The Heartbreaker

by Vicki Lewis Thompson

“I lost her. I got caught behind three people in wheelchairs and by the time I got out here she’d disappeared. I didn’t know which way to go because I didn’t know where you’d parked.”

  “Over there.” Beth pointed in the direction of where she remembered leaving the Jeep. “Mike, I see her! She’s pulling out, right there!”

  “You’re right.” He grabbed her hand. “The truck’s not too far from there. Come on.”

  They ran through a downpour that soaked them to the skin in seconds. Beth splashed through puddles, sending sprays of water up her bare legs. And all the while she kept glancing at the Jeep headed for the parking lot exit. Fortunately a car had pulled out in front of Alana, which slowed her down.

  “Keep an eye on her,” Mike said. “See which way she turns while I get the truck started.”

  Beth’s hopes faded. “You brought that old clunker? We’ll never catch her in that!”

  He unlocked the door and flung it open. “It’s all we’ve got.”

  As he tried to coax the sputtering engine to life, Beth eased around to the passenger side while still watching Alana, who’d made it to the exit. When Beth heard the engine catch and the lock click open on the passenger door, she leaped inside. “East on Grant,” she said.

  Mike headed for the exit “See if you can tell whether she turns right on Craycroft.”

  As Mike pulled out onto Grant, Beth could see the Jeep go straight through the intersection at Craycroft. “She’s still driving east.”

  “Then she’s not heading for the freeway. Which means she’s not bound for either Phoenix or Bisbee. I wonder where the hell she’s going?”

  “She may not even know herself,” Beth said quietly.

  “After Dad died, she drove out into the desert. I tried to follow her, but I didn’t have four-wheel-drive, so she lost me. Finally she came back hours later and wouldn’t talk to me about it. The next day she admitted not even remembering where she went. She just spaced the whole drive.”

  “Great” Mike barreled east on Grant toward the Rincon Mountains as lightning slashed through the clouds and thunder rolled overhead. “Let’s hope traffic’s held her up.”

  Beth peered through the heavy rain. The advancing darkness wasn’t helping, either, but at least the Jeep was distinctive. At last she spotted it. “There!” She pointed out the Jeep. “Get in the left lane. She’s turning on Tanque Verde.”

  “Okay.” Mike glanced in his rearview mirror. “Damn, but I can’t tell who’s behind me in this glop.” He rolled down his window and stuck his head out to check when it was safe to change lanes. By the time they made the turn they were two cars behind Alana.

  “Assuming we can get behind her, how will we get her to pull over?” Beth asked. “She won’t want to.”

  “I’m working on that.” Thunder rumbled over the mountains ahead of them. “If the shoulder looks decent, I may try to force her off the road.”

  “Oh, Mike. That sounds too dangerous.”

  “So is driving spaced out through a rainstorm. We need to get her out of that Jeep.”

  “You shouldn’t have kissed me!”

  “You should have told her right away!”

  She shouted to be heard over another peal of thunder. “I couldn’t! You saw the way she leaped in to save me on the lawsuit thing! How could I tell her we were involved, after that?”

  His voice rose a notch. “How could you let her think I would want to work for her?”

  “How did I know you didn’t?”

  “Because I love you, dammit! And I wish you’d get it through your thick skull!”

  “I have a thick skull? How about—Mike! She’s going around that delivery truck.”

  “I see her. Hang on.” Mike whipped the wheel to the right, and the truck fishtailed as he worked to keep the Jeep in sight.

  “Can you catch up to her?”

  “I’ve got it floored.”

  Beth groaned as another bolt of lightning lit up the sky. “If only you’d brought the rental car.”

  “How did I know I’d be involved in a high-speed chase?” He swore under his breath.

  “Just swear out loud, Mike. I’ve heard all those words. From you, as a matter of fact. You taught them to me when we were kids, remember?”

  “And that’s about how we sound, arguing like this.” The temperature had plummeted with the coming of the rain, and Beth began to shiver in her wet clothes. “I wish we were still kids, and we were chasing Alana on our bikes, instead.”

  Mike flicked on the truck’s heater. “We might as well be, as fast as this truck is. Thank God. She just got a red light. That’ll help.”

  “I don’t know how many more lights there are on this road. It’s starting to get pretty desolate out here.” Beth rubbed her arms to work away the goose bumps. “What if she takes off cross-country?”

  The set of Mike’s jaw became more determined. “We’ll follow as long as we can, until we get stuck in mud or break an axle or blow a tire.” He braked the truck as it came up behind Alana’s Jeep at the light. “I’m going to honk the horn and let her know we’re back here. Maybe she’ll realize this is ridiculous and pull over.”

  “I doubt it, but go ahead and try.”

  Mike tapped the horn twice.

  “I can’t see her very well through that plastic window,” Beth said. “Especially with the rain all over it.”

  “But she sees us, I’ll bet.”

  Like a shot the Jeep spun away from the intersection.

  “Damn! She ran the light!” Mike looked quickly both ways and stepped on the gas. “Too bad we weren’t lucky enough to have a cop catch her doing that.”

  “I guess you have your answer as to whether she’ll just pull over once she knows we’re here.”

  “Crazy woman,” he muttered, shifting quickly through the truck’s gears.

  “I knew she was going to react like this. I just knew it.”

  “Yeah, and I kept hoping you were exaggerating.”

  “Think about it from her standpoint, Mike. She’s had her heart set on you since she was six years old. She said that today, in fact. You didn’t tell her you weren’t in love with her. You just left. That meant she was free to imagine anything, like, for example, that you’d get over your wanderlust and come home to her.”

  “That’s true, but we could have cleared up that misconception as soon as she came home this time.”

  “We should have. I see that now, and it’s my fault”

  He reached over and gave her knee a quick squeeze. “It’s been tough for you.”

  “I should have been braver about this.”

  “You might have been, if you’d really believed how much I love you.”

  She remained silent as she watched the taillights of the Jeep disappear into a dip in the road. The truck and the Jeep were the only two vehicles on this lonely stretch, and Alana seemed to be gaining ground.

  Mike glanced at her. “You’re still having trouble with that concept, aren’t you?”

  “I saw you break Alana’s heart,” Beth said carefully. “I don’t want you to do the same thing to mine.” She noticed that way out here on the desert the thunder seemed louder, the lightning more savage. She shivered.

  “I broke her heart because I’ve always been in love with you. Nothing about you and me is the same as it was with Alana and me. Nothing.”

  “Except that we’ve both been in love with you for years.”

  Mike gave her a sharp glance. “So you have been in love with me for years? You never admitted that before.”

  “I never wanted you to know. It made me too vulnerable.”

  His voice grew husky. “Be vulnerable for me, Beth. I swear I won’t hurt you. You said you’ve loved me for years. For God’s sake tell me you love me now.”

  “I—” She stopped speaking as the Jeep’s taillights glowed brighter in the distance. “Mike! I think she’s putting on her brakes.”

  “Looks like it. Hot dog. Maybe she’s sick of
this rollercoaster ride.”

  “No, I think it’s the wash up ahead that made her stop. Look at the current of that water going across the road. Nobody’s been out here yet to put up barricades, but that doesn’t look passable to me. I’ll bet she’s deciding whether or not to drive through.”

  “She sure as hell better not That’s a bad crossing if I ever saw one. Listen, when we get closer to her, I’m going to swing the truck sideways across the road, to block her in case she tries to double back.”

  “I can’t believe she’d drive through that wash,” Beth said, trying to convince herself.

  As they drew closer Beth estimated that the Jeep sat about ten feet from the edge of the stream that churned over the road. The Jeep’s headlights illuminated the gray water, swift and filled with debris, but gauging its depth was impossible. A pack rat clung to a paloverde branch that swirled past.

  “She’s always talking about the fools who underestimate a desert wash when it’s running,” Beth said. “She knows it would be dumb to try. Even four-wheel-drive wouldn’t guarantee anything.”

  “I hope she’s remembering all that. Well, here goes.” He slowed the truck and swung it in a wide arc to the left so it blocked both lanes.

  Even before the truck stopped completely Beth opened her door and jumped out into the rain. She ran toward the Jeep, but before she could get there, it lurched forward, headed for the stream.

  “No!” Beth screamed, running faster. “Alana, don’t!”

  The Jeep plowed into the water, sending geysers up past the tires. Beth didn’t stop running or shouting until she was ankle-deep in water and almost lost her footing.

  Mike grabbed her and yanked her back. “What’re you going to do, hold onto the bumper?” he yelled into her ear.

  Beth opened her mouth, but all that came out were ragged sobs. She swiped at the rain and tears in her eyes so she could watch the progress of the Jeep. Please let her make it, she prayed.

  The Jeep moved steadily forward as the water lapped at the hubcaps. So far, so good. Then, abruptly, the right front tire plopped into a hole. The Jeep rocked and began to tilt.

  “Oh, God,” Mike said.

  “Hang on!” Beth shouted, her throat raw.

  The water shoved at the precariously balanced Jeep with increasing force. It tilted farther to the right.

  “Maybe there’s a rope in the truck bed.” Mike released his grip on her arm and ran back to the truck.

  Beth stood with her hands pressed to her mouth. Tears and rain coursed down her cheeks as the Jeep gave way to the rushing water and with a sickening splash went over on its side.

  Mike’s voice was frantic. “Can’t find the damned rope!” he called. “I’ll keep looking!”

  The window unzipped, and Alana peered out. A sudden flash of lightning made her eyes glitter in her white face.

  “Don’t worry, we’ll get you!” Beth screamed.

  “Have you got a rope?” Alana yelled back.

  “Mike’s looking!”

  The tow rope’s under the danged seat, said a voice right beside her that sounded exactly like Ernie’s.

  Beth spun in the direction of the voice.

  Ernie stood about six feet away from her, his cigar jammed in the corner of his mouth, his Western shirt and scruffy jeans remarkably dry. The jaguar tooth was no longer around his neck. Tell him where the rope is, Ernie said. He ain’t gonna find it on his own. He’s too rattled.

  Beth kept her attention on Ernie. “The...the rope’s under the seat!” she managed to call out as she stared at Ernie. The rain was still coming down in torrents, but he wasn’t getting wet An icy finger of premonition slid up Beth’s spine. “How did you get here?” she whispered.

  Never mind that. Just marry that boy of mine.

  “I—”

  Promise me, now, Beth. I ain’t got all day to hang around.

  “I promise, but—”

  “I found the rope!” Breathing hard, Mike loped up beside her.

  “Mike...”

  “Okay, here’s what we’ll do.” He handed her the end of the heavy nylon rope. “Tie this end to the truck. Get underneath and tie it to the axle. While you’re doing that I’ll get as far out as I can and throw it to Alana. She can tie it to the roll bar.”

  “Okay.” Swallowing the lump in her throat, she hurried over to the truck, but once there she had to check the place where Ernie had been standing. Mike moved quickly past the spot without stopping. Her heart twisted in agony. As she’d expected, Ernie was gone.

  She squirmed under the truck, grit from the road biting into her bare arms and legs, and tied the rope firmly to the front axle. By the time she wriggled out again, Alana was tying the other end to the roll bar as she balanced on the side of the Jeep. Mike stood knee deep in the water, and he staggered once as a piece of driftwood hit him in the back of the knees.

  “Mike, come back a little!” she called as she started toward him.

  “I’m okay! Once Alana’s got the rope tied, I’ll hang on to it.”

  The rope grew taut.

  “It’s tied!” Alana called.

  “I’m coming out to get you!” Mike yelled back.

  That was the moment Beth heard the soft but unmistakable sound of the truck moving slightly.

  Set the emergency, Ernie said.

  She looked around, but this time there was nobody standing there. She ran toward the truck, leaped in and put on the emergency brake.

  Now get some big rocks and put ’em beside the front and back tires.

  She hurried to do it, barely having time to notice that Mike was up to his chest in swirling water as he worked his way down the rope toward Alana. She heaved up rocks she’d never dream of trying to lift otherwise. For some reason, they weren’t as hard to carry as she’d thought, almost as if somebody was helping her with them.

  That should do ‘er, at least for the time bein’.

  She ran to the water’s edge and stood there panting as Alana climbed out of the Jeep onto Mike’s back. Carrying Alana piggyback, Mike started working himself back along the rope. Once he stumbled, and Beth cried out.

  Don’t worry. He’s gonna make it.

  Beth swallowed. “He has to. I love him so much.” She stood rigidly waiting as Mike reached the point where the water was at his waist, then his hips. Finally, when it was at his knees, Alana took hold of the rope and climbed down in front of him. When she reached ankle depth, Beth waded in and took her into her arms.

  “I’m sorry,” Alana sobbed. “I always knew he loved you. I thought I could beat you out. I almost d-did, too. But then you bought that d-damned red dress.”

  Beth held tight to her sister and cried with her for all the years of deceit and competition that had raged unacknowledged alongside their incredible love for each other. At last she heaved a ragged sigh. “It’s over now. We’re going to be okay.”

  “Yep,” Alana said with a watery laugh. “Nobody messes with the Nightingale sisters.”

  “Nope,” Beth said, giving her a big hug. “Not even use.”

  15

  A RANCHER WITH A WINCH on the front of his dualwheeled truck arrived soon after Mike rescued Alana. Mike and the rancher managed to get the Jeep upright and started hauling it back onto firm ground.

  “Too bad that guy didn’t show up sooner,” Alana said. She and Beth sat in the cab of Ernie’s old truck while they waited for the men to finish pulling the Jeep out The rancher had given them a blanket and they’d wrapped it around themselves as they huddled together in the darkness.

  “I think it’s better he didn’t show up until now,” Beth said.

  “I guess you’re right.” Alana tucked the blanket more firmly around them. “When Mike risked his life to save me and you were ready to leap into the water to swim out to get me, I was able to see what a jerk I was for putting us all in danger.”

  “You were furious with us and couldn’t think straight.”

  “I know, but I didn’t show much
maturity in the way I reacted. While Mike was looking for the rope and my chances were getting slim, I realized how much the three of us mean to each other. I saw how dumb I was to give up the two people who loved me most in this world just because of wounded pride.”

  “Only pride?”

  Alana sighed. “I hate to admit that. But the truth is, I’ve always loved Mike like a brother. I wanted him mostly because he was the best catch around, and it fed my ego to be able to say he was my boyfriend, my fiancé. Especially when I knew you wanted him, too.”

  “You knew that?”

  Alana reached up and punched her gently on the shoulder. “What do you take me for? Stupid?”

  “I thought I was keeping it a big secret.”

  “Oh, sure. Like the way you’d challenge him to wrestling matches all the time, and always be around when he came to pick me up, and then that red dress, my God. You might as well have taken out a billboard advertisement. No wonder he finally kissed you that night.”

  Beth’s cheeks warmed. “You knew about that, too?”

  “I saw you. That was one hot kiss. Mike and I never had that kind of chemistry, which is why it was no big deal for us to do the celibacy-before-marriage thing. I was ready to kill you that night, but bringing everything out in the open seemed like it would make the link between you two real, and I didn’t want it to be. I figured I’d fight fire with fire and tried to seduce him later that night. As you know, it didn’t work.”

  Beth had accepted Mike’s version of that story, but it still didn’t hurt his credibility to have Alana confirm the truth. “You wanted me to hate him.”

  “Sure I did. If you knew the truth, you might end up with him. Since you were already Dad’s favorite, I didn’t think that was fair.”

  “Dad’s favorite?” Beth stared at her sister. “What makes you think a crazy thing like that?”

  “Why wouldn’t you be? You worked with him every day in the glass studio, and I wasn’t any good at that. He was always bragging about your creativity. I always felt like...an outsider.”

  “Oh, Alana.” Beth hugged her tight. “You know what Dad talked about when we worked together? He talked about you! How smart you were, and brave. That girl’s going to see every corner of the world someday, he’d say, and his eyes would be shining with pride.”