Montana Legacy, page 20
He flipped it open. “Hey, Wyatt. What’s up?”
“You at the Parrish ranch?”
“Almost. Why?”
“Keep a close watch. I just heard something I didn’t like.”
“What’s that?”
“I thought I’d join in the poker game out in the bunkhouse. Figured I might hear a little gossip.”
“And?”
“The buzz is that Rafe Spindler has been smarting for some time now over the loss of his favorite stallion to Jesse in a card game.”
“Everybody knows that. You think he’d hold a grudge against Jesse over a horse?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. But there’s more. There are rumors that Rafe has been gambling somewhere other than on the ranch. Some of the guys in the bunkhouse tell me he’s been spending a lot of his nights away. Rarely gets in before morning. Maybe he goes to town, though I couldn’t find anybody who’s seen him there. I phoned Daffy. She and Vi claim he hasn’t spent an evening in their place for a week or more. I even checked the Grizzly Inn, and Ben Rider hasn’t seen Rafe in over a month. There’s talk of some high-stakes gambling at a ranch somewhere far enough from town so nobody sees where the trucks are parked.”
“You think he’s been gambling to try to win enough money to buy back his stallion?”
“I don’t know. It could be. Or maybe he has a gambling problem. Hell, maybe he’s just looking for a little excitement. A lot of wranglers get the itch. Whatever the reason, I thought I’d pass along the fact that he’s mad as hell over the loss of that stallion.”
“I can see, if he’s still simmering over his stallion, why he’d enjoy a good fight with Jesse. But that doesn’t explain why he’d be threatening Amy and her father. I can’t see a man going to this much trouble over a horse.” Zane swore as he lost his footing on a rock. “I’m almost at the ranch.”
He lifted his camera and stared through the night lens. At first he wasn’t sure what he was seeing. Then, as it became clearer, he swore again. “There’s a cloud of snow, as though a vehicle is hightailing it out of there. No taillights that I can see. Call Jesse and see if it’s his truck.”
As he tucked away his phone and started running toward the ranch, Zane prayed that the churned-up snow he’d just seen through his camera lens was caused by Jesse’s truck, and not that of a stranger bent on doing harm.
“Jesse.”
Zane pulled up short when he saw Jesse looming up out of the darkness, running out of the barn.
Jesse’s breath was coming hard and fast, as though he’d fought his way through a nightmare. He was still pulling on his jacket. “Wyatt said you saw someone?”
“Someone in a big hurry.”
The two cousins raced toward the back door of Amy’s house. Seeing it standing open, they ran inside.
Jesse headed for Amy’s room. Finding it empty he raced down the hallway to her father’s room.
Shoving open the door he shouted, “Amy? You in here?”
Her father sat up, sleep-fogged and disheveled. When he caught sight of Jesse he heaved himself out of bed. “Have you gone crazy? What in the hell are you doing here in the middle of the night, McCord?”
“Looking for Amy.”
“She isn’t with you?”
Jesse tore from the room, shouting over his shoulder, “I left her here half an hour ago.”
“Jesse.” Zane handed his cousin the envelope he’d found lying in the middle of the floor.
As he took it from Zane’s hand, Jesse’s heart nearly stopped.
In Rafe’s childlike scrawl was written the words she’s dead.
He tore open the envelope and read the crude note inside.
Come alone. Cliffs of Treasure Chest.
You bring help, she’s dead.
Crushing the note in his fist before tossing it aside, Jesse spun away and raced toward his truck in the barn, leaving Zane and Otis Parrish to stare after him with matching looks of stunned surprise.
Jesse drove like a madman. What was this about? Why would Rafe Spindler do a thing like this? Had something inside the cowboy snapped?
It didn’t seem like a random or spontaneous act, but rather something he’d given a lot of thought to. Still, it was so out of character for Rafe. He had a mean temper when he was pushed, but he’d never been dangerous.
Until now.
Amy. Dear God, Amy.
The thought of her, alone and frightened, had his jaw clenching. If Rafe hurt her in any way, he’d kill him. Or by God, he’d die trying.
Though he wasn’t a man who prayed often, he found himself storming heaven with but one thought: Keep her safe. Please, keep her safe.
By the time Zane had raced back to his truck parked in the hills and returned to the Parrish ranch, Otis Parrish was dressed and pacing the front porch.
As the older man climbed into Zane’s truck, it occurred to Zane that Otis was fighting valiantly to hold himself together. The interior truck light illuminated his sickly pallor. The poor guy was being forced to fight two battles at once. A deadly illness, and the threat of real physical harm to his daughter. No wonder he was as pale as a ghost.
To offer him some hope, Zane said softly, “Wyatt has already phoned Sheriff Wycliff, who’s contacting the state police to ask for their help.”
The older man smoothed out the wrinkles from the note Jesse had tossed aside. “He told Jesse to come alone or he’ll…” He couldn’t bring himself to say the word.
“Wycliff knows that. I told Wyatt what the note said, and Wyatt relayed the information to the sheriff.”
“If that madman harms my daughter…” Otis’s voice was choked with a combination of fear and rage. “Amy told me that your family offered us shelter. I couldn’t bring myself to accept help from them, but I should have agreed to let Amy go to your ranch until this was resolved. This is all my fault.”
“I’d say the fault is Rafe’s. And believe me, Mr. Parrish, if anyone can stop Rafe and save Amy, it’s Jesse.”
Otis stared out into the darkness. “I wish I had your faith. I wish…” His words trailed off as he fought the fear that clutched at his heart and squeezed until he could scarcely take a breath.
“Tell me what this is about, Rafe.” Amy clung to the door of the truck as it bumped up a steep incline and lurched, with stomach-churning speed, headlong down the other side.
She was shivering so hard her teeth were chattering. Rafe had given her no time to grab a parka. Her thin shirt and denims offered little warmth against the frigid night air that whistled past the truck’s windows.
Rafe was taking no chances on being stopped. He avoided the roads and instead kept to the wild country-side, his headlights extinguished. He navigated by the light of the moon, and at times barely avoided crashing into darkened boulders.
She had a flashback to that night when she’d fled for her life across this very stretch of landscape. “It was you!”
“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.” He kept his gaze firmly fixed on the path in front of them.
“I know you tried to run me over. Why?”
He shot her a quick glance before returning his attention to his driving. “Believe me, if I wanted to run you over, you’d already be dead.”
“Then why were you chasing me?”
“How do you know I wasn’t just having some fun?”
“Fun?” She turned to face him. “There’s more going on here. I don’t believe you.”
He made a choking sound that could have been a laugh or a sneer. “You think I care what you believe? I was told to scare you good.”
Her head came up sharply. “Told? Who told you?”
“Shut up.”
“No. I have a right…”
His hand shot out, slapping her so hard her head snapped to one side and stars danced before her eyes.
“Now maybe you’ll keep your mouth shut. I got nothing more to say.”
As they continued their way across the rough terrain, Amy blinked back tears as she thought about her father and Jesse, her two fierce protectors, and the helplessness they would feel when they learned that she’d been taken while they slept.
At least, she thought with a sob lodged in her throat, they were safe.
Swallowing back her fear, she stared around at the darkened landscape. This was no time for tears. She couldn’t let fear paralyze her. She needed to think. To plan. To concentrate on any means possible of escaping this nightmare.
She vowed to do whatever it took to stay alive. She was smart and she was strong. There had to be a way out.
She saw the bulge of the handgun in Rafe’s pocket and shivered. She couldn’t afford to think about what was awaiting her. All that mattered was that, for now, she was alive. When the time came to face whatever this madman was planning, she needed to be ready to fight for her life.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Jess.” Wyatt’s voice on the cell phone sounded as though he’d been running a marathon. He’d already filled Jesse in on what little they knew about Rafe’s gambling problems. Now he had more unpleasant news. “Cal just told me that Rafe’s stallion is gone. Jimmy Eagle thinks Rafe could have stashed the horse and some essentials in one of those canyons. He might be planning on dumping the ranch truck and taking off across the hills on horseback.”
Jesse’s mind started racing. “Rafe grew up in these hills. He could elude the police and hide out in the wilderness for years.”
“Yeah, that’s what we’re thinking.” Wyatt paused. “We’ve alerted the sheriff and the state police. They’re hoping to get into position without Rafe spotting them.”
“You tell them to back off. Keep their distance. I can’t afford to have that nutcase going off half-cocked and hurting Amy.”
“They know that. But if they can get a couple of sharpshooters in a position to pick him off, the odds get a little better.”
“I’ll take all the advantages I can get.” Jesse saw the foothills looming in the darkness and charged ahead toward the distant cliffs. “Just so they know what’s at stake here.”
What’s at stake.
Amy. Just the thought of Rafe hurting her had the blood in Jesse’s veins turning to ice. He would do whatever was necessary, pay whatever price was required of him, to see her safe.
He was going into this blindly. All these miles, and he hadn’t come up with a single plan. He had a rifle in the truck. Anyone who lived on a ranch of this size had one or more. But what good was a rifle if Rafe was holding a weapon to Amy’s head?
Why? There were pieces to this puzzle that just didn’t fit.
What had caused Rafe to snap? What would he possibly gain by hurting them?
Jesse needed to know what was going on in Rafe’s mind. Maybe, just maybe, when they stood face-to-face, he would understand. For now, he had no clue.
He knew one thing. He couldn’t afford to let himself think about all the things that could go wrong. He would concentrate instead on how to get Amy free. Unless that happened, his own life wasn’t worth a damn.
Amy stood shivering in the night, ankle-deep in snow at the high elevation, her wrists bound tightly to a tree limb above her head. Rafe stood a little away, intently watching the road far below through night-vision binoculars.
He’d chosen an isolated spot near the cliffs, where he could see for miles. The ranch’s four-wheel-drive vehicle had brought them halfway up the hill. At that point they’d abandoned the truck and walked the rest of the distance.
So what, she mulled, did he plan to do with her? Rape? Hold her for ransom? With either choice, she would be a witness to his crime. A liability. She would be a loose end he couldn’t afford to have around.
That thought had her scalp prickling.
There would be no bargaining for her freedom. Rafe had already decided her fate. But why? What was the point of all this? He wouldn’t go to these lengths just to frighten her.
Jesse.
She remembered the envelope Rafe had tossed on the floor. This wasn’t about her. He’d used her as the bait to get Jesse alone.
She saw twin pinpricks of light pierce the darkness. As she watched, the lights drew nearer, and her heart plummeted.
She heard a door slam and Jesse’s voice shouting out her name. It bounced around the cliff walls and echoed down the canyon.
“Answer him.” Rafe crossed to her and pressed the pistol to her temple. “You heard me, answer him.”
“What are you going to do if I refuse? Shoot me?” She clamped her mouth shut, taking comfort in even this small act of defiance.
“Suit yourself.” He turned and cupped his hands to his mouth. “She’s up here.”
Amy waited, straining in the silence, praying that Jesse would keep his distance. Her heart was pounding in her temples.
Suddenly she made out a shadowy figure. In the swirling snow, Jesse was walking toward certain death. She had to warn him.
At the top of her lungs she shouted, “It’s a trap, Jesse. Don’t come any closer. Tell the sheriff��”
Rafe’s hand closed over her mouth and nose, cutting off her breath. Unable to fight him, she kicked and bit, but he continued holding her tightly until spots danced in front of her eyes. There was a strange buzzing in her ears, and she could feel herself beginning to fade. The need for air caused her to go limp in his arms.
Just when she thought she would surely suffocate, he released her and lifted the gun to her temple as Jesse stepped into the clearing.
Amy stood, sucking in deep draughts of air, watching helplessly as Jesse advanced toward his fate.
“Okay, Rafe.” Jesse took in the scene and fought an overwhelming urge to run to Amy and gather her close. The sight of her, arms tied to a tree limb over her head, the cold barrel of a gun pressed to her temple, tore at his heart. “I’m here.”
“Take off your parka and turn your pockets inside out.”
Jesse did as he was told.
“Now turn around. I need to see if you thought you’d be cute and hide a weapon in your waistband.”
Jesse turned, then turned back. “Satisfied?”
When Rafe gave a barely perceptible nod of his head, Jesse added, “You can release Amy now.”
Rafe’s lips curled in a sneer. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
“Whatever this is about, it doesn’t involve Amy.”
“That’s right. It doesn’t. But you’ve made it pretty clear to everyone that she matters to you. That’s why I knew you’d come. I’d be a fool to release her just yet.”
“And you’re no fool, are you?”
“That’s right.”
“Tell me what you want, Rafe.”
“Not me.” He peered into the darkness until he spotted what he was looking for. “Him.”
Jesse turned in time to see a beam of light moving from behind a mound of snow-covered rocks. As the light drew closer he could make out a tall figure holding a high-powered lantern and leading a horse.
The horse’s saddlebags bulged. Behind the saddle was a bedroll.
“You got him.” Rafe crossed to the man and took the reins.
“Just like I said I would.” The man removed his wide-brimmed hat, slapping it against his leg to remove the dusting of snow.
Jesse stared at the thatch of gray hair combed straight back, and the long, lean face with its sad hound-dog expression.
His grandfather’s lawyer had always looked deceptively bored. Disinterested. Now his eyes glittered with a look that was frightening to see.
Madness? Vindictiveness? Pure hatred?
“Vernon?”
Vernon McVicker ignored Jesse as he watched Rafe lovingly examine his stallion.
Rafe looked over at the lawyer. “I delivered him just like I promised. Has my debt been erased?”
“Is that what this is about, Rafe? I heard you were gambling.” Jesse looked from Rafe to the lawyer. “How much did Vernon stick you for?”
“None of your business.”
“I don’t see why it should matter whether or not I know, since you’re obviously planning on riding off into the wilderness.”
“That’s right.” Rafe stood a little taller. “My brother taught me to play poker when I was no more’n eight or nine. I’ve had men tell me I’m one of the best players they’ve ever met.”
“Is that what the high rollers said?”
“You bet. Tell him, Mr. McVicker. I won nearly every hand. The first two weeks, I couldn’t lose.”
Jesse’s hands fisted at his sides. “So you started betting more than you could afford. And that’s when the cards turned against you, and you found yourself losing every hand.”
Rafe’s eyes narrowed. “Who told you?”
Jesse shook his head. “It’s the oldest con in the world, Rafe. He set you up from the beginning. Letting you win, so he could sucker you into upping the ante and losing more than you could afford.” He paused to let his words sink in, then lowered his voice like a conspirator. “So it was Vernon who planned these incidents at the Parrish ranch? And Vernon who told you to terrorize Amy out on the range? Did Vernon offer to erase your debt if you did just one more little thing for him?”
“Shut up, Jesse.”
“Did he also tell you that you could just ride away from this with clean hands? Didn’t it ever occur to you what this is really about?” Jesse turned to Vernon. “Tell him, counselor. Tell him why you set him up.”
Vernon calmly faced Rafe. “Everybody knew how much you hated losing that stallion. It wasn’t much, but I figured it was enough of a motive to satisfy the sheriff.”
“And while the law is chasing Rafe, what do you get out of all this?”
“What I’ve wanted from the beginning.” Vernon gave a chilling smile. “A chance to search for Coot’s gold without interference from any other… interested parties.”
“What about my aunt and cousins? Do you think killing me will end their interest in the search?”
“I figure once you’re… eliminated, they’ll lose their appetite for the hunt. Lord knows, Coot never did. I listened to him for years, charting the trails he’d taken, the dead ends he’d dealt with, keeping a detailed map for my own sake. I waited as long as I could, hoping he’d get too old to continue searching, or die. When that didn’t happen, I just had to help him along.”
