Midnight Prey

by Caroline Burnes

  It wasn’t difficult to see the importance of the story to Kathy Lemon, but Shadoe was having a hard time seeing any fault in Hank’s behavior. “Go on,” she said.

  “I did everything Hank asked, and I had live cameras and everything ready to roll at the time and location Hank gave me. Except he had given me bad information. After convincing me to hold the story, he betrayed my trust by sending me out to the wrong place. I looked like an idiot. The news producer was so furious that all of the cameras had gone out on my story and there wasn’t a single camera to cover the drug arrest of the mayor of the city that as soon as I walked in the door, he fired me. And then he blacklisted me with all the other stations. I couldn’t get a job cleaning toilets in a news station. I was finished in the business.”

  Shadoe waited, but Kathy Lemon didn’t continue. Finally Shadoe asked, “My friend said something about physical assault?”

  “Rape is what I’d call it. Or attempted rape.”

  “That’s a harsh accusation.”

  “Hey, in case you haven’t run across Hank lately, let me warn you, he’s a pretty harsh guy.”

  “Did he try to.attack you?” Shadoe couldn’t bring herself to use the word rape. Not in connection with Hank. They had driven each other mad with desire, and he’d never, never pushed the issue when she’d said no. They’d both given their words to her father, and Hank was the kind of man who kept his promise. Or at least he used to be.

  For what seemed an eternity, Kathy Lemon did not answer. “He hit me and tried to attack me. I got away.”

  Shadoe expelled a sigh. She had no words for Kathy’s charge.

  “He wasn’t successful, but what he did was worse than rape.” Kathy Lemon sounded angry. “He called me to meet him in a darkened warehouse. He said he had information for another story to give me, to make up for what he’d done before.”

  Panic was building in the other woman’s voice. Shadoe’s heart was beating faster as she listened.

  “I got there and the place was completely black. It was a bad part of town. I knew that, and because I’d been fired, I didn’t have a backup camera crew. I was going to do this myself with some equipment I borrowed, just to prove I was a good reporter. Anyway, there wasn’t a story. There was only Hank, and that’s when he told me what he could do to me if he wanted, and what he intended to do to you when he got the chance. He knocked me to the floor and fell on me like an animal. A watchman came in the building and I got away.”

  Before Shadoe could say a word, the woman burst into tears. “I’ve warned you. That’s all I meant to do. Please just leave me alone now.” She slammed the telephone down.

  Shadoe was left holding a buzzing receiver. Her heart felt as if it had been stepped on.

  “Well?” Jill held out a cup of coffee to her.

  “Did Billy say what she’d said to him?” Shadoe took the coffee and sipped, the bitter brew too strong but exactly what she needed.

  “She didn’t really talk to him. Just to me. And she obviously told you a lot more than she told me.” Curiosity was eating Jill alive.

  “I need to talk to Billy.”

  Shadoe stood up and the light from the kitchen window slanted across her chest. For the first time Jill noticed the dark stains on the yoke of her friend’s shirt. “What happened? That looks like blood.”

  “It is.” Shadoe frowned. “I ran into Hank up by Silver Flash. We had an argument.”

  “Hank didn’t hurt you.” It was both a statement and a question.

  “No.” Shadoe shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  “You’re not making a lot of sense.”

  “I know.” Shadoe held up her hands. “I can’t believe Hank had anything to do with what happened.”

  “What did happen?”

  “Someone had strung a wire. Scrapiron was galloping when I hit it. Lucky for me, I had stood to look at something we were chasing in the woods. The wire caught me across the chest instead of the neck.” She fell silent at the horrified expression on her friend’s face.

  “You could have been killed. That wire could have broken your neck, or severed an artery, or-”

  “I was lucky.” Shadoe trembled as a chill touched her. Her father would have said that her spirit had been touched by someone who had crossed over to the clouds. A warning.

  “You don’t really think Hank did that, do you?”

  “No.” She looked at Jill and saw the fear. “In my heart, I don’t believe it. In my mind, I intend to take nothing for granted.”

  “Let’s drive into town and see Billy.”

  “What about the cattle?”

  “Curly’s over at the ranch. I’ll give him a call and ask him to run over here.” Jill was already pulling her keys from her pocket.

  “I’d better feed first.” Shadoe wanted desperately to talk over the events with Billy, but Curly had been more than generous to help her while she was at the competition. He was Jill’s employee, and he was paid for his help, but it was added time and added chores, and it wasn’t right to simply expect him to pick up the slack.

  “I know what you’re thinking.” Jill had her purse in one hand and the clutch of keys in the other. “Curly’s wife just had another baby. That’s four. He’s delighted for the extra cash, and you always pay him fairly.”

  “Call him and ask.”

  Jill dialed the phone with her keys jangling while Shadoe changed her blouse. In less than a minute they had Curly’s consent and were on the way to Athens.

  THE BATTERED STETSON was tipped to the back of Billy’s head by the time Shadoe finished telling him about the telephone call. She left out the charge of rape. If Hank had been found guilty of rape, he’d be in jail. She couldn’t say such a thing without more proof. Jill was sitting on the edge of her chair watching them like a hawk.

  “What are you going to do?” she finally asked when neither Billy nor Shadoe made a suggestion.

  “Do my job.” Billy sat up and straightened his hat.

  “That’s not very helpful,” Jill complained. “You always do your job. What are you going to do about Hank?”

  “I never did get to see those wolves. I guess I’m going to take a drive up to Stag’s Horn and see for myself what all this trouble is about.”

  He stood up and motioned to the door.

  “You want us to leave?” Jill didn’t believe it. “Just like that, you’re showing us the door.”

  “I always knew you were a smart girl.”

  “Billy!” Jill was exasperated. She turned on Shadoe. “And you’re just as bad. You act like now that you’ve told him, that’s all there is to it.”

  “Let’s head on home.” Shadoe couldn’t meet Billy’s eyes as she stepped through the door and out into the street. It was a beautiful day, and shoppers were moving up and down Main Street in the small town. This was the place she’d grown up. She knew eighty percent of the people she saw, yet she felt as if she’d stepped into a stranger’s shoes. On the drive to Athens, and as she’d watched Billy’s expression as she told her story, she felt worse and worse. It was one thing to suspect Hank and quite another to vocalize those doubts to a man who had known and admired Hank all of his life. By telling Billy, she had hurt him, Hank and herself.

  Without saying a word, she got in the truck with Jill and waited for her friend to start the engine.

  “How about we go over to Hoss’s and get a barbecue?” Jill was suddenly contrite. She could see the turn of events had upset Shadoe considerably.

  “Sure.” Shadoe hadn’t eaten since breakfast. She wasn’t hungry, but it was something to do and it would keep Jill from telling her how much she needed to eat.

  Several folks on the street waved and smiled, and Shadoe automatically returned the gestures, but her heart and mind were elsewhere. Jill threw her long looks, but refrained from asking a single question. A fact that Shadoe knew was out of character with her friend.

  Hoss’s barbecue and burger joint was called The Pit. It was the place f
or teens to meet after school, where they climbed in and out of one another’s vehicles and did their best to confuse the waitresses who came to the cars and trucks to take and deliver the short orders.

  Both Shadoe and Jill had spent their high school years stopping by The Pit for an after-school snack, or ending up there late on Saturday night for a final milkshake or cola. While the young folks claimed it in the afternoons and on date nights, it belonged to the families and adults of Lakota County the rest of the time. Hoss Kemper made good barbecue.

  “Sandwich and lemonade.” Shadoe pulled some money from her pocket but Jill shook her head.

  “This is my treat.” She gave the order to a cute teen and sat back, staring into the weathered wood of The Pit. In a moment the back door opened and a big man walked toward them.

  He went to the passenger side and reached in to give Shadoe’s shoulder a squeeze. “You were wonderful on television last night. You blasted that fed right out of the water. Are we still set to meet at six?”

  Shadoe raised her eyebrows. “I’d completely forgotten.”

  Hoss grinned. “We can’t have our spokesperson going senile on us. No telling what you might say when you get in front of the cameras.”

  “Maybe we should find a more reliable speaker.” Shadoe didn’t mind the teasing, but at the moment her heart wasn’t in the fight.

  Hoss leaned down and looked at her. He was twenty years older than her and not one of her father’s closest friends, but well-known to the Deerman family. His spread of four hundred acres was to the west of the Double S, and between his cattle and his restaurant, he hadn’t been a regular in community activities, but he always catered official town functions.

  “Hey, Shadoe, we’re counting on you. Is something wrong?”

  Jill leaned over so she could talk. “Shadoe had an accident today. Someone rigged up a clothesline across a trail on her property and she hit it.”

  “You’re lucky you weren’t killed.” His gaze studied her closely. “Are you sure you’re okay? We can postpone the meeting until tomorrow.”

  “I’m not hurt.” Not physically. She tried for a smile.

  “Hey, I’ve got a thought. Why don’t you check over at the hardware store and see who’s been buying clothesline wire? I mean they could have gotten it anywhere, but it might be interesting to know who’s been buying the stuff around here.”

  Jill slapped the steering wheel. “That’s a great idea, Hoss. What about it, Shadoe?”

  “Sure.” She nodded because her voice held no enthusiasm. “Sure, that’s a good idea.”

  .”And by the way, I was planning on serving barbecue at the meeting tonight, so don’t stuff yourself here. Wait ‘til it’s free.” He patted Shadoe’s arm. “Better get back to the kitchen. No telling what those clowns will put in the sauce if I don’t watch them. Everyone thinks they have the better recipe, even the busboys.” He laughed as he turned back to the restaurant.

  The waitress brought the food and Jill paid her. Before Shadoe could settle the sack on the truck seat, Jill had the motor running.

  “We’re headed to Kyle’s Hardware.” She didn’t give Shadoe a chance to back out.

  Main Street in Athens was only a mile long, and the hardware store was on a cross street at the other end of town. Within three minutes they were parked and on their way inside.

  “Let me do the asking,” Jill said. “The way you’re acting, folks will know it’s serious and Kyle might clam up.”

  Shadoe couldn’t help but smile. Kyle Rolofson loved to talk and he had a memory like an elephant about who bought what and what they were building or repairing. But if he thought he was revealing any personal business of his customers, he clamped his mouth shut.

  “Hey, Kyle,” Jill called as she kept walking to the counter at the back of the store. “You got any clothesline wire? I think with the good spring weather I’m going to put my sheets out on the line. Get the sun-kissed smell in them.” She grinned at the young man.

  Kyle Rolofson shook his dark head. “Funny you should ask about clothesline wire. Those federal agents bought every bit I had. About six hundred feet. I thought to myself they were going to be doing an awful lot of laundry up on that mountain for a bunch of men camping out in the woods.”

  Chapter Nine

  “Hello, darlin’,” John Carpenter moved to Shadoe’s side with a smile as sexy as a kiss. It took him only a few seconds to figure out that something was wrong. “Are the horses okay? Did that mare foal?”

  John’s immediate concern eased the anxiety that had been building in Shadoe all day. “Cricket’s fine, and the baby too. A very nice little stud colt. Another potential Luster.”

  “Then what’s troubling you?” John brushed her hair back from her cheek and forced her to look at him. “I see worry in those dark eyes and I’d rather see dancing.”

  No matter how she tried, Shadoe couldn’t resist John’s good nature. She couldn’t stay mad at him, or aggravated when he didn’t follow through on things he’d promised. If she’d been in love with him, he would have kept her tied in knots. But she wasn’t, and he was a terrific friend. One she cherished.

  “I’m okay. I—”

  “Someone rigged up a clothesline wire at Silver Flash Creek and she nearly killed herself.” Jill interjected the pertinent facts before Shadoe could answer. When she saw her friend turn to her with a frown, Jill held up a hand. “You wouldn’t have told, and the other ranchers need to know. With six hundred feet of wire, someone could have booby-trapped other areas. We need to be on guard.”

  Jill was right, but her conclusion was an assumption, and one Shadoe didn’t want vocalized until Billy had investigated. She looked around Hoss’s spacious home and noted that the sheriff was nowhere around. “I’m fine,” she reassured John. “I took a lucky fall. A few bruises and some wounded pride. Is Billy here?”

  “Not yet. He called in and said he’d be late.” John’s brow was still furrowed. “He sounded like he had a bee in his bonnet, too.” He looked down at Shadoe. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

  Before Jill could spill the beans, Shadoe shook her head. “Nothing I know for a fact, John. Believe me, when I do know the truth, I’ll tell everyone here.”

  “I’m not ready to let this go, but I got some information that the federal boys have hired a big-name environmentalist to give a news conference today. It should be on the six o’clock news.” John signaled to Hoss, who turned on the set. The cluster of eight ranchers found seats and settled down to watch.

  The lead story was the environmental expert, who made a case for restoring the natural balance of the ecosystem via the wolves. Instead of cattle and horses and sheep, James Bradley pointed out that wolves would thin the herds of deer and other wild creatures, which were their natural prey, rather than livestock.

  At first Shadoe listened to the words, but then she found herself watching the clips of the wolves. Some of the footage had been taken in Canada when they were wild and free, and she reacted to the images with a pleasure that almost frightened her. They were magnificent animals, especially the large male that seemed to be the pack leader. His golden gaze stared directly into the camera and seemed to fix on Shadoe.

  The talk around Shadoe disappeared. The voice-over of the television narrator faded. Shadoe stared into the eyes of the wolf. She felt her skin prickle, and a surge of fear made her stomach knot. This was the wolf from her dream. He was no ordinary wolf, but a creature with human cunning. His gaze held her, paralyzed, before he lifted his nose to the cold Canadian air and howled a challenge.

  “Look, there’s Hank.” Jill nudged Shadoe in the ribs and broke the spell as the film footage changed to Hank, deep in the snow, as he and several other men ran to retrieve the wolf they’d darted with sedatives.

  The clip ended abruptly and returned to the television news desk then shifted to a more current interview with Hank.

  “There’s enough wilderness for all of us, if we protect it
.” Hank spoke calmly. “The wolves are no serious danger to anyone. Not ranchers, campers or tourists. Precautions must be taken, but if we all use care and common sense, the wolves will roam the wilderness.” Hank took a breath. “I have a great personal stake in this project. As a native of Montana, I feel this is the right thing to do. Those who oppose it do so for selfish reasons. We have to look to the future, to what is right, not what is convenient.” He started to say something else, then reconsidered. “Thank you.” He nodded to the reporter, who hadn’t been able to get a single question in, and got up. He unhooked the mike and left.

  “That was Hank Emrich, U.S. Wildlife Service agent in charge of the release.” The anchorman recovered quickly and moved on to the next story.

  “Well, well, old Hank should have been a preacher.” Hoss smiled as he passed platters of barbecue sandwiches, but his face was too red, as if he’d been hovering over the hickory fire.

  His remark was met with nervous laughter. Shadoe looked at the faces around her and recognized the expression. They felt they had been betrayed. It was the same look she’d seen earlier that day on Hank’s face. The idea of it, on top of the strange feelings she’d gotten from the wolf, made her stomach clench tight. There was no way she could force a mouthful of food down, no matter what anyone said.

  “He as much as said we were willing to sacrifice the wilderness for our own greed and personal gain,” Red Jeffreys said. His sense of betrayal had turned to anger. “I just can’t believe Hank would do a thing like that. We went to high school together, and he knows the problems ranchers face.”

  The argument was picked up and batted around the room. Shadoe held her plate and tried to force the image of the wolf from her eyes. It seemed to have been etched against the backs of her eyelids, the golden gaze haunting her, holding her. Waiting to kill her.

  A light tap came at the door, and it opened to reveal Billy Casper. He stood in the threshold, his hand on the knob.