Escape From the Badlands

by Dana Mentink

  He gave it a look and then pressed his tired face against her leg, heedless of the damp denim. She found Gleeson looking at them. With a start she placed his face. “I patched up your knee at the clinic.”

  “Yes, you did. Good as new.” He eyed Charlie. “Nice little kid. Glad he’s okay.”

  “Me, too.”

  “I have a son, but he’s grown now.”

  “Does he live close by?”

  “I wouldn’t know. He doesn’t speak to me, thanks to my ex.” His eyes narrowed. “You know, for a minute, I got the sense that you and Matthews knew each other.”

  “Really?” Kelly’s heart pounded. Should she reveal the truth? But there was some reason why Shane hadn’t given this man his real name. She fussed with Charlie’s hair, buying time, wondering what to say.

  She was spared having to answer when Betsy arrived with another woman, much shorter than Betsy, with a mane of wild curly black hair. The woman cradled a bundle in her arms.

  Betsy opened the door to the trailer as she talked. “This is my cousin, Gwen. She’s petite, like you, so she has some dry clothes for you to wear and a T-shirt for Charlie to sleep in.”

  Kelly realized that all her possessions—everything from her phone to their pajamas—were underwater. She groaned.

  “It’s okay,” Betsy said, reading her look. “We’ll get the car towed out after the water drains away. You’d be surprised how fast that flood will be gone.”

  The interior of the trailer was worn, but clean. There was a full-size bed at one end and a set of little bunk beds at the other. A tiny kitchen tiled in yellowed linoleum and a minuscule bathroom rounded out the space. Kelly placed Paddy Paws on the floor, and she immediately scurried off to hide in the gap under the lowest bunk.

  Betsy plopped a paper bag on the table. The trailer light picked up the glint in her copper hair.

  “Some food in case you need a snack tonight. There’s a small dining hall here that does breakfast.” She grinned. “See? I told you this place was luxurious. I’ve got to go fill Devin in. I only radioed enough detail to let him know you all were okay. See you in the morning.”

  Gwen offered a shy smile and handed over the clothes. “Not much, but at least they’re dry.”

  Kelly let out a heartfelt sigh. “Thank you. You have all been wonderful to us. We’re so grateful.” She picked Charlie up. “Let’s say thank-you to Miss…?”

  “Falco.” Betsy had introduced Gwen as her cousin.

  Charlie turned a sleepy face to Gwen and mumbled a thank-you.

  Gwen took a step backward, her eyes glued on the boy, a stricken look on her face.

  “Is everything okay?” Kelly asked, puzzled.

  Her eyes remained riveted on Charlie. “He’s so sweet. I’d love to have a son like that.”

  “He’s my nephew, actually.”

  Gwen repeated the words as if they were some kind of chant. “Your nephew.”

  The silence became uncomfortable.

  “Thank you again. I think I’d better get him into dry clothes.”

  Gwen seemed to snap out of her strange confusion. “Yes, right. I’ll see you later then.”

  Kelly watched through the window as Gwen walked away from the trailer. Just before she left the circle of light from the porch lamp, she turned again, staring through the kitchen window, a disturbed look on her face.

  Kelly felt a whisper of fear tickle her gut as she reached out and flicked the curtains closed.

  THREE

  Shane stood in the near darkness, watching the moonlight retreat and advance as clouds danced across the sky. He was cold and confused. Kelly could not be here. It was too much of a bizarre coincidence, and he did not believe in coincidences. She’d finished her nurses’ training; he was not surprised about that. Kelly would do what she set out to, even if circumstances conspired against her. He’d always admired that about her.

  The vibration of his satellite phone startled him. Heart hammering, he took it from its waterproof case and answered.

  “Hey,” his brother said, the jail phone connection crackling with static.

  “Hey yourself. You sound funny.” Shane tried to keep the worry out of his voice as he pictured his brother the last time he’d seen him—through the Plexiglas in the jail’s visitors’ room. The shock of seeing Todd in an orange jumpsuit still pained him.

  “Got a fat lip.”

  “How?”

  Todd sighed. “Couple guys found out I used to be a cop back in the day.”

  Shane’s blood ran cold. Once a cop, always a cop in the eyes of the inmates. Todd might as well have a target painted on his forehead in that South Dakota jail. He pressed the phone to his mouth. “Tell the warden. They’ve got to give you some protection.”

  “Trial’s coming up, then it will all be over.”

  Shane cupped the phone against the wind, wishing he could reach through the connection. “You’re not going to be convicted for something you didn’t do.”

  His brother hesitated. “Maybe I did it.”

  “Don’t say that. You didn’t kill Olivia. You loved your wife.”

  Todd sighed again, his voice flat and listless. “Things were tough between Olivia and me before then. We had a fight. I…I was drinking. I passed out, but maybe before that…”

  Shane forced out a calm breath. “You and I both know that it was someone else, one of the race producers you hosted last year, the night before she was murdered. The young one, Devin Ackerman, was fawning over Olivia, you told me.”

  “Yeah, and that set me off. Olivia said I was being a jealous fool.” He laughed. “She always told it like it was.”

  The tiny spark in Todd’s voice as he spoke gave Shane a moment of optimism. “I talked to a cop who used to work with you. He never bought Ackerman’s alibi—that girl Ellen Brown, who said Ackerman was with her the night of the murder. He told me he thinks she might have been lying. I’ve been looking for her. I’m going to talk to her, convince her to tell the truth. It might not get you out, but it will be enough to cast some reasonable doubt.”

  “Have you found her yet?”

  Shane wished desperately he had another answer. He’d spent a month trying to track her down, with no success. “Not yet, but they let me in the race. I’m here right now. Plenty of the participants are repeaters from last year. One of them is likely to know where she went, have an email address, something. If nothing else, maybe I can get into the past race files and find her.”

  “Maybe she’s telling the truth.”

  “Then why would she disappear? And how did Ackerman’s business card wind up on Olivia’s desk?”

  “It’s a long shot.”

  “It’s the only shot I can think of. All I’ve got to do is poke a hole in his alibi. The police will have to take a closer look at Ackerman. I’m sure…”

  Todd cut him off. “Police did their thing. They couldn’t disprove Ackerman’s alibi. No evidence pointing to anyone but me. Ranch hand heard us arguing. Gunshot residue on my fingers. Case closed.”

  He wanted to shout at his brother, shake some spirit back into him. “You’ve got to believe in your own innocence. I do. I’ve never stopped.”

  Shane pictured him now, green eyes so like Shane’s other brother, Lonnie, the little boy who had died before he even got to taste what life had to offer.

  “I did, too, at first, but I’m not so sure anymore. I blacked out, I was drunk and I have a temper. If I killed my wife, I deserve to be here,” Todd said softly.

  “Stop talking like that. You don’t deserve to be in prison for a murder you didn’t commit,” Shane hissed. “Someone killed your wife, and we both know who that was. All we’ve got to do is come up with evidence that casts a reasonable doubt that you did it, give your lawyer something to work with.”

  Todd spoke slowly and deliberately. “Listen to me, Shane. I want you to leave that race and not come back. You’ve had enough pain already. Walk away from this mess. Find Kelly and start over wi
th her.”

  Shane felt his face flush. He spent every waking moment missing Kelly, the feel of her silken hair on his face, the smile that lit up the inside of his heart like a beacon. “I’m not walking away.” He swallowed hard. “You’re the only brother I’ve got now.”

  “There’s nothing left for me.”

  “Yes, there is. You always say God will…”

  “That’s what I used to think, that He answered prayers, interceded for people who loved Him,” Todd said.

  That’s what Todd had tried to teach Shane when Lonnie died, and then when things fell apart with Kelly. “Don’t give up your faith, Todd,” he said, fighting to keep his voice level. He felt like a hypocrite telling his brother to hold onto God when Shane could not do the same, but he did not want to see that part of his brother die. Todd’s faith might be the only thing that kept him alive until Shane could figure out how to free him.

  Todd spoke with a tone completely devoid of hope. “It doesn’t make sense to me anymore. I can’t make myself believe it now.”

  Fear coiled through Shane’s gut. What could he say to save his brother? “I will keep fighting until we find out who killed Olivia. We’ll hire another lawyer if we need to.”

  “No. Let it go and walk away, just as I said.” Todd sighed. “Goodbye, Shane,” he said as he hung up.

  Swallowing a surge of desperation, he walked to the edge of the canyon. The rain tapered off and the water had begun to recede, as if a drain had suddenly been uncapped. Water sucked away into the parched land around it and beyond, lowering visibly as he watched.

  Soon Kelly’s car was clear—still jammed against the rocks, but accessible. He retied a rope and eased himself down again. This time the driver’s-side door opened easily. Avoiding the bits of glass, he reached for the keys left in the ignition.

  He imagined how panicked she must have been, knowing that she could drown at any moment, along with Charlie.

  It was too painful to contemplate, and far too uncomfortable picturing what the little boy must have felt watching the water rise.

  Had Lonnie felt that way? Had he known that the water would soon overwhelm him? Was his last feeling before he drowned an all-encompassing terror?

  Black despair filled him. His brother’s words floated into his mind.

  Let go, Shane. Lonnie’s with God. Let that be enough.

  But Todd was letting his faith slip away under the weight of his unjust incarceration. How could he save the brother who had saved him so many times? Cold water seeped into his already sodden pants.

  He noticed a sheaf of papers stuck under the visor, miraculously dry. Thinking they might be important to Kelly, he took them, noticing a card clipped to the top.

  Devin Ackerman, Desert Quest Publicity Coordinator.

  There was a phone number below, and a scrawled message: Kelly, looking forward to having you aboard. D

  The papers crumpled as his grip tightened. Ackerman had hired Kelly? Why? She was a newly minted nurse. Surely there were many people far more qualified for the job than she. But Kelly, with her dark eyes and gentle smile, would have appealed to him for other reasons.

  His stomach tightened and his breathing grew shallow.

  Even though Ackerman was engaged, he knew the man was unable to resist a beautiful girl. What’s more, he’d heard that the race coordinator was not above pursuing women, married or otherwise. If Ellen Brown hadn’t given him an alibi for the night of Olivia’s murder… He ground his teeth, stowed the papers inside his jacket and unhooked the car seat from the back. Then he took the keys from the ignition and made his way to the trunk. He unlocked it and retrieved a small duffel bag, swallowing against the lump in his throat.

  It was the same bag she’d lugged along on their river rafting adventure. He jerked it free and grabbed a smaller blue backpack with a train emblazoned on the front. He closed the trunk again and made his way clumsily back to the top in time to see Gleeson pull up in the van.

  “See you got your bags packed,” Gleeson joked.

  Shane didn’t respond as he got in. They drove for several miles in silence.

  “I guess we’ve got our new medic now,” Gleeson said, giving him a quick glance.

  “So it seems.” Shane fumed. “How did Ackerman find Kelly?”

  Gleeson tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “Through me, actually. He met her when he took me to the clinic after I sprained my knee. She was real competent and looking for a job because her gig there was almost up.” He grinned. “She’s not bad to look at, either, so I think that already put her ahead of the previous medic.”

  Biting back a fiery remark, Shane forced himself to stare out the window. “What happened to the other medic?”

  “Quit suddenly. Didn’t give a reason that I’m aware of. Why you so interested?” Gleeson asked. “You know her?”

  Shane wondered what Kelly had told him. Was Gleeson testing him?

  He went for flippant. “I’ve met a lot of pretty girls. Who remembers?”

  Gleeson chuckled.

  Who remembers? Shane did—every moment of their time together was indelibly engraved on his mind. The smallest things remained there: the way her smile was higher on one side than the other, the curl of her hair right after she washed it, her laughter that always made him forget everything else. Her failed attempts at learning to cook, and all the truly awful food he’d eaten with a smile firmly plastered on his face.

  “Anyway,” Gleeson continued, “she’s saddled with a kid. Don’t know why anyone would sign on to hook up with that.”

  A kid. The comment circled in his mind, stabbing and biting like an angry beast. Is that what Kelly thought? That he’d left because he didn’t want to be saddled with a kid? How could he ever tell her the truth?

  He leaned his head back and let the miles go by, uncertain why the situation had taken such a strange turn. There was only one thing he knew for sure—Kelly had to leave. Immediately. The thought carried him back to the campground where he parted with Gleeson, shouldering the bags to take to Kelly’s trailer, the one with the Team Medic placard displayed in the kitchen window.

  The curtains were drawn and his hands felt clammy, heart hammering erratically.

  Convince her to leave. That’s all you have to do.

  In an effort not to wake Charlie if the child was sleeping, Shane knocked softly.

  Kelly answered, dressed in a pair of sweatpants that were too big and an oversized T-shirt. Her hair was still wet, but pulled up into a high ponytail. Even in clothes that didn’t fit, after a harrowing near-death experience, she was still the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, and for a moment he couldn’t speak.

  Kelly eyed the bags in his hands. “You didn’t have to bring those.”

  Shane shrugged. “Concierge service included with your luxury accommodations. Car will need to be towed, but I figured you might be able to use some of these things after they dry out.” He hesitated. “Can I come in?”

  She gave him a long look before she opened the door. “Just for a minute. Charlie is sleeping. I…we’ve been looking for his mother but no luck so he’s got to settle for me. Guess I didn’t do so well tonight.”

  He saw a little bundle in the full-size bed. “Is he okay?”

  “Yes.” She took a breath. “Thank you again. I’m not sure what would have happened if you hadn’t come along.”

  He could see in her face the effort it took to say those words to him, the man she despised. “Forget it.” He shot another glance at the boy, only the top of his head visible from under the blankets. He looked so small in the bed. “Any word on your sister?”

  Kelly’s face shimmered with pain. “My uncle has a lead, but so far nothing concrete.”

  “I hope she turns up safe.”

  “Me, too.” She hugged herself. “I don’t mean to be rude, but it’s late. I’ve got to start work tomorrow so I think I’d better get some sleep.”

  “I need to talk to you about that.”


  Kelly cocked her head at him. “I think I know what you’re going to say. I’m sorry that it’s going to be a little awkward, Shane, but I had no idea you’d be here. We’ll stay away from each other. One week and the whole thing will be over. You can stand it for that long, can’t you?”

  He winced. “That’s not what I meant.”

  She frowned, the dim kitchen light reflecting in the dark pools of her eyes. “What, then? Does this have something to do with the fictitious name you’re using?”

  “Yes. Did you tell Gleeson we…know each other?”

  “No. I’m not sure why, but I didn’t. That was almost two years ago. Old history. What’s going on?”

  Their time together, though only a year, would never be old history in his mind. “I can’t tell you.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because it might put you in danger.”

  Anger flickered to life in her face. “You know, I’ve become pretty good at taking care of myself and Charlie.”

  He felt his cheeks flush, and he looked at his wet boots.

  She waited a moment. “Fine, don’t tell me, I’m not sure I want to know anyway. Say what you need to say. I’ve got to get some sleep.”

  He took a deep breath. “Kelly, you need to leave Desert Quest.”

  Kelly felt as if she must be dreaming. All the long evenings she’d sat in the secondhand rocking chair, comforting a wailing Charlie. Half the time during those endless nights, she found herself wishing Shane would walk back into her life, and the rest wishing she’d never met him in the first place. Now that he stood there, blond hair dark with moisture, full lips drawn tightly together and the fire in his blue eyes as strong as ever, her feelings flared into the same confused mess she’d experienced those earlier days. She was not sure whether to be furious or concerned.

  “You can’t just walk in here and tell me to leave my job. Working for Desert Quest is an incredible opportunity, and it’s going to help me and Charlie buy a place closer to the city where I can find a job to support us both until my sister comes back.”

  He shifted. “I know it sounds crazy, but the people here are not who they seem to be.”