Betrayal in the Badlands

by Dana Mentink

  Her mind seemed to slow, thoughts turning in on themselves as she moved on, crawling now, without the strength to rise.

  Yea, a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light…

  Though she’d known Logan only a short while, she knew the Lord brought him into her life to give her light and push away the darkness. The moments with him washed away the years of grief and shame, restoring her heart in a way she’d never imagined possible.

  I love you, Logan. Tears started down her face, dotting the ground between her hands as she continued to crawl.

  I love you.

  The ground burned her hands, blistering the torn skin.

  She felt a vibration under her fingers, the ground trembling though she could not be sure it wasn’t her own body short-circuiting.

  As she struggled to stand, a hand grabbed hold of her arm and kept her pinned to the ground. The thin desert air snatched up her scream and whirled it away.

  Logan resisted the urge to wipe the sweat out of his eyes. Any sound, any shadow would alert Autie to the coming ambush.

  In the distance he could hear the whine of the helicopter, but it did not seem to be moving closer. It could mean they’d spotted the flare but weren’t going to risk Autie taking a shot at the aircraft by moving closer. He prayed they’d radioed Logan’s position to a ground force. Help might be arriving any minute.

  But he wasn’t counting on it.

  Even Autie with his formidable skills couldn’t avoid making a whisper of noise as he climbed the path to Logan’s position. The scrape of boots on the gravel floated up to Logan. He’d have to come up that path. All the other approaches would take him across deadly drops and cliffs that plunged into nowhere. And Autie would feel the pressure of time. With a chopper in the area, he’d have to complete his mission quickly.

  Logan was relieved to hear the occasional sounds of Autie’s progress. It meant he hadn’t decided to go after Isabel. He knew if he failed, she’d be next.

  Perhaps it would not be in these wasted acres. Maybe not even in the upcoming months, but if Isabel was taken to safety, Autie would find her, Logan was sure of it. He wondered again what the man’s motivation was and why he’d let Logan uncover the body of Nora Baker while he watched.

  Was John Trigg in contact with Autie even now? Urging him on in his deadly pursuit? It seemed pointless. Logan could take no more time to muddle through the killer’s motivations. Autie was close now, a few yards down the trail. The wind died away, leaving Logan tensed for the arrival of the man who sought to kill him.

  Isabel registered only terror as the hands pushed her back toward the shelter of the rock. It was not Autie who half supported and half dragged her, but a slender man with dark eyes and dusky skin.

  He said something that she could not understand through her fear.

  Tank leaped into her lap and slavered his rubbery tongue over her face. Instinctively, she clasped him to her, still eyeing the stranger. “Who…?”

  He uncapped a canteen and knelt next to her.

  “Bill Cloudman. Bentley and his team are just west of our location.”

  Tank licked her enthusiastically.

  Bill gently pushed him out of the way. “On my way here, I picked up Tank. He brought me in this direction. He’s a good dog.”

  Isabel managed a smile. “So I’ve been told.” She buried her head in the dog’s fur for a moment, feeling the relief surge through her. Then she sipped from the offered canteen, the water cool and delicious on her dry tongue. She wanted to keep drinking, to let the liquid cool her insides, but she pushed it away.

  “Logan.”

  Cloudman nodded. “I saw the signal flare. He’s on the pinnacle. There.” Bill pointed.

  Isabel pushed Tank off her lap. “We’ve got to get to him. Autie’s going to kill him.”

  Cloudman didn’t answer, only nodded and stowed the canteen. She saw he had a gun in a holster at his belt. Though the baseball cap shadowed his face, his eyes glittered intensely from beneath the brim.

  Cloudman leading, sticking to the shade as much as possible, they made their way to the base of the pinnacle, Tank running at Isabel’s side.

  Logan heard Autie stop just on the other side of the curve. He could almost hear the man’s thoughts. He’d be thinking the same thing. Was it a trap? Was Logan waiting with a gun around the corner?

  He savored the thought. Things might not work out the way he’d planned, but at least he’d turned the tables for a moment.

  Then Autie moved forward, slowly, each footstep planted carefully, as though he was walking across slippery ground. Logan saw the first flicker of movement in the lenses of the sunglasses.

  A little closer, he urged silently. Just a few more steps.

  The end of Autie’s rifle appeared in the reflection.

  One step more.

  Another small slice of what was coming and he had enough information.

  Body tensed and ready, his legs propelled him forward at the exact time Autie emerged around the corner. He crashed into the rifle with all the strength left in him.

  The shot rang through the air and Isabel screamed.

  Bill unholstered his weapon and charged up the trail, Tank outstripping him in a few strides. Isabel willed her legs to move up the steep trail, wondering with sick dread what they would find at the top.

  If he was hurt…

  If he was… She didn’t allow herself to finish her thought. Her body screamed out for her to stop, but she would not. Not until she knew, one way or another.

  As Logan and Autie fought for possession of the rifle, Logan’s ears rang from the sound of the shot. Autie was strong, arms like steel as they grappled. Rolling around the trail loosened puffs of dust that whirled around them and stung their eyes.

  With a vicious yank, Logan pulled the rifle free, but his hands were slick with sweat and the weapon skidded off the path and over the side of the pinnacle.

  Autie scrambled back and got to his feet, breathing hard. “Why, Captain Price. Fancy meeting you here. Are you ready to die yet?”

  Logan crouched in a ready position, arms raised defensively. “Not here. Not because of you.”

  Autie laughed as he removed a six-inch hunting knife from his belt. “It comes down to this. I will treat your death with honor, Captain, as a courtesy, you understand, for a fellow soldier and patriot.”

  The point of the knife blazed in the waning sunlight.

  Autie circled the tip expertly. “I am sure that you were the recipient of a good deal of hand-to-hand combat training, were you not?”

  “Plenty,” Logan said as he pulled his own knife from the leather case on his hip. He’d begun to ease from foot to foot, gauging Autie’s skill, sizing up the best way to attack and defend. Left, he would feint left. He tensed to attack when an unmistakable sound reached his ears. The tiny jingle of metal tags. He resisted the urge to smile. “There’s just one favor I’d like to ask, one fellow soldier to another.”

  Autie frowned. “What is that?”

  “Don’t hurt the dog.”

  Autie raised a puzzled eyebrow as Tank barreled into view and sailed through the air, burying his teeth in Autie’s wrist.

  TWENTY TWO

  Logan seized Autie’s knife as the impact knocked it loose.

  Bill turned Autie over and cuffed him with a pair of plastic restraints. When the dog continued to bark and snarl, Bill spoke a strange guttural word to the animal, who instantly sat.

  Logan eyed the dog, amazed. “What language was that?”

  “Lakota. Tank’s bilingual of course, but Lakota is his primary language.” Bill shot Logan an innocent look. “His language skills are strong.”

  “No wonder Tank never listens to me. Why didn’t you tell me you trained him using Lakota?”

  “Because your language skills are terrible.” He hauled Autie to his feet.

  Logan saw Isabel standing with her hands to her mouth, her face a ghastly white. He went to her. �
��It’s okay now. It’s over.” He felt her body shudder as she sobbed onto his shirt front.

  “I thought…” she started.

  “Forget it. It’s all over. We’re going to get you out of here and have a doctor check you out.”

  She leaned against him and he traced circles on her back, keeping her turned away from Autie. He had to strain to hear her when she spoke.

  “But it’s not over until we know who hired Autie to kill me and my sister.”

  Logan had nothing to say about that. He continued to hold her. All he could feel was a profound relief that she was alive.

  Bentley and two men plowed around the corner, guns drawn. He took in the situation. “Glad to see no one is hurt.”

  “Isabel is,” Logan snapped. “Autie grazed her shoulder with a bullet and she’s dehydrated. We need to get her to a hospital.”

  Bill pushed Autie forward to Bentley. “Here’s your man.”

  As Autie drew abreast of Logan he stopped. His face was sweat-stained and bleeding from a cut above the eye, but he did not appear to be a man who had been beaten. “As the great Custer himself might have said, I would be glad to see a battle every day during my life, with such a worthy opponent.” He nodded his head. “You have been a challenging adversary and I am honored to be vanquished by a soldier of your caliber.”

  Logan could not keep the satisfaction out of his voice. “You’re going to prison, Autie, like your father. I’m sure you’ll find all kinds of worthy opponents there.”

  He smiled. “Perhaps you are right, Captain Price, but it is a very long way from here to prison. Who knows the twists and turns of fate that may occur in the length of that journey?”

  Bill nudged him. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you get there safely.”

  Autie had almost passed Logan and Isabel when he lowered his voice and whispered. “Do give the general my sincerest and humble apologies for not carrying out her mission. I would apologize myself, but I am otherwise engaged.”

  Logan’s heart thudded to a stop. Her?

  Isabel’s face mirrored his own shock.

  Bill hadn’t missed the pronoun either. “Go. There’s another chopper on the way. I’ll stay here with Tank and those two.” He pointed to the cops who had arrived with Bentley. “You and Bentley see it through to the end.”

  Logan nodded. “Thank you, Bill.”

  “My pleasure.”

  Bentley peppered Logan with questions as they ran to the chopper, but Logan didn’t answer any of them.

  Isabel kept up well, but Logan still stopped once to insist that she drink and catch her breath. When they were strapped into the chopper the aircraft took off into a spectacular sunset.

  He knew by Isabel’s silence that she’d understood Autie’s revelation. Her face was grave and she watched Logan closely, probably to see how he was reacting. He’d decided not to allow himself that luxury until they confronted her face-to-face.

  “We’ll take you to the hospital first.” Logan started to speak to the chopper pilot but Isabel stopped him.

  “No. We talk to her first.”

  “You need medical care.”

  “I need my sister’s murderer caught.”

  He looked into her dark eyes, darker now against the pale cast of her face. “Are you sure, Isabel?”

  She squeezed his hand in answer and he thought again that she was the bravest person he’d ever met.

  The chopper delivered them back to the clearing where they’d started the trail ride. Most of the people were gone, but John was there, holding Blue Boy’s reins. Isabel’s smile at the sight of the horse was nothing short of spectacular. Next to John, sitting on a card chair with a phone pressed to her ear, was Sheila Trigg.

  Logan headed straight for Sheila, with Bentley and Isabel struggling to keep up. At his approach, her face drained of color and she hung up the phone.

  “Trying to get in touch with Autie?” Logan snapped.

  “What?” She gave him a smile. “Silly boy. I don’t know what you’re talking about. We’ve been worried sick about you both. Are you all right? Are you hurt?”

  Logan tried to hold his anger in check. “I think you know exactly what I’m talking about, Sheila.”

  Bentley cleared his throat. “We just took Autie into custody.”

  She kept up the facade for a moment, staring first at Bentley and then at Logan, until her face crumpled. Wrapping her arms tightly around herself, she blinked furiously.

  John came over and handed the reins to Isabel without a word. “What’s wrong, Mom?” He snarled at Bentley, “I told you to stay away from my mother.”

  Logan stared him down. “Your mother hired Autie to kill Cassie and Isabel.”

  John’s mouth dropped open. Then he laughed. “You’re really reaching now. You’d rather concoct this crazy story than face the facts about your girlfriend? Wise up before you lose what’s left of your mind.”

  Bentley cut in, “Autie admitted it when we arrested him.”

  John snorted. “And you’re going to trust the word of some lunatic?”

  “We’re going to believe it, because he’s telling the truth,” Logan said, his eyes on Sheila. “That day at the ranch, you said you saw Autie watching me clear the ravine before you fell. I couldn’t figure out why he would stand out in the open, allowing me to unearth the body. Truth was, he wouldn’t. He wasn’t there. We’d just discovered his hunting blind and I winged him in the shoulder. He was holed up somewhere else.”

  Sheila shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

  “Yes, you do.” Isabel spoke softly, but they all turned to look at her. “You said you were a social worker once upon a time, and Bill Cloudman told us social services tried to work with Autie’s family before his mom was murdered. That’s how you knew him, wasn’t it? You’d visited his family.”

  “No,” Sheila said, struggling to her feet.

  Isabel stroked Blue Boy as she continued. “John killed Nora and couldn’t face the consequences, so you stepped in to save him. I think you didn’t want my sister to discover Nora’s body. When she started on her plans to have Logan clear the ravine, you panicked and hired Autie to kill her. You’re so desperate to protect John that you killed my sister.”

  John lunged forward, but Logan pushed him back.

  In the midst of John’s heavy breathing he almost missed Sheila’s answer.

  “Not John,” Sheila said, her voice quivering. “Not John. Carl.”

  Even John sucked in a breath at Sheila’s words. “Mom, what are you talking about? Tell them this is ridiculous. Tell them.”

  She shook her head, eyes riveted to a spot on the ground. “I didn’t want you to know. Ever. Things started to snowball, one after the other until the whole situation was surreal, like a horrible low-budget movie. I tried to stop it, but I couldn’t.”

  Logan’s mind reeled. Carl? He couldn’t take it all in. “Carl killed Nora Baker?”

  Sheila nodded, speaking as if she were in a trance. “He was trying to persuade her to leave town because I told him to. Because I knew she wasn’t right for John. She was a gold digger, nothing more.” She looked up into the face of her son. “But you couldn’t see it. You wouldn’t see it, so I asked Carl to give her a ride home after work one night and offer her money to leave town. The stupid girl threw a fit and refused. She got out of the car and stalked off. Carl tried to catch up with her and accidentally hit her with the car.”

  Bentley shifted. “Carl killed Nora Baker?”

  “Yes. And then he panicked and pushed her body into the ravine. He knocked loose a few stones and caused a rock slide. I don’t know what the fool was thinking.”

  John’s face had gone milk-white. “Dad killed Nora. And you hired Autie to make sure Cassie didn’t unearth her body.”

  “Cassie refused to give up her plans to clear that ravine. We even offered to buy her property, but she turned that down, too. I hired Autie to persuade her, but she fought him and he killed her. Then I
sabel arrived.” Sheila looked at her. “I figured you would be happy to unload the ranch, or before you arrived we’d have some time to unearth the body.” She pressed a hand to her temple. “If only Carl hadn’t been so stupid. He’s been so wracked with guilt since he killed the girl, he’s started drinking too much.”

  Logan remembered Carl’s emotional outburst at Mountain Cloud.

  It never should have happened to her. She was young and had her whole life to go yet. If Logan had only guessed Carl was talking about Nora Baker, the woman he killed.

  “I thought Dad was drinking because he discovered your affair with Bentley,” John said. Bentley flinched.

  Logan pressed her. “It was your decision to keep Autie on the payroll to scare Isabel off the ranch, or kill her if she refused to go.”

  Sheila sighed. “After the body was discovered, I tried to call Autie off, but I couldn’t reach him. He’s like a lion with a carcass. Once he starts something, he’ll never stop.”

  “So Autie killed my sister and almost killed Logan and me because you paid him to?” Isabel asked.

  Sheila hesitated. “I guess it doesn’t matter now. Autie took the money, but I also promised him once Carl was elected to the Senate, he would help get Oscar out of jail somehow.”

  Logan shook his head. “Fat chance of that happening.”

  Sheila shrugged. “Autie’s smart. He probably figured Carl could at least get some kind of inside information to get Oscar moved or transferred someplace where Autie could help him escape.” She groaned. “All this work, all the years of smiling and glad-handing a bunch of ignorant townspeople, kissing babies and eating casseroles. Now it’s all for nothing.”

  John stepped close to her. “And that’s really what this is all about, isn’t it, Mom? It’s about getting Dad elected so you could finally be a senator’s wife.”

  She shook her head, a pleading look on her face. “No. No, I wanted Nora gone to protect you, and the other things…just happened.”