by Cindy Bell
“A trail?” Luke scratched his head. “That seems a little farfetched.”
“Not to me it doesn’t. Ally probably realized she was getting into something she shouldn’t and decided to leave the trail for us to find. It’s the only reason why the food would be spread out like this.”
“I don’t know.” Luke shook his head.
“Why don’t I follow the trail and you head for the barn?” Charlotte held tight onto Arnold’s leash.
“I don’t think I like that idea. I don’t want you out of my sight.”
“I appreciate that, Luke, but I’m not under arrest, so you don’t have a say about where I go. I’m going to follow this trail. You and I both know there’s a better chance of finding Ally safe if we split up. The closest structure other than the house is that barn. It doesn’t look like anyone’s in there, but it’s still worth checking out. Just like this trail is.”
Luke shoved his hands in his pockets. He clenched his jaw as he looked between the two areas.
“Do you have your cell phone? Here’s a flashlight.”
“I’ll be fine, Luke, I promise,” she said as she took the flashlight from him and held up her phone. “While you were still in diapers I was, well never mind that, let’s just say I can take care of myself.”
He raised an eyebrow and met her gaze. “Be careful.”
“I will.” She smiled and patted his cheek. “You be careful, too. You have a dance to go to.”
“If she says yes.” He rolled his eyes.
“She did.” Charlotte winked at him. “She’s already bought the tickets.” He stared at her for a moment, then snapped back to the reality of the situation.
“Let’s go, before it gets any later.” He walked off in the direction of the barn. Charlotte let Arnold lead her through the field. The further in she walked, the more concerned she became. Was Ally led out here? Was she following someone? She wanted to call out for her, but she was afraid that if someone had her, they would hear her voice and become alarmed. She needed to know where Ally was first.
They were almost to the middle of the field when Arnold began to squeal and snort. He danced around in a small circle, then tugged hard on his leash. The sudden lunge knocked Charlotte off balance. She landed hard on her bottom, and Arnold’s leash whipped out of her hands. Before she could get back to her feet the pig was gone. Her hand brushed over something solid in the dirt. She shone her flashlight on the spot and discovered Ally’s car keys in the soil. Her heart lurched. Ally was there. She had been in the middle of this field. Now she was gone. Charlotte got to her feet and tried to find Arnold. She could only follow him by the sounds of his snorts and squeals.
Chapter Fifteen
Ally tried to control her fear, but it was nearly impossible. Every step Zac took in his pacing back and forth reminded her that he was one moment closer to making a decision about how he was going to deal with her. She wriggled her wrists back and forth and hoped that somehow she would be able to get free. The more she wriggled, the tighter the ropes became.
“Zac.” She took a risk by speaking, but the anticipation was terrible. He paused and looked over at her. “Zac, let me go. You know it’s the right thing to do. You don’t want to do this. Someone else is making you do it. I can help you. I can protect you.”
“You can’t protect me.” Zac shook his head. “There’s no coming back from what I’ve done. Nothing will change it.”
“I can get you a deal. We can work something out. You didn’t even kill Nigel, but if you kill me then you are a murderer. Things happen, Zac, it doesn’t have to be the end of the world. You still have the power here. You can make the right decision.”
“Stop, please just stop. I don’t have any other choice.”
“You aren’t a murderer, Zac. Who killed Nigel?” She wanted to keep him talking to delay him. She also really wanted to know who the murderer was.
“Stop!” Zac shouted. “I have to do this.”
He picked up a threadbare blanket from the ground and gripped it tight in his hands. She stared at the blanket and wondered if he might wrap her up in it to transport her somewhere else. Had that been the blanket that Nigel’s body was wrapped in? When she looked up into Zac’s eyes he looked afraid. He had no intention of transporting her anywhere. He intended to take care of things right then.
Ally drew breath after breath as her panic increased. If only she had let someone know where she was there might have been some chance that someone would look for her. But no one knew, and no one was coming. Her heart sank as she thought of all of the things she had never said to her grandmother, all of the opportunities she had missed with Luke. He walked towards her with the blanket stretched tight between his hands.
“Don’t do this, Zac. You don’t have to do this. I am not going to tell anyone anything. Just let me go.”
“It’s too late.” He hung his head for a moment. “My life ended when Nigel’s life did, I could have tried harder to stop it but I didn’t. There is nothing left for me. If I get caught now, I’m locked up for life.”
“What do you think is going to happen if you’re involved in two murders?” Ally’s voice cracked with desperation.
“I guess I’ll find out.” He leaned forward in an attempt to place the blanket over her head. Ally thrashed the best she could to try to get away from him. She managed to get her foot slammed into the toe of his boot. He yelped and jumped back, but his work boot was thick and he recovered easily. As he came back at her Ally began to scream. She knew that it was her only chance of being found.
“Don’t bother. No one is going to hear you.” He leaned towards her again. This time Ally swung her head upward in an attempt to head butt him. He lunged out of the way and started to come at her again. Suddenly he froze. Ally’s heart pounded so loud that she barely heard the creak of the barn door. But Zac turned towards it with wide eyes. Ally held her breath as the door to the barn creaked open a little further. For a moment she held out hope that someone might be there to save her. Then she heard a very loud snort. A second later Arnold plowed into the barn and barreled straight towards Ally. He could certainly make a lot of noise. She never thought she would love the racket the pig could make, but at that moment she did.
“Where did this pig come from?” Zac dropped the blanket and lunged towards the pig. “Get out of here, you beast.” He swung his foot as if he might try to kick Arnold. Ally shrieked and swung her body towards his leg just in time to deflect his kick. It hit her shin instead. Zac lost his balance as a result of the unexpected strike. He stumbled back. Arnold circled around him, and in a move he learned from Peaches he wound around and through Zac’s legs. Zac grunted and fell backwards. When he struck the ground Ally thought she might be able to kick him. She swung her feet, but he rolled out of the way before she could strike him. Arnold snorted and squealed wildly. It occurred to Ally that the man outside the door who had been so worried about noise didn’t seem to be bothered by the commotion Arnold was making.
“What is going on in here?” The barn door pushed open again. Ally’s eyes widened as she saw Bob walk into the barn. Just before he was all the way inside Zac jumped behind the bales of hay. Bob squinted in the dim lighting. “What is that pig doing in here?” He took a few steps forward. Ally tried to get free of the ropes. Now that she saw Bob in the barn she was sure that he had been the one talking to Zac. She was sure that Bob had killed his own son and would finish her off.
“Let me go, just let me go.”
“Huh?” Bob stepped further into the barn. “You’re that nosy girl, aren’t you? What the heck happened to you?” He hurried over to her. “Who did this to you?”
Ally glared up at him. “As if you don’t know!”
“What?” He reached for the ropes on her hands.
“Don’t!” Ally drew back in fear.
“What is your problem? Are you crazy or something? I’m trying to help you here you know? Or did you want to stay tied up?”
Ally stared at him. “You really aren’t involved?”
“Involved in what? Tying you up. Of course not. I came down here looking for Zac. I thought I saw him come in here. Then I found you. So, are you going to let me untie you?”
Ally held out her hands. Her heart pounded as she hoped that she wasn’t making a mistake. Just as Bob untied her hands the barn door was shoved open again. Ally didn’t have a chance to see who it was before Bob was tackled to the ground. Arnold continued to squeal and snort at the bales of hay that Zac hid behind. Ally saw through the dust and dirt that Luke wrestled with Bob on the ground. But if Bob was trying to untie her, and Zac was hiding from him, then who was the person that actually hired Zac and killed Nigel? In a daze for a moment she watched as Luke pinned Bob down. He reached for the gun in his holster.
“Luke, wait, Luke!” She tugged at the ropes around her ankles in an attempt to be completely free. “It’s not him, Luke. It’s Zac, he’s hiding!” Before she could get the ropes loose, Zac jumped out from behind the bales of hay. He held a bag of the poison in his trembling hands.
“Let me walk out of here, or everybody is going to end up in the hospital.” He stared at Ally. Luke pinned Bob to the ground.
“Let me go! What is going on here! This is outrageous!” Bob flailed in Luke’s grasp. Luke’s expression fluctuated between concerned and confused.
“Ally?” Luke looked over at her just as she freed herself.
“Don’t move, Luke. That is the poison that has been killing Bob’s crops. I don’t think Bob had anything to do with any of this.” Luke loosened his grip on Bob, but still remained close to him. His eyes locked on Zac and the bag of poison that he held.
“What?” Bob stared at Zac. “Zac, you’re the one that’s been killing the crops?”
“Let him up, Luke. I don’t think he’s involved in any of this. The person that hired Zac killed Nigel.” Ally brushed herself off. She grabbed onto Arnold’s collar and kept him close. “Zac, you’re going too far here.”
“No, I have to get out of here. If any of you come near me you’ll get a face full of this poison. Is that what you want? You might survive, but you’ll wish that you didn’t.”
Luke moved slowly to his feet and backed away a few steps. Bob got to his feet as well with a few groans of pain from being tackled. Instead of backing away, he turned and glared at Zac.
“What are you yammering on about, Zac? You’re not going to hurt anyone. Stop this nonsense and put down that bag.”
“Bob, don’t.” Ally met his eyes. “Zac is a very dangerous man.”
“Ha.” Bob shook his head. “I don’t believe it. He’s just a kid. I don’t understand what has happened here, but I know that Zac is harmless.”
“I’m sorry, but that’s not true.” Ally moved closer to Bob. “He was involved in Nigel’s murder.”
“What?” Bob’s eyes widened.
“Keep quiet! I didn’t kill him! I couldn’t!” Zac looked towards the barn doors.
“He’s not there, Zac. He’s left you here alone to deal with all of this. He’s not going to come back. There’s no one to give you any more orders.” Ally glanced over at Luke who rested his hand on his gun. There wasn’t much chance that he could use the weapon, as the moment he drew it, Zac would likely throw the poison. Ally wasn’t sure if he was right about the damage that the poison could do, but she also didn’t want to find out. Zac growled and stomped one of his feet.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. All you do is sprout lies, and more lies. I can’t take this anymore. I have to find a way out.” He looked around wildly. “None of this was supposed to happen.” His eyes continued to dart around the room.
“But it has.” Ally tried to draw his attention back to her. “It has now, and there’s no way to get out of it. The only way is to surrender. He is not even going to remember your name. You understand that don’t you? He used you, Zac. This was his plan all along.”
“Tyler wouldn’t do that to me. He said we were in this together.” Ally’s eyes shone at the realization. It was Tyler calling the shots. It was Tyler that killed Nigel, and Tyler that ordered for the crops to be poisoned. Ordered Ally to be murdered.
“Tyler?” Bob snarled the name. “What does he have to do with all of this?”
“He wouldn’t do that.” Zac shook his head and looked at Ally.
“No, you say he wouldn’t? That’s rather hard to believe,” Ally said. “Because he’s gone isn’t he? He must have run off the moment that he saw Bob coming. He knew that you wouldn’t be able to kill me. He knew that you would be stuck here with a hostage or a dead body, while he skipped off to freedom. He counted on you taking the fall, Zac.”
“I didn’t do it. I didn’t do it,” Zac groaned. “No, no, no.”
“You’re a better person than Tyler is, but Nigel is dead and you were involved. You can’t change that. But you weren’t the only one who was involved in Nigel’s murder. You didn’t actually kill him.” She knew she was walking a dangerous line. If Zac became too emotional he might just toss the poison on all of them. If she didn’t get his shock to crack, he would do whatever it took to escape and they would all pay the price.
“Good lord, Zac, Nigel called you his brother.” Bob shook his head as his voice cracked with grief. “I always told him he was too much of a bleeding heart, but when it came to you, I gave him the benefit of the doubt. You grew up together. How could you do this to him?”
“No!” Zac shouted as he glared at Bob. “We did not grow up together. I grew up in his shadow. Nigel grew up with the latest and newest of everything. I grew up feeding on his scraps and goodwill. You never once let me forget that, Bob. Every time Nigel would try to include me, you would make a point that I was there as a charitable gesture. Do you know what that did to me?”
Bob’s eyes narrowed to slits. “I was generous to you, my son was generous to you, and you turned around and murdered him?”
“I didn’t! I couldn’t!”
“But you didn’t stop it, did you? Nigel got you the position and the pay that you have. He fought for that. He ensured that I would not choose anyone else to replace him. He loved you, Zac.” Bob’s voice wavered.
“And he was going to take it all away.” Zac lowered his eyes. “When he found out the truth, that I was taking payments to poison your crops, he was going to take everything from me. But I still didn’t want to kill him.” Zac closed his eyes. “I was going to try to cut him into the deal. I told him I’d give him half, more than half, we could go in together. But he was furious when he found out that I was the one poisoning the crops. When he confronted me in the barn he said he was going to you, and he was going to make sure that I paid for what I did.”
Bob blinked. “He was going to tell me?”
“Yes. I told him he was crazy, that you hated each other, so what was the difference? But he said he didn’t hate you. He wouldn’t let you lose your farm to Tyler. We argued because I knew that Tyler said if I couldn’t get Nigel on our side then he had to go. I tried to convince him. He refused. So I waited until he went to the barn to get more eggs. Then I tried to talk to him again. I just wanted him to listen. I just needed him to understand that nothing had to change. He really lost it, said he was going to call the police right then. Tyler walked in and I didn’t know what to do.”
“And that’s an excuse?” Bob roared and moved as if he might lunge towards him. At the last moment he froze. “You stood there while he killed my son!”
“Your son? You think you have the right to call him that? You threw him out of your own house!” Zac took a step towards Bob.
“Bob, please, just calm down.” Ally took a few steps towards him, but Luke moved in front of her and shot her a heated look of warning.
“Don’t Ally.” Luke turned his attention to Zac. “Zac, I can help you. You were involved but you didn’t kill him. But if you hurt anyone here, you’re going to be in more trouble than you can ever find your way out o
f. You have to put that poison down and put your hands up. Can you do that for me, Zac?” Luke tried to meet his eyes. His voice was so soothing that even Ally relaxed a little. But it had no impact on Zac.
“Keep quiet, you have nothing to do with any of this. I can’t believe this happened.” Zac reached up and wiped at his cheek.
“Careful, you might have some of that on your hands.” Ally watched him closely as his body tensed.
“Oh no!” He pulled his hand away from his face. “Oh, this is all out of control. What am I going to do?”
“You’re going to walk over here.” The booming voice echoed through the barn.
Ally turned to see Tyler in the doorway. “Real slow, Zac, real slow.”
Zac started to walk towards Tyler. “Tyler, where were you?”
“You really screwed this up now, didn’t you?” Tyler shook his head. “I told you to do one thing.”
“I tried!” Zac gasped out his words. “There was a pig, and then Bob, and then you took off!”
“You took too long. If you’d done what I said, then the plan would have worked. Bob would have walked in on her dead body and he would have gone to jail for the murder of his son, and this woman. Instead, we’re going to have to take things in a different direction.”
“What do you mean?” Zac tightened his grip on the poison. Luke kept his hand on his weapon. Ally could tell he was looking for a safe moment to take the upper hand.
Tyler looked across the barn at Bob. “I think it’s time Bob gave up his land.”
“Tyler, what you’re doing here is going to get you life in prison.” Luke stared hard at him. “You need to just admit to your crime and let me take you in. Your plan didn’t work, it’s falling apart around you. Now is the time to surrender.”
“No.” Tyler shook his head and laughed. “I don’t need to do any such thing. As far as I’m concerned, Bob found out about Nigel poisoning his crops. So he killed him. Then this little lady figured it out, so he killed her. I’ll dump Bob’s body where they’ll never find it, they’ll just think he’s run away. And you.” He looked directly at Luke. “You’re the poor sap that tried to save her and got caught in the barn fire that Bob lit. You see how all of that works out just perfect?”