by Robin Janney
Maude’s hands were trembling by the time her husband hung the phone up, as angry as he had been before. Angrier if possible. The head of lettuce she had been tearing into pieces rested in the large plastic bowl before her on the table. Her heart was skipping as she looked over at him. Their daughter was in danger?
“What’s going on?” she demanded harshly.
Philip turned to face her, his face grim. “I don’t have all the details. Just that Craig has learned of a threat to Angela and she’s been gone from the house since this morning. From my understanding, she left to go riding in the woods, and no one’s seen her since. She doesn’t have her phone with her.”
“And Everett has people there?” she asked. It was a given.
“He does. You know he would.” Philip nodded. “He’s flying out there, and I have an hour to get to the airport to go with him.”
That was a given too, thought Maude. She crossed the kitchen quickly, putting her arms around her husband, needing his arms around her. “I’ll be praying.”
“I know.” Philip squeezed his wife gently. “If she’s in danger, Everett and I will do what we can to keep her safe.”
Maude nodded wordlessly against his chest.
“I need to go pack a few things,” her husband said.
Releasing him, Maude stepped back to clear his path. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and left the kitchen. She stood there a moment, unsure of what to do. She needed to clean the mess at her feet, and she needed to finish making the lettuce salad. Picking the phone up, she dialed her other daughter’s cellphone instead of doing either chore. The young woman was at work, so it went to voicemail like she’d been expecting.
“Cassie, it’s your mother. I know you had plans with Pam after work, but is there any way you can change them? Bring Pam if you want, I won’t mind. There’s a family emergency and I don’t want to be alone while your father’s away.”
Maude cursed herself for leaving such a jumbled message but there was no help for it now. Placing the phone back in its cradle, she decided to wait in the living room until her husband was done packing and ready to leave. Sitting on the couch, the afternoon sun hitting the windows mercilessly, she turned the television on, so she wouldn’t have to wait in silence. She flipped through the channels restlessly.
The sharp thumps of her husband’s feet on the stairs startled her enough to drop the remote. She was on her feet when he came into the room. At the sight of the long black duffle bag he carried, her breath caught in her throat.
“It’s that serious?” she asked.
Philip set his bag down to hug her once more. “From my understanding, one woman’s already dead. I want it along just in case.” He grunted at the strength of her embrace. “You do understand?”
“Of course,” Maude said softly. “It’s our daughter. If I wasn’t pregnant, I’d be going with you.”
“I know.” He loosened his arms, pulled her head back so he could press his lips to hers. His hands caressed her curls as they kissed again.
“Go,” Maude said, pulling away gently. “The quicker you’re gone, the better.
He nodded, kissed her quickly one last time, and picked his bag up.
Maude watched from the porch as he tossed the duffle bag into the front of the truck and climbed in after it. His movements were no longer the slow thoughtful ones of the farmer he’d become. Despite the added years, he moved again like the assassin she’d fallen in love with.
N ikki paused in her pursuit.
Her prey was no longer running in a straight line. Once again, the path doubled over itself. She was more amused than irritated. The New York bitch had seemed to think Angela would just give up. But she had hoped Angela wouldn’t make this easy. The other woman was at least trying.
Walking to a nearby tree, Nikki hopped to the lowest branch and climbed up it. Pulling out her small binoculars, she scanned the wooded area quickly. The deer had long since moved out of the immediate area, and much of the smaller wood animals were in hiding as well.
There. Brush moved violently, and it could only be one person. Angela was circling around to the north again, with a slight eastward angle.
Part of her regretting leaving her rifle behind at her original spot but leaving a trail to make it easy for the cops was part of her plan. She had never planned on killing Angela and disappearing, because she wanted everyone to know who had done it. The ‘who’ would also explain the ‘why’ and then perhaps there would be some vindication for her.
Nikki could ignore the southbound path below her and cut across the woods to intercept the other woman. Unless the other woman changed course again, but then Nikki would just climb another tree to see if she could spot her again.
Even as she watched, Angela began to angle westward. What was the other woman trying to do? It didn’t matter. Nikki wasn’t in a hurry. Maybe she’d just hang out in this tree for a while and enjoy the show.
I t was evening when Everett Crane and Philip Carman arrived at Starlight Ranch, the sun nearing the horizon. When Philip had called him about the threat to their daughter, Everett had already been working on getting to Montana. He was still lacking information as he’d been unable to get in contact with Maggie Witherspoon again. He wished Maggie had learned her information sooner, or that Nan had been able to keep Angela indoors. But, he couldn’t blame either woman for his daughter’s impulsiveness.
“We’re here now, Craig,” Philip was saying into his cellphone as he climbed out of the back of the rented SUV.
Everett climbed out on the other side, taking a good look at the home his daughter and her husband had made. Craig certainly had money, though Everett’s trained eye could see how the younger man tried to keep things subdued. Was that due to inherent nature, or out of deference to his wife? He suspected it was a mix of both. Craig had led a simple life in Tyler’s Grove even before he had met Angela.
“Stay here, Kyle,” Everett said to his driver as he followed Philip up to the ranch house.
“No, I don’t see any police cars here. Place looks pretty empty actually,” Philip was saying to his son-in-law. Their son-in-law? Everett was never sure how to think of the people in his daughter’s life. “I understand. Keep breathing and keep praying, son.”
Everett managed to refrain from rolling his eyes at the platitude as the main door to the house opened.
“Hi Dad,” Jared said to his father as they passed through the entryway. “Mr. Crane.”
Everett gave the boy a nod as the youth was hugged by his father.
“We’ll find out.” Philip was continued talking with Craig. “No! Don’t just start driving, Craig! Listen to your father; the storm can’t last forever! Yes, I’ll call you back.” The man ended the call and sighed, setting his duffle bag on the long couch in the middle of the room.
“Craig’s grounded at LaGuardia,” Philip told them, taking a deep breath. “New York City is being pounded by thunderstorms. He’s ready to fall apart on us.”
“Where are the police?” asked Everett, taking in the pleasant living room. A far cry from the quaint farm house Angela had been raised in. He could see a woman’s touch in the decorating and felt glad Craig didn’t rule in every area of his life with Angela. Her choice of colors radiated happiness and contentment; no one color dominated the room although a deep royal blue came close. He had been expecting more pink though. His girl loved the color far more than her mother ever had. Jeannie had favored purple.
Jared sighed, the youth dropping dejectedly in a plump arm chair. “They won’t help with a search. They think Angela’s left Craig.”
“Does she have reason to?” Everett had only heard bits and pieces between Philip and Craig on the trip here, but it hadn’t been hard to understand that the young couple had argued. And about what.
“No,” Philip answered firmly. “They argued, but that was the end of it.”
“Angela doesn’t know that!” said Jared angrily.
And the boy’s father sigh
ed. “Where’s the foreman? Rick, right?”
“Yeah. He’s one of the ones out looking for her. He figured she probably went to Angela and Craig’s favorite picnic spot and that’s over a three-hour trail ride because of the terrain. I’ve been working here all summer, and I had no idea they owned this much land! And no one knows exactly what time she left.” Jared shrugged in agitation. “Rick hasn’t called in a while. Nan is out in the kitchen arguing with the police again. She has been ever since there were gunshots.”
“Gunshots?” Philip’s voice was calm and cold. Jeannie’s twin had always handled anxiety better. The two had been like night and day.
Everett left the two of them and found the kitchen. Did Angela cook here, or leave it all for their housekeeper? Nan never really said. He hoped his daughter still dipped her fingers into her culinary experiments. Nan was indeed on the phone and her eyes widened at the sight of him. “Is that the police?” he inquired of her.
Nan nodded wordlessly and passed the cordless phone to him when he reached out for it.
Putting the phone to his ear, Everett said, “Hello, who am I speaking to?”
“This is Daniels. Is this Mr. Moore?” asked the voice on the other end.
“No. Is Chesterfield in?”
“Uhm, no sir.”
“Alright Daniels, here’s what I want you to do. I want you to call Chesterfield and inform him Everett Crane wants to talk to him at this number. Can you do that?”
“Mmm, it’s kinda late to be calling the Commander,” Daniels argued. “Especially for a runaway wife.”
“Do it anyway.”
“Alright.” It sounded like the young man was rolling his eyeballs.
Everett hit the phone’s off button and turned to see Philip standing in the door way. He could easily see the anger burning in the other man’s eyes.
Philip opened his mouth to say something, but it was left unsaid as Jared came up behind him and into the kitchen.
“That was Rick,” the agitated youth said, showing the smartphone in his hand. “He said it looks like someone was shooting at Angela, and they found Belle almost a mile and a half away from the picnic spot. Belle’s dead, she was shot twice.”
“Belle?” Everett asked, his heart hammering.
“Angela’s horse,” explained the other father.
“I see.” The phone rang in Everett’s hand and he answered it. “Chuck, is that you?”
“It is indeed, Mr. Crane.” The other man’s voice was mildly irritating. “You’re an awful long way from home! What can I do for you?”
“Angela Moore is my daughter. Her horse has been found shot to death in the woods on their property. I doubt there’s much we can do in the dark, but I want you to try. At the very least, I want your men here and ready to go before sunrise.”
“I didn’t know she was yours!” Chuck replied. “We just figured…”
“You figured wrong, because my daughter’s not a runaway wife. I want a helicopter and blood hounds and…”
“We’ll pull out the works, Mr. Crane. I’ll see you shortly.”
Everett disconnected and handed the phone back to Nan. “The police will be here soon. Do you know if Craig has any maps of the property?”
“If he doesn’t, Rick would. We’d be better off looking in Rick’s office. Mr. Moore’s office is locked.” Nan looked to Jared, her eyes moist. “Did Rick say what they were doing next?”
Jared nodded. “He said there’s a solid trail to follow. He figures it’s Angela’s trail, because they can’t find any sign of who was doing the shooting. He said they’ll be finding a spot to spend the night soon and pick it up in the morning.”
Philip looked at Everett. “I want to be on that helicopter.”
The red-haired man nodded, seeing the fire in his old employee’s eyes. He hoped Philip had brought more than just clothes with him in his black duffle bag. “You’ll be right next to me.” Everett pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his suit pocket. “Nan, do they allow smoking in the house?”
“No sir. I’m sorry,” Nan answered.
“I’ll step outside then. I have a few phone calls to make.” He began to cross the room.
“Will you tell me what you find out?” Philip asked of him.
Everett looked back at the man who had raised his daughter. The man who had been there when he couldn’t see beyond his own pain, his own failure. “Yes, Philip. I will.”
H ow long had she been running? Angela wasn’t sure, but the sun was low on the horizon. Where had the sun been in the sky when she’d fled the picnic spot? She didn’t know, wasn’t even sure how long she’d sat there fretting over her husband’s potential infidelity; long enough to consume almost two dozen cookies. She had more important concerns right now. The temperature would soon begin to fall, the nights were often cool at this elevation. She was going to be grateful she had worn one of Craig’s denim shirts.
She had run into the border of their property and now stood in indecision. She didn’t know the land beyond this point, wasn’t even sure how well she knew where she was at.
When would her friends at the ranch begin to look for her? She’d left early this morning; had outright said in the note she didn’t know when she’d be back and had wanted to be left alone. Rick would have sent men out anyways, wouldn’t he? How much lead time would she have had? There was too much she didn’t know, and not for the first time wished she’d heeded her brother’s advice to go back to bed.
So far, she’d managed to stay ahead of whoever was stalking her, but Angela didn’t know how much longer that would last. She couldn’t hear her pursuer at all any longer. The woods were so quiet, it was eerie.
Heart pounding and thirsty, Angela regretted not picking her backpack up when she’d fled. She could have at least had water. There were several streams crisscrossing their land, but she hadn’t come across one yet. Where the hell was she then? She didn’t know how she was going to survive out here, or how much fight she had left. If she was to die because her husband had chosen another, maybe she should just sit it out and wait for the inevitable.
With a frightened sound, Angela began to run along the property line. She wasn’t going to give up, if not for herself or her husband, then for the growing life inside her. She would run until after full dark for as long as she could, thankful for the full moon, and then find a corner to hide in until morning. Maybe whoever was stalking her would grow tired and hunker down for the night, or better yet, lose her trail in the dark.
She doubted it, but a girl could hope.
P hilip found Everett on the front porch as dusk turned into the darkness of night. The red-haired man had taken a seat in one of the rocking chairs and had leaned back, propping one foot on the porch railing as he smoked.
Choosing the other rocker, Philip sat next to him. Neither man had flipped on the porch light, preferring to sit in the shadows cast by the lights from the windows. “There’s food in there, if you’re hungry.”
“Later,” Everett replied. “Does it bother you?”
“What exactly?”
“How they live so far removed from everyone. You saw it when we drove in, Philip, all this countryside is theirs. They need to drive miles for the nearest neighbors. Half an hour to the nearest small town, farther for the city.”
“They’re hardly alone,” replied Philip. It had been one of his wife’s complaints on the way home from their Christmas visit, thinking it was proof for her belief that it was Craig trying to isolate Angela. He still wasn’t sure she understood it was an isolation their daughter sought after herself, even as she had as a teen and young adult. They had barely seen her during her first year of college, even though she had driven through the area on her way to see Maeve more than once that year.
“Employees aren’t the same.”
“No, but they’re happy and that’s the important part.” Philip sighed. The other man would know about distancing himself from employees, though it had failed miserably for h
im.
“Were happy, you mean.” The other man sounded sad, even to Philip’s ears, as he crushed the cigarette butt to the floor of the porch.
“And they will be again.” Knowing his children as he did, he had no doubt.
Everett shot him an irritated glare. “If Angela comes home alive. From what I’ve been able to learn, the young woman Jared mentioned is Nikki Flynn. Nikki is affiliated with a rival organization, Jim Spencer out of Dryden, and from what I can tell, she’s the one who helped Susan Mead with the hit against Angela a few years back.”
“Harry Flynn’s daughter?” Being able to see and hear Everett’s fear, did nothing to ease his own. Why did the Flynn’s keep popping up in their life? First the accident which had claimed his son’s life and in so many ways his daughter’s life as well. Then Harry found dead in the same daughter’s apartment. And now this?
“The same,” confirmed Everett. He took out another cigarette and lit it. He took several long puff’s before continuing. “I’ve talked to several contacts, both in my organization and a few plants I have in others. Rumor is Nikki’s the one who killed her father. I have no idea how she managed to do that without leaving behind evidence.
“Whether she killed her father in Angela’s apartment to harass our daughter or frame her, no one is clear,” Everett continued, sounding disgusted. “They say Nikki blames Angela for her jail time. Before you ask, I’ve tried shifting, and I can’t. We’re going to have to do this the hard way. Tell me, Philip. You asked me to get your bag cleared for the flight; did you by any chance bring your sniper rifle?”
Philip didn’t answer right away, just looked out into the deepening night. Below them, the warm lights of the lower buildings shimmered. “I did.”
P rincess had been patient all day.
She had not raced into the woods when she’d finally been let out in the morning.