by Jane Godman
Chapter 16
Everett used the hands-free system on his car dashboard to talk to Agent Karen Hayes. From her base in the Phoenix FBI field office, she liaised with Casey, and also her colleagues in El Paso.
“From the coordinates you’re giving me, El Paso believes the location is a disused seven-thousand-acre ranch in the New Mexican desert. Specifically, your signal seems to be coming from a horse barn on the property.”
“How reliable is that information?” Everett asked.
“I’m hearing from Casey that his suspect, fearful of being caught up in a child-abduction charge, has become more communicative. Apparently, Georgia has links to the area we’re looking at. Prior to the theft from OverHerd Ranch last month, she was briefly involved with a ranch owner in the Deming area. Although they split up when the rancher sold and moved away, Joe Meyer told Casey she has been using this guy’s place as one of her hideouts.”
“Sounds promising.” Everett checked his GPS. They were on I-10, approaching the exit for Deming. It had been fully light for some time and fluffy clouds scudded across wintry blue skies. Although the landscape had a bleak beauty it was far from welcoming. He didn’t want to communicate his fears to Alyssa, but the thought of their little girl out here with a suspected killer made his stomach churn. “We have no further updates. The app has shown Kennedy in the same place for over an hour.”
While he was talking, he sent glimpses in Alyssa’s direction. Her demeanor worried him. Slumped in her seat, she reminded him of a rag doll that had been thrown aside by a careless child. On her pale cheeks, spots of color burned too bright. Her limbs were bent at awkward angles as though poised for action that wasn’t going to happen.
“We’re nearly there.” He touched her hand and was alarmed at its iciness.
“But what will we find when we arrive?”
Everett left the highway. Using his own GPS together with the instructions given by the local FBI agents, who were using satellite images, he followed a route that would take him to a point on a ridge above the barn where they suspected Georgia was holed up.
“If we approach her in a vehicle, she’s going to hear us and be spooked,” he explained to Alyssa. “The only way to do this will be to sneak up on her.”
She continued to gaze out of the window at the vast, arid nothingness. He figured she was thinking the same as him. If Georgia decided to take off, there was no easier place to get lost, and no harder terrain through which to track her.
Eventually, he saw a ridge up ahead. The rocky formation stretched across the horizon as far as he could see, but his GPS showed a path leading upward. Trusting the technology, he followed the instructions on his dashboard screen and his vehicle was soon cresting the ledge at what felt like a dangerously steep angle. When they reached the top, he stopped several yards away from the edge to ensure the car couldn’t be seen by anyone in the valley.
“I have binoculars in the trunk.” He made his way to the rear of the car and retrieved them. At the same time, he tucked his licensed weapon into the shoulder holster that was hidden beneath his jacket. Although the muscles of his right arm were not in full working order, he would trust his ability to put a bullet in Georgia at close range if she attempted to harm Kennedy.
Taking Alyssa’s hand, he drew her with him to the edge of the ridge. Crouching down, they surveyed the valley. Immediately below them, Everett could see a large two-story barn. Beyond that, the only break in the barren scene was way off in the distance.
“That could be the ranch house.” As he took the binoculars from their case, he drew Alyssa’s attention in that direction.
Looking through the glasses, the scale and layout of the ranch became clear. In addition to the main house, there were a number of outlying buildings, including what appeared to be log cabins. Possibly they were staff quarters, or the owner might have rented out accommodations. Either way, if Georgia knew of this place, it was an ideal hideout.
But the app on Alyssa’s cell phone showed that Kennedy was in the barn below them. Or that’s where her tracking bracelet and button were. The app had no way of telling them whether they were attached to a living, breathing baby...
Stay positive.
He refocused on the shape of the barn. It was two floors, with a pitched roof. He didn’t have a background in ranching, but he figured the lower floor was for stabling and tack, and the loft was possibly storage or even living quarters for a groom. Maybe that was why Georgia had selected this place. If anyone came looking for her, they would search the main ranch house and possibly overlook the barn.
Where had she left her car? Maybe she’d hidden it somewhere close by and then walked here with Kennedy in her arms. Quickly, he fired off a message to Agent Hayes, describing the barn. If she was planning to send other agents into this hostile terrain, she would need all the help she could get. He also suggested they search the area for Georgia’s vehicle. Taking it out of action would be helpful if she decided to make a run for it.
“We have to get down there without Georgia seeing us.” The side facing them had a window overlooking the ridge, but the adjoining wall was a blank expanse of wood. “If we move along the ridge a few yards, and then climb down, we can approach from that angle. Do you think you can get down there?”
Her expression shifted from fearful resignation to grim determination. “It’s for Kennedy. Just watch me.”
True to her word, within minutes, she was slithering down the steep slope on her bottom, kicking up loose rocks along her way. It wasn’t the most graceful descent Everett had ever seen, but it was easily the most effective. Since he figured it would also be the kindest on his injured arm, he prepared to copy her... Although he wasn’t sure how his butt was going to feel in a few hours.
When they reached the valley floor, Everett caught hold of Alyssa’s hand and ran the short distance to the barn. Pressing close up against the wall, he listened for any signs of life from within. There was nothing.
“Check the app,” he whispered to Alyssa.
She had kept her cell in her hand the whole time, charging it on the drive from Cactus Creek. She quickly consulted it now and held it up to show him. The red dot that represented Kennedy filled the screen and was flashing wildly.
“She’s right here.”
“Then I’m going in.”
* * *
As Everett crouched low and moved along the barn wall, the twin smells of old hay and stale manure assailed his nostrils. Momentarily, it took him back to visits to his uncle’s farm when he was a kid, so he had to shake his focus back to the present.
He had motioned for Alyssa to stay where she was, but when he glanced her way, she had moved up and was close behind him. Had he really expected compliance from her when she thought Kennedy was nearby? Sending her a warning frown, he continued to approach the corner of the building.
The lack of any sound bothered him. Kennedy should have woken up by now, and she would be hungry. If she didn’t get her food on time, she would be distraught. Add in the fact that Everett and Alyssa weren’t around? He’d have expected the team of FBI agents to be led across the desert by her cries. And then there was the issue that she was with Georgia. If they were right and Kennedy had witnessed a scene during which her aunt had attacked her parents, she wouldn’t just be upset. She would be terrified.
He had reached the point now where he could peer around the corner and see the open front of the building. His guess about the purpose of the first floor had been correct. The area was divided into stalls and, although his view was hampered by the need to remain hidden, he figured there were six. Cautiously, he crept farther along the wall. Then froze.
The sound was faint, but unmistakable—he could hear a radio station playing rock music. It was coming from the second floor. If Georgia was up there, it could mean he was safe to enter.
His cop instincts went to war wi
th his new-dad longing to hold his baby girl in his arms again. Years of training and experience told him not to assume that Georgia was alone or that there was no trickery involved. What kind of rookie mistake would it be to assume she was upstairs, enter the building on the heels of that belief and take a bullet in the back of the head from an accomplice?
But his gut was telling him Kennedy was in there. And she was quiet... Which meant there was something very wrong. Just as he was weighing his options, with the cop-versus-dad argument playing over and over in his head, Alyssa pushed past him and his decision was made.
He caught her easily, but not until she was already stepping inside the barn. Gripping her by her upper arms, he held her against him. She didn’t resist, but her whole body quivered with tension. “Lyss, please. You have to leave this to me.”
“She’s in here, Everett.” The anguish in her face matched the ache in his own chest. “I don’t need an app to tell me that. Our baby is here, and I have to go to her.”
Over her head, Everett scanned the barn. Weak sunlight sifted through the wooden boards onto the old hay that was scattered carelessly around. A broom was lying on the floor and a broken saddle hung on one wall. And there, drawing his attention like a beacon on a dark night, were two items that chilled his blood.
The first was Kennedy’s tracking bracelet.
When she saw it, Alyssa moaned and covered her mouth. Everett held her tighter as she swayed against him. “Don’t give up hope. You told me this is the reason you wanted the button as well. The app is picking up signals from them both, remember?”
“But the button is smaller. It could be hidden in the hay.” She gulped back a sob. “And what’s that? It looks like some kind of drug.”
Going down on one knee, Everett picked up the small white carton and read the details on it with a growing sense of disbelief. Kennedy was here. And now he knew why she wasn’t crying...
“What is it?” Alyssa whispered.
“It’s the packaging from an over-the-counter antihistamine for infants.” He clenched his fist around the flimsy box, fury tearing through him and driving out any earlier hesitation. “It says ‘may cause drowsiness.’ I dealt with a case once of a mom who used this to keep her baby son quiet on a long-haul flight. He suffered serious side effects—” He decided against finishing the story.
“Georgia drugged Kennedy to keep her quiet?” Alyssa’s own anger, usually a slow burn, was already alight in her eyes.
Thinking fast, he caught her arm again before she could march toward the steps that led to the loft. “Let me go first.”
“Neither of you has to go anywhere.” Georgia always did like to make a big entrance. “I’ll come to you.”
* * *
The woman on the stairs was not what Alyssa had expected. Smaller and prettier, Georgia Dodd appeared more vulnerable than the wicked-witch image Alyssa had built up in her mind. That was all the time she spared for Georgia’s looks. Her mind was too busy registering two other things. One was that the other woman was holding Kennedy at an awkward angle, propped against her shoulder. The second was the gun she had leveled at Everett’s chest.
“You Coltons refuse to know when you’re defeated, don’t you? Just like when we were kids.”
“Is the baby okay, Georgia?” Alyssa didn’t know how he kept his voice so calm. “How much antihistamine did you give her?”
“She’s fine. I only used a little more than the recommended dose.” Alyssa couldn’t stifle the groan that rose to her lips, and Georgia gave her a pitying look. “What’s the problem? You found me, anyway.”
“She’s so little. Can I take her? Check her over—?” She would beg if she had to.
Georgia snorted. “Right. Meanwhile, Agent Colton here puts a bullet between my eyes. The baby is my ticket out of here. I don’t really care if she screams the place down. It was just easier not to draw attention to myself when I took her, and on the drive.” She waved her gun at Everett. “By the way, lose your weapon.”
Obediently, he unzipped his jacket and removed a gun from his shoulder holster. As he dropped it on the floor, Alyssa—who hated weapons of any kind—had the sense of their last chance receding.
“Do you have any others?” Georgia asked.
“No. I’m carrying an injury to my right arm. I don’t have the flexibility to reach for anything.”
Georgia laughed. “I only wish I’d gotten that knife into your gut instead of your arm. No hard feelings, Everett, but you were the one I wanted off my tail.”
“It doesn’t have to be this way, Georgia. Come back to Cactus Creek. Tell the story of what really happened to Sean and Delilah—”
“You already know what happened.” Slowly, keeping the gun trained on him, she descended the rest of the stairs. “Everyone else was buying into the suicide story. Then you turned up.”
“I wasn’t there on the night they died. I only have suspicions.” Alyssa could see him slipping into a practiced rhythm. This was why he was so good at his job. She could see him reading the scene, measuring Georgia’s mood and reacting accordingly. “You are the only one who knows what really went on and can put the record straight.”
“You seriously expect me to tell you? What is this? Revenge for what I did to Casey? Hero cop gets murderess to admit all? Death Row Georgia says, ‘He made me see the light’?”
“Escaping from prison, abducting a child and going on the run is not exactly the right way to go about building your defense,” Everett said. “I’m guessing you haven’t told your attorney everything. There may be something in the true story that can help you. I’m not going to lie to you. I don’t think you’re walking away from this. But, who knows, you could be looking at a reduced sentence.”
“He’s good, isn’t he? I often wondered if I picked the wrong brother.” Georgia rolled her eyes in Alyssa’s direction. “Okay. You want to hear it so badly, I’ll tell you. All about how your friend Sean was going to frame his little sister for the cattle-rustling organization he’d been running for years. Do you see me with a big fancy house, swimming pool, foreign holidays and vintage-car collection? No. But all of a sudden, I’m the brains behind the operation.”
“You must have been able to prove it was Sean.”
She shook her head, her dark hair flying in every direction. “He had his secret weapon. As always, Delilah was there behind the scenes, cooking the books. That was how they built up their fortune. Sean made the money, she grew it. Now, she was using all her skills to make him look legitimate and throw the blame on me. And if I was behind the cattle rustling, that meant I was also to blame for Pierce Tostig’s murder.”
“But you and Sean were always so close. Couldn’t you have worked something out?”
Although Alyssa’s focus was on Kennedy, who remained still and silent, clutched against Georgia’s chest, she could see what Everett was doing. Yes, he was establishing a bond with Georgia, but each passing minute was also bringing his FBI colleagues closer. Was he buying them enough time? With every fiber of her being she hoped so.
“They refused to talk to me when I asked!” The words burst from Georgia with such force that the gun in her hand jerked alarmingly. “Oh, I know who was behind it all. Sean would never have turned his back on me unless Delilah encouraged him. But she had him right where she wanted him. And when Kennedy came along, it was all about them and their little family. I didn’t stand a chance. I was getting desperate, so when I went to the house that night, I took a few weapons of my own along. Mine were not-so-secret ones.”
Georgia started pacing up and down, her movements jerky. “They were eating dinner and, although they didn’t want to invite me in, I guess Sean found the barrel of a gun in his belly improved his manners. We went inside and things quickly became heated when Sean tried to grab the gun from me. We struggled. Plates got smashed and chairs were tipped over. Delilah yelled at us to
stop. Someone was going to get hurt and it might be her precious child.”
Alyssa closed her eyes briefly, picturing the scene, almost feeling Delilah’s panic. The other woman had done a lot of things she didn’t agree with, but she could identify with that need to protect her baby. Now she was in the same position. Helplessness tried to overwhelm her, but she fought it hard. For Kennedy’s sake, she had to stay strong.
“That was when I saw my chance. I could force them to listen to me if I used the thing they loved the most as a bargaining chip. When I went toward the baby, Delilah came at me like a tiger. I had the knife in my hand, and she got cut. It wasn’t bad, but there was blood on the floor. She was screaming and crying, trying to get the baby away from me. I hadn’t thought about killing her—not then—so I was fighting her off the whole way from the house to the garage. At one point, she was holding on to my leg, getting pulled along the drive with me.”
Alyssa thought of Everett’s description. Of how he’d wondered if Sean had dragged Delilah to his car against her will. How different the truth had been.
“What was Sean doing while this was going on?” Everett asked.
“What could he do? I’d told him I would shoot Kennedy in the head if he moved out of the kitchen.” Georgia flashed him a smile. “You must remember how hard it was to get the better of my big brother. Gotta tell you, that felt good.”
Alyssa pressed a fist into her stomach, riding the wave of nausea that hit her. Kennedy had been there while this was going on. She had already known that, but hearing Georgia describe what had happened in such detail made it even worse. As for Georgia... How could anyone take pride in such horrific acts? And Everett was staying so calm, letting her talk about her crimes without giving a glimpse of his own disgust. Alyssa’s pride in his professionalism increased with each passing minute.
“When I got to my car, I realized the flaw. There was no seat for Kennedy. Luckily, the keys to Delilah’s vehicle were in the garage, so I made her take the seat from that and put it in my car. I knew they’d follow me, of course, so I took them on a chase.” She laughed. “Man, that was a wild ride.”