No Turning Back

by H. L. Wegley

  Mel’s mouth dropped open and she stared at Beth for a few seconds. “Is she a Spanish princess?”

  “I don’t know. Are you, Beth?” Drew said.

  Beth met Mel’s gaze. “I’m just Beth.”

  “What’s your last name?” Coop said.

  “I’m Elizabeth Sanchez, but just call me Beth.”

  Drew tapped his mother’s shoulder. “Mom, when we get a chance, we need to talk. Just the three of us.”

  She raised her eyebrows. “I heard a rumor that you had borrowed Grant’s truck, but no one would tell me much. Is it that bad?”

  “Well, it’s not good. We’ll tell you about it later. But we’ve been cooped up in the truck all day and need to stretch our legs.” He motioned toward the far end of the barn. “Would you like to take a walk, Beth? I can show you our mares and the foals.”

  “Come on, kids,” Mattie said. “Drew and Beth need some time to relax after their long ride. We can visit with them later.”

  “But I haven’t seen Uncle Drew since—”

  Mattie gave Coop that look that all mothers seem to have mastered.

  “Aw, alright.”

  Drew walked through the big barn with Beth at his side. They stopped at the far end and looked out across the green pasture lined with white wooden fences.

  The sun sat above the Cascade mountains directly in front of them—a tranquil setting that did not reflect the urgency or the danger that had sent Drew and Beth to this ranch.

  “Since I’m a business major, I’ve got to ask this question—you don’t have to answer—but, is raising horses a good way to make a living? It seems to me that the costs of all this would be so high that you’d have to sell your horses for a lot of money.”

  “About the costs, you’ve got that right. A few years ago a registered foal with the right sire could bring ten to fifteen thousand dollars. But things have changed. We can get three or four thousand for an untrained colt. More for a partially trained one. But older, well-trained horses, with the right credentials, can still bring twenty thousand. And prices vary with the US economy.”

  “You told me these were equine dragsters. Are they racehorses?”

  “Yeah. They run short races. Certainly not the Belmont Stakes. But quarter horses have been clocked at nearly sixty miles-per-hour. They can run the quarter-mile more than twice as fast as Olympic champions. But people use them for rodeo horses—barrel racing and calf roping—for ranch horses, show horses, pleasure riding, some folks even use them for jumping. When you see horses in the movies, odds are they’re quarter horses.”

  “When I look across the pasture at all the horses, I can’t believe all the colors.”

  “Yep. You’ll see bays, blacks, brown horses, buckskins, a few palominos, grays, and duns come in several colors as do the roans.” Drew paused. “Your ancestors helped start this breed, Beth. Most believe the quarter horse is a cross between the Spanish horses brought to the New World and those brought in by the American colonists.”

  “Papa would have loved to see this.” She swiped at an eye.

  Drew noticed and stepped closer.

  “I’m okay, Drew. We probably should have that talk with your mother. She needs to know about the trouble I’m bringing.”

  “That’s not all on your shoulders. Suarez wants me just as badly … if not more. You should have seen that look in his eyes after I took him down and got his gun.”

  “I did see. And it frightened me so much I almost got sick.”

  “Well, let’s go have that chat with Mom and make some contingency plans in case Suarez were to locate us. He doesn’t have freedom to roam the US, so it’s not likely he’ll find us. And he can’t waltz in here with his army.”

  “He has his ways, Drew. We dare not underestimate him.”

  When Beth and Drew walked into the ranch house through the kitchen door, Mattie, Coop, and Mel sat around the kitchen table eating what looked like berry cobbler.

  “Mom, we should have that conversation now.”

  “Kids, eat your cobbler here. I need to talk with your uncle. I won’t be long. If you get bored, you can watch TV in the den.”

  The three walked through a wide doorway into a rustic living room with furniture constructed from hand-hewn pine. Mattie and Beth sat on the couch and Drew pulled up a chair on the other side of the coffee table.

  “Here’s what we’re facing, Mom.” He described the situation with Suarez, explaining why the man wanted Beth and why he wanted Drew.

  His mother waited patiently until he finished. There was no panic or alarm, only a deep concern in her eyes that now focused on him. “Drew, I told you all that fighting was going to get you in trouble someday.”

  “Mom, what was I supposed to do? Let them kill Beth?”

  “Easy, son. I see you’ve still got that hair trigger.”

  Beth gave him a frown and nodded.

  “Rather than play beat up on Drew, shouldn’t we be planning what we’ll do if Suarez discovers that Beth and I have come to the ranch?”

  Mattie nodded. “I’ll need to take Mel and Coop somewhere. There are several places we can go, but let me think about that for a bit. What about you and Beth?”

  “I was thinking about hiding out in the old cabin until law enforcement intervenes.”

  Beth had been silent through most of the conversation. She sat up on the couch. “When he came to our town, he surprised us in the middle of the night. Whatever plan we choose, we must be ready in case he surprises us.”

  “Beth, Agent Preston said he’d monitor FBI Intelligence and give us a call if Suarez makes a move this direction.”

  “Now do you see why I was hesitant to come here, Drew. We can’t endanger your mother and the children.”

  “You didn’t seem too hesitant when you told Whittaker where to get off.”

  “Coming with you and coming here are two different considerations.”

  Mattie studied Beth’s face. “I see. If coming with Drew was your first consideration, maybe there is a wedding on the horizon.”

  “I asked her, Mom.”

  Beth’s eyes widened. “The same day you met me.”

  “It seemed appropriate.”

  Mattie shook her head. “That’s Drew, always—”

  “Always storming the castle?” Beth said.

  Mattie laughed. “Bet you got that from Hunter.”

  “Yes. But he’s right. Your son storms castles and takes whatever he wants.”

  “You haven’t tried very hard to stop me, Beth.”

  “But if we’re not alive, none of that matters.”

  “Mom, maybe you should make some calls tonight and make sure Mel and Coop keep their bags packed. If there’s any possibility of danger, the minute we hear of it, you take the four-by-four and leave the ranch by the back road. Beth and I will keep some things packed and be ready to go. We can take the truck or even take two horses to get away into the hills and work our way over to the cabin above Steelhead Falls.”

  Beth blew out a sharp sigh. “Drew, the plan sounds good to you because you haven’t seen what Suarez can do. He brought an army to our town, surrounded it, and no one got away.”

  “But Suarez can’t sneak an army into the US? He’d be stopped. I say we go with our plan and be ready to execute it at a moment’s notice.”

  Beth laid her hand on his arm. “I hope you’re right, Drew. Because if you’re wrong, I couldn’t live with myself.”

  He looked down at the hand on his arm. “If I’m wrong, you wouldn’t have to.”

  Chapter 13

  Today I’m going horseback riding.

  Beth’s heart was thumping out a presto rhythm as she studied the two horses Drew led out of the barn, one red the other light brown.

  She bounced on her toes like an excited schoolgirl. When Beth looked at Drew, she couldn’t suppress a giggle.

  He glanced at her feet and grinned. “Yeah. Horses can do that to a person.”

  “What are their n
ames?”

  “The buckskin is Dusty, and the red roan is Sundown. Some folks call her a strawberry roan.”

  Her gaze locked on the big horse. No matter what angle Beth looked at the horse, its coat seemed to glow red around the edges of its profile. “I like Sundown.”

  “Good choice.” He circled Beth, pulled her hand behind her back, and placed something cold and wet in it.

  She gasped.

  “It’s just a carrot. Horse candy. Feed it to her and she’ll be your friend for life.”

  “So Sundown’s a girl?”

  “More like a middle-aged woman.”

  Beth rubbed the front of Sundown’s head then presented the carrot.

  Sundown’s muzzle swept across her hand and the carrot was gone. In a couple of seconds, the muzzle returned, seeking Beth’s hand again.

  “Oh, all right. This was supposed to be Dusty’s.” Drew gave Beth another carrot.

  The carrot disappeared, and Sundown crunched on it for a few seconds then nodded her head in approval and snorted.

  “Horses can eat a lot of treats, but you never want to give them a stimulant, like caffeine. They already push the limits of their hearts when they run. A stimulant could push them beyond the limits.”

  “It could cause a heart attack?”

  “More like heart burst … or arrythmia.”

  Beth rubbed Sundown’s muzzle. “I guess you’ll just have breakfast without coffee.”

  Drew handed her the reins. “She’s gentle and usually knows what you want to do before you do.”

  “Like a certain man I know.”

  “Could be. The only thing that scares her is rattlesnakes.”

  “That’s something Sundown and I have in common. Any of those where we’re going?”

  “Probably not. But you never know in the desert.”

  She mounted Sundown and tested the stirrups with her feet.

  Drew nodded his approval of her mounting Sundown, then watched Beth for a moment. His gaze swept down from her face to the stirrups. It stopped near her right foot. “How’s your ankle?”

  “It doesn’t hurt unless I try to run on it or bend it too far.”

  “Think you can put enough weight on it to stand on your stirrups while the horse is moving?”

  “It will be fine. But … Drew, this is more than just a pleasure ride, isn’t it?”

  Drew swung up into the saddle on Dusty. “Yeah. That’s why Mom wouldn’t let Mel and Coop come with us … that and a couple of other reasons.” He gave her his warm, winning smile.

  “I see.”

  “Mom likes you, Beth. A lot. I’ve never brought a girl home before.”

  “That’s hard to believe. Not even in high school?”

  “Nope.”

  “Didn’t girls like you? I would have thought you’d have several—”

  “Oh, several girls liked me. But think about it. Would you let your daughter date a guy who’d beat up nearly every boy in school? One who had, deservedly or not, acquired a reputation as a hot-tempered ruffian? Well, that’s a slight exaggeration. I never did beat up Hunter.”

  “One who proposes to girls on the first date? Certainly not.”

  “Only to the right one.”

  “How do you know it was the right one, Drew?”

  “She’s the only one you’ve ever really wanted and the one you know is going to say yes.”

  “And how do you know this?”

  “Because I can read her mind.”

  The tingling between her shoulder blades brought a shiver and the eerie thought that Drew had told her the truth.

  Drew shook the reins and Dusty started off down a dirt road that bypassed the bright green pastures.

  Sundown followed without any urging.

  The small road headed westward toward the back of the ranch. Miles beyond the ranch, the Cascade Mountains rose to gleaming white peaks against a powder-blue summer sky containing a few puffy white clouds near the mountains.

  “This seems like a pleasure ride. What else are we going to do?”

  “If we have to run and hide, I want you to be familiar with the area. You’ll be safer that way.”

  “But I’ll have you with me, Drew.”

  “Who knows, I might sprain an ankle or something.” He grinned.

  “You’re not funny. And you don’t have sexy ankles.”

  “Maybe not. But my ankle bones are humongous. That’s what you get for being a long jumper who’s too lazy to rake the pit.”

  “I don’t get the connection.”

  “It’s a bone density thing—never mind. How good are you at galloping?”

  “Not very good. But I bet Sundown is.”

  “So you’ll gallop with me to the end of the fence?”

  “Is this a test or something?”

  “Beth Sanchez doesn’t miss much, does she?”

  “I’d miss you if you sprained your ankle.”

  “But would you miss me if Dusty galloped away leaving you and Sundown in the dust?”

  When Drew took off on Dusty, Sundown didn’t need a nudge or a kick to get going.

  The exhilaration of being carried along by a half-ton running machine sent Beth on a power trip. Why did cars need three-hundred horsepower, when one horsepower could do this?

  She almost kicked Sundown to break into a run and pass Drew, but a video played in her mind of Beth falling off an equine dragster and her body bouncing down the dusty road. It wasn’t a pretty picture.

  She relaxed and moved with the horse as it loped down the road behind Dusty and Drew.

  Drew pulled on the reins and Dusty slowed to a trot.

  Before Beth could react, Sundown had slowed and soon fell into a walk beside Dusty.

  Drew looked her way and studied her face for a moment. “Pretty cool, huh? Almost makes you want to give her a kick and see how fast a quarter horse can go.”

  “Yes, it does.” He’d done it again. Once or twice and she might have called it coincidence or a logical deduction. But Drew had read her mind at least a dozen times since they met.

  He pointed to a ridge about a mile ahead. “We will climb over the shoulder of that hill, cross the ridge using that little saddle, and then circle that small peak to a spot a little below the top. Nestled in the trees is a log cabin with most of the conveniences of home. But it’s missing a few. There are no roads in, only a small trail for horses or hikers. We don’t allow motorcycles or ATVs up there. Too much of a fire hazard.”

  A half-hour later, Beth dismounted Sundown near the door of the cabin.

  The cabin faced west only a short way from the top of the ridge. The setting provided a spectacular view of the Cascade Mountains.

  Drew worked an old pump handle until water poured out into a trough. He pumped for a while, then they tethered both horses to a rail beside the watering trough.

  “While they drink, I’m going to show you our cabin.”

  “Our cabin? Do you own this? I mean it’s a long way from the ranch.”

  “My grandfather built it. Mom and Dad added some amenities, and it is actually in my name. It could be our cabin, Beth.” He smiled.

  She didn’t.

  But Drew had added another line item to Drew West’s balance sheet in the assets column that had formed in Beth’s MBA mind. And saying no to him, which had been her intent on day one, was … well, on day five, she wouldn’t bet money on a horse with such long odds. But none of this speculation mattered if they couldn’t stay away from Suarez and stay alive.

  Drew pulled out his keys, unlocked the cabin, and motioned her inside. “It’s a two-bedroom home away from home. Has a good well, but you have to pump the water from either the kitchen sink or the pump outside. The only other drawbacks are the outhouse and no electricity.”

  “Drew, this is wonderful. And in this setting, it would be a great place for—”

  “For a honeymoon …”

  “Are you asking or making a statement?”

  “I’v
e already asked, Beth. So, I guess I was making a statement.”

  She couldn’t think of a good reply. Besides they were checking the cabin out as a hiding place, not a honeymoon cottage.

  “As a hideout, this spot is hidden from view of anyone coming from the ranch.” He paused. “As a honeymoon cottage, this spot is hidden from view of anyone coming from the ranch.”

  “You’ve made your point, Drew. Let’s focus on the hideout because … if that doesn’t work, there will never be a honeymoon cottage.”

  “You sure like to flirt with ideas, concepts, and people, but you’re really slow at commitment, Beth Sanchez. Did you know that?”

  “Not if I know I’m right. If I’m certain, I can commit in a few seconds. That’s a characteristic of all INTJs.”

  “So if I told you I was Mr. Right, you would have said yes that first day?”

  “No. You have to be it not tell it.”

  “Kind of like writing fiction? Showing instead of telling?”

  “I don’t know anything about writing fiction. But that sounds right.”

  “Back to the advantages of this cabin. A person would have to cross the ridgeline in the right spot or they wouldn’t find the cabin. And for someone hiding here, they can climb about fifty yards to the top of the ridge and see anybody approaching from the east for at least fifteen miles. And right from the cabin window we can see thirty miles to the west. What do you think?”

  “I love it here. But suppose, somehow, Suarez found us. What would we do?”

  “Let’s mount up and I’ll show you.”

  It took them nearly a half-hour to ride down from the ridge to a road near the river. A mile down the road they came to a graveled parking area surrounded by pine trees.

  “This is the Steelhead Falls trailhead. The trail to the falls has some steep spots where steps have been cut into the ground, and there are steep side slopes that I don’t want to take the horses down. If you took a spill, we could lose you, the horse, or both. You and the horse would both have to be airlifted out, and I would have to pay for it. We’ll hitch Dusty and Sundown here and walk in. It’s only about a half mile to the falls.”

  “What happens if—”

  “I figured you’d ask that. If we’re followed to the falls, I’ll show you after we get there.”