Thrill Squeaker

by Christy Barritt

  The alpine slide.

  Riley wanted me to go down it with him.

  As I imagined my body hitting numerous obstacles on the twenty-year-old ride, I cringed and took a step back.

  I wasn’t sure if I could do this.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  “Y ou said you trusted me, Gabby.” Riley stretched out his hand.

  I swallowed hard. I did trust Riley. I did.

  I was going to prove that to him today. And for the rest of my life.

  “I do.” I took his hand. “Let’s go.”

  He grinned—but only briefly—before sitting on the slide and motioning for me to sit behind him. Just as I lowered myself there, another bullet rang out. I turned and saw one of the brothers running with a crazy Geronimo expression on his face.

  Grumpy. It was Grumpy.

  Riley grabbed my legs, and I grabbed his waist as we pushed off. I pressed my face into his back, closing my eyes as we slid downward. I waited for pain. For derailment. For the fire or a bullet to catch up.

  After a few seconds, nothing happened. We continued to glide down the mountain in an amazingly smooth ride.

  I actually popped my eyes open. Trees whizzed past, the slide dipped and turned. Its thick plastic base kept us well-covered.

  “This is actually kind of fun,” I whispered. “I mean, other than the bad guys shooting at us and everything else.”

  “Alpine slides are great—under different circumstances. We’ve got to think about what we’ll do when we get off this thing.”

  I looked behind me, just out of curiosity. What I saw made my blood go cold.

  “Grumpy is on the slide!”

  “What?” Riley glanced over his shoulder.

  “We’re still being chased.” As Grumpy got closer, I reached for my gun. Just as I grabbed it, we hit a bump and the gun flew from my hands, landing somewhere behind us. “Oh, that’s not good.”

  “What happened?”

  “I lost my gun, and Grumpy is getting closer. At the moment, he reminds me a bit of an angry gnome.”

  “What?”

  “Never mind. Where does this lead?”

  “Near Pharaoh’s Tomb. I have an idea, Gabby. I’m going to get off. But you keep going down. If you don’t, my plan won’t work, so you have to promise me you’ll do it.”

  My mind raced with possibilities. “Okay. I’ll do it.”

  Just as we started slowing down and the incline lessened, Riley reached up and grabbed one of the branches overhead. He lifted his legs and I slid under him.

  I jerked my head back to see what he would do next. He managed to turn himself around so he faced the top of the mountain. As soon as Grumpy got close enough, Riley kicked him in the chest.

  The man moaned and fell from the slide, dazed.

  All of a sudden, I hit the end of the slide with an oomph. Riley helped me to my feet, and we kept moving. As we did, I heard movement in the distance. From more than one direction.

  My heart raced. This wasn’t good. I knew exactly what was happening. We were outnumbered. But we had to keep moving.

  Movement could save lives. I’d learned that in a self-defense course one time, and I had to believe it now.

  As someone stepped into our path, we threw on the brakes. Bill.

  We took a step back. I glanced behind me, ready to run in the opposite direction. But it was just as I feared. The other Brunke brothers had surrounded us. We were trapped.

  “Bill, why are you doing this?” I started. “There’s got to be a better way. I always thought more of you.”

  He sneered, all indications of his earlier laidback personality gone. “My dad always talked about diamonds in this area. People laughed at him. Diamonds in West Virginia? We could talk all we wanted about Punch Jones. We’d given up too—until we lost our jobs at the mines.”

  “I didn’t think this area had the right conditions for diamonds,” Riley said. He moved closer to me, nudging me behind him slightly.

  That’s right. Keep them talking. Buy time before they kill us.

  “There’s an ancient, diamond-bearing volcanic pipe that runs through here,” Bill continued. “I researched it. It’s probably from volcanic activity that happened in this area who knows how many thousands of years ago.”

  “That’s really fascinating.”

  He pulled a rock from a pouch at his waist. “This one? It’s probably five karats. If I get it cut, it could be worth $10,000.”

  “That’s incredible. It really is. But why kill Caleb?” I asked.

  “Easy. He stumbled on us collecting these gems. He knew immediately what we were doing and threatened to tell Nate. We gave him a cut—$15,000. We thought we were good. Then he came back demanding more for his silence. That’s when we knew we had to take action.”

  I nodded, my throat tight as I realized the other Brunke brothers were now close enough to touch. They surrounded us completely. How were we going to get out of this?

  “So you killed him like you killed Henry?” I said.

  Bill deposited the gem back into his pouch before pulling out a hammer on his tool belt. He hit it against his palm. At once, I had visions of him slamming that hammer into us. I cringed, imagining the pain it would cause.

  “Henry was a mistake,” he growled. “He was out here relic hunting when he found a diamond. He showed us what he’d found, and we knew he’d hit the mother lode.”

  “So you killed him? Isn’t that extreme?”

  “This land used to be our family’s until Jebidiah bought it from us for dirt. My father was desperate, and he was promised a job here. But we were the first ones let go. Then Henry showed up. He had a nice job and life ahead of him. And he wanted to pocket the money from it. We couldn’t let him do that.”

  “You’ve been mining the area for the past twenty years? I’m surprised the supply hasn’t dried up,” Riley said.

  Bill scowled. “We spent the next two decades looking for more diamonds like the one Henry found. It wasn’t until it flooded in this area last summer that we located the mother lode. Apparently, all of these beauties are located near the Pharaoh’s Tomb area.”

  Keep them talking, Gabby. Keep them talking. “You didn’t want this place to open up, did you?”

  “We had to keep it out of Scotty Stephens’ hands,” Happy said. “Scotty has an endless supply of money. He would have put up fences and added security. Nate didn’t have those advantages. We really didn’t want to hurt anyone. But it happened, and we’ve had to live with that.”

  “I thought more of you, Happy.” I had to play on his kindness. “I thought more of all of you, for that matter. I didn’t realize your brotherly bond ran so deeply.”

  “Happy?” he repeated, scratching his head in confusion at my nickname.

  “We are all each other has,” Bill growled. “We have to stick together. My dad taught us that lesson. You don’t snitch on family.”

  “And Bigfoot?” Riley asked. “Do you have anything to do with the sightings in this area?”

  “We initially dressed up to keep people away,” Bill said. “It was the perfect disguise and a great way to keep people off this land. Then people started getting interested. They started coming out here because they were fascinated with Bigfoot instead of scared of him.”

  “You don’t have to do this, Bill,” I said, feeling smothered as the circle squeezed tighter. “There are better ways.”

  “We’ve come this far. We can’t lose everything. These diamonds are rightfully ours. We’ve made enough money on them since this summer that we’ve been able to actually pay our bills and buy groceries—even dentures. There’s nothing wrong with providing for your family.”

  “No, but there’s a lot wrong with stealing and murder.”

  Bill growled.

  “What’s with the hammers?” Riley asked. “I’ve noticed you all had them while doing landscaping work at the park. I didn’t think anything of it, at first, but now it’s starting to seem weird.”<
br />
  “It’s how our dad taught us to mine,” Happy said. “You dig into the ground with the hammer. And then you fill in the dirt using the side of the hammer. It works perfectly.”

  “That explains why you all looked so dirty all the time.” Everything suddenly made sense. All of the puzzle pieces fit. Well, almost all of them.

  “What were you doing in the clown house that day?”

  “We hid some of our loot in there in between jobs. We weren’t expecting you to go inside, so we had to think quickly. That was Dill. He always liked being a clown. We thought it would be a good chance to scare you away also, but nothing worked. Then we heard you were Sherlock, and I saw the diamond you’d found. I knew we needed to get rid of you. And those silly college boys that Nate Reynolds hired.”

  “It looks like the Bigfoot Strangler is about to strike again,” Bill said, raising his hammer. “Sorry about this. You seemed like a nice girl.”

  Suddenly, someone jumped on my back, his hands going to my throat. Just like on the old Mythical Falls commercial, I realized. The one where the small clown jumped on the bigger clown’s back.

  I was going to be the Bigfoot Strangler’s next victim.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  Riley grabbed my hand and, in one quick motion, he burst through the circle, pulling me behind him. The Brunke on my back tumbled to the ground.

  Before anyone could realize what was happening, he led me through the wilderness. We moved so fast that I couldn’t tell which end was up or which direction we were headed.

  I heard shouts behind us. Footsteps pounding. A gun being fired.

  “Hold your breath!” Riley yelled, gripping my hand harder.

  What in the world was he talking about? Before I could voice the thought aloud, the ground disappeared beneath me.

  I sucked in a breath.

  The cliff. We’d just jumped off the cliff.

  What in the world was Riley thinking?

  The next instance, cold water surrounded us. My body went into shock. But, before I succumbed to my panic, arms reached around me and pulled me to the surface.

  I gasped, sucking in air. Before total fright could set in, Riley’s face came into focus.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, water covering his eyelids and dripping from the tip of his nose.

  I did a quick self-assessment. “I think so.”

  “Good. Because we need to keep moving. Can you swim?”

  “Usually.”

  His lip curled in a half-smile. “If we can make it halfway down this river, we can reach Area 51 and run for help.”

  “I can’t feel my arms.”

  “We don’t have a lot of time, Gabby.”

  I nodded. “Okay, then. Let’s go.”

  I forced my limbs to move through the water. I wouldn’t let Riley out of my sight. My life depended on it.

  Who knew where the Brunke brothers were at this point. They could be chasing us downstream. I couldn’t let them catch us again. We were too outnumbered.

  We reached an area where the stream became too shallow to swim through. But as I rose out of the water, my shivers overwhelmed my body. The cool night air mixed with the frigid mountain stream would mean hypothermia could easily set in.

  My breath froze as I expelled air from my lungs.

  “I wish I had something to keep you warm,” Riley said, putting his arm around me.

  “Me too.”

  “We have to keep moving, okay?”

  I nodded. “Okay.”

  We slogged through the stream and onto dry land. “Just up this hillside is Area 51. We can make it. The buildings will offer us some warmth. In the meantime, I can go find the rest of the gang.”

  Sirens sounded in the distance. Thank goodness. Maybe help was on the way. For all of us.

  “How’d you know it was safe for us to jump off that cliff?” I asked, trying to keep my thoughts focused.

  “I wandered one day while we were working on the alpine slide. I couldn’t resist exploring a little. It paid off.”

  “Yes, it did.”

  My legs burned as we climbed the incline. In the distance, I spotted a gigantic spaceship. We were almost there.

  There were no signs of the Brunke brothers.

  Praise God.

  Finally, we reached the metal structure. Riley started to pull me inside, but I shook my head. “We’ve got to find help.”

  “Can you make it much farther?”

  “I’m going to have to.”

  Just as I said the words, someone emerged from a cabin in the distance. Chad. It was Chad!

  Finally, maybe we were safe.

  He hobbled toward us as quickly as possible with his hurt ankle. “Where have you been? Nate just radioed me and told me about a fire. I came up here to check and see if you’d ventured this way to work. I was hoping.”

  “We got out just in time. But Chad—the Brunke brothers,” I said.

  “The police have them in custody.”

  “What?”

  Chad nodded. “Marion Edwards called. Duke was out here searching for Bigfoot when he saw everything happen. He hurried back and called Sheriff Abel. The police found the brothers coming out of the back entrance to the park and took them in for questioning.”

  “How about the fire?”

  “Firefighters are on their way.” As if on cue, I heard another siren in the distance, growing closer by the moment. “It’s contained to the old office. Thankfully.” He paused. “I think we need to get you guys some blankets and coffee before you get sick. Come on.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  By the time Chief Abel let us go, sunlight filtered through the trees in misty rays that inspired the imagination. Slowly, Riley and I trudged back toward the cabins. I looked like a wreck. A total and complete wreck. I was still partly covered in mud. My hair had twigs in it. I could only guess what my face might have picked up—dirt, dust, pollen. The possibilities were endless.

  Riley didn’t really look all that worse for the wear. Sure, he had dirt smudges here and there: on his knee, his elbow, and a small smudge on his cheek. But, overall, he still looked great.

  In the craziness of the past several hours, we’d learned several things. Seamus had been involved with a poker ring in the area. Apparently, he’d won big-time against Junior and Debby Stephens. He won so much money, in fact, that he decided the job here at Mythical Falls wasn’t worth finishing and he’d taken off for the Bahamas.

  Caleb Kidwell’s parents had stopped by and thanked me for solving the case. Word traveled quickly in such a small town. They’d even cut me a check, which would help greatly with purchasing a new car. Though insurance would cover most of my loss, the extra would provide for anything I would have had to pay out of pocket.

  It had also come out that the Brunke brothers had been troublemakers when they were younger, but most people thought they’d mellowed out. They’d been stockpiling the diamonds they’d found, waiting to cash them in and get out of town. Thankfully, there was plenty of evidence to convict them, especially since none of the brothers were talking or ratting each other out.

  In the back of my mind, I wondered if Scotty Stephens had secretly known about the diamonds. If he’d heard rumors. He’d probably never admit to it.

  Now it was time to move on to the most important matters of all.

  Just as we crossed the arched bridge leading into Bigfoot Woods, I turned toward Riley. I was ready to finish the conversation I should have wrapped up months ago.

  “Riley, can we talk?” My voice cracked with some kind of emotional strain that surprised even me.

  “Of course. What’s going on?”

  I sucked in a deep breath, realizing just how scary it was to put my heart out there. “You know how you’ve been asking me if something is wrong?”

  He nodded and took my hands in his as we faced each other. “Because I knew there was something wrong. I also knew you’d tell me when the time was right. I was trying to give yo
u space.”

  My heart filled with gratitude. I loved this man. I really did. “Well, I guess there’s been a part of me that’s been holding back. I’ve been afraid of getting hurt again. I mean, every time things seem great between us, something happens that tears us apart. The fact that we’re together right now has seemed too good to be true. So I thought that maybe if I didn’t wish as hard or hold on as tight that maybe this time things would be different.”

  “Oh, Gabby.” He pulled me closer and kissed the top of my hands tenderly.

  “I know it probably sounds crazy—”

  “We have been through a lot. Way more than most couples. The fact that we’re still together says a lot.”

  I nodded, feeling calmer by the moment. “I agree. There’s no one else I ever want to be with, Riley. Just you.”

  A huge grin spread across his face. “I was hoping you’d say that one day. Because I feel the exact same way about you.”

  I wanted to rejoice, but I needed to finish what I had to say first. “I’m sorry I’ve been distant.”

  “After how I acted the months following the ordeal with Scum, I have nothing but forgiveness. Life is hard, Gabby. We’ve changed. We’re going to continue to change as we grow. But that’s okay. As long as we’re committed to each other.”

  I grinned, feeling immense relief after getting that off my chest. “There’s one other thing . . .”

  He put his hands on my waist and pulled me closer, close enough that I could see the flecks in his eyes. “What’s that?”

  I rubbed my lips together, collecting my thoughts before launching into my announcement. “You know how you’ve been wanting to nail down a date, and I’ve been putting you off?”

  “I have noticed that.”

  “Let’s set a date. Right now. I don’t want to waste any more time.”

  A wide smile stretched across his face. “Sounds great to me. When do you want to get married?”

  Excitement sparked inside me—it burst to life, for that matter. “How about today?”

  “Today?” His eyes widened.

  I nodded, my thoughts coming together quickly. “Down by Mythical Falls. I think it would make a beautiful backdrop.” Thanks, Clarice, for the idea. “Sierra’s on her way with Reef. My father is coming to paint. It’s the perfect timing.”