Bridal Falls Ranch Ransom (14 page)

It was Eve.

Concern hitched to his nerves. Edith had probably told her about Grimes, but it didn’t explain why she was here and not back at the safety of the ranch.

He took the wide steps down off the porch, his muscles cranking tighter between his shoulder blades with every step. He would have to tell her about Tyler Spangler’s death and his admitted connection to the threats and harassment. It was going to be a bitter pill for her to swallow. He knew how much she liked the easygoing cowpoke. Hell, he’d liked him, too.

Eve reined Ginger in and trotted past the Explorer, or what was left of it. The rear end was smashed in along with the entire passenger side of the vehicle from nose to tail.

“Whoa.” She pulled back on the reins and stopped her horse at a hitching post just below the house. Glancing up, she caught sight of J.P. as he headed toward her.

Grim
was the only thought that popped into her head. His expression was really grim.

Looping the reins around the post, she stepped around her horse and met him in the middle of the drive.

Her heart rate ticked up when they came face-to-face and she saw the bloody streak cut across his right cheek.

“My gosh, J.P., what happened?” Reaching up, she stroked her fingertips along his jawline for an instant. “You’ve been in an accident!”

Reaching out, he caught both of her wrists and pulled her against him. “Eve. Tyler Spangler’s dead.”

“What!” Her knees went weak, but J.P. held her up. “No.” Tears burned behind her eyelids, along with flash memories of Spangler’s helpful nature and slow grin. “How?”

“He tried to force me off the road at the hairpin turns this morning. He went over the edge and rolled the truck. He died at the scene.”

She leaned into him. He released her wrists and wrapped his arms around her. She closed her eyes for a moment, processing the sad details, then pushed back to stare up at J.P.

“Wait a minute, Tyler tried to run you off the highway?”

“Yeah.”

“Why would he do that? Unless—”

“He was involved in the kidnapping scheme to get you to pay the ransom money.”

Her heart squeezed inside her chest as the venom of that knowledge flowed through her veins. Someone she’d trusted had betrayed her again.

“Why are you here with the sheriff?”

“Edith didn’t tell you?”

“I gave Edith the day off. I haven’t seen her since early this morning. I only knew you were here because I saw the Explorer from the lower southwest pasture, where Ruckus and I were chasing cows.”

“Roger Grimes is dead, too.”

“I need to sit down.” Turning, she headed for the bottom step of the porch. “What happened to him?”

“Edith called it in to 911 this morning, according to Sheriff Adams. It looked like a suicide on first glance, but Grimes has Taser burns on his neck. Someone disabled him, then shot him.”

“That’s horrible.” A wave of nausea roiled in her belly. “Is he...was he a part of this?”

“Looks that way. There’s evidence he put together the ransom demand note that came through your window the other night. We found his .308, and my missing Glock and hard drive. Grimes and Spangler were both involved, to what extent and who did what, we may never know for certain.”

“How could I have been so clueless?” Frustration bubbled inside her.

“Don’t beat yourself up. I didn’t peg Tyler for this either, and I’m a security expert.”

She took some comfort in J.P.’s humble admission, but two people were still dead and they weren’t coming back.

Sheriff Adams’s boot falls against the floorboards of the porch brought J.P.’s head around.

Eve reached up and casually brushed her hand across the pressure dressing she’d applied over her scars this morning.

“Miss Brooks?”

“Yes.”

Reaching down, J.P. caught hold of Eve’s hand and helped her to her feet.

“I assume Mr. Ryker just told you about your ranch hand Tyler Spangler.”

Eve turned to look up at the sheriff. “Yes.”

“I’d like to search Spangler’s bunkhouse for evidence. Since he’s deceased, and the room is on your property, you can give us permission in lieu of a warrant.”

“Yeah. Sure, anything I can do to help.”

“Thank you. We’ll be over as soon as we’re finished here and the coroner arrives.”

J.P. waited until Sheriff Adams had gone back inside before he grasped Eve’s upper arms and turned her to face him. “There’s something I need you to do.”

“Doctor your cheek? It looks bad, J.P. It’s going to leave a mark.”

He shook his head. “Can you tell me who else knows exactly what the kidnapper’s note said?”

She shuddered, a tiny quake of fear vibrating underneath his grasp. “Edith does. I showed her the note Thomas’s kidnapper put under the windshield wiper of my car in L.A. She also took one of the ransom calls.”

Eve swayed on her feet.

J.P. reached out and locked his arms around her to keep her upright. “I’ve got you, sweetheart.”

“You think Edith is involved?”

“Yeah. It makes sense. You said you gave her the day off?”

“I did.”

“Is she at the ranch right now?”

“No. I didn’t see her car.”

“Come on, let’s get you out of here.” He shuttled her to the hitching post, where he pulled her against him. “I’ll get to the bottom of this, Eve. I promise.” A surge of caution skimmed across his nerves and settled in his gut.

“I won’t let anyone hurt you again.”

Chapter Fourteen

Eve soaked the cotton ball in hydrogen peroxide and dabbed at the wound on J.P.’s cheekbone. It didn’t take a medical degree to realize how close he’d come to being killed if the bullet had taken a steeper angle.

“How bad was the accident?” she asked, not sure she really wanted to know.

“Bad enough.” He reached out and stroked his finger along her arm, almost making her drop the bottle.

“Suffice it to say, I’m glad you weren’t in the passenger seat.”

“Me, too.” She finished cleaning the wound and smoothed antibiotic cream on it with a swab. “So it’s over, right? Just tell me it’s finally over.”

“I can’t. You know that.” He sat on the edge of the sofa. “Until we can positively identify the third person involved, it’s not finished.”

“I was afraid you’d say that.”

“Don’t let it get to you.” He pushed forward and stood up.

“Okay.” She came to her feet in front of him.

“The sheriff and his deputy rolled up the driveway five minutes ago. I’d like to be there when they search Tyler’s bunkhouse.”

Eve nodded, thankful she had him to rely on. “J.P.?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m glad you’re safe. I don’t know what I would do if you’d have been the one who didn’t make it this morning.”

He reached out and stroked his finger along her jaw, raised her chin, and lowered his lips to hers.

Desire, ancient and sweet, took hold in her limbs. She was breathless when he ended the kiss.

“I’ll see ya in a bit. Lock the door and stay inside.”

“Okay.” She followed him to her studio door and watched him walk down the hallway, listening to the solid thud of his boots on the wood floor. Reaching into her jeans pocket, she took out her key, closed the door and slipped it into the lock. Turning back into the interior of the studio, her knees quivered as she collapsed on the sofa and tried to regain her equilibrium.

* * *

J.P.
headed for bunk row
with the feel of her kiss still on his mouth. Training his focus, he stared at the sheriff’s vehicle parked in front of Tyler’s bunkhouse and gritted his teeth. He took the steps and stood outside on the porch while Sheriff Adams and Deputy Richards searched the place.

“Ryker?”

“Yeah.”

“Come on in here, take a look around.”

He stepped through the open door into the bunk room, where Sheriff Adams stood with his hands on his hips. “The place looks clean. Not so much as a weapon. You see anything here we might have missed?”

Glancing around the room, he noticed a small glass vial sitting on the nightstand. “May I?” He motioned to the table next to the bed. “Somebody drugged Eve’s horse with fluphenazine. I’d assumed it was Grimes.”

“Go ahead.”

J.P. walked over and knelt beside the nightstand to read the label on the vial. “It’s fluphenazine. Looks like Grimes wasn’t the one who used this stuff to make Eve’s horse go berserk. It was Spangler.” He wondered what else the trusted ranch hand had done behind the scenes. He pushed to his feet.

“Sheriff, you better take a look at this,” the deputy said as he pulled a large baggie out of the refrigerator and held it up.

J.P. stared at the missing hunting knife and sketch pad. “Damn. That’s the evidence that went missing from my saddlebag.”

“Looks like Tyler Spangler was heavily involved,” Sheriff Adams said. “Book it into evidence along with the vial. I’m assuming Miss Brooks’s horse made a full recovery?”

“Yes, she did. Thanks to a vet just up the road at another ranch.”

“Glad to hear it.”

“If we’re done here, I’m going to head for the lodge. I’ll be there if you need anything.”

“Thanks, Ryker.” Sheriff Adams extended his hand and he shook it. “Richards, give Ryker his Glock and hard drive.”

The deputy picked up both items from the counter and handed them to him.

“I appreciate it.” He released the clip and checked the weapon over. It was ready to fire. Clipping the holster on his belt, he picked up the computer hard drive from the counter and turned to leave.

“You’ve been a tremendous help with this investigation. If you ever decide to settle in these parts and need a position, come see me.”

J.P. nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.” Anxious to check on Eve, he headed out the door, realizing for one moment he’d actually considered the sheriff’s offer.

* * *

E
ve pulled a couple more
tissues from the box on the coffee table and held them out to Edith. “I’m sorry you had to find him like that. Maybe you should consult with a grief counselor about what you saw. It might make you feel better.”

Edith Weber dabbed her eyes and blew her nose. “Maybe I will, after my sister and her husband arrive to make the funeral arrangements.”

She was sorry for the woman’s loss, but there would be no more attacks on the Bridal Falls Ranch now that the two men were dead. Curiosity glided over her thoughts as she studied Edith, wondering what role, if any, the woman had played in Roger and Tyler’s scheme. They’d gotten their information from somewhere.

“Edith, I know this might not be the best time, but I need to ask you a few questions.” She squared her shoulders, wondering if she should wait for J.P. to put in an appearance before she questioned her. But she wanted to handle it. After all, Edith was her employee, and she had an obligation to mete out any redress necessary.

“Certainly, Miss Brooks.”

“I never told you exactly why I hired Mr. Ryker.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“I hired him specifically in response to the threatening phone calls I received almost a month ago.”

“I remember.”

“J.P. and Sheriff Adams have discovered evidence Roger Grimes and Tyler Spangler were in on a scheme together to try and scare me into paying the ransom the kidnapper wasn’t able to collect after Thomas was taken.”

Edith’s demeanor changed. She crossed her arms over her chest and sank low in the sofa cushions. “Are you trying to accuse me of something, Miss Brooks?”

Eve sucked in a deep breath, noting the waterworks that seemed to flow so freely from Edith’s eyes a moment ago had dried up like a desert.

“Someone on this ranch fed them information. Where I planned to go, when I’d be there and the precise demands the kidnapper made. You heard one of the calls verbatim. I showed you Thomas’s ransom note. You’re the only person I gave access to my schedule. I confided elements of my past to you, as well. Things no one else on the ranch knew.”

Realization collided with horror in her brain. She mentally picked through the information she’d shared with Edith Weber in the past few months. Things about her accident, and Thomas’s kidnapping. The botched ransom drop. She stared at Edith, watching her eyes narrow to slits.

“I think it’s time for me to go, Miss Brooks.”

Caution seized her nerves. Her attention focused on the woman she thought she knew, as she pushed to her feet and snagged her purse from the coffee table.

“Save your breath if you’re going to fire me, because I quit!”

She held her retort, sensing Edith’s anger coalescing in the vibe of the room. Where was J.P.? He should be back by now. She should have waited for him before she raised questions.

Edith’s footfalls hammered against the hardwood floor. She rounded the end of the sofa, her face pinched with hatred. “I’ll have my things cleared out of the cabin this afternoon.”

A chill sliced across the back of her neck. Every fiber in her body screamed in warning. She looked back over her right shoulder in time to see Edith pull something from her purse.

Rocking forward on the sofa, she tried to avoid the prongs of the Taser as Edith jammed it against the side of her neck. But she wasn’t fast enough.

Edith pressed the button.

A jolt sizzled through her. Her teeth clenched. Every muscle went rigid. Mind-bending pain streaked through her body on a supersonic trip.

Falling, she was falling. Unable to stop herself, she collapsed on the floor next to the sofa.

In two seconds Edith was rolling her over.

Stunned, she stared up at the ceiling, unable to move. Unable to fight the things going on around her.

A scream gurgled in her throat. Her tongue was thick, unresponsive.

“Why couldn’t you just have paid the ransom! It’s not like you don’t have it. Now I’m going to have to hurt you if someone doesn’t pay.”

Eve blinked as she watched Edith dig in her purse and produce a roll of duct tape. She tore off a strip.

“We were going to split it three ways. Do you know what we could have done with that kind of money?” Edith fingered the tape, grabbed it with an end in each hand and forced it down on Eve’s mouth.

“When that kidnapper’s call came in I saw my chance, and it would have worked too, but you hired Ryker to snoop around. I knew he was trouble the minute he climbed out of the helicopter. Roger got nervous, said he was going to the sheriff. What an idiot. I couldn’t let him ruin everything.”

Horror pulsed in her veins as the weight of Edith’s admission crushed her resolve. Everything that had happened on the ranch was the result of a plot Edith had conceived after taking the real kidnapper’s call. She could find it brilliant if it wasn’t so terrifying.

Edith reached down, jerked the silk scarf off Eve’s neck and rolled her over onto her stomach. She wrapped the scarf around her wrists and yanked it tight.

“I can’t carry you out. You’re going to have to walk. The crew is busy branding, Ryker is with the sheriff going through Tyler’s cabin and Charleen is taking a nap.”

Edith let out a grunt as she pulled her up into a sitting position against the sofa, stood up and went into the galley kitchen.

She came back with a butcher knife. “If you give me any trouble, I’ll use this on the pretty side of your face and cut you to ribbons. I swear I will.”

Eve blinked, taking in the determined set of Edith’s mouth, the desperation in her voice. She was desperate, and desperate people did desperate things. How could she have been so gullible? The woman she’d once believed was sweet and helpful, a confidante, was waving a blade in her face.

J.P., where are you?

“Wake up, Blondie.” Edith reached out and squeezed a bare patch of skin on her upper arm.

Pain radiated from the vicious pinch.

She jerked away.

A glimmer of satisfaction flared in Edith’s dark eyes.

“Time to go.”

Eve struggled to her feet without the use of her arms, relying on Edith, who pulled and worked to help her stand upright, but always with the butcher knife close to her body.

Panic ignited in Eve’s veins when they reached the landing. She stared down into the stairwell, praying J.P. chose that moment to open the door and rescue her, but he didn’t.

Two minutes later they were on the threshold. Fear carved a mark on her heart as she stared at Edith’s car parked ten steps from the back door of the lodge.

The trunk lid was open. Waiting for her like the jaws of a great white. She would have only one chance to escape.

“Don’t get any ideas,” Edith said from next to her. “I’ll drop you where you stand.”

She thrust the tip of the knife. It pricked her in the ribs, a gentle slip of the blade meant to terrify. It worked, as rivulets of blood trickled from the wound, tickling the skin inside her blouse.

Eve sucked in a breath, focusing on the steps to the car.

Four... Three... Two... There
.

In a last-chance move, Eve lunged forward between Edith and the open trunk.

A crack on the back of her head forced spots up in front of her eyes. Dizzy from the blow, she lost her balance at the same time Edith steered her head-first into the trunk of the Buick.

She hit with a violent thud, then felt her legs being bent and folded into the compartment.

Rage shot through her, stirring her blood with strength she didn’t know she had.

“Grrr,” she screamed against the duct tape. Kicking her left leg back, she made contact with Edith’s body.

“Stop!”

Never.

She kicked again, this time finding only air.

Switching up the angle, she shoved with her right leg and caught Edith again.

“Bitch!”

Legs together, she thrust her feet out as hard as she could.

Zap.

The prongs of the Taser bit into her leg just above her kneecap.

Muscles clenched, her face ground into the lining of the trunk.

Air.

She couldn’t breathe.

Relief surged in her veins the moment Edith reached in, grabbed her by the arms and rolled her over onto her back.

“Should have let you suffocate. But you’re no good to me dead.” Grabbing her legs where they poked out of the trunk, she wrestled them into the compartment.

Edith’s angry expression disappeared as the trunk lid slowly came down.

Mustering all the energy she had left, Eve raised her right leg and pressed her calf parallel to the opening. The lower leg of her pants tightened, catching between the lip and trunk lid.

She closed her eyes, listening to the car door shut. The engine fired up, and she prayed J.P. would see the sliver of fabric hanging out of Edith’s car as she drove away.

The fleeting image of Shelly’s final moments on earth lodged in her brain. Shelly had been asphyxiated at the hands of her kidnapper.

Horror knotted her stomach. She screamed into the tape. With her left foot she kicked the right side of the trunk with all the force she could coax from her noncompliant body.

Then she did it again and again and again.

* * *

T
ension churned in
J.P.
’s
bloodstream as he hurried for the lodge and Eve, unsure why an overwhelming sense of urgency spurred him forward.

Glancing up, he spotted Edith’s maroon Buick as she pulled away from the back door of the lodge and eased her car around the circular drive that would take her off the ranch.

What was she doing here?

Stopping in the middle of the drive, he waited for her to maneuver around the top of the loop past the front of the barn, before he raised his hands and waved to flag her down.