by D'Ann Lindun
“A little,” she admitted.
“Stay. I’ll fix something to eat and get Shell to look at your hand.”
“Just for the night.” She sounded like she’d been sentenced to hard labor in Yuma. “But after that I’m leaving.”
Come to the kitchen,” he coaxed.
She nodded. “Okay.”
He’d won. He had about an hour to begin to redeem himself.
~*~
Mallory sat at the counter and watched him warily.
True to his word, he called Shelby from the kitchen phone and asked her to come up to the lodge. Then he began to rummage through the stainless steel fridge for something to eat. “What sounds good?”
She shrugged. “I don’t care. My stomach is still rolling after seeing that poor man like that.”
“Yeah, it was pretty nasty.” He looked over his shoulder at her. “Dianna didn’t do that. I don’t care what the sheriff thinks. She isn’t capable of doing something that horrific.”
Mallory cradled her sore hand and she kept her eyes on it. “People do crazy things.”
“But not murder.” He took a skillet from the cupboard. “Not that.”
Shelby walked in. “Not what?”
Mike waved the pan. “I was just telling Mallory that Dianna isn’t capable of murder. No one here is.”
“Murder?” Shelby’s big blue eyes got larger. “What are you talking about?”
“Mike found a dead body in the desert. The sheriff seems to think Dianna might have had something to do with it.” Mallory spoke in a very controlled tone.
“A body?” Shelby almost shrieked. “Where? And what’s Dianna’s connection to it?”
“Somebody bashed this guy, Wendell Wallace, over the head and buried him in a shallow grave in the gully bellow the petroglyphs,” Mike told her. “And Dianna didn’t have anything to do with it. Period.”
“Why would she even be a suspect?” Shelby asked.
“Because she knows my father left me half a treasure map,” Mallory told her. “The sheriff thinks someone, Dianna, may have possibly killed him for it.”
“Dianna wouldn’t hurt anyone.” Shelby shook her head. “I don’t understand. What did this Wendell have to do with Skeeter?”
“He was a treasure hunter, too. The sheriff thinks Wendell might have had a copy of the same map Skeeter did,” Mallory said. “And that someone hit him over the head and took it.”
“It’s a stretch at best,” Mike said. He slammed his pan down on the stove. “As if we don’t have enough problems already, now one of us is under suspicion of murder.”
“This is terrible,” Shelby said. “Not only for the dead guy, but for us, too.”
“I have no idea what happened to him, but this will really give the SRPL people ammunition.” His tone was flat. For the first time, defeat filled him. He’d fought the good fight, and he thought they had a chance to win. If they could fund it, anyway. But now with this, he didn’t think there was a snowball’s chance in Phoenix of a judge listening to him. If people were dying out here, it was just another reason to close off the desert to public use.
“Yeah,” Shelby said. “It stinks. But we have to stay strong.” She looked at Mallory, abruptly changing the subject. “What happened to your fingers? More cactus?”
“Zorro bucked her off and they’re jammed,” Mike said. “Can you tape them for her?”
“What?” Shelby’s mouth fell open. “That sweet little horse bucked? He’s bombproof.”
“Not when someone deliberately sticks a burr under his saddle.” Mike took eggs and cheese from the fridge. He cracked the eggs, poured them in a bowl and stirred in salt and pepper. “There’s going to be hell to pay when I find out who did it.”
Shelby came to her feet. “Nobody here would kill anyone or try to get someone hurt. Especially Mallory. She’s just an innocent bystander in the whole river mess.”
“I agree.” Mike poured the eggs in the skillet and added cheese. Sticking a half dozen pieces of bread in the toaster, he glanced at Mallory. “But someone did try to get her at least bucked off. And that’s not all. Earlier, someone snuck in her room.”
Looking at Mallory, Shelby said, “That’s why you were asking me if I’d seen anyone earlier and you were upset.”
“Yes,” Mallory said. “Someone snuck into my room while I was in the shower. I heard them, but only caught a glimpse. I didn’t have on my glasses so I didn’t get a good look.”
“Did they take anything?” Shelby looked as if she didn’t believe any of it.
“No.”
“This is crazy,” Shelby said. “I can’t believe it.”
“Believe it.” Mike turned the omelet. “Hand me a plate, Shell.”
She did as asked. “Eat first, Mallory. Then I’ll tape up your fingers for you.”
“Thank you.”
Mike placed the steaming omelet and toast in front of her. “Milk or tea?”
“Tea.”
Shelby raised her eyebrows a bit at Mallory’s tone, but he didn’t take offense. She could talk to him a lot worse. He deserved it. He retrieved a tea bag from the cupboard and made her a cup of raspberry-orange herbal tea. He cracked more eggs. “You hungry, Shell?”
“Yeah, looks good.”
“Where’s Alan?” Mike poured the eggs into the sizzling skillet. “Do you think he wants to come up, too?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. He said he was going to take care of something, but he didn’t tell me what.”
“Dianna went to pick up Brent. When they get back let’s put our heads together and see if we can figure out what happened to Wendell Wallace.” Mike looked at Mallory. “And Mallory, too.”
“Brent left. He shouldn’t have. He wasn’t—” She frowned.
“Feeling well?” Mike supplied. “He didn’t look good this morning.”
“No.” Shelby picked up her fork when he set her meal in front of her. Clearly, she didn’t want to discuss Brent’s health in front of Mallory, so he dropped it.
He made himself an omelet and the three of them sat in silence as they ate. No one had much to say. His own thoughts felt like Mexican jumping beans. He couldn’t concentrate on anything. He kept jumping between Wendell Wallace, Dianna, and Mallory. All of them needed his attention and he couldn’t decide which one was most important. His head said Dianna, but Mallory tugged at his heart.
She looked so sad, so lost that he wanted to wrap his arms around her. She’d come here to bury her father and she’d had one nasty encounter after another. If he fed her and she woke up refreshed in the morning, maybe things would look brighter. He hoped so.
“Can I get you anything else?”
“No. Thank you.”
She was so angry with him. He looked at Shelby. “Do you have something stronger than Tylenol? Her fingers really have to be hurting.”
“Yeah. There’s some other medicine in my first-aid kit down at the house. I’ll get it.” She stood up. “I’ll go now. Mallory, if you want to go into the library, I’ll meet you there in a minute.”
She nodded.
Throwing him a puzzled look, Shelby left.
Without speaking to him, Mallory followed her lead and left him alone in the kitchen.
~*~
Mallory sat in the library, alone.
She’d left Mike with cleanup in the kitchen. He could just stay there and do the dishes and think that maybe he ought to treat a guest a little better. She was too tired to move or she’d leave tonight. Mike might think Dianna incapable of murder, but Mallory wasn’t as sure. Ordinary people could do crazy things if they were pushed too far. From what she’d seen of Dianna so far, Mallory knew she had a jealous streak. Maybe she had other issues, too. Like an uncontrollable temper.
Mallory didn’t care. All she wanted was to get away. She closed her eyes for a minute. As soon as Shelby taped her fingers, she was off to bed. Even if the whole herd of horses galloped off into the desert, she wasn’t going to look. S
he would cover her head with her blankets and pretend she didn’t hear a thing. She set her glasses aside, leaned over, and laid her head on the armrest.
Two people walked to the door and stopped.
“She’s asleep,” Shelby said.
“Good,” Alan replied. “Best if she goes to bed and doesn’t stick her nose into anything else. The less she knows, the better.”
“She doesn’t know anything. I started to say something earlier, but I caught myself in time,” Shelby said.
Mallory’s heart raced and it was all she could do to keep feigning sleep. What did they mean ‘it was better if she didn’t know’? Know what? Mind racing, she tried to remember what they had talked about in the kitchen. Wendell Wallace. The SRPL. Nothing jumped out at her. Did one of them know who had been in her room earlier? Shelby had acted completely clueless and Alan hadn’t been around. Where had he been all day?
Mike joined them. “You’re here. Good.”
Before they could tell him she was asleep, he walked in. “Oh, she’s sleeping.”
Pretending to wake, she sat up and rubbed her eyes. She reached for her glasses. “I guess I drifted off.”
Alan gave her a probing look, and she tried her best to look innocent. A shiver skittered down her spine but she met his eyes evenly.
Shelby sat beside her and picked up her hand. “Let me see. Yep, you’ve got some jammed fingers here. I’ll tape them. That should help.”
Mallory winced as Shelby wrapped her middle and index fingers with gauze, then white adhesive tape. They did feel better when she was done. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure.” She gathered her scissors and tape. “I got the pain killers. Here, take one.”
Mallory took the little white pill from her, but placed it in her pocket. “I’ll take this just before bed. As tired as I am, I’ll fall asleep right here if I swallow it now. If I go to bed now I’ll be up at four in the morning, unable to go back to sleep.”
“You’re probably a little worked up.” Mike turned his attention to Alan. “I’m sure Shelby told you, but we found a body.”
Alan moved to the chair and he sat in it. “She did. Any idea on what happened? Shell said someone did the guy in?”
“Yeah,” Mike said. “He was obviously killed and buried in a shallow grave.”
“Who would do that?” Alan crossed his ankles and leaned back.
“Apparently I did.” Dianna stalked into the room, Brent behind her. “At least that’s what the sheriff suggested when he questioned me for the last hour.”
“He found you?” Mike asked.
“It wasn’t hard. I drove in and went to my cabin. The sheriff knocked and I answered the door.” She looked as if she couldn’t believe her own words.
“What did he say?” Mike took her in his arms and kissed the top of her head. “Whatever it was, we don’t believe him.”
She snuggled against him for a minute, and Mallory had to force herself from rolling her eyes.
Still in his arms, she looked up at him with an adoring expression. “I knew you wouldn’t think I killed somebody. Why would I?”
Mike pulled her close again. “You wouldn’t.”
This time she removed herself from his embrace. “Damn straight.” She looked at each of them in turn. “I did not hurt that man.”
“Hey, we believe you,” Shelby said. She frowned. “There’s not one of us here who thinks that for a second.”
Mallory held her tongue. Maybe they all thought Dianna was a nice person, but she held her own counsel on the subject.
“For the record,” Dianna continued, “I never met Wendell Wallace. I have no idea what he was doing digging around on The Cholla. And I darn sure don’t know who did him in, or why. The sheriff has some half-baked idea I know about some treasure map and I’m going around knocking people off for it. Where he’d come up with that idea, I don’t know.”
“Di, she knows.” Mike shot a glance between Dianna and Mallory.
She opened her eyes wide. “Knows what?”
“I’ll tell you.” Mallory sat forward. “I know you snuck into my room today and replaced the map you took. Mike’s tried to cover for you. But look, you’re wearing the same outfit.” She had on a light blue T-shirt and jeans. “You didn’t even change.”
Dianna looked at Mike with her big, innocent eyes that made Mallory want to claw them out. “What’s she talking about?”
“I’m talking about the night before last, when you knocked on my door and lured me into the desert. I know all about how you and Mike cooked up your little plan to get me out of my room to take the map my father left me.” Mallory stood on trembling legs. She was tired of this whole mess. It was past time the truth came out. “Don’t deny it.”
“You’re partly right,” Dianna said. “And some of what you’re saying is so far off it’s not even funny.
Mallory snorted. “Which part?”
“For starters, I didn’t lure you anywhere,” Dianna said. “I had nothing to do with you going into the desert. I went to bed after I saw you in the hallway outside Mike’s room, and I stayed there until morning.”
“Tell it to someone who believes it,” Mallory said. Mike and the others might buy this dribble, but she didn’t. Not for one second.
Mike looked as dubious as she did. “I told you I saw Mallory’s map and that I thought it might be the answer to our prayers.”
“Yeah, so?” She shrugged.
“You said you’d help me get a look.” Mike stared at his feet.
“I meant I’d find a way to ask her to see it, not that I’d steal it.” She placed her hands on her hips and glared at him. “And I didn’t mean I’d get her to chase me off into the night.”
“Then who did it, if not you?” Mike squirmed and looked up with guilt-filled eyes. “I thought—”
“Not very highly of me.” She looked at each of them in turn. “Do you think I did this?”
Brent didn’t answer. Before she could press him, Shelby spoke.
“Heck no,” she said. Tears formed in her eyes. “I knew you wouldn’t do anything so rotten.”
Alan uncrossed his legs and placed his hands on his thighs. “I know you didn’t do it. I checked the horses and none of them had even been out of the corral. I think if anyone’s making things up, it’s not you.”
Mallory gasped at his unspoken accusation. “Why would I go into the desert at night, stumble around and fall into cactus? For what purpose?”
“I don’t know. But I think you invented the whole story,” he declared. “Maybe you took a late night walk, fell down, felt stupid and thought up the whole loose horse story to cover.”
“I assure you I didn’t.” Mallory looked at each of them. Shelby studied her manicure. Dianna smirked at her. Brent focused on something on the wall behind her. Only Mike looked her in the eye.
“I’m not buying that.” He held eye contact. “If Mallory says someone knocked on her door, then someone did.”
“And someone did take the map.” Mallory wasn’t going to back down. She hadn’t imagined the horse and they weren’t going to make her think she did.
“I did,” he said. “I told you the truth about that.”
“But Dianna’s not telling the truth. I know it.” Mallory’s voice rose in desperation. “I saw her in my room today.”
“Earlier you thought it was me,” he reminded her gently. “And your glasses were knocked off out in the desert so you can’t be sure of what you saw.”
Mallory bit her lip in frustration. For a minute there she thought Mike was on her side. But he simply wasn’t going to believe her over Dianna and all his friends.
“I’m going to bed.” She stood and marched with as much dignity as she could muster out of the room. Once in her quarters she gave into the frustration and anger and chucked her pillows cross the room. She didn’t give a damn what the others thought, but the look in Mike’s eyes had nearly undone her. She thought he believed her. Apparently not.
He had more faith in his old friend than the woman he’d kissed only once.
Her hand throbbed.
Holding it, she remembered the little pill Shelby had given her. It was probably Tylenol 3, a heavy-duty pain killer, although it didn’t say so on the capsule. Shelby was a nurse, surely she wouldn’t hand over anything that was too strong. With her hand feeling like it was about to fall off, Mallory filled a glass from the tap and swallowed it along with the pill. Too tired to undress, she fell into bed. If a whole herd of horses came through here tonight she wouldn’t even care.
Chapter Fourteen
Visions of maps came and went through Mallory’s dreams. An Arizona state guide, the United States Atlas. All the roads led to The Jumping Cholla. No matter how hard she tried to go the opposite direction, the roads would twist and turn until she stood under the arch looking for Skeeter.
She woke with a start.
Her mouth felt so dry that she wondered if she’d swallowed half of Arizona. She glanced at the clock. She’d gone to bed so early it felt late, but actually, it was only a little after eleven. What woke her? The dreams.
She stumbled to the bathroom and turned on the light. She drew a drink and sipped it. Feeling a little more human, she rinsed her face and ran a comb through her tangled hair. Her fingers felt better, thanks to Shelby’s pill. Laying the brush on the sink, Mallory looked in the mirror. Dark circles rimmed her eyes. Although she needed more sleep, she was wide awake.
Walking back into the bedroom, she decided to pack. If she went ahead and put her things in her suitcase she could get out of here that much earlier. There wasn’t that much, but locating, folding, and storing would give her something to do for at least a while.
She picked up her jeans and smoothed them. Had she really only been here a few days? It seemed so much longer since Mike had called her and told her about Skeeter. She’d learned virtually nothing about the man who fathered her. She’d come here hoping to know him, and all she had were more questions and half of a map people were willing to lie and steal to get their hands on. Were they also willing to murder for it? There had to be more to it than appeared. She tossed the jeans aside.