Lonestar Angel (34 page)

“Oh, but she intended to. I had to stop her.”

She doubted she could trust this guy. “How do I know that you’ll turn her loose?”

“You have my word.”

“The word of a kidnapper? That’s hardly any guarantee.”

“Brianna is next. Do you want their blood on your hands?”

She shuddered at the mental image. What could she do? If only she could summon help. Someone could sneak into the barn and find out who was threatening her. But even if she yelled for help, Allie wouldn’t get here in time. Eden could run in the front of the barn, but the man was likely to escape out the back.

“What’s it going to be, Eden? Your choice.”

“Who are you?”

“You should know.”

The voice was distant now, as though the man had moved away from the wall. Which way should she go to catch a glimpse of him as he fled? She paused a moment, then ran for the back of the barn. Nothing. She ran around the side to the front. No one there either. Did she dare go inside? She glanced at the corral and saw Buzz pulling a saddle from a horse.

“Buzz!” She waved frantically, and he dropped the saddle on the top rail of the fence and joined her.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“There’s someone in the barn, threatening me. Will you go inside with me?”

He pushed his hat to the back of his head. “Ain’t no one, Miss Eden. I was just in there.”

She grabbed his arm and tugged him toward the barn door. “It’s the person who tried to kill me, Buzz!”

He quit resisting her. “I’ll get him, Miss Eden!” Detaching his arm from her grip, he stepped inside the barn’s shadows.

She hesitated outside, then followed him. The darkness was an adjustment after the brilliance of the day outside. It took a moment to see clearly. She sniffed to see if the guy’s cologne perfumed the air but smelled only hay and horse. Buzz was cautiously checking out the stalls. He shook his head when he saw her in the doorway.

“The haymow?” she asked.

He shrugged, then climbed the ladder to the haymow. While he searched there, she went to where the man must have stood while he was talking to her. The tack hung on nails, and metal cans of feed lined the area. Staring hard, she thought she saw the imprint of where he’d stood. But there was no other sign that he’d been here.

Buzz’s feet appeared from the haymow as he backed down the ladder. He shook his head. “No one here, ma’am.”

She shivered as she realized she was no closer to identifying the kidnapper. And Clay was out there looking too. He needed to be warned. Whoever this guy was, when he learned that Hector had been arrested, his venom would increase.

By dark the men had to give up. The moonless night was too black to see tracks or even the ground from their perches on their horses. Clay didn’t want to admit defeat, but he had no choice. Eden would be worried as well. Lacie would have to have heard about it by now too, poor kid. Eden had left a message on his voice mail, but he’d been riding at the time and lost the signal before the message could play.

His spirits were dragging by the time he dismounted at the barn. One of the stable hands grabbed the reins of both horses and led them off to be curried. Clay’s belly rumbled and he realized he hadn’t eaten since breakfast. It was now nine.

“I reckon Allie will have something warm for us,” Rick said.

Though he was hungry, Clay wanted to see Eden. “I think I’ll have a peanut butter sandwich at the bunkhouse, then hit the hay. See you in the morning.”

“Thanks for your help,” Rick called, heading to the house.

Clay’s steps dragged as he went back to the bunkhouse. The drone of the TV floated from the building. Canned laughter, then a man speaking. Andy Griffith. He stepped inside to the aroma of popcorn. It was like a welcome-home kiss.

He didn’t call out Eden’s name because he didn’t want to wake the girls. After hanging his hat on the hook by the door, he kicked off his boots and padded in his stocking feet to the living room. Eden lay sprawled on the sofa, one arm flung over her head. Lacie was curled in the crook of Eden’s arm. Their eyes were closed. So peaceful. When they heard the news that Sister Marjo was still missing, they’d be upset.

He thought about carrying Lacie to the bedroom, but he’d probably wake them both that way. Rattling around in the kitchen would awaken them too. He grabbed an apple from a bowl on the table and went to the bedroom. Maybe there was something on the news about Sister Marjo.

He fired up his laptop and logged on to the Internet. Nothing on the news. Maybe a nun’s disappearance in the desert wasn’t newsworthy. Checking his e-mail would help him unwind. He was still wired. He launched Apple Mail and saw he had five messages, all from his superior officer. A new hot spot was breaking out in Africa. He wanted Clay to cut his leave short and come back. Clay’s fingers poised on the keys. No time like the present.

He wrote an e-mail telling the captain that he would be on leave until his enlistment ran out.

Now he had to figure out what he wanted to do, but God had led him this far. There was something out there for him. He went to the national park site and studied the openings. Nothing in Big Bend yet, but it would come. He was sure of it.

His camera bag was beside his chair. He hadn’t seen the pictures he took of the tornado yet. Plugging his camera into the laptop, he took a look at the shots he’d taken. The first one made him suck in his breath.

“I bet I can sell these,” he said. He called up his list of publications and contacts, then returned to the Internet. It was satellite Internet, slow as molasses, but he got the best images sent off to his top-paying contact. He would go through every door the Lord opened. The future would be good as long as he had God and his family.

He shut down the computer, then went to check on Eden. She had rolled to her side. Before he decided what to do, she opened her eyes and gave a sleepy smile.

“Hi, beautiful,” he said, sinking to his knees by the sofa.

“You’re home,” she murmured, stretching her hand toward him. He leaned over to kiss her, but before his lips touched hers, her eyes filled with alarm.

“What’s wrong?”

“Did you get my message?” she whispered over Lacie’s head.

He shook his head. “No signal most of the time. I saw you’d called, but I figured you were wondering when I was coming home.”

She clasped her arms around their daughter. “He was here.”

“Who?”

“The kidnapper.”

He started to rise. “You saw him?”

“No, he was in the barn. Whispering to me through the wall.” She shuddered.

His temper began to simmer. “Did you call for help?” He sat beside her and slipped his arm around his girls.

She nestled against him. “Buzz helped me look for him. I think he must have watched to see which door I went to first, then waited for me to go to the other one before darting out the back.”

“What did he say?” As she told him the guy’s claim that he had Sister Marjo, his gut twisted. “Did you tell Allie?”

“Of course. She called the sheriff, but there wasn’t anything he could do. We have no idea who the guy is. If Hector would cooperate, we could get him. Julia said one of the other men is talking, though.”

For the first time in a lot of years, Clay wanted to swear. He’d get his hands on the guy and make sure he never bothered Eden again. “I’m going to check out the barn. Maybe there’s a clue you missed.”

When he pulled his arm away, she grabbed it. “It’s dark out there now, Clay. Buzz and I checked it out. There’s nothing.”

“I have to see for myself. I’ll be right back.” He shoved his feet back into his boots, grabbed the flashlight, then went across the yard to the barn.

When he flipped the wall switch, the lights pushed back the shadows but not enough. Eden was right, though he hated to admit it. Even the flashlight didn’t help much. In the side of the barn where she said the man must have stood, Clay scuffed the loose straw on the floor with his boot. Nothing but floorboards under there.

He ran his hand along the sill and checked out the tack hanging on the walls. His fingers touched some kind of wire. He traced it up to a tiny speaker just over the window.

“What on earth?” he muttered.

The guy had rigged up some way to talk to her while she stood outside. No wonder she and Buzz hadn’t seen him. He’d never been there in the first place.

32

E
DEN EXPECTED
C
LAY BACK FROM THE BARN ANY MINUTE
. S
HE
’
D RETURNED
L
ACIE TO BED
and gone into the kitchen to get Clay some dinner. Chili bubbled in the pan on the stove. She stirred it, then shut off the gas. She cut slices of homemade bread and got out the peanut butter.

“Miss Eden?”

She turned to see Madeline rubbing her eyes. “What are you doing up, sweetheart?”

“I heard a voice.” The little girl leaned against her leg and moved restlessly. “I have to potty.”

“It was just Mr. Clay. He got home. Let’s get you back to bed.” She took the girl to the bathroom, then tucked her back into her bed. “It’s okay.”

“Read me a story,” Madeline said, pulling the sheet to her chin.

The night always brought a new softness to the child, but her underlying antagonism returned with the morning light.

“You’ve already had a story.” Eden kissed her cheek. “I’ll sing you a song, though.” She sang the favorite “Amazing Grace” and realized how meaningful the words were to her tonight, how amazing it was that God had brought her daughter back to her.

Madeline was still awake, so Eden caressed her hair and sang two more verses. She could feel the little girl relaxing. Her gaze went to the bed where Lacie lay, but it was too dark to make out the child’s features. Soon they’d be a family. The three of them could cuddle in a king-size bed and tell stories and sing songs.

“Mr. Clay was outside my window,” Madeline muttered, her eyes already closing.

Eden didn’t bother to explain that his voice had carried from the living room. She went back to the kitchen and glanced out the window but saw no sign of Clay. Maybe she could check her e-mail while she was waiting. She went to the bedroom and lifted the lid of Clay’s MacBook. It opened to the mail program. She started to click out of it, but the message from Clay’s commander was on the screen and she caught the words M
IDDLE
E
AST
A
SSIGNMENT
.

She felt sick as she read the captain’s request for Clay to cut short his leave and head out on a new tour of duty. What had been his response? He’d talked about living here, but when it came down to actually walking away from the military, would he do it? She feared the answer was no.

No longer in the mood to check her e-mail, she shut the lid and went back to the kitchen. She picked up the plate of bread she’d cut. As she set the bread on the table, the lights in the kitchen went out.

Every muscle tensed. “Clay?” Did she hear breathing or was it her imagination? She felt along the top of the refrigerator. No flashlight. Of course, Clay had taken it. She didn’t even know where to look for another. She stood in the middle of the kitchen with her heart pounding against her ribs.

She had to get help. Cautiously feeling her way, she eased toward the door. When she stepped onto the porch, a breeze lifted her hair. It was just as dark out here. There was no moon, and clouds hid the stars. She couldn’t even see the steps to the yard. Her hand found the porch post, then her foot felt the steps drop off. If she didn’t fear waking the girls, she’d call out to Clay from here. The thought of walking across the yard in her bare feet was daunting. There could be snakes, scorpions, or tarantulas.

After hesitating, she decided to go back and get her shoes. It wasn’t as though the lights being out would awaken the girls. She retreated to the house and felt her way to the living room, where she found her shoes by the sofa. She slid her feet into them and went to the back door again. From here she should see the lights on in the barn. At least she had a direction to aim for. It was pitch black out here. She realized she still clutched the spoon she’d used to stir the chili.

She heard something behind her. “Clay?”