Saddles & Sabotage

by Nellie K Neves

  Two members of the kitchen staff and three of the cleaning staff were eliminated because either they were brand new hires, or they were away from the ranch on at least two of the nights. Dallas was only at the ranch for one of the murders. Alexis was around for four, and Two- Bit had been gone for every single one. Wiley, Dixie and Phoenix had been present for all five. And of course Tumbleweed was always around somewhere.

  Around eleven I gave up, stacked my papers together and shoved them under my mattress. I clicked off the small lamp near my bed and sank down under the covers. Despite my need, sleep evaded me. There was too much to think about, too many suspects and not enough answers for all the questions I had. On top of that, Dixie began to snore at an alarming volume. After ten minutes of staring up at the ceiling, I opted to step outside, hopeful that some night air would cure my sleepless night.

  With a jacket to cover my t-shirt and yoga pants, I wandered toward the tack barn to sit on the rail and watch the herd. The moon was shy of half, enough light that I could find my way, but not enough to see distance. The horses milled about in the corral, snorting and shuffling. Did they have issues with sleep as well?

  A sound caught my attention, but it wasn’t enough to find the origin, or to ascertain what it was. It sounded again and I recognized the jangle of reins on a bridle. I pressed myself against the rough wood of the tack barn and edged to the corner. I took a deep breath and peered around to spy. Two horses were tied to the rail. I squinted my eyes to try to see the riders, but the saddles were empty. Wait, no, not empty. One saddle had a bedroll slung over the seat. The length of rope caught the low light, but the rest remained obscured by the night. With another quick check of the yard, I slipped around the corner of the building. There was no one. I took two steps closer, then four, then one more, and I stopped. The package tied to the saddle was a woman.

  A gasp ripped through me at the realization. A hand clamped down over my jaw, effectively smothering the lower half of my face and my scream. My flip flops ripped off as he dragged me backward. My bare heels grated against the dirt as I kicked and struggled to free myself. As we traveled uphill, I gained my footing for a brief second, only to be jerked off balance once more. My attacker’s grip tightened on my rib cage as he spun and flung me through the air. Pain echoed through my bones as my body collided with the barn and crumbled to the ground.

  White flashed behind my eyes as my vision blurred. The rattle of the reins on the bit broke the sound of my whimpers. Then the darkened mass of the rider moved away with the woman slung across the saddle’s cantle. I felt the hoof beats in the dirt and I knew I had only a split second to act.

  There was no point in trying to shout for help. By the time I got anyone’s attention my attacker and his victim would be gone. The second horse was still tied at the rail. He’d obviously decided he would move faster on one horse. I untied the nervous animal and slipped my bare foot into the stirrup without a second thought. I’d never ridden above a gentle trot, but I knew I would have to let the horse open up its stride if I planned on catching the killer.

  I thought of my father’s western movies and kicked with all my might into the horse’s sides. It flew backward in protest and then exploded forward. The reins went slippery in my hands, but I caught what I could and clung to the horn. There was no time to think about how impulsive my decision was. The woman could be alive and I had the chance to save her. Tears blew back out of my eyes as my horse ran hard along the moonlit trail.

  The saddle horn jammed against my ribcage as I pitched forward to keep my body in the saddle. My stomach lurched and dove with anxiety as I scanned the darkness for the other rider. The leather rein burned against my skin as my horse fought my command to veer into the open meadow. I passed the old cabins, totally dark, seemingly deserted. The rough rhythm jarred my back, but I couldn’t give up, not with a life in the balance.

  We cleared the meadow and I heard another set of hoof beats. I couldn’t see him, but I knew he was close. My horse sensed the other horse and increased its speed to catch it. He didn’t understand my quest, but he understood a herd mentality. As we turned the next corner, the rushing sound of the river increased.

  In an instant I knew where I was. The path would divide and one side veered to the lower river, while the other side went to the upper falls. Tents flashed through the trees as I galloped past, the campers that Wiley, Dallas and Alexis had taken out for their overnight.

  I squinted into the darkness and saw the blur of a shape turn left. He was headed for the lower river, and that meant I was too. I reined my horse in the best I could, but he fought against the bit. A primal drive had been awakened in him and he was eager to lose me as a rider. As we raced into the open bank along the water, I could see the bulky shape of the other rider near his horse. I lost sight of him as my horse spun in a full circle and rebelled against my presence. I clung to the horn of the saddle, but my body pitched forward and then flung back as my horse threw me from his back. The ground rushed up at my face as I fell off the side and collided with damp earth. Before I could be trampled, I curled into a ball and listened to the hoof beats echo into the dark night.

  There wasn’t time to assess my injuries or try to gain my reason again. When the horse’s hooves were clear, I popped my head up and searched the night for the phantom I’d chased. His horse danced in the night, tied to a tree, but frantic to be released. Snorts of hot air puffed from its nose in the cold night air.

  I swayed as I walked. Between my collision with the barn and my impact with the ground, I wasn’t well. The branch snapped, and the horse reared up on two legs. I threw my arms over my head and sank out of self-preservation. The thunder of hooves sounded again and a hysterical neigh broke the silence of the night. Shouts from the guest’s encampment carried on the wind, but none of it mattered. I had to press on.

  Near my breaking point, I stayed in a defensive position and let my body tremble with adrenaline and fear. I used my heightened senses to listen to the night for any sound that could give away the killer. It only took a moment before I heard the sound of boot against stone. I recalled the outcroppings that jutted out from the rock cliff below the falls. He was climbing upward to escape me by foot.

  I pushed myself forward and walked to the edge of the water. The clear liquid looked like black silk in the moonlight, but as my feet felt the chill, all I could think of was the last time I’d stood in a body of water.

  Jackie had died that day.

  No, I thought, that’s not real. Jackie is alive. Kip found her. She didn’t drown.

  That was what I repeated in my mind as I scaled the rock wall. It was my focus, because it took every ounce of my courage to climb above that swirling, churning, death trap. I gripped the ledge of the first landing about eight feet above the water and pulled myself up with exhausted muscles.

  If I had been less focused on the river, if I could’ve reserved even a miniscule amount of awareness in order to guard my climb and survey my surroundings, I would have seen him, but I didn’t, not until he had me.

  Strong arms yanked me from my foothold and slammed me against the rock wall. I collapsed into a lump on the rock. My vision fuzzed from the damage. Hands clasped around me and dragged me back to the edge of the out cropping. I clawed at his arm, his legs, the rock face, anything that could give me an advantage. The pattern of a woolen ski mask glared at me, black pits where the eyes would be.

  A thin slip of moonlight sliced through the trees like a spotlight on the woman he’d abducted. Time paused as we stared at each other, both knowing we’d met our end. Ropes bound her hands and feet. The whites of her eyes glowed against the darkness. Her terrified face etched into my memory as I was tossed into open air.

  The water slapped hard against my body and for a moment I feared that I’d snapped my spine. I sunk deep, but fought to find the open air again, chasing the small beam of silver light from the distant moon. I broke through the surface and flailed in the water, screaming desperate
cries every time I breached the surface. Water flooded my throat and caught in my lungs. I could feel the pull of the river, like groping hands pulling me back down to a watery grave. I bounced above and below the churning waves of the waterfall, gasping and choking each time I managed to pull myself free again.

  The roar was deafening, but over all of it I could hear the woman’s screams shatter the night. My vision cleared briefly and I saw a new figure on the ledge above me, tall, but smaller than the rider I’d followed into the night. The two men fought hard, a mess of tangled shadows. I thought I could see the silhouette of my attacker’s face for one second, a thick jaw to match his broad shoulders, but the water pulled me under again.

  I fought the churning water and gripped a mossy outcropping of rock amidst the rapids. A hollow splash echoed to my left as something hit the water. My head sucked under the waves as hands ripped at my body in a desperate compulsion for the woman’s survival. He’d thrown her from the cliff. Ropes still bound her limbs. She was drowning, but I couldn’t swim. I couldn’t help her.

  The sound of the waterfall vanished as she dragged me beneath the water. She climbed over the top of me and shoved me deeper before she lost her balance and fell below the surface again. Chaos swirled around me, shapes and body parts that flailed in the darkness and struck against me. Her fingernails clawed at my face. I tried to give her my hands. Maybe we could wrap our bodies around something to stay steady. Air expelled from my lungs as her feet kicked into my stomach. Reason vanished as she fought for her life like an animal. A break in the clouds cast light through the water. Moonlight illuminated her face, caught in a silent scream. She was drowning. We were both drowning. Then in one instant, the current caught her and she was gone.

  The memory floated back without permission. Four years old as Jackie swam out ahead of me. I couldn’t catch her. I cried out for her, but she wouldn’t stop. She vanished from my sight. Vanished from my life.

  I propelled myself upward again, screaming as I broke the surface. Through the dark night I could make out two figures fighting on the ledge. The current yanked me under again and once more I clawed my way to the surface. My body slammed into a rock beneath the water and I dug my fingers into the mossy outgrowth. When I saw the ledge once more, I saw only one figure, tall, broad, definitely the man I’d chased on horseback. Where had the smaller one gone? I heard the splash. An arm grabbed me, but the force knocked me under the water.

  Out of instinct I fought for my life. I kicked and thrashed against him. My nails tore at his clothes, face, anything I could find to release his grip on my body.

  “Stop it, Cassidy!”

  Dallas.

  The sound of his voice jarred me to my senses. I looked up to the ledge, but my attacker had fled. A wave from the river rushed over me and I sucked in water. As the water receded, I wheezed for air, desperate to be free.

  “Stop,” Dallas yelled over the roaring water. “Relax into me. I’ll get us out.”

  I let him wrap an arm around my waist while I coughed and choked on the river. With strong strokes, he pulled us to shore. Pebbles dug into my palms as I crawled out. Unable to go any further, I collapsed against the bank.

  Dallas fell beside me, chest heaving with exhaustion from his fight and the swim. He pushed himself up and rolled my body onto my back. Cradling my head in his hand, he searched me for injury, tapping and feeling joints and bones. I twisted my head away from him and let my body be racked with coughs to expel the water from my lungs. The thought broke through all at once.

  “The woman!” I pushed myself up with difficulty. “There was a woman. I tried to save her, but I can’t swim and she went downstream.” I leaned forward like I might stand, but Dallas stopped me.

  “I’ll go. You rest.”

  My eyes went to the river. I knew from experience that it turned to heavy rapids beyond the bend.

  Dallas went to stand but, I caught his arm. “Do you think she made it?”

  The dark obscured his features, but I could see his face turn to the water with desperation. “I’m not sure, but I can’t let her die if there’s a chance she’s alive. I should’ve grabbed her. I was trying, but he was strong. I had to save you, Cass. I had to—”

  My head fell forward in defeat. It wasn’t his fault. It was mine. Dallas pulled me to my feet and helped me move toward the river.

  “How’d you know I was in trouble?” I asked after a moment.

  “I didn’t, not at first. We’re camped a quarter mile from here.” He led us to a trail in the dark that followed the river. “I heard the horses running and I thought ours had gotten loose.” His hand stayed with mine as if he feared I might fall in again. “Someone screamed and I ran. Wiley was gone, or would’ve brought him. I should’ve grabbed a horse, but I didn’t think there was time. I was near at the top of the granite steps when I heard you scream from the water below. He had that woman by the ledge as I made it to the overlook at the top of the falls. I climbed down as fast as I could, but he threw her in. I thought I could win the fight, but then you screamed again,” his head dropped. “You needed me, so I jumped.”

  There was no sign of the woman, not a sound. The realization of what we were trying to do felt insurmountable. She could be a mile downstream. I let my weight lean against him and we stayed there for a moment, shivering against the cold and fear of loss. I’d been rescued from the jaws of death once before, and the words had sounded as inadequate then, as they did again on the river bank.

  “Thank you.” My voice, though small, clashed against the quiet. “Thank you for saving me.”

  His arms encircled me and he pulled our bodies closer together. “I wish I could’ve done more. I wish I was strong enough to…” He didn’t bother to finish the sentence. We both knew it.

  His hand touched my cheek and recoiled. “You’re frozen. We need to get you back to your cabin.”

  “No, we should keep looking for her.” My skin burned where his hand had brushed my face. Warmth flooded my features and I was glad he couldn’t see.

  Dallas glanced around for a moment, and then said, “We’re camped on the other side of this clearing. Stay quiet so you don’t wake up the guests. It’s a miracle they’re still asleep. We can ride the river path back and look for her.”

  The same tents I’d seen on my breakneck ride were visible through the trees. Four tents, and a couple empty bedrolls spread out near the stale campfire. Dallas led me to the line of horses tied up on a makeshift rope rail. The reins jangled against the bit as he slipped it between his horse’s teeth then looped the brow band over his ears. Dallas swung up from the ground, no saddle, no pad. His arm extended down to me.

  I hesitated, but his soft voice urged me. “Hang on, I’ll pull you up.”

  Warmth rushed my veins as he gripped my hand. In one sweeping movement, he pulled me onto the space behind him on his horse’s back. Gently, he pressured Rocky into a slow walk. I slipped my arms around Dallas’ waist like I had when my ex-boyfriend Amos had driven a motorcycle. After a moment, I let my head rest between his shoulder blades. The material of his cotton shirt was damp and cold at first, but our combined heat warmed it against my cheek. My body melted into the rhythm and into Dallas. Everything hurt, but I knew it would be worse by morning.

  We moved to the river path, and I kept my eyes locked on the water. There was nothing, no one, no hope. Every time I tried to remember the moment on the ledge, the moment I could’ve seen his face, my body tightened around Dallas’ waist. Each time it did, I felt this hand rest over mine, not a word, but a touch that calmed my inner turmoil with his reassuring calm.

  It was an hour before Dallas pulled his horse to a stop in front of my cabin. My limp body would have tumbled from the animal’s back if not for Dallas’ arms there to brace my decent. The door creaked open and Dixie’s soft snort chirped as if to welcome me home.

  “Will you be okay?” he asked in hushed tones. “I have to get back. I need to call the cops and keep looking f
or that woman.”

  “Wait. I can help you,” I said. I pressed a hand against the door frame to show I could still be useful, but I knew he saw through my tough act.

  “You could’ve died, Cass. I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you. I’ll take care of it. You rest.”

  His arms disappeared from my hips and my legs turned to cooked spaghetti. The private investigator in me wanted to insist that he take me along, but rationally I knew he was right. My injuries made me a liability, not an asset. Still, I couldn’t help the voice that belonged to Cassidy Billings.

  “Aren’t you going to kiss me, Dallas?” My voice was crisp in the darkness. I recognized the start of a bruise around his eye as he watched me. He’d fought for my life. I owed him at least a kiss.

  He wanted to. His gaze lingered on my mouth before he said, “It doesn’t feel like the best timing.”

  I smiled weakly. “Rain check?”

  “Count on it,” he said. “Goodnight, Cassidy.”

  Dallas walked to Rocky and swung up with agility. He glanced once over his shoulder and then trotted into the night. I closed my door and peeled the wet clothes from my body. Dixie didn’t stir as I dressed in the dark on top of my mattress. I pushed the home button on my phone where I’d left it plugged into the wall and to my surprise I found a message from Kip.

  “Got the letter. I’m on it.”

  That small connection, that little reminder that I was Lindy, not Cassidy, and I wasn’t alone, kept my nightmares at bay.

  Chapter 17

  A sharp pain shot through my shoulder blades, then my lower back. My body rocked with each one, and confusion spread through my brain like a thick syrup. I finally identified the source, Dixie’s boot as she shoved me with the pointy toe.