Her magnified view from the rickety old observation tower allowed Kate to see the better part of the refuge's north and west boundaries, either of which was a more likely horse-removal route than the east, which was closer to the main road and possible witnesses.
She was using the binoculars she'd borrowed from Thea's cache. Very special and powerful infrared binoculars that captured light from even the faintest of sources and multiplied it tens of thousands of times. The night vision goggles probably made her look like some alien creature, but they operated hands-free except for the binocular function. The heavy headgear was padded for comfort and worked off a battery pack she'd strapped to her body.
Still... standing alone in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night, buffeted by the rising wind and surrounded by erratic lightning spooked her. She brought the medicine pouch to her nose and inhaled. As Keelin had promised, the fragrances soothed her anxiety, calmed her fear and renewed her spirit. She tucked the pouch inside her shirt, where she could feel it touch her skin.
Once settled inside, she concentrated on her task, her enhanced gaze sweeping over the property.
She had a nearly normal view -- as long as she didn't try to focus on anything too close. Every time she tried, her eyes went crazy. Then she might as well be blind. For the first time, she could really empathize with a horse's inability to focus on distant and near objects simultaneously, the main reason for its shying at an unknown article on the ground while holding its head high and concentrating on some distance spot.
For the most part, though, the strange-looking, slightly distorted world around Kate was revealed to her in green-colored clarity.
A world alive with creatures more comfortable with the night than she. Coyotes. Owls. A cougar hunting for its dinner. Though the big cats were rare and kept to themselves out of self-protection -- because of man, their numbers had dwindled -- a few remained secreted in the hills.
And, of course, in every direction, she made out wild horses. Mostly the animals remained perfectly still, dozing while standing. But insomnia didn't seem to be peculiar to human beings. She'd just caught one mustang nuzzling another along the spine, a sure display of affection, when a crash from the opposite direction alerted her. Though she whipped around fast, she barely caught a hint of motion as whatever it was melded with a stone outcropping to the north.
Kind of big for a coyote, she decided, her stomach tying in a knot.
What then?
She didn't want to think whatever was out there could be human.
Uneasy, adjusting her binoculars to focus on that patch of rocks, Kate started to cross to the opposite rail. The wood beneath her foot protested. Stopping abruptly, she circumvented the weak spot, finding a safer route by testing before stepping. Looking down would only put her senses out of kilter.
Throat dry, pulse pounding, she kept watch at the west rail. She waited for a repeat movement -- movement of any kind -- all remained still but for tree branches wavering in the wind and lightning creeping across the sky.
Eventually, her physical responses normalized and Kate let down her guard.
Her mind had been playing tricks on her, she decided, as it continued to do by drifting to thoughts of Chase. To whether or not she could believe him. Believe in him. She did believe in him when it came to his dedication to the refuge.
But what about to her?
Maybe she expected too much, which made it her problem rather than his. She'd always known something intrinsic in her kept the men she cared about from committing to her without qualification.
Chase had admitted he hadn't told her he was leaving town because of fear. Given the opportunity, would he say he feared her now? Hard to grasp when she felt anything but intimidating or scary.
If only humans were as easy to understand as the animals she treated. Touch revealed their innermost beings to her.
Touching Chase left her in the dark.
As she traced the perimeter of the observation platform, Kate had to back off weak spots several times. She was becoming edgy and bored. Sheer stubbornness kept her at her post. Kept her scanning the horizon for some indication of trouble.
At first she didn't recognize the lone horse as such.
The animal moved across the flat at a moderate, if constant, speed. Gradually, Kate began to wonder where the rest of the band might be. And the route seemed predetermined. The dark bay was heading in a straight line, directly toward the northwest corner of the refuge. Directly toward the area that held the isolation corrals that she couldn't see because her view of the flat there was blocked by rock formations and tall ponderosa pines.
Readjusting her binoculars, she brought the horse into focus and realized that it was neither a mustang, nor alone. A rider sat its back. A rider she couldn't identify... but one whose posture disclosed the person to be someone other than Chase.
Her head went light with the realization.
Tonight was the night!
A combination of triumph and dread spurred her toward the stairs. A five minute drive would get her to Chase's cabin, she calculated, taking the stairs faster than was careful. No time to be cautious, not now. With a clammy hand, she hung onto the railing and kept her focus on the mounted horse, still too far in the distance for her to recognize its rider.
Together she and Chase would stop any more mustangs from vanishing.
Together they would reveal the identity of the person responsible for Doc's death.
About three-quarters of the way down the observation tower stairs, it occurred to her that Chase might not be at his cabin. The thought gave her such a start that she faltered and misstepped.
The second she felt the wood give below her, Kate shifted her weight, but the adjustment came too late. Her foot slid through the opening, stopping only when she felt something sharp slice her calf. She caught herself with both hands to keep from tumbling over. Or through the rotten wood. The rickety railing swayed with her weight and Kate's trying to focus on her situation only made her sick to her stomach.
Damn! Why hadn't she removed the headgear before taking the stairs?
Now she didn't dare let go of the rail to do anything other than to free her pants' leg, caught on splintered wood. One wrong movement could mean injury... or worse.
In the distance, thunder rumbled a warning.
Blindly, she felt for the fragments holding her fast, first removing the bit that still stabbed her. Pain shot through her calf and she figured small slivers stayed behind, imbedded in her flesh. Ignoring the hot throbbing, she concentrated on undoing the damage, one splinter at a time.
At last she could move her leg if not free it. What was the problem now? She couldn't feel anything around her calf.
Mistakenly, she looked down and tried to focus. Immediately disoriented, she gave no instant meaning to the ruckus below her. Closing her eyes, she carefully plunged her free hand through the break in the step and found the problem -- another spike of wood caught in the material at her ankle. Her boot had prevented her from feeling it.
Freeing the jeans' leg at last, she was trying to stand when the sound of pounding against wood finally registered above a sharper clap of thunder. The sky lit -- closer this time -- and she saw a figure rushing up the stairs at her.
"No!" she screamed, unable to tell who was threatening her.
He had his hands on her, was pulling her by one arm. She lost her balance and fell down several steps before regaining her feet. Who? Buck? Could the lame man move this quickly? Or was it Nathan?
Her hands flew to the headgear, but before she could loosen the straps holding the night vision binoculars in place, he gave her another shove backward. Unable to catch on to the rail, she fell sideways, tumbling from one step to the next, stopping only when she hit the sandy earth. Winded, she tried to get up, but before she could manage to do anything but reassure herself that nothing was broken, he had her by the scruff of the neck and dragged her as if she were an animal.
Rocks
and trees careened around her. Even if she had the strength to fight him -- which at the moment was a moot point -- she was too disoriented to help herself.
As she tried to keep up with him to lessen the pain, Keelin's medicine pouch slid over her chest. If only it could help her now! She remembered her cousin saying that, to save Tyler's daughter, she'd called on power she hadn't known she'd possessed.
If only Keelin could see through her eyes...
That was it!
Kate grabbed at the pouch beneath her shirt and concentrated. With all her conscious will, she sent her Irish cousin an American S.O.S., praying that Keelin would receive it loud and clear.
And send help in the form of Chase Brody.
"I'LL NOT SPEND A NIGHT on McKenna property as long as James owns it," Uncle Charlie was saying while he paced the length of the Farrell family room.
Knowing her Aunt Rose and cousin Neil were already sold on the reunion idea, Keelin smiled. "Then I've a solution. You'll be welcome to stay at my cottage. Da doesn't own it or the land, because Gran left both cottage and herb garden to me. Unless you've a problem with me as well as with my father."
"No!" her uncle protested. "I think you're a fine young woman, Keelin. I'm very fond of you," he admitted, stopping in back of his wife's chair. He rubbed her arm affectionately. "You remind me of my Rose."
Tyler was squeezing Keelin's hand, and across from her, Aunt Rose was beaming.
"I'm flattered, Uncle Charlie."
Keelin was thinking that her stubborn uncle was on the verge of giving way when a distinct impression coming out of nowhere intruded on her forcing the issue.
. . . rocks... trees... night sky tinted green...
"Keelin!"
. . . the sky pierced with white electric arrows...
"Kate?" Keelin whispered, shocked to her very core. "Is that you?"
"Kathleen?" Aunt Rose glanced around the room, looking for her daughter. Frowning, she asked, "Keelin, what about Kathleen?"
"I believe she's in trouble."
Keelin swiftly closed her eyes and concentrated, relaxing body parts, one after the other, in effect hypnotizing herself. She quickly shut out the anxious voices of the people around her, registering them only as a murmur in the background...
HE SWUNG OPEN A DOOR to the vehicle and pushed her inside. Her body fairly screamed with renewed pain. Vision distorted, she'd never felt dizzier in her life.
Keelin, please, PLEASE hear me!
Steadying herself with one hand, she shot the other to her head, but before she could rip the goggles from her face so she could identify him, he grabbed her wrist and cruelly twisted her arm behind her back.
About to give in to the pain and the despair, she felt it... another presence probing her mind... another pair of eyes seeing the same distorted images.
Keelin, thank God. She was so happy, she felt like weeping. Call Chase, tell him it's now. The isolation corrals. And tell him to hurry!
As her hands were secured together, all she could do to help herself was repeat her silent message in case her cousin hadn't gotten it all the first time...
KEELIN OPENED HER EYES to the concerned gaze of Kate's parents and brother. Tyler was holding onto her as if he guessed what she was about.
"What's wrong?" he asked softly.
"Tis, Kate. She's in desperate trouble," Keelin said, feeling dazed. Nothing like this -- someone signaling and her receiving the message -- had ever happened to her before. "I must be calling this Chase of hers."
"Chase Brody?" her uncle asked. "He's nothing to my daughter."
Not about to argue the point, she said, "Your daughter's life may depend on him."
"You saw... " Aunt Rose whispered, wide-eyed. "Like your grandmother used to, God bless her soul. The number... " She looked to her son.
Neil was already picking up the telephone.
AFTER WHAT SEEMED LIKE an interminable wait, the door opened, and rough hands pulled at Kate once more. She kicked out, but the man grabbed at her leg, and managing to get his hands around her wounded calf, pulled her roughly out of the vehicle. She landed on her back.
She shrieked and yelled, "Bastard!" as much for Doc and the horses as for the pain he caused her.
"I told you she was trouble," her abuser said. "Followed her outta town and caught her spying, trying to set a trap."
"By herself? Untie her hands."
"So the bitch can gouge out my eyes?"
"Do it and get the truck!"
Recognizing both voices, Kate turned to face the rider who was far enough away to be in focus. A sad wind whipped between them. Though she'd considered the possibility, she hadn't wanted to believe it.
"I'm sorry it's you," she said as her hands were freed.
She removed the goggles and let them drop to the ground. The battery pack followed. Vaguely, she heard the engine start and the vehicle speed off with a squeal of wheels. Dozens of mustang voices raised in protest. More than one of the corrals was already filled.
The rider dismounted. "And I'm sorry you couldn't keep your nose where it belonged, Kate."
"You mean like Doc?"
"You may not believe this, but I hated his having to die. I didn't mean for anyone to get hurt but the one who deserved it -- Chase Brody."
Not even the horses?
Knowing she was next, Kate pleaded, "Then stop now."
A bitter laugh was followed by "I'd rather be dead myself than rot in some prison. Hell, I'm already dead. Have been for half my life."
"And you want me to join you."
"All the witnesses will."
Kate looked past the mastermind behind the refuge's demise to the corral where the only true witnesses to Doc's death were trapped -- Sage and her girls. Lightning bowled the area and gave her a long, last look at the wild horses she'd grown to love. They were full of nervous energy, as if they recognized their fates.
Kate felt sick inside knowing they would surely be sentenced to a more ignominious death than she.
Chapter Thirteen
"WHY COULDN'T YOU HAVE left well enough alone, Kate?" Merle asked, holding her rifle steady on the nosy woman. Regret was becoming nearly as familiar an emotion to her as hatred. "Why couldn't you just accept the medical examiner's findings like everyone else?"
"I did. At first."
"Something changed your mind. And don't tell me the mustangs told you differently." Even as she made the denial, Merle wondered if there could be any truth to the claim. But no. Then Kate would have pointed an accusing finger days ago. "Nathan gave me some cock-and-bull story about your being able to know what animals are thinking."
"What's your theory?"
"That Doc left something behind that made you suspicious."
Merle was fishing, hoping that if there was anything, Kate would say so. Then she would make certain to destroy any evidence. But Kate wasn't cooperating.
"How could you have killed Doc after he tried to save your baby?" she asked.
Startled, Merle drew closer. "How do you know about the baby?"
"Without Doc's help you might have died."
Remembering the horror of the miscarriage, Merle shivered. Or perhaps it was the rising wind that scraped at her. A storm was brewing, the likes of which they'd seen the night Doc died. She could smell the rain ready to fall. And the wild horses were getting spooked.
"A woman isn't alive merely because her body's still walking around after her heart's been cut out," she said. "I lost everything to Chase Brody."
"Chase didn't murder Gil."
"You know about him, too?" Doc must have told Kate a lot of things that were none of her business.
"I found the high school graduation ring. G-D for Gil Duran."
"You were snooping in my things!"
Merle worked up some righteous indignation. How dare Kate touch the one thing she had left of Gil! The thing she'd stolen from the mortuary where he'd been laid out.
The damage to Gil had been too severe to have an o
pen casket, so she'd broken into the place the night before the funeral to say her good-byes. What she'd seen had been bearable only because she'd found his ring with his other effects and was holding on to it tight for comfort.
After that, fearing someone would take it away from her, she'd worn the ring only in secret. She'd worn it when she made love to other men so she could pretend they were Gil.
And Kate had violated that.
"You have no idea of what it's like to love a man with your very soul."
"I think I do," Kate argued. "I love Chase the same way you loved Gil. But his death was a tragic accident."
"Your lover was drunk!"
"They were all drunk. All three of them should have known better than to work with heavy machinery --"
"If he wasn't guilty, then why did Chase run?"
"He was young and stupid. They all were, Merle. I think in your heart you know that."
Not anything Merle wanted to hear. She'd nursed her grievances for too many years to give them up now.
"Gil would have married me," she said as the first fat drops of rain began to fall. "We would have made a life together and not in some damn trailer. My child wasn't going to be called trash like I was. I wasn't going to be like my mother... "
But she had turned out like her mother, bedding anything in pants, if not for money. That was Chase's fault, too. If Gil had lived, things would have been different. She would be different. Respectable. Noting Kate's expression of pity, Merle grew angry.
"Gil was the only one who ever took me seriously," she went on. "He died... then our baby... my grief over losing Gil was so intense I couldn't hold onto it... and I never had another chance at life."
"Because you didn't give yourself one," Kate argued her hair already damp and frizzing around her face. "How many people do you intend to hurt or worse before this is over for you?"
"I told you I was sorry about Doc... and you. I'm not a murderer. All I wanted was to take Chase's dream away from him. I wanted to destroy him emotionally the way he did me."
The McKenna Legacy Trilogy Page 58