by R. C. Ryan
“He may have tried to, but he didn’t succeed. I just left the clinic, and Micah’s going to be fine.”
At the news Austin swore savagely. “I said toss me that rifle and be quick about it unless you want to watch your precious woman die right now.”
Quinn tossed the rifle and Austin caught it in midair before yanking Cheyenne viciously by her hair and dragging her backward into the room.
As Quinn stepped into the cabin, Austin shouted, “Close the door and lock it.”
“Afraid of visitors?”
“I just don’t want any surprises.”
Quinn pulled the door shut and set the lock. Before he could turn around he heard Cheyenne’s cry of alarm and felt a blow to his head that staggered him and had him dropping to his knees. He shook his head to clear the stars that were dancing before his eyes, only to find Austin standing over him, the rifle held like a club in his hands.
“That was just to let you know who’s in charge here. Unless you do exactly as I say, you’ll get something worse.” He pointed with the butt of the rifle. “Sit over there, next to your woman.”
Quinn crossed to Cheyenne and touched a hand to her cheek. “Stay strong, baby.”
“I didn’t say you could touch her.” A shot rang out and Quinn heard Cheyenne’s scream just as a searing red-hot pain shot through his arm. In the same instant his limb dropped uselessly to his side while blood spurted from the wound like a fountain.
The pain had him clutching the edge of the table, struggling to hold on.
When he turned, Austin was smiling that bright megawatt smile he could turn on and off like a switch. “Told you. I’m in charge. Bet you won’t forget it again.”
With her hands behind her back, Cheyenne was helpless to do more than watch as Quinn absorbed wave after wave of pain. “Oh, Quinn, I can’t bear to see you hurt like this.”
“That’s nothing to what you’ll both get if you don’t pay attention. Now,” Austin said as cheerfully as though he were talking about the weather. “Sit next to your lady love where I can keep an eye on you.”
“There’s no reason to do this,” Cheyenne cried. “You can see he’s wounded, Austin.”
“His name isn’t Austin. It’s Abbott. Abbott Monroe.” Quinn’s steely gaze bored into his opponent, pleased to see that he’d caught him off-guard.
“How do you…?” Abbott’s mouth opened and closed while he struggled to regain control of the situation.
Seeing it, Quinn knew at once that control was very important to this madman.
Abbott brandished his weapon. “What do you know about Abbott Monroe?”
Quinn dropped into the chair beside Cheyenne and ripped aside the sleeve from his plaid shirt, using his teeth and his good hand to tie off the wound. It didn’t really help ease the pain, but it helped slow and absorb a good deal of the blood. “Only what the state police have said. They know all about your little charade.”
Cheyenne stared from one man to the other. “I don’t understand. What are you talking about, Quinn?”
“Our friend here assumed the identity of a dead man, so that his own criminal history couldn’t be traced.”
“Criminal history?”
“When you gave your personnel records to the state police, they learned that Austin Baylor has been dead for years. He died in a mental facility.”
“But how did you…?” She turned to Abbott. “How could you know about a dead man in a mental facility?”
When he said nothing, Quinn gave a dry laugh. “He knew because he was there, too. He was one of the mental patients.”
“Shut up!” Abbott lifted the rifle and swung it at Quinn’s head.
Quinn’s ears were ringing from the blow, a strange, faraway buzzing, and he wondered how much longer he would be able to remain conscious. He knew that he needed to buy some time. Time enough for Chief Fletcher and the state police to get here. Time for his family to fly here. But how long would it be before this crazed animal would lose control completely and kill him? Not that his life mattered right now. His only thought was saving Cheyenne. He had to distract Abbott until someone could get here in time to save her life.
Now that he was face-to-face with this monster, he realized just how dangerous Abbott Monroe was. He’d never before dealt with a psychopath. Charming as hell one minute, a vicious, cold-blooded killer the next.
Quinn made a vow to himself. He would save Cheyenne at any cost. And that meant that he had to keep Abbott talking, even if it meant bearing the brunt of his fury to do so.
“It seems Abbott has a history of getting rid of people that get in his way. He likes to set fires. Isn’t that right, Abbott?”
Instead of the angry response he’d expected, Abbott surprised Quinn by puffing up his chest. “I set my first fire when I was six. You should have seen my baby brother’s face get all red and twisted when his blanket started to burn.” He threw back his head and chuckled. “When my mother found us, I went into my innocent act and actually helped her put out the flames. That night I was hailed on TV as a little hero.” He began to laugh, that high, wild sound that scraped on nerves already stretched to the breaking point. “Nobody would ever believe that a sweet little kid like me could do something like that on purpose. When I realized I’d managed to get away with my little lie, I decided to try it again. That time my stupid parents and little brother didn’t survive. Poor me. A little orphan at the age of twelve.” His eyes went flat. “But then I got a foster family, and they weren’t any better. So…” He shrugged. “I figured I’d take them out the same way I’d taken out my family. And it worked. Only that time, the shrinks and government agencies got into the act and put me in a mental hospital for ‘evaluation.’ ” His voice lowered. “I knew I had to get away for good, or I’d rot in that stinking place. So, when Austin died, with no family around to mourn, I decided to be him if I ever managed to slip away and get another chance. I watched and waited, and one day the opportunity came. And here I am.”
“The fire at my ranch. It wasn’t an accident. You set it.” Cheyenne couldn’t keep the horror from her voice.
“That’s why he insisted on the quick cleanup, isn’t it, Abbott? To hide the rags you’d used to start the fire?”
“Clever, wasn’t I? By the time the insurance investigator got there, the evidence had disappeared.”
“And now you tried to kill Micah in a fire, too.” Cheyenne’s tone was one of disbelief.
Abbott swaggered across the room and tossed the rifle onto the bed before picking up the handgun and knife, as though preferring his own weapons to Quinn’s.
He turned to her. “Micah should have died. I gave the old guy a whack on his head that would’ve killed most men. Then I set the fire and left, thinking he was a goner.” His smile faded as he tucked the pistol into the waistband of his pants. “If I’d thought for one minute that he’d manage to crawl away from that inferno, I would’ve stayed and finished him off.”
“But why target Micah?” Quinn asked.
“In case you haven’t noticed, he’s as close to Cheyenne as her father and brother were. After eliminating them, I realized he had to go, too.”
Quinn went very still as the words sank in. This went so much deeper than he’d first thought.
He fought to keep his tone even. “Eliminated? Are you saying that Cheyenne’s father and brother didn’t die in accidents?”
The smile was back, and Quinn realized that Abbott was enjoying himself. This madman relished the opportunity to brag about the unspeakable things he’d done.
“Buddy was so easy. He was like a big, dumb puppy. I knew exactly how to play him. I hadn’t planned on taking him out like that, but it had to be done quickly after he ran into Deke Vance at the bar and the two of them went off to a booth in the corner to talk. I knew, by the look on Buddy’s face, that Deke had managed to persuade him that he hadn’t stolen that money.”
“You set Deke up?”
At Cheyenne’s gasp his evil sm
ile grew. “That part was easy. All I had to do was accuse that poor dumb fool of stealing, then to prove it, I stuck the two hundred-dollar bills I’d stolen from the drawer into his parka pocket, carried it in from the utility room, and poof.” He clapped his hands together. “Deke became a thief, convicted in the eyes of the whole family. Once I had all of you believing that, the rest all fell into place. Until that night at the bar. Then I knew that Buddy had to go, because he no longer believed me.”
“You said my brother was drunk.” Cheyenne’s voice was little more than a whisper as she tried to take in all that he was saying. It was simply too much to absorb.
“Buddy never drank more than a beer. But I made sure that everybody in the place saw me buy him three more. The waitress delivered them to his booth. He probably left them there, or maybe Deke drank them. When we left, Buddy said he wanted to talk, and I put him off, saying we’d talk at home. I stayed close behind him in my truck and waited until we reached a stretch of deserted road. Knowing Buddy, and that strict code of honor, I figured he was distracted and probably beating himself up over the fact that he’d misjudged his best friend, and that had him driving faster than he usually did. It was so easy to pull alongside and slam him as hard as I could. His truck went out of control and spun around before hitting that tree and exploding.” He shook his head before adding, “Now there was a ball of fire. A really great blaze. I made sure the flames did the trick before calling for help.”
Cheyenne couldn’t bear the pain. With her hands still tied behind her back she lowered her head to the table, hoping to blot out his words.
Quinn’s voice was a low growl of fury. “Untie her hands.”
Abbott whirled on him. “Did you just try to give me an order? What did I tell you?” He lifted the rifle and took aim at Quinn’s head. “I’m in charge here.”
Quinn didn’t flinch. “Shoot me if you want. But untie her hands. She’s just learned that you killed her brother. Or aren’t you man enough to let her mourn in peace?”
“I’m more man than you’ll ever hope to be. Man enough to kill anyone in my way.” Instead of pulling the trigger, Abbott used his knife to cut through the cords on her wrists.
Cheyenne buried her face in her hands and slumped forward at the table, unable to absorb all that she’d heard. It was simply too much for her mind to accept.
“What about Cheyenne’s father?” Quinn kept his tone level, to hide the fury that was raging through him. Now that he’d managed to persuade Abbott to free Cheyenne’s hands, he needed to find a way to get her out of harm’s way.
Abbott snagged a chair, turned it around, and leaned his arms on the back of it. The knife rested in his lap.
“Her father’s death took a little more finesse.” Abbott had the satisfaction of seeing Cheyenne’s head come up sharply, her eyes wide with stunned surprise.
A big smile split his lips. “You heard right. After Buddy was gone, I persuaded your dad to keep me on at the ranch and consider me part of the family. I started calling him Dad, because I could see that he liked it. While we were in the hills with the herd I asked him for your hand in marriage. And he said I was putting the cart before the horse. He actually laughed at his little joke.” Abbott shook his head, as though still unable to believe what her father had told him. “He said he knew his daughter as well as he knew himself and he’d never seen any sign that you thought of me as anything except a friend. He expected that someday he would recognize that you were wildly in love with some cowboy and only then would he give his blessing.” His smile was wiped instantly from his lips. “I knew what I had to do. That night I told him about some of the herd splitting off from the rest and getting trapped in a box canyon. I suggested that he take an all-terrain vehicle up there to drive the herd back down. It was an easy matter to follow him up into the hills on horseback, so he wouldn’t hear me above the sound of his engine. I watched when his vehicle flipped, after hitting a rope.”
Cheyenne looked startled. “A rope?”
“Yeah. A rope I’d strung earlier along the path, knowing it would be invisible in the dusk. Then I stuck around to make sure he was trapped under his vehicle and wasn’t going to make it out of there before I pocketed the rope and headed back to the ranch, so I’d be there when his body was found.”
“You left my father all alone in the hills to freeze to death?” The pain in her heart was so deep, so all-consuming, she could hardly speak. “Why? We took you in and treated you like family. Why would you kill the people who had opened their hearts and their home to you?”
“Why?” His voice took on a whine, like a petulant child. “I’ll tell you why. Now that I was free of that hateful mental prison, I vowed to live the life I wanted. And what I wanted was to be like Buddy. Part of a real family. When he invited me to his ranch, I met you, and realized that you were the key to everything I’d ever wanted. You and I would marry, and I’d be part of a real family and living the dream.”
“But you never… We never…” Cheyenne paused, struggling to find the words. “My father spoke the truth. I didn’t feel that way about you.”
“You would have. Once you were alone, I figured you’d have nobody else to turn to and you’d lean on me. The night of that first fire, when Micah arrived up in the hills and said you were alone, I figured I’d ride back and turn on the charm. Instead”—his voice turned to ice—“I found you alone with a stranger.”
“And you set fire to my home?”
“He was reverting to type,” Quinn said quietly. “It’s how Abbott has always eliminated anybody who crossed him.”
Abbott actually smiled at Cheyenne. “I toyed with the idea of letting Quinn die and saving you. But at the time, I was so furious, I wanted you both dead. But when you survived, I decided that I’d take you back.”
“Take me…?” She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“What about the fire at my ranch?” Quinn asked.
“I saw the way Deke reacted when he ran into you in town. Hell, half the town saw it. Nobody would question whether or not he was guilty of setting that fire. I figured it was a good way to get back at Deke and at you, for taking Cheyenne away from me.”
“How could I take away someone who was never yours? She’s already said she didn’t want to be with you.”
Abbott turned a blinding smile on Cheyenne. “Oh, I knew you’d come around. I just needed time alone with you to persuade you.”
Watching him, hearing the wild sort of joy in his voice as he boasted of his prowess, left Cheyenne no doubt that he was utterly, completely mad. She wondered why she had missed the signs of it all this time. How could she have been so blind?
“You’re crazy.” She shook her head in disbelief.
“Don’t call me that.” His attitude went from wildly happy to unbridled fury in the blink of an eye.
With the knife raised threateningly, he started across the room.
Quinn’s mind raced, determined to keep him distracted. “What will you do now that the police are on to you?”
Abbott stopped dead in his tracks. “Yeah. Now that’s a problem. But I’ve always been good at solving problems. In case you haven’t noticed”—he tossed his head in a gesture of supreme pride—“I’m a genius. The shrinks said I tested off the charts. So, for now, I may have to abandon my plan of creating a family here, but there are plenty of other places where I can start over. In the meantime, you have to die.”
“Another fire?” Quinn taunted.
“Why not? We’re far enough from civilization that nobody will notice the smoke until this cabin is nothing but a pile of ashes. And the two of you with it.” He pointed to the pile of papers spilling out of his backpack and removed a container of gasoline. “There won’t be enough left of either of you to identify for months.”
“I don’t understand why you didn’t use a fire to eliminate Cheyenne’s father.”
Abbott’s eyes flashed. “Don’t think I didn’t want to. There’s something so sati
sfying about a really hot blaze. But I had to act quickly, before he told Cheyenne what we’d talked about. So I improvised.”
When he heard the drone of a plane, his head came up sharply.
“Did I forget to tell you?” It was Quinn’s turn to smile. “I contacted the state police and my family on the way here. Sounds like they’ve finally made it.”
As the sound drew nearer, Abbott raced to the window to watch as a low-flying plane appeared to be pointed directly at the cabin.
At the last moment the nose of the plane lifted and it passed directly overhead, then turned and made another low pass.
Directly behind them a helicopter, clearly marked with the state police logo, came into view over the hills.
Abbott turned from the window and saw that Quinn had used that moment of distraction to race across the room and snatch the rifle from the bed.
Before Quinn could take aim, Abbott dragged Cheyenne from the chair and held his knife to her throat.
“Okay, hero. Let’s just see what kind of gambler you are.” With a high-pitched laugh he pressed the blade to her throat, drawing a thin line of blood that trickled down the front of her shirt.
At her cry of pain his smile grew. “Now you have a choice. You can drop the weapon, knowing you’ll have to die, or watch your woman die right this minute.”
Quinn tossed the rifle aside. “Let her go, Abbott.”
“Now why would I do a stupid thing like that?” He withdrew a lighter from his pocket and dropped it onto the papers in his backpack, watching with satisfaction as the flame caught.
They could see the flames grow, the line of fire moving slowly toward the container of gas.
Abbott’s voice was jubilant. “Once it hits, there’ll be this exquisite explosion, and this entire log cabin will burn like tinder.”
He dragged Cheyenne across the room toward the door. “Sorry we have to leave your lover behind. With the law this close, I’ll need to use you as my ticket out of here. Even the law’s best marksmen won’t risk the life of an innocent woman.”
When he realized the door was locked, he lowered the knife and gave her a shove. “Unlock the door and be quick about it.”