Vickie Britton, page 13
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Chapter 16
Colleen, the minor scratches on her arms and legs washed and carefully bandaged, lounged on the sofa in a silky violet robe contrasting almost comically with the spots of iodine decorating her left arm and the white gauze upon both shapely knees.
“Feeling better, Turtle Dove?” DeGarza asked. He and Brad hovered over her, tending to her every whim, clucking over the dramatic tale of her adventure with the runaway horse. Even Alice had joined in, bringing her a cup of steaming tea from the kitchen.
As I stepped into the room I, too, felt an unaccustomed tug of sympathy toward her. It must have been quite an ordeal. Despite our frequent conflicts, I was relieved that she hadn’t been hurt badly.
As I took a step toward her, I saw her leaning her head back against the mound of pillows, carelessly allowing the robe to separate as she arched her back like a contented feline, totally self-indulgent, lazily soaking up all the fuss and attention Brad lavished upon her.
“Are you’re sure you’re comfortable?” Brad asked.
“My neck feels a little stiff,” she demurred. As he bent down to adjust her pillows, I saw his gaze slip to the robe which had fallen apart just a little more. I felt my pity for
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her vanish like a puff of smoke. Kind words dying upon my lips, I hastily crossed the room and stepped outside.
The afternoon sun was bright and warm, the wind brisk and refreshing after the stuffiness of the tea and iodine-scented room. As I moved away from the house, I suddenly heard the quick, heavy crunch of gravel directly behind me. Martin DeGarza had stepped from the white porch and was hurrying to catch up with me.
“Anna, wait,” he called. “I’ll walk with you.” Slightly red-faced, puffing with the exertion, he reached my side. For the few steps it took to reach his Buick, we walked in silence. Yet I knew something was on his mind.
For a while, he detained me, making small talk as he stood by the open door of his car. Then, with an insidious smile, he mentioned, “You know I’ve always been interested in the Devil’s Gate.”
“Oh?” I tried to sound surprised. As the gaze from his small, brown eyes rested eagerly upon me, I knew my suspicions were correct. He was about to make me an offer.
He continued, dropping his gaze so he didn’t quite meet my eyes. “In fact, right before he died, Tavas was talking about selling the ranch out to me.” Nervously, he cleared his throat. “We’d even settled on a price…”
I stared him down icily, knowing full well he was lying through his teeth. He squirmed a little, realizing I’d read through his ploy, disappointed I wasn’t so easily duped.
He licked his lips, then decided to try another approach. “Right now, you may not be interested in talking business with me, but, let’s face it—with all these rumors spreading around, the times ahead are going to be rough. You’re a young and pretty gal. Chances are you’ll want to leave here soon, finish school, find yourself a husband.
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There may come a time when the ranch becomes a burden to you…”
And you’ll be waiting like a greedy vulture ready to pounce! Instead of hurling the angry words at him, I replied firmly. “If that time ever comes, I’ll give you a call.”
With a sigh, he slid beneath the wheel. Sticking his head out of the opened window, he urged persistently, “At least think about it. You won’t find another offer as good as the one I am prepared to make.”
The nerve of him. His perfidious insinuation that Tavas had intended to sell the Devil’s Gate to him roused my animosity. I would’ve felt better about him if he’d just laid his cards down on the table and made me an honest offer on the place instead of resorting to such trickery. Still fuming, I watched him back his huge Buick slowly and carefully out of the driveway.
Later, I told Guillermo about DeGarza’s offer. He didn’t seem to share my surprise. “What did you expect from a two-bit lawyer like him?” he asked with a grin. “Don’t let him get to you.”
“You’re right. I shouldn’t have let him upset me like that, but the gall of that man. Frankly, I’ve lost a lot of respect for him.”
Guillermo’s grin broke into a laugh. “I never had any to begin with.”
“DeGarza wants the ranch pretty badly. Do you think he’d go so far as to set up these cattle mutilations? It could all be a scheme he and Colleen have cooked up to force me to sell out.”
Guillermo stroked his chin. “He lacks scruples, but I don’t think he’s low enough to stoop to treachery. If he was downright crooked, Tavas would never have trusted him to
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see to his will. He might try to sweet-talk you into selling the ranch, might even try to cheat you on paper, but I don’t think terrorizing people is his game.”
“I’m still going to keep an eye on him and Colleen.”
As I reached the stables near the corral, a familiar and indignant voice from the other side of the wooden fence made me stop in my tracks, listening. “I’m going into town, Ivan. And don’t try to stop me. I won’t be held prisoner here by you.”
I could hear his laughter in response, cold enough to freeze the blood. “Why, Colleen, I thought you were indisposed?” I could see their shadows now through the slatted fence, his tall and menacing as he advanced toward her. “Just what do you have planned for this evening, my Dear? A secret rendezvous?”
“What do you care, Ivan?” Colleen retorted defensively. “I thought you’d be delighted to be rid of me.” Nastily, she continued, “Why, just think. With me gone, you could spend the rest of the evening playing up to your precious Anna.”
“You leave Anna out of this.” Ivan’s voice was razor-sharp and threatening.
“Oh, Ivan. Don’t you think I know what’s going on? Don’t you think I know the reason you’ve been pushing me for a divorce all of a sudden?”
I could see her through the fence, looking up at him, those full, red lips parted in a wicked smile.
“Can’t wait to get me out of the picture, can you? You’ve already got her eating out of your hands. All you want to do is wrap your greedy paws around that inheritance of hers. And the only way you can think to do it now is to divorce me and marry her.”
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“You know that’s not true.”
“Then why have you had them trailing me again?” she accused. “By the way, who was that in the woods yesterday? Was it you or one of your hired flunkies?”
“Colleen, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I swear I don’t have anyone watching you. You’re imagining things—”
“It’s all been for my benefit, hasn’t it, Ivan?” Her voice had risen to a shrill pitch. She no longer seemed the cool, scheming woman who was always one step ahead of everyone else. She sounded frightened.
“Ever since you asked me for that divorce, someone’s been following me. And now…now this dreadful cult business. I know that somehow you’re behind it. You had someone dump that poor creature out there on the trail this morning where I’d be sure and see it when I went out for my ride.”
“You shouldn’t have been riding Joshua. I warned you he might throw you.”
“He wouldn’t have thrown me if he hadn’t been spooked. Just how far will you go to drive me away?”
“Have you gone mad?”
She made a scornful sound. “Play the innocent if you like. All I’m going to say is what I’ve already told you. It’s going to cost you plenty to get out of this marriage.”
“I don’t have anything to give you anymore.”
“Then maybe I’ll hold on to you just out of spite. Now, give me those car keys.”
“As long as you insist upon being my wife,” he replied coolly, “you’re damned well going to act the part. I told you I won’t have you making a fool of me.”
I saw her struggle for the car keys which he purposefully held just out of her reach.
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“Oh, Ivan, Darling, let’s not fight.” Her voice had become silky and inviting. I saw her reach out to him. Tears stinging my eyes, I watched him yield to her passionate kiss, responding with a savage fury.
Then, abruptly, he flung her away from him. “Don’t play games with me, Colleen,” he warned. “It won’t work anymore.”
She glared at him, lips parted, nostrils slightly flared. Sunlight illuminated the long hair shining down her back, making her a portrait of fiery beauty as she turned upon him. “You know you’ll always want me.”
He stared at her long and hard. “You’ve killed any feelings I might have had for you,” he replied with a cruel twist to his lips.
“I hate you!” she shrieked in sudden outrage. Then, through unbecomingly clenched teeth, she added, “Very well, Ivan, Darling. There are others who find me attractive. You know I don’t even have to leave this ranch to find company. I don’t even have to leave here to get what I want.”
Flinging this final remark over her shoulder, she moved away.
“Damn her to hell,” Ivan’s voice thundered. I stepped back into the shadow of one of the outbuildings. The crunch of gravel warned me he was coming in my direction. Before I could slip away unnoticed, Ivan stepped from the shadow of the long fence, spotting me.
“Anna.” His eyes were still terrible. His face a mask of rage. “What are you doing here?”
My voice trembled slightly. “I…I just came from the house,” I lied.
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He studied me, that penetrating gaze of his staring into my very soul. “No, you’ve been here all along. You heard Colleen and me fighting.”
I knew there was no use denying the truth. “I didn’t want to interrupt. I waited here…”
He ran a hand through his black hair, a gesture betraying his uneasiness. “The rumors about Devil-worship have upset her. You’ve heard how someone dragged that carcass up close to the stables this morning. It’s no wonder she’s shaken. I hold Victor responsible,” he added carefully. “I told him to dispose of it properly.”
I nodded slightly. His very nearness made the blood race in my veins. I could feel the rapid beating of my heart beneath my wool sweater as his gaze met my own, searching for understanding.
“‘Leena’s never been happy here. She blames me. Sometimes she lashes out in her unhappiness, makes absurd accusations.” Suddenly he turned on me. “God, Anna, don’t look at me that way. Surely, you can’t believe her…”
He stood awaiting my answer, the dark knight, the gypsy, the restless, brooding spirit who invaded my every dream. My gaze brushed over his unruly dark hair, the stormy obsidian eyes, the relentless hardness of his craggy features.
“Of course not,” I whispered, barely trusting my own voice.
The tautness in him relaxed slightly, releasing the rigid set of his jaw, softening the hard line of his mouth. Suddenly, his hand reached out, stroking my cheek gently. “Fair Annie,” he said lightly, calling me the name of a ballad he used to sing to me long ago, about a woman who waited in vain for her lover to come home from the sea. “Fair
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Annie,” he repeated softly. His voice was half-mocking, but his eyes were dark and serious. “Believe in me now.”
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Chapter 17
Trying to hide the glass in her hand, Colleen jumped back guiltily as I stepped into the kitchen. I saw through the opened cupboard door that the bottle of whiskey Brad and Ivan kept on hand for rare occasions had been tapped. The strong scent of alcohol pervading the room warned me that this wasn’t her first nip at the bottle.
“I…my nerves are about to go. The fall and everything,” she explained. She turned around, now clutching the glass defiantly in her hand. She was still dressed for town in a bright, long-sleeved silk blouse that hid the scratches on her arms. Her lipstick left a heavy trace on the glass as she downed the shot in one quick gulp, then placed the glass back on the drain-board.
“You…won’t tell Ivan,” she pleaded, turning away. “He doesn’t like me drinking.” She really did look shaken. Now that the excitement and all of the attention had worn thin, she was probably feeling the effects of the accident with Joshua. That, combined with the ugly scene between her and Ivan I’d just witnessed, was enough to set anyone’s nerves on edge.
“You don’t have to worry.” I stepped away.
“Anna.”
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Her voice, strained and uncertain, called me back. I looked at her.
“Do you believe in the Devil?”
“What?” I cried, caught off guard, now seriously wondering how much whiskey she’d consumed.
Her eyes were bright, feverish as she turned to me. “Because I do.” Slowly, her voice slightly thick, she continued. “I saw him. Below my window last night.”
Surely, it was just the whiskey talking. Nevertheless, I felt a slight tingling begin just at the base of my neck as I asked, “What did you see?”
“I don’t expect you to believe me, but something was out there. A huge, dark shape. Oh, hell, it’s nothing that I can describe. I heard laughter.” She gave a little shiver, making the bracelets upon her arm clink against each other. “Such horrible laughter.”
I regarded her skeptically, trying to decide whether she was really frightened or was trying to frighten me. The thought passed through my mind again that I was being set up, that this was all part of some crazy scheme between her and DeGarza to scare me into selling the ranch.
“It must have been your imagination,” I said.
“That’s what Ivan told me,” she responded bitterly. “That’s what everyone tells me.” Suddenly accusing, she added, “Well then, how do you explain that…thing…in the canyon this morning? Was that my imagination, too?”
A genuine shiver passed through her, the terrified look that came into her eyes giving credibility to her emotions.
“Ugh. It was horrible.” She gave a crazy laugh. “Do you know what I think? I think the Devil himself must be after me.”
“Colleen, don’t be absurd.”
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Her eyes narrowed. “Well, I don’t believe for one minute that any dogs dragged that dead animal up on the horse trail. I think it was done on purpose. Someone knew I planned to go out riding—knew that Joshua might throw me. “Maybe,” she finished with unsettling conviction, “the Devil’s someone we both know very well.”
With this, she moved away rather unsteadily, slipping out through the kitchen door. As soon as she was gone, I checked the bottle in the cupboard. True to my suspicions, it was nearly empty.
Though I tried to convince myself that Colleen had just had too much to drink and was letting her imagination get the better of her, nagging doubts whispered in my mind. What if there was some truth to her suspicions? What if someone did mean her harm? My thoughts flashed back to the heated argument between her and Ivan earlier. He’d accused her of seeing someone, and he had been so angry…
Colleen had made it clear she believed Ivan was behind these frightening occurrences, but I knew she was wrong. She must be wrong. If not Ivan, there must be someone else. A lover? Colleen was a woman who evoked powerful emotions in men. Was it possible she’d teased the wrong person once too often, pushed the wrong man too far? Could she have hurt and angered someone enough that they’d mean her bodily harm?
Outside the window, I could see her hanging around by the barn. As always, she was soon surrounded by men. Some of the ranch hands had gathered around her, lured by her seductive walk and brash flirtations. To the side, I saw Esteban watching her. When I passed by shortly afterward, both of them were gone.
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The cabin loomed ahead, splintered and forlorn in the dying sunlight. Surely, I’d been foolish in following my hunch by coming up here. Still breathless from my steep climb over the rocks, I moved closer. The air was cooler here at the top of the hill. The thickness of the evergreens muted the sun’s warm glare.
The broken, rickety shack before me conveyed the impression one swift kick in the right place might make it cave in. The rotting walls and creaking wooden rafters appeared unsafe. I had to laugh at the idea of anyone, especially Colleen with her fancy clothes and flare for style, choosing this unlikely place for a midnight tryst with one of the ranch hands.
Yet Alice’s hints that Colleen might be seeing Esteban or one of the other men on the sly, coupled with Colleen’s own angry words to Ivan earlier today, had roused my suspicions. Then there was Victor’s strange insistence that the cabin was a meeting place for lovers…
Well, Victor was obviously mistaken. Nobody in their right mind was likely to meet in this dump of a shack at any time, let alone the dead of night.
Seeing the place close up had satisfied my curiosity. Yet I paused by the closed door. Since I was already here, I decided, I might as well have a look inside.
Placing my hand firmly upon the rusty doorknob, I was prepared to do battle with the ancient, creaking hinges. The battered door surpassed me by swinging open easily to my first effortless shove. I stood, peering into the room beyond, gasping in sudden astonishment.
The tiny room was almost inviting. True, the linoleum was bare in places and the faded yellow wallpaper was cracked and peeling, but there wasn’t a speck of dust anywhere. The tattered sofa in the corner was draped with
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an old quilted throw, and, as I ventured slowly into the room, I saw there were blankets on the old iron bed.
There was no doubt about it. The cabin was being used. I stood in the middle of the one-room shack, puzzled by my discovery. Had I really stumbled into someone’s ‘love nest’? Or was this just a place one of the men had rigged up to come and relax, to drink a few beers alone? The only other sign someone had been here recently was the empty beer can crumpled on the floor near the bed.
The cabin was charged with warmth, with the feeling of life. I felt suddenly nervous, watched, like an intruder in a private place.
