[Lonestar 01] - Lonestar Sanctuary

by Colleen Coble

  Then another rope dropped over the bull's neck from the other direction, and Allie saw Rick winding the rope around his palms. The animal stopped but didn't try to get away. It did nothing but stand and breathe heavily.

  Still humming, Betsy put her hand out toward the beast.

  "Betsy, stay away!" Allie's gaze locked with Rick's. "Help," she mouthed.

  He glanced behind him at the barn door, then stepped to it and looped the rope through the door handle. "Betsy, turn and walk toward me," he said in a deep, authoritative voice.

  Betsy seemed lost in her own world. Her blue eyes stayed locked on the bull's. Rick was running toward her, and her steps quickened toward the animal.

  Before Rick could grab her, Betsy was directly in front of Roscoe. The animal snuffled into her small, outstretched hand. She rubbed her fingers along its head.

  Then Rick had her little girl in his arms. The rope burned into Allie's palms with the force of her grip. She was afraid to relax her hold on the big bull, though it seemed to have no inclination to attack the two, who were still within reach of the sharp horns.

  Holding Betsy against his chest, Rick turned and raced away. Only when they were far enough away that Roscoe couldn't reach them did Allie relax her death grip on the rope. She let it fall into the red dirt and ran toward her daughter. All she wanted was to bury her face in Betsy's hair and assure herself that the little girl was all right.

  "Allie, look out!" Rick was on the other side of the fence by now with Betsy. He was gesturing at something behind her.

  Allie didn't have to turn around and look to know that Roscoe had managed to free himself from Rick's rope. She ran for the fence, but she didn't think she was going to make it. Even as her hand slapped the top rail and a splinter stabbed her palm, she felt the animal's hot breath on her neck. Any minute now, she would feel his sharp horns striking her back.

  Praying for speed and strength, she gripped the railing and began to scramble over. Rick shouted again. She heard her jeans tear and felt a stab against her skin, then the hot spurt of blood on her thigh, but there was no pain yet.

  Then she was falling on the ground with the smell of manure in her nose and the hard taste of dirt in her mouth. Rolling onto her back, she looked up into blue sky. Her hat was gone, and the pain started, first in her thigh and then in her shoulder.

  Still trying to get to her, the bull was battering at the fence and snorting. She rose up on her elbows, then sat up. "Calm down," she said. She got up and dusted off her jeans. Blood had soaked her thigh, and standing made her feel dizzy.

  "Are you okay?" Rick was still carrying Betsy as he came toward her. A red stain darkened his jeans below his right knee.

  Allie tried to move toward them as her knees buckled and she sank to the ground.

  RICK WAS STILL SHAKING BY THE TIME ALLIE CAME AROUND. WORRY wrinkling her brow, Betsy hovered over her mother's bed, and he kept watching the little girl. She'd calmed the bull with a song. Any other person approaching the animal like that would have been trampled.

  Betsy had a touch with the beasts. Had she always been that way? He'd have to ask Allie.

  Elijah came to the bedroom door. "She will be all right, si?"

  "I think she'll be fine," the doctor said, moving away from the bed. "She's lost a little blood, but I think it was probably more shock that made her lose consciousness. She's coming around now." He left the room, and Rick and Elijah moved to stand beside the bed.

  Allie moaned and moved her head. Her eyes opened, and Rick stared down into their blue depths. Her hand went to her head, and she tried to sit up.

  "Don't move," Elijah said, putting a brown, wrinkled hand on her shoulder.

  "Betsy," Allie whispered.

  "She's right here," Rick said, putting Betsy closer to the bed.

  Allie touched Betsy's face, and the little girl climbed into the bed with her mother. Allie snuggled her close, and Betsy's eyes closed.

  "The bull?"Allie asked.

  "Safe in the paddock," Elijah said in a clipped voice.

  Rick had carried Allie in, then went out with the stock hands to capture the bull before coming back to check on Allie. He motioned to Elijah when Allie's eyes closed again. The two men stepped into the hall. "The door to Roscoe's stall was standing open. I think someone let him out. Any idea who would do that?" he asked Elijah.

  The old man hesitated. "I have not wanted to worry you, but I have had an offer for the ranch a good offer that I turned down."

  "Who would want to buy clear out here in the middle of nowhere?"

  "You have heard of Stuart Ifera, si? He wants to put up a fancy resort much like Lajitos."

  "How would releasing the bull force you to sell?"

  Elijah shrugged. "He thought the animal worth more than it is, si? But perhaps it was not this man." He nodded toward Allie. "Could it be something to do with Allie?"

  "I don't see how."

  Elijah shrugged. "If you will keep watch over her, I will get us some coffee and return."

  Rick needed to talk to her anyway. Right now might not be the best time, but it would have to do. Maybe she'd be truthful in a weakened state. He stepped back into the room. Allie was studying a picture on the wall, with a sleeping Betsy curled beside her.

  "You doing okay?"

  "Fine." She shifted in the bed. "I should get up."

  "I wanted to ask you about something." He let his gaze bore into her like an interrogator. "Are you moving illegal Mexicans around with the rodeo, Allie?"

  Her eyes widened, and her lips parted. She started to sit up but Betsy stirred, and Allie subsided against the pillow. "That's ridiculous," she said. The blue of her eyes was as cold as an ice storm. "Why would you even ask me that?"

  "So you didn't know the border patrol is looking for you with questions?"

  "Border patrol? Are you serious?"

  Unless he was a bad judge of character, he'd swear she had no idea about this. But he'd never been able to read women. His mother could look like an angel, then grab up a razor strap and lay his back open. "So you know nothing about it?"

  "No," She shook her head violently, dark curls whipping against her cheeks. "I can't believe they would suspect me."

  "They're going to come looking for you. If they take you away, Betsy will have no choice but to go to your in-laws. We need to get moving on protecting her." He needed to tell her all of it. "There's more bad news, Allie."

  She swallowed hard. "Okay, give it to me."

  "Jon's parents have charged you with kidnapping."

  Her cheeks reddened. "They can't do that!"

  "Evidently because they'd sued for custody, they were able to make a case for it. We have to get married right away."

  She opened her mouth, then closed it again. Swallowing, she tried again. "Thank you, Rick." The words seemed pulled out of her.

  Her obvious struggle to take it all in touched him. He shrugged. "You might not thank me after you've had to live with me for a few months."

  "How how long will this marriage need to last?"

  "Probably at least a year. It will take time for the adoption to go through."

  Her teeth bit into her colorless lower lip. "I'm worried about Betsy. First she has a new stepdad and then she doesn't? What will that do to her?"

  "What will Jon's parents do to her?" he said bluntly.

  She nodded. "It's the lesser of two evils, I guess."

  She looked like she'd been handed a life sentence, and Rick had to admit he felt like he was facing a stint in a Mexican prison.

  9

  ALLIE WAS TIRED OF LYING IN BED. THE NIGHT HAD BEEN LONG, THOUGH she'd slept fitfully. Judging by the sun, it was nine or so. She eased her arm out from under Betsy's head and sat up. She had to think.

  The border patrol was looking for her. The FBI too, if she'd been charged with kidnapping.

  It made no sense. How could they think she would be involved in something like trafficking in illegals? Her testimony had sent J
immy Hernandez to jail, and that should have shown how much she hated that kind of thing. If he hadn't died there, she'd think maybe he had implicated her to take his revenge.

  And Jon's parents. She felt even more betrayed. They were family. How could they do this to her?

  In an instant, Rick's marriage proposal had become more pressing. Marriage really was her most promising choice. She would make it very clear to him that she would be his wife in name only.

  She swung her feet to the floor, and her vision began to blank out. She put her head onto her knees. When the fuzziness cleared, she grabbed the bedside table for support and managed to stand. She hurt all over, and her thigh especially pained her with a burning, throbbing persistence. The bull's horns had been sharp.

  "You shouldn't be out of bed, mujercita." Elijah spoke from the rocking chair in the corner.

  Allie hadn't seen him. "Have you been here all night?" She hoped not.

  "Si. I wanted to be here if you needed anything."

  There was something different about him that Allie couldn't put her finger on. His expression toward her seemed soft and gentle. Maybe it was because she'd been injured.

  "I wouldn't turn down a new leg." She smiled then to show she was joking. "I'm fine, really. You've been so kind."

  "How could I do less for my own flesh and blood?"

  He knew!

  The lightheadedness swept over her again, and she sank back onto the bed. "When did you know?" she whispered.

  "You think I would not keep track of my daughter? I knew her rodeo name, of course, and her children. I watched her career with pride, even though she excluded me from her life."

  "You threw her out!"

  The compassion in his eyes didn't change. "She told you this?"

  "How could you?" She swept her hand toward the window. "You have all this and help so many other kids. But you threw your own daughter out like road litter just because she was pregnant." Her conscience smote her. Apparently he'd taken in the baby. She didn't know the whole story, and who was she to judge it?

  He rose. "If this is what you believe of me, why did you come?"

  "Rick was here," she said. "And I was . . . curious." More than curious, she was driven to find some piece of her family left alive. Some blood connection.

  His eyes filled with moisture. "Things are never as simple as they look to the young," he said.

  "Rick told me you found the baby and brought her here. M-my mother said the baby died."

  "Si, my Maria died. But twenty-five years later." Elijah turned to stare out the window. "My daughter could have come home anytime. I would never turn her away."

  "Why did you throw her out in the first place?"

  He turned then. "You must discover the truth for yourself about that."

  "My mother is dead. If you don't tell me, how can I find out?"

  "Listen to your heart," he said softly.

  Rick knocked, and they both glanced at the door. He stepped inside. "Your lawyer called. He said he has papers ready for you to sign."

  Elijah nodded. "I must go to town." His gaze locked with Allie's. "We will discuss this later, si?" Without waiting for an answer, he went to the door.

  Allie watched his stooped shoulders and wanted to call him back. Tell him she forgave him. But she kept her mouth shut. There was so little she knew or understood.

  AFTER HE'D TENDED TO ALL THE SICK AND MISTREATED HORSES, RICK made some calls and found out what he and Allie needed to do to get a marriage license. Marriage license. Mention of it was enough to strike fear in his heart. He pocketed his list and went out to feed the livestock. The familiar scent of corn and oats calmed his agitation as the sun sank lower in the sky.

  Charlie entered the barn with the other two hands, Buzz and Guinn. The older men had been with Elijah since the days when Rick first came here, and they were both wrinkled as raisins.

  "You heard from Elijah? He's still not back from town." Charlie's forehead creased, and he turned to look down the dirt track to the road.

  Rick glanced at his watch. "It's nearly five. He's not usually gone this long. He said he'd be back by one."

  "He hasn't called either," Guinn said. "I hope the old man is okay."

  "Let me call Wally. Elijah went to see him. Did he say anything about another errand?" Rick asked.

  "Nope." Guinn's dark eyes held worry.

  Rick looked up the lawyer's number in his phone's address book. He talked to the receptionist, then closed his phone. "He left there before lunch. She said he talked about having to get home to tend to the new kids. I'd better go out looking for him. Maybe his jeep broke down."

  "Want me to come too?" Charlie asked.

  "You'd better stay with the kids. You have your cell phone on you?"

  Charlie nodded. "For all the good it does in the barn. What should I do with the kids?"

  "Where are they now?"

  "On a hike."

  "Get them to curry the horses tonight. Keep them away from the two new mares though. They're fragile, and I'm not sure they're going to make it."

  "Sundown will be here in an hour or so," Charlie observed. "You think Elijah is all right?"

  "He's probably fine. He should have called though." He tried Elijah's cell number but got voice mail. Not an unusual occurrence with the spotty coverage out here. Even so, Rick had a bad feeling about this. It wasn't like Elijah to be out of touch, and he was rarely gone from the ranch longer than a morning or afternoon. He'd been gone nearly seven hours.

  Rick unhitched the trailer, got in his truck, called for Jem, then drove out via the dirt lane. When he turned onto the road, the twolane highway snaked out ahead and behind him with no other vehicles in sight. Town was only a few miles away. There would be no reason for Elijah to be gone this long.

  He drove all the way to town without spotting Elijah's old SUV. There was no familiar jeep in front of the cafe. The lot beside the grocery store held only a dirty brown pickup and the faint scent of exhaust. Turning around, he drove back the way he'd come.

  About two miles from the ranch, something glinted in the dying sun to his right. Squinting against the glare on the glass, Rick pulled to the side of the road and stuck his head out the window. Was that the tail end of a vehicle? He drove as close as he could to a stand of honey mesquite bushes, then got out with Jem. He jogged the remaining distance. Fighting his way through the thorns, he arrived at the vehicle. The battered white jeep was Elijah's.

  Why would the old man pull his jeep this far off the road, almost hiding it? The vehicle was empty. Rick cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted Elijah's name, but only a hawk answered him. Poking his head inside the vehicle, he discovered the keys still in the ignition.

  Jem whined at his feet. "Find Elijah, boy." The dog barked and trotted off into the scrub. Rick kept shouting for Elijah as he walked farther from the road and followed the dog. There was no telling which direction the old man had gone. His gut told him to walk to the mountain. Elijah loved the high spots. Maybe he'd taken a yen to commune with God out here. It wasn't unheard-of.

  Small rocks scattered from under the soles of Rick's boots. Jem trotted ahead like he knew where he was going. Rick walked steadily toward the soaring peaks. Cracks carved by rainwater made the rocks look like soldiers standing at attention. He was so intent on examining the mountaintop that he almost missed the splash of red at the base.

  Jem began to bark. He leaped over a mesquite bush and began to sniff and whine at the red object.

  Rick leaped forward. Elijah had been wearing a red shirt. As he neared, he saw the old man curled up on his side with his back to the road as if he were sleeping. Rick reached the crumpled form and touched the old man's shoulder.

  He was cold, colder than seemed possible. And very dead.

  WITH HER CHIN ON BETSY'S HAIR, ALLIE ROCKED ON THE PORCH. HER daughter slept peacefully, unaware of the trauma unfolding. Tears ran down Allie's cheeks, and her nose was stuffed from crying. She'd barely known the ol
d man, but he was her grandfather.

  She and Betsy were the only ones left in her family. They were all gone parents, sister, husband, now grandfather. Clutching Betsy tighter, she struggled to get past the profound isolation. They were still a family, though there were only two.

  "You okay?" Rick dropped onto the top step of the porch and leaned against a post. Weary lines radiated from his eyes. He sat still as if surrounded by a close wall that kept everyone out.

  Allie wiped her eyes with a tissue. "It's my fault, Rick." She balled up the tissue in her hand. "I shouldn't have come here. I knew someone was after me, but I thought he couldn't find me here. I put Elijah in harm's way."

  Rick straightened. "It was an accident," he said gently.

  Allie shook her head. "No, no, it wasn't. The man doesn't want me to find sanctuary here. He's cutting off any help."

  As soon as she'd heard Elijah had died, she knew his death was about her. How could it not be?

  Rick stood and walked to where she sat in the rocker. "What man? You're not making any sense."

  Betsy's breathing was still deep. She wouldn't hear. Allie leaned her head against the chair back. She should have been honest right up front. Rick deserved to know why she was really running.

  Allie ran her fingers through Betsy's soft hair and inhaled her little girl scent. "Someone killed my parents, sabotaged their plane. That was a year ago. I had no idea it had anything to do with me. Not at first. Then the calls started coming." She stared into the blackness outside the circle of yellow cast by the porch light.

  She could still feel the horror of the moment when she realized her parents had died because of her. "The man said he would strip me of everything I loved in life. That I should count each moment a gift, because I wouldn't have many of them."

  Rick's stillness shattered when he walked restlessly across the porch. "Why didn't you tell me all this right from the beginning? You're saying the plane crash wasn't accidental?"

  She nodded. "That's what the police thought, but it wasn't."

  "The guy sounds like a nut case."

  "I was afraid you wouldn't help me, that the danger was too great."