Plain Target

by Dana R. Lynn

  “How did you know I—”

  Deborah scoffed. “Of course I knew. I convinced that girl to apply for a job at your stables, keep tabs on you and your brother. She owed me money, so it was easy to do. But she let herself get caught. I heard y’all were looking for her car. And I knew she was thinking of coming clean to the police. I couldn’t have that. Now she’s no longer an issue. Which is more than I can say about you.”

  * * *

  Seth pulled his truck into Jess’s driveway. He and Dan had gone to retrieve it from his uncle’s house that morning. Thankfully, it hadn’t suffered extensive damage.

  Willa had been painfully humble after being hauled in to the police station for questioning. When it became clear that the police had reason to believe that Cody had been framed, her arrogant facade had crumbled.

  None of that was important. As soon as he had his truck back, Seth had hightailed it back to River Run Stables to plead his case with Jess. Ironically, it had taken her trying to toss him out of her life for him to realize that he didn’t want to walk away. She had been right about one thing...they had started something special. Something he planned on keeping.

  Shutting off the truck, he threw open the door and jumped out. The crunch of the gravel beneath his feet seemed eerily loud. There didn’t seem to be anyone about. Picking up the pace, he jogged to her front door and pushed the doorbell.

  Waited ten seconds. Pushed it again. He could see the blinking lights through the window. Lights that went off whenever the doorbell rang. So he knew it was working.

  Where was she? And where was Miles?

  He had a bad feeling about this. Really bad.

  A police cruiser hummed up the driveway and came to a halt beside his truck. Miles stepped out.

  “Hey Seth!”

  “Miles.”

  The officer raised his eyebrows, flushing slightly at Seth’s cold voice.

  “I thought you were going to be here watching over Jess. Why did you leave? Do you know where she is?”

  Miles held up both hands as if to ward off blows. “Easy man. It’s all good. The Harveys were arrested this morning. We have evidence that implicates them.”

  Relief nearly swamped him. His Jess was safe.

  “So why are you here, then?”

  Miles smiled. “Just a formality. I have some questions to ask her to tie up some loose ends. Nothing earth-shattering.”

  “She’s not here.” Seth frowned.

  “I had hoped she’d be back by now. She went on a trail ride with her friend, Deborah.”

  She was friends with Deborah? That was strange. They hadn’t seemed all that friendly at the house party. In fact, he couldn’t remember them even talking to each other. It had seemed more like Deborah was avoiding Jess.

  Both men whipped around as a car roared up the driveway, screeching to a halt. Rebecca was at the wheel, and a white-faced Levi was in the passenger seat. Seth remembered Jess saying Rebecca could drive, but didn’t like to. So whatever she had to say, it must have been urgent. His pulse spiked.

  Throwing the door open, she hopped out, leaving the car running. Levi reached over and turned off the ignition before jumping out to join them.

  “Where’s Jess?” She signed, without stopping to greet them.

  “Out with Deborah,” Seth signed back.

  Rebecca’s fine features paled. “No! She’s in danger,” she insisted.

  Danger? Seth clenched his fists. The hair on his arms bristled.

  “What danger?” Miles signed.

  “Levi told me the Harveys had been arrested. But they were out of town when Cody died at a conference. I know it, because Jess was there, too. I remember her telling me how awkward it was because they were so hostile. Levi remembered Laura telling him about an angry girl who had come to see them around the same time. It was Deborah. She had a man with her. Laura didn’t know who. And she mentioned she had taken care of what they had been too weak to do.”

  “That’s when I remembered where I had seen Vic Horn,” Levi broke in. “I saw him with Deborah once, in town. She didn’t look pleased to see him. I think she was afraid of being seen together, but he wasn’t worried. I knew who she was—that she was Cody’s fiancée—and I heard her call him by name. I don’t think they knew I was there.”

  Miles didn’t hesitate. He ran back to his car and dove in. Seth was at his heels. The blond officer gave him a speaking glance when Seth slammed into the passenger seat, but he was smart enough not to argue.

  Rebecca jumped into the backseat, scooching over to make room for her brother. Miles rammed the car into reverse and roared out of the drive.

  “Where do the trails lead?” Seth yelled, knowing Levi would sign for his sister.

  Seth drummed his fingers on his thigh while he waited for the response.

  “She says the left path loops out a mile and then comes back. Mostly fields. The right path goes up and around, and it looks out on the lower paths. It can be dangerous.

  “That’s the one!”

  Miles nodded, face grim. His voice was stern as he radioed in for backup.

  It didn’t take more than ten minutes to find the place where the path started and park the car. But it felt like forever.

  “We’ll have to walk from here,” Miles stated.

  Walk? Not a chance. Seth took off down the path at a dead run, knowing the others would follow. He had been a runner in high school, and still ran almost daily. It wasn’t long before the others fell behind.

  Part of him thought about waiting for Miles to catch up. He was the one with law enforcement training and experience. He had the authority to place Deborah under arrest. Waiting for him was probably the legal thing to do. It wasn’t going to happen, though. Jess could die in the time it took the others to arrive.

  Leaning forward, he broke into a sprint, ducking branches and leaves. A thorn tore into his arm. He didn’t slow down. What was a thorn when Jess was in danger?

  He didn’t ease his pace until he arrived at the fence along the road leading to the lookout point. Down below, he could see two people standing near the ledge. Too close to the ledge. Two horses grazed nearby. When the blonde waved her hand, the sun glinted off the barrel of a gun. A gun aimed straight at the heart of the woman who held his heart in her hands.

  Miles arrived. He heard other feet. Expecting to find the Amish brother and sister, he was more than relieved to see Dan and Jace and Jackson.

  Deborah shrieked below. Seth’s blood froze. Jess was backed up as far as she could go.

  They were out of time. He leapt over the fence.

  SEVENTEEN

  “Deborah, I don’t understand.”

  She had always thought Deborah was a pretty woman. But there was nothing pretty about the woman standing three feet away from her, her arms held straight out, the gun unwavering. Her lips were curled in a sneer. Tossing her head back, she shifted her stance, realigning the gun and staring down the barrel.

  Hunter’s eyes. How could she have missed the feral gleam? They glinted with unrelenting purpose.

  She’s going to kill me! If I don’t do something, this will be the end of my life.

  Seth. More than ever, now when it was too late, she regretted the way they had left things last night. She would never be able to tell him she loved him.

  Stop it. Think, Jess. The situation was grim, but that didn’t mean she had to give up.

  “I’ve known you for years, Deb. You were going to marry my brother.”

  Deborah made a disgusted face. “Cody. What a pathetic excuse for a man he was. Always going on about God. And his obsession with those horses! He was a fool not to see the possibilities. All he cared about was that the horses weren’t being treated properly. But what about me?”

  The shriek
she uttered was picked up and amplified by her hearing aid. The harsh sound reverberated inside her skull. Jess winced.

  Maybe she could reason with Deborah. She doubted it, but at the moment, she was out of other options.

  “Deborah, Cody loved you,” she began, forcing her voice to remain level. “He—”

  “Enough!” The other woman waved the gun. “What do you know? He broke up with me and was going to turn me in to the police.”

  What? Disbelieving, she shook her head.

  Deborah nodded, smirking. “You never even guessed. He was always protecting you. But me?” She shook her head. “No. I tried to explain it to him. I promised I would return the money. As soon as my debts were paid, I would make good. But that wasn’t enough for him. No, Cody McGrath was ashamed of me. How dare I gamble? How dare I steal from the foundation? Like he had never had problems. He was supposed to stand by me.”

  She stepped closer to Jess. Jess moved back, but found herself pressed up against the wall. In seconds, the gun was in front of her face. Swallowing, Jess tried to pray. Her mind was blank, her mouth dry. All she could do was repeat Help me, Lord, again and again.

  “Did you kill Cody?”

  It wasn’t until the words blurted from her that she realized she was going to ask.

  Ice crawled up her skin as the woman she had once thought would be her sister-in-law tipped her head back and laughed—a bitter, angry sound.

  “I had no choice. He was going to go to the police. Expose me. What was I supposed to do? He would have ruined my life.” She smiled, an unpleasant slash across her face. “I had Vic Horn help me. He would have done anything I asked. Plus, he enjoyed gambling himself. It wasn’t hard for the two of us to stage the suicide. Unfortunately, Vic became cocky. When I lured you to the kitchen at the Taylor house, he was supposed to kill you and dispose of your body. Not drag you into a freezer. I would never have been so clumsy. But what can you expect from a man?” A dainty shrug and a sniff accompanied the words.

  This was not the woman she’d thought she knew. Not a trace of the woman her brother had once loved was evident in the cold-blooded killer facing her.

  The cold way she related the facts chilled Jess.

  Deborah took a step nearer. Another foot and Jess could make a grab for the gun. She’d lose, no doubt, but if she was going to die, she’d do it fighting.

  “And the Harveys?”

  Deborah shrugged one slim shoulder. Careless. Almost casual. As if the lives of the ornery couple didn’t matter at all.

  “Oh, they’re pathetic. So afraid of their own shadows. They were cheating the foundation, that much is true, but they’d never have the guts to kill anyone. The fact that your brother had turned them in for abusing their racehorses didn’t hurt. And the fact that there was evidence that they had used steroids on their racehorses. They were easy scapegoats.” Her painted mouth tightened. “But you had to stir the pot, didn’t you? You could give them an alibi, so the police would have to keep looking. I had toyed with the idea of letting you live. Even this morning, I thought if I could just get you to let it go. But I couldn’t take the chance that you would conveniently remember something that would send suspicion my way. And I knew you were too much of a Goody Two-shoes to take money to look the other way.”

  Heat rose in her belly.

  “You wanted me to take money to forget that you killed my brother? And Kim? Even your partner? Three people, dead, and I was supposed to be okay with that?”

  “If you valued your life, you would have. But it’s just as well. I couldn’t have relaxed knowing you might decide to let your conscience win at any given moment. So I guess it’s goodbye, little Jess. It’s been fun.”

  The deadly calm with which Deborah shifted the gun made Jess’s blood curdle. She knew that if the gun fired, it would be fatal. No more time. She tensed to dive for Deborah.

  “No!”

  Seth!

  Deborah jerked back as the shout broke through the stillness. The gun wavered, moving off Jess for a moment.

  Hope flared briefly in her soul. It died and panic took its place as Deborah whirled back, determined in her fury.

  CRACK!

  An agonized shriek was ripped from Deborah as the gun was shot out of her hand. Jess was vaguely aware of the cops swarming over the fence and running their way.

  “No! I can’t go to jail. I won’t!”

  Blood streamed from her hand and left a trail on the rocks and grass as Deborah charged the few feet toward Jess. The force of her motion pushed Jess off balance. Wrapping her surprisingly strong arms around Jess, Deborah teetered on the edge of the cliff.

  With a feeling of déjà vu, Jess remembered watching Vic Horn topple off a cliff into the river. Was she to suffer the same fate?

  Seth was so close. With renewed vigor she fought. And for a second, she thought she was making progress. But then Deborah stuck her leg out and swept Jess’s feet from beneath her. They both tumbled over the edge.

  * * *

  “Jess!”

  Seth ran to the ledge. Terror grabbed hold of him. She was lying on the ground below. There was no movement. Was she dead?

  Using every ounce of skill he possessed, he climbed over the edge and started a slow, painstaking descent. Rocks cut into his hands, reminding him that he wasn’t wearing any protective gloves. Someone shouted after him. He tuned it out. He needed to get to his girl.

  Shoving all fear, all his agony out of his mind, he focused on the task at hand. In his mind, a litany of prayer streamed out without his conscious decision. Every step down, every move, took him closer to his goal. It was probably the fastest descent of his life, but it felt like it took hours to reach her.

  Finally, he reached the bottom. Dropping to the ground, he rushed over to Jess. She was just beginning to stir. Her eyes were flickering open. She was battered. Bruised. Looked like she had been through an earthquake. He thought she had never looked more beautiful.

  “Jessie, are you okay? Honey, can you hear me?” he called urgently. At the same time, he was examining her for injuries. His hands shook wildly as he touched her. Never before had they trembled so while examining a patient. But then, he’d never been in love like this before. When he could ascertain no external injuries, he heaved a sigh but reminded himself that she wasn’t out of danger yet. There could still be internal injuries.

  “Seth.” Just his name in her breathy voice. But it brought him to his knees. Her eyes focused on his face.

  “Baby, I thought I had lost you.” Blinking back tears, he grabbed a hand and kissed it.

  “Seth. I was wrong. I didn’t mean what I said.”

  “It’s okay, baby. It’s okay. Look, they are going to get you to the hospital. Check you out. But I’ll be there. The whole time.”

  A smile flashed across her face. It was faint, followed by a grimace. “’Kay,” she murmured. “Love you.”

  What? Had he heard her right? He couldn’t ask, because she had fainted.

  The next hour was filled with anxiety. Deborah had not survived the drop. Her head had hit the rocks when they fell. As awful as her actions were, Seth was sorry that she had died. He knew it would grieve Jess.

  It took some maneuvering to get Jess out of her precarious position so that she could be loaded onto a stretcher. Every groan of pain that escaped her lips was a knife in Seth’s heart. If he could have traded places for her, he would have. In an instant. All he could do was murmur encouragement to her. And pray. At the hospital, she was poked, prodded and x-rayed.

  He was forced to wait in the hall while they examined her, as if they didn’t all know him. He could feel a scowl etching itself on his face, but he didn’t care. He had promised her he would stay with her.

  Dan and Maggie had come to the hospital, too. Right now they were in the cafeter
ia getting coffee and something to eat. Maggie said he needed fortification. The best he could do was pace as he waited.

  And waited.

  An hour into the wait, he heard familiar footsteps in the hall. His dad. What was he doing here?

  Senator Joe Travis walked to Seth and put a hand on his shoulder.

  “You okay, son?” Seth was shocked at how softly his dad spoke. Joe Travis was always boisterous, confident. Now he seemed unsure of himself. “Maggie called me. Explained about your friend. I was worried.”

  His dad was worried for him. Would wonders never cease? He didn’t blame Maggie for calling their dad. Her relationship with him was even more strained than Seth’s, but family was important to her.

  “I’m okay.” His voice was little more than a husky whisper. Clearing the emotion from his throat, he tried again. “I appreciate you coming.”

  Sorrow filled his father’s face. “I’m ashamed that you felt you couldn’t ask me yourself. I know I’ve made mistakes, Seth. Bad ones. Mistakes that have hurt you. Hurt your mother, and so many others. But I’m still your father, and I care about you.”

  Seth’s eyes widened in shock. His father never talked about emotions. Or admitted wrongdoing.

  “I love Jess.” Hadn’t planned on saying that. But it felt right. “I want to ask her to marry me, but—”

  Joe Travis sighed, and seemed to age before his eyes. “You’re afraid you’ll turn out like me, aren’t you? Son, you are nothing like me. I’m both proud of you and ashamed of myself. You will never betray the woman you love.”

  “What about you, Dad?”

  His dad didn’t even pretend to misunderstand. “I know you won’t believe this, son, but I have regretted my behavior deeply. I can’t change what I’ve done, but I’m trying to be a better person. I have grandkids now. And hopefully, soon a daughter-in-law.”

  Seth smiled, feeling more at peace than he had in a long time.

  “Wait with me? I promised Jess I’d be here for her.”

  Soon after, they let him go in and see her. She was asleep. He settled back in a chair and continued his vigil. He was there when she opened her eyes.