“I got a phone call from my cohort in Turtle Creek. He’s been keeping tabs on your boyfriend and best friend.”
“Rick is not my boyfriend!”
“Of course he is. I’ve watched him when he came to dinner. He likes you, Amanda, very much so.”
“Maybe he does, but that doesn’t qualify him to be my boyfriend.” Keep him talking, Amanda. Keep him talking
“You think I don’t know what you’re doing? Well I do. You’re hoping Rick will get here before I can kill you.” He juggled the flashlight into his other hand which held the rope. From his cargo pants he withdrew a small, snub-nosed gun. “Turn around, Amanda. I’m going to bind your wrists.”
Amanda started to turn, but the movement made her bruised hip twinge. She inhaled sharply, “Give me a second James. My hip isn’t cooperating too well. I think I hurt it when you unrolled me from the blanket.”
“Too bad. Move.”
She turned slowly, moaning loud. If it meant acting in pain would delay James from binding her hands a little longer, then she would push her luck and play up every aching part of her body. Rick! Hurry!
Once she was bound tight, James pulled her over to an assortment of boulders. He shoved her between two of them. “Now we wait.”
“Wait for what?”
“Not what, my dear, but whom”
All her pretending evaporated. Terror took its place, and it intensified. She whispered hoarsely, “You’re waiting for Rick.”
“Exactly.”
CHAPTER NINE
Rick clutched steering wheel and ground his teeth in frustration the. Why hadn’t he put it together before? Damnit! His instincts should be better than this.
The turn off to the dirt road leading to the house came into view. The mile marker posted there glowed ominously in the high beams of his car. With an expertise turn on the steering wheel, he skidded onto the dirt road quickly. Only two more miles to go. Mentally he prayed Amanda was still alive. His gut told him she was, but not for long.
The house appeared almost magically. Rick slid to a stop, grabbed his gun from its holster and leaped from the car.
He started for the house but a strange wolf like howl drew him up short. To the left of the house stood the figure of a powerful looking man. Wordlessly, he pointed away from the house and toward the open desert.
In his mind he heard, or rather sensed an entreaty. “Go, there!”
Rick swerved in the direction the man pointed.
He had run only a few yards when the man appeared again. This time he indicated to angle down a narrow slope. Rick took off in that direction. Whoever the man was, he couldn’t take the time to worry about it. Amanda needed him.
Suddenly a large dog materialized in front of Rick. It bounded along looking back at Rick as if urging him to follow.
A minute later the dog disappeared, and Rick caught sight of Amanda sitting alone on a large rock.
“Amanda!” Relief grabbed him, and Rick ran toward her, tucking his gun into the back of his waist band.
She kept shaking her head at him but said nothing. It wasn’t until he reached her that he realized a white cloth covered her mouth. Hunter instincts kicked in but it was too late.
From behind a boulder, James stepped out. In his hand was a gun.
“You found her faster than I thought you would. I figured it would take you a while to track us down.”
“I had help,” Rick said flatly. No way was he going to admit he’d been let to them first by a phantom man, then by a dog.
“Do tell.” James swept the flashlight’s beam around them. “I don’t see anyone. I think you’re lying.”
“If you say so.” Rick moved closer to Amanda.
“Stop, right there. We need to establish some rules here before we leave.”
“Leave for where?”
“You’ll see. First rule, I am in command. Very, very, carefully remove the gun tucked in the back of your pants.” James pointed his gun at Amanda. “Place your weapon on the ground, an arm’s length away, and butt first in front of you. If you do anything funny I will shoot Amanda.”
Rick ground his teeth but did as ordered. Amanda’s life came first. There were other ways to defeat an enemy. “You’ll never get away with killing us. The Turtle Creek police found your secret house. They’ve collected all of your photos and souvenirs. On my way here I contacted the authorities in Cave Creek. They’re not far behind me.”
“Interesting. I guess that means we have no more time to waste. Help up Amanda. The three of us are going to take a walk.”
Rick leaned over and helped Amanda struggle to her feet. He noticed her hands had been bound behind her as well. Gently he removed the gag from her mouth. “Are you all right?”
She spat out the smaller cloth shoved between her lips and whispered, “I’m sorry, I pulled into this.” Her eyes filled with tears, and they trickled over onto her cheeks. “I’m scared, Rick. He’s mad, totally insane. He’s going to kill us.”
He gently brushed his thumbs over her face. “Don’t worry. Things will work out.”
“But, he has a gun, and he has a plan.”
“Indeed I do.” James had picked up Rick’s gun and shoved it into his cargo pants front pocket. “Let’s go.” He pointed the flashlight in a direction. “That way.”
Fifteen minutes later with Amanda stumbling and Rick holding onto her, James called them to a halt. “We’ve arrived.”
“Too what?” Rick looked around. Nothing was in view except for some broken boards lying on the ground.
“The place where you’re going to die.”
Amanda moaned and leaned heavily against Rick.
“They’ll find our bodies. They’ll know you did it.”
James’ cackle of delight reverberated in the black night. “No they won’t on either of them.” He pointed the flashlight at a pile of boards. “That’s a mine shaft. Been abandoned forever. Once I replace the boards over the shaft no one will think to look for you there.”
Amanda had found her voice. “Why are you doing this James?”
Rick answered before James could. “Revenge, Amanda. He thinks he has to avenge Keri’s suicide.”
“Keri Kramer? From high school?” Amanda swayed on her feet. “But why? Is that the reason you killed Mary and Holly, and told me you were going after Dawn next? Because all of us were Keri’s friends?”
James snarled. “You bitches were never her friends. Only I cared about her. Because of you four, I lost my only true love.” He suddenly aimed the gun at Rick. “Remove the boards. Open the mine shaft.”
Amanda stepped in front of Rick. “No, don’t do it.”
“Shut up Amanda. Shut up. Move the boards, Rick. My patience is gone. Time’s running out.”
Rick recognized the wildness in James’s voice. The man was close to losing it. “Don’t worry, I’ll move them.” He pulled Amanda aside. “I have to do this, otherwise, he’ll shoot us now and dump our bodies into the shaft afterward.”
The words he didn’t add, Amanda seemed to understand. By doing what James demanded and moved the boards, he’d be closer in proximity to James. It might give him an opportunity to take the man down and disarm him. “Okay,” she whispered. “Just be careful.”
Rick went to the pile of boards and lifted one. Years of dirt fell away from the board. He held it toward James. “Where do you want it?”
“What do you mean where do I want it? Just throw the damn thing.” He pointed toward Amanda. “Next to her.”
Rick glanced quickly at Amanda and carefully tossed the plank toward her but not close enough to hit her.
Despite his attempts to go slow and distract James with inane comments Rick could not find an opportunity to rush James. When he threw the last board away, Rick looked into the gaping dark hole. He knew well how far mine shafts could go before finding the ground. James’s plan to dump their bodies was ingenious. The authorities would never think of looking for them there.
; “Well done, P.I. Rick or should I call you Bodyguard? Isn’t that another one of your titles?”
“If you say so.” Rick was running out of options. Soon, he’d have to charge James and take a bullet or die along with Amanda at his side.
At the moment Rick had made his decision to charge a hairsplitting howl filled the quiet night. James jumped swinging the flashlight left and right. “What was that?”
“The ghost. He’s coming.” Amanda’s deadpanned answer hung in the air.
James’s screamed. “There’s no damn ghost. I told you, the ghosts were holograms Roger, and I, created to frighten you.”
“Roger?? Amanda stuttered. “The druggie who was in my class?” She looked at Rick as if she expected him to give her more explanation about Roger.
He answered her. “He’s been helping James all these years. It’s from James that Roger has been able to get his drugs. He admitted yesterday after the Turtle Creek police arrested him.”
Amanda turned angrily toward James. “You’re the one who fed poor Roger drugs?”
“Non other.” The wildness in James’ voice heightened. The gun in his hand shook, along with the flashlight in his other.
Rick tensed his muscles. It was now or never. With a leap, he sprang at James. Though surprised by Rick’s attack James managed to fire off one shot, but the bullet went over Rick’s head.
Amanda screamed. Her cry echoed into the night.
Another dog howl followed her scream. Closer than before. Rick kept on running, but he didn’t see James swing the flashlight in an arc. As it came down, it connected with the side of Rick’s head. The blow sent Rick reeling.
A cry of triumph leaped from James, and he aimed the gun at Rick’s head. “Time to die, bodyguard.”
“Nooo!” Amanda with head lowered ran full speed toward James. “I’m not going to let you kill him.”
James swung the hand holding the flashlight and back handed her against the face. The blow sent her flying. With her hands still tied tightly behind her back, she had no way of protecting herself from landing face first onto the ground.
A menacing growl followed by a shadow of a big dog, flew through the air. The animal’s front paws hit James in the chest with such force he stumbled backward. The mine shaft waited. With the balls of his feet teetering on the edge James had no chance to defend himself from the dog’s second blow. Together, man and animal tumbled into the mine shaft. James’ scream of terror seemed to last forever. Then it stopped. He found the bottom.
Rick half crawled to where Amanda laid face down. Despite the ringing in his ears from the blow he’d taken, he heard her deep, heartfelt cries. Gently he unfastened her bonds and rolled her over. Blood gushed from her nose. He ripped the corner of his shirt off and pressed it against the bridge of her nose. “Ssh…it’s over, Amanda. It’s over. James is gone. You don’t have to worry anymore. The dog saved us.”
“No…not…real dog. It was…was…”
“A ghost?” Rick finished for her, seeing she was having difficulty speaking. “Yes, I know. I saw your ghost before. They led me to you and James. That’s how I found you.”
Amanda winced and tried to speak again. “Not…two…one. Can…can change. See?” She pointed in the direction of the mine shaft. “Two...into…one.”
From the opening of the shaft crawled out the dog. It walked a few feet away, stopped, and shook its body. As the animal’s fur rippled so did his physical frame. It rose, straightened, and formed into a man. An Indian man. Richly and fully dressed in ancient attire. He radiated a power around him. Light glowed, as if being illuminated by a heavenly beam. His face painted with black angles gave an impression he was once a great warrior. He looked at both of them. Clear as the night air surrounding them his voice came to them. “It is done. I am free.”
Amanda pulled herself upright. She held a hand up, palm out. “Thank you.”
He nodded once, raised his hand in response as if saying farewell and disappeared into the night.
Epilogue
“I now pronounce you husband and wife.”
Amanda gazed into her new husband’s eyes and her heart swelled with joy.
“I love you.” She whispered and squeezed Rick’s hand. He looked so handsome in his dark tux tailored to fit across his wide, muscled shoulders that it took her breath away.
The small church was filled with family and guests and the October sun cast golden rays through the stained glass windows making the scene seem magical.
It had been two years since Rick brought her and her little girl, Annabel, back from Arizona. Since Mary and Holly’s murders had taken place in different states, Jon’s trial ended up in Oregon. He’d been tried and convicted. Knowing he had no other options, he’d told the authorities where he’d buried the bodies of Mary and Holly. Both girls’ remains were quickly recovered and returned to be properly laid to rest, giving their heartbroken families closure. Jon would now spend the rest of his life behind bars with no chance of parole.
It had been hard at first, being on her own. Amanda believed she’d never trust or love anyone again. Then one day she realized the error in her thinking. She’d almost died at the hands of a madman, but she hadn’t. She almost lost a precious baby girl, but she didn’t. She had much to live for. It was time to move on with her life.
Eventually, she opened her heart, and finally acknowledged to herself what Rick meant to her. He’d stood by her all through James’ trial and the awkward and miserable, but necessary divorce proceedings. On other things he never pressured, never demanded, always being there, doing his job, making sure she felt safe.
Her eyes misted as she thought back to the first time Rick came right out and told her he loved her. It was in the springtime. Oregon is so beautiful at that time of year. Rick picked her up after working at her new job in the local bank. Leisurely they drove down to the lake, with Annabel in her car seat behind them sound asleep. Once they stopped to enjoy the view, he angled himself toward her and took her hand.
“Amanda...It’s time I admit something you.”
“Yes?” Her heart pounded. Old fears of being deceived once again rose just below the surface of her self-control.
“I am in love with you. Have…for quite some time.” A sexy grin touched his lips, but his eyes pleaded earnestly. “Will you marry me?”
All the doubts, the old fears, and insecurities faded away completely. Rick told the truth and meant every word. Amanda grabbed him and pulled him to her. “Yes. Yes, I will.”
From that day forward her life was filled with love and happiness, which brought her to this moment in time. She smiled, grateful to be surrounded by the people closest to her today. Dawn, the perfect maid of honor, who’d fussed all morning making sure everything was impeccable. Her hair, her fingertip veil, with beaded edge, her bridal bouquet, a mix of dark and light pink roses and accenting white daisies, it was complete perfection. Dawn had outdone herself.
Her heart swelled with pride when she looked at her best friend for almost as long as she could remember. Dawn announced she’d gotten engaged to Kenny, and she’d been accepted into the police academy. Amanda knew she would be excellent at her job, and she couldn’t imagine a more fitting career for her.
Her mother, now sober for almost three years, sat in the front row holding her precious granddaughter, Annabel. With the arrival of the little girl, she reformed her life and looked at it as a new chance. They had become closer than ever. Oh, it had taken some doing on Amanda’s part, but she had come to understand and accept her mom’s insecurities as the root of her addictions. They still had some work to do rebuilding their relationship, but with love and forgiveness on their side, Amanda knew everything would be all right.
“You may kiss the bride.”
Rick smiled down at her. “Here’s to us.”
Amanda stepped into his arms. “To us. Forever.”
As he lowered his mouth to hers, Amanda knew Rick might not be flawless. He might work late an
d miss dinner once in a while, but he would always do his best to protect her and the baby girl he’d come to adore and planned to adopt.
When they parted, the entire church exploded with applause. Amanda’s smile expanded to full blown.
Finally, she had found her one true and real love. Together they were going to have a perfect, happy life.
That was the only thing that mattered.
* * *
The End
Excerpt . . .
THE PROPHECY
“Vada Gambit” series - Book 1
By
Tia Dani
Legend tells when man looked upon the heavens, it represented an impossible barrier to his ever demanding wanderlust. Then, man discovered a way to penetrate that barrier. He shook the mother-world’s dust from his feet and took to the stars. Hundreds of centuries passed while humans, hungry to dominate new worlds, fanned out within the universe. In time, many solar systems with habitable planets dotted the great space charts. Each dot represented a political state, with a distinct mother-world culture and deeply-held beliefs.
Eventually the boundaries of the mighty universe were reached. Habitable planets could no longer be claimed. Man’s hunger for land, wealth and power turned back upon itself. Planets, void of certain riches, lusted after weaker, more affluent worlds. Great wars broke out with allied galaxies facing against others until ultimately thousands of planets were annihilated by the terrible Fusion Wars.
But two men, one a man of science and the other a mighty warrior, went in search of a haven of tranquility and came across a small, unknown grouping of stars with life just beginning. Hope sprung within their breasts, and they called their discovery Aeldenland of Vada Galaxy, the Heartbeat of the Universe.
—Chronicles of Life
CHAPTER 1
Aeldenland, Ãlan Galaxy - 1029 S.C. (Since Creation)
Destruction awaits, shimmering from afar,
BodyGuard (Butterscotch Martini Shots Book 2) Page 43