Oklahoma's Gold (34 page)

She backed up against the wall, cowering in fear. Now, the image was walking toward her, still talking, though she couldn't hear the words. She refused to hear them. She covered her eyes. She didn't want to see the craziness either. Why was this happening? She screamed aloud, "Make it go away!" Yet, when she uncovered her eyes, he was still there, smiling. Why would a crazy nightmare be smiling? Then a hand touched her. She jumped.

"It's okay, Miss Clinton. You're all right now, so don't you worry none." The voice of the image spoke to her. Calm and kind words. Hesitantly, she reached out to feel his arm. It felt real enough.

"Are you … I mean, are you really…?" She stumbled over her words.

The image laughed. "Sorry about that, ma'am. We've never been formally introduced. I'm Mac Yearling. Emma's Mac." He held out a hand to shake.

"You're real." It was all she could think to say.

"Well, of course I'm real!" he said, laughing again. "I got separated from the rescue party and ended up here. And it's a good thing, because I found you," Mac explained.

Jess felt as if she would faint any second. Faint with relief. She wasn't going to die after all. "You mean Daniel's okay? He's not …?"

"Sure! He's fine. Just worried as Hades about you though." He looked around then and frowned as his eyes connected with the bones in the corner.

Jess noticed how he quickly replaced his expression with a smile though, before turning to face her once more. That was odd. She scowled in a concentrated effort. And there was something else. She just couldn't remember, but it was there.

"So, how are you feelin'? Anything broken there? I work in a hospital so I've picked up a great deal about first aid," he offered.

"No, I'm okay," Jess responded and reflexively touched the top of her head, before realizing what Mac would guess.

"Bumped your head, huh? Maybe I should take a look." He glanced behind him, remembering how he had dropped his bag over by the doorway. Turning, he walked over to get it.

Only it wasn't a walk, Jess realized. It was a limp. He had a limp when he walked. The left leg dragged with each step, making a scraping sound. Fear washed over her like a flood. She felt she would drown in it.
Of course, the limp
! That was the tiny detail buried deep in her mind ever since the night of her attack.
Step, scrape, step, scrape
. One little detail she couldn't recall until now. She tried desperately to hold on, not to lose it, when all she wanted to do was scream and run. But she didn't. Quietly, she reached down, picked up a large rock, and hid it behind her back. If only she could hide her knowledge, at least until there was an opportunity to escape.

However, as soon as Mac turned around and saw her face, she knew that wasn't possible. He recognized her fear immediately. Of course it didn't matter. He already had plans for her. She saw that in his hand. A needle and syringe containing who knew what lethal drug, ready to use on her arm. She gripped the rock in her hand tighter.

"How'd you figure it out?" he asked calmly as he began walking toward her.

"The limp. I couldn't remember before. But now I … it's the limp," she answered numbly. If only she had thought of it before. Emma, Daniel, almost anyone would have known it was Mac she was describing. Now whether they believed he could do such a thing, was another story. But it was very real to her. She was witnessing the evil of Mac Yearling right this moment.

"Well, then. Maybe I should call you Sherlock," he chuckled. "And now you're supposed to say 'Elementary, dear Watson'. Get it?" He laughed uncontrollably at his own attempt at a joke.

His distraction was just what Jess needed. She quickly ran toward him, launching the rock at his face. He jerked away and lost his grip on the needle. He cursed as it dropped to the ground. The rock barely missed him, grazing the side of his face. Jess was just two feet behind him, running toward the way out. He quickly turned to grab her, barely managing to catch the back of her hair. He jerked a handful sharply and she fell back to the ground. In seconds he was on top of her. In a rage his hands closed round her throat.

Jess felt the tightness. She couldn't breathe and began gasping for air. She tried pulling his hands away, but they were too strong. Fading in and out of consciousness, she clawed at his face. But it was a feeble attempt. Her strength was fading. She was going to die. And without ever having a chance to tell Daniel she loved him. Tears filled her eyes. Daniel. Why can't you be here? Stop him from hurting me. I can't hold on, Daniel. I can't. Why is it so black again? Just like before. But no, somehow it was different. This time … funny, there was no more pressure on her throat. She heard the sound. What was that? A growl? A cry for help? Was that her crying for help? No. Not her. Just black. Just dark. And quiet now. Just …

* * *

The black faded, washed away by a yellow moon and starlight. Nearby, a churning, a whoosh sound of water ran over and around stones, rocks, curves in the riverbed. Horses softly whinnied. Four of them. Three were together, the fourth alone. And men talking. Three to one side. The other by himself.

The one said he knew what the others had done, and what they had planned to do. He knew and he would tell. He and his friend would make sure the other three would not get away with it.

The tallest one of the three, the leader, said words. Words that were mean, threatening, and evil. Yet, the one did not seem afraid. He did not back down. This angered the tall one. He turned and spoke to the other two. One of them pulled out a rope. The other came toward
the one alone. They struggled for a moment, but soon it was three against one. The one alone was quickly overcome.

Tied and gagged, the one became helpless. The three dragged him up and down the riverbank until they thought he was dead. The tall one ordered the others to throw him onto his horse. Then they took the reins and led the man and the horse into the mountains. The trip was long and tiring, but they made it. At the cave entrance, they shot and killed the horse, covered him with branches and brush so no one would see. Dragging the one they thought was dead deep into the caves— they hid him there. Again, so no one would see. And they left. They planned it well. But in one thing they were wrong. The one left in the cave was not dead. Oh, he was broken. That part was true. And he was dying. His ribs were shattered; broken shards cut into his lungs, making every breath he took painful. So, it was with much effort that he picked up the pointed rock and scratched into the wall three words -- John, Paul, Lou. It was the last thing he did. He had told them they would not get away with it, didn't he? It was his last thought as he died, with the image of his family bringing a smile to his lips.

* * *

"Jess? Jess? Can you hear me? Jess?" The words tried to bring her back from the darkness, from the dream. She fought them. It was safe there in the dark. She didn't want to see the bad man again. He had tried to hurt her. Kill her even. But the voice now seemed different. A voice she liked, loved. It was calling her. She should go there.

"Daniel?" Jess opened her eyes to see a familiar face. In fact, lots of familiar faces. Emma, Missy, and Deek were there, too. All smiling. Even grumpy old Deek had a grin on his face. This made her laugh. Although now it came out hoarse and raspy since her throat was still sore.

"About time you woke up!" Emma scolded.

Jess then looked around and noticed Mac lying on the ground nearby. Someone was giving him a drink of water. She snuggled closer to Daniel and closed her eyes, remembering what happened. Even though Mac looked too weak to do anything, she still feared him. Daniel must have sensed her reaction.

"It’s okay. He confessed everything. Miss Emma got him to talk. Seems he’s been holding on to this fantasy of asking Emma to marry him as soon as he had enough riches to offer her and feel worthy of her. Weird, huh?"

"He tried—he tried to kill me," she managed to whisper.

"Yeah, we found the needle and started putting two and two together. It didn’t take long for him to start spilling the beans. Says you knew it was him that attacked you because you recognized the limp. Pretty darn smart, Jess. Probably saved your life."

"But why did he do all this? Why Mac?"

"Fred told Emma a pretty interesting story back at the hospital this morning. Guess he had figured out Mac was up to his ears scheming with Lucas to scam some landowners. Mac attacked Fred to keep him quiet and made it look like Joseph had done it. Almost worked, too.

"Then when Fred started coming out of the coma, Mac panicked and gave him a muscle relaxant to try and keep him from waking up again. Fortunately, your uncle is a strong, stubborn, old coot. Wasn’t about to buy the farm, yet."

"He didn’t kill Joseph, did he?" Mac was beginning to sound like the devil himself with all these confessions. The realization that she had been alone with him, threatened by him, twice, nearly caused her to pass out again.

"Nope. Turns out that really was a suicide. Of course Lucas probably pushed him to it. Joseph already suspected his days were numbered. He just decided when that last day was to be, I guess. It’ll kill Maria though. Suicide is a cowardly sin in her world."

"I expect she won’t take it too hard," Emma retorted. Then she told everyone how she'd seen Maria and Detective Higgins holding hands, walking through the park earlier this morning, as Emma had left the hospital. "And they seemed pretty darn cozy to my way of thinking!"

"Tell her about the accidents, Daniel," Missy urged.

"Oh, yeah. Seems Mac and Lucas had a lot of company in their escapades. Sonny, Billy Weston, and, my dear friend, Jorgé helped quite a bit. In fact, it was Jorgé who cracked my head outside the bunkhouse. Turns out he, Sonny, and Billy were meeting to plan their next attack. Guess they didn’t want me joining the party. Anyway, Caleb’s sent out some men to track them down. Seems someone gave them a tip earlier today and they chose to take a vacation, just like Lucas."

He saw the question forming in her eyes and answered before she asked. "No, we haven’t located him yet. He had more than one ticket. And the one to Martinique was not his favored choice. So your guess is as good as mine at this point."

He thought she looked ready to pass out again. "Maybe we should stop so you can rest."

"No, really, I'm fine," she argued, glancing once more at Mac.

"So, you want to explain how you both ended up on the ground, knocked out?"

Jess looked puzzled. "He tried to strangle me. And I … I remember the coyote's growl and Mac's cry for help and then he let go of my neck, but I passed out anyway."

"Coyote?" Daniel and Emma exclaimed at once.

"Are you saying he was brought down by a coyote?" Daniel asked.

"Why, I guess so." She looked confused. "I mean, I had seen the coyote earlier, so of course, it might have returned and attacked Mac." Everyone was staring at her like she was insane. Had she seen the coyote? Jess felt her mind playing tricks on her again.

The man tending to Mac walked over to Daniel just then. "Found this on the ground, close to Mac. Guessed it might be important." He handed him a beaded pouch. Jess and the others looked on, surprised. Another medicine bag. Just like the one Caleb found outside the bunkhouse.

"Also. Kinda strange to say …" He scratched his head. "There appears to be a whole bunch of paw prints over there in the dirt. So, I asked Mac if he'd seen any animals around. He seemed all fearful and said he was attacked by a coyote." He scratched his head again. "Now here's the really strange part. He ain't got a scratch on him. Not one. You tell me. How's a body goin' to be attacked and not get scratched? Ain't possible. But he insists. And of course there are the prints." He shrugged his shoulders and walked away before anyone else could speak.