Borderland (21 page)

"Who
knows?" he said. "Maybe cockteasers bring out the worst in me."

Myra
sucked in her breath.

The pantry
door slammed. "Dinner," Cal said, holding a bowl of fish in front of
him. He stopped. "What's going on?"

"Your
mom's giving me a haircut," Nolan said. "How does it look so
far?"

"Butchered,"
Cal said. Then he laughed. "I'm just kidding. She cuts mine all the time.
Where do you want these, Mom?"

She
gestured with the scissors. "In the sink."

Cal put
the bowl in the sink and made a face as he sniffed his hands. "I'm going
to shower while everyone's gone. I stink."

Nolan
and Myra eyed each other when he left the room. Wordlessly, she stepped forward
and began cutting again.

"I'm
sorry," Nolan said after a moment. "Your perfume must've gone to my
head."

"I
don't wear perfume. And you're not sorry."

"Okay,
maybe I'm not. Maybe I just wanted to make you mad enough to kiss me
again."

"I'd
rather kiss one of those fish heads outside."

Nolan
laughed and let her finish the haircut before slipping an arm around her waist.
He put the other under her legs and lifted her off the floor. "Come on. I
want to see you kiss one of those fish heads."

She
dropped the scissors and comb and struggled out of his arms before they reached
the pantry door. She shoved her dress down over her thighs and pushed open the
screen. Her cheeks were pink. "I'm going out to milk the nanny. Do me a
favor and sweep the floor."

Nolan
chuckled at the rigid set of her spine as she strode off toward the barn. He
found the broom and began sweeping his blond hair from the floor, only vaguely
wondering what the hair left on his head looked like. He found himself more
concerned with Myra. Charming, funny, and goose pimples, eh? And let's not
forget jerk, Nolan. You are that. Miss Myra appears to have had her fill of
handsome scoundrels like you. Which is a shame, because it's goddamned hard to
resist a resister, especially when you can't forget what she looks like in an
undershirt and cotton panties. Not to mention the little lesson-teaching
episode in the garage. Talk about raising flesh.

But what
the hell was that business with Vic? Vic just didn't do that shit. Well, he
hadn't since Nolan had known him. But then again, he'd been married since Nolan
had known him. If Nolan had done that she would have screamed herself blue.
Just like she was doing right…

Scream?

He threw
the broom to the floor and rushed the pantry door.

He was
halfway to the barn when he realized there was an unfamiliar truck and trailer
parked near the corral side. Myra screamed again and he ran inside the barn.
Above a stall to his right he saw a head with a red cap. A tall man. Al Dunwoodie?

Not Al,
he realized as he neared the stall. This man had no hair under his cap. Nolan
drew the Beretta from his waistband and ran to the stall opening. Myra cowered
in the corner, the nanny between her and the big stranger. The goat kicked her
repeatedly, but Myra didn't seem to feel it. Her chest heaved with relief when
she saw Nolan.

"Can
I help you?" he asked, pointing the pistol at the stranger. The man was as
big, if not bigger, than Al Dunwoodie. But he was ugly. His nose looked to have
been part of his upper lip at one time; both looked smashed.

The man
extended one huge paw. "I'm Gil Schwarz. Mr. Kimmler said for me to bring
my mare on over. I met him at the church today."

Nolan
ignored the hand. "Myra?"

"Oh,
I guess I scared her," Gil Schwarz said with a wave of the extended hand.
"I didn't mean to." He pushed his cap back and Nolan saw that the man
wasn't bald after all; his silver crew cut was just extremely short.

"Liar!"
Myra shouted. "Nolan, he's lying! He came up behind me and grabbed
me!"

Gil
Schwarz took on a pained expression. "Now why you wanna go and say that?
You know I never done no such thing."

Myra
looked at Nolan, her eyes round, and he stepped past the big man to grip her
hand and pull her out of the corner. Gil Schwarz smiled as the goat, released
at last, bounded out of the stall. Nolan saw that the man had very white teeth.
Too white. His gray eyes somehow matched the silver in his hair. Weird. Nolan's
hand tightened on the grip of the pistol as he led Myra out of the stall. She
clung to his arm and stared fearfully at the big stranger.

"Guess
I'll be seein' quite a bit of you folks now that I'm keepin' my ridin' horse
here," he said. Then he winked at Myra.

Nolan
saw it. He stopped. "Mister, you touch her again and I'll blow your
fucking head off."

"That
a fact?" Gil Schwarz said lazily.

Nolan
bared his teeth in a grim smile and lifted the pistol. He squeezed the trigger
and the red cap on Schwarz's head went spinning into stalls unknown. Nolan
grinned. "I had my eyes shut. Imagine what I can do when they're
open."

The big
man was still feeling the top of his bristly head when Nolan pulled Myra from
the barn. Once on the porch he stopped and tried to pry her fingers from his
arm. She was cutting off his circulation. When he freed his arm she grabbed his
bandaged hand and caused him to wince.

"Dammit,
Myra." She wouldn't let go. He pulled her into the house and sat down with
her on the couch. "Just let go, okay? That hurts. What the hell did he do
to you?"

Myra
dropped his hand and immediately clasped her own together. Her face was white.
"I'm sorry. I'd just sat down to milk and out of nowhere he grabbed me
from behind. He lifted me and pulled up my dress and stuck his hand inside my
underwear and I couldn't get away until I kicked him in his privates. Even then
he kept whispering what he was going to do to me once he had the chance. He was
so strong, Nolan. He was so strong I was…goddamn him. Goddamn him for doing
that to me. You should've shot him, Mr. Show Off. You should've shot him and
killed him because he's going to try again."

Nolan
put his arm around her. "Hey, just calm down. He's not going to try
anything while I'm here."

"I
can't seem to stop shaking," Myra said. "I've never…nothing like that
has ever. . ." She sat up then. "It was him I saw that night out by
the garage. It had to be. I can't stay here another minute, Nolan. I've got to
take Cal and get out of here." She bolted from the couch and left Nolan
staring after her.

He shook
his head then followed her rapid footsteps up the stairs. Her bedroom door was
closed. He knocked. "Myra, will you please take a minute to calm
down?"

"I
can't," she said from behind the door. "Darwin used to talk about a
man named Gil Schwarz. He was afraid of him. I could see it in his face. Now I
know why."

Nolan
leaned against the door. "I know you're scared right now, but where will
you go? Don't you think you'll be better off here?"

She
opened the door and he nearly fell in. "Not with that animal lurking
around on a regular basis. If I tell Vic what happened do you think he'll make
Schwarz take his horse back?"

Her eyes
were still round and frightened. Nolan tried to sound reassuring. "We'll
tell him and see what happens, okay? I'm not going anywhere for a while, and
I'm sure as hell not going to let anything happen to you while I'm here. I
haven't been in your panties yet—you think I'm going to let that big,
goofy-looking sonofabitch beat me to it?"

Myra
stared at him. Then she slammed the door.

"Hey,
I was kidding!" Nolan said to the wood in front of his nose.
"Myra…okay, so it wasn't one of my better ones. Don't get upset or
anything. Cal'll come and take his hatchet to me."

"What
did you say now?" Cal asked behind him.

Nolan
turned. He didn't want to tell the kid what had happened. Myra would have to
decide just what and how much she wanted him to know. He shrugged his
shoulders.

"Mom?"
Cal raked back his wet hair and stepped up to the door. "It's after
twelve. Al will be here in an hour. Aren't you going to start dinner?"

The door
opened. Myra pushed past them. "I'm going to take a shower. You two can
start dinner."

Cal
scowled at Nolan. "I just got the fish off my hands. I wish you'd stop
picking on her. She hasn't done anything to you."

Nolan
sighed at the boy's fierce protectiveness. Cal liked him, but Mom came first.
Nolan envied that in a way, the kid's devotion. Looking at him, at the firm jaw
and determined chin, he was surprised to discover that he actually cared what
Cal thought of him.

That
wasn't good. He forced himself to turn his back on the boy and head for the
stairs. Soon they would be leaving Denke and parting ways. No sense giving
himself anything to feel bad about when it was time to say goodbye.

CHAPTER 18

Al Dunwoodie
was as big and kind as Gil Schwarz was big and cruel, Myra decided. She felt
safe with Al sitting at the table. His choppy, rust-colored hair and laid-back
smile gave him a carefree appearance that belied the power in his large,
red-knuckled hands. Even Nolan's broad shoulders and hard chest looked small
and ineffectual beside Al. At one point she wanted to turn to the others and
say, "Let's keep him," as if Al were a big, friendly stray that had
wandered onto the place. But during dinner Al talked of a retired man from
Pueblo who had shown an interest in buying his auto salvage yard. When the
papers were signed, Al would be on his way back to Arkansas.

As Myra
cleared away the dinner plates and prepared to slice the blackberry pie she had
made Al settled back to hold court and hand down keen judgments on everything
from the demise of the rain forests to plastic kitchen wrap. Cal—and Nolan, of
course—had opinions on each subject, but Vic sat quietly for the most part and
merely watched the others. Myra couldn't understand his coolness to their
guest. There was nothing to fear from Al Dunwoodie, his innate kindness and
empathetic nature were so evident that Vic's wariness seemed unreasonable.

It was
Vic's guarded expression that made Myra feel hesitant to approach him with what
had happened in the barn earlier. She too was a guest in his home, with no
right to make demands. It was a helpless feeling. Her nerve endings still
screamed each time she thought of her brief encounter with Gil Schwarz. Even alter
her shower her skin still prickled with the memory of those grubby, groping
hands. For the first time in her life she understood the feelings of women who
had been violated against their will, the fear, rage, and emotional devastation
that came with being completely unable to defend oneself against brute
strength. The unfairness of being the "fairer sex." The unfairness of
being physically forced to submit to the most intimate of violations. It was
nauseating.

"I
don't want any pie, thanks," Nolan said.

Myra
stood beside him, plate in hand. He didn't want any pie. She had served
everyone else. He was only sulking at being served last. She forced herself to
smile in front of everyone. "Maybe later. I'll save it for you."

'Don't
bother. I've never cared for blackberry. Let someone else have it."

His
expression was genuine enough, but Myra wasn't going for it. Her jaw hardened.

"If
I'd served apple or cherry I suppose you wouldn't like those either."

He
scooted his chair back. "Apple or cherry would've been great. I just don't
like blackberry. I never have, okay?"

He was
frowning now and his look told her that she was making a fool of herself. In
that moment she hated him. She hated him and she resented the fact that she
needed his protection. A man. She had clung to him like a child today, a
whimpering, pitifully grateful child, grateful that he had saved her from the
brutal intentions of another man. She hated him.

With a
flick of her wrist she dumped the plate of blackberry pie in his lap. His face
reddened and she heard him curse as she whirled and left the dining room.

"Jesus
Christ. What did I do now? I didn't say a goddamned word."

Andy's
high giggle reached Myra's ears as she mounted the stairs. She went to her room
and closed the door, already mortified at her behavior. She couldn't believe
she'd done that. She wasn't that kind of person. Never in her life had she let
a moment of anger control her actions. God knew what Al thought. What any of
them thought. She sat on the bed and put her face in her hands in an attempt to
cool her heated cheeks.

When the
door opened she expected to look up and see Cal, or even Vic. She didn't expect
to see Nolan. He closed the door behind himself and leaned against it. He
looked ridiculous with the blackberry stain at his crotch.

"Cal
wanted to come up but I wouldn't let him," he said. "I told him it
was between me and you. I didn't think you told him what happened today."