard. Lou stood on the passenger side of her truck, jiggling the handle.
“You headin’ off?” he called, his voice disappearing into the wind.
“I can’t! Rich has the keys. I’m locked out.”
Levi limped to her side. “Just wait,” he said. “I’m sure Hunter’ll be back before we—”
“I can’t wait!” Lou yelled. “Rich is going to die if I don’t get to him!”
“What’re you going on about? I called the police. Liz said to wait here and she’d send someone—”
“I don’t have TIME to explain this to you, Levi!” she cried. “I—I need to find Rich NOW, but I don’t know where to go!” She ran her hands into her hair, tightening her fingers into fists.
Levi pointed to the horizon. “There. That’s where the car’s headed.”
Lou followed Levi’s gnarled finger toward the far western range of the ranch where it bordered the park. A plume of dust hung in the air like a signal.
“The car!” she gasped. “Quick! I need to catch them!” She grabbed Levi’s hand. “Please! I need your truck. Rich is in danger!”
“This ain’t smart, Louise.”
“There’s someone trying to kill Rich! It’s the same person who came after me. I… I don’t know how I know other than to say I dreamed it. I saw it.” The storm rumbled, pins and needles of icy rain pinging down on the two of them. Levi frowned. Even if the driver left Rich out in the foothills, he’d be dead of exposure come morning. “Please, Levi!” Lou cried. “I’m begging you! I need to—”
“Fine. But you’re gonna have to drive it,” he said. “My arm’s busted.”
“Thank you!”
He hobbled toward his 1953 Ford pick-up. Its long bench seat was covered in tattered saddle blankets, a spiderweb of glass on the front windshield on the passenger side. Neither door was locked.
“The key is under the front seat in a mason jar,” Levi said.
Lou fished under the seat and pulled it out. The keys jangled as she dropped them into her shaking palm.
Levi set the shotgun onto the center of the seat. Lou’s eyes widened. He waited for her to say something about it as he climbed inside and pulled the door closed behind him, but she didn’t.
“Buckle up,” she said. The engine sputtered, then caught with a roar. “I’m going to try and catch them.”
Levi snorted. “Buckle up? This truck ain’t got belts. So you go as fast as you want, but you watch yerself.”
“Right. Thanks.” Lou released the clutch and moved the gear shift into reverse, backing out over the bumping yard. Ahead of her, the porch light broke into a starburst across the damaged window. She slammed it into first and pulled out of the yard, heading out onto the range road that ran past the ranch.
“Can you see the tail lights?” Levi asked.
Lou peered through the lined glass. “No lights. Just dust.”
The truck hit a pothole and a stab of pain shot through Levi’s arm. He gripped the seat with his good hand.
“The car ain’t gone far,” he said. “We’ll get Rich back for you.”
“But what if he’s already—”
“Don’t go sayin’ that,” Levi growled. “We’ll find ’em. Look there,” he said, pointing. Partway up the road, the haze of dust thickened, red tail lights in the gloom. “They’re up ahead. I… I know where they’re headed.”
Lou’s gaze flicked over to him. “Where?”
“It’s a… a…”
“A what, Levi?!”
“It’s a range road that passes by Indian Springs.” He cleared his throat. “But there’s another way. A short cut.” He pointed. “You’re gonna turn right here.”
“But the car—”
“Is gonna be there long before we will. So if we want to catch ’em, we’ve gotta be smart.”
“But—”
“Lookit Lou, I grew up on this ranch and I’m tellin’ you I know where they’re headed. That’s the end of the road. But we can get ahead if we hurry.” He glared at her. “So, d’you trust me or not, girl?”
Lou’s fingers tightened into claws on the wheel. “I… I do.”
“Then turn! Now!”
Lou lifted her foot from the gas, hitting the brake and shifting gears as they neared the turn off. It looked like something between a gravel road and a twinned mountain path, the ruts exactly the same width as a vehicle’s tires. As she turned onto the secondary farm road, the truck lurched and an image flashed across her vision.
Gabrielle Rice sitting on the bench seat next to her.
Lou gasped and the vision was gone. “Here?” she asked. “This road? Is this the right one?”
“Yes. Follow it right on up,” Levi said. “You gun ’er and we’ll be there before that boy o’ yours and whoever’s got him arrive. Hurry. Put that pedal down.”
“Hold tight!” She slammed her foot down on the gas. The engine’s whine rose over the sound of wind, buffeting the windows. It felt, Lou would think later, much like the time when she’d been unconscious and drifting—crossing between here and there. As they neared a crossroads, the dust thickened. The other driver had passed this way, and only minutes before. Lou slowed the truck, nearing the ‘X’ of the two converging roads. Next to her, Levi reached out with his good hand, grabbing hold of the dash as if preparing for a crash. Her gaze flickered to him. Levi’s wrinkled face taut with concentration.
Gabrielle.
Lou slammed on the brakes as her body flooded with sudden awareness; the emotion from the dream rolled over her, dragging her into the turbulence she’d been sensing for weeks. The truck sat at the convergence of the two roads.
“What’re you waiting for?” Levi bellowed. “Keep driving!”
“Gabby was on this road,” Lou gasped. “She was in this truck. Here… with you.”
Fear and fury rippled across his face. “What’re you talking about? I ain’t never killed no one. Now you hit the gas or I swear I’ll…”
Levi’s words faded into a rush of sound and colour. The past was so near, Lou could already see it. Sense it. Atop the image of the truck, and Levi, shouting at her side, was another place, another time, drawing Lou away.
Gabrielle Rice was waiting…
Chapter nineteen
“Start the truck!” Gabrielle screamed, the handgun bouncing dangerously in her hands. “Get driving, or I’ll shoot you, old man!”
Levi glared down at his gnarled fingers, tight on the steering wheel. Beyond the window in the darkness sat the rental car, mired in mud. When he’d pulled up to it, he’d thought he was doing a good deed—these days, he wanted to balance the ledger on that account as much as he could—but the woman in the car had pulled a gun on him, demanding his vehicle. When she’d climbed into the driver’s seat and seen it was standard, she’d insisted Levi drive.
“I’m not gonna drive you anywhere except the nearest gas station,” Levi said. “I’ll forget about the gun, if you’ll just—”
“Oh, I’m not taking orders from the likes of you!” she spat. “I’ve got things to do.” The gun wavered perilously close to Levi’s cheek. “Now drive, damnit!”
Levi started the truck, glancing up and down the road in hopes that he’d see another vehicle, but few people, barring Hunter or his daughters, ever visited, and no headlights lit the darkness. Levi shifted into first, slowly easing the truck to life.
“Stop wasting time,” the woman snapped.
He hit the gas and she slid on the seat. Levi bit back an angry smile. “Whatever you want, lady.”
For a few minutes they drove in silence. Levi had no idea where the woman was going, but with her waving the gun around like a lunatic, he didn’t feel he could ask. Eventually they came up a small rise on the road on the far western edge of the Thompson ranch. The crossroads appeared in the distance. Levi scowled. He’d been hoping to run across one of the Durnerins, but there were no headlights out here either.
“There’s supposed to be a little lake,” the young woman said. “I need to find it.”
Levi glanced over at her. “A lake?”
“Yes. A little lake, right near the mountains. There’s lots of wildlife there. It’s… a good place to hunt.”
“No hunting though,” Levi said. “It’s inside the park.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “You know the place?”
“If it’s on this road, that’d be Indian Springs.”
She laughed manically, the gun’s barrel bouncing and Levi winced. “Then you know where it is!”
“Range road up ahead.” He nodded. “It leads into Waterton park, but you can only drive halfway.”
“Why only half?!”
“It’s a trail after that point. You’d have to walk—”
“But I can’t! I couldn’t carry everything I’d need.”
“I mean, you could take a horse, I suppose. I’ve done that a time or two, but…” He glanced over, frowning. “What’re you plannin’ to do out there?”
She gave a weird, high-pitched laugh. “I’m taking someone to see it. And you’re going to help me bring them out there.” Her eyes widened. “You’re a rancher, right?”
He frowned. “Yes.”
“We’re going to take your horses to do it.”
“Oh no. I ain’t helping you with nothing.”
“Yes, you are!” The gun prodded him in the ribs. “Turn the truck around,” she snapped. “Take us to Waterton.”
“Waterton?”
“I’ve got someone to pick up.”
Levi’s blood ran cold. “Who?”
“Louise Newman.”
Up ahead, the crossroads grew closer. It was a low dip on a narrow road, high banks on either side. Seeing it, Levi’s booted foot hit the gas rather than the brake.
“I’ve had my eye on her for weeks,” the woman said in a sing-song voice. “I’ve got everything I need to make it look like an accident. But I can’t walk the whole way. No, no, no! Not to Indian Springs. Not with all my equipment. But you and your horses could carry it!”
“Carry what?”
“The tools and me and the body.” She tipped her head back, giggling. “We’ll pick her up in Waterton. Louise will trust you. You’re an old man. You’re a local. She’ll come with us if you tell her to!” Her laughter rose into unnerving cackles.
The crossroads neared.
Levi’s booted foot jammed the pedal to the floor, pushing the truck to nearly eighty. The woman in the passenger’s seat was still laughing when they hit the ditch. Levi slammed forward, smacking his chin and breaking his arm as his body bounced against the steering wheel. His eyelids fluttered open.
Gabrielle Rice slumped against the dash, dead, a single pinwheel marking the glass where she’d hit the windshield.
Levi sat up, tasting blood. He panted until the nausea passed, then straightened. With his unbroken hand he opened the door and stepped out onto the empty road, scanning for escape. There were horses here in the paddock. He could use one of them to get the body away from here. Hide it. The car he’d deal with tomorrow. There were lots of empty backroads where vehicles could be left.
He took a step and the grating of bone on bone almost took him to his knees. “Oh Jesus…”
He paused, panting, as scenarios ran through his mind. Call the police, and he’d have to explain what had happened in that truck. It’d be his word against a dead woman, and that wouldn’t look good. At best, he’d be charged for reckless driving. At worst, manslaughter. Yes, she’d abducted him, but who’d believe that? Levi wasn’t tied up. She was a foot shorter than he was. She had a handgun, but there’d been no struggle. No fight. He groaned and leaned over, panting.
