Saddles & Sabotage

by Nellie K Neves

  “You look good in the water,” Dallas’s gentle voice curled around me as he kicked to hold us both afloat, “but then, you look good anywhere.”

  I met his stare and found only comfort. “I’m still scared, but you don’t know what this means to me. Thank you.”

  “I’d do anything for you.” He bent to kiss me and I kicked to help us stay above water. Every now and then we would lose ourselves in the moment and the water would tickle at my chin. Without fail, Dallas kept his promise and pulled me up before I could go under.

  The day grew hot, but I was content to play with him in cool waters. We splashed and chased each other. I tackled Dallas into the pond and he returned the gesture. It was something I’d dreamed of since my diagnosis, a normal day as a normal girl without the fear of the future.

  Near noon, Dallas produced another impressive array of food and spread it on a blanket in the bed of his truck. He told me crazy stories from his time helping the vet back home, and I laughed until my stomach hurt. Every now and then, we got lost in each other; as if there wasn’t enough time in our summer for everything we wanted from our relationship.

  After lunch Dallas sat back against the wall of his truck bed and pulled his hat over his face. “It’s one o’clock. Naptime.”

  I stretched to pull the hat from his face. “Are you really going to sleep through our day together?”

  He stole the hat back and set it on my head. “It looks better on you.” He pressed his lips against mine and I felt the hat tumble off and land with a soft sound. Dallas pulled back from our kiss, sobered in an instant. “Cass, I need to tell you something.”

  My heart sank. “What is it?”

  “You asked me about Wiley the other day, and I lied to you. I’ve lied to you other times too, to protect him.”

  As I pulled back, my chin slipped from his grasp. “What are you saying?”

  He lowered his gaze to the bed of the truck. “I told him I’m done covering for him. I won’t lie to you anymore.”

  “What’s he hiding?”

  His cheeks sucked in before they released. “I’m not sure, sometimes he needs me to cover for him. Secret stuff Tate wants him to do, but Isabelle can’t know about. And then there’s the nights he goes out hunting with Tumbleweed. I don’t know what he does, leaves camp and he’s back by morning. Wiley was worried I might tell you and you’d tell your aunt, but what we have is more important than that. I can’t lose you over his stupid decisions.”

  I wanted to push him further, ask point blank if Wiley was responsible for the deaths, but I couldn’t, not without explaining exactly who I was. Therein was the question that plagued me. Would he stay if he knew the truth? I wasn’t sure. Better to let the detective pull Wiley in for questioning and leave my alias intact.

  “There’s something else. It’s important.” Dallas caught my chin and lifted my face until we were eye to eye. “Cass, I need you to know,” he swallowed hard and took a breath, “I’m falling in lov—”

  I slammed both my hands over his mouth and trapped the words inside. His eyes tilted down at the edges, a sign of his frustration.

  His word tickled against my hand, “What?”

  My mouth fell open and my breath sucked in sharp. I tried not to pull away, but my body didn’t listen. “You said it was a summer relationship. You said we weren’t serious.”

  Dallas pulled my hands from his face so that he could explain. “I didn’t mean to. I never expected this, but fate has a way, Cass.”

  Fate. There was no fate.

  “What are we supposed to do, Dallas? It’s not like we come from the same world. You’ll go your way, and I’ll go mine. How do we make something like this work?” I pushed to the edge of the truck and lowered myself to the grassy meadow.

  The shocks of the truck gave way as he scrambled after me. “I thought of that and it’ll sound crazy, but I want you to come with me to work the Grand Canyon in a few weeks.”

  “What?” I spun back to see if he was kidding, but his face remained solemn, pleading for my consideration. “Dallas, I can’t drop my life and go running all over—”

  “Hear me out,” he interrupted, “you haven’t mentioned school once since you’ve been here, and I can keep you sober.” He interlaced his fingers with mine. “Think about it, that’s all I’m asking. I have my own cabin there. I talked with my boss a couple days ago. He says he’d love to have you. Please, Cass, think about it.”

  It was all I could think about as we packed up and pulled out of the meadow. A life as Cassidy Billings, a normal girl, wasn’t it all I’d dreamed of?

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  For the rest of our day together, Dallas drove us to an outlet strip about a half hour south of the ranch. His taste in clothes and superior shopping ability made me wonder if he had sisters I hadn’t heard about. Dallas gave me clothes to try on, and clapped obnoxiously as I modeled them for him. Every time I emerged in a new outfit he had on some new accessory, a floppy sunhat, rhinestone glasses, or a feather boa he dredged up from who knows where. As I stepped out in my last outfit, a simple floral sundress, I looked for him, but he’d vanished. Confused, I started back for my dressing room.

  As I passed the door next to mine, it popped open and someone gripped my arm. I stumbled back and the door slammed shut. Dallas’ eyes shone with excitement. He pressed his finger to his lips to tell me to be quiet and pulled me close. The wall of the dressing room rushed up behind me as his kiss pressed me backward. Flashbacks of our first kiss in his cabin filled my memory and my hands tightened against his back in response. Would it be so bad to run away with him? I could let Dayton take the glory, keep my head down as the arrests were made and slip away to a new life.

  Dallas gripped my hand in his and pressed me back against the wall. Thoughts of Ryder flooded my senses despite my efforts to hold them back. He had held me in the same way before, my wrist tight in his grasp, but I always knew I could free myself, I wasn’t captive. I wasn’t sure with Dallas and it thrilled me beyond believe to feel so helpless under his strength. His kisses traced my jaw, swept over my cheek as his breathy whispers filled my mind.

  “You make me stronger and I love you for it.” His lips found mine and my mind swirled with anticipation. Dallas pulled back far enough to catch my eyes. “I don’t need it from you, but I want you to know that I love you, Cassidy.”

  A knock at the door saved me from an answer. “Miss, are you okay in there?”

  Dallas smothered his laughter in my shoulder as I struggled to find my voice. “Yes, I’m fine. I’ll be out in a minute.”

  “See, the fun we could have?” Dallas asked with a crooked grin. “Think about it, okay?”

  He managed an escape without detection, but I was left chewing on the biggest decision of my life.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  Stepping out of the store, I glanced around for Dallas, but didn’t see him. I sat on a bench near a fountain and waited patiently, unsure of where he’d gone. The question still plagued my mind. Could I leave with him? Could I slip away from the life I’d built? Could I give up my work and everything that went with it?

  I watched the crowds around me, a favorite pastime of mine. A father scurried after his four-year-old daughter. From the way he gave in to her every whim, and the absent ring on his finger, I surmised that it was his day for custody. Two women sat near a salon with tight smiles, and one checked her phone religiously. The younger one waved slyly to a man across the courtyard. He joined them, but it was the other woman that he kissed hello. Her best friend was cheating with her husband. So many lives, countless secrets, and I could see them all if I looked hard enough. Was I willing to abandon that? With all the time I’d spent at the ranch, I still didn’t have enough evidence to pinpoint the killer. Maybe Elle was right about losing my gift? Maybe it was time to move on.

  Something metallic caught my attention and my entire body stiffened. The woman’s body hunched over at an angle, the cuffs encircled her wrists, but allow
ed her the freedom to grip the cushioned pegs to balance her shaking body. Her companion hovered about her, a fleeting hand on this side, then the other, as if she might guess where her friend’s body would give out next. The woman was the future I feared the most, still coherent enough to try, but not strong enough to win. The beginning of the end.

  “Hey, there you are,” Dallas said as he returned. He stuck an ice cream cone in my hand and kissed my cheek. “I hope you like chocolate.”

  I took the cone, but my eyes remained glued to the woman who shared my disease. I’d always admired them, the warriors who were worse off than me, for their strength and courage. They never stopped fighting. Doubt told me I never would have that kind of strength. Weakness had plagued me since childhood.

  Dallas followed my trajectory and spotted the woman. “Wow. Hard life to live.”

  I shook myself free and tried to focus on the ice cream, but I couldn’t stop myself from sneaking glances at the two women. The companion carried two bags in one hand and tried to free a cart from the dispenser. I could understand the thought process, her friend was exhausted and the cart had a seat for her to rest on while they completed their shopping. I wanted to help them, but fear pinned me with ice cream dripping over my hand.

  “I couldn’t do that,” Dallas said after a moment.

  “Do what?” I asked absentmindedly.

  “Any of it. I couldn’t take care of anyone, and I couldn’t be the one who was sick.” He watched as the companion continued to struggle. “I’d want to die,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to live like that.”

  I couldn’t fault him. It wasn’t that different from my hope that my worst relapse would kill me in my sleep before it could rob me of everything I held dear.

  “I got sick as a kid,” he told me. “I remember thinking, if this is my life, then kill me, God. Someone, hold a pillow over me until I stop kicking.”

  Chocolate slipped over my knuckles and splattered on the concrete. “Did you get better?” It was a stupid question, but I knew from personal experience that sometimes people don’t get better, even if they look it.

  “Yeah, it wasn’t that long, but felt like an eternity to a kid.”

  I pressed my lips together and when I opened them, the truth fell out. “I was sick too.”

  “You were?”

  I nodded, but never let my vision drift from the two women as they tried to organize themselves onto the cart. “I had medications and doctors for a long time. I hated it all.”

  “And now?”

  Cassidy found my answer for me, because Cassidy wasn’t sick. “Now I’m healthy.”

  As the women tried to move the cart away from the dispenser, Dallas handed me his cone. “I can’t take this anymore. They need help.”

  Dallas moved the cart, and lowered the disabled woman onto the seat. He smiled warmly at each of them and started back toward me. Dallas was a good guy. I could do worse. The horses had done more than the shots ever had. The inclination was small, and fleeting, but it was there.

  There was a certain poetic beauty to it, run off with Dallas, lose myself to Cassidy and wait the disease out. Maybe it meant less time, maybe it didn’t, but I somehow believed, as Dallas jogged back to my side, any time spent in his arms would be worth every sacrifice.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  We didn’t pull back under the Rockin’ B arch until after eight that night. My swimsuit had long since become uncomfortable, and my skin was cold to the touch in my cutoff jeans. Dallas lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it to bring my attention back to him. “Promise you’ll think about what I asked.”

  My smile was weak, but it was there. “I haven’t stopped thinking about it all day.”

  The road opened up and spread in front of us. Dallas opened his mouth to speak, but slammed on the brakes instead. Lights swirled in the cab of his truck, red, blue and yellow. Emergency vehicles littered the space in front of the lodge and the parking lot. Dallas shot me a look and jumped from the truck. Together, we jogged up the hill toward the cabins. Spotting Dixie near a police officer, Dallas grabbed her arm.

  “What happened, Dixie? What’s going on?”

  Her puffy eyes matched her red nose, evidence of losing to heavy emotion for hours. I feared the worst as her mouth dramatically curved downward. “Tumbleweed is dead. They found him in his cabin, and he’s dead.”

  The news was shocking and I scanned the area for Tate, surely he was responsible. “We have to find Tate,” I insisted.

  A strong arm caught me and I retaliated out of reflex. As I spun, ready to fight, Dayton caught my arm. “Easy there, I’m not the enemy.”

  I dropped my automatic guard and followed him as he walked away. “What’s going on?”

  He looked around to ascertain every threat’s position. “Tim was found dead in his cabin this evening. Isabelle found him.”

  I thought of her fragile psyche and groaned inwardly. “Murder?”

  Dayton shook his head. “It looks like natural causes, maybe a heart attack. We’ll know more in the next couple days.” He pinched the bridge of his nose in the same way my dad does when he knows he’s losing a big case. “That’s not all. He had a letter, written in his own writing. It confessed to everything, the murders, your river incident, even your car accident.” He blew the air from his cheeks. “The medical examiner had another theory on the hesitation marks. The killer might have gotten weaker, the cuts were harder to make. Tim has the same condition as Tate, but more advanced. The transfusions were keeping alive, but he wasn’t strong enough to…” He let the sentence hang there.

  Confusion didn’t allow closure. The pieces were all accounted for. They were all arranged and set in a logical pattern, but I wasn’t satisfied. Was it my own pride that stopped me from the feeling of finality? Was I hung up on the fact that I hadn’t solved the case myself?

  “How’s Isabelle?” I asked.

  The true source of Dayton’s pain broke through. “She’s locked herself in her room. She kicked me out. Tate is waiting for her, in case she wants to talk.”

  My heart sped at the idea of Tate alone with her, but I had to remind myself the killer had been caught. The threat was over. Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling as I considered how well my day off had coincided with Tim’s death and how easy it could’ve been for Tate to arrange both.

  “She’ll come around,” I said, but I think Dayton knew his purpose had been served and the relationship had run its course.

  “You did well,” he said after a moment of silence. “You ever want to work in this neck of the woods, let me know. You’d make one heck of a detective.”

  Dayton left me standing alone. I considered my future, a future that had opened up out of pure happenstance. Through the crowd of people, I caught Wiley watching me, his features tight with scrutiny. He could see through it all, every precaution I’d taken to hide my true identity. Somehow he could see through it all.

  Chapter 27

  Three days of work passed before I received the summons from Isabelle. For three days I’d worried as Tate threw the ranch into full recovery mode. As a final blow out for the season, he’d organized a horse drive. A thirty-mile run of the horses and a slew of cattle he’d begged from friends. Five days in the open grassland and sleeping under the stars, and a pretty price for any guest who wanted to come along. The marketing ploy didn’t fool me, debts were due and Tate knew after the summer he’d survived, the ranch wouldn’t continue without a final push for revenue.

  The door knob to Isabelle’s cabin felt cool as I shoved it open. Tate smiled from where he sat on the staircase. “Cassidy, thanks for coming by.”

  I didn’t need him to show me the way. I knew by instinct that Isabelle stood near her windows in the living room. As I arrived, she brightened a little, but sunk beneath the waves of her own depression once more. “Thank you, Tate. You can leave.”

  “This concerns me too,” he said before he took a spot on the plush couch.

  I waite
d for their stalemate to end and Isabelle finally allowed his presence. She pulled two envelopes from her desk drawer and extended them to me. “These are your pay checks. One has the check from the Rockin’ B for your summer, the other is cash from Ryder.”

  I peeked in the thicker of the two envelopes and dropped it to my side. “This is too much. I didn’t solve the case.”

  “Ryder was adamant when he dropped it by. He said not to let you give a penny back.”

  Her words caught on me like a steel grate. “He was here?”

  “Briefly,” she said as if it hurt her as badly as it cut at me.

  I shook the feeling and took a deep breath. “Isabelle, I’ve really enjoyed the work here, not the murder of course but the horses and the ranch. I was hoping you’d let me finish out the season, and keep my alias intact.” She started to speak and my words tumbled right over the top of hers. “Life back home is complicated and this feels like a sanctuary. If I go back to Washington now, I don’t know what I’ll do.”

  She understood, I didn’t know how, but she understood. “You’ve worked hard. You can stay.” She held up a finger. “On one condition.”

  My eyebrows rose in question. “What’s that?”

  “Keep investigating,” she instructed.

  Tate exploded from his seat. “Isabelle, you have to be kidding me right now. He left a note. He confessed it all. You said it was his handwriting. How do you explain that?”

  Her eyes welled up with tears and spilled over like a broken dam. “I don’t have to. I’ll let Lindy get me the answers.” I could see by the blue flame hatred in her eyes that she still suspected Tate.

  “I don’t know what I’ll find,” I told her.

  “Please keep trying,” she said.

  Tate groaned as he ran his hand through his thick hair. “At least we’ll have Cassidy for the horse drive. We could use the extra rider since Dallas is cutting out early.”

  “I’m going with him,” I said. The words surprised everyone, including me. “I’m leaving with Dallas when he goes to the Grand Canyon.”