by Rye Hart
Marianna allowed her eyes to close and her mind to drift, assured in the knowledge that she was safe with Larsen. The horse galloped in a steady rhythm, while the nighttime noises echoed around them. She didn't know where he was taking her, but she felt confident that it was somewhere safe.
Chapter Ten
Marianna came awake when she felt Larsen nudge her gently.
"We need to go on foot from here," he said softly. He slid off the horse and helped the still sleepy Marianna to descend. With a swift motion, he slapped the horse's rear and sent the animal into a rapid gallop away from them and back into the night.
"Why would you send it away?" Marianna gasped in horror. She wondered how they would ever get back without their only mode of transportation.
"He would simply lead the kidnappers right to us. It is best to send the horse back to its owner and throw them off our scent," he explained.
"But where will we go?" she protested.
"Into the cliffs," he motioned behind her.
Marianna turned around and gasped as her vision adjusted to take in a large outcrop illuminated by the full moon. "We’re going where?"
"Here," he reached for her, "take my hand."
Marianna felt hesitant about climbing into the cliffs, but as soon as her hand slid into Larsen's large strong palm, she instantly felt safe. "If you say so," she relented.
The hike into the cliffs was brutal, but Marianna refused to allow Larsen to see how taxing it was for her. As they treaded up a narrow path on the side, she did her best not to look down. It was Larsen's confidence that kept her calm and assured her that they weren't going to walk right off the cliff.
"We are here," he finally said, breaking the long silence that had descended over them as they had climbed.
"Where?" Marianna looked around her. They were standing on an outcrop shielded by a few overhanging rocks.
"There is an entrance to a tunnel." He guided her around the little bend.
"A tunnel to where?" she questioned.
"To the edge of my property," he explained. "My lands are quite expansive and this outcrop marks one of the farther edges of it. I discovered this tunnel in the cliffs several years ago. We should be safe here."
Marianna trusted that Larsen knew what he was doing. There were still questions in her mind about Larsen’s background that remained in her mind, but she knew she would raise them at the right time. For now, she chose to take his lead because it felt right.
"Once it starts to get light out, we can make our way through. It's not too long of a walk."
"And until then?" she asked.
"We will have to stay the night," he stated calmly.
Marianna nodded that she understood. But as she agreed, she felt a gust of wind whistle past her and send a chill down her spine. She brought her arms around her chest, and she could feel her teeth rattle slightly.
Larsen responded the moment he saw she was cold. "Here," he took off his thick cowhide jacket and brought it around Marianna's petite frame. "I would build a fire, but I don't want to alert anyone that we are here."
"I understand," Marianna replied. She clutched at the corners of Larsen's jacket, it was large and warm and it smelled like him; like musk and sandalwood. It was oddly comforting, yet it all felt like too much. Marianna felt her resolve crack and the intense pressure of the situation they had just survived weighed her down; she felt tears sting her eyes.
Larsen must have seen the wet gleam in her eyes reflected in the moonlight, as he instantly moved forward to bring Marianna into a comforting embrace. "I'm so sorry," he whispered into her hair. "I should never have brought you here," he said.
Marianna sniffled. "I wouldn't change that you brought me here," she said softly in between a few hiccups.
Larsen went still. "But I have already brought so many problems into your life," he said in his enticingly deep voice.
"My life was already far more complicated before you," she confessed. She turned her face up to meets his, their gazes connected through the dim light that seeped into their stone shelter.
As their eyes met, Marianna wondered if Larsen would kiss her. Kevin had been the only man who had ever kissed her before, and even then, it had been short and chaste. But here, all alone with a man she barely knew, Marianna longed for him to bring his lips down to meet hers. She wanted to know what it would feel like to push up on her tippy toes, slide her arms around his neck, and feel the roughness of his thick beard as it brushed against the soft skin of her cheeks. She could feel those cheeks heating and she hoped that Larsen couldn't see her blushing through the moonlight.
Larsen cleared his throat gruffly. "It will be dawn soon, so we won't have to wait here for long," he muttered. His voice sounded thick and hoarse as if he was struggling with himself.
"I see," Marianna mumbled. She retracted her arms from where she had brought them around his waist when she was seeking comfort. She started to move away when he stopped her.
"Wait," he said as he caught her hand up in his.
Marianna looked at him expectantly.
"We will need to sit together, for warmth," he explained.
Marianna simply nodded her agreement and allowed Larsen to lead her to a spot on the rock floor. He showed her where to sit, and when she was comfortable, he moved in next to her. She tried not to think of the close proximity of their bodies.
She was starting to get an idea of who Larsen Dover was. He was a lot more complicated than she had originally anticipated. When she had agreed to come out west to see if she could even marry him, she thought she would first have to understand his motivations for marriage. But after her short time on the ranch, she had already seen how it wasn't just her who was interviewing him for a potential spouse, but Larsen was testing her too. After she had met his two boys, she understood why he had written to his family requesting to send him someone who could care for them like a mother. The thought behind his action demonstrated how kind, thoughtful, and caring he was underneath the thick beard and manly demeanor. She felt like she had finally started to crack his hard character, and she liked what she saw.
As she drifted off to sleep once again in his arms, she hoped they would be able to find out why they were targeted by the bandits. She hoped that everything on the ranch was okay and that Marshal and Elijah were safe while they were gone. She knew they could trust most of Larsen's ranch hands, especially James, to watch over the boys while they were away. But a nagging voice in the back of her mind warned her to be wary and that the attack was no coincidence.
Chapter Eleven
This time when Marianna awoke, the sun was streaming through the small entrance to the tunnel. The sunshine was a welcoming sight after what had been a long and difficult night. She was still wearing Larsen's jacket, but its enigmatic owner was nowhere in site. Marianna wasn't worried as she had a feeling that she knew exactly where Larsen was.
She picked herself up and turned toward the inner part of the tunnel. At the very end, she could see a small sliver of light and she suspected Larsen would be on the other side.
She made her way down the tunnel, allowing the slowly growing light to be her guiding point. When she made it to the end, she had to shield her eyes from the blaring brightness of the sun. She took a look outside the exit and was surprised to see that it opened on to an easy path that led down into a landscape that resembled an oasis. A small stream was barely concealed by a few trees. And as she glanced down, she saw a figure jump into the crystal clear waters.
She decided to be bold and make her way down the path to join him.
At least that was her plan, until a rough arm snagged her from behind.
Marianna screamed, but her cries for help barely echoed off the walls around her, let alone reach Larsen's ears.
"Shut up," a frighteningly familiar voice barked at her.
Marianna struggled to turn around and face her assailant. She let out a gasp when she saw that Marcus Maine, Larsen's ranch manager, was the one
that held her in a vice-like grip.
"It's you!" she accused, as she tried to break free from him. Marianna had suspected that there was something suspicious about Marcus. He disliked her from the moment she arrived. His arrival in to this very spot, so soon after their attack, couldn't be coincidence.
"Stupid girl," he muttered. He quickly overpowered Marianna and used his force to tie her hands in front of her.
Marianna's wrists were still raw from the bindings that had held her captive the previous night. These fresh bindings chafed the sensitive skin and pained her greatly.
"If you hadn't broken away the first time, we wouldn't be in this situation," Marcus grumbled angrily as he finished the last knot of Marianna's bindings.
Marianna couldn't believe it. "You were responsible for all of this?" she questioned him with newfound fervor.
"You weren't supposed to be a part of that," he sneered menacingly.
Marianna gasped. "You were after Larsen? But why?"
"That's none of your business," he spat. "All you need to know is that you got in the way! Again!"
Marianna shot him a confused look. Her heart was pounding with fear, but she didn't want to show any more weakness in front of him.
Marcus grunted and rolled his eyes at her. "It would seem that Larsen has a bit of a soft spot for you, as after my men negotiated his release, he came back for you. I always knew he was a fool."
Marianna was shocked by Marcus's words. "What are you saying?"
"Larsen offered his ranch in exchange for your life, but my men refused to hand you over until he returned with the deed to the property. Once Larsen left, he snuck back and took down the imbeciles I hired just so he could rescue you." Marcus chuckled as he leaned back on his heels and surveyed Marianna where she was tied up on the floor, "But his affection for you will be what destroys him in the end."
Marianna couldn't believe it. Had Larsen really offered his ranch in exchange for her life?
"So you are trying to take Larsen's ranch?"
"My ranch," Marcus corrected. "I was all set to buy the place, when I was cheated by a con and lost my bid on the place. I was choked when a city slicker like Larsen Dover waltzes in and buys up the place for himself and his pretty little family."
"But you work for him! He trusted you!" she gasped.
"His biggest mistake was underestimating me," Marcus advanced forward. "Now get up, we are leaving." He grabbed Marianna's arm roughly and tugged her to her feet.
Marianna complied, but all the while her mind raced with the shocking revelation. She knew that there had always been something off about Marcus, but she hadn't realized it was so extreme. He had hated Larsen and was seeking to destroy him in order to take his ranch.
"Did you burn the barn down too?" she accused vehemently as he dragged her along the short tunnel to the other side.
"I would have been rid of Larsen had you not arrived and drawn his attention away on that night. Had he died, the ranch would have most likely been sold and I would have been able to buy it," he said angrily.
Marianna scoffed. "I thought you lost your income to a con?"
"I earned it all back over the years by skimming it off of the ranch's earnings. It wasn't thieving as I was the intended rightful owner." He shot Marianna a sinister look. "Let's just say it pays to be the manager," he laughed.
He continued to drag Marianna toward the narrow path that led back down to the ground. Marianna saw that there was a horse tied at the bottom waiting. The descent was a lot quicker than her original climb, even with her tied hands, as Marcus forced her to walk briskly. More than once, she feared that she would trip and fall off the side of the cliff, but luck was on her side.
That is, if she could call any of this luck. Life hadn't favored her much as of late. She hoped that Larsen would return and see that she was no longer there, but she couldn't guarantee it. He would have no idea that Marcus was the one behind the attempts on his life. And if Marcus had been against him this whole time, it was possible that some of Larsen's other employees were scheming against him as well. That thought lingered in her mind and sent a sickening feeling to the pit of her stomach. Larsen's sons were still on the ranch and could potentially be in danger. At least Marcus was away from them, but who knows what else he had planned? She hoped that Larsen wouldn't come looking for her, as it appeared that Marcus wanted to use her to trap him.
At the bottom of the cliff, Marcus attached a longer rope to Marianna's bound wrists and tied it to the horse. With a sickening feeling, she realized he was going to make her walk behind him to wherever they were going.
He climbed up on the horse and spurred the animal forward. "March," he commanded to Marianna as the pull of the rope lurched her forward.
Marianna took one last look up at the face of the cliff. She wasn't sure if she hoped to see Larsen, as she was afraid that if he knew where she was, he would risk his life again.
"Stay safe," she murmured into the wind.
Chapter Twelve
It was a painful walk. The sun beat down on Marianna and she was overwhelmed by the intensity of the Texas heat. She hadn't worn proper shoes for the amount of walking she had done in last twenty-four hours and her feet ached in their leather confines.
However, their journey wasn't long, as Marcus led her to a campsite populated by a small group of men that looked a lot like the group that had originally detained Larsen and her.
Marcus stopped the horse and dismounted, but left Marianna still tied. She swayed with exhaustion and her throat felt parched with dehydration.
"Look what I found boys," Marcus bragged as he approached the small campsite.
The men turned and looked at Marianna, eyeing her with malicious curiosity.
"Where is Larsen?" asked one of the men lazily.
Marcus swaggered closer toward the group. "He won't be bothering us anytime soon," he drawled.
"Finally did him through then?" another man joked as he took a swig from a tin flask.
Marcus sputtered. "Not yet," he said with a vengeful air. "But now that I know he is willing to give up the ranch for the girl, we finally have the leverage we need to see him ruined."
The first man nodded amusingly. "Well, how will he know that you have the girl?" he pointed out. The men appeared to be questioning the logic of Marcus's plan, poking holes where more thorough planning was required. "We failed the first time, because you didn't calculate that we would be taking the girl with us. And now you are changing the plan and saying we are going to use her as bait?"
"Don't think of it as a failed attempt," Marcus tried to smooth over the tension that had begun to accumulate in the small group. "Think of it as a new opportunity to destroy Larsen Dover!"
A third man chuckled at Marcus’s grand statement. "I never quite understood why you hated Larsen, he seems like a decent enough fellow."
All the men in the camp turned their eyes on Marcus, waiting to hear his response.
Marianna could sense that Marcus’s hold on his group was failing. It finally occurred to them that Marcus was driven by more than just financial gain, which was the only thing that motivated these men. Making it personal blinded him to his faults. And as the personal reward diminished, so did the investment of the men he was working with. Marianna hoped that if the men turned against him, she might be able to get out of this whole thing.
"Because he stole my ranch and I will do anything to get it back," he sputtered. His eyes blazed red and his face turned a frightening shade of purple.
The first man rubbed his jaw in thought. "I don't know," he said finally. "I'm not sure I want to have anything to do with your plan. It’s already gotten more complicated than it needed to be."
The other men nodded their agreement.
Marcus appeared to be toeing the edge of violence. "So you are just going to give up then?" he said in an eerily calm voice.
"Not exactly," the second man added. "We were all talking and we were thinking it would be best to p
ut the plan on hold. At least until we can come up with something better than using some girl as blackmail to get the ranch."
"I was thinking of upping the stakes," Marcus said with a frightening gleam in his eyes. "I was going to make sure that Larsen knew that if he didn't sign over the ranch without question, that he would be responsible for the girl's life."
Marianna felt like she had been hit in the gut. Her life? It was clear that Marcus was so obsessed with taking the ranch away from Larsen, that he would injure anyone if they stood in the way, including her.
"I am going to send bits and pieces of her until he either hands the deed over, or there is nothing left," he said coolly.
Marianna went white. Marcus was talking about her life as if she was a sack of flour. Fear gripped her, but she did her best to remain calm. She hoped that the other men would be able to talk reason into Marcus before it was too late.
The first man interrupted the silence that had descended after Marcus's had revealed his gruesome plan. "I'm not a cold-blooded killer. I will kill an opponent in a fair fight, but not like this," he stood up. "I don't want anything to do with this anymore."
The other men rose up with the first man, voicing their agreement as they turned away and toward their horses.
"Sorry Marcus, the risk is too great for me," one of the men said as he swung up into his saddle.
"You are on your own Marcus, I ain’t killing a woman" the third man shrugged lightly.
Marcus exploded. "Alright! I will collect the reward and you will all be sorry. Cowards the lot of you!" he bellowed as they all turned their horses away and began to gallop off.
As the men rode away, they carried with them Marianna's last hope of being rescued. They knew what kind of monster Marcus was and yet they left her with him anyways. Her only hope of making it out alive was by persuading Marcus to let her go. She doubted that she would be able to reason with the deranged man.