by Ruth Langan
Maggie stared around in dismay. They were going deeper and deeper into wilderness. He hadn’t given her time to grab a jacket. In the chill of the truck, the thin shirt and denims gave her little protection. She was already shivering. Her teeth were chattering, whether from cold or fear, she wasn’t certain.
He gave a snort of laughter. “Actually, you did me a big favor, little sis. ’Cause now that you’ve become a fugitive, a respected officer of the law like me has every right to shoot you if you resist arrest.”
Her heart nearly stopped. “And you’re going to see that I resist, aren’t you?”
“You got that right.” The truck came up over a hill, and made a wide arc, avoiding the Peterson house.
In the distance, Maggie could see the range shack where she and Chance had spent the night. She closed her eyes against the pain. Chance. She would never see him again. Or the Double W. A violent tremor shot through her before she swallowed back her fear and lifted her head. If it killed her, she wouldn’t give Ray Collier the satisfaction of seeing just how terrified she was.
“You won’t get away with it, Ray. There’s bound to be an investigation over why you were the one to find me and then kill me. You’re not just another Chicago cop. You were my brother-in-law. My business partner. When they piece all that together, you’ll be sending up all kinds of red flags in the department.”
“Don’t you worry about me handling the department. Right now I’m a hero. Maybe you haven’t kept up with the news from the big city. I saved an old woman from a burning building last week. My face was on the front page of the Chicago News. I’m going to get another citation.” He shot her a sideways glance. “Who knows? Maybe they’ll give me another reward after this is over.” He laughed at his own joke. “For my dedicated, single-minded pursuit of justice. Why, I might even make top cop for bringing in the infamous Margaret Mary Trainor.”
Chance drove like a madman, barely taking the time to slip his arms through the sleeves of his cowhide jacket as he did so. He’d hated to waste even a minute, but it had been necessary to go upstairs for his rifle and the keys to his truck.
At the first ring of his cell phone, he snatched it from his pocket and held it to his ear. “Yeah?”
“Chance?” Hazard’s voice was tense and strained.
“Where’ve you been?” Chance snapped. “I’ve been trying to reach you.”
“I just came from the E.Z. Diner. I left my phone in the truck. Thelma said a stranger stopped by with a photo of Maggie. Before she had a chance to ask him any questions, Slocum spoke up and told the guy where Maggie’s working. Thelma’s mad as a wet hen. She’s always known Maggie was running from something. Now she’s worried that he might be an abusive husband.”
“I wish that’s all it was.”
At Chance’s muttered oath Hazard shouted, “Do you think it’s Ray Collier?”
“Yeah.” Chance swore again. “It’s him.”
“Is Maggie all right?”
“Collier got to her before I got home. I’m on their trail now.”
It was Hazard’s turn to swear under his breath. “Tell me where you are, and I’ll join you.”
“First you’d better get to the ranch and see to Cody. He took a nasty blow to the head. I’ve phoned for a medevac team from Cheyenne. But with this snow, they’re going to be lucky to get through. I hated leaving him alone with Agnes. I’m worried about him. About both of them.”
“All right. I’ll go to the ranch first. Do what I can. Then you can let me know where you are, and I’ll get there as soon as possible.”
“One more thing.” Chance crested a hill and stared around in frustration. There wasn’t a sign of a truck anywhere on the horizon. “Phone the sheriff and Brady Warren. Tell him to get the helicopter in the air right away.”
“That’s going to be risky, Chance. You said yourself the snow’s a problem.”
“We have no choice. We’re running out of time. There’s not a minute to lose.”
“What’s your plan, Ray? Where are you taking me?”
He kept his eyes on the trail. “What’s this about a plan? What makes you think I have any plan?”
“You’re not just driving aimlessly. I saw the way you avoided that ranch house. You know exactly where you’re headed, don’t you?”
Now he did glance at her. The look in his eyes was one of seething hatred. “You know, little sis, that’s what I always resented most about you. You always had to know everything.” His voice took on a sarcastic whine. “Why did I carry my gun even when I was off duty? Why did I want to take on the extra duties of tallying the restaurant ledgers and daily sheets, instead of letting the accounting firm handle it? You and your questions made me sick. Why couldn’t you have been more like your sister? Eve was so trusting, she never questioned a thing I did.”
Maggie felt her eyes fill and blinked hard. “Don’t you mention her name. Don’t you dare mention my sister’s name, after what you did.”
He tugged hard on the handcuffs, catching her off-guard and dragging her across the seat of the truck until her face was inches from his. “What I did to your sister is nothing compared to what I’m planning for you. You’d better be grateful that I’m such a good marksman. I’ll have no trouble dropping you with one shot. But watch out, Miss Know-It-All. If you try pulling a fast one, maybe I’ll just be a little off the mark. I’ll let the first bullet rip through your thigh. Or shoulder. I’ll do just enough to inflict pain, but not enough to kill you right away.” He gave a high-pitched laugh that scraped over her already raw nerves. “Have you ever seen somebody rolling around on the ground in agony and begging to die? That’ll be you if I miss with the first shot. I’ll take my sweet time and just watch you suffer for a while before I put you out of your misery.”
When she tried to push away he tugged her back, then shot a glance at their joined wrists. “You’ve got no chance against me, little sis. You’re not going anywhere until I unlock these.”
The truck crested another ridge, and he peered ahead until he spotted what he was looking for. Then with a smile, he gunned the engine and the truck skidded sideways down the snowy hill toward a narrow dirt trail in the distance.
Chance viewed the snow as a blessing and a curse. A blessing because he had picked up a faint trail he knew had to be the truck Collier was driving. A curse because the heavy snow was quickly obliterating what was left of the tire tracks. Chance knew that before long the snow and the approaching darkness would work against him.
When his phone rang he snatched at it.
“Yeah?”
“Chance, it’s Brady. I’m up over the south ridge. I probably don’t have more than a half hour of daylight left. And the snow’s getting heavier. Have you found anything?”
“Yeah. Come on over to the north ridge. I’ve already alerted Peterson. He’s taking his truck as far as the foothills. I’m just passing the range shack, but there’s no sign they stopped here.”
Chance disengaged the phone, and peered through the curtain of snow. From the path Collier had taken, it was plain that he was determined to avoid returning to the town of Prosperous. But where could he go up here?
He might be planning to kill Maggie and dump her body where it wasn’t likely to be found until next spring. But that wouldn’t solve his problems. She would still be considered missing.
If what Thorpe told him was true, Collier needed money now. He was eager to sell the restaurant. And that meant he needed Maggie returned to Chicago. Or— Chance felt his heart lurch as the more plausible thought intruded—he needed Maggie dead, so that he would be declared the sole owner of the restaurant.
Chance closed his eyes a moment and pressed his forehead to the steering wheel. He’d flown over this countryside a hundred times or more. In his mind’s eye he pictured the land from above, charting the familiar hills and valleys, the river beds, the foothills. And then he remembered. His eyes snapped open. Of course. If Collier had studied a map of the area, he wou
ld know that there was a little-known trail that had once been used for mining. It led to a new, two-lane road that crossed the northern half of the Double W and led to the interstate.
It traversed some of the most primitive land in the area. They had no chance of running into anyone. And anytime Collier chose, he could kill Maggie, without fear of witnesses.
Chance gunned the engine, veering from the trail he’d been following. They were too far ahead of him. His only hope now was to take a shortcut and surprise them.
He prayed he could outrun the snow as well. One slip of the wheel and he could find himself buried in a snow-covered ditch, where he’d be of no use whatsoever to the woman he loved.
The woman he loved.
For the space of a heartbeat, he struggled with a rush of dizzying fear. It occurred to him that he had rarely in his life experienced such an emotion. The first time had been at the death of his father. But that had been a childish, selfish fear for himself and his brothers. A fear that they wouldn’t be up to the challenge issued by Wes Wilde.
This was different. A cold, gut-wrenching fear that all his wealth and all his power and all the discipline he’d demanded of himself over the years wouldn’t be enough to save the woman who was now at the mercy of a madman.
Ray Collier drove slowly along the old rutted trail. Through the curtain of snow he watched for the turn-off. From the map he knew that this part of the terrain was rough and rarely travelled. He’d planned this carefully. He didn’t want some cowboy riding up to spoil his carefully laid plans.
Not that he’d mind adding to the body count. Killing didn’t bother him. He’d always thought it amusing when his fellow officers got all bent out of shape over an accidental shooting. They’d spend time with a shrink, baring their souls, going over every little detail of their childhood, in the hope of getting past the trauma of killing some hooker or crackhead who’d happened to get in their line of fire.
To Ray, dying was part of living. And he intended to squeeze as much out of this life as he could. If that meant eliminating a few roadblocks, it didn’t matter to him. A criminal. An innocent victim. They were all the same. So, if some cowboy happened along, that was his tough luck. As for Ray, he’d do what he had to and find a way to get rid of the bodies.
He had a tarp in the back of the truck for Maggie. He grinned. She’d be going back to Chicago in style. He’d phone in his report and let the force pay for his ticket home and the ride in the luggage compartment for her casket.
If anybody got in the way of his plans for her, they’d find themselves becoming food for the wolves.
He suddenly veered to the left and the truck skidded off the trail and into a section of dense woods.
“Showtime, little sis.” He decided to leave the engine idling. It was getting colder, and this business shouldn’t take long.
He yanked on the cuffs, dragging her out of the truck alongside him.
Chance drove up to the point where the old trail intersected the new highway. There wasn’t a single track marring the snow. For as far as he could see, the landscape was pristine.
He fought back a wave of despair. Had he miscalculated? If so, Collier could be miles from here. And this mistake would cost Maggie her life.
The phone rang. He snatched it up.
“Yeah?”
“Chance.” Brady’s voice broke through static. “The snow’s getting too thick. Can’t see anything but blinding white from up here. But I thought I spotted something moving in the woods just off the old trail.”
“I’m just north of there.” Chance paused a moment. “Can you land anywhere around here?”
There was a moment of silence before Brady said, “I can try.”
“Good. Try to put it down on the highway.”
“If I can find it,” Brady muttered.
“You’ll be able to spot it by the electrical wires that run parallel to it. You should see a line of telephone poles in the snow.”
“All right. I’ll keep an eye out for them.”
“If you can land there, it’ll block any escape if Collier tries to make a run for it.”
“I’ll give it my best.” Brady’s voice seemed to fade in and out. “Visibility up here is almost zero.”
Though he’d never done so before, Chance whispered a prayer as he parked his truck at the edge of the woods and started walking. This was, he realized with a feeling of dread, the perfect place for a killer to commit murder and expect to get away with it.
Maggie’s sneaker-clad feet sank into the snow up to her ankles. She didn’t even notice the cold. She was beyond feeling. Her mind, her body, had gone numb. She merely moved along beside Ray as he led her deeper into the stand of trees.
Ray paused and tested the weight of a tree limb. Satisfied, he reached for the key to the handcuffs and unfastened the one around his wrist. Maggie made a sudden jerk of her arm, hoping to break free, but he was too strong for her. With a vicious tug, he snapped the handcuff around the branch of the tree.
“That ought to hold you.” He had to shout over the howling of the wind.
Maggie swallowed and turned to face him.
“Nope. That won’t do.” He grabbed her by the shoulders and forcibly turned her around. “There. That’s better. Just stand that way.”
She spun back. “What’s the matter, Ray? Afraid to see my face when you shoot me?”
He threw back his head and laughed. “You’ve got to be joking. Do you really think it’ll bother me to kill you? Hell, little sis, what’s one more death now? You really want to know what I think about killing? I drove the needle into Eve’s arm right after she’d given me the best loving of our marriage.”
Maggie’s stomach clenched, and she had to fight a wave of nausea. How could her sister have trusted this monster? How was it that no one could see through that charming façade to the real Ray Collier?
“I just want you to turn around because you’re resisting arrest, remember?” Ray stared down at her with an amused grin. “Can’t have any powder burns on the body. And if you’re a good girl, I’ll do it with a single shot. The guys on the force know I’m an expert marksman. They’d expect me to take you with one bullet.”
Maggie’s mind was suddenly alive with anger. Her eyes misted with tears. Not tears of sorrow, but tears of seething, burning fury.
As she blinked them away, she thought she saw a blur of motion in the trees behind Ray. She blinked again, and felt her heartbeat quicken. Was that Chance? Or was her mind, so befuddled by cold and despair, simply conjuring up his tempting image to taunt her? Whether it was fact or hallucination, she was determined to keep Ray distracted.
“Why did you kill Eve, Ray?”
He paused in his movements. “Why? Because she made a fatal mistake, little sis. She got in my way.”
Maggie’s eyes narrowed. “In your way of what?”
“Of my happiness.”
“Your happiness? She didn’t make you happy? Then why didn’t you just divorce her? Why did you have to kill her?”
“Because,” came the voice from somewhere behind Ray. “He needed the insurance money.”
Ray whirled. Seeing a man with a rifle aimed directly at him he took a quick step behind Maggie and wrapped his arm around her neck, holding her in front of him like a shield.
“Put down the rifle, cowboy.” He pressed the barrel of the pistol to Maggie’s temple. “Or the lady buys it.”
When Chance hesitated, Maggie shouted, “Don’t do it, Chance. He’s going to kill me anyway.”
“No, he isn’t.” Chance tossed aside the rifle and took a step closer. “Not if I can help it.”
“Hold it right there, cowboy.” Ray released his hold on Maggie and stepped away.
Chance caught sight of the handcuffs. His heart sank. He’d hoped to distract Collier long enough to allow Maggie to escape. Now, whatever plan he’d had had just evaporated. He’d have to think of something else.
He turned to Maggie, forcing himself
to ignore the man with the gun. “Collier took out a half-million-dollar life insurance policy on Eve. He thought that would be enough to finance his recently acquired lavish lifestyle. But he’s already blown through that and is currently running on empty. You see, he’s been stringing along a very wealthy socialite for the past couple of years. Once they’re married, he’ll have a new supply of cash, until he blows through her bankroll, too. But until then, he needs the money from the sale of the restaurant. And in order to sell it, he needs to get rid of you, Maggie.”
She blinked back her tears and nodded. “Just a loose end. Ray hates loose ends.”
“You do?” Chance lifted his head. “If that’s the case, you’re going to really hate this.”
Collier took aim with his pistol. “I don’t consider a cowboy who just wandered in a loose end. Just a nuisance that I’ll soon be rid of.”
Chance laughed. “I didn’t mean me. I meant that.” He pointed skyward. Above the howling of the wind could be heard a faint sound that seemed to grow louder with each second. Soon the air vibrated with the sound of a helicopter hovering above the treetops.
Seconds later, the sound changed, growing in intensity as Brady Warren brought it in for a landing several hundred yards beyond the forest.
“That isn’t going to stop me. By the time the pilot makes his way in here, I’ll be through with my business. And this badge will make it all legal.”
Collier turned and aimed the gun at Maggie. “Turn around, little sis. Your number’s up.”
Though her legs were trembling so badly she could no longer feel them, Maggie stood her ground. “Sorry, Ray. If you want to shoot me in the back, you’ll have to knock me unconscious first.”
“Why you little…” In a rage he started toward her, his arm raised to strike.
Chance seized that moment to leap across the space that separated them, taking Collier down with him. The force of their fall caused the pistol to slip from Ray’s fingers. It landed in the snow. The two men rolled around on the ground, exchanging blows and struggling to retrieve the gun.