Tracie Peterson - [Desert Roses 01]

by Shadows of the Canyon

  Thinking of her mother, Alex quickly searched through the guests to find her. Feeling a bit panicked when her first cursory glance didn’t yield her mother’s location, Alex gave a more dedicated study to each area of the lawn. All the while people took food from her tray, ignorant of her growing concern.

  A petite woman in burgundy could easily be swallowed up among the hundreds of guests, and Alex found herself catching a glimpse of color matching her mother’s gown only to lose it in the throngs.

  There were too many people. People dancing. People talking. People eating and strolling. But Katherine Keegan was nowhere to be found. Where could she have gone? Alex trembled, knowing her mother intended to speak about her desires for a divorce. Alex had tried to talk her out of it, but her mother was convinced that this was the way it should be. Now she feared her mother had said something and was now having to face the wrath of the man she’d borne so patiently for so many years.

  Lord, I know you hate divorce, but my mother is suffering greatly. She’s so frail, even sick from the worry and pain. Please help her now. Let me find her and know that she’s safe.

  As the skies grew darker, lights especially strung to provide a magical effect, shone down upon the crowds. Forcing herself to remain calm, Alex picked up her step as she moved through the mingling guests. I’m getting upset for no good reason. I need to see things as they are. Mother is probably nearby or maybe she’s gone back to her room. Perhaps she had a headache and retired early. Continuing to search, Alex quickly realized her father was also missing. Was he with Joel Harper? Or was he in a confrontation with her mother? The nagging doubts resurfaced. Would he really make good on his threats?

  Alex’s breathing quickened. What should she do? Oh, Luke, I wish you were here. I need you.

  Realizing how much she’d come to depend on Luke was of no comfort to her. She had prided herself on needing no one, save God. Especially no man. But right now, with every nerve in her body tingling from head to toe, Alex knew the only person in the world who could help stave off her hysteria was the one person she’d pushed away and kept at arm’s length.

  The orchestra ended one song and had just begun the opening strains of another when a woman’s scream tore through the air. Everything stopped. The orchestra conductor put down his baton and looked to the crowd as if for a cue. Alex stared at the faces around her, frozen in time with her companions. Faces filled with fear, curiosity, and confusion stared back at her.

  The woman screamed again and then there was silence. Alex couldn’t move. No matter how hard she tried. She looked at the tray in her hands, then looked to the orchestra and the people who’d been dancing. Everyone remained fixed in place, as though a photograph had been snapped of the entire group.

  “Where did that come from?” someone finally questioned among a growing hum of murmured questions.

  “Do you suppose it was just someone having a good time?”

  “Didn’t sound like a good time to me,” another guest answered.

  The murmurings grew to a cacophony of questioning and reasoning. Confusion settled over the crowd as they began to move again. Some moved in the direction of the scream, others went back to the food table as if to bolster their strength with refreshments.

  A woman next to Alex agreed. “That woman sounded terrified, if you ask me.”

  This seemed to be the only encouragement Alex needed. Shoving the half empty tray into the stunned woman’s hands, Alex ran at full speed across the lawn. The sound had come from the rim path, yet how far away, Alex couldn’t be sure. The canyon had an eerie way of distorting sounds. Sometimes it was quite confusing.

  Many of the party guests had already begun moving in the direction of the rim. Those that pushed ahead at a rapid pace were mainly the newspaper reporters.

  “Someone’s fallen into the canyon!” came the call.

  Alex felt sickened and stopped to catch her breath. There was a part of her that suddenly didn’t want to know the truth.

  Oh, God, please help me. I’m so scared. She repeated the prayer like a mantra. Forcing herself forward, she regained her momentum and pushed through the crowd.

  “Someone has fallen off the edge,” murmured a woman to her companion.

  “No one could live to tell about that,” he replied. “I took that mule ride down—that canyon’s a mile into the ground. No, there won’t be much left of them—whoever they are.”

  Alex glared at them but pressed on. The hotel had positioned additional lighting here, which seemed to only create more shadows.

  “Excuse me,” she said, over and over. An air of excitement enveloped the crowd, and people weren’t always of a mind to move out of Alex’s way. Her patience wore thin and she found herself becoming quite demanding. “I work for the hotel—get out of my way.”

  Finally, she cleared past the last of the onlookers and found two people standing about ten feet away. The man turned out to be Luke. Alex could see the cast on his left arm in the dim light. The woman he held was sobbing. Her face was buried against his chest, but from the look of her build and the color of her gown, Alex felt confident that it was her mother.

  Two men came to stand beside Luke. One wore a park ranger uniform, while the other was dressed in a tuxedo. They were speaking in hushed tones with Luke.

  Alex’s legs felt weighted with lead as she pressed closer. In a hoarse whisper she asked, “Luke, what’s happened?”

  Luke looked up and met her gaze. She could see his expression, although shadowed. His look told her that nothing would ever be the same after tonight.

  “What is it?” she pleaded. “Tell me.”

  Her mother pulled away and looked at Alex with tear-filled eyes. Luke released his hold on her and the ranger sympathetically took Mrs. Keegan’s hand and led her to a nearby bench. Luke then turned to Alex and looked into her eyes. “I’m sorry, Alex. It’s your father. He’s gone over the edge.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  “I can’t believe he’s really dead,” Alex said in disbelief nearly two hours later. Numb from the news, she hadn’t cried a single tear. She wondered if Luke thought her cold and unfeeling.

  Luke reached out and took hold of her hand. “If he’d only fallen to the first ledge, he might have made it.”

  “What could have happened?”

  “I don’t know. I came upon your mother after it’d happened. She crumpled to the ground crying. She’s the only one who saw anything, and she’s not talking,” Luke replied, gazing at her with such tenderness. “I’m sorry you have to endure this. It’s never easy to lose a loved one.”

  The words “loved one” slammed up against her like the time she’d stepped on the prongs of a rake, bringing the wooden handle full force against her face. She didn’t consider her father a loved one. She didn’t even mind the idea that he was gone—forever. Except . . . She shook her head. Except nothing. She didn’t care.

  Shock washed through her veins, leaving her cold. This is your father, she chided herself. He’s dead and you must care. A sense of guilt crept in where the stunning news had first left her without feeling.

  She tried not to think of her father, focusing instead on her mother. The poor woman had cried enough tears for both of them. Katherine Keegan now slept sedated in her suite with a ranger guarding the door outside. The canyon physician worried about her mental state and general health. There was talk, murmurings and whisperings about the accident. People were beginning to say that Katherine Keegan had killed her husband. It was all too much for Alex to take in.

  “I know this is difficult for you. In spite of the way your father behaved, I know you didn’t wish him dead.”

  Alex couldn’t even look at Luke, for too many times she’d wished just that. Well, maybe not that he’d be murdered. She’d wished often enough that he’d die in his sleep and free her mother from her misery. Or that he’d die on one of his many trips to the capital. Did that make her a horrible person? Was she less of a Christian because she was g
lad her father had died instead of her mother? She couldn’t keep from trembling.

  “The rangers want to talk to you,” Luke said softly. “I told them you were too upset—that they’d have to wait. But you can’t hold them off forever.”

  She looked blankly at the wall, not seeing a thing. “I understand.”

  But in truth, Alex didn’t understand anything at all. Joel had threatened her mother’s life, but was this what he’d meant? Alex had feared he might kill her mother, but perhaps this was even worse. Had Joel Harper somehow arranged her father’s death and allowed the blame to rest on her mother’s shoulders? But if that were the case, if there was another person involved, then surely her mother would tell them.

  Luke rubbed her hand. His warmth seemed to permeate the icy feeling that ran the full length of her body. How could it be that her father was dead? How could it be that her mother appeared to be the prime suspect?

  “What’s going to happen, Luke?” She looked deep into his green eyes, praying she’d find an answer she could cope with. “Are they going to blame my mother—arrest her?”

  “I don’t know. I wish I did—then I might feel more capable of helping you through this.” He continued to hold her hand, and Alex found that she liked his touch very much.

  “She’s been through so much already. I don’t know how she’ll ever manage to get through this.”

  “God will give you both the strength to endure it.”

  She studied his face for a moment. “I need to ask you something,” she said, knowing that she would know in his expression if he lied to her.

  “What is it?” “Do you think my mother killed him?”

  Luke didn’t hesitate. “No. I don’t. She doesn’t seem capable of such a thing.”

  “But she had plenty of motive,” Alex argued, needing to hear him dispel her fears.

  “True, but she’s had motive for years. Why wait until now?” “I suppose that’s true. Nothing new has happened to make her act any differently.”

  “Are you sure nothing has happened recently?” Luke questioned. “Not that I think it would result in your mother killing him, but someone has. Perhaps a business deal went bad. Or maybe it’s this whole political thing. Do you know if someone wanted to see him dead?”

  Alex immediately thought of Joel Harper but dismissed the thought. Joel and her father were like-minded. They were working together. Joel hardly seemed likely to kill off a man who was happy to do his bidding in return for an appointment in the White House.

  “Miss Keegan?” a ranger questioned from the door. “Yes, I’m Miss Keegan.” Alex knew a lot of the rangers, but this man was a complete stranger. Standing picture perfect in his pressed uniform, the older man held a sympathetic expression on his face.

  “I know this is a difficult time, but I need to ask you a few questions,” he said rather apologetically. “It’s just routine when something like this happens.”

  Alex looked to Luke once more. He nodded and Alex looked back to the ranger. “I suppose now is as good a time as any.”

  Luke got to his feet. “Do you mind if I stay here with her?” “Yes, please,” Alex said. “I have no objection. This won’t take long.” The man pulled up a chair in front of Alex. “First of all, you have my sympathies. I know you must be quite taken in your grief.”

  Alex looked to the floor. “I’m still so shocked.”

  “I’m sure that’s true,” the ranger replied. “I understand you were working at the time of the incident.”

  The incident? Alex thought. How silly to call someone’s death an “incident.”

  “Yes. I’m a Harvey employee. I work in the restaurant, and this evening I was serving at the lawn party hosted by the Winthrops.”

  “I understand both your mother and father were guests of the Winthrops.”

  “Yes. My father has been a part of the Winthrops’ party since they arrived. My mother only just arrived.” Alex felt as though she were sorting through facts in her mind, trying to offer them back to the ranger in order to make sense of a much bigger puzzle.

  “Why did she come to the Grand Canyon?” “The Winthrops sent an invitation. She showed it to me. They were paying for her suite,” Alex said, trying to remember everything.

  “It was mentioned that Mrs. Keegan came here to confront her husband.”

  Alex had no intention of giving them information that they could use against her mother. “She told me she came because of the invitation.” That wasn’t a lie. She held her breath for a moment, trying to still her rapid breathing.

  “Then you aren’t aware of any problems between your mother and father?”

  Alex let out her breath and shifted uneasily. Glancing to Luke, Alex felt she had no choice but to admit what everyone was already talking about. “My father was a philanderer. He had . . . ah . . . many other women in his life.”

  “So there were problems?” “Yes.” She bit her lower lip and prayed he wouldn’t ask her to explain the fight she’d witnessed, nor tell of her father’s threats. She wasn’t ready to divulge this information. She first needed to talk to her mother. Tears flooded Alex’s eyes and she lowered her head. She began to rub her temples where the throbbing was becoming unbearable.

  “Look, why don’t you wait to finish this up later?” Luke asked. “You can see she’s clearly distraught. She did just lose her father.”

  “Yes, I understand. I suppose this can wait until morning.” The ranger got to his feet and walked to the door. “Miss Keegan, I realize this is difficult, but I’ll need to speak with you first thing tomorrow.”

  Alex sniffed back her tears and nodded. “I’ll be here.” After he’d gone, Luke moved back to sit beside her on the sofa. They were in Mrs. Godfrey’s private quarters, as it seemed the only place to get away from the reporters and other busybodies.

  “Alex, I’m sorry for all of this. I don’t know what I can do to help, but I feel I have to offer to try.”

  “Luke, she couldn’t have done it. My mother isn’t like that. She was unhappy with my father—she has been for years. I’ve never known a time when he was faithful. Even when I was young he had his lady friends. I’ve never understood it, but Mother told me it was just the way things were. She bore it all with grace and determination. And even with all his threats . . .”

  “What kind of threats?”

  Alex bristled. Had she said too much? She looked to Luke and his image blurred behind her tears. How she longed to trust him with what she knew. “My father wasn’t very happy that my mother had come to El Tovar. He really wanted to gain a position in Washington and he feared she might make trouble.”

  “How so? Everyone knew what he was doing,” Luke stated matter-of-factly.

  Alex got to her feet and paced the small space. “I don’t know. He threatened us both.”

  At this Luke got up and came to her. “He threatened you? Why didn’t you tell me?” He studied her a moment before reaching up to push back an errant strand of wavy brown hair. “Oh, Alex, don’t you know I would have protected you? I would have talked to him at least.”

  His tenderness touched something deep within her. “I . . . well . . . you were busy and then you got hurt.”

  Luke gently touched her wet cheek. “Alex, don’t you understand? I’m never too busy to care about what happens to you.”

  Alex could recognize the sincerity in his expression. His generally good-natured temperament had been transformed into a much more serious, more intense attitude. There was nothing casual about this cowboy. This man was all concern and . . . something else. Something Alex couldn’t quite put her finger on.

  His touch sent charges of electricity down her body. His gaze, so intense—demanded an intimacy from her that Alex had never shared with anyone. When he took hold of her shoulder, Alex lost herself in the moment.

  “Alex, I won’t let them hurt you, and if I can do anything about it, I won’t let them hurt your mother.”

  “How did you come to be with h
er?” “My arm was bothering me, so I went for a walk. I’d been walking around, trying to pray through some difficult decisions. I was headed back to my cabin when I heard her scream. I was just the first one there—the closest one to the rim.”

  “And you didn’t see anything? No other person?” “No. There didn’t appear to be anyone else. Your mother had collapsed to her knees in complete shock by the time I got to her.”

  Alex began to cry in earnest. Her voice broke as she declared, “She couldn’t have pushed him over. She couldn’t have done it. As discouraged and betrayed as she was, she might have jumped off the ledge to take her own life, but she wouldn’t hurt my father. Even if he wouldn’t divorce her. . . .”

  “She wanted a divorce? I thought you said she wouldn’t leave him.”

  “I know, but . . .” Alex knew she had to tell him the truth. At least about this. “She came here . . . to . . . to tell him she was leaving him. She’d withdrawn a great deal of money from their account and had come to tell him good-bye.”

  “Alex, that doesn’t help her situation very much. Do you suppose they fought over this?”

  “Of course they fought over it,” Alex replied in near hysteria. “They always fought. Father never had a civil word for Mother, and Mother had made up her mind. I’m sure they argued about it, since she had her mind set to leave.”

  “You’ll have to tell the ranger tomorrow,” he said matter-of-factly.

  “I can’t tell him. It would make her look bad—the wife scorned. The wife who depleted the bank account and made plans to run away and divorce her husband. None of that will help her case.”

  “But you have to tell the truth.” “The truth is, my mother could never have pushed my father over the edge.”

  “Be that as it may,” Luke said gently, but insistently, “you have to tell him.”

  Silence fell between them as Alex tried to compose herself. The hole she’d dug herself into seemed to be collapsing around her.

  “Where did she plan to go—I mean, after she left him and El Tovar?” Luke asked.

  Alex drew a deep breath to steady her nerves. “We weren’t sure. I was planning on asking Mrs. Godfrey to transfer me as soon as she could.”