Buried Secrets

by Margaret Daley

  Her attacker pulled the weapon out of the mattress and shot off the bed to face Zach. Heedless of the danger he was in, Zach rushed him as if he were a line-backer. Anger set Zach’s face in a feral look.

  The masked man lunged toward Zach. Before the steel found its mark, the blast of a gun thundered through the air. Her ears ringing from the sound, Maggie scrambled away while her assailant fell back on the bed, the knife dropping to the floor. He clutched his arm, blood pouring out between his fingers.

  Maggie looked toward the doorway, the stench of sulfur in the air. Evelyn pointed a handgun at their assailant while Zach snatched up the knife.

  Legs shaking, Maggie stood on the far side of the bed, staring at the scene before her. The man bled all over the covers, his curses echoing through the room.

  “Call Hawke, Zach.” Evelyn moved forward.

  “Here, let me have that, and you go call your son.” Zach slipped the knife into his back pocket, then took the gun. As Evelyn left, his glance flicked over Maggie. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah,” she choked out, the smell of gunpowder nauseating.

  “Are you sure?” His gaze lit upon her arm, his expression grim as he took in her injury.

  She peered down at the trail of blood streaking down her sleeve. She examined the wound, which burned. “Just a scratch.”

  Zach fastened his gaze on the man who continued to clasp his own arm, groaning. “Who hired you?” Zach demanded.

  Maggie’s assailant sent Zach a frosty look.

  Zach stepped forward. “We’ve got you cold for attempted murder.”

  “Another man took the diary.” Maggie pointed toward the open window. “He went that way.”

  Zach swept his glance toward Maggie before settling it on her attacker. The anger in his features intensified. “Who’s your partner?”

  Her attacker’s glare narrowed, his mouth set in a thin line to emphasize he wasn’t going to talk.

  “Suit yourself. It’s your life that will be rotting in prison.”

  Evelyn appeared in the doorway. “Hawke will be here shortly. He was coming up the road toward the house when an SUV shot out from the side behind him and sped away. He’s in pursuit.”

  “It seems your partner has left you to take the fall.” Zach gestured with the .38. “Evelyn, can you see to Maggie? She’s been hurt by this scumbag. I’ll keep him company until Hawke returns.”

  The menacing edge to Zach’s voice underscored his fury, while his expression went neutral. Maggie shivered, glad that Zach was on her side in that moment. She sidled toward the door, keeping her eye on her attacker the whole way.

  Out in the hall, with Evelyn, the trembling that Maggie had held at bay encompassed her from head to toe. She hugged her arms to her and tried to stop it. She couldn’t.

  “Child, let’s get you fixed up. Then when Hawke takes our prisoner to jail we can go to the clinic in town.” Evelyn placed an arm around her to guide her toward the bathroom at the end of the corridor.

  The very idea of being around strangers churned her stomach. “No, I can take care of this. It really is only a scratch.”

  “Thank You, Lord.”

  “Yes,” Maggie whispered, remembering her short prayer for help. It had come in the form of Zach and Evelyn. Thank You, God. I’m glad You were with me or…Another shake trembled down her length.

  “Come on. Have a seat over there while I get my first-aid kit.”

  Maggie collapsed onto the cold lip of the tub, trying desperately to keep her emotions in control. If she thought about what had happened in the bedroom, she was afraid she would fall apart. She couldn’t afford to. She drew on her experience as a doctor, dealing with emergencies, to keep her composure.

  Evelyn cut away Maggie’s bloodied sleeve to expose her hurt arm. “I’m glad it’s not too deep,” Evelyn said. She began to cleanse the wound.

  Zach listened to Maggie and Evelyn moving down the hall toward the bathroom, the whole time drilling his gaze into the intruder. “It looks like your partner abandoned you. There’s no honor among thieves. I’d complain to the guy that hired you.”

  The man shifted on the bed, a moan slipping past his lips. “I need medical help. I’m dying here.”

  “That’s the chance you take when you assault someone so far from town. Help is miles and miles away.” Zach swept his gaze to the wound oozing blood. “Good thing for you my cousin is an expert shot. She wanted you alive, or you would be dead right now.”

  The large man glared at Zach. “I know nothing.”

  Zach gritted his teeth and tightened his hold on the .38. The urge to pull the trigger needled his conscience. He wanted to so badly. He had a feeling this man and his partner were responsible for both Maggie’s grandfather’s and his grandfather’s deaths. But worse, he knew they were behind Maggie’s assaults. Patience, something Hawke had taught him, calmed his nerves, and he eased his grip on the weapon. But his full attention remained trained on the attacker.

  Silence ensued—a stress-racked silence—as they stared at each other, gauging, assessing.

  The man struggled to sit up, his back against the headboard. “I don’t know who hired us. That’s the truth.”

  “You’d have me believe you don’t know who employed you? Do I look stupid to you?”

  Maggie’s assailant leaned forward, wincing. “Believe what you want. I’m just the hired help. I work for the highest bidder who contacts me through the Internet.”

  Zach didn’t doubt the man’s words. “Who’s your partner?”

  “You ain’t getting that from me. Do I look stupid to you?”

  “What’s your name?”

  The man clamped his lips together, sinking back against the headboard.

  Through the front window Zach saw a pair of lights coming toward the house. “Evelyn,” he shouted. When his cousin stepped into the doorway, he continued, “I think Hawke has arrived, but I don’t want to take anything for granted. Watch him while I make sure it’s your son.”

  Zach looked beyond his cousin to Maggie, her face bleached of color. After giving Evelyn the .38, Zach guided Maggie toward the living room.

  He gently pressed her down on the couch. “Sit here. Rest.”

  “You won’t get an argument out of me on that one.”

  The fact she wasn’t resisting his order worried Zach. Her pale features played across his mind as he made his way into the kitchen and out the back door. Hawke pulled to a stop near the stoop and climbed from his Jeep.

  As Hawke mounted the steps, he removed his handcuffs. “The SUV got away. Mom said she caught an intruder.”

  “You won’t need those. She shot him in the arm.”

  “I’m not taking any chances. Backup is on its way. What happened here?” Hawke followed him into the house.

  “I’ll let Maggie tell you after you secure the man.” Zach passed through the living room. His glance immediately sought Maggie to make sure she was all right. Her face still drained of color, she attempted a smile that vanished instantly.

  “We’ll be back in a sec, Maggie.” Hawke made his way to the bedroom. Taking the intruder’s good arm, he handcuffed him to the bedpost. “That should keep him still while I talk with Maggie.” He turned toward his mother. “You okay?”

  “I’m fine. I’ll just stay in here with this—” Evelyn waved her .38 toward the assailant “—while you question Maggie and Zach.”

  Hawke chuckled as he trailed after Zach toward the living room. “Mom’s a better shot than I am. That man picked the wrong woman to go up against.”

  “Not just Evelyn but Maggie, too.” She’s a fighter, Zach realized as he entered the living room.

  Hawke sat on the coffee table facing Maggie. “Can you tell me what happened?”

  Maggie inhaled several deep breaths, the white bandage around her left arm in stark contrast with the chocolate-brown of the cushion she leaned back on. “I fell asleep. The next thing I knew he had me pinned to the bed with a knife at my throa
t.”

  Zach stood behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder.

  She glanced back at him and continued. “He wanted to know where the diary was. I told him. The other man took it and left through the window, giving orders to kill me.”

  Zach felt her quake and lay his other hand on her shoulder. His anger renewed itself and it took a supreme effort for him not to storm down the hall, wrench the gun from Evelyn and finish the man off.

  Jesus, that’s not Your way, but I’m mighty tempted. Give me the patience I need.

  “Thankfully that’s when Zach and Evelyn came in.”

  Hawke pushed to his feet. “I guess I need to have a little word with the prisoner now.”

  The stern tone in his voice spoke of Hawke’s own struggle to remain patient. If anyone could get the partner’s name, it would be Hawke.

  Another set of headlights flashed through the open curtains and illuminated the far wall. “That will be one of my officers. Show him back, Zach.”

  Zach did as his cousin instructed and then watched as the officers hauled the assailant away. After that Zach helped Evelyn clean up Maggie’s bed, stripping off the covers, which were soaked with blood.

  When he glimpsed the red on the mattress, he said, “I’ll get you a new one. I’m sorry I brought this to your doorstep. I don’t know how they found us so soon.”

  “That’s a good question, one we should try to answer.”

  “We?”

  Evelyn held the bundle of ruined bedding. “Yes, we. We are your family and family helps each other. I’m glad you came here. Otherwise this might not have ended so well.”

  Zach peered toward the living room where Maggie lay curled on the couch. “I’m not sure it ended so well.”

  “She’s alive. You and I are alive. It did end well. But the best thing that happened is that we have one of the attackers. If there’s information to be had, Hawke will get it.” She started forward. “You need to take care of your…friend.”

  The slight pause before the word friend made Zach chuckle. “That’s all she is, Evelyn, so quit thinking there’s more.”

  His cousin harrumphed. “It seems to me there’s more going on between you two than merely friendship. And I know Willow would have been happy to have an end to the feud between the two families.” Evelyn walked into the living room and kept going toward the kitchen.

  The sound of the back door opening and closing stirred Maggie on the couch. She looked up toward Zach, the dim light on the table across the room casting her ashen features in the shadows.

  He came to her side and knelt, brushing her hair from her face. “You okay?”

  “No. Give me a few hours to sleep, then I’ll be ready to go. We have to solve the mystery before whoever has the diary does. They are not going to get the codices.”

  “We don’t have to go after them now. They think they have all the information, so they should leave us alone.”

  “They—whoever they are—will not win. They killed our grandfathers. This was important to Gramps and your granddad.” She scooted to a sitting position. “Besides, we have a good head start on them. They don’t know we have copies of everything. We have the advantage. I think we can solve the code in the diary, get there and retrieve the codices before they know what hit them.”

  “Are you sure, Maggie? I can do this without you. I don’t want to put you in any more danger.”

  “We’re partners. Are you backing out of our deal?”

  The anger in her voice blasted him, making him realize she would be formidable if crossed. Again he thought about how much of a fighter she was. “No. It won’t be easy. Anytime you want to back out, just say so. I’ll understand.”

  She tilted up her chin. “I’m made of tougher stuff than you think. I’ll be all right.”

  His gaze swept to the nick on her neck. He touched the spot. If anything happened to her, he would never forgive himself, but her ardent tone made it perfectly clear she wouldn’t let him proceed without her. He couldn’t have her trying to find the codices on her own. The stubborn set of her jaw attested to that possibility. At least if they were together he could protect her.

  “He hurt you there, too.” He stroked his finger under the small cut.

  She covered his hand. “Just a scratch. It doesn’t even bother me.” She started to rise, swayed and collapsed back onto the couch.

  “Yeah, sure, you’re okay.”

  “Not yet, but I will be. That’s a promise.” Determination marked each word whispered in the quiet. “I just got up too fast.”

  “Why don’t you stay on the couch and try to get some sleep? I can sit over there in that chair and keep an eye on you.” He gestured toward a lounger.

  She shook her head. “You need your rest as much as I do. Especially if we are going to try and solve this mystery. As a doctor I know about the effects of sleep deprivation. I’ll be fine in the bedroom. They have what they want. I can’t see the partner coming back tonight.”

  “You can’t go back in that room. The mattress is soaked with blood.”

  “Then…” She scrunched her mouth into a frown.

  “Here, let me help you.” He half expected her to protest, but when he put his arm around her and assisted her to stand, she didn’t say a word. “You’re going to sleep in the bedroom I was using. I’ll sleep out here.”

  She sagged against him as he guided her down the hallway to the last door on the right. “Don’t let me sleep past seven. We have a lot of work ahead of us tomorrow.”

  He went into the bedroom and checked to make sure the window was locked, then came back to the entrance where Maggie still stood. “Just a precaution. I don’t think anyone will be bothering us tonight, either.” The black circles beneath her eyes knotted his stomach.

  She peered toward the bed. “I’m so exhausted I don’t think I’ll have any trouble sleeping in spite of what happened.”

  Although she tried to act as if she would be all right, Zach saw the fear that shadowed her eyes. “I promise you’ll be safe tonight,” was all he could say.

  He hated the feeling of helplessness he’d experienced in the wake of her ordeal. He caressed his finger across her cheek, wishing he could wipe away the evidence of the past few hours. But its mark was evident on her pale skin. No matter how invincible she wanted to appear, she wasn’t.

  “Good night, and thanks for saving me.” She twisted around to enter the bedroom.

  He couldn’t let her go like that. He halted her with a hand on her shoulder and swung her around toward him. “I can sleep on the floor in the room if that will make you feel safer.”

  She chuckled. “No, you would be a distraction. But thanks for the offer.”

  His hands framed her face while his lips whispered across her cheeks where the dark circles were. Then his mouth claimed hers, not in a demanding kiss but in a gentle touch, meant to reassure her.

  When he released his hold, she backed away, her fingers grazing across her lips. “I’m supposed to sleep after that? You’re not playing fair.” Another chuckle peppered the air.

  He grinned. “Good night, Maggie.”

  After closing the door, he listened to her walk to the bed, then he retraced his steps to the living room, where he pulled the coverlet off the couch. He strode back down the hall and stretched out on the floor before the door where Maggie was. He had made a promise he intended to keep. No one was going to hurt her tonight.

  The aroma of coffee awakened Maggie. She opened one eye to sunlight streaming through the slit in the curtains of the bedroom window. Bright sunlight! She bolted up and checked her watch. Nine o’clock!

  Quickly she threw back the covers and rose. The sudden movement left her light-headed. She paused, gripping the bedpost. After the room stopped spinning, she carefully made her way to the door. When she opened it, she found Zach lying on the floor in the hallway, wrapped in a comforter, his head cradled on one arm.

  His eyes blinked open. He smiled up at her. “Good mo
rning.”

  “It’s nine.”

  He sat up. “It is?” He looked at his own watch while taking a deep breath of the coffee-scented air. “I guess we all overslept.”

  Maggie stepped over his stretched-out legs. “We have a lot to do, and we’re already two hours behind schedule.”

  She entered the kitchen with Zach right behind her. At the table Hawke sat with Evelyn, each holding a mug and taking sips. Maggie made a beeline for the pot on the stove and poured herself a cup. After she’d gone to bed last night, she had lain awake for a couple of hours before her mind had shut down enough for sleep to take over. Consequently she felt as if she were walking around in a fog.

  “Did you find out anything useful from that man?” Zach asked Hawke as he sat next to Maggie at the table, his own mug full, steam drifting toward the ceiling.

  “His name is Joe Bailey, and I think the Albuquerque police have a lead on the man he usually teams up with. They’re checking out an address and will call me when they find out anything.”

  “So there’s a chance we’ll get the diary back?” Maggie blew on the hot liquid to cool it down. She needed caffeine, lots of it, and fast.

  “Maybe, if he hasn’t handed it off to whoever hired him.”

  “According to Bailey, he and his partner didn’t know who hired them.” Zach sipped his coffee.

  “You don’t need the diary, do you?” Evelyn rose and walked to the pot to refill her cup.

  “No, but it would be nice to be able to donate the journal to the museum, with the codices.” Maggie finally took a drink.

  “I like your positive thinking,” Zach said with a laugh. “We could use some—”

  The ringing of the phone cut off his next words. Hawke hurried into the living room to answer it. Maggie strained to listen to what Zach’s cousin was saying, but low murmurs were all she heard. When he reentered the kitchen a few minutes later, the look on Hawke’s face didn’t bode well for them.