by CP Smith
“NO!”
Red put her hand on my chest and shoved, ordering, “Get a move on.”
Poppy lunged then. She went for the hand holding the gun and screamed, “Run!”
I leapt for Red’s waist and tried to take her to the ground. “Wallflowers don’t leave a woman behind,” I grunted.
Cali joined in the fray, jumping on Red’s back, and the weight of the three of us took her to the ground. The gun went off on impact, and I froze. I looked down with trepidation and saw bright crimson blooming freely across a chest.
“Poppy!”
“What?”
“You’ve been shot!”
“No, I haven’t.” Looking down at Red, I pushed her off the top of Poppy, rolling her to her back, and snatched the gun from her hand, throwing it behind us. Blood spread across her chest at an alarming rate, and an eerie gurgling noise bubbled up from her throat.
Pressing my hand on the gaping hole in her chest, I shouted, “Call 911!”
Cali started to pull her phone from her pocket, but an angry voice bit out, “Nobody move,” stopping her.
We spun around to find the bodybuilder woman from last night holding the gun I’d just tossed away. My eyes closed while I berated myself. In the confusion and fear, I’d forgotten about the metallic hammering we’d heard. I should have known Red wasn’t working alone. She’d popped out from behind a bush, away from the noise.
“We need to call for an ambulance,” I snapped. “She’ll die without help.”
As if Red was following a script on how to die theatrically, she drew a rattled breath one last time, grabbed the front of my shirt, spasmed suddenly, and closed her eyes.
Her chest never rose again.
“That’s unfortunate,” Bodybuilder Lady said. “Jennifer was a good friend.”
I looked down at Red. She didn’t look like a Jennifer. Jennifers were perky and friendly, not villainous killers.
“Get up and grab her arms. We need to hide the body.”
“This is ridiculous. Our men will be looking for us by now, and my aunts know we came here. You won’t get away with this.”
“Jennifer’s granddad will convince them you never made it here.”
“Mr. Craig?” I gasped.
She looked at me and grinned. “Convincin’, isn’t he?”
I’d say.
I looked at the girls. Poppy was covered in Red’s blood, and the color had drained from Cali’s face, her eyes widened in pure panic. Icy claws of fear shuddered down my spine.
We might not make it out of this.
I turned to the woman and tried to reason, “Look . . . What’s your name by the way?”
She studied me for a moment, scanning me from head to toe, then shrugged and said, “Alice.”
Alice. Appropriate, since I felt like we’d fallen down a rabbit hole.
“Look, Alice. Right now, you haven’t done anything. Jennifer is the one who held us at gunpoint and threatened to kill us. So why don’t you let us go, and we’ll leave your name out of the whole thing.” My voice shook as I spoke.
Alice shook her head slowly and raised the gun higher. “I killed Black. So you see, I’m in this up to my neck.” What hope I might have had fled like a mouse chased by a cat. “So grab her arms and get movin’.”
Poppy crossed her arms. “And if we refuse?”
Alice turned her gun on me and pointed it at my forehead, pulling back the hammer.
Poppy moved quickly, followed by Cali, while I tried unsuccessfully to keep calm. They both grabbed one of Jennifer’s arms and then looked at Alice.
“Up the hill about ten feet, then turn toward the fence line.”
If I was going to die, I wanted to know why.
“Jennifer said something about gold,” I said in a long, shuddering breath.
Alice motioned up the hill to Poppy and Cali with her free hand, but kept her gun trained on me. “Jennifer and Black found the entrance while he was doing a survey. He could see somethin’ in the images he took, and they investigated. There’s a cave with an opening on this side of the property, but the gold sits on the Winkles’ side. Jennifer knew he would tell them, so she made a deal with him. Keep quiet, and she’d cut him in. Then the old man had a heart attack, and Black got the idea that in his condition, he wouldn’t be able to keep the ranch runnin’. He decided to make sure the Winkles came to that same conclusion. He burned down the house and set the cattle free without consulting us. I wouldn’t even have known he was over there workin’ if I hadn’t seen him leave. When I confronted him about what he was doin’ over there, he admitted what he’d done.”
“So you killed him?”
She shrugged. “He became a liability. We knew people would start diggin’ into what had happened, like you ladies did at the weddin’. We had to get rid of him before he lost his nerve and talked.”
Just like Poppy, Cali, and me.
I swallowed hard, praying Bo had figured out we were missing.
“Got him,” Bo growled. “Clinton Theodore Black.” Devin and Nate moved behind him and looked over his shoulder at the screen. It had taken them most of the night and into the morning before they’d hacked Shelton Geological.
“Pay dirt,” Devin mumbled. “Now all we need are his accomplices.”
“I’ll call Moore and let him know,” Bo said, grabbing his phone.
Devin reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone, swiping ‘Call Calla.’
When it went to voicemail, a trickle of caution tumbled through his brain. Scowling at the phone, he hit redial. He got the same response. Searching through his contact list until he found Bernice’s number, he hit ‘Dial.’
“Hey handsome,” Bernice said.
“Is Calla with you?”
“Nope. She’s runnin’ an errand for Natasha.”
“Where?”
“Old man Craig’s house. She took him a lemon poppy seed cake.”
That news settled in his gut, and it rolled around like a lead weight.
“Thanks,” he bit out, then ended the call. “We need to get to Craig’s house. Calla and the girls went over there for Natasha, and Calla’s not answerin’ her phone.”
“I’ll call Sienna,” Bo responded, pulling out his phone. He found her number as all three men started heading for the door. It went to voicemail as well. “Nothin’. We should have locked them up in the jail,” Bo growled.
“They’re probably shoppin’,” Nate supplied casually, but Bo heard a note of apprehension in his voice.
They moved with urgency and piled into Bo’s truck. “Anyone got Poppy’s number?” Bo asked, looking at Nate. Devin turned and looked at him as well.
Nate pulled his phone out and hit ‘Call Poppy,’ mumbling, “Calla gave it to me last night. I forgot I had it.”
For the first time since he’d called Calla and got no answer, Devin grinned.
“She’s not answerin’,” Nate growled. “Floor it.”
“Now you’re worried,” Devin muttered as Bo punched the accelerator.
Nate glared at Devin. “I’m not as apt to overreact as you two are.”
“You think we’re overreactin’?”
Nate’s jaw tightened. “No. They find trouble without tryin’.”
The twenty-minute drive to Craig’s home served to tighten the mood in the cab. By the time they pulled in front of the old man’s house, you could cut the tension with a knife.
Bo scanned the yard looking for Poppy’s car. It was filled with rusted equipment that had seen better days and an old goat tethered to a chain. Poppy’s car was nowhere to be seen.
An old man was sitting in a chair, gently rocking the day away. Bo approached him.
“Mr. Craig?” Bo asked.
“Who’s askin’?”
Bo stuck out his hand. “I’m Bo Strawn.”
Craig stared at his outstretched offer, then rose his own shaking hand to grasp Bo’s.
“What can I do for you?”
“We’re l
ookin’ for three women. They were supposed to come by here. Have you seen them?”
Craig’s eyes darted to Devin and Nate. “I think I would remember three beautiful women stoppin’ by.”
“So you haven’t seen them?” Devin asked.
“Nope. Just me and Bob.”
“Bob?” Nate asked.
“My goat,” Craig answered, pointing in the direction of the tethered goat.
Devin glanced around the porch, then through the window looking into the dining room. Something yellow caught his eye. On an old wooden table sat a yellow Bundt cake, and a piece was missing.
Turning to Bo, he said casually, “They’re probably next door playin’ with the pigs. I’m sure they’re fine. They never get in trouble.”
Bo’s eyes shot to his, and he nodded. “Sorry to bother you,” Bo said between clenched teeth, then turned swiftly and headed down the stairs. All three men folded into the truck before Devin spoke.
“Bernice said they were bringin’ lemon cake over when they checked on the man. There was a new one sittin’ on the table inside. I saw it through the window. He’s lyin’.”
“If he’s lyin’, then they’re in trouble,” Bo growled. “We need to come in from Bullwinkle Ranch and search his land. Whatever’s goin’ on, Craig’s clearly involved, and they must have stumbled across it. I’d bet my life they never left here.”
Fear coursed through Bo’s body and squeezed, constricting his lungs.
Hold on, baby. I’m coming.
“I’ll call Moore,” Devin stated, pulling out his phone. The call went directly to voicemail. “You got your gun?” Devin ground out. “Moore’s not pickin’ up.”
Bo nodded. “Since Moore’s tied up, we’ll go in hard on horseback,” he stated flatly, controlled. “And when we find whoever’s holdin’ them, I’m not a cop. Do what you need to do.”
Devin looked at him. “Extreme prejudice?”
“Yeah,” Bo returned, then punched the accelerator.
Twelve
WHEN FATE DECIDED TO
DUMP ON YOU, SHE DID IT WITH STYLE
A HUGE CHASM SPREAD OUT in front of us, deep in the bowels of a rocky cliff. It was located on the border of Craig’s and Boris and Natasha’s property. My mind couldn’t wrap around the size of it. An oily stench of rotten dirt and rancid water permeated the air, choking me. The walls were smooth, eroded over time by water, yet they sparkled in the dim light of the torch Alice carried. Gold, silver, and other minerals winked back at me like stars in a night sky, peeking out between the solid rocks like veins in an arm.
We’d traveled deep into the ground, winding through narrow passages until I was turned around, but I was sure we had crossed the Winkles’ property line. The gold had to belong to Boris and Natasha, like Alice had said. But even so, I was confused how Jennifer and Alice thought they would extract the precious metal from the walls without anyone noticing. It would take dynamite to bring the walls down, releasing the treasure from its eternal resting place.
Poppy and Cali let go of Jennifer’s arms, then bent at the waist to catch their breath. I turned to Alice as my heart thundered in my chest. Now that we were hidden away, she could dispose of us easily.
“Grab those shovels and start diggin’,” Alice barked out. “I don’t want her stinkin’ up the joint.”
Her lack of anguish over her friend’s death was disgusting. To Alice, Jennifer was only a partner in crime. One less person she had to share the bounty with.
I looked at the shovels. If we dug slowly, it would buy us time for the guys to find us. My stomach dropped at the thought. How would they find us? It took a geological survey to find the cave in the first place. I looked at the girls. It was up to us to save ourselves. When their eyes landed on mine, I mouthed, “Tybee,” then my eyes darted to Alice, reminding them that Poppy and I had taken out Gayla Brown with a heavy piece of driftwood.
They both gave me a sharp nod. My friends were nuts, not stupid. They’d figured out, like I had, that help would have a hard time finding us in the belly of the earth, and that if we wanted to live, we had to take matters into our own hands.
They moved to the two shovels, leaning against the rock wall, and picked them up. I took one of them from Cali. She was exhausted from dragging Jennifer inside, so I’d take the first shift digging.
I searched the floor looking for a large area where we could dig. Water had found its way into the caves from underground springs, or flowed in during rainstorms. After last night’s rain, water had puddled near a narrow fissure in the rock. The ground surrounding the opening was dark and muddy. It would make digging easy and quick. I turned my head and found a patch of dry earth that looked to be mixed with rocks. That area would take much longer to dig a hole deep enough to bury a body. Or four. I had no doubt when the hole was done; she would pull the trigger.
Pulling the shovel behind me, I walked over to the dry patch of dirt and drove in the edge of the shovel. It tore through the earth easier than expected.
Dammit.
I pretended to struggle so Alice would think the digging would take a while. We needed time. There would be no do-overs if we screwed up.
Poppy moved to my side and began digging next to me. I muttered, “Slowly,” under my breath, and she nodded that she heard.
“Alice?” Cali said. I stopped digging to look at her. “You do know that the only way to get that gold out of the rock is to blast it, don’t you?” Alice’s face shifted slightly in confusion, and she looked at the wall. “I saw the pickax when we first came in. Have you dislodged any of it?”
Alice stood up and touched the wall, running her hand along the surface, and I cursed. This was the opportunity that we were waiting for, and Poppy and I were too far away to hit her over the head with a shovel before she turned.
“Do I set it against the wall and light it?” she asked.
Cali looked at us and rolled her eyes. “I think you drill holes in the rock and insert the dynamite inside.”
Alice swung around. “How do you know this?”
“I read a romance novel once where the hero was a gold hunter.”
“What else did you learn?”
“The gold is threaded through the rock. You have to crush it to extract the metals,” I hollered.
The wheels turned behind her eyes, then she began to laugh. “Black was right. We do need to buy the Winkles’ land. There’s no way I can get the gold without them hearing.”
It hit me out of the blue. Clint would have known that the only way to get the gold out was to blast it because of his job. No wonder he didn’t tell her what he was doing. I had no doubt he planned to buy Boris and Natasha’s land if he was successful and claim the gold for himself.
Alice began to pace, so I kept my eyes on her as I pretended to dig.
“What do you think she’ll do now?” Poppy whispered, keeping her own eyes on Alice.
“I don’t know. I think it’s clear the jig is up. Two people are dead, and now she knows she can’t get the gold out without Boris and Natasha knowin’.”
Alice exploded in a hard, loud, “Son of a bitch!” causing me to jump. Poppy and I turned and froze, holding our breath.
Alice banged the gun against her head twice, and I flinched. I stared at her, speechless, as she took a long, shuddering breath and sobbed, understanding that she was finished. Panic grew across her features, and I held my breath. She was about to do something, and I was afraid to find out what.
Alice took a few deep breaths and then looked at us. Time stood still as we waited to learn our fate. We didn’t have to wait long. She raised her gun and began to back out of the chasm.
“Sorry, ladies. I can’t have witnesses.”
I expected her to start firing at us; instead, she ran through the only opening in the cave and slammed a door made out a sheet metal shut. We moved at the same time, running at the door, slamming into it with our weight. It held with a groan. A loud sliding noise, like metal on metal, echoe
d on the other side. We pounded, shouting at Alice, but she didn’t answer. The sound of pounding feet bounced off the walls until they disappeared, shrouding us in silence.
We turned and looked at the cavernous chamber. The light from Alice’s torch, shoved into a holder on the wall, flickered and dimmed a bit. Once the fuel burned off, we’d be cloaked in darkness. And with the exception of the fissure where the water escaped, there was no exit. We were caged like a fox in a hole.
When fate decided to dump on you, she did it with style. Twenty-five years I’d waited to be happy. Cali had waited twenty-seven years after losing her parents as a child. And Poppy. If any of the Wallflowers deserved to be happy, it was her, and now we were trapped deep beneath the earth with no escape. We had air, a little water on the floor, and no food. We could last for a week or more while Bo, Devin, and Nate searched for us, but I felt like our luck was running out.
Well, at least the air was cool. We’d be comfortable while we starved to death.
“Try your phones,” I said in a panic. “Maybe we can get a call out.”
“Down here?” Poppy replied, pulling out her phone. “It would take a miracle and a cell tower the size of Georgia.”
Cali already had her phone to her ear. She turned concerned eyes toward us and shook her head.
“We’re done for,” Poppy said a little hysterically. “There is no way they will find the openin’. Not if she puts that dead bush back in place. I couldn’t see the openin’ in all the undergrowth until she pointed it out.”
Her lungs contracted and filled in great gasps, and she began to pace.
“Poppy? Are you claustrophobic?” I asked.
“No. I’m deathrophobic.”
“We’re not gonna die,” Cali said patiently. “Devin won’t allow it.” To back up her assertion, she moved to a large boulder and sat down. “We might as well get comfortable while we wait.”
“You’re that sure he will find us?” Poppy questioned.
“They will,” I stated with authority. Like Cali, I felt it deep in my bones. Bo wouldn’t stop until he found us. Wouldn’t sleep until he had me back in his arms.
Poppy looked between the two of us, then walked to her purse and picked it up. She sat next to Cali on the boulder, then opened her purse and pulled out a book. “We might as well read while we wait,” she said, then flipped the book over so I could see it. Linda Howard’s To Die For sat in her hands, the edges singed from the fire. She grinned. “I wanted to research. See if Bo followed Wyatt’s train of thought. It must be a good sign that it made it through the fire.”