Red Velvet Revenge (27 page)

“Have you been following me?” Mel asked. “Wait! Are you the one who unplugged my freezers?”

Jake pushed them both ahead of him and out the door. “Yes and no.”

“Explain,” she said.

“Yes, I’ve been following you, and no, I didn’t unplug your freezers.”

“I don’t really think the freezers are an issue right now, do you?” Joe asked.

Mel shrugged. “Sorry. I’m panicking.”

“Understood,” he said. “Um…who is this guy?”

“Jake Morgan, he works for the Hazards.”

Jake pushed them through the door. Any hope Mel had been harboring that someone would be out here and stop this madness vanished.

Jake tossed his keys to Mel and said, “You know how to drive my truck. Get in.”

“When did you drive his truck?” Joe asked.

“Getting cake pop supplies,” Mel said. “Little did I know the opportunity would present itself again so soon and at gunpoint.”

Jake wrenched the door open and had Joe sit in the middle with his hands on the dash where Jake could see them. Mel started the truck with shaking fingers.

“I know how much you care about the Hazard family, Jake,” she said. “But this isn’t the way to help them.”

“Drive out of the rodeo, nice and slow, and act casual,” he said.

Mel put the truck into gear. She could feel Joe pressed
against her side as he was wedged between her and Jake, and a landslide of guilt hit her when she realized he could be harmed, and it would be her fault. He was only here because he’d been worried about her. She couldn’t let anything happen to him.

“Listen, Jake,” she said. “I know what Lily did.”

“No, Mel,” Joe said. “Don’t say anything.”

Mel gave him a sharp look. What did he mean? Shouldn’t they try to talk their way out of this?

“I’m sorry,” Jake said. “I feel bad about this. I like you, Mel—you’re good people—but you’re too close.”

“Too close to what?” she asked.

Jake shook his head, and Mel knew they wouldn’t get any more information out of him. He was the original strong, silent type.

Joe must have come to the same conclusion, because he turned to Jake and said, “We know about Hannah’s baby.”

Jake’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t say anything. He was staring straight ahead while Mel drove along the jutted dirt road.

“Turn left here,” he said.

Mel pulled the wheel to the left. She could see the rodeo in the rearview mirror. Would anyone in the van even notice that she hadn’t shown up for her shift, or would they write it off because Joe was here?

“Jake, you can’t protect her,” she said. She saw Joe shake his head out of the corner of her eye, and she knew he was telling her to stop, but she kept going. “Was Ty trying to take away the ranch because he felt it was his rightful inheritance?”

“Mel, you’ve got it all wrong,” Jake said.

She leaned over Joe and looked at him. What did she have
wrong? And then she saw it in his profile. He had Slim’s nose and his jaw, and although his eyes were a different color, they were the same shape.

“You’re Hannah’s baby,” she said. “Jake, you’re a Hazard!”

“Stop here,” he said.

Mel put on the brakes slowly, still reeling from the realization that Jake was the missing baby. How had she not seen it before?

“Get out of the truck and keep your hands where I can see them,” he said.

Mel noticed that the sun had begun its downward descent. The shadow of the old, abandoned barn in front of them was long and ominous, like a boney hand reaching out to pull them into their grave.

Jake gestured for them to walk toward the ramshackle sliding door. It protested with a shriek when he slid it open, and Mel felt it slice all the way into her bones.

It was dark and dry and smelled musty. Broken farm equipment and rusty tools lay scattered along one wall like this was the crypt where old tools came to die in.

The only light came from the open door, and Mel felt her throat get dry as Jake led them to the center. She thought about running. She glanced at Joe to see if she could tell what he was thinking, and he turned and met her gaze with a small shake of his head.

“Stand back-to-back,” Jake said.

He had brought a length of rope with him, and as Mel turned to stand with her back to Joe’s, she wondered how Jake thought he was going to tie them and hold the gun on them at the same time.

There was the sound of a fist smacking flesh, and Joe fell against her back. She spun and tried to catch him before he fell.

“What the hell did you do that for?” she asked.

“If you run, I’ll shoot him,” he said.

Mel staggered under Joe’s weight, easing him to the floor. With Joe unconscious, she suddenly felt very alone and very, very afraid.

“What are you going to do with us?” she asked.

“I don’t know yet,” he said.

If he hadn’t been tying them up and holding a gun on them, Mel might have felt sorry for him. As it was, she just felt angry.

“Jake, think about what you’re doing,” she said. “It’s not too late to turn it around.”

“Yes, it is,” he snapped. “Don’t you get it? I killed Ty. Sit back-to-back. Now.”

Mel turned her back to Joe’s and propped him with her weight. She felt the bite of the rope as Jake tied her wrists and then Joe’s, and then looped the last length of rope around their chests.

“Jake, what happened? What happened with you and Ty?” she asked. “If it was self-defense, you can do a deal. Everyone knows Ty was a mean and nasty drunk. You can get out of this, Jake.”

“No, Mel, I can’t,” he said. “I’m really sorry.”

He rose and left, leaving them sitting in the dirt of the old barn. When the sliding door squeaked shut, Mel began to shake so badly she was surprised Joe’s teeth didn’t rattle him awake.

A scuffle sounded in the corner, and her first thought
was that it was her imagination. Her second thought was that it was a rat. Her third thought was that it was a mountain lion, looking for dinner.

The only light came through the slits of the sun-dried, shrunken wood of the old barn walls. The fine cracks of light did nothing to illuminate the gloom, and Mel could feel her heart pounding in her throat.

The scuffle sounded again, and this time she was quite sure it was a rat. Mountain lions probably didn’t make that much noise when they were stalking their dinner. Rats shouldn’t, either, for that matter. What if it was a spider? She felt her skin crawl as she pictured a hairy tarantula scuttling on its eight legs toward her.

“Joe!” she hissed. “Joe, wake up.”

She tried to jiggle him awake, but it was no use. He was deadweight against her back. She tried not to knock their heads together as she worked at the ropes. Since Jake had been less than forthcoming with his plans for them, she had no idea when he would be back or what he planned to do with them when he arrived.

The scuffling noise sounded closer, and Mel could feel her body break out into a panicked sweat. This was completely unacceptable. She stomped her feet against the floor. Whether it was in anger or just a grown woman’s tantrum, she didn’t know, but the scuffling noise stopped. In fact, she felt quite sure she heard it heading in the opposite direction now.

“That’s more like it,” she said. The sound of her voice in the closed, stale air gave her courage. She stomped on the floor again and again until she was quite sure that her ruckus had driven away any creepy-crawlies.

She twisted her wrists, trying to loosen the ropes, but managed only to give herself a scorching case of rope burn. She tried to wriggle out of the rope around her chest but only knocked her head against Joe’s, giving herself a mild headache.

She had no idea how much time was passing, and she was worried that Jake had hit Joe so hard that he had a concussion. Her thoughts lingered on Jake. Why had he murdered Ty?

He was Hannah’s son. He was a Hazard. Obviously, Shelby and Lily didn’t know he was their cousin. They didn’t even know they had a cousin. Did Slim know? If so, why hadn’t he told anyone?

Why had Jake taken her and Joe out here? He said it was because she was too close to it. Too close to what? The truth? Which truth? The truth about him being a Hazard or the truth about him killing Ty Stokes?

Mel felt the dust tickle her nose, and she had a violent spell of sneezing, which was disgusting because, with her hands behind her back, she could hardly use them and had to wipe her nose on her shoulder. Ick.

“God bless you,” Joe said.

“Joe! You’re awake,” she cried. “Thank goodness. Joe, we have to get out of here. I have no idea what Jake’s planning or what he’s up to, but it can’t be good.”

“Jake?” Joe’s voice was groggy. “Did you remember to feed Captain Jack? I keep hearing him crying.”

“I think you were dreaming, Joe,” she said gently but insistently. “We’re tied up in an old barn, and Captain Jack is home terrorizing my mother with his disappearing acts.”

“Oh, yeah,” Joe said with a chuckle. “He got stuck in your boot. I like that cat.”

“Come on, Joe, catch up,” she said.

“It’s dark in here,” he said. “And it smells like my aunt Carolyn’s basement.”

“It’s a barn,” she said with a sigh.

“Oh.” He was quiet for a moment or two. “Mel, why are my hands tied behind my back?”

“We’re in trouble, Joe,” Mel said. “Big trouble.”

“The last time I was in trouble with you, I was naked,” he said.

“You’re thinking about that now?” she asked.

“Then you launched a candle at him, and I got his gun,” he said.

“Oh, you’re thinking about
that
,” she said.

She felt her cheeks grow warm in the dark. Joe had been thinking of the last time they had faced off with a killer, while she had been thinking he meant…Well, the word
naked
did bring certain moments to mind. She shook her head to clear it.

“Joe, how’s your head? Are you woozy? Do you have a headache?” she asked. “I need you to help me think of a way out of here.”

“You know, I’d rather be tied to you than any other woman I’ve ever known,” he said. He leaned his head back so it rested on her right shoulder, and when she leaned her head back to do the same, she could just see the outline of his face.

“Oh, Joe,” she sighed.

“Mel, will you marry me?” he asked.

Thirty-one

The door squealed in protest as it was forced open, and Mel wondered if it had been waiting for her answer. An answer that was wiped from her mind as she took in the figure of a man silhouetted in the doorway.

“Jake, you’ve reconsidered. Thank goodness,” she said.

“I’m afraid not, Mel,” he said. “You’re going to have to come with me.”

Mel wished she could see Joe’s face to figure out what to do. Jake came over and hauled them up to their feet. He took off the rope that had them tied together, and Mel would have given anything to throw her arms around Joe. Instead, she circled around to the front of him, trying to see if his pupils were dilated. The light in the barn was dim, and his eyes were such a rich brown, she couldn’t tell.

“Jake, I think you hit him too hard,” she said. “I think he might have a concussion.”

“I’m sorry about that,” he said. He looked genuinely aggrieved, and Mel didn’t doubt him, but it only added to the confusion that was swirling in her head.

“Into the truck,” he said.

As they stepped out of the barn, Mel saw that he had parked his truck in front of the barn.

“Hey, nice truck!” Joe said. “Thanks for the lift. I really didn’t want to have to walk back.”

Jake frowned at him, and Mel tried to look into Joe’s eyes again. Now that they were in the last bit of daylight, she could see that his pupils were just fine. Jake was standing on his left side, and Joe used the opportunity to wink at Mel with his right eye, the one Jake couldn’t see.

“I really think he’s gone wonky,” Mel said. “He needs a doctor.”

Jake shook his head. “A doctor can’t help him now.”

Mel and Joe exchanged an alarmed look. The despair in Jake’s voice made her more afraid of what he was planning.

Jake pulled a long, lethal-looking knife out of a sheath on his hip, and he sliced through their bonds. Mel’s arms ached with the release, and she rolled her shoulders, trying to stretch.

“Come on,” Jake said. His voice was almost gentle when he said to Mel, “You’ll need to drive.”

“No problem. She’s a great driver.” Joe gave him a loopy look that Mel was glad she knew was a put-on, or she’d have been worried.

Joe strode to the truck as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

“Where to, then?” he asked. He held open the driver’s side door for Mel, and as she climbed in he made his way to the other side. “I’m hungry. Anyone else care for a nice, juicy steak?”

“Later, maybe,” Jake said. He had his gun in hand, and he followed Joe into the truck cab.

Mel turned the key, and in a steady voice, she asked, “Where to, then?”

“Dead Man’s Curve,” Jake said.

“Is it a restaurant?” Joe asked. “Great name. It sounds like a restaurant with great steaks.”

Mel felt her breathing get tight. She remembered her first encounter with Dead Man’s Curve. The cupcake van had barely made it around the treacherous turns on their way here. She did not like the resigned feeling she was getting from Jake.