The Lockwood Legacy - Books 1-6: Plus Bonus Short Stories

by Juliette Harper

  “Just so you know,” Kate said, “I intend to be armed.”

  Miles grinned at her. “It actually never occurred to me that you wouldn’t be.”

  “No objections?” she asked.

  “I make it a policy never to argue with a woman who carries a gun,” he said sincerely.

  “Wise man,” Kate said, grinning back.

  “Okay then,” Miles said crisply. “Get whatever you think you need and meet me at the command center. We leave in one hour.”

  89

  Kate called Jenny at the hospital to fill her in on what was about to happen. As she expected, her sister was not happy.

  “I don’t like this, Katie,” Jenny said. “Please let Miles take care of this.”

  “You know you’re wasting your breath,” Kate said. “I’m going to be up there with two heavily armed men, and I’ll have a .9 millimeter automatic on my belt. I want to know once and for all that we’re done with Robert Marino.”

  When silence filled the line, Kate said, “Jenny, I know you think this is all your fault, but it’s not. Marino used you. He hurt you. He’s hurt this family. This is Rocking L business and I’m taking care of it, for all of us.”

  “I have one sister lying catatonic in a hospital bed,” Jenny said, “and the other one is going up a draw to apprehend a criminal who threatened to shoot her less than a year ago. Sue me. I’m not especially thrilled at the moment.”

  “You just take care of Mandy,” Kate said. “I can take care of myself. Everything is going to be alright. I promise. I’ll talk to you as soon as I know something.”

  “I love you, Katie,” Jenny said. “You know that, right?”

  “Of course,” Kate said. “I love you, too. Don’t worry, please.”

  Now, two hours later, settled into the blind Miles and his men constructed in a copse of brush in the draw, Kate felt a pang of guilt for leaving Jenny alone and worried, and for ordering Josh to stay behind at the ranch house.

  She’d cut off his protests by speaking the truth. “For God’s sake, Josh, think about Jenny. She won’t be able to stand it if we both go up there and anything goes wrong.”

  Even though Josh knew Kate was right, she’d left him standing at the pasture gate looking like he’d been eating ground glass.

  Kate shook her head. She’d make it up to them later. Now she had to think about the matter at hand. The sun was almost down, and according to the silent text messages Miles received, Marino was already in position above them and watching the draw.

  The next four hours passed with agonizing slowness. Miles had dictated absolute silence. The only information they received came via his tablet, the glow of the screen completely hidden behind a slanted hood.

  At a quarter of 10, Miles tapped Kate on the knee and gestured to the screen of the device. She read the message. “Subject rappelling down cliff.”

  After about five minutes, they heard boots striking the ground. A dark figure appeared on the floor of the draw. The man quickly disengaged his harness, looked around to make sure he was alone, and approached the closed door of the cave. Without hesitation, he triggered the mechanism and ducked inside.

  Miles shifted the tablet screen, which now showed the live video from inside the cave. The man stood in the middle of the room just inside the door. When he pulled off his black face mask, Kate saw that he was, indeed, Robert Marino.

  Moving swiftly, Marino crossed to the opening in the floor and disappeared down the steps. Miles switched camera feeds and they were able to see Marino start to open the chests lined up along the wall.

  “Okay,” Miles said, “we ready to do this?”

  Everyone nodded. As they had arranged, McManus positioned himself at the entrance in case Marino tried to escape, Miles took the lead, and Kate and Jake followed him soundlessly into the cave.

  At the trapdoor, Miles held up his hand, pointed to himself and then down into the opening. Then he held up three fingers, and pointed to Kate and Jake. They both nodded.

  Miles took a breath and dropped straight down into the hole. Kate and Jake counted to three and followed. By the time they reached the bottom of the stairs, Miles was holding a gun on Robert Marino, who had his back to the far cave wall.

  “Look what I caught,” Miles said conversationally. “We seem to have a rat problem.”

  “Hello, Mr. Marino,” Kate said. “I’d say it’s nice to see you again, but neither one of us would believe that. What the hell are you doing on my ranch?”

  Marino made a show of looking behind Kate and up toward the ladder. “What?” he asked with mock disappointment. “You didn’t bring the lovely Jennifer with you? I did so enjoy listening to her whine. You will give her my best, won’t you?”

  “I asked you a question,” Kate said. “What are you doing on my ranch?”

  “Since it seems impossible for me to find reliable help these days,” Marino said, “I decided to handle this matter myself. All I want is this.” When he moved his arm, Miles brought his rifle up level.

  “Now, now,” Marino said. “Just calm down. May I move my arm?”

  “Slowly,” Miles commanded.

  With exaggerated care, Marino reached into a small pouch at his belt and held up the gold disk Jake found the day they opened the lower chamber for the first time. “I don’t want anything else,” Marino said. “Let me leave with this and the rest is yours. You’ll never hear from me again.”

  Kate let out a harsh laugh. “You have got to be kidding me,” she said. “I wouldn’t trust you as far as I could throw you.”

  “Hmmm,” Marino said, appearing to ponder the mechanics of her statement. “With just the one arm, I do imagine your range is limited.”

  Jake took a step forward. “You son of a . . .”

  “Stop it,” Kate ordered. “He’s just goading you.”

  Jake stopped, but he looked daggers at Marino, who seemed enormously amused.

  “No deal,” Kate said. “Miles, you want to . . .”

  At just that instant, Marino dove to his left, hit the ground, and rolled into the passageway leading farther back into the cave. Without thinking, Kate followed, Jake and Miles hard on her heels.

  The lighting was dimmer in the second chamber. No sooner had they cleared the door than a bullet winged past Kate’s ear with a low whistle, striking the rock behind them and showering them with tiny stone fragments.

  “Get down,” Miles hissed. “He’s using a silencer. Anyone hit?”

  “I’m fine,” Kate said.

  “Me, too,” Jake said. “Where the hell is he?”

  From across the room, Marino said, “Let’s not pretend we can’t all hear one another. It will save so much time.”

  “You’re not going to get out of here, Marino,” Kate said.

  Marino sighed. “Really, Miss Lockwood. Can’t you be reasonable for once? Just let me leave with this one item and we are done.”

  “What’s so important about the disk?” Jake asked.

  The sound of Marino’s laughter echoed in the small space. “Academic curiosity does get the better of you, doesn’t it, Dr. Martin? Fine. I’ll tell you. It’s the key to the real Montezuma’s treasure. What you have here is simply the contents of one of the caravans. This disk is the last piece of an intricate map of sorts that will allow me to find the remaining treasure.”

  “Which you will pilfer and sell on the black market,” Jake said hotly. “You’ll destroy every opportunity for the items to be studied and added to the historical record.”

  “The historical record doesn’t interest me,” Marino said. “Gold does. Take what you have here and be grateful for it. Let’s do this the easy way, shall we?”

  “And then you’ll leave my family alone?” Kate asked.

  Miles and Jake both swiveled to look at her, their faces registering shock at her sudden change of heart. She shook her head and mouthed, “Follow my lead.”

  “Absolutely,” Marino said. “You have my word.”

&nb
sp; “Not that I think that counts for much,” Kate said, “but fine. You’re free to go.”

  Marino laughed again. “I’m not quite that gullible, Miss Lockwood. I need the three of you to lay your weapons where I can see them.”

  “Fine,” Kate said, taking the automatic out of its holster. She stood up, holding the gun aloft in one hand and carefully placed it on one of Jake’s work tables. Then she stepped back and motioned for Miles to give up his weapons as well. The security man clearly did not like what he was being asked to do, but he reluctantly put his rifle and two pistols on the table before stepping back.

  For Marino’s benefit, Jake said, “I’m not armed.”

  “Back against the far wall, please,” Marino said, slowly emerging from the shadowy entrance of still another chamber.

  When they complied, he said, “Excellent. Now, I am going to pass in front of you and go out as I came in, and we will have no trouble whatsoever.”

  Keeping his pistol trained on the three of them, Marino crossed the chamber. He paused at the door and looked back at Kate, hesitated, and then gave into his major weakness — taunting women.

  “I’m so pleased to discover that all the Lockwood women are as weak willed as Jennifer,” he said. “I found her to be remarkably compliant in the bedroom. So pathetically eager to please. I quite enjoyed making her beg.”

  In one smooth motion Kate drew a derringer from the leather belt that held her bad arm in place and shot Marino square in the chest. Without moving, he looked down at the wound and then back up at her. Kate pulled the trigger again, and this time Marino jerked backward, slamming into the wooden brace supporting the entrance. An ominous rumbling sounded above them.

  Glancing up, Miles saw cracks beginning to spread across the ceiling above them. “Run!” he yelled.

  Stepping past Marino, who was now slumped in the entrance, Miles made it into the clear, but when Jake moved to follow, Marino’s leg shot out and tripped him.

  Jake caught himself, but the next tremor sent him sprawling backwards into Kate. They both went down as the sound of shifting rock intensified. The cave shuddered, and then the ceiling collapsed.

  On the other side of the wall, Miles Riley scrambled up the ladder and out the door, dodging falling rocks as he ran. He tumbled out the door as the whole cave imploded.

  “Jesus, Miles!” Brad said, catching his boss. “What the hell? Where’s Ms. Lockwood and the professor?”

  Miles looked back at the entrance, which was now belching a roiling cloud of dust. “They’re in there,” he said, gasping for air.

  “Are they alive?”

  “I have no idea,” Miles answered, fumbling for the microphone clipped to his vest, “but we have to find out.”

  Thumbing the mic, he said, “Code Red in the Draw. Repeat. Code Red in the Draw. This is not a drill. Repeat. This is not a drill. I need all personnel on site NOW with full emergency gear. Get the lead out, people!”

  Miles’s message ignited an instant storm of activity at the command center. Josh, who was working late in the barn cleaning tack, looked up when engines began to roar to life in the night. Stepping to the barn door, he took in the scene, and broke into a run, grabbing one of the last men to leave just before he could climb onto his ATV.

  “What the hell is going on?” Josh demanded.

  “There’s been a collapse in the cave,” the man said. “We’ve got to get up there.”

  “Is everyone alright?” Josh demanded.

  “Miles got out, but Ms. Lockwood and Dr. Martin are trapped inside,” he said. “I’m sorry, sir. I really have to go.”

  Christ, Josh thought. Jenny’s still at the hospital.

  But just as he reached for his phone, headlights cut through the front gate. The driver slammed on the brakes, throwing out a spray of rocks. The door opened and Jenny was running toward him in seconds.

  “What’s happened?” she demanded.

  “There’s been a collapse at the cave,” Josh said. “I don’t know much more. That guy told me Katie and Jake are still in there.”

  In the wavering glow of the headlights, Jenny swayed on her feet. Josh caught her, offering a steadying arm. Their eyes met and he saw raw terror in her expression. “Don’t,” he told her, tightening his hands. “We don’t know anything yet.”

  “I have to get up there,” she said, her voice shaking. “You have to let me go up there.”

  “Darling, listen to me,” he said. “Joe’s bringing Mandy home in the morning. We have no idea what’s happening in the draw. Let me go. I’ll find Miles and get the truth, and then I’ll come get you. I promise.”

  He felt a tremor pass through her body. “I can’t lose them both, Josh,” she said, her voice an anguished whisper.

  “You’re not going to lose anyone.”

  “Please,” she said. “Please let me go with you.”

  The timbre of her voice stopped him short. It was the first time he’d ever heard Jenny plead. The sound of it shattered his heart.

  “Alright,” he said. “The mule is faster to get to the creek bed, but then we’ll have to walk.”

  “Fine,” she said, urgently. “Just hurry.”

  Even with Josh driving the utility vehicle at top speed in the dark, it took them an hour and a half to reach the head of Baxter’s Draw. The scene before them was surreal.

  Miles and his men had rigged emergency lighting high on the canyon walls, bathing the whole area in an eerie glow. A line of men was removing rubble by hand from the cave entrance, and the team’s electrician was trying to re-establish a video link to the deeper chambers below what had been Langston Lockwood’s hidden sanctuary.

  As Josh and Jenny approached the work area, Miles saw them and came to the edge of the clearing. “We don’t know much,” he said, dispensing with any greeting, “but we don’t think the whole cave collapsed. Just the two front chambers. The cameras are still transmitting a signal, there’s just a lot of interference. We’re trying to get a picture.”

  “And if they’re alive?” Jenny asked.

  “We dig them out,” Miles said.

  Josh shifted uneasily, started to say something, and then stopped himself. Miles read his body language and said, “What?”

  “I see that you’ve got all kinds of equipment here,” Josh said, “but are you guys trained to handle this kind of thing? I mean, don’t we need to get someone else up here?”

  “That’s a fair question,” Miles said, “but you’ve already got the best in the business. We don’t just offer security. Our firm also does high-level rescue and retrieval work. I’ve already got reinforcements on the way from our Houston office. They’ll be here in four hours. Add two more hours to get in position, and we’ll be digging round the clock in six hours.”

  “Six hours?” Jenny said, her face deathly pale under the harsh glare of the lights. “What are we supposed to do for six hours?”

  Miles studied her face and consciously gentled his tone. “There’s nothing to do but wait, ma’am. I’m truly sorry.”

  “But . . . but won’t they . . . suffocate down there,” she managed.

  “That’s the good news,” Miles said. “There’s always been an unusual amount of air movement in the cave. Remember, your father managed to build a fireplace in there without smoking up the room. We think there might even be another entrance. I have men looking for it now. If we’re really lucky, Miss Lockwood, we’ll find a back door.”

  “Jenny,” she said automatically. “My name is Jenny.”

  Miles cleared his throat, took off his glove, and took her hand. “Look, Jenny,” he said. “I’ve got a brother. He’s my best friend. I’d do anything for him and go anywhere to get him out of trouble. I’m gonna bring your sister back to you. I promise. There’s nothing you can do here. Let one of my men take you home.”

  A look of indecision crossed her face. Then she felt Josh’s arm around her waist. “I’ll stay,” he told her. “Go on back down. Help Joe bring Mandy home fro
m the hospital. I’ll call you every half hour.” He looked at Miles, “I can use one of your satellite phones, right?”

  “Absolutely,” Miles said. “And as soon as we start digging, I’ll have you escorted back up here, Jenny. You have my word.”

  Jenny nodded and allowed herself to be led away by one of Miles’ men. As soon as she was out of sight, Josh turned toward Miles and said tersely, “Tell me the truth.”

  “I didn’t lie to her,” Miles said. “I think there’s a very good chance that Kate and Jake are still alive.”

  “But you don’t know for sure,” Josh said.

  “No,” Miles admitted. “I don’t.”

  Josh cocked his head and studied the security man. “Just exactly who are you, Miles?”

  Miles looked back at him and said seriously, “Man, you really don’t want to know.”

  90

  As the sound of crashing rock began to subside, Jake began to try to get his bearings. Everything around him was pitch black. Where the hell was Kate? Gingerly he tested his limbs. Nothing was broken.

  He spat out a mouth full of dust and yelled, “Kate! Where are you!”

  “Here,” she said. “Behind you.”

  Jake fumbled along his belt until he found the small flashlight he always carried. Flicking it on, he scanned his surroundings. The beam played across the area where the chamber entrance had been. It was now filled with rock, and Jake could make out one of Robert Marino’s feet protruding from the pile. “Serves you right, you bastard,” he muttered to himself.

  Jake turned to examine the other half of the room and was relieved to see Kate pulling herself upright. She looked at him and said, “Hi.”

  The incongruity of the greeting struck them both at the same time and they began to laugh, their mirth tinged with just a hint of hysteria. Kate pushed back to lean against the wall, which was clear on that side, and Jake crawled over on his hands and knees to sit beside her.