Rodeo Dad

by Carla Cassidy

  “I’m surprised she hasn’t wound up dead,” Jesse said wryly.

  Johnny smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “I loved her.” He fell silent for a long moment, remembering all those nights of wondering if Marissa would come forward. He’d been so torn. He hadn’t wanted her hurt and so prayed she’d keep quiet. And yet when that had happened, he’d been angry.

  “It wouldn’t have made a difference if she’d come forward. The prosecution and the jury needed a conviction and nothing said or done was going to save me. I was going to prison whether she came forward or not.” Johnny realized as he said it that he’d made peace where this issue was concerned.

  Johnny could forgive Marissa for not coming forward to tell the world she’d spent that night with him. What he couldn’t forgive her for was the fact that she hadn’t come to speak with him at all. He hadn’t wanted her alibi...he’d wanted her support, her love, and she’d taken it away from him.

  He clenched his hands into fists, knowing the anger that coursed through him wasn’t just directed at Marissa, but at the whims of fate that had cast him once again in the position of suspected murderer.

  Dammit! He’d just won enough money to begin a new life, make something of himself. He’d wanted to be a good man...for Benjamin...for Marissa. He shook his head, wondering how she had gotten back into his thoughts.

  “Sheriff.” A deputy stuck his head into the doorway. “You’d better get out to the Emery place. Somebody is up on top of the barn roof threatening to jump.”

  Jesse and Johnny both sprang from their chairs. “You stay here, I’ll be back later,” Jesse directed Johnny.

  “Like hell,” Johnny replied. “Whatever is going on out at the Emery place, I’ve got a right to know. I’m going with you.”

  For a moment the two men stood face to face, determined stubbornness on each of their features. “All right, but you stay the hell out of my way,” Jesse relented.

  Brad Emery was dead. Marissa struggled to make sense of the senseless. Despite the fact that she and Johnny hadn’t been together the night before, she knew Johnny was innocent. Johnny was not a murderer.

  After Jesse left the rodeo with Johnny in the back of the patrol car, Marissa had asked her father to take Benjamin home with him.

  “What are you going to do?” Jeffrey asked, his forehead furrowed with wrinkles of worry.

  “I don’t know, but I’ve got to do something,” Marissa replied, fighting off tears. It wasn’t fair. Dammit, it wasn’t fair that Johnny was once again on the pointy end of justice.

  “Mom?” Benjamin tugged at her arm, his eyes huge and solemn. “Is Dad going to be all right?” Without warning tears spilled onto Benjy’s cheeks. “I don’t want him to go away. I don’t want him to go to prison again.”

  “Oh, honey.” Marissa bent down and gathered her son in her arms, remembering that although he tried desperately to be grown-up, he was still just a little boy. A frightened little boy. “Don’t you worry, sweetheart. Your daddy isn’t going anywhere.”

  Determination overtook Marissa’s pressing tears. She didn’t care what it took. She’d make sure Johnny had the best defense lawyer money could buy. She’d sell the store, sell her house, do whatever it took to make sure he wasn’t at the mercy of a public defender with too many cases and too little time for an innocent man.

  “Now, you go with Grandpa, and I’ll see you later this evening, okay? Be brave, Benjy. Dad would want us both to be brave.”

  Benjamin swiped his tears and straightened his back. “Tell Dad I love him,” he said, then he took his grandfather’s hand and the two of them left.

  It took Marissa only a moment to know what she wanted to do. She got into her car and headed for the Emery place.

  If what Johnny believed was true, that Brad had been an abusive monster, then it stood to reason he wasn’t just abusive to Sydney, but to the other Emery females as well. She had to talk to Rachel. Perhaps the older woman could offer some clue as to who would kill her stepson. Surely Rachel knew what was going on in Brad’s life, surely she would know if anyone else had hated him enough to kill him.

  Marissa knew she might be making things worse for Johnny by speaking to the elder Emery, but she had to take that chance. She knew things looked bad for Johnny. Lots of people had heard Johnny threaten Brad the day before, it would be easy to convince those people that Johnny had followed through on those threats.

  When she pulled into the driveway of the Emery ranch, she nearly changed her mind. Several patrol cars were there, and in the distance, the barn was cordoned off with yellow crime tape.

  She drove only a couple of feet toward the house when a deputy stopped her. “Hey, Marissa. What are you doing out here?” Deputy Alex Baxter crouched down by her car window, a sweet smile curving his lips.

  Marissa breathed a silent prayer of thanks. Alex Baxter had always bad a crush on Marissa. Although she didn’t like it, if necessary she would use that crush to her advantage. “Alex, I need to speak to Rachel.”

  “Ah, Marissa, I can’t let you do that.” He looked chagrined, as if there was nothing he’d rather do than tell her she couldn’t get what she wanted. “You know we’re conducting a murder investigation out here.”

  “Is Rachel being questioned?”

  Alex shook his head. “We did that already. She and Gillian are in seclusion. They told us they don’t want to talk to anyone.”

  Marissa shut off her car engine and stepped out. “But Rachel wants to talk to me. She called me just a little while ago.” Marissa hoped the lie didn’t show in her eyes. “You know, Rachel and I have grown close over the last couple of years. She needs me now, Alex.”

  She stepped close to him, invading his personal space. A light red flush covered his face. “I promise I won’t get in the way of your investigation,” she said.

  He hesitated, looked at the house, then back to her. “Okay. Go on. But you know Jesse will have my hide if you do anything to hinder the investigation.”

  Marissa nodded, then took off running toward the house before he changed his mind. She had no real idea what she intended to say to Rachel and knew only that she had to try to convince the woman that Johnny hadn’t killed Sydney or Brad. Somehow she had to get Rachel on Johnny’s side. Surely a jury would listen to the mother of a victim proclaiming the innocence of the defendant. Marissa prayed it wouldn’t get that far, that somehow, someway Johnny would be set free long before a trial.

  She rang the doorbell, waiting impatiently for an answer. She was afraid one of the other law enforcement officers would see her and send her away. Thankfully, the door was opened immediately by the taciturn housekeeper.

  “I need to speak to Rachel,” Marissa said.

  “Mrs. Emery is not receiving guests.”

  “I’m not a guest,” Marissa exclaimed and pushed past the old woman.

  “It’s all right,” Rachel said to the indignant housekeeper. “Marissa.” She invited Marissa to follow her. They went into the same room where they had sat before, on the day Rachel and Brad tried to blackmail Marissa into forcing Johnny to leave town.

  Rachel gestured to a chair, but Marissa ignored her, preferring to stand. The first thing Marissa noticed was that for a stepmother who’d just learned her stepson had been murdered, Rachel was coolly controlled, without a trace of sorrow or grief.

  “I assume this isn’t a social visit,” Rachel said. “What can I do for you, Marissa?”

  “You can tell me the truth.”

  Rachel flinched in surprise at the harshness of Marissa’s tone. “The truth about what?” she asked, her hand reaching up to linger nervously at her turtlenecked blouse.

  “The truth about Brad and his abuse.”

  Rachel flushed and averted her eyes from Marissa. “I...I don’t know what you’re talking about. Brad is dead, and there’s no point in discussing him.”

  Marissa balled her fists at her sides, fighting the impulse to take the older woman by the shoulders and shake her.
“Rachel, they’ve taken Johnny into custody for Brad’s murder. If you know anything...anything at all that might prove Johnny’s innocence, I beg of you, please go to Jesse.”

  Rachel sank down in one of the chairs and rubbed a hand across her forehead. “I don’t know who killed Bradley, but I wish it would have been me.” She looked up at Marissa. “I see I’ve shocked you.” She shook her head. “Bradley was a mean, sadistic child who grew into a meaner, sadistic man. He took pleasure in physically hurting us.”

  “You? Sydney? Gillian?” Marissa sank down on her knees by the side of Rachel’s chair. “Rachel, Johnny already spent ten years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit. Please don’t let it happen again...please.”

  Both women turned at the sound of footsteps in the hallway. “Gillian?” Rachel called. The front door whooshed open, then slammed shut.

  Rachel turned back to Marissa, her eyes ancient with suffering “Please...I can’t help you Just go away. I want everyone to go away and leave us alone ” She buried her face in her hands

  Marissa stared at her in a combination of frustration and pity. She didn’t know if Rachel knew anything that might help Johnny, but it was obvious Rachel’s life with Brad had been hell, and even his death seemed to bring her no peace.

  “Mrs. Emery.” Alma, the housekeeper flew into the room, her normally rigid features twisted to radiate fear. “You’ve got to come. Gillian is on top of the barn, and she says she’s going to jump.”

  “Oh, God. Dear God.” Rachel jumped out of the chair and raced for the door, Marissa barely a step behind her.

  Rachel ran like a woman half her age, covering the distance between the house and the barn in a mere couple of seconds. On the ground in front of the barn, half a dozen officers stood, looking up to the peak of the roof, where Gillian sat precariously close to the edge.

  “Gillian,” the tortured cry ripped from Rachel’s throat.

  “Stay back, keep away,” Gillian cried. “Stay away or I’ll jump.”

  “Calm down, honey. Come on down,” Alex yelled. “Come down, and we’ll get you some help.”

  “I don’t want help. I just want to die!” Gillian screeched. She scooted closer to the edge. Rachel released a scream of terror and Marissa’s heart seemed to stop beating.

  “Do something,” Rachel said to Alex “For God’s sake do something to get her down.”

  “Jesse is on his way, Mrs. Emery. Nobody is going to do anything until he gets here,” Alex explained. “Every time we try to get close, she threatens to jump. Twice we’ve tried to put up a ladder, but she goes crazy. I’m not sure she won’t jump if we don’t stay back.”

  Rachel broke, sobs wrenching through her. Marissa placed an arm around her shoulders, wondering what was going on, why Gillian was threatening to kill herself.

  “She’s all I’ve got left,” Rachel sobbed She shrugged off Marissa’s arm and stared up at her daughter. “Somebody has to help her. I can’t lose her, too.”

  At that moment Jesse’s patrol car pulled in and squealed to a halt. Before the engine had completely died down, both Jesse and Johnny were out of the vehicle.

  Marissa instantly ran to Johnny, grateful to see that he looked no worse for his time in Jesse’s custody. “You all right?” he asked her tersely, then gazed up at Gillian.

  “I’m fine.” Marissa followed his gaze. “We don’t know why she’s up there, but she won’t let anyone near her,” she explained.

  “Gillian, it’s all right, you can come down,” Jesse shouted up to the young woman. “Don’t worry, honey. We’ll get the person who killed Brad.”

  Gillian laughed, the laughter dancing on the edge of hysterical. “I know who killed Brad. I did. I killed him.”

  Marissa gasped and Rachel moaned as Gillian continued, “And I don’t want to go to prison, but I can’t let Johnny go back to prison, either.”

  “Why did you kill him, Gillian?” Jesse asked, his voice gentle.

  “He killed Sydney.”

  A wave of relief rushed through Marissa at Gillian’s words. She looked at Johnny, saw the utter release of torture on his face. Finally... vindication.

  “How do you know he killed Sydney?” Jesse asked.

  Marissa quickly realized what the sheriff was doing. While he was asking questions of Gillian, several officers were silently getting a ladder up against the side of the barn.

  “He told me he killed her. He laughed about it. He said that’s what happened to little girls who didn’t mind their brothers. He killed her because she was going to tell on him. She was going to tell how he beat us, and tormented us.” Gillian, realizing what the officers were doing, screamed a protest. “Get away! I swear I’ll kill myself.”

  Jesse motioned the officers away, then sighed in frustration. “I don’t know what to do...I don’t know how to get her down.”

  “Let me try,” Johnny said.

  Jesse shrugged his consent.

  Johnny looked up at the young woman clinging precariously to the edge of the roof. “Gillian, did you know I was friends with your sister?”

  “Yes, I found her diary.”

  “Is that what you were looking for that night I caught you in the shed?”

  “Yes. I knew she’d kept one. I was the only one who knew about it, but I never found it after her death. Then, I forgot about it.” She began to cry again. “And then you came back to town, and I remembered it, and I knew she used to keep it in the shed. It was buried and I found it.”

  “Gillian, I’m coming up.” Johnny didn’t give her a chance to protest. He knew instinctively that he was probably the only one who could get Gillian to come down.

  “Johnny.” Marissa grabbed his arm, her eyes shimmering with tears. “Please be careful.”

  He touched her cheek reassuringly, then went inside the barn. It took him only a moment to realize how Gillian had gotten onto the roof. A window from the loft led out to the roof. Johnny climbed through the window and stepped out on the pitched roof. His heart jumped into his throat as his feet slid down several yards. He crouched, using his hands as leverage to crawl up to where Gillian clung to a vent.

  “Don’t come too close,” Gillian warned.

  “Okay, I’ll stay right here.” Johnny hooked an arm over a section of a brass weather vane. For a long moment neither of them spoke.

  “You must hate us,” Gillian finally said. “You went to prison all that time, and Brad should have been the one behind bars.”

  “That’s over and done with now,” Johnny said. “And nothing can change what’s happened in the past. But, I’ll tell you this, Sydney wouldn’t want it to end this way...with you up here. She loved you, Gillian. She talked about you all the time.”

  A sob caught in Gillian’s throat. “I hated her. I hated her for dying and leaving me alone. And now I’m either going to go to prison or I’ll join Sydney...and I can’t go to prison.”

  Johnny’s heart ached. How much she looked like Sydney and how he wished he’d been able to help Sydney. How he wished he’d have known what was going on in her life.

  “Sydney loved you, Johnny,” Gillian continued. “You were the big brother she wished she had. She was going to tell you about Brad the night he killed her. She knew you’d help her.”

  Johnny closed his eyes, his soul weeping for the girl who had died, the girl he’d loved like a sister. He opened his eyes and looked at Gillian. “Gillian, you aren’t alone anymore. Everyone in town knows how abusive Brad has been. There’s a strong possibility you won’t have to go to prison.” Johnny was rewarded by an ebbing of her cries. Encouraged, he continued. “We’ll all testify on your behalf, Gillian. You can plead self-defense. Come to me. Give me your hand.” Johnny held his hand out toward her. “Please, Gillian. I couldn’t save Sydney. Please let me help you.”

  With another sob, Gillian reached out and grabbed his hand. Using all his strength, Johnny pulled her toward him, grabbed her around the waist, then half dragged, half carried her back throug
h the window and to the loft.

  They were met there by Jesse and his men. “Go easy,” Johnny said as Jesse reached for.Gillian. Jesse nodded.

  Stumbling outside, Johnny was met by Marissa, who flew into his arms and nearly knocked him over. He held her close for a long moment, vaguely aware of Rachel and Gillian being placed in the back of Jesse’s car.

  “It’s over,” he said, as much to himself as to Marissa.

  She looked up at him, her brown eyes shining with joy. “Yes...finally it’s over.”

  “And I seem to be stuck without a ride home.”

  “I’d be glad to give a handsome cowboy a ride,” she replied.

  Johnny nodded and moved out of her embrace. He felt as if he’d just ridden a killer bull. Exhaustion weighed heavily, his muscles ached and his emotions were far too close to the surface for comfort. He felt dirty, weak...as if in exposing the ugly secrets of Brad and his family, he’d also opened a wound and exposed his own negative emotions.

  Marissa seemed unaware of his somber mood. As she drove him to his place, she rattled on about the prize money, his new start, the clearing of his name and how wonderful it all was.

  “Johnny, are you all right?” she finally asked as she pulled up in front of his house.

  “Fine. Just tired. It’s been a long day.” He got out of her car, somehow unsurprised when she did the same. He’d just faced one reckoning and he knew instinctively he was about to face another.

  He sank down on the front stoop and motioned for her to join him, a weary resignation stealing over him. She sat next to him, as always smelling of the floral perfume that had always stirred, not only his body, but also his heart.

  “You told me not too long ago that you could never forgive me for abandoning you when you needed me most,” she began. A nervous tick appeared at the corner of her mouth, and he wanted to cover that mouth with his own, kiss her until the tick stopped and she moaned pleasure instead.

  “That’s right,” he said, knowing he couldn’t follow through on his impulse. He had to stop thinking of making love to her, had to stop imagining her kisses, her touch. It wasn’t fair to her...to want her and not love her.