Tattered Legacy (A Nora Abbott Mystery) (23 page)

He pushed himself to his knees and grabbed a fistful of her T-shirt, hauling her up as he got to his feet. He didn’t speak, just turned toward the house and started dragging her.

She pulled back, struggling and twisting. “Let me go!”

The night closed around them in deep darkness and the rain felt like a curtain. The illumination of the cabin flitted like a strobe light.

Lee slipped in the slick mud and Nora lurched back, ready to make another run. He reached out and closed long fingers around her ankle. He jerked and sent her to the mud bath again. Then Lee yanked her arm and pulled her to her feet. Without stopping, he grabbed her around her waist and hoisted her to his shoulder. With Nora’s rear in the air, Lee struggled through the red soup toward the house. She knew her kicking and squirming wouldn’t do much good. He had wrestled calves and cows meaner and stronger than Nora.

Rachel met them on the front porch. She held the door open and Lee shoved Nora inside. He followed her and Rachel came after him, shutting the heavy oak door against the rain and wind. Abbey closed in on her, wedging himself so close to her legs he nearly sent her sprawling. He panted and dripped saliva on the floor. Mud and rain slid from his fur. Thunder and lightning scared him and he must have panicked in the Jeep, throwing himself against the loosely latched door until it opened. She put a hand on his head to reassure him and he leaned against her.

Nora straightened and planted her dripping feet on the wood floor. She put her hand on her hips and demanded, “What have you done with my mother?”

“She’s with Uncle Warren,” Lee growled and took hold of her shoulder, forcing her to sit on a barstool.

Abbey pressed against her.

A gust of wind rattled against the windows, roaring its challenge to the night.

Abigail was alone with the man who’d raped her more than thirty years ago. She’d be terrified, assuming she was still alive. “What does he want with her?”

Lee pressed Nora’s shoulders down, keeping her in the chair. “My best guess is that he’s looking for you.”

“Call him, tell him to let Abigail go.”

“Why would I do that?”

She glared at him. “If you don’t, I’ll go to the FBI.”

He called over his shoulder to Rachel. “Get me some rope.”

Nora jerked her arms but he didn’t lose his grip. “I’ve got proof you killed Lisa. I found her camera and it shows you there.”

He frowned. “Where?”

“Let me go and I’ll give you the camera.”

He ignored her and hollered for Rachel to bring the rope.

Nora struggled against him but made little headway. Any knot Lee tied would hold Nora for decades—or at least as long as it took for Warren to hurt Abigail.

Outside, lightning flashed and thunder sounded like a hungry lion. Abbey whined and put both front paws on Nora’s thighs, lifting himself to standing. If she hadn’t been propped on the barstool, he’d have crawled into her lap. The rain streamed down the windows in a black cascade.

Rachel appeared behind Lee, a roll of duct tape in her hands. “We don’t have any rope. You can use this.”

He grabbed it from Rachel with one hand while keeping a vise grip on Nora’s shoulder. He held the roll to his mouth and peeled a corner loose with his teeth.

Rachel shifted from foot to foot. “You don’t have to tape her up. She’ll stay here.”

With the end of the tape in his mouth, he jerked the roll away from him, making it squawk. He lifted his hand from her shoulder.

Nora shoved her feet against the rungs of the stool and leaped from the chair. She had barely moved before Lee’s fingers clamped around her wrist and yanked her back. Her arm twisted behind her and she cried out.

A German shepherd or Doberman pinscher might have taken her cry of pain as a sign to go for the jugular of her attacker. Abbey just appeared more agitated and frightened than ever.

Lee snapped her other wrist around. The tape roll dangled from his mouth. He used the same motions he’d probably practiced a million times for rodeo calf tying. Within seconds he’d whipped the end of the tape from his mouth, slapped it on her wrist, and wound the roll around both wrists to secure her.

He held her down by her shoulder again and hollered at Rachel. “Tape her ankles to the stool.”

“This isn’t necessary. We can take care of her without taping her up.”

Rachel was right. How much strapping down does it take to hold someone still enough to shoot them? Or slit a throat, or bash in their brains with a rock?

“Besides, she can’t go anywhere in this storm,” Rachel said.

“It’s always this way with you. Always arguing, always questioning, needing to know why.”

Maybe they’d strike up a lover’s spat and Nora could bolt. But Rachel was right. The ground had been soup when they’d been outside. The rain had continued, driving down in sheets and running along the desert floor. Her Jeep might be stuck.

“We’ve got to keep her here,” Lee said. “What if she gets away and Darrell finds her?”

“Damn it! Listen to me for once. Leave her alone. She’s not going anywhere.”

“Do you want to take that chance?”

If Darrell was here, he’d have made a move to rescue her by now. Maybe Warren had him. Her last hope of help faded.

Rachel took the roll of tape and bent down to Nora’s legs. Abbey licked her face and she gently pushed him aside. He crowded in close to her.

Nora twitched her legs back and forth to keep Rachel from binding them. Lee’s face exploded with pent-up temper. He pulled one hand back to strike her. Rachel jumped up and grabbed it before he could swing. “No!”

He stared at Rachel, nostrils flaring.

Rachel’s voice dipped low and slow. “As far as I know, you’ve never hit a woman. Don’t start now.”

Never hit a woman? She guessed snapping someone’s neck and arranging her body to look like an accident didn’t count as hitting.

Lee gritted his teeth and said to Nora, “Cooperate. This is for your own good.”

Interesting what he thought was good for Nora. Maybe if she didn’t fight, he wouldn’t need to smack her around before he killed her.

She fought against the duct tape. It gave slightly, and in time, she’d probably be able to work free. But she needed something immediate.
Think!
She had nothing to bargain with. Or so she thought.

Inspiration struck. “I’ll go to Warren. Trade me for Abigail.”

“You don’t want anything to do with Warren,” Rachel said. She secured one ankle and moved to the other.

Lightning split the sky. Hairs on Nora’s neck tingled. Thunder ca-whacked, thrashing the walls and floor. Abbey whined again and jumped, his front paws brushing Nora. He slid to the floor and sat beside her chair, panting and dripping saliva.

Rachel huffed, nearly as frightened as Abbey. She closed her eyes for a second, then finished taping Nora’s leg and stood. Lee released his grip on her shoulder, easing the crushing pressure, and plopped on the couch facing her. Seeing the chance to get closer to a human who might make the terrifying storm go away, Abbey trotted over and leaned into Lee, putting his face far up into Lee’s lap. Lee put a hand on Abbey’s head.

“Tell Warren I’ll do whatever he wants,” Nora pleaded.

Lee’s fingers played in Abbey’s fur. Rachel folded her arms on her chest and bit her lip. “You don’t understand. We need to keep you here.”

“I understand perfectly.” If Nora’s hands were free, she’d point her finger at Lee. “He needs to kill me so he can inherit everything. I swear I don’t want Warren’s money. He can have it all.”

Bright crimson streaked Rachel’s pale cheeks. “It’s not just the money. It’s the power. He’s always craved it. That’s why he killed Lisa, to keep her from telling anyone what she knew.”

Pop. Sizzle. Ba-whump. Nature’s artillery shells bombarded the cabin.

Nora narrowed her eyes at Lee but he stared ahead, deep in thought, stroking Abbey’s head. Nora started to call out to him. She never got the words out.

The world erupted in chaos.

A freight train roared outside the cabin. The walls shook and the floor heaved. Rachel screamed.

Nora’s heart flew to her throat as lightning flashed.

thirty-three

Lee sprang from the
couch. Abbey let out a yelp and barked as if he couldn’t decide to run and hide or take the offensive. Lee bounded across the room to the door and wrenched it open. The deafening noise increased. Rachel raced after Lee. They both disappeared into the darkness of the front porch amid the sound of a jet engine firing up.

“What is it?” Nora strained against the duct tape.

The house shook again and the windows rattled in the wind. Abbey lunged at Nora, trying to land in her sloping lap. He dropped to the floor and whined.

Lee and Rachel bolted inside. Together they shoved the door closed. Rachel’s blonde hair was dark and hung limp with rain.

Lee swiped an arm across his face to dry it and strode to the window opposite Nora. His movements were jerky, as if he’d been zapped by electricity. He pressed his face to the glass. Rachel leaned against the door, pale and shaking.

“What?” Nora said.

No one answered. Another boom of thunder shook the floor. Rachel ducked her head between her shoulders and Lee drew in a sharp breath. “Dear Lord,” he began, his words edged in razors of tension as he jerked his head toward Nora. “Cut her loose,” he said to Rachel.

Rachel was too shocked to move.

“What’s happening?” Nora said.

Lee shouted at Rachel. “Do it. If this house is swept away, she deserves a fighting chance!”

Icy sweat sprang out on Nora’s face. “The house can’t get swept away. We’re on a flat plain.”

Lee’s fiery eyes turned on her. “A plain in a valley with mountains on each side. This house sits in a channel—a flash flood wash.”

Rachel hadn’t moved from the door. Her lips were a white line.

“Just cut her loose!” Lee bellowed.

Rachel sank to the floor, her eyes vacant, as if she’d retreated to some dark place for protection against the storm.

Lee rushed across the room. He reached into his pocket and fished out a knife. It took him only seconds to slice through the tape.

Nora leapt to her feet and sprang for the door. She had to shove Rachel out of the way before she could open it and run onto the porch. Even under the protection of the porch roof, rain pelted her face. The deck vibrated and she slipped on the inch-deep water that seemed to blanket the wooden surface.

Two inches.

Three.

Oh my God.
Nora understood the roar, the shaking house, the wet deck. A flash flood raged in the black night just beyond the cabin. They were trapped here amid the swirling, roiling sea of mud and frenzied water.

She fled back inside and slammed the door, dripping with icy rain. How would she get away to help Abigail?

She stared at Lee. His grim expression met hers. Now there was no escape. He’d kill her. Gun, knife, garotte, bare hands—it was dealer’s choice.

“Why did you do it?” she asked.

He raised an eyebrow in response.

She pressed him. “Do you really believe space ships are coming to take you away?”

His shoulders drooped. “Is it so impossible to believe in life on other planets? So many things are unexplained. All the ancient religions mention people from the sky, even the Bible. Look at the rock art from thousands of years ago.”

A shiver ran over her skin, the rain raising goose bumps on her arms. “Maybe, but how can you be sure they’re coming back? And then pinpoint an exact day?”

His perpetual scowl deepened. “That’s not for me to say. Uncle Warren has accomplished things that should have been impossible. He started out with nothing. How could he have risen so far without the hand of God interceding?”

“What has God and Mormonism got to do with space people and ancient Hopi prophecy?”

“We are all one,” he said softly.

These words she knew. Lee could be reading from Benny’s phrase book.

“The truth is there, and people from all nations, all corners of the Earth, know it. Why else would so many pilgrims follow the true prophet and gather in the desert?”

“What about the people in the bunkers who change their minds?”

“Sometimes their doubts overcome them.”

“So you kill them to keep their money?”

His mouth opened in shock. “We don’t need their money. We simply keep them with us until they calm down again.”

“You lock them in so they can’t leave?” Nora was horrified.

“They’ll leave when the Sky People come for us. They chose freely. They come from all over the world and they’ll be the seeds of the Fifth World.”

The walls creaked and the din from the raging water made it nearly impossible to hold a conversation. Nora’s fingers cramped from clutching the chair and Rachel still huddled on the floor, but when she raised her eyes, Nora could see the focus coming back into them.

Lee strained to see out a window. The wind howled like an air raid siren. Rain blasted against the windows like bullets. The river attacked them, battering the house, rocking and crashing as debris smashed against it.

A deafening explosion erupted at the north wall. Rachel
screamed again as the house shuddered. It sounded like cannonballs impacted against the cabin.

Rachel sprung from the floor to the kitchen. She clung to the counter as if it were a lifeboat. “The cabin is going to break apart! We need to get out!”

Lee left the window and hurried to Rachel. He grabbed her hands in a rough grip and pulled her close to him. He focused on her face, meeting her terrified eyes. “It’s okay. We’re safer in the house than in the water.”

Lee was probably right. The raging swirl of mud and freezing water could sweep them away. It might only be a few feet deep, but they’d lose their footing in the swift current. They could get wrapped around a fence, pinned against a building, be bashed by debris, or get sucked under until their lungs burst and they drowned.

Rachel clutched Lee’s hands and concentrated on his face. Gradually her jaw unclenched and control seeped into her eyes.

The windows bowed and rattled while the wind roared with fury. Tree branches scratched against the house. The water rampaged as if sent to claim them for its own. Nora inched ever closer to the edge of control. The roar, accented by flashes of lightning and the boom of thunder, shredded her nerves.

Abbey whined and panted, lost in his own hell.

The house jerked and tilted. The lights died with a sizzle and a pop, the smell of ozone heavy in the air. Both women screamed as the scant light from the window limited their vision.

Rachel’s face betrayed her battle to stay calm. “At least we’ll be able to take care of her.” She pointed her chin at Nora, her fingers still gripping Lee’s.

“Darrell can’t get to her in this flood,” Lee agreed.

A shadow fell across the floor and Nora jerked her head toward the stairs.

“Unless he’s already here,” Darrell said. He stood midway up the stairs.

Thank God!
He’d been here the whole time. Why hadn’t he intervened earlier as Lee shoved Rachel behind him and leaped toward the stairs.

Darrell pulled his arm up, a gun clutched in his hand. Without hesitating, he fired at Lee. It happened so suddenly Nora hardly had time to register the shot. Lee cried out as he crumpled to the floor, blood blossoming across the shoulder of his plaid shirt.

“No!” Rachel threw herself at Darrell, knocking into him. He dropped the gun as he grappled with her. Nora flew to Lee and bent close to him in the gloom. Color drained from Lee’s face as he gripped at his shoulder. Nora jumped up and raced to the kitchen. She grabbed a dish towel and ran back to him. She pulled his hand away from the gushing wound.
Behind her, Darrell and Rachel grunted, still struggling.
The house lurched and Nora thought she felt it slide a few inches. She pressed the towel to Lee’s shoulder.

He opened his eyes. With surprising speed and strength, he gripped her hand. “Darrell … ”

A terrible crashing interrupted him. Did Nora scream? Did Rachel? Or was it the chaos of the storm and the shriek of the cabin as it tore from its tenuous mooring? Timbers cracked and popped as dishes shattered. The kitchen window blew open and icy water, mixed with clay and grit in a swirling stew of mud and sticks and weeds, surged from the office into the living room.

Suddenly, Rachel appeared at Nora’s side and together they heaved Lee from the water to the couch. The water was rapidly rising as the house jerked again. Nora scanned the room, looking for Darrell. She saw him sprawled out on the stairs. He had either fallen or had been knocked down by Rachel.

The gun rested a few steps above him and he reached for it as he pulled himself up. Rachel shoved Nora out of the way and leaned in close to Lee. He appeared weak and in pain. Nora knew the burning agony of being shot, but had no idea if it was a shallow wound or if it would prove to be fatal. She hoped Lee would survive, but he needed to get to a hospital.

The house convulsed again, coming to rest at a sharp angle. Something upstairs banged and the ceiling sounded like it might cave in. More glass shattered. Nora stood above Lee and Rachel, watching as Darrell pushed himself up another step and reached for the gun.

A hand grabbed her arm, yanking her backward. Rachel tried to tug Nora out the front door, now unhinged and hanging open. They struggled in the mud now blanketing the floor, each step proving to be a slipping struggle. Rachel shouted something at her but the rush of the flood and the rain and thunder masked her words. Nora tugged back, fighting to stay in the house.

With a deafening crash, one of the ceiling beams dislodged. The vibrations rocked the whole house and Rachel used the momentum to throw all of her weight against Nora. The perfect storm of motion knocked Nora off balance and she pitched headfirst to splash in the water on the floor. Rachel pulled on her arm again, dragging her through the front door.

Nora slid on her stomach, her arm wrenched high over her head. Rachel tugged her across the pitching front porch. With one last lunge, Rachel propelled them both off the porch and into the roiling waters. She lost her grip on Nora’s arm and disappeared as the black rush of the freezing flood stole her away.