Stripped Bare

by Shannon Baker

  “Danny,” Rope commanded.

  Danny rubbed a hand over his red-rimmed eyes. “Carly and I were going to be together. We always used to talk about when we were married and running the Bar J. But then she started to act like she thought she was better than me. She cheated on me with Ford Butcher, you know, from Lakeview.”

  Nat interrupted him; tears made her voice rough. “Don’t, Danny.”

  “But then she called me that day when she had a fight with her aunt, and we went to Denver. I knew that she’d always need me. She was as upset about Eldon selling out to Baxter as I was. So when I saw her go over to Eldon’s that night, I had this idea that if I saved the Bar J for her she’d understand how we’re meant to be together.”

  Nat moved behind me, but I stayed still, not wanting to rattle Danny.

  “So I took the gun…”

  “The one you stole from Roxy’s pickup?” I asked. It was starting to make sense.

  He shook his head and swallowed threatening tears. “No, I took the gun from Eldon’s desk, where he always keeps it. Carly was on the front porch, and I snuck in the back door and waited in Eldon’s office. I wasn’t going to shoot him. I only wanted to scare him.”

  Rope’s arms dangled at his sides.

  “But…?” I prompted Danny.

  He rubbed his eyes again. “I tried to get him to promise not to sell the ranch. But then Ted flew through the door. I don’t know what happened next. I really don’t remember. But I was holding the gun and felt the heat and heard the shot.” He broke down and buried his face in his hands, sobs wrenched from his gut. “I shot Ted.”

  If he had Eldon’s gun and shot Ted, then who shot Eldon? We stood in silence for several beats.

  Rope jerked as if poked with a Hot-Shot. “No. Oh, God, no.”

  The clack of a rifle engaging exploded in the barn. Nat’s voice slapped the back of my head, all sign of weakness gone. “Don’t move.”

  My breath caught. How could I have discounted the mama cow? The one who would face a pack of wolves to save her calf, smash the rancher into the fence rails if he didn’t pay attention. The protector, who would put a bullet through me to save her grandson.

  Danny moaned. “Nana, no.”

  I slowly dropped my hands to my sides and turned. She didn’t need any more incentive to shred my flesh with a bullet.

  I focused on the unlikely sight of Nat, in her smock apron with spring flowers, her arms upraised, with a rifle pointing straight at my heart. Her cold eyes told me she had every intention of using it. “It’s Carly that shot Eldon. Why else would she run?”

  Good question, but not my top priority now.

  “It wasn’t her, Nat.” Rope’s speech was softer than I’d ever heard him. “I understand, hon. You were only protecting Danny.”

  Nat’s tone hardened. “I let the law take my son. Mick was a good boy. He made a mistake and got into some trouble, but it wasn’t his fault. I didn’t do nothing about it when they took him off. He come out of jail and couldn’t get right. I won’t let you do that to Danny.”

  Rope soothed her but couldn’t hide the desperation painting his voice. “You’ve always taken care of our boys.”

  She jerked her gun. “Danny is a good boy. But that girl of yours, she made him crazy, teasing him along.”

  There was no ambiguity in her eyes. Only stark determination. My arms wanted to hug around my belly, but that wouldn’t stop the bullets. Come on, Kate. Do something before she pulls the trigger.

  “What he done, he done for love, and what I done was for the same. I won’t let anyone take another boy of mine to jail.”

  Rope made a tentative step toward us. I prayed that wouldn’t set her off. He spoke quietly, with more courage than I could. “I understand why you did it. Just tell me what happened.”

  Her eyes flitted from me to Rope, as if considering whether to shoot first and talk later. She braced the butt of the rifle against her shoulder and adjusted her aim.

  I couldn’t throw myself at her; the bullet would hit me before my feet left the ground. I closed my eyes but opened them quickly. It was worse waiting for death blind than to see it coming. And if I didn’t do something, it would be here soon.

  “Did…” Rope stopped, then started again. “Did you shoot Eldon?” he asked.

  Nat narrowed her eyes and sighted down the barrel. My teeth clenched and I hunched over to protect my belly. Do something. Do something.

  “Please, Nana,” Danny sobbed. He yanked on Rope’s arm. “Nana must have been down in the kitchen, bringing his supper. She came in and saw Ted on the floor and Eldon yelling about calling the cops. She had this gun and she made Eldon sit down at the desk and I thought she did it to calm him down so we could call the ambulance. But then she pointed it at him and shot him.”

  Nat’s attention shifted momentarily to Danny, but it was the break I needed. I launched myself at her, knocking her backward with an oof that came either from her lungs or from mine. Maybe both. We landed in not-so-soft hay and her head snapped on her neck. Since she was a sprite of an old woman, I figured that was all it’d take.

  But she wriggled back and grabbed the rifle from where it had been thrown. I didn’t expect any help from Rope. He wasn’t the murderer I thought, but he might be willing to let me disappear if it would save his family.

  I scrambled in the hay and pushed myself to my feet, ready to spring on Nat. She’d done some maneuvering of her own and now faced me. I tried to back up, but she stayed with me, the barrel jabbing me in the belly.

  Danny screamed for her to stop.

  Her eyes reminded me of the rabid coyote I’d shot in the chicken house a few summers back. There’d be no reasoning.

  I squeezed my eyes closed. The shell would explode in me, burning and shredding my flesh, mangling my intestines, forcing my blood to splatter on the barn door. I slammed my hands across my belly as if that could protect the baby that might be growing there.

  Danny sobbed; a cow mooed. Nat panted, and the barrel pressed into me. Life ticked away, my last seconds.

  “Nat, honey.” Soft words floated from behind her head.

  A footfall brushed hay and I opened my eyes. Rope landed a hand on Nat’s shoulder.

  Tears sprang from Nat’s eyes, but she held her gun up, total focus on me. “This is the only way.”

  “It won’t solve anything,” he said, in the gentle way you’d talk to a spooked horse.

  She started to shake. “They always win. You know Eldon deserved what he got. He treated you like a slave all these years, didn’t pay you a living wage. And then he was going to sell out and leave us with nothing, after all these years.”

  Rope leaned over her. “Ah, honey, you know he was gonna take care of us.”

  Tiny earthquakes shook her as she held her sobs in. “We gotta protect Danny. They can’t take him.”

  Rope reached out and put a hand on the barrel of the gun, lowering it to point at the ground. “It’s gonna be all right, Natty.”

  She dropped the gun and it crashed against a stall door. I jumped, afraid it would discharge. Thank goodness it didn’t, because it might have hit Danny, who sobbed on his knees in the straw.

  Rope grabbed Nat and pulled her into his embrace. She dissolved in wails of despair.

  29

  All four of Hodgekiss’s streetlamps burned, highlighting fat snowflakes dancing under the beams. The putt-putt car made a suspicious whine and an occasional grinding noise when the wheel cranked a hard right. The unnaturally narrow tires left baby tracks down the empty street. Maybe Elvis wasn’t preferred ranch transportation, but I’d vouch that Baxter’s electric car should be banned from Nebraska.

  I directed him to my parents’ house and Baxter pulled up, shutting off the engine. A Sandhiller would keep it running, but an environmentally conscious person such as Baxter would naturally do the right thing.

  “You’re sure you don’t want me to call Triple-A to tow your truck?” Baxter asked.

&n
bsp; My hand still shook as I reached for the door latch. “Thanks. But my brother Michael has a boom to pull it out.”

  Baxter rested a hand on my arm. “I have an investigator on staff. We’ll find Carly.”

  It was a big world, and Carly had a bunch of cash. Whether she was running toward trouble or away from it, she had the smarts to stay hidden. I should have known, when I noticed Birdy Bird gone, that Carly had taken off for good. “The first place to start is that bank account Eldon found.”

  Baxter’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re a natural investigator. My guy checked it today. The account vanished.”

  “Someone closed it?”

  He shook his head. “No. It’s as if it never existed.”

  “That’s not right. Banking is too regulated for something like that to happen.”

  “You’d think so. But offshore accounts are different.”

  I thought of the overturned houseplant, the chaos in my office the night Eldon died. The missing blue file. Had Carly ransacked the house? What if someone else had come looking for that file? How much danger hunted Carly?

  I climbed from Baxter’s car and let the snow dampen my curls as he drove away. He’d never make it to Broken Butte in that Coke can. His pilot and plane waited there to whisk him back to civilization, where I hoped he’d be able to repair whatever plagued his lungs. But he had resources, and I was plumb out of worry space.

  The wind had followed the sun beyond the horizon and the night felt warm, despite the snow. Not a killer, this storm would bring nice moisture to grow grass. I followed recent footsteps up the walk to the kitchen door and let myself in.

  Mom stood in the middle of the red, retro kitchen, drips from her hair adding to the puddle of water beneath her feet. She was completely naked, all of her gray hair kinked with damp.

  “Snow angels?” I asked.

  She laughed. “It’s too wet, really, but I thought it might be my last chance for the season.”

  “With any luck.” I reached for a thick robe draped over the back of a chair and handed it to her. It’s a modern miracle she’d never been caught on her nocturnal nude snow angel ventures. Or if she had, no one had turned her in.

  For the first time since I’d walked in the door, she looked directly at me. “Oh my. What happened to your face?”

  I gingerly probed my swollen and aching nose. Bless Milo that he’d scurried right out to the Bar J and had arrived in time to make all the arrests and take care of the official business. It had taken the balance of the day to give my account and to help Milo out with the Haywards. I’d had the chance to wash my face before I drove back to the cabin for Baxter.

  The door exploded inward and three imps rushed in. “You’ve got cooties!” “No, you’ve got cooties!” “Aah!” “Get ’em off!”

  The cootie war ended with “Dibs on the remote!” “No fair!” With hellos and a hug or two thrown indiscriminately to me and Mom, they vanished into the living room before Louise crossed the threshold. Louise didn’t allow television in her home, so a visit to Grandma’s was cause for excitement.

  Mom pulled her robe close and sat at the table. She crossed her legs, and her face glowed with contentment. When she wasn’t working, she loved a houseful.

  Louise placed a foil-covered plate on the counter. “Something for Dad when he gets in.” She kissed Mom on the cheek. One look at me seemed to confirm something for her, and she planted her hands on her hips. “It’s true, then. I dropped Ruth and David at open gym and I find out that Nat and Danny Hayward were arrested for Eldon’s murder and Ted’s shooting? And you were there?”

  Mom turned to me with interest.

  I shrugged.

  Louise lowered her voice and glanced at the doorway to the living room. “They said Nat tried to kill you.”

  “I’m not sure she really meant it.”

  Louise’s mouth opened in outrage. “But she messed with your car and did something disgusting at Frog Creek.”

  I needed to talk to Milo about the leak in his office. Except he was probably the perp. “I’m sure she was only trying to scare me.”

  Louise peeled the foil back and picked a brownie off a big pile. She settled at the table. “What I want to know is if Carly had anything to do with it.”

  “She didn’t,” Mom said.

  Louise bit into her brownie and talked around it. “Well, she and Danny were tight, and I know she was upset with the land sale.”

  “She didn’t,” I repeated, and plopped onto the bench opposite her.

  She held up her hand in surrender. “Okay, okay.”

  “Have you heard from her?” Mom asked.

  I shook my head. Louise leaned forward, then rocked back, her mouth tight. I imagine she wanted Mom to ask more questions, to show angst, to tear her hair or rend her clothes.

  A forceful knock on the kitchen door made us all jump. It creaked open and Dahlia swept in, outfitted in a long leather duster. I glanced at the kitchen floor, muddy from everyone tromping through the snow. But Dahlia didn’t appear the tiniest bit damp. Were flakes afraid to fall on her?

  With her curled hair, flawless makeup, and lipstick smile, Dahlia raised her eyebrows at Mom. “Ready for bed already, Marge? I suppose it feels cozy on a snowy night.”

  I jumped to my feet. There wasn’t a nice way to put it, so I tried to sound pleasant. “What are you doing here?”

  She beamed at me. “I was in Hodgekiss for dinner with Violet and Rose when Roxy called me. She told me about what happened at the Bar J and how Ted is cleared. I’m so happy, I had to stop by and give you a hug.”

  She grabbed me before I could step back. I didn’t wipe her cooties from me, even though I felt the urge. “How did you know I was here?”

  “Roxy told me.”

  I’d called Ted on my way to town and filled him in. Obviously he’d talked to Roxy, or she wouldn’t have the information to pass on to Dahlia.

  Dahlia clapped her hands together. “All this nasty business is finished.”

  As far as she was concerned.

  She tilted her head to the side. “How about if you get those posters out tomorrow? We want everyone to know Ted is their choice for sheriff.”

  Whatever I mumbled worked to propel her out the door.

  Mom’s foot bounced. She locked eyes with me. “‘As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons.’”

  Maybe I imagined it, but I thought she emphasized the “as far as possible” part.

  Louise brightened. “So, putting out posters for Ted. Getting hugs from Dahlia. You must have decided to work things out.”

  I hesitated. Mom said to figure out what I wanted most. I’d spent the last few days shoving the question of my future far from my mind, but somewhere in the middle of the danger and angst, probably during those endless hours on the road, my subconscious had been busy.

  “Yeah,” I said slowly. “I think we’re going to work it out.”

  30

  The ground kept its snowy blanket, the white reflecting so brightly I almost wished for Roxy’s blinged-out shades. Instead, I squinted down the flat road at Broken Butte’s water tower growing in my windshield and adjusted the visor in Mom’s ’83 Vanagon. Since Elvis was out of commission and the pickup rested in the washout at the Bar J, my choices for a ride were slim. I felt unstable, perched on the towering driver’s seat, strapped in so I wouldn’t tumble off.

  I’d woken before dawn with a dull ache in my lower back and the unmistakable warmth on my thighs. Disappointment and relief seesawed inside me. There was no denying that a baby would complicate my life and my relationship with Ted. But I wanted to be a mother. Someday.

  Only one campaign sign rattled on the floor behind me. After putting off distributing them for so long, it felt good to have at least that chore behind me. It had taken the better part of the morning, because I had to repeat the story about Danny and Nat at every stop. People didn’t seem surprised that Rope hadn’t known Danny was hiding out at t
he ranch.

  “I’ve known Rope all my life,” Dad’s cousin Marlene told me. She owned the bakery in Danbury, the next town along the highway east of Hodgekiss. “If it didn’t have to do with the Bar J, he didn’t pay any attention. That’s what went wrong with Mick, and probably Danny, too. I’m not surprised it sent Nat over the edge. He should have stayed a bachelor.”

  Marlene hadn’t heard the gentle way Rope talked to Nat. I’d lay chips that Rope knew Nat was one crack away from shattering.

  I turned up Main Street, sorry to see that, with the heavy snow, the daffodils were done for. They never last long anyway. Sort of like happiness.

  But the flowers would bloom again. If not next year, then the year after. It was bound to come around.

  I made one stop on my way to the hospital. I wanted to give Ted a little surprise, something special to mark the beginning of our new life. I’d had to make an appointment first thing that morning, and I did some fast talking to get exactly what I wanted. But I dealt with Annette Stromsberg, another of Dad’s cousins, so she promised to drop what she was doing to help me out.

  I parked Mom’s van in the hospital lot and grabbed the last campaign poster, along with Ted’s surprise. Because today was the first day of the rest of my life—or anyway, it wasn’t the end—I put a little spring in my step across the wet parking lot.

  Before I reached for the handle to the glass entry doors, the text alert beeped on my phone. Balancing the campaign sign, I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out my phone. I didn’t recognize the number. Area code 201. Someplace on the East Coast? I opened the message and blood rushed into my head, roaring in my ears. I squinted at the tiny emoticon image of the colorful toucan.

  With shaking fingers, I pushed buttons. I held my breath while it took twenty years for the circuits or cybers or magic to finally connect and start ringing. A woman answered.

  “Carly?” I nearly screamed it, even though this clearly wasn’t Carly.

  “Excuse me?” The voice sounded firm.

  I tried to lasso my raging emotions. “I got a text from this number. Did you send it? Did someone else?”