Deadly Mountain Trap, page 35
“You...”
Mrs. Carpenter shook her head, the lamplight glittering off her widened eyes. “I didn’t do that. He did.” She gestured. Then shrugged. “I didn’t mean for her to die. I just wanted her scared enough that she would tell me. That brute—” her tone turned disgusted “—ruined that avenue and I was forced to look for other ways to find the treasure.”
“You took the books from her house,” Cassie accused, knowing without confirmation that she was right.
The woman nodded. “She always did take such good notes in her books. But while the margins were filled with confirmations of what I suspected, there were no directions. So I had to get your help.”
“I’m not helping you.” Cassie folded her arms across her chest. Waited while the older woman stared at her.
Even now, she struggled to believe this was the person who’d been after her, who was responsible for her aunt’s death.
Why? She had so many questions. She may as well ask them now.
“How did you know about the notes?”
The woman’s smile was nothing short of smug. “Your aunt told me, dear! I’m a friendly sort, as the town librarian, and she would come in regularly to do genealogy research. That’s what tipped me off to your family’s bad history.”
Bad history?
She was curious about that too, but wasn’t going to let the woman get away with dodging her question. “Okay, but what about the margin notes? You talked to her about them?”
“I told her one day how some library patrons marked up the books, and she said she only wrote in her own personal books. I knew by then she was doing a lot of digging on what had happened back in the day to the treasure. So I pressed her on that, and she revealed how she was taking notes about it in her own copies.”
Cassie fully expected the gun to train on her then, but the woman’s arms didn’t move. She laughed a little, and it wasn’t an evil sound like Cassie would have imagined. It was normal, light. Which made it even eerier.
“What did the books say in the margins?” Her curiosity was too great. And maybe the woman would answer, if she thought it would motivate Cassie. It wouldn’t. But it was worth a try.
Her eyebrows raised. “You don’t know? Surely she told you.”
Cassie involuntarily shivered at the implication her aunt had kept things from her. But Cassie knew it was true. Hadn’t they guessed her aunt knew where the treasure was? Of course there would have been other secrets tied to that, but if they didn’t relate to Cassie, she hadn’t needed to know. She couldn’t be upset with her aunt for keeping that secret.
“Your family, Cassie. It’s your family in the legend. They were the murderers.”
She blinked, feeling the words like a slap across the face.
Mrs. Carpenter smiled, clearly pleased with her reaction. “See? So let’s not be so hasty to judge here. People do nasty things for gold, Cassie. I’m no different than your relatives, the people you came from.”
Cassie searched the statement for truth, struggled against it, fought to deny that her family had had anything to do with it, but she wasn’t sure it wasn’t true. They’d been there when the town was founded. Her aunt had reacted strangely to the treasure, kept it a secret and died refusing to give it up.
Had she been trying to make up for the wrongs that had been done by their relatives years before?
“So take me to it, dear. Like I said, I never wanted anyone to die.” She shook her head.
Cassie stood, slowly.
Finding the treasure would at least give her closure, before she likely died. That was the worst-case scenario. Best-case was that someone found her here, that help arrived and she got to go free and Mrs. Carpenter spent the rest of her life in jail. The idea of the aristocratic lady behind bars was almost worth the terror.
But not worth the loss of her aunt. Not worth the heartbreak of knowing her family line had possibly done something so awful.
“This way,” Cassie said and did her best to lead them back to where they could follow the directions of the story again, back to the entrance of the tunnel. She walked down the dark path, the light from the lantern Mrs. Carpenter carried giving her enough illumination to have shadows and shapes she could make out. Cassie wanted to cry. All these years she’d thought her mom was the worst of her family, and had been terrified she’d repeat her mistakes and leave the people she loved.
Then Cassie had done just that, in her effort to not repeat her mom’s mistakes. She’d ironically done the same. What about these relatives? Was she destined to make their mistakes too? Not murder. Cassie was no killer. But betraying people for gold? Letting greed get the best of her?
God, who knows? Help me. Am I more than my history? Their history?
There in the tunnel, Cassie knew undoubtedly that she was not alone. God was with her. God was answering her, in her heart. Not in words but in steady reassurance.
No, she was not those relatives.
She was not her mom.
You are mine.
It was a Bible verse, part of one she remembered from a sermon she’d heard when she’d been dating Jake. From the Book of Isaiah, maybe?
She was God’s. Not defined by any of that. But defined by Him. Cassie held her shoulders straighter. Kept walking, and begged God to help her, one more time.
* * *
The gunshot was the last straw. Jake could wait no longer. He crept toward the voices and was rewarded with the sight of Cassie. Her eyes were wide and she was talking to a woman. When the woman turned, Jake recognized her as the little old librarian.
People never stopped surprising him. Mostly in bad ways.
He watched them, listened and moved back into the shadows as they moved in his direction. They were close to the treasure, but not quite there and Cassie would be at a disadvantage, trying to find where they’d gotten off course.
He expected it to take a while for her to find it, but she made the turns well, like she’d been waiting for this all her life, and with the bedtime story, maybe she had been.
Good girl, Cassie.
The two women were ten feet in front of him, almost close enough to touch, but he was so careful not to make any noise that they hadn’t heard him. There was a possibility the older woman couldn’t hear well in her older age, which would work to his advantage.
“There,” Cassie said and Jake crept as close as he dared.
He saw them both, leaning toward the tunnel wall. Not at the end, not in any obvious place, just a little notch out of the wall of the tunnel about as high up as a man would carve if he was reaching up but not to his full height.
Cassie reached up there, came down with first a slip of paper. He watched her facial expression flicker as she read it, and shoved it in her pocket.
Someone tapped Jake on the shoulder. He jumped. Levi. Judah. Adriana. Piper. Piper made the classic shh-signal with her hand.
Jake’s face must have asked his questions because Piper pointed at Levi. He must have come to and led them there. Jake nodded, then waited, and all of them watched the scene in front of them.
“That’s it? That’s not the treasure, is it?” The woman raised a gun at Cassie. “Give it to me.”
Jake made himself wait. If he hit her from this angle, the gun might discharge, killing Cassie.
“It’s up there. That’s a note to me.”
The gun lowered.
“Get it down.” The woman’s voice was firmer now. Steely. “Actually... If it’s there, then that means I don’t need you anymore.”
She raised the gun again. This time more purposefully. Levi tapped Jake, motioned for him to move left. Jake did.
“Freeze!” Levi yelled.
The woman whirled around, caught off guard.
“Raven Pass Police, put down your weapon!”
The librarian turned again to Cassie, gun at the ready.
Levi, Judah, someone, Jake didn’t know, pulled the trigger.
The woman fell, hit somewhere center mass in the stomach. That threat was disabled. Cassie stood pressed against the opposite wall, having been less than two feet from the bullet and no doubt terrified.
Judah hurried toward the librarian, ready to perform first aid. Jake glanced at her as he rushed over to Cassie. Mrs. Carpenter might be going into shock, but Jake had a feeling she’d make it. Good. He’d rather see her live out her days in prison than die here. And he didn’t want his friends to deal with the guilt of having had to end a life, though their shot had been justified.
But right now, Jake cared mostly about Cassie.
“Cassie.” He reached for her and she came into his arms, wrapping hers around him and burying her face in his neck. Sobs racked her and he felt her tears soaking his shirt.
“She was behind it all along, Jake. How could someone do that? How could they be so greedy?” More sobs. “And the murders that started the legend? Apparently some relatives of mine did it. I don’t understand. How could people do that?”
Jake didn’t have answers for her questions, so he just held her until she ran out of tears.
“We’re going to get her out. A helicopter is meeting us outside,” Levi told Jake, motioning toward the injured woman.
Jake nodded.
“I want to get out of here,” Cassie told him.
“Want to get the treasure first?”
She hesitated. “Can I...?” She sighed heavily. “Yes. I can do it.”
He tilted his head, unsure of what she was thinking. She reached into her pocket and handed him the note he’d seen her pull down from the shelf that he assumed held the gold.
My Cassie,
If you find this, I’m likely gone. My apologies for handling this badly. I tried to tell you many times during your life, but the time never seemed right. You were always worried about becoming your mother, but you aren’t her mistakes, dear. And you aren’t our family’s mistakes either.
The legend is true. There was a double murder, over some gold. But neither person who died was responsible. They were innocent, the ones who had found the gold. Your great-grandfather killed them, stole their gold.
He died not long after, in World War II, and never got to use the gold he’d stolen. He told his wife, who was racked with guilt. The story was passed down and rests now on me. One day, the hope was, someone in the family would be brave enough to return the gold to the town of Raven Pass. Neither man who died had a family so that gold is the town’s. I almost brought it back. That’s why I’m here in this cave today. But I can’t do it, so instead I’m writing this note. If you find it, then possibly the paranoia I’ve had about someone asking me questions about the gold isn’t paranoia at all. My life may be in danger, but, Cassie, even still I cannot find it within me to just turn the gold in to the police. I can’t take people thinking ill of my dead family.
Be stronger than me, dear. If you find this, you can find the gold. It’s where this letter was. Do the right thing, Cassie. Give it back. But let the comments roll off you. You aren’t your relatives or their mistakes. You aren’t even your past, dear.
I love you. Forgive me, dear.
Mabel
Jake brushed a tear from his own cheek, his heart so connected to Cassie’s he felt he could feel her pain as his own. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
“She died doing what was right though.” Cassie sniffed. “In the end, she was braver than she thought.”
Jake nodded. “She was, sweetheart. She was.”
They walked together two feet forward, and Cassie reached up, pulled a small box off the shelf and opened it. Jake shined a flashlight down in.
Gold nuggets. Enough of them to be worth hundreds of thousands now. Maybe more. His eyes widened.
“I’m going to give it to the town, Jake. I’m going to do what she asked.” Cassie nodded.
“And then?” Maybe it was the wrong time, but he had to know. Was this going to push her away, make her leave Alaska? Was there any hope at all?
“And then...if God wants me to, I thought I might stay here. Raven Pass would be a wonderful place to raise our son...” She trailed off. “And I’d like to raise him with you.”
“I would like that too, Cassie. Only one thing...” He reached for her again, pulled her into his arms. He knew sometimes men went down on one knee, and he’d done that before, but right now he just wanted to be as close to her as possible. “I want to marry you, Cassie Hawkins. I want to wake up next to you every day and know before God that our love is honoring Him. I want to raise Will with you and who knows how many other kids.”
“I would like nothing better.”
She lifted her face to his and he met her lips in a kiss. Long. Slow. Just enough of the past to remember that it had led them there.
But mostly, promise for the future.
EPILOGUE
The sun was shining and Cassie was dressed in white, ready to marry the man she should have married years ago. Then again, maybe it was good she hadn’t. God had done so many things in her heart and taught her so much that she never would have learned otherwise. It was time, Cassie thought, to stop thinking about what she wished she could change about her past and start being thankful for the future.
At her side, Will tugged on the skirt of her dress. “Do I really have to wear a tie?” He made a face. His bowtie was lopsided, but he looked adorable in his suit. When she and Jake had gone home a month ago and told him that they were going to get married, he’d done a loud war whoop and run around the house like a crazy person. He’d come out of his shell so much in Raven Pass, partly from being around other boys his age outside of the school environment, and partly from the confidence that came from having his dad in his life, Cassie thought.
“You have to wear a tie.” Cassie pulled him close and kissed his hair.
“Mom.” He rubbed at the spot where she’d kissed him, creating an even messier appearance than he’d had a minute ago. “No more kissing.”
“I’m going to kiss your dad in just a few minutes, during the wedding,” she reminded him, having done her best to explain how weddings worked the night before, since he’d had questions and had never been to one.
He wrinkled his face. “Kissing is gross.”
She smiled. “Hey, buddy?”
He looked up at her.
“Thanks for being excited about our move. You’re going to love it up here and I know your dad is so happy we will all be a family.”
He nodded. “Uhh, me too, Mom. Can I go play now?”
That was what she got for expecting seriousness out of a six-year-old. Cassie laughed. “Not now, the ceremony is starting.”
She heard the music that was their cue. Will was walking her down the aisle, toward his dad and their future. It had seemed appropriate, especially since he was the only family she had left.
They walked down the aisle and Cassie’s eyes met Jake’s. The way he looked at her, all love and warmth and faithfulness, was more than she could have dreamed or hoped for, but she’d learned in the past month of being a Christian that sometimes God works that way.
Thank you. Thank you so much, she prayed as she walked, one foot in front of the other.
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to celebrate...” the pastor started, a nice man she’d met during hers and Jake’s premarital counseling sessions the last few weeks, but all Cassie saw was Jake.
And in his face she saw forgiveness. She saw a future instead of a past. And she saw hope.
They repeated their vows and he held her hands and then finally, finally, it was official.
“You may kiss the bride.”
Their lips met and inside Cassie’s heart she knew she’d never felt as loved as she did right now. They kissed and kissed until there was laughter from the guests and then Cassie felt pulling on her dress again.
“That’s about enough kissing,” Will said dryly. “Come on, someone told me we get cake now!”
Cassie and Jake laughed, and he took her arm in his, then they walked together, as a family, out of the church and into their new life.
Together.
* * *
Keep reading for an excerpt from Peril on the Ranch by Lynette Eason.
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Peril on the Ranch
by Lynette Eason
ONE
Isabelle Trent woke with a start. She lay still, trying to figure out what had jarred her just as the sun was beginning to make its way above the horizon. She’d forgotten to pull her curtains closed before she’d fallen into bed with a half-finished prayer on her lips.
Maybe it was just the light that had disturbed her.
A faint cry reached her.
Or maybe not. One of the children?
Isabelle threw off the covers and hurried to pull on her robe and slippers. She darted out of the bedroom and into the hall, pausing to listen. Nothing. She went to the room nearest hers and peered in. The twin beds on opposite walls each held one child. Twelve-year-old Danny Billings and fourteen-year-old Zeb Hammrick, who’d become best of friends since being placed with her. Zeb had arrived first, two months ago. Danny had come a short two days later. Both boys slept the deep sleep of those without worries—exactly what she’d worked so hard to help them do.
In the next room, five-year-old Katie Miller snored gently, her left arm wrapped around the neck of the little doll she was never without.
