Now and Always (29 page)

“There's nothing to talk about. You and your God. Always prattling about his plan for your life. Let me clue you in, Katie. He doesn't
have
a plan for your life. He doesn't care about you. If there is a God, he doesn't care about your niggling problems. You're on your own, just like the rest of us, so don't give me any junk about how God wants you to keep that shelter open. You're keeping it open because
you
want to, and how I feel or what I want doesn't mean a thing to you.”

How could she have been so foolish? This was the man she had wanted to marry? The one she believed God had sent? He was right about one thing, it was her fault she was standing on this snowy hilltop pleading for . . . what? Her life?

“You. It's been
you
terrorizing me.” Comprehension flooded her. How had she
been so blind? How could he have run such a fright campaign and not been discovered?

He laughed. “And you called me to rescue you. How dumb could you be, Katie? You deserved what you got. Wise up, sweetheart. Women are like leeches, sucking the blood out of men. Well, this man isn't going to be taken for another ride.”

The blizzard formed a blinding curtain. Katie was trapped in the storm's fury with a deranged mind, and there was a good chance she wasn't going to walk away alive. No one knew where she was. Warren hadn't given her a chance to tell Tottie or the other women. Katie realized he had intended this moment from the time he walked in the door that night.

The snow's reflection sharpened his features, carved of ice. She met his eyes and what she saw horrified her. She backed away slowly, sliding one foot behind the other in a vain attempt to escape the drop-off.

He reached out and snagged her arm. “You're not going anywhere.”

She whirled but he lunged, shoving her closer to the edge of the ridge. Scuffling, Katie managed to regain her balance. For one split second, she stared into the face of a killer. “Don't do this. By all that is holy,
don't
do this.”

He danced playfully, reaching out to nudge her closer and closer. “Scared, Katie? I've been scared. It's not fun, huh?” He shoved her, and then caught her arm seconds before she fell.

“Stop this!”

“Oh, poor little Katie. Where's your womenfolk? Shouldn't they be here to save you from a big bad ole man?” He reached out with a foot, easing her closer to the precipice.

Katie sidestepped his boot, but suddenly the ground gave way. For an instant, their eyes met before she toppled over the edge.

Warren hit the snow on his stomach, extending a hand. By now she was hanging by a thread on a loose bough.

“I can't . . . reach you,” she pleaded. Her fingers flayed air.

He scooted closer, bending more, reaching to grab her. Fingers brushed, and then suddenly the bough snapped.

Katie tumbled down, down, down.

Lying perfectly still, Warren listened to the snow and darkness envelope her screams.

“Poor baby.” Finally, he leaned forward. “Merry Christmas. Broad.”

Thirty-Six

Hours passed. No, she had fallen over the cliff only minutes ago, or was it hours? Disoriented, Katie tried to focus. She was on a ledge. Elation filled her. She was alive! She'd found footing. Elation turned to stark dismay. So what? She was perched on a razor-thin ledge with an indeterminable drop beneath her.

No way out.

“No way out, no way out, no way out!” shrieked the howling
wind.

Even if she managed to cling to the ledge, she'd quickly die of exposure. Temperatures had to be in the low thirties and dropping. Her coat was heavy, but not heavy enough.

Sometimes what a person wants is under her nose all along.
Tottie's words rang in her ears.

Ben, not Warren
. Did it take a hundred-foot drop to oblivion to jar her thick senses?

Ben had been in her life for so long, she'd ceased to notice him.
Others knew his worth, but you, Katie, you set your eyes on
the superficial, the adventurous; not without God, but not with
him either.

In that tent on the carnival ground, you took your eye off
God.

And now you are paying for your mistakes.

Not for a moment did she think God had a vendetta against her. He'd given her choices, and she'd been so certain her choices had been his leading. Why else would he have allowed her to dream? What she wouldn't admit, but now knew with certainty, flooded her. Even with her belief in God, she had put stock in a carnival gypsy's ramblings. Shame flooded her.
Oh God. I'm so very sorry. If only I had listened to
my heart instead of meaningless predictions. If only I hadn't taken
my eye off of you — just that one moment, and I slipped.

Sinking to the shelf, Katie huddled, tears rolling down her cheeks. Shelter, she had to find shelter, but there was none. She scooted, pressing her back to the thin wall. The wind had shifted, blowing north. A crevasse, narrow but wide enough to provide a break from the driving snow, offered protection, but not enough. She'd die here on this ledge, and no one would ever find her.

Katie heard the faint snap of dead branches. Someone was coming down the incline. Warren? To finish what he'd started?

Her cell phone rang.

Fumbling in her pocket, she hit the on button. “Hello.”

“Katie?” Ben's voice came over the line, cutting in and out with the poor signal.

“Yeah?”

“Where are you?”

“Here.”

“Where!”

It hit her.
Her cell phone.
Dear God, forgive a fool! Sitting up straighter, she babbled through stiff lips. “Oh Ben! I'm on a ledge!”

“On a what?”

“A ledge — I fell over an embankment.” Her voice caught. “I managed to grab a branch and swing onto a shelf, but I think Warren's coming down the hill to find me . . .”

No questions about Warren. No demanded explanations on why she had fallen over a cliff or why Warren was on his way down the hillside.
Thank you, my dear, sweet Ben.
Maybe he knew — maybe he'd known all along that Warren was a rat.

“
Exactly
where are you?”

Exactly? Think, Katie. Where
are
you?
She remembered turning off on a dirt road and the treacherous incline.

“Dirt road,” she managed through lips anesthetized with cold. “About . . . half mile from the monument . . . easy to miss. Have to watch carefully. On the right . . .”

“Dirt road on the right about a half mile from the Tower?”

“I think so — I don't think they use the road much anymore — ” The cell phone bleeped. Call ended. Katie's confusion bloomed. Sleep. That's what she needed. She huddled deeper into the crevice, her eyes drifting shut. It wasn't as cold now.
Thank you, God. It isn't as cold.

Why wasn't it so cold?

Katie threw up her hands and shrugged, giggling. “Maybe spring has sprung!” Spring with its warm breezes and pasque-flowers carpeting the foothills. Larkspur, penstemons, and blue flag on the prairies.

Eight children were playing at the foot of the rock. Seven
sisters and their brother.

You're hallucinating, Katie.

They were stars now. Big Dipper stars. She snickered. Maybe it wasn't God's plan for her to marry at all; maybe he intended her to be a big ole star . . .

Ben phoned for backup. He needed help, and he needed it fast. Katie sounded confused. She'd been exposed to the cold for too long. His mind went over the hazards of exposure. The body could be fooled into thinking it was warm and start shedding coats and other garments, speeding up the time of death. And if she was on a narrow ledge, she could get confused and walk off it to her death.

Ruby answered, and Ben filled her in on details. “Have an ambulance and emergency equipment standing by. We have someone over the side. I'll call with the location as soon as I have it.”

“Someone over the side on a night like this? These crazy climbers.”

He didn't explain.

“I need backup. Ruby? Patch me through to Candlelight Shelter.” Seconds later Tottie came on the line.

“You were right,” Ben said.

“I
knew
it. I've suspected that man was up to no good when I saw him take Katie without telling anyone. Where is she?”

“She's okay, Tottie. Relax. I'll bring her home as soon as I can. Gotta go.” He clicked off.
God, help me keep that
promise.

Ben hit the siren, and the squad car flew down the highway throwing a wide slough of mud and slush. He located the dirt road and the tire tracks half hidden by blowing snow. One set going in, but nothing coming out.

What was he looking at here? Assault? Attempted murder? Was Warren Tate now making his way down the hillside to finish Katie off? He would assume that he could take his time, that no one would be looking for Katie, and nothing indicated that Tate meant her any harm. He couldn't survive the elements.

Halfway up the road, Ben spotted Warren's vehicle. Pulling in behind the truck, Ben braked and looked the situation over. The vehicle didn't appear to be occupied. He eased his nine millimeter automatic out of the holster and opened his car door. Nothing moved. Cautiously he approached Warren's pickup. A quick look inside revealed his suspicion; the truck was empty. Ben played light over the ground, spotting the faint outline of footsteps. Two people had walked away from the pickup. No one had come back. The headlights were on.

Warren had brought Katie out here for what? To harm her? Silence her? Whatever his intentions, something had gone wrong.

Thank you
,
God, that she had managed to get on that ledge
. But if Ben didn't find Katie soon, it wouldn't matter. She wouldn't last long in this storm. If only he hadn't wasted so much time arguing with Tottie — wasted time that could cost Katie her life.

“She's in trouble, Ben. I feel it in my bones.”

“I can't intrude on her and Warren's date,” he'd argued.

“You can and you will. Something's wrong, Ben. Bad wrong.
You go up there. Now.”

A muscle worked tightly in his jaw.
Stay cool. You can't help
Katie unless you focus.
His instinct was to go after the miscreant and deal with him man to man, though Tate wasn't a man. He was a coward, a simpering coward who badgered helpless women. Heat built inside Ben, and he clamped his jaw tighter and made a second call to dispatch to give his location.

Help arrived, one, then two cars. In the distance, a siren's wail filled the stormy night.

Deputies exited cars and approached Ben. “What have we got?” Ralph Parker studied the scene. Ralph had been with Ben twelve years, and there was none better at his job.

“Woman over the side.” Ben pulled on a heavy down jacket and zipped it. “She's on a ledge somewhere down there. I'm going over.”

“Are you sure?” Ralph frowned. “Why not wait until the emergency crews get here? The firemen will have better equipment than we have.”

“Not on your life. Katie Addison's down there.”

“Katie?” Both newcomers turned to focus on the steep incline.

Pulling on gloves, Ben snapped, “Find Warren Tate; he'll be able to give you the specifics. He's in the area. Get the others on it. You stay here in case I need you. I'll go after Katie.”

“Is she okay?”

“Yeah.” Ben turned to study the incline. “She's more than okay.”

Brows lifted. “How can you know?” Bill asked.

He shot the man an impatient look. “I just talked to her on her cell phone.”

Bill Hanks lifted his hat and scratched his head. “Of course. He just talked to her on her cell phone. Why didn't we think of that?”

“Ben, listen.” Ralph latched onto his arm. “You can't go down there. Man alive, you don't have a chance of finding her in these conditions. Wait until help arrives.”

“I'm going down when I locate the spot she went over. You know that.” He strapped on a safety harness and tightened the straps. “It can't be too far from Tate's truck.”

After a tense minute, the deputy nodded. “We'll have your back. If you need us, call, but be careful.”

Ben followed the tracks, losing them more than once, but eventually they led to the spot on the rim of a steep cliff where it was evident someone had shuffled. He gaped at the sharp drop-off. Bad enough in good weather, it would be almost impossible to descend now that it was snow-covered and dark. Still, he didn't have a choice. Katie was down there somewhere. He'd talked to her. She was alive, and he had to find her and get her out of there while she still had a chance.

Ben worked his way down the slippery incline, rope in hand. Twice he paused to dial Katie's cell phone, but the ring switched to voice mail. Where was she? There could be a hundred and one places she could have fallen. How could he expect to find her?