Some rusty, cast iron cookware hung on nails on another wall. She walked over, took down a skillet and hefted it experimentally. It was heavy and she wondered if she hit Liz in the head with it if it would be enough to knock her out. She would think so.
She explored the rest of the cabin, even poking her head into the bedrooms, but didn’t find anything that resembled a weapon.
Then she heard the sound she’d been dreading. The stairs outside creaked. She moved swiftly to the side of the door and held her breath, waiting for it to open. Her hands were sweating and she struggled to hold onto the skillet. It had grown very dark in the cabin while she was searching and she hoped she’d be able to find her way back to the camp once she knocked out Liz.
The door flew open, a figure stepped in, and Cindy swung for all she was worth. The skillet bounced off a shoulder before hitting her target’s head. There was a grunt before the body hit the ground. She leaped over the legs and ran across the porch and down the steps. She took a half dozen steps toward Silver when something rushed out from behind the horse and tackled her.
Cindy screamed and thrashed on the ground. Hands wrapped around her throat and she kicked out as hard as she could. She tried to jab her fingers upward, aiming for the eyes, but her attacker was moving her head back and forth.
Her head. In a flash she realized that it was Liz on top of her. Who had she hit then in the cabin?
“That’s enough!” a stentorian voice shouted.
Cindy twisted her head to the side and in the fading light saw Jeremiah leaping off his horse.
Liz grabbed her hair and hauled her to her feet. Before Cindy could move something cold and sharp pressed against her throat. She realized it was Liz’s knife.
She stared at Jeremiah, willing him to tell her what to do.
“It’s over, Liz,” Jeremiah said, hoping to keep her eyes focused on him. “We know you killed all those people trying to make sure Norman could be the host of the show.”
“He deserved it! Do you know how many years he has worked and slaved for an opportunity like this? He comes up with the perfect show, the network loves it, and then they take it away from him! I couldn’t just stand by and let that happen.”
“So, was Martin an accident or were you trying to hurt Kyle then, too?” Jeremiah asked.
“I was just trying to knock Martin out,” she sobbed. “I figured if he was hurt enough they’d bring in Norman.”
“And then if you could kill Kyle-”
“I just wanted to hurt him. It should have been him riding that horse, not Cindy.”
“And when your plans kept failing you realized you had to up the ante,” he said. “You didn’t know how much poison to put in his salt because you didn’t know how much he would eat and you couldn’t risk him just being a little sick.”
“And then Brent ruined everything,” Liz sobbed. “He hates that stupid truffle salt. Everyone knows that. I never dreamed he’d taste the food after he put it in there.”
“But Roddy suspected you.”
“Apparently he saw me when I was messing with the salt. He went running off for the doctor and he ran into Tex and told him that Brent had been poisoned and that he thought I’d done it.”
“And Tex was working with you?” Jeremiah asked.
“No. He killed Roddy, though, and told me to meet him out past the bathrooms and what time. He rode out supposedly for town and then circled back. I pretended to go to the bathroom and I met him. He wanted to blackmail me. He said I’d never be able to prove that Roddy hadn’t just been trampled by the cattle, but that he could prove I killed the others.”
“And you stabbed him,” Jeremiah filled in.
Liz nodded. “He didn’t think I was strong enough to do something like that.”
“But you haul that heavy makeup kit all the time in and out of trucks and wagons and you’re very strong.”
“Very strong,” she echoed.
She was losing it, falling apart at the seams. The only question was, when she finally came completely unhinged would she collapse or go berserk?
Cindy was staring intently at him and he could practically read her mind. She wanted to know what she should do. The last time they’d been in a situation even remotely like this he had been armed. He wasn’t this time and even though Zack had gotten up and was slowly creeping into position behind Liz he didn’t want to risk Cindy’s life one moment longer than he had to.
He very slowly, very deliberately lifted his right foot and then stepped down and then moved his right arm pushing the elbow behind him. Liz probably just thought he was fidgeting.
Cindy, though, understood.
She stomped down on Liz’s foot and drove her elbow into the other woman’s stomach. Then she grabbed the arm with the knife in both hands. She dropped to a crouch, arched her back, and flipped Liz over her shoulder.
Jeremiah rushed forward and snatched the knife up, marveling at what Cindy had just accomplished.
Liz fell apart, sobbing and wailing.
“It’s over,” Jeremiah told her.
“Nothing is ever over!” she screamed before throwing herself face forward into the dirt.
“Nice swing,” Zack said to Cindy a minute later after he had retrieved some rope from his horse. He tied Liz’s hands behind her in swift fashion.
“I’m sorry,” Cindy said.
“No, you were right to hit first and ask questions later. I’m just glad my shoulder took most of it.”
“You’re considerably taller than who I was expecting to come through the door,” she noted with a faint smile.
Jeremiah felt himself relax slightly. If Cindy was smiling, everything was going to be okay.
Thanks to the flashlights that Zack had in his saddlebags they made it back through the cave. Zack led Liz’s horse on a lead rope and Cindy followed behind with Jeremiah bringing up the rear. Once on the other side they were able to ride slowly as the moon rose. Jeremiah told her about the stampede and she was relieved that everyone had made it through okay. She in turn told him the details of what had happened with Liz. It took what seemed like a lifetime but they finally saw the campfire.
Silver broke into a trot, clearly sensing that he was due for a rest when they got there and she let him have his way. Mark and the others hailed their return with relief. She couldn’t help but feel sorry for Norman, though, who was in intense distress over what Liz had done for him. It was going to take him a long time to come to terms with it and she resolved to add him to her prayer list. No one deserved to live through the hell he was clearly putting himself through.
He went to bed early. The rest of them sat around the fire, not talking much. After an hour Mark suggested they should get some sleep. Hank agreed. No one moved for another hour after that. Finally one by one everyone headed off to their sleeping bags until only she and Jeremiah were left.
“Thanks for coming after me...again,” she said.
“That was clever of you to lead her away from the rest of us.”
“It was the only thing I could think to do. She was armed. I wasn’t. I had no idea how long the drugs would last but she said hours.”
“It probably would have been hours if it hadn’t been for the stampede.”
“We should go on a real vacation one of these days. One where there’s no killers, no bodies, just us.”
He chuckled. “Given our luck we’d have to vacation on a private island somewhere.”
“That sounds good. Think you could arrange it?” she asked with a smile.
“Probably,” he said, giving her an odd look that she couldn’t interpret. She decided not to worry about it. Right now they were both alive and well. That was all that really mattered.
20
Righteousness. They had arrived at last. Cindy practically fell off her horse when they pulled up in front of the small hotel. The town was like something between a ghost town and a shrine to the old west as it had been. There were cars, but none of them were allowed
on the main street.
They had stopped at a ranch just five miles outside of town where they had met the owner of the cattle drive excursion company and handed the cattle over to him and the sheriff whom they had handed Liz over to. Representatives from the television station were also there to take charge of the equipment.
Originally they were supposed to have spent the night in the bunkhouse at the ranch, ending the trip just as it had started. It had been unanimously decided, though, that the survivors would instead spend the night in the hotel in town which would provide for greater comfort and not conjure up bad memories of that first night.
The tiny hotel had ten rooms and they took all ten of them with only Traci and Mark sharing a room. The rooms were up a creaky flight of stairs that felt like they were original to the building. Cindy just hoped the rooms had been updated to include modern plumbing. She needed a shower badly.
She was in room number seven and when she opened the door she breathed a sigh of relief. The interior of the room retained a certain old fashioned charm but had modern conveniences.
She shut the door, dropped her backpack on the floor, and made a beeline for the shower.
She had to wash her hair three times before it felt truly clean. When she finally exited the shower she dressed in her only pair of clean clothes and headed downstairs.
Jeremiah and Hank were sitting in front of the fireplace in the living room. Jeremiah glanced up at her with a smile and she wondered how he could possibly look as refreshed as he did. The shower had done wonders for her, but she was still sure she had to look beyond exhausted.
“We gave them a bit of a surprise. Dinner won’t be ready for another half hour yet.”
She nodded even as her stomach began to growl.
“Come sit with us,” Hank said, gesturing to an empty chair between them.
She sank gratefully into the cushy plushness of the chair and was embarrassed when a groan of relief escaped her.
“It sure beats a saddle or the ground,” Hank said with a rare smile.
“It certainly does.”
The others began to wander in slowly. Mark and Traci both looked sore but much more at peace. Zack looked completely different in khakis and a polo shirt. Curly was wearing a Lone Ranger T-shirt with a clean pair of jeans. Wayne and Junior both looked pale and were moving stiffly. Finally Kyle showed up looking more rested than he had any right to.
“Norman’s not going to be joining us for dinner,” he announced. “Poor guy feels like he’s responsible for his girlfriend going all crazy. I tried to tell him it wasn’t his fault, but I couldn’t get through.”
“Dude’s going to need some major therapy,” Junior said.
“Lot of guilt to carry around that he doesn’t need to,” Zack noted.
“When it’s your significant other you share everything with them, the good and the bad. Of course he’s going to feel terrible for a while,” Traci said quietly.
Cindy saw Traci squeeze Mark’s hand. She, of all people, would certainly be in a position to understand that.
Jeremiah glanced at his watch. “Still another ten minutes until dinner,” he said.
Traci’s face lit up. “Perfect! I saw that there was a gift shop in the back. That’s just enough time for Cindy and I to go shopping.”
Cindy wasn’t sure how she’d gotten roped into that, especially when her sore legs would have preferred to stay right where they were. Traci looked so happy, though, that she hauled herself out of the chair and plastered on a smile.
“And I thought we were going to escape this trip without shopping,” Mark said with an exaggerated sigh. Cindy could tell, though, that he was pleased that his wife had found something to be excited about so soon after the horror they had lived through.
A minute later Cindy and Traci were inside the hotel’s tiny gift shop which was crammed with all kinds of western themed tchotchkes. The first thing Traci grabbed were a dozen postcards showing the surrounding landscapes.
“I didn’t get to take any pictures,” she explained. “Plus, I want to send a postcard to my sister. We always do that when we travel and she has sent me a lot more than I’ve gotten to send her.”
Cindy nodded even as her eyes were drawn to a little miniature white horse figurine that reminded her of Silver. She picked it up. She really should get a souvenir of this trip, awful as it had been. She took it to the register where she spied a pack of playing cards that she could add to her tiny collection. Pleased, she bought both items and then watched as Traci wandered around the store for another five minutes admiring various things until she, too, was finished shopping. Aside from the postcards she also got a horse figurine, a pen, and a horse suncatcher.
“We should hang out more often,” Traci said as they exited the shop.
“I would like that,” Cindy said.
“And I promise we don’t have to talk about you-know-who if you don’t want to.”
“It’s a deal.”
They returned just as the group was being ushered into the dining room. Cindy had to admit it was a relief to sit down on another real chair and she was looking forward to good, hot food that she didn’t have to worry might be poisoned.
Apparently she wasn’t the only one. When the platters of food came out and were set on the table family style everyone descended on the fried chicken and barbeque ribs as if they were starving.
The whole meal passed largely in silence as the group of tired people expended all their available energy on stuffing themselves. When at last it was over Cindy was sure she wasn’t the only one feeling drowsy and content.
One by one the others excused themselves and headed upstairs until only she, Mark, Traci, and Jeremiah remained. The four of them just stared at each other for a moment in silence.
Finally Mark raised his glass of soda. Cindy had noticed that none of them had had water for dinner opting instead for the soda.
“To us. We made it through another one,” he said by way of a toast.
“And nobody killed my brother, including me,” Cindy said with a wry grin.
They all clinked glasses and drank.
“Apparently they’re sending a car for us tomorrow late afternoon that will get us to the airport,” Jeremiah said when they had all set their glasses back down. “We’ll have several hours to explore the town if we want.”
“No offense, but I really just want to get out of here and back home,” Mark said.
“I think it will be fun,” Traci said with a grin. “The adventure continues, but without any more dead bodies.”
“I’m all for that,” Cindy said.
The four of them sat and chatted for almost another hour, just decompressing. It felt good, but Cindy was getting really tired and she finally decided it was time to head upstairs.
“I’ll head up, too,” Traci said.
“I’ll be up in a while,” Mark told his wife.
The two women headed for the stairs. In the hallway Cindy hesitated. “I think I’m going to check on my brother,” she told Traci.
“Okay, I’ll see you in the morning.”
Cindy knocked on her brother’s door and he answered wearing sweats and the same old, overly small Star Wars T-shirt he had been wearing that first night. He ushered her inside and closed the door.
“I haven’t had a chance to say thank you for saving my life,” he said without preamble.
“What are sisters for?” she asked.
“Seriously, what you did, what you do? Solving crimes? It’s amazing. I think you’re my hero.”
She didn’t know what to say to that. He seemed sincere. “Thanks,” she finally said.
He nodded.
She cleared her throat, feeling uncomfortable with not knowing how to respond to that. She stared again at the shirt.
“I keep thinking that T-shirt is familiar,” Cindy said.
Kyle looked at her strangely. “It should be.”
“Why?”
“It was Lisa’s. She w
as wearing it the morning before she died.”
Cindy’s heart felt like it was being squeezed to death. “What?” she asked.
He nodded. “I always wear it at the start of every adventure to honor her spirit and at the end of every adventure to remind me to be always be thankful to be alive.”
She felt her knees give away and she fell onto a chair. She buried her face in her hands and felt something inside her break loose. She didn’t know how long she cried, but when she finally looked up she could tell that Kyle had been too.
“Well, that was...something,” she said as she wiped the tears off her cheeks.
“Yeah. Guess we both needed it after everything that’s happened the last few days,” he said.
Try the last several years, she thought.
She stood slowly. She was beyond tired and the best thing for both of them right now would be to get some rest.
She gave Kyle a hug which he returned. Finally she broke away.
“Now, I want you to look out for yourself. You shouldn’t take so many risks, you know. I want to see you again in one piece.”
“I’ll be careful,” he said with a smirk.
She sighed. Some things would never change. Maybe that was for the best.
She turned and headed for the door.
“Oh, and Cind?”
“Yes?” she asked, turning back.
“I really would stay away from Jeremiah. I know that what he and Mark were doing was all a ruse to draw out the real killer, but trust me, there’s something not right about him.”
“I’ll take it under advisement,” she said, rolling her eyes.
He crossed the room and grabbed her hand. He looked into her eyes. “I’m being serious. There’s something dangerous about him. Trust me, I’ve played at dangerous things and met some really intense people before and I know what I’m talking about. Whatever it is you don’t know about him, I’m pretty sure it’s bad. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
In the Paths of Righteousness (Psalm 23 Mysteries) Page 20