Heartstealer (Women of Character3 (26 page)

"Is everything okay?"

"A friend of mine lost her
necklace. She thinks it might have been just outside the ranch. I’m going
to look before it rains."

"That's kind of like looking
for a needle in a haystack," Renee said doubtfully. "Do you want some
help?"

"I’ll help you
Jacie."

Surprised to hear Brad’s
voice behind her, she whirled around. "Brad! You’re up early."

"I came to say goodbye.
I’ll ride out with you then I’m leaving."

Jacie looked at him a moment, then
shrugged. "All right. If we find it, you can give it back to Bonnie."

As they rode out to the east
pasture she kept thinking of Sloan. She shouldn't have left before he woke this
morning. How could she think she needed to think further about what had
happened between them? She loved him. She would look for the necklace and then
go find him and make it up to him for leaving. That thought made her smile in
anticipation.

"So things seem to be going
well for you, Jacie?" Brad asked.

Jacie looked over at him, having
been lost in thoughts of Sloan. "Yes."

Brad didn’t look like
he’d had a good night’s rest. He hadn’t shaved and looked
pretty rough. She felt a moment’s sympathy but knew Brad’s problems
were of his own making.

"Here we are," she said
with relief, casting a worried glance at the sky. It had gradually become
overcast, the sky a sullen gray. "You start looking here along this area
and I’ll check over by the ledge."

She dismounted, dropped her
horse’s reins and walked over to the ledge. The quicker she began looking
the quicker she could get back to Sloan.

She could see fog creeping up the
wall of rock. She had never seen fog roll along the ground like it did in the
Catskills.

After an hour, she was convinced
they wouldn’t find it. It had been barely two hours since she had left
Sloan, yet she hadn't been able to stop thinking of him, their lovemaking, the
entire night of loving. Lord! How could it have been so wonderful, so perfect?

"There's no way we'll find
anything out here," she muttered, looking around for Brad. Jacie suddenly
noticed a figure appear out of the woods.

Bonnie walked towards her across
the field. She had never seen her dressed so casually in jeans, T-shirt and
hiking boots.

"Bonnie," she said,
"how did you get here so quickly? Where did you park your car?"

"That’s not
important."

"We couldn’t find the
necklace."

Bonnie shot her a surprised look.
"We?"

Jacie saw Brad climb up from a
small ledge. "I looked down over the ledge," he said, "but I
doubt we’ll find it." He looked at Bonnie in surprise.

Bonnie said angrily. "Why is
he here?"

"What’s going on?"
Jacie said suspiciously.

Bonnie stepped back from them and
pulled her hand out from behind her back. She held a small gun.

"Geez! Bonnie!" Brad
said, horrified.

Jacie stepped back, fear a huge
tightness in her throat.

"You’ve ruined everything.
I wasted months of my life on you," Bonnie spat.

Jacie put her head back,
comprehension dawning. "It was you all along." She looked around
quickly but the area was wide open, there was nowhere to run.

"You’re both
fools!" Bonnie said. She turned to Jacie. "You’ve jeopardized
his life by bringing him out here."

Jacie tried to keep her terror in
check. The hard, angry glitter in Bonnie’s eyes held her transfixed.
"Is this about the money?" She needed to buy time.

"I set it all up. I’ve
got the withdrawal papers ready, my passport, and you’re still walking
around."

"Angel Falls," Jacie said
in a low voice.

Bonnie laughed. "You two!
Taking stupid chances in a foreign country. You made it so easy."

"You weren’t
there," Brad said, edging closer.

Bonnie pointed the gun at him and
he stopped. "I didn’t have to be," she said contemptuously.
"I had somebody on the inside."

"And they tampered with my
equipment," Jacie said, realizing Sloan had been right.

The woman she had considered a
friend gave her a cold smile.

"Even if you kill me, you
won’t get the money," Jacie said.

"Don’t you worry,
I’ve always had a talent for signatures. Did you know you'd made a Last
Will and Testament leaving everything to your best friend?" She laughed.
"It’s going to show up fully executed in your belongings."
Bonnie looked contemptuously at Brad. "We’re a lot alike. You wanted
the money too, but when they find you two dead, they’re going to think
there was a struggle and you tried to kill Jacie. If they ever figure out it
wasn’t him, I’ll be long gone and a bit richer." She pointed
the gun directly at Jacie. "Back up toward the ledge."

Jacie's stomach heaved with fright,
but she didn’t move.

"Do it," Bonnie snarled.

"No!" Brad said, lunging
toward her.

The gun discharging rent the air,
echoing around them. Bonnie and Brad struggled for the weapon, stumbling back
toward the ledge. Another shot sounded.

Jacie heard Brad’s grunt of
pain. She ran to him as he doubled over and fell on the ground.

"Back away." Bonnie
pointed the gun at her.

Jacie knelt beside Brad. Blood
poured from his thigh. Turning her head, she saw the horses held their heads
high in the air, startled and quivering. A low rumbling began, like thunder in
the distance. A heightened sense of danger knifed through her. "It's the
herd." She could see a rising cloud of dust just beyond a small knoll.

"Shut up."

"They're stampeding,"
Jacie insisted. "We have to get away from the ledge. We have to run toward
the trees!"

Bonnie looked back at the
approaching herd. Alarm finally registered on her face.

Jacie tried to get Brad up, but in
seconds, she knew it was useless. The cattle were running full bore toward them
now, the width and breadth of the herd making it impossible for them to reach
the trees and possible safety. They would be caught in the middle of the
stampede.

Bonnie darted past them, running
across the field.

She pulled Brad closer to the ledge
as the first animal raced by. She was conscious of the sheer drop a mere three
feet from where they were. She looked out across the herd but she
couldn’t see Bonnie.

There was nowhere to go. The cattle
edged closer, hooves pounding the earth. Dust rose chokingly.

At a certain moment, she knew death
was imminent. There was nowhere to go but down, down over the ledge into the
ravine.

With dread, she watched the cattle
shift almost as one, pushing them further toward the edge.

Jacie helped Brad as he tried to
rise. Almost in slow motion, he fell to his knees. She clawed at him as he lost
his balance and slid part way off the ledge.

Landing brutally hard on her
stomach, she managed to grab the back of Brad’s shirt. Spots jumped
before her eyes as she hung onto him. Brad’s fingers clawed the dry
earth, trying to grab onto something, anything.

"Hold―hold still,
Brad―" Even as she gasped the words, she felt the shirt rip from her
fingers. "Brad!"

He fell from sight.

Disbelieving, she closed her eyes.
"Oh, my God!"

The ledge beneath her trembled, a
portion of it crumbling away. When she realized she too was going to fall, she
tried to scramble backwards. Shards of stone bit into her flesh as the ground
gave away. She held on a moment, her arms on the sandy ledge. Her legs dangled
as she attempted to find a foothold.

An awful emptiness filled her as time
seemed to stand still. She felt herself falling.

Ω

Sloan looked into the office and
found James inside. "Have you seen Jacie?" he asked.

Looking up from his paperwork,
James looked at the clock on the wall. "She was in the barn this morning,
about two hours ago. Renee said she and Carlton were going for a ride. I don't
know if they're back yet."

"Jacie went for a ride?"
Uneasily, Sloan thought it was odd. He hadn't been happy that Jacie was gone
when he woke, but the note she’d left had made him smile and he knew he'd
see her at some point that morning.

"I'll see if anyone knows
their whereabouts." He looked at his watch, an unfamiliar twisting in his
gut. He left the office and strode outside.

"Sloan! Sloan!" Michelle
rode furiously across the parking lot. Her horse slowed and he grabbed the
animal's reins. Looking into her alarmed face, that sickening fear grew worse.

"I was riding along the road
pasture...two gun shots...the cattle stampeded..."

An icy wave enveloped him. "I
had them penned. Is anybody out there?"

"I don't know, but two horses
came back―"

Dread consolidated into a hard
knot.

"―without riders,"
Michelle finished breathlessly.

He felt as if he'd been punched.
"Jacie." He didn't know he’d said it aloud until he saw the
alarm darken Michelle's eyes.

James appeared beside him and
gripped his shoulder. "Sloan, what's going on?"

He turned to his brother. "You
know how jumpy the herd's been, well somebody's been shooting and the cows have
stampeded. Jacie may be out there...and Carlton."

He took off at a run toward the
barns, James beside him. "Get in touch with the Sheriff's office and call
around for extra help. You'd better set up a search party. I want every
available horse saddled and ready to go."

At the barn he led his horse from
the stall and quickly slid the bridle on.

"Sloan!" Michelle called,
"Your saddle―"

"No time." Bareback, he
urged his horse in a canter, his thoughts on Jacie. Nausea churned his stomach.
He couldn't lose her. He had just found her. He couldn't lose her.

Ω

Jacie lay without moving, eyes
almost closed as she faced the dull grey sky. Slowly, her brain assimilated
information. She had fallen and so had Brad. A heavy damp fog hung everywhere.

"Help!" she called out.
Her voice sounded weak as it echoed around the stone ledges.

Her face and clothes were damp. She
felt chilled. All around her was a strange, ethereal quiet. Shards of rock and
debris showered down on her. Moving carefully, she managed to sit up, groaning
as every muscle in her body protested. Pain burned like a brand between her
shoulders, but she was alive. What about Brad?

"Brad!"

She heard a sound, like a groan.
Biting her lips, she pulled herself on her elbows to the edge of the rocky
precipice.

Lying on her stomach, she could see
a figure on a ledge below her. She could not see Brad's face. He lay unmoving
and appeared to almost blend into the rock. Drifting fog made it almost
impossible to see anything.

"Brad!" she called,
"I'm above you." She rolled to her side, glad there was no pain to
indicate cracked or broken ribs. She had been lucky, she decided, looking
upwards. Sort of.

She wondered how long they had been
here. She remembered the horses and felt a ray of hope. When they returned
alone, someone would come. Except that no one knew where they were, except
Bonnie. What had happened to her?

Sloan. She groaned. He would be
worried. Why hadn't she stayed with him this morning? None of this would have
happened.

Rain began to fall gently. She had
to figure out a way to safety.

Brad could die from exposure. That
thought made her stand up. She did so carefully, wondering if the ledge she
stood on was secure. With the exception of an overall soreness, she didn't
think she had broken anything.

Looking up, she scanned the ledge.
Going down was impossible, she knew it was a sheer drop. The way out was up.

"Brad!" she shouted.
"I'm going to climb out. I'll be back."

There was no answer. He had lost a
lot of blood, he could be in shock.

She chewed her lip nervously. She
had never attempted rock climbing without the proper ropes, and if she fell
again, this time she probably wouldn't be so lucky.

All she knew was she had to get
out. Blanking her mind to any fear, she flattened herself against the craggy
rock and began to climb.

Carefully, she searched for toe and
finger holds, prayer like a litany upon her lips.

Jacie lay a moment, hardly caring
that her cheek rested against caked mud, glad of the bits of grass tickling her
nose. It was a brief respite, she knew she must push on, but she needed just a
moment to rest.

She wasn't sure how late it was.
The day was dark and the fog looked to have enveloped everything. The air was
so heavy it felt like wet wool clinging to her clothes. She rolled onto her
side, conscious of her burning fingertips.

Brad.

She stood. It had been a long, hard
climb out of the ravine; it had seemed a lifetime. She looked around and tried
to get her bearings. Staggering, she started across the field. It was a muddy
quagmire from the rain and what the cattle had churned up.

It had rained most of the day and
she was past cold. Her throat felt raw from yelling. She had given up on that
quickly, concentrating instead on not falling. The closer she had gotten to the
top, the harder the climb became.

Bemused, she put a hand to her
temple. The day had begun so differently. She had been so content and filled
with thoughts of Sloan. . ..

God! He probably thought she had
fallen from the face of the earth. With a grim smile, she conceded they almost
had.

A noise broke the silence, startling
in its suddenness. Twin beams of light cut across the pasture. She forced her
legs to move as she waved her arms.

Bright light sliced across her and
just as suddenly an engine accelerated. The lights jumped wildly as the truck
raced across the uneven pasture.

Such enormous relief welled she
couldn't stop the moisture burning her lids. Somehow, she knew it had to be
Sloan.