Big Sky

by Stacey Coverstone

  He acknowledged her with a slight tilt of his mouth and dashed for the corner of the building where he disappeared. She put the car in gear and sped out of the parking lot kicking up gravel. When she glanced into the rearview, she saw two police vehicles whip into the lot.

  Without going over the speed limit while driving as fast as possible, she made it to the ranch in record time. Charlie was sitting on a bench outside the barn carving a piece of wood with a pocketknife when she pulled in. Seemed he was always right where he should be when she needed him.

  “Charlie, can you please saddle me a horse?” she hollered out the open window. “I’m going to park this car up top and get on my boots and then I’ll be back down. I’m going for a ride.”

  He rose from the bench ready to do as she’d requested. “Where you headed, Miss Taylor? Out to that cave?”

  “Yes, Charlie. Pick out the right horse for the trek, will you?”

  “I sure will.”

  She hastened up the driveway and parked the rental near the back door. Her heart started to thump upon seeing Brett’s truck sitting there. Hopefully, he was talking with Will in his office and she could avoid both of them. As luck would have it, the two men stepped out of the office the same moment she entered the great room on her way to the stairs.

  “Hello, honey.” Will greeted her with a smile.

  Her gaze swung from Will’s to Brett’s. “Hi. Hello, Brett.”

  “Taylor,” he nodded, plunking his cowboy hat on his head. Intensity radiated from his blue eyes, drinking her all in.

  She reached for calm and started up the steps.

  “Taylor, can you wait up?” Will said. “I’d like to talk to you a moment.”

  Stopping and inhaling a sharp intake of air, she glanced at her watch. Charlie had estimated it was going to take at least an hour to ride to the cave. It was already two o’clock.

  Brett’s boot heels clacked against the wood floors. “See you later, Will,” he said, sauntering slowly past Taylor. Breathing in his scent as he walked by made her dizzy. “Bye, Taylor,” he drawled.

  She lifted a hand to wave. Once she heard the back door close, she said, “Can we talk another time, Will? I have something to do and am in a hurry.”

  “This will only take a minute,” he assured, looping his arm through hers and walking her down the hall to his office. They stepped inside and he asked her to have a seat. When she did, he took the bullhorn keychain from his pocket and unlocked one of the desk drawers and retrieved a manila file folder. Taylor leaned forward when he handed her the folder from across the desk.

  “What’s this?”

  “Read it and you’ll see.” He took a seat behind the big oak desk and waited patiently for her to skim through the information.

  What she found were tourist pamphlets, tickets for a cruise to the Bahamas, and his and her mama’s passports. “What’s all this?” she repeated.

  “It’s the big secret I’ve been keeping—the reason I’ve been locking the drawers and my office. You know what a snoop Nancy is.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Don’t you recall how your mother would search the house for her Christmas presents every year? She’d find them and tear open the paper, and then wrap them back up once she saw what was inside because she couldn’t stand to wait until Christmas to see what she’d received. Remember?”

  Having forgotten that, Taylor thought back. She smiled and nodded.

  “I bought these tickets right after Jamie died, understanding how distraught your mother was and wanting to alleviate her pain somehow. I felt so helpless. I thought it would help both of us to get away together. Then Nancy started drinking and we began to argue about that. And then she fell and broke her hip and…well, you know the rest. There hasn’t been a good time to surprise her with the trip. Now she doesn’t even want to have supper at the same table. I doubt she’ll want to go on a cruise with me.”

  Will looked so miserable, Taylor had to go to him and hug his shoulders. “Why didn’t you just tell her about the cruise? Once you realized she thought you were sneaking around with another woman, it was time to come clean.”

  He shook his head. “I know, but one thing led to another and it became like rolling a snowball up a hill. Every time I thought of letting her know about the vacation, something happened that stopped me. Anyway, for better or worse, I’ve decided to finally show her the tickets. I can’t have her thinking I’ve been unfaithful. She may throw them in my face, but it’s a chance I’m willing to take.”

  Taylor had to laugh out loud to relieve the stress inside. “I highly doubt she’ll throw tickets for a cruise in your face. I’m sure she’ll be touched.” She kissed his cheek, ashamed that she’d thought for one second that her stepfather could have hurt Jamie in any way. “You’re a good man, Will. Mama’s been lucky to have you all these years. So was Jamie, and so am I.”

  “Thank you, honey. I love you all so much.”

  “I love you, too.”

  He stood up and collected his folder from her. “I believe you mentioned being in a hurry. I’ll let you get to whatever it is you’ve got to do. I’m going upstairs to pay my wife a little visit.”

  “That’s the best idea I’ve heard all day.” She followed him upstairs and wished him good luck as he knocked on the bedroom door. Then she rushed into her bedroom and tugged on her boots, punched her cowboy hat onto her head, and slung her digital camera over her shoulder. After running downstairs and grabbing a bottle of water from the refrigerator and a small flashlight from the pantry, she headed to the barn, where Charlie had a horse waiting for her.

  “Who is this fine looking man?” she asked, admiring the tall black gelding.

  “This here is Sugarfoot.” Charlie patted the horse’s rump. “You won’t have a bit of trouble on the trail with this fellow. I hung a pommel bag over the horn for you, too.”

  “Thank you. You think of everything.” She stuck the water bottle, flashlight and her camera in the pommel bag and zipped it up. With a foot on Charlie’s knee, Taylor hoisted herself onto the horse.

  “You got the map I drew?” he asked.

  “Right here in my pocket.”

  He reached into his shirt pocket and handed her a peppermint candy. “Be careful.”

  With a nod and a nudge to Sugarfoot’s ribs, she got the horse moving.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Sugarfoot proved to be a reliable mount as Taylor rode him hard to her destination. He didn’t stumble once, nor did his ears prick forward in alarm as they traversed through trees and over pastures and across hills. All the while, she was watchful of signs that she was being followed. Although she found none, her skin prickled with uneasiness.

  Just over an hour later, she heard the trickling sounds of the creek that signified the cave was nearby. Sugarfoot panted heavily as she walked him through the water and onto the clay soil on the other side. Referring again to the napkin map she pulled from her pocket, she saw the wavy circle Charlie had drawn to symbolize a gooseberry bush. Her gaze lifted and she looked around. “Walk on,” she commanded the horse, moving him forward.

  Not far ahead, she saw the five-foot gooseberry bush someone had apparently planted on the north-facing slope years ago. “Let’s go, boy. We’re just about there.” She clucked her tongue and felt her heart start to race.

  Not far past the bush, she spied the split of a dark opening with two pine trees standing on each side. She slid out of the saddle and removed the water bottle from the pommel bag and took a long drink. Spying a dense cropping of trees about thirty feet away, Taylor decided to hide the horse there, just in case someone had followed her. After tying him to a tree limb, she took out her camera and the flashlight and strode to the entrance of the cave.

  A calm, peaceful silence filled the area around her. No bird songs, no wind. Only a soaring hawk cast a shadow over the ground at her feet as he flew high above in the bright blue sky.

  Sniffing around the outside
of the cave, she noticed a musty odor. Perhaps an animal was living inside. Ignoring her muscles that were screaming with pain due to the car accident and the long ride in the saddle, Taylor realized she had rushed out of the house without bringing a weapon of any kind. What if a cougar or a bear was in the cave? Shuffling a few steps closer, she listened but didn’t hear any rustling or growling sounds.

  “I haven’t come all this way to back out now,” she said out loud. “I won’t leave until I see what’s in there.” Flicking on the small flashlight, she aimed it inside and sent the beam bouncing off the rock walls. Bending to go in, her heart began to thud against her breast as she breathed in the musky smell and moved forward with cautious steps.

  The cave was shallow like the den of a large animal, but she heard nothing stirring and saw no dung on the ground. After walking crouched for a couple of feet, the ceiling opened up and she was able to stand to her height. The air was much cooler inside than out, causing gooseflesh to rise on her arms. With no sounds but her own ragged breathing to keep her company, Taylor sent the flashlight beam moving in all directions. Carved into the walls on both sides were the ancient petroglyphs. She ran her fingers over the pictures and felt a shiver, like someone was looking over her shoulder. Suddenly, a cloud of disturbed bats flew from a crack in the rock, screeching in their fright. She stifled a scream, willing her legs to stop trembling and to keep moving. “They’re just bats,” she told herself.

  After flashing the beam along a long ledge of protruding rock and scaring more winged creatures, a natural skylight in the rock sifted a thin stream of sunlight and dust to the floor. Immediately, the wide space narrowed into a tunnel. Taking a few steadying breaths, she forced herself to go on, despite her fear of tight places. As she moved further into the passage, she put aside thoughts of holes she could step into, snakes that might slither over her feet, and spiders that could fall into her hair, and hurried in a headlong flight deeper inside.

  Suddenly the tunnel made a sharp turn. Following the narrow beam of light, she walked into a small hollowed-out room and gasped. There, sitting on blankets on the ground were what appeared to her untrained eye to be Indian artifacts. Stepping closer and swinging the flashlight from one side of the room to the other, Taylor’s mouth dropped open as she gazed upon bone beads, shell necklaces, lead balls and bullets, buttons, gun flints, copper arm bands, stone knives, antler arrow points, and beautiful pieces of pottery.

  Her heart began pounding against her ribs. Her mind raced with possible scenarios, landing on the only one that made sense. Jamie must have discovered this cache of artifacts when she was photographing the cave. Or had she excavated and unearthed the pieces on her own? Whatever the circumstances of the find had been, Jamie hadn’t been the only one to come across the treasures—treasures that had probably been hidden here for years and possibly centuries.

  Before she could think things through further, voices drifted toward her from the other end of the tunnel. A chill crept across her shoulders. She had been followed! Extinguishing her flashlight, she held her breath, straining to hear. Approaching steps kicked at loose stones as the sound of boots tapped closer.

  Get out of the room! Hide! A warning hissed in her ears. Was it Jamie? Or an ancient Indian spirit trying to protect her?

  Skimming her hand along the wall in the pitch black, she quietly shuffled out of the room. Feeling her way like a blind woman, all she felt was air when she waved her hands around. Where was the wall? She had to hide. A nagging feeling hinted at danger.

  The voices grew nearer as did their light source. Taylor walked forward and felt a fissure in a boulder that felt large enough for her body. She jammed the small flashlight into her back pocket and shimmied inside. Swallowing her fear, she stood stock still as the cave was suddenly awash with the light of two lanterns. Barely daring to breathe, she ducked her head when two people stepped into the small room holding the relics.

  A woman’s voice filled the silence. “Nothing looks disturbed. Why did we have to rush out here so fast? What made you think that woman had found out about this place?”

  A male answered. “Because the black gelding is gone and when I asked Charlie where he was, he said Banner’s stepdaughter took him for a ride.”

  “Well, thank God she’s not here. I was afraid she’d found us out. Do you think we scared her once and for all today when you shot at her?”

  “Hard to know. She’s a tough cookie. Getting bucked off that horse didn’t spook her. I thought cutting the brakes would have finally convinced her to back off.”

  “Maybe you should have killed her this afternoon,” the woman suggested with the nonchalance of speaking about a picnic.

  “Isn’t one body enough? I think it’s pushing our luck to kill both sisters.”

  “You still may have to if she doesn’t stop asking questions. You had no trouble forcing pills and booze down that other bitch’s throat. I’m sure you could come up with an equally inventive way to get rid of this one.”

  Taylor’s hand covered her mouth to stifle a cry. The voices sounded familiar, and she could stand it no longer. Cautiously peering through a crack between the rocks, she glimpsed the faces of Dash Bullion and Chelsea Hamilton in the bath of light flickering from their lanterns. The truth felt like a punch in the stomach. That antisocial, pock-faced ranch hand had murdered Jamie! And Mama’s nurse had been his accomplice.

  She squeezed her eyes tight, imagining Dash forcing his way into Jamie’s cabin. Shoving her. Her hitting her head on the bedside table and knocked unconscious. And him forcing alcohol and pills down her throat to make her death look like suicide.

  Taylor wanted to leap out from behind the boulder and wrap her hands around both their necks. She willed calm when an invisible hand pressed on her shoulder holding her in place.

  Dash and Chelsea shared a long kiss. “Why don’t we haul all this stuff away now and put everything on eBay before we’re discovered?” she asked when they broke apart. “Then we can take the money and run. I’m sick of Montana. You promised we’d go to Vegas when this was over.”

  “It’s not over yet,” he said emphatically. “We’ll keep doing what we’ve been doing for the past few months. I’ll list a couple of pieces at a time—say they came from a private library and provide fake papers. It’s been working that way so far, and it’ll keep working. Collectors of this old Indian stuff are willing to pay high prices. We’re going to be rich when we’re done.”

  “But it takes so long to sell this crap piece by piece on eBay,” Chelsea whined.

  Dash took her by the arms and shook her like a rag doll. A chill ran down Taylor’s spine when he threatened, “I’m running this show. If you don’t like the way I’m doing things, maybe you’d like to end our partnership right now.”

  Taylor caught the terror that skated across Chelsea’s face as she cowered like a dog that had been beaten. “No, Dash. You…you…you’re doing a fine job. You’re the boss. I’ll be patient.”

  “Then shut up.” He shoved her but she caught herself before falling. “I don’t want to hear you complain again. Got it?”

  “Yes, Dash. I’m sorry.”

  He looked around and Taylor almost stopping breathing when he seemed to be staring straight at her. Not moving, she felt her muscles bunching up with stiffness.

  “If only that chick had thrown in with us instead of threatening to go to her stepfather and the law,” Dash mused. “I was willing to give her a small share of the cut. I didn’t want to kill her.”

  “She gave you no choice,” Chelsea replied. “She felt too strongly about keeping these old Indian relics here. Do you really believe what she said? That this stuff has probably been hidden in this cavern for thousands of years?”

  “More than likely, that Crow boyfriend of hers convinced her that this is sacred ground or some shit like that, and nothing in it should be disturbed.”

  “Well, it could be a sacred place,” Chelsea said softly. “I always get a creepy feeli
ng when we come in here. It feels like ghosts are watching us. Every time we take a bowl or an arrowhead, I think we’re going to be struck with lightning or something.”

  “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” Dash growled. “If you want to worry about something, worry about us getting caught and going to jail. It’s a felony to remove and sell Indian artifacts, especially without permission from the owner of the land, seeking government approval, and a bunch of other red-tape bullshit.”

  From the entrance of the cave, Taylor heard horses whinnying. So did Dash and Chelsea.

  “What the hell’s got them riled up?” he questioned. “Go find out.”

  Chelsea held her lantern in front of her and walked toward the opening of the cave. Moments later, she rushed back, out of breath. “Dash! There’s a black horse outside and he’s got a saddle on his back.”

  Taylor felt the air whoosh out of her lungs. Knowing Sugarfoot to be a Slash Y horse, Dash would realize she was here! As he wildly swung the lantern around, his face contorted into that of a crazed monster.

  “Shut up,” he commanded. “She’s here and she’s close. I can feel her.”

  Run, the same guardian spirit warned in Taylor’s ear.

  A rock seemed to jump off the ledge in front of Dash at that moment, thumping at his feet. He pointed his lantern to the ground and stared at the rock. Taylor knew she had to try to escape or he’d kill her and no one would ever find her body. Behind her back, she felt along the wall for more loose rocks. Clutching two in her fist, she waited for Dash to turn around and then slowly wedged her body out of the crevice, prepared to make a run for it.

  “There she is!” Chelsea screamed when her gaze met Taylor’s. Taylor hurled one of the rocks. It struck Dash in the forehead, sending him wailing in pain. The second hit his lantern, knocking out the light. In the brief second of chaos that ensued, Taylor ripped the flashlight out of her pocket, clicked it on and ran. Her camera strap slipped from her shoulder and the camera hit the ground. But she couldn’t stop to retrieve it.