Lonestar Secrets

by Colleen Coble

  Jack would come though. And he'd get help. Shannon clung to the thought as she put her SLIV into drive and headed to find Mary Beth.

  JACK KNEW HIS ANGER WAS OUT OF PROPORTION TO THE CIRCUMSTANCES. The reason for the anger went far deeper than seeing Shannon with Larue. She had kept so many secrets from him that he doubted her every word, and that wasn't a good approach. He'd actually suspected her of scheming to blackmail his dad. Had he been nuts? She wasn't that kind of woman.

  The dreams he'd awakened with this morning seemed to belong to another man.

  But a lot of that was his fault. He pushed his hat off his forehead. He'd kept secrets of his own. They'd both danced a jig around the truth. He'd never even admitted he loved her. When he got home tonight, he'd lay it all out and demand she do the same.

  After he signed the line he'd missed, he went back out to his truck. His phone signaled a voice mail, and he grabbed it from where he'd left it on the seat. When he heard Shannon's voice and what she had to say, he tried to call her back, but the canned message said the phone was unavailable.

  He gunned the truck back out of town. On the way, he tried to call the sheriff, but the dispatcher told him Sheriff Borland was down with the flu. He considered trying one of the Texas Rangers in the area, but they were likely hours away, up in Alpine. Maybe Rick. He called his friend, then stopped to pick him up at the end of the Bluebird Ranch lane.

  "So your dad is involved in this somehow?" Rick asked after Jack explained what he knew.

  "Looks like it." Jack had tried not to focus on that fact.

  "I always thought the senator was a straight shooter," Rick said. "If he made the money from legal gambling, why hide it away in a Swiss bank account?"

  "I don't know." Jack tried to piece it together. "He sent one of his goons after Shannon, so he must have thought she had something. Either this book or . . ." He stopped, remembering the box they'd found belonging to Shannon's dad.

  "Or what?" Rick pressed.

  "You know that horse Shannon is crazy about? Jewel?"

  "Sure. I've kept an eye on him for her for years."

  "He's a stolen racehorse. I don't know how he fits into the puzzle, but I've got a feeling there's some link."

  "Five Lives?" Rick guessed.

  "How'd you know?"

  "Your dad mentioned him once. Said he was the greatest horse ever to put his hooves on the track."

  "I don't get it. The horse belonged to Shannon's parents. If Dad had the horse, why would he let him run free? Why not utilize him as a stud?"

  "No idea," Rick said. "I suspect we'll find out before the day is over." His cell phone sang out a tune and he pulled it from his belt. "Hi, honey," he said. His brows winged up as he listened. "I'll be right there." He put the phone away. "Sorry, buddy, I need you to run me home. Allie's water just broke."

  "Holy cow." Jack swung the truck around and raced back the way they'd come.

  Five minutes later he dropped Rick in front of the house, made him promise to call when the new arrival made an appearance, then accelerated back down the drive.

  SHANNON KNEW THESE CRAGS AND HILLS LIKE KYLIE'S WORN-OUT CandyLand board. She paused to catch her breath when a stitch cramped her side. Fixing the landmarks in her mind, she decided this was as good a place as any to hide the ledger.

  Not at eye level. If she wasn't mistaken, there was a crevice at the base of the striated rock formations that looked like soldiers. She forced the ledger into the nearly invisible opening. Only she would ever know it was there and she wasn't telling.

  She had no weapons, only her wits. Before she finished the climb, she glanced back the way she'd come in case she saw Jack's broad shoulders coming to rescue her. But no, there was only the cry of an eagle from his craggy perch high over her head and the sound of the wind in the mesquite.

  He would come. She just had to stay alive until he did.

  She resumed her climb up the narrow path. Below her, the Rio Grande wound through the mesquite and cedar elm. Above her head, the black igneous rock, left over from the massive volcanoes when this region was formed, showed striation marks from the centuries of wind and rain.

  Her legs ached from the climb. She stopped again and wondered if she should have tried the gentler climb on the other side. But no, if this was a trap, the senator would expect her to choose the easiest way up. The old mining shaft where her parents' bones lay interred by tons of rock was just over the crest of the path. Shannon forced herself forward until she stood at the rockfall.

  No one would ever know this heap of rocks was anything more than the other piles in the area. But she knew. And Jack knew. She'd told him her most closely guarded secret. Tearing her gaze from it, she pressed on the last few yards. She crouched behind a cat's-claw shrub and let her gaze sweep the area. A flicker of movement caught her eye, and she spied Mary Beth's head. Nearly all her hair was shorn. Shannon saw her mouth move, but she couldn't see anyone else there. Maybe she was wired.

  Just what she should do wasn't clear to Shannon. The whole setup smelled like a trap. Before she could decide, she heard pebbles tumble down the path behind her. Ducking behind a rock, she peered down the trail. Her spirit leaped when she recognized her husband coming up the trail. He wore a somber, determined expression.

  Keeping a low profile, she moved to meet him. His eyes recorded his joy at finding her, but he didn't smile, and she knew she was in trouble. Again.

  When she reached him, he took her shoulders in his hands. "Shannon, you have to stop this. We can't have a marriage without being a team. I love you, and "

  She held up her hand. "Wait, say that again."

  "Say what again?"

  "That you love me."

  His mouth softened. "I love you. I've loved you for a long time. But we've got to start working together."

  "I know. That's why I called you. I knew I was wrong. I need you, Jack. Not just for this, but in my life in every way."

  He cradled her against his chest. "It's about time we both woke up."

  Reluctantly she pulled away and gestured behind her. "Mary Beth is back there, at Mitchell Pass. I saw her mouth moving like she was talking, but I couldn't see anyone."

  "She's wired?"

  "That's what I wondered. I told her I'd come get her. She may hide if you show up though. I've got to go in there alone." She thought Jack would object, but he nodded.

  He slapped his hand onto his holstered gun. "I got this out of the truck just in case. I'll cover you. Dad won't hurt you though, even if he's involved with this."

  "You don't believe me?"

  "It's not that. I know he called you, asked you to come. But maybe he was forced into it."

  He sounded much more confident in his father than Shannon, who was beginning to believe the senator would dispatch her without a qualm. But she didn't tell Jack her misgivings. He loved his father, which was as it should be. "There's a good place to hide up here. I'll show you." She led him to the shrub and waited until he hunkered down and pulled out his revolver. She started for the path, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her down beside him.

  "Wait," he said. He kissed her. "A kiss for safety," he said. "Be careful."

  She clung to him for a minute, then rose and hurried down the path. The connection she had with Jack was something she'd never experienced. And he trusted her. Trusted her enough to let her rescue her friend.

  Mary Beth didn't see Shannon until she nearly reached the overlook into the river valley. She rose, her face eager. Shannon examined her friend and noticed the bruises on her left cheek, the way she limped when she hurried to meet Shannon, and the lump on her forehead. Whatever had happened, Mary Beth had been an unwilling participant.

  The women embraced. Mary Beth clung to Shannon. "I knew you'd come," she whispered.

  Shannon stepped back. "Where is the senator, Mary Beth?"

  Mary Beth put her hand over her mouth. "Sh," she whispered.

  "I know you're probably wired. I saw you talking earl
ier." Her gaze scanned the shrubs and trees around the spot where they stood. "Come on out, Senator. I know you're there," she called.

  "Don't," Mary Beth begged. Her eyes flickered to the left. "Let's get out of here."

  Shannon's gut instinct swung in the direction Mary Beth had looked. "Senator? Be a man and come out and talk to me."

  The mesquite bush rustled, and a man stepped into view. It wasn't the senator, but his lackey. The big guy Shannon had encountered several times already.

  "You don't think the senator has time to take care of his own messes, do you?" the man asked, his black eyes hard.

  Mary Beth pulled on Shannon's arm. "Run!" she screamed.

  So Shannon did. She couldn't reason with a tree trunk like this guy. He blocked the path back to Jack, chuckling, so she grabbed Mary Beth's hand and half dragged her in the opposite direction. This guy couldn't possibly know the area like Shannon did. There was a rock ledge just around the bend in the trail that couldn't be seen unless you leaned over the edge. They could hide there until he passed, then climb back up and join Jack.

  He was probably in hot pursuit of the guy chasing them, though she wished he'd fire his gun and save them the trouble of running. Shannon spared no more thought for anything other than escape. This man was the type who would enjoy the chase and take his time. Which was to their advantage.

  They reached the spot where she knew the ledge to be. "Climb down," she told Mary Beth.

  Mary Beth backed away. "I can't," she whispered. "I'm afraid of heights."

  Too late Shannon remembered how Mary Beth wouldn't even look out the window of their apartment. "Don't look down," she said. "Look at me and I'll lower you. It's not far to the ledge maybe four feet."

  Mary Beth was shaking her head and backing away. Shannon grabbed her by the hands. "Do you want him to kill us?" she hissed. "This is the only way out. Do what I say. Don't look down, look at me."

  To her surprise, Mary Beth nodded. "Don't let me fall," she pleaded.

  Mary Beth got on her hands and knees. Shannon grabbed her wrists and began to ease her over the edge. The ledge was closer than Shannon remembered, maybe forty inches down, and Mary Beth's face brightened when her toe reached it. Shannon let her go, and Mary Beth ducked down onto the ledge. Shannon slid over the side and onto the rocky surface just seconds before she heard their pursuer round the rock. She and Mary Beth lay flat on their stomachs on the ledge, and Shannon prayed there were no scorpions or spiders lurking about. She held her breath and heard the man shuffle on the trail.

  He gave an exasperated sigh. "You can't hide from me, ladies. Make it easier on yourselves and come out now while I'm in a good mood." But his voice held amusement. Another shuffle came on the rocks, then his steps began to move away.

  Shannon let out the breath she'd been holding. They'd have to wait a few more seconds before they climbed up so the sound didn't attract his attention again. She dared to glance around and saw a scorpion headed their way. She took a loose rock and knocked it off the ledge.

  Poking her head over the top, she glanced around. The guy was nowhere to be seen. "Let's go," she told Mary Beth. She stood and boosted Mary Beth up, then pulled herself up onto the path as well.

  "Jack is following us too," she said. "He's got a gun." But she was surprised as they went back down the trail that they didn't run into her husband.

  Until they arrived at the rockfall that hid her parents and found Jack unconscious. His father loomed over him with Jack's gun in his hand.

  The senator waved the gun in the air. "Quentin, get over here!" he called. "I've got the girls."

  Shannon knelt by Jack and touched his head. A trickle of blood oozed from a goose egg on his forehead. "What did you do to him?"

  He shook his head. "How does Jack put up with you? You got enough tongue for ten rows of teeth. 'Course, I didn't hurt him more than a little tap on the head." He gestured with the gun. "Leave him be and get me my property."

  She'd expected this. Putting her hands behind her back, she stared him down. "I don't have the ledger."

  "I said get my property. I didn't say ledger." He grinned, revealing perfectly capped white teeth. "Missy, you're runnin' with the big dogs now. Don't try my patience."

  He stepped to Mary Beth and circled her neck in a choke hold with his free arm. She shrieked and squirmed as he dragged her to the edge of the trail. "Get it now or she goes over the edge." Mary Beth's screams grew pinched and she beat at his arm with her fists, but he held her fast.

  "All right, all right," Shannon called. "Don't hurt her." She'd have been able to deal with his gun but not the thought of him tossing Mary Beth down the cliff. What did he want if it wasn't the ledger?

  He let go of his captive, then swatted her behind as she left him. That one movement told Shannon everything. "You were having an affair with the senator?" she asked Mary Beth. "He's too old for you.,,

  "Hey there, I'm only sixty," the senator protested. "Missy, you'll be the first to go over the cliff if you keep talking like that."

  Mary Beth hung her head. "Power can be compelling."

  "I didn't expect my dolly to steal from me," the senator growled. "Eight million dollars just whisked away right under my nose. I want it back. Now."

  "I don't have it."

  "Do I have to throw her over the edge?" He made a grab for Mary Beth again, and she screamed.

  "You do have it, Shannon," Mary Beth said, panting. "It's in your name in a Swiss bank account. I destroyed all copies of the number once I put the chip in your arm. I wanted to make sure only you had access to the money. It seemed only right that you have it. He killed your parents!"

  "Shut up, Mary Beth!" The senator made a grab for her and she darted behind Shannon.

  "He arranged for that rock avalanche," Mary Beth said. "Ask him. It's true."

  Shannon watched the senator's cheeks turn a mottled red. "You killed my parents?" she whispered.

  Tears sprang to her eyes. Her mother and father rested right behind her. If he'd realized what they'd found, he wouldn't have been so quick to entomb them. For just a moment, the temptation to tell him trembled on her tongue. No, he'd dig it up. Or at least he'd tell others from prison.

  "Why?" she asked, her voice hard and angry.

  "Your daddy was always after a quick buck."

  "That's no reason to kill him."

  "Your daddy double-crossed him," Mary Beth said. "One of the senator's hobbies was stealing racehorses to up the quality of his stock, and he sometimes sold them to unscrupulous buyers.

  "His horses won more races, and their values shot up. Stud values too. He salted it all away in a special account, the one he kept track of in that ledger. The gambling money was all legal, but the amounts for the stolen horses went in there, too, and it grew pretty fast."

  "Five Lives was the best racehorse to ever set hoof on a track," the senator muttered. "And your daddy sold him, then refused to tell me who the buyer was."

  "Five Lives wasn't sold," Shannon blurted out before she could lock the words behind her teeth. "He's been right here all along. He's mine. I loved him and he loved me from the first minute he came." Her father had cared enough about her happiness that he'd lied to this man. And paid for it with his life.

  The senator's smile widened. "This ain't my first rodeo, missy. You're lying to delay handing over my money."

  Trying not to be obvious, she scanned the area for a weapon. "I don't have the money."

  "A chiseler's pup doesn't wander far from the litter, I see. But I know you've got it. I beat the truth out of her. It's in your arm in a chip."

  "Not anymore. I found it with my chip scanner and had it removed."

  His cocky smile faded. "What'd you do with it?"

  "I don't have it anymore." Not a lie. She'd given it to Rick to send to his friend.

  His eyes went round. "You threw it away?" He slapped his fore head with his free palm and muttered something derogatory about women in general and Shannon in parti
cular. "You had to have written down the number. Hand it over." He advanced with the gun held steady.

  "You're not going to kill me. A body with a bullet would require too much explanation."

  "You might have something there, missy." He seized her around the neck and dragged her to the precipice. "If you don't have the number, I don't have anything to lose by getting rid of the evidence."

  "Would you want Jack to hate you forever?" she choked out.

  The senator snorted a laugh. "Women have been after Jack since he first strapped on a buckle. He'll replace you in no time."

  Shannon fought the choking hold on her throat. Spots danced in her vision, and she felt her legs going weak.

  "Dad." Jack's voice came from her right. "Let her go, Dad." He wobbled to his feet and stumbled toward them. "Let her go."

  "Jack," the senator mumbled.

  His hold on her slackened a fraction, and Shannon took the opportunity to jerk from his grasp and run to her husband. His strong right arm circled her. They faced his father as one.

  The senator held out his hands but seemed to have forgotten he had Jack's gun. "Look, Son, it's not what you think."

  "No, it's worse. I heard it all as I was coming awake. You murdered a man and his wife, Dad. You've stolen and "His voice broke off as a horse came up the trail.

  "Jewel," Shannon breathed.

  The senator stood riveted. "Five Lives. What you said was true?" he whispered.

  From the other direction, the senator's hired thug came down the trail. His boss motioned to him, and Quentin turned his gun on Shannon and Mary Beth.

  The horse trotted to Shannon and she rubbed the blaze on his face. She knew he sensed her agitation, because he snorted and blew into her palm. "It's okay," she soothed.

  The senator brought a lump of sugar out of his pocket. "Here you go, Five Lives," he crooned.

  The horse's head came up, and he took a step closer to the senator. Shannon looped her arm around jewel's neck. "Stay," she said in a commanding voice. The stallion stopped.