Chapter 38
Mariah shoved one foot in front of the other in the six-plus inches of snow, the crunch of the ground and whistling wind through the trees keeping poor company. After tumbling out of the window five feet down into the snow, she'd rubbed out her footprints with her gloved hands as she backed across the too-exposed open area surrounding the Brands' house. Once she had reached the trees, she gave a sigh of relief.
Hopefully, the extra blanket she'd added for Mrs. Brand would keep the woman warm enough with the open window.
But now where to go?
Izzy's words from today's appointment drifted back to her: There's a cave near the house. Well, it's about a forty-five minute walk straight off the back of the house. I even notched some trees to make a path, since I go there so often.
Mariah turned and spotted the back of the house, then drew an invisible line into the forest and edged over in that direction. Tree notches?
She searched, patting tree trunks in the moonlight. Wasting time. Someone would find her if she stuck around this place. She should be running away from here.
But where?
Couldn't go back toward the county road. She'd have to pass too close to the Brand house, and besides, that would be the first place anyone would look for someone escaping.
Chances were, if they found her, they wouldn't be nearly as hospitable.
The other direction was nothing but National Forest for miles and miles. If she got lost, no one might ever find her.
Notches. Please let there be notches. Give me a direction. Anything.
Her hand drifted over a trunk. An irregular piece of bark was missing, the wood gleaming in the moonlight.
She sagged against the tree.
Peering into the forest, she saw another notch, about ten feet ahead. Her breath puffed out, visible in the unfortunately clear night. The clouds had given way to moonlight that now streamed through the trees and dappled the ground, illuminating her location for anyone searching for her. Her legs burned as she kept bending down to obscure her tracks. Progress was so slow. Her heart thudded as she looked for the next marked tree deeper into the forest.
What would be waiting for her? She looked over her shoulder. That cloud monster still lurked out here, somewhere. No Vaughn here to protect her this time. Her pace picked up as imaginary fingers danced up her neck. Her breath came out too quickly. Her vision grayed.
Stop. Break the task down into pieces. First and most important step: get as far away from the Brand family as possible. Next step: survive the night. Simple enough.
Already, the suffocating, heavy sense of despair and darkness had lifted. What was she, twenty or thirty minutes away from the ranch? No idea; she didn't have her phone.
She stumbled going up a small ravine. Careful. The worst thing that could happen would be to get injured.
Actually, no. That wasn't the worst thing that could happen.
When she glanced behind her, a shadow danced in the corner of her field of vision. Were those red glowing dots coming from the depths of the forest? She paused, listening. No sound other than the snow-muffled tinkle of a small stream at the bottom of the steep hillside and the thudding of her pulse in her head.
What would the Brands do when they realized she had escaped? If they caught her?
Nothing good.
A choking sensation clogged her throat. Stop it. Time to focus all her energy on staying alive right now. Find the next notch.
It took too long this time. Panic clawed its way up her throat—and she found the next trail marker.
Her thighs burned as she trudged farther into the mountains. Every so often, she used a pine branch to obscure her footprints behind her.
But lack of tracks also meant anyone trying to help her couldn't find her. A hysterical bubble of laughter threatened to erupt. No one knew she was even out here to help her. Oh, God.
Cold nipped at her nose.
Izzy had said forty-five minutes of walking. Probably took longer in the dark, trying to find the path. But it would be easy to find the cave, right? Mariah prayed that Izzy had stocked her escape from the world with at least a blanket.
Keep following the notches.
Reaching back to brush the tracks away, she stopped, sweat chilling on her forehead.
From the bottom of the steep hill she had just climbed, Wyatt's grinding voice floated back up to her.
"The tracks end here. She has to be close."
"What are you gonna do to her?" Linc, that jerk.
"Everything."
Sound faded as her head swam.
She eyed the top of the hill. About fifteen feet ahead was another notch gleaming in bark. If she could reach there without the men seeing her, she might have a chance.
The internal rat-a-tat of her heart provided a beat to drive her feet faster. Her legs screamed to stop slogging through the deep snow. Fighting the urge to flat-out run, she erased her trail as best she could.
Damn the moonlight. If she could see the shadowy forms of the men, then they could see her against the moonlit sky. Her stomach muscles clenched.
Wouldn't it be nice to have someone like Vaughn here right about now?
Moot point. The only way she would get out of this bad situation was to do it herself.
She crested the hill and came close to passing out with relief.
A forest road stretched to her right and left was snow-covered and trackless. Across the road was another tree notch.
"She's up there!"
Chapter 39
Vaughn checked his cell phone again. Close to 9:00 p.m. No signal now that they'd reached the hills.
What if Kerr was wrong about the location? What if Shelby couldn't stay in contact with him to adjust direction?
Just like Shelby always located the person she sought, Kerr never got lost. Ever. Vaughn sent a brief prayer that his younger siblings wouldn't lose their mojo tonight. Already, Kerr had adjusted direction once based on urging from Shelby.
Even if they reached a location, they had no guarantee that Mariah would be alive.
What if the Brands got to her first?
Shit. He tightened his hands until the horse snorted. Loosening his grip, he peered into the forest. If anything happened to Mariah, he would personally dismember anyone responsible. Plain and simple.
His power surged again, wanting him to move faster.
Something had just happened to increase the danger to her. Did that mean she was still alive? Hurt? What? Damn his stupid power, it was acting like a directionless stagecoach driver, whipping the team into a frenzy but without a clue as to which direction to go.
He wiped sweat off his upper lip.
"Stay calm, my friend." Odie kneed his horse to draw even with his. "We'll find your lady. You must trust the process. Your brother and sister can do this."
Vaughn ground his molars until his jaw ached. "It's hard to know that she's out there, alone, in danger."
After a pause, Odie studied him with ancient eyes. "I know precisely what you mean."
"What do—?"
Kerr lifted his arm up with a fist, military style, and they all stopped.
As they reached a forest road cut, Garrison whispered, "Anything?"
"We go on foot from here," Kerr said. "Keep it quiet. I thought I heard something."
"How close are we?" Vaughn's gut twisted into a snarl of knots.
"Close. Tie 'em up, bro." As soon as their horses were secured, Kerr motioned to them as he walked into the forest. "Footprints," he whispered.
Multiple sets.
Something edged into the periphery of Vaughn's vision. Dark and light. Shadow and movement. He peered into the woods. Nothing visible. Every nerve went on screaming alert, making his skin crawl. "There's something out here, guys."
"I feel it, too." Garrison's jaw had gone rock-hard under the shadow of his hat brim.
"Keep going, we're almost there," Kerr whispered.
Another fifteen minutes of bushwhackin
g up and down draws, jumping small streams, and they reached a cliff edge. Vaughn braced against the headache and reached out with his power. Nothing distinct, but the mental ability pulsed again. She was close. Still alive. He hoped.
But in serious danger.
Frigid air scythed in and out of his lungs.
As they came to a high point, Kerr held up his fisted hand again. Everyone stopped. He pointed.
There, a hundred feet ahead of them, two dark figures scrambled over the edge.
His power all but dragged Vaughn forward. Mariah. Those men had to be tracking her.
"Stop, man. I'll go in first, undetected," Kerr said. "You know, with my little trick?" He pulled off his duster and hat and set them on the ground.
Garrison crossed his arms. "Can you get in there, make sure she's safe, and then stay hidden for five minutes?"
"Of course." After a grimace, the edges of Kerr's body blurred. His rarely-used ability to disappear manifested as he faded from sight. Invisible steps crunched away from them.
Odie murmured, "Mon dieu. Impressive."
Waiting nearly killed Vaughn, but after what seemed like forever, Garrison finally gave the okay to move, and Vaughn and Odie paced right with him to the cliff edge. Following the tracks, they navigated a steep, thin path down to a four-foot wide ledge jutting out from the sheer rock. Below that: another fifty feet of fresh air.
Vaughn's overactive imagination fed him an image of Mariah's broken form at the bottom of that drop. His stomach muscles tightened. Kerr had better reach her before those bastards did.
The crisp, frigid air crystallized his decision: If Vaughn got her out of here alive, not only would he beg for her forgiveness, he'd spend every day of his natural life atoning for being dumb enough to let her go.
If his bad decision hadn't already cost Mariah her life.
They crept along the ledge, and sure enough, a dark opening into the rock loomed out of the shadows. Footprints, large and small, tracked into the cave. Vaughn's heart stopped.
Flickers of light, then voices and shouts filtered out of the cave.
"Careful with guns in there, guys," Garrison muttered. "No collateral damage."
Collateral damage. Mariah.
Chapter 40
Huddled in the entrance of the cave, Mariah shook like a quaking aspen in a stiff breeze. Despite her wool coat and borrowed snow pants, the hard rock conducted cold straight into her butt. Scant light from the moon trickled in to her location. Behind her, darkness yawned. Waiting. Tempting her to retreat there. Warning her what might await.
Maybe there were worse things than the guys who tracked her.
Voices and the scuff of booted feet triggered a flurry of palpitations in her chest. She glanced up. Her tracks were plainly visible leading into the cave.
She edged back into the darkness, running her gloved hand along the rough rock wall. With each step, she probed back with her foot to make sure solid ground remained underneath her. Wyatt and Linc's voices echoed louder.
A nasty chuckle made her skin crawl.
Oh, God.
Scooting another few feet back into the depths, she crouched behind a rock just as a flashlight beam swept the cave. Despite the freezing temperature, sweat dampened her skin. She was trapped. Again.
"Where is she? Not like she could go far."
"No idea. Wanna go in there?" Linc asked.
"Not particularly." Wyatt hocked and spat. "But yeah, we need to find her. Forget using her as bait. She's too much trouble. We'll make her an example of what happens when a Taggart goes up against us. The Great One will be pleased with our efforts."
No, no, no. Lack of oxygen made her head spin. This could not be happening.
Before she could scramble away, a warm, strong hand clamped over her mouth. Her scream fizzled out as an arm around her chest squeezed hard.
"It's Kerr Taggart. Don't move." His friendly whisper was the sweetest music she'd ever heard.
At her nod he moved his hand away from her mouth and patted her on the shoulder.
How had he gotten in here without anyone seeing him? Heck, how did he know where to find her?
"Vaughn's on his way," he murmured, a ghost of sound in the darkness behind her. "You'll be okay. Promise."
Every muscle in her body went limp.
"I'm going to draw them away," he said. "When they pass by, you need to run for the entrance. Got it?"
"You sure?" she whispered.
"Yup."
She had questions, but now wasn't the time to figure out how they'd found her. How Kerr had entered the cave in front of the men, undetected.
A reassuring squeeze of her arm, and he was gone. From the depths of the cave, the sound of scrapes and crunches bounced in all directions.
"What was that?" Wyatt's light swung in wild arcs over the cave walls.
She peeked behind her. Nothing visible in the area illuminated by their flashlights.
She remained crouched behind the rock, her gloved hands pressed against the rough stone.
"That's gotta be her. Let's go." Wyatt kept his flashlight beam fixed on the recesses of the cave and stormed toward the sounds.
Linc trailed right behind him. Two wretched peas in a pod.
At the dust kicked up, she barely stifled a sneeze.
"What was that?"
The flashlight beam skimmed three inches above her hiding spot.
She crouched into the tiniest ball possible.
More rock sounds came from farther into the cave, and the light slid back to the depths.
Another few feet, and they'd be past her position.
She held her breath.
Wyatt and Linc snickered as they stalked their presumed prize at the back of the cave.
Three feet away from her.
Two feet.
One.
They drew even with her position, within a foot of where she crouched. She shook with effort to tuck her head and curl into a small, rocklike shape. If they so much as turned their heads in her direction...
With three more steps, they were past her position.
Keeping her hand on the rock, she eased out of her hiding place. The beams of light shone forward, but Wyatt and Linc were only a few feet away. She struggled to make her ragged breathing soft and even.
Now fully exposed to view, she remained low, thighs burning as she duck-walked toward the entrance of the cave.
Her pulse pounded, too fast. She wasn't getting enough air. Her legs quivered and burned.
Ten, maybe fifteen more feet. Had to keep going.
She lost her balance, and stumbled. Harsh, bright light spiraled around, pinning her like a moth on a spider web.
"What the—? She's right there!"
Damn it. With a sob lodged in her throat, Mariah pushed to her feet and sprinted for the entrance. Just as she hit the opening where moonlight cast the world in an eerie, gray glow, a massive figure loomed in front of her.
A scream bubbled out of her throat as iron bands of muscle clamped around her. She swung out over the cliff edge.
The scent of familiar shaving cream anchored her as surely as the warm arms that pulled her back to reality. Vaughn. Here. She sagged as he tucked her next to him.
And then he faced Wyatt and Linc as they emerged from the cave.
The ledge they were all standing on was narrow. Four feet wide. Would only allow two people to stand side by side. And beyond the ledge was empty space for who knew how many feet down.
She peeked back over her shoulder and, in the moonlight, made out Garrison's grim expression and Odie's oddly reassuring smile.
Kerr was still somewhere inside that cave.
"Taggart." The sound of a gun safety being released... she crushed Vaughn's jacket in her gloved hands.
"Garrison, please move her away from here," Vaughn's voice rumbled through her forehead she had pressed to his back.
No, she couldn't let go of him.
A hand tugged on her upper arm. "Come
on. Please," Garrison muttered, urging her away from Vaughn. "Odie, you got her? I'm going to help my brother. Here. Hold my hat."
"Absolutely." A warm, almost fatherly, arm went around her. "Don't worry, ami. The boys will take care of things."
Mariah's knees locked as the two brutes faced Vaughn and Garrison.
"Seems like a fair fight to me." Wyatt's laugh scraped like dead tree branches against a glass pane.
"Put down the fucking gun and maybe I won't call you a wimp." Vaughn glanced back and stepped to one side, blocking any clear shot at Mariah.
"Once we've dealt with you Taggarts, we can finish our business with Dr. Mariah."
"The hell you'll ever touch her again."
"You have no idea what you're messing with," Wyatt growled, eyes flashing red. Mariah reared back at the wave of hot sulfur that blasted past her. Odie kept a solid grip on her arm.
"Neither do you, sweetie pie." The voice came from the mouth of the cave, and suddenly the gun flew out of Wyatt's hand and off the cliff.
"What the hell was that?" Wyatt spun and swatted at empty space, then stumbled.
A shrug, then Wyatt ran straight at Vaughn.
When they hit the ground and rolled, Mariah leapt forward, reaching out to Vaughn. Odie pulled her back to a safe distance. Punches flew faster than she could follow.
Unlike in the octagon, this fight had no rules.
But it had an outcome.
Her heart stopped when Wyatt caught Vaughn across the face with an elbow.
On the far side of the ledge, Kerr suddenly appeared out of nowhere behind Linc, nailing the guy in his kidney with several solid punches.
Linc spun, swinging at Kerr, but Vaughn's little brother ducked and disappeared. Disappeared. She squinted. Linc staggered close to the brink of the ledge and howled. Garrison tried to get past Vaughn and Wyatt, who were locked in a brutal pummeling match, but couldn't pass.
"Leave her alone," Vaughn panted, driving Wyatt back with several blows. "And leave my family alone."
Wyatt shook the blow off like he'd been hit with foam, not a hard fist. "You cannot win." His voice reverberated off the rocks in an eerie echo that seemed to get louder the more the sound bounced around. "We need one more. And then we will have all of the Taggart family."
Legacy of Danger Page 25