by Carrie Carr
Amanda stood. "I suppose." She helped Lex to her feet and followed her out of the den.
"...just kidnap them and drag her out there, kicking and screaming," Travis offered. He saw a movement at the kitchen doorway. "Oh, hi. We were just talking about you."
"Sounds like it," Lex drawled, directing her lover to a chair. She stood behind Amanda and shook her head. "I can'st believe you people," she muttered.
Martha jumped to her feet. "Wait just a doggoned minute, Lexie. There's no call to be like that."
Lex laughed. "Gotcha." She backed away as Martha stepped around the table. "Martha, don't do anything rash." Lex held her hands out in front of her. "It was just a joke."
"Don't you be sassin's me, young lady. You're not too old to take a spoon to." She pushed Lex against the wall and pointed a finger in her face. "Just remember one thing, child--"
Eyes wide, Lex nodded slowly. "Whatever you say, Martha." She jumped as the housekeeper's arms wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her close. "What?"
"You're my little girl, Lexie. Ain'st nobody, or nothing going to change that," Martha whispered in Lex's ear. "And don't you forget it." She was relieved when she felt Lex's arms wrap around her and squeeze.
"Never." Lex swore quietly. "You're the best mother I could have ever asked for."
Martha brushed the dark hair away from the expressive eyes. "It's getting late, though. Why don't you girls go upstairs to bed, and we'll tell you more about your little vacation tomorrow? Come over to the house for breakfast."
"Yes, ma'am." Lex blinked when she realized what Martha had said. "Upstairs?"
"We got the bedroom all fixed for you. Get some rest. No one has to know you stayed here tonight."
Charlie stood. "Give me your keys, and I'll move the truck around to the back. That way you won'st be disturbed." He caught the keys Lex tossed to him. "Good girl."
Travis moved from the table. "I'm going to go back on into town. I've got a few things to do in the morning." He embraced Amanda. "You two get some rest, and I'll talk with you tomorrow."
Amanda gave him an extra squeeze. "Thanks again for everything."
Travis kissed the top of her head and met Lex at the kitchen doorway. He pulled her into his arms. "I'll see you again in the morning. Try to get some rest."
"I will, Grandpa. Thanks." Lex kissed his cheek. "I can'st wait until we're all out here together, again."
"Me either, kiddo." He squeezed her again then left the room.
The sound of chairs being pushed caused Lex to look up and see Anna Leigh and Jacob embrace Amanda. Anna Leigh whispered something into Amanda's ear, which caused her to blush. She laughed and patted her granddaughter on the cheek, before heading to where Lex stood.
"Lexington, we'd love for you two to come over for dinner tomorrow night, if you're not too busy." She wrapped an arm around her. "As a matter of fact, we'd love to have everyone over. It would be a perfect time to go over your trip."
"Sure, if it's okay with Amanda. We'd love to."
Jacob clapped his hands together. "Excellent. I've got some steaks that are just begging to be grilled. Tomorrow evening will be perfect." He kissed his granddaughter. "See you tomorrow. You take care of Lex, you hear?"
"I sure will. Thank you again for the beautiful furniture. It's perfect." She hugged Jacob.
Anna Leigh took her husband by the arm. "I swear, this is a longer goodbye than some old movie. Jacob, let's leave these girls alone." She left the room, her husband and Martha trailing behind.
"Wow." Amanda stood in the kitchen, empty except for her and Lex. "That was something, wasn'st it?"
"It sure was." Lex took Amanda by the hand and led her up the staircase, stopping at the top and looking back down on the darkened hallway. "We're home, Amanda."
Amanda snuggled close. "We certainly are." She followed Lex into their bedroom and shut the door behind them.
Chapter Sixteen
"TELL ME AGAIN why we're doing this?" Lex asked, as the truck hit yet another deep rut in the road. It had been two days since Martha had told them about their little vacation, and she was trying to keep the truck on the road to the cabin. "Are you sure this is the right road?"
Amanda braced one hand against the dash to balance herself. "According to the map Mrs. Charlton drew, yes, it is." She looked at the white knuckles on the hands gripping the steering wheel. "And we're doing this because our family thought it would be restful." She almost screamed as the truck tipped precariously to the left. "Is this a road, or a creek bed?"
"Restful. Right. If we live to see the damned cabin, I'll be impressed." Lex was thankful her window was rolled down, or else she would have slammed her head against it when the vehicle lurched. "Damn."
After a few more minutes of wrestling with the steering wheel, the road leveled out and they came upon a secluded cabin nestled in the trees. Amanda released a heavy breath and squinted through the windshield. "It looks nice," she commented as the truck pulled up to the left of the cabin. "Someone has been taking good care of the place."
"Sure looks like it." Lex turned off the truck. "She told Martha they didn'st use it any more, right?"
"That's what she said." Amanda climbed out of the vehicle and grabbed her bag from the back seat. "Come on, we might as well go check it out."
Lex grabbed her duffel bag and hurried around the truck. "Wait up. I've got the key." She climbed the steps and looked around, enjoying the quiet around them. "As soon as we get our things inside, let's go out back and check out the lake. We're supposed to be in a private cove." Lex had brought her fishing tackle and several poles, hoping to get Amanda interested in one of her favorite pastimes. She unlocked the door and pushed it open. "Ladies first."
Amanda backhanded her across the stomach. "You are such a brat, sometimes." She flipped on the light switch. The living area was quite large, and very well furnished. Amanda ran her finger across the wooden back of the western-style sofa. There wasn'st a speck of dust. She dropped her bag on the floor and peeked through another doorway. The bedroom held a king-sized oak bed, a matching dresser, and two side tables.
"See anything interesting?" Lex stood directly behind Amanda and peered over her shoulder.
Amanda yelped and jumped forward. She spun around and pointed a finger at her. "Don't do that."
Lex was laughing so hard she had to brace herself against the doorframe with one hand to keep from falling. "You should have seen your face," she chortled. "Priceless."
"I'll get you back, Slim." Amanda stepped past Lex and sat on the sofa. "This doesn'st seem too bad."
"No, it all looks nice." Lex glanced in the other doorway. "Kitchen's a decent size, too." She turned around and watched as Amanda bounced up and down a few times where she was sitting. "What are you doing?"
"I'm making sure there are no loose springs. I'd hate for you to be too uncomfortable out here tonight."
"That's nice. As long as it's comfortable, I think--what?"
The raised eyebrows and look of dismay sent Amanda into a fit of giggles. "Teach you to pick on me, tough stuff." She stood and wrapped her arms around Lex. "This is kind of nice, isn'st it? Just you and me, all alone with no phones and no interruptions."
"You'sve got that right. Want to take a walk around? We can look for the best fishing place while we're at it." Lex's eyes sparkled as she thought about fishing.
"Sure." Amanda hadn'st seen her so excited in a long time. "I've known you for a while, but I never realized you enjoyed fishing so much. You never mentioned it before."
Lex pulled her through the kitchen and out the back door. "No cause to. It's been too cold until recently, and besides, I've been a little preoccupied with much more important things. I'm glad you're not averse to the idea. I'd hate to have to choose between my two loves."
Amanda poked Lex in the ribs. "You are begging for it." They stood on the back porch of the cabin and looked out over the lake. The cabin backed up to a large cove, and the surrounding trees gav
e it a very secluded feel. There was a small wooden dock, and a tin rowboat turned upside down nearby. "Whoa. This is a beautiful spot."
"Yeah, it sure is." Lex bubbled with excitement, as she dragged Amanda down the steps. "Come on. Let's check out the boat." She rushed to the water's edge and flipped the small craft. "Looks like it'll do fine."
"If you say so, Lex." Amanda felt a sudden chill down her spine, and turned to look back into the woods. She felt as if someone was
watching them. She scanned the area but couldn'st see anything out of the ordinary. She chalked it up to her overactive imagination.
"DAMN IT, PICK up the phone!" The sweating man paced around his bedroom, only slowing down to kick dirty clothes out of his way. After too many rings, the sound in his ear went to a fast busy signal. "Shit." He tossed the cordless phone, and it crashed against the wall. "Where the hell could he be?"
A loud thump outside his window caused Rick to spin around and scream like a teenage girl. "Please don't hurt me," he pleaded to the empty room. He took several deep breaths to calm down. With a trembling hand, Rick pushed the curtains out of his way and checked outside. On his windowsill, a large squirrel stared back at him. "What the hell are you looking at?" he yelled, slapping the glass hard.
The furry rodent's tail twitched, and it cocked its head to one side, studying the man in the window. It continued to stare for another long moment, then jumped down and bounded away.
"Stupid little shit." He closed the curtains. As he looked down at the pieces of the phone lying at his feet, he quickly remembered his other problem. "Shit. What if Bobby decides to come after me? He could be on his way here."
Rick began to gather clothes from the floor and toss them onto the bed. Even though he had only moved into the apartment a few days before, the entire place already looked as if it hadn'st been cleaned for years. He dug under the bed and pulled out a large duffel bag, recoiling shortly when several cockroaches scurried out of it and into his sheets. "I've got to get out of here. That son of a bitch is crazy enough to hunt me down because of the stupid shit Hubert's pulled."
The phone rang. He looked at the empty base. "Dammit." Rick hurried into the other room and picked up the corded phone hanging on the wall between the living room and the kitchen. "Yeah?"
"IF YOU THINK I'm actually going to climb into that thing, you're sadly mistaken." Amanda stood on the shoreline with her arms crossed over her chest. "How do you know we won'st sink?" Earlier they had gone inside to unload their supplies and change into their shorts, and the slight breeze coming off the lake made her shiver.
Lex had the small aluminum craft tied up to the dock and stood in the center of the boat. "Come on, Amanda. It'll be fun." Her tanned legs had paled over the winter, but the muscles flexed impressively as she stood on one foot, then the other.
Amanda didn'st budge. "What part of drowning sounds fun to you, Lex? No way."
"It doesn'st even have a motor, only paddles. We'll stay in the cove, I promise." Lex's smiled faded slightly. "Please?" Her lower lip jutted out slightly.
It was that look that swayed Amanda. She could never resist the childlike face when Lex truly wanted something. "All right. But only for a little while. You promised me we could take a short hike through the woods."
"Sure. Only a few minutes, I guarantee it." Lex grinned widely and held out her hand to assist Amanda into the craft. Untying the rope from the dock, she directed Amanda to a spot in the front of the boat and waited until she was seated. Seeing her hands grasp the edges tightly, Lex kissed Amanda lightly. "Trust me. I won'st let anything happen to you, I promise."
Amanda released a breathy sigh. "I do trust you. I've never been too fond of the water." She loosened her death grip on the sides of the boat and looked around. "This isn'st too bad."
"Told you." Lex used one of the paddles to push the boat away from the dock. After they had floated silently away from the shore for several minutes, she put the oar away and closed her eyes. "Hear that?"
"I don't hear anything."
"Exactly. Isn'st it great?"
She hated to admit it, but seeing the happiness on Lex's face was priceless. "It sure is."
They were too far away from the shore to see the dark figure inside the tree line, watching them intently.
"I'BE BEEN LOOKING all ober vor you. Where da hell habe you been?"
Rick pulled the phone receiver away from his ear. "None of your damned business, asswipe. How did you get this number?"
The man on the other end of the phone sighed heavily. "I called your sisder's house, and the snotty kid dat answered gabe it to be." Hubert's speech was better than it had been, but despite the dentist's handiwork, he was still having trouble articulating.
Rick silently vowed to kill his worthless nephew. He wanted no part of Hubert, or his troubles. "What do you want? I'm a busy man."
"Yeah, right. What's de matter, Ricky? You get in a new shibment of tampons to stock?" Hubert laughed at his own joke. "I'm dired of your bullshid, Rick. Were you able to reach Bobby? I haben's been able to vind him."
"No, not yet. He's probably out of pocket. I've got a message in for him to call me, so I'm sure I'll hear from him any time." Rick looked around his living room, trying to decide what items to take if he had to leave in a hurry. "Leave me alone, I need to get to work."
"Don't hang me out to dry, Rick. Iv he comes avter me again, I'll
be sure and send him your way. You don't want dat, do you?" When his comments were met by only silence, Hubert panicked. "Come on, buddy. We haben's always seen eye-to-eye, but I'sbe been good to you, haben'st I?"
"Good to me? What the hell are you talking about? Where the fuck were you when I lost my job? I didn'st see you offering to help me, then." Rick chuckled humorlessly. "If I were you, buddy, I'd find me a nice, heavy rock to crawl under and stay there." He slammed the phone down and ran his hands through his hair. "Stupid prick."
"RICK? YOU DERE?" Hubert heard the dial tone and smashed the receiver back onto the base of the phone. "Shit." He looked around the kitchen where he was sitting and thought about what his old "friend" had told him. "I'm a dead man." His lawyer had called earlier to tell him the county prosecutor had offered him a deal: testify against the men who drove the truck, and he would serve less than a year in the county jail.
The only catch was, Hubert only knew of Bobby. The other men were nameless, faceless people who had almost killed his sister. He thought about warning Lex about Bobby, to hedge his bets. Hubert frowned at his thoughts. "Puck id. Led my pervect liddle sisder vind oud aboud him de hard way. She'll probably meed up wid Bobby soon enough."
AS PROMISED, LEX brought the boat back to shore after a short trip around the cove. After a leisurely walk through the nearby woods, she and Amanda reclined in front of a large hollow log, each holding a fishing pole. Lex had her legs stretched out in front of her and a baseball cap low over her eyes. "Remind me to give Martha a big hug and a kiss when we get back. This is a perfect way to spend the afternoon."
"You'sve got that right. Tell me again why we haven'st done this sooner?"
"Blatant stupidity and pure bull-headedness on my part." Lex felt her pole jerk slightly, so she sat up and pushed her cap back to look out on the water. "I've got a bite." She jumped to her feet when the pole began to bend sharply. "Whoa."
Amanda jumped to her feet as well, dropping her pole in her excitement. "It looks like a monster, Lex. don't lose it!" She enjoyed watching the muscles in Lex's arms bunch and strain as Lex struggled with the pole and fought with whatever was on the other end of the line. "I know what we're having for dinner."
"We'll see about that." Lex continued to wrestle with her catch. After a few more minutes, her prize could be seen as it was dragged out of the water. "Hope you're hungry."
"Eeww. That's nasty. But it is one heck of a catch."
At the end of Lex's line hung a large, dark, smelly...tire. It was too small to belong to an automobile, and more than likely came f
rom a boat trailer. Lex placed her pole on the ground and walked to the water's edge to haul in her catch. She raised it with one hand and put the other hand on her hip. "Should I pose for my picture with it?"
Amanda wrinkled her nose. "Yuck. What are you going to do with it?"
"I dunno. Guess I'll throw it in the back of the truck and dispose of it when we get back to town." Lex tossed it further up onto the shore then washed off her hands in the water. She felt someone grab her hips and looked back over her shoulder. "Don't you even think about it," she warned.
"What's it worth to you?" Amanda figured she could easily toss Lex into the lake and make a run for it.
Both women were so caught up in their playing they didn'st notice the dark figure walking out of the trees with a shotgun trained on them. "You two need to step away from the water, slowly," the quiet voice demanded.
Lex looked past Amanda and saw a slightly overweight woman standing several yards away. She had short dark hair and was dressed in jeans and a dark tee shirt. She was wearing dark sunglasses, but appeared to be close to the same age as they were. Lex straightened to her full height and stepped casually in front of Amanda. "Why don't you put that thing down before it accidentally goes off?"
"Shut up." The stranger pulled the stock of the gun against her cheek. "Don't make me use this on you." Waving the barrel, she pointed to the cabin. "Come on. Let's go inside."
"I don't think so," Lex replied. She held out her hands in front of her to show she was unarmed. "Why don't you tell us what's going on?"
The woman pulled the gun away from her shoulder, but kept it pointed at the pair by the water. "You're trespassing. I'd be completely within my rights to shoot you where you stand."
Lex started forward, but was pulled back by the hands tangled in the back of her shirt. "Trespassing? I don't think so." She studied the woman in front of her for a moment and made a decision. Gently prying the hands off the back of her shirt, Lex began once again to walk toward the gun-wielding woman. "Like I said before, put down the gun before someone gets hurt." She continued to move forward until the barrel of the gun was pressed against her chest.