Ominous

by Lisa Jackson

  “Another mistake,” Kat said. “They’re adding up, Massey. You won’t get away.”

  Massey went over to Addie and backhanded her, hard. Then he strode back to Kat and unzipped his fly. Kat jerked her left leg, the one with the rope tied to Addie’s cot, and tried to free it. The rope stayed taut, but the cot moved. Kat threw Addie a look, and the girl scrambled to her feet. Massey was jerking at his pants, pulling them down as Kat wrenched her leg again, hard. Addie scrambled forward, allowed enough movement by her own chain to get a hand on the rope attached to the cot and yank at the knot.

  Scott Massey let out a roar of fury when he saw what she was doing. He stumbled toward Addie and grabbed her hard. She shrieked with fear, cowering backward, but the deed was done. Kat hauled her leg free and swung it at Massey’s head. He turned back to her just as she caught his chin. He howled and stumbled backward toward Addie.

  “Addie!” Kat screamed at her.

  The nearly paralyzed girl looked at Kat, then at Scott Massey, who was struggling to his feet, his jeans around his ankles, then back at Kat. She lifted her arms and slid her handcuffs over his head, pulling back hard, the chain between them cutting into the flesh of his throat.

  He jerked to his feet like a marionette, Addie hanging with him on his back. Supported by her freed leg, Kat swallowed and called on her courage, then kicked forward once more, catching him dead in the crotch before her weight dropped her down on the barbed wire again. She cried out in pain as Massey collapsed on the floor, writhing and swearing. Addie was still on him, and she threw her weight against the chain, strangling him. He garbled, his eyes bulging, his fingers clawing madly at the heavy links cutting into his throat. He stumbled forward, digging at the chain. With a roar, he yanked himself free, and Addie tumbled back onto the cot. Wild-eyed, he vaulted upward and lunged for Addie. Kat shot her leg out, tripped him, then fell against the barbed wire with an aching moan.

  “You bitches!” he screamed, his face red, his eyes bulging.

  BANG! CRASH!

  The door suddenly splintered inward and slammed against the wall. Kat looked up and saw Blair in the aperture. In his hand was Kat’s gun.

  “Stop, or I’ll shoot,” Blair said.

  In a blind rage Massey hurled himself at Blair, who slammed the gun into Massey’s nose. Blood gushed as he hit him twice more alongside his head. Massey collapsed, and Blair stared down at him, the gun leveled at his head. “I lied the first time. I won’t a second. Go ahead and rush me and die. Do us all a favor.”

  Massey looked at Blair through blood running into his eyes and then broke down and cried.

  *

  “I’m fine. Just fine,” Kat said for about the hundredth time as Blair looked blackly at the cuts on her wrist from the barbed wire. “Luckily, I recently had a tetanus shot.”

  “I wish he’d let me kill him.”

  They watched as Massey was led toward the back of an ambulance. He had superficial wounds from fighting with Blair, but everyone was following protocol. Sheriff Featherstone was there with the Donovans, who’d brought Dean Croft, and the lot of them were hugging Addie, who was also due for a trip to the hospital to be checked out, but no one wanted to be the first to let go.

  “I’m still taking you to see the doctor,” Blair told Kat as one of the EMTs temporarily bandaged her wrists. “That damn barbed wire’s nasty.”

  “In a bit. I want to go back to Massey’s house. I need to see what’s in the basement.” Ricki had radioed that Kat should take a look.

  “Seriously?” He gestured toward the rustic shack. “You haven’t had enough of this?”

  “It’s on the way.” When Kat gestured toward his truck with one bandaged hand, he gave in, moving ahead to open the door for her.

  *

  Ricki had already been inside the Massey house and had told a frightened and disbelieving Joleen that her husband was being arrested for kidnapping and holding Addie Donovan against her will. Other charges would be filed later. Completely shattered, Joleen had immediately phoned her sister in Cheyenne, begging her to come straighten things out. The sister couldn’t understand the extent of Scott’s crimes yet, but she was already on her way to come to Joleen’s aid, and that was all that mattered.

  *

  Now Kat and Blair walked inside the house, aware of Joleen softly weeping in one of the back rooms. It hurt Kat, and she felt tears spring to her own eyes. Massey had wounded his wife as well as all of his other victims.

  They headed down the stairs, past the black-and-white photos of Scott trick-riding, and entered a long, low-ceilinged room broken only by posts that held up the floor above. It was unremarkable except for one corner where she could see the remains of what looked like a dark room. She instantly had a mental image of Massey developing the picture of the three of them skinny-dipping.

  She shivered, and Blair put his arm around her, whispering in her ear, “You okay?”

  “Yes. He’s caught. So, yes, I’m okay.” Her eye fell on a familiar photograph, tacked on the wall and curling at the corners. It was a smaller duplicate of the one of the Dillinger family. But then she looked more closely and drew a breath. It wasn’t a perfect match. In the background was a roll of barbed wire. Rocking D wire, she would bet, if she could get a close look at it. Maybe it was even the reason he decided to use the barbed wire in the first place, moving it out of the shot for the one he made for the Dillingers, coming back for it later.

  “Sick bastard,” she muttered.

  “What?” Blair asked.

  She shook her head. There would be time enough to tell him everything later.

  Epilogue

  The Pioneer Church was filled to capacity as Sabrina Delaney and Colton Dillinger stood at the altar together, hands clasped, their gazes constantly meeting as they smiled at each other throughout the ceremony. Colton’s son, Rourke, was best man, and his brother, Tyler, was his other groomsman. Sabrina had chosen Ricki to be her maid of honor and Delilah Dillinger Kincaid as her other attendant. Delilah kept glancing back to her husband, Hunter, who sat in one of the front pews holding baby Joshua, who missed the whole event as he blissfully slept through it all. He was directly in Kat’s line of sight, and she could see the little sucking motions his lips made and the shape of his fingers as they curled around Hunter’s larger ones. Colton’s sister, Nell, was seated beside Hunter, along with Ricki’s daughter, Brooke. Tyler’s wife, Jen, was nowhere to be seen as they’d recently separated, and Jen hadn’t made the trip from Colorado.

  The church still had that new pine smell from when it had been rebuilt after a fire several years earlier. Kat inhaled deeply and felt Blair’s arm steal around her shoulders. His other hand rested possessively on her abdomen, its slightly rounded form growing more so every day. Soon her pregnancy would no longer be a secret.

  Now she slid a look into his blue eyes. How had she ever thought they were icy? The warmth in them was impossible to miss. Catching her glance, he tickled her middle, and she clamped a hand over his marauding fingers and warned him with a mock angry look to behave.

  It had been six weeks since Addie had been rescued. In that time, she’d started healing, though it was going to be a long haul. Her family’s support was everything, and Dean Croft, even though he was only eighteen, seemed to be hanging in there with her, a surprisingly strong and mature presence to help her recover from the dark time of her capture.

  Erin Higgins had woken up that same night and been told about Addie’s rescue. She’d been given several six-packs of pictures, and she’d unerringly picked him out as her abductor. Apparently he hadn’t been all that adept in his disguises even with the first girls he’d kidnapped.

  Paul and Ann Byrd had moved Rachel’s remains from the makeshift grave behind Massey’s shack to an honored place in the Pioneer Church Cemetery. Kat and her father had attended the small ceremony at the new grave site, and Paul had even managed to shake Patrick’s hand after it was over. He’d nodded to Kat, too, then tossed a glance
at her burgeoning waistline, but he hadn’t said anything. Still, it had made Kat realize she was putting off the inevitable for no good reason. From the night of Addie’s rescue, she and Blair had been an item, and it was no longer a secret. Blair had even invited her to move into the master bedroom of the Kincaid ranch, though she hadn’t given him an answer yet.

  She had, however, visited that room a few times since, the first time discovering her missing panties draped over a corner of the bed.

  “Funny man,” she’d told him, to which he’d laughed, then given her a small silver box with a white ribbon around it.

  She’d almost been afraid to open it, afraid to hope for something that might be still too much to ask for. She’d been slightly disappointed and confused to find a hand-carved miniature of a dog shaped out of wood, until Blair said, “For the baby. Mike made it.”

  “You may kiss the bride,” Reverend McFerron said with a flourish, and Colton dipped Sabrina over his arm and laid one on her while the church exploded with cheers and clapping.

  The guests then all returned to their respective vehicles and drove in a line to the reception at the Dillinger ranch. Half the town had been invited, and they spilled through the doors to the backyard, which was lined with picnic tables covered with red and white checked tablecloths. The noise level grew boisterously loud as toasts were made to the bride and groom, who accepted it all in good grace, grinning happily.

  “Here you go,” Blair said, handing Kat a glass of lemonade.

  Seeing he had one as well, Kat said, “You teetotaling along with me?”

  “You gotta be kidding.” With a sideways smile, he pulled out a flask from inside his suede jacket and poured vodka into his glass. “I heard there was only wine and beer, so I brought my own.”

  “I think you heard wrong. That bartender’s pouring whiskey for Ira Dillinger.”

  “Okay. You got me. I just like carrying the flask. I can pretend that you and I are sharing its contents.”

  “I think it’s time I let the world know about the new Kincaid.”

  “Finally.” He grinned. “Who are we telling first?”

  At that moment, she saw her father enter with Goldie Horndahl clinging to his arm. “I don’t know, but we’d better do it quick because as soon as Goldie catches the news, she’ll be trumpeting it to the masses.”

  Kat realized Patrick was looking a little woebegone, and she chuckled to herself. He’d planned to use Goldie’s nose for news for his own purposes, but she’d reeled him in with the cunning of an old fisherman. Kat wasn’t sure what her father really felt about the gossipy Goldie, but he wasn’t really complaining too hard.

  “What?” Blair asked.

  “My dad.”

  His gaze followed hers, and amusement threaded his voice. “Got more than he bargained for.”

  “Maybe.”

  Just then Kat caught sight of Shiloh waving from across the room, and soon her friend was corralling Beau and Morgan over to join Blair and her. Shiloh was wearing a silvery blue dress, and her hair was caught in rhinestone clips. She still looked like a cowgirl somehow, but she seemed less aggressive, more relaxed, these days. Happiness had done wonders for her, Kat decided.

  “Have you seen Ruth?” Shiloh asked. “I saw her at the wedding, but she’s not here.”

  “She and Ethan and Penny were stopping for ice cream first, and then Penny’s going home with the Reverend and Ruth’s mom.” Ruth had confided to Kat that she and her parents were carefully tiptoeing into the new field of their relationship. The Reverend and Bev McFerron were still struggling with their daughter’s rape; they had no coping skills, apparently, when it came to their own child. But with all of Prairie Creek and the surrounding areas alerted to the extent of Massey’s crimes, and a general outpouring of sympathy and understanding for the victims, they were attempting to find a way to acknowledge and accept the truth of what had happened to Ruth.

  “Mostly they just want to run and hide,” Ruth had said. “But they can’t, and at least they’re talking about it some. My father wants to be judgmental, but everyone’s been so supportive that he can’t make those kinds of statements without losing face, something neither of my parents handle well. So, they’re trying. It isn’t all that I could ask for, but it’s as much as they can give.”

  “Sounds like you’re getting over how they treated you when you told them about the rape,” Kat had told her.

  “More like I’ve shoved it aside. We’ll see if they can sustain. I think my father’s embarrassed about some of the comments he made, about me and about Colton’s son, Rourke, being conceived out of wedlock. Who cares? It’s old history. The important thing is Colton found Sabrina and they’re happy. My dad can’t help but see that.”

  “There’s Ruth now,” Shiloh said, and Kat turned to spy Ruth’s red hair, and then her brother’s dark head as he turned toward her and whispered something in her ear. Ruth lifted a hand to Kat and smiled. She too was clearly healing. Catching Massey had taken away the bogeyman for all of them. The mystery of the missing girls was solved, and Addie Donovan was safe with her family again.

  “So, you’re sticking around?” Kat asked Shiloh. As far as Kat could tell, her friend hadn’t made any serious plans to get back to her old life.

  Shiloh shot a glance at Beau, and then one at Morgan. Both of them were regarding her expectantly. “Yeah, I guess,” she said, pretending to think it over.

  Morgan said, “You’ve gotta stay. You promised me my own horse.”

  “Did I?”

  “You did! You did!”

  “Yeah, you did,” Beau reminded, getting into the game. “You made a lot of promises.”

  “I don’t remember any of them.”

  For that, Beau grabbed her and tickled her, and she started laughing. Morgan joined in, and the three of them hugged each other tightly.

  As they moved off, Blair remarked, “Shiloh Silva, who’da thunk.”

  “Blair Kincaid, who’da thunk,” a female voice said behind them. Kat turned to see Delilah with baby Joshua. She was smiling at her husband’s brother and said, “You know, Hunter wasn’t really sure you’d domesticate all that well when he asked you to help rebuild the Kincaid ranch. And now look at you.” She waved a hand to include Kat. “Dating a detective with the Sheriff’s Department.”

  To Delilah’s surprise, Blair lifted Joshua from her arms. “You don’t know the half of it. I might just have to get me one of these.”

  Delilah gazed at him with mock horror. “You must be a pod person. Blair and babies … ?”

  Kat grinned, but she felt her face flush. Blair and Delilah joked some more, then Blair settled Joshua back in his mother’s arms. As Delilah moved off, Blair said, “Okay, who’s first? I can’t keep this secret much longer.”

  “Okay.”

  “And we’re going to make that baby a Kincaid.”

  Kat looked at him, startled, unsure if she knew what he meant.

  “Katrina Starr, will you marry me?” he asked.

  “Don’t you dare get down on one knee!” she hissed, when he started to kneel.

  “What’s going on here?” Patrick asked from somewhere to Kat’s right.

  She jumped about a foot. “Blair’s just horsing around,” she assured him quickly, shooting Blair a dark look.

  “Sounded like a proposal to me,” Goldie said, still hanging on Patrick’s arm, her expression avid. She was like a bloodhound on the scent, whenever there was news to be had.

  “It was,” Blair told her. “I’m just waiting for an answer.”

  Kat shook her head and smiled. “You are a pod person.”

  They were interrupted by the descent of most of Blair’s family on them: Hunter and his two sisters, Emma and Alex, came by in a group. Only Mariah, Blair’s older sister, hadn’t made the trip. The rest of the Kincaids started talking all at once. Just the fact that Blair and Katrina were an item was news enough, but Patrick held up an authoritative hand. Immediately, they all fel
l silent. Patrick Starr might not be lead detective for the Prairie Creek Sheriff’s Department any longer, but he still commanded a lot of respect. “I believe there’s a proposal on the table,” Patrick said.

  “What proposal?” Hunter asked.

  “I’ve asked Kat to marry me,” Blair said blithely.

  “WHAT?”

  “You’re kidding?”

  “Good God …”

  They all spoke at once and caught the attention of Shiloh and Ruth, who were talking with each other. They drifted over to the Kincaid group just as Hunter, taking a cue from Patrick, held up his own hand. He looked at his brother, eyes smiling, then he turned expectantly to Kat.

  Kat looked at them all, and then beyond to the amber fields beneath a warm September sun, and then to the mountains. Like Ruth and Shiloh, she had reached a new peace. All the bad and sad feelings over the loss of her mother were gone. All the fear and hurt and anger over Ruth’s rape had slowly dissipated. They’d found the missing girls, and Addie Donovan was safe again.

  She looked over at Shiloh, whose brows had lifted, as if she knew what was coming, and then to Ruth, whose smile was growing wider. Like them, Kat had found her happiness.

  What was she waiting for?

  “Yes, I’ll marry you, Blair Kincaid.” She placed his hand over her abdomen once more. “After all, we need to give our baby the Kincaid name …”