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

by Juliette Harper

  Kate smiled down at her reassuringly. "Thank you very much, both of you,” she said, taking note of the fact that Sissy was so worried she hadn’t spoken at all. “Telling us what you saw was absolutely the right thing to do. Don't worry. We'll take care of this from here on out.

  The assurance did nothing to erase the twins' troubled looks. “Did we get Uncle Josh in trouble?” Sissy asked. "'Cause we didn't mean to. We don’t want everybody mad at everybody else."

  “Nobody’s mad, honey,” Jenny said. “You didn't get Uncle Josh in trouble. It’s just that the cave isn’t a safe place for him to go into all by himself, so Uncle Jake needs to talk to him about being more careful.”

  “Oh,” Missy said, her face brightening with relief. “That’s different. We thought he did something you wouldn’t like and that we were being tattletales.”

  "Well, you weren't," Mandy said briskly. "But I will tan your tails if you two don't do something about these rooms. No more pecan pie for either one of you until this place is spic and span." As they started to protest, she held up her hand, "Don't go fussing at me that this is a holiday. You all get this mess cleaned up and you can stay up late tonight and we'll all watch a movie. Deal?"

  "Deal!" the girls agreed enthusiastically.

  As Kate, Jenny, and Mandy walked out into the hall, Mandy said under her breath, "That should keep them busy for awhile."

  In the same low tone, Jenny said, “I am pretty sure we just lied to those children.”

  “If we did, it's for their own good," Kate replied. "After everything they've been through, Sissy and Missy don't need to be worried or scared about anything. And besides, it isn't a lie that Josh has no business being in the cave by himself. And technically, we don't know for sure that he really has done anything bad.”

  The sisters walked into the kitchen just as Joe Bob came in the back door. Jake, Dusty, and Phil were all seated at the table, so everyone was able to hear the news about Josh at the same time. When Kate finished relating what Sissy and Missy saw, she looked around the room and said, “Anybody have anything to say?”

  “I do,” Jenny answered immediately. “I say enough is enough. We need to confront Josh and find out exactly what’s going on. Or, more to the point, I need to confront Josh.”

  Jake cleared his throat. “If I may make a suggestion?” he said as everyone looked in his direction. “A confrontation is definitely in order, and I’m sure you have plenty of things you’d like to say to him, Jenny, but wouldn’t we achieve more by actually catching him with the goods?”

  “What do you mean?” Jenny asked, a note of residual loyalty to Josh tinging the question. “You cannot possibly mean Josh is stealing anything.”

  Jake held up a placating hand. “No, not at all,” he said. “But I do think he’s already found Simpson Browning and he’s looking for a way to get the remains out of the cave without getting caught. I’d like to ensure that when Josh comes out of there with whatever is left of the poor man, we’re standing there waiting for him.”

  Kate, who had been leaning back against the kitchen counter while she spoke, reclaimed her chair beside Jake. “What makes you think Josh has found Simpson?” she asked.

  “Well, I’ve been watching Josh pretty closely,” Jake answered. “He’s been going to the same part of the cave for several days now, and his absences from the group don’t last as long. To me that says he’s not looking anymore; he’s thinking about how to handle what he’s already found.”

  Phil, who had been staring into his coffee cup and listening to the conversation without comment, looked up. “Then why didn’t he take Simpson out of there today?” he asked. “The girls specifically said that Josh wasn’t carrying anything.”

  Jake shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe he’s had to work the remains free from a tight spot, or he needed to get some kind of supplies inside the cave to wrap up the bones so he could carry them more easily. Regardless, we need to create another window of opportunity for Josh to be in that cave alone, but on a timetable that serves our purposes.”

  “How are you planning to do that?” Jenny asked.

  “The weather is on our side,” Jake said. “Even though in theory the cave interior stays around 70 degrees, it feels colder in there, especially near the opening where most of our equipment is set up. We’re supposed to have an unusually nasty December with a lot of wind and rain. I can tell the team that we’re closing the site down early, like maybe ten days from now." He picked up his phone, which was lying on the table beside his cup, and thumbed on the screen to study the calendar. "Let's say the last work day is Saturday, December 12, and I tell them an iron grate will be installed over the entrance on Monday the 14th. That would give Josh one clear day."

  “You want to force his hand,” Kate said.

  “Exactly,” Jake nodded. “If Josh has found Simpson Browning, that Sunday will be his only chance. The cave will be empty and open. We stake out the entrance and confront him when he comes out.”

  “I don’t understand,” Mandy interrupted. “Can’t he just go in there anytime like he did today?”

  “Yes,” Jake admitted. “He could, but the risk is too great that someone will be in there at an odd hour of the day. It’s not unusual for 2 or 3 members of the team to stay late into the night. We even have cots set up in the work area in case someone wants to crash. The only reason Josh risked going there today is that he knew everyone would be off having Thanksgiving dinner.”

  Joe Bob, who had remained silent during the entire conversation, spoke suddenly. “I want Mandy and the girls off the ranch the day this all goes down,” he said, looking directly at Kate. “I understand that you all have to do this, but it’s my responsibility to keep my family safe. I refuse to agree to anything that will put my girls or my wife in harm’s way. I don't care if you do run the Rocking L.”

  Kate looked at him with a glint of admiration in her eye. “I may run the Rocking L, Joe Bob,” she said, “but I wouldn’t presume to try to run your house. Nothing confrontational will happen on this ranch while Mandy and the girls are on this land if it’s in my power to stop it. You have my word.”

  Mandy looked from her husband to her sister. "Excuse me, the two of you," she said, "but I'm sitting right here. Neither one of you decide where I'm going to be or when, so stop treating me like I don't have a brain in my head. I agree that the girls don't need to be here, but this is my ranch, too."

  Joe Bob's face flushed, but he held his ground. "That may be," he said. "But the twins have already lost one mother and they're not going to lose another. And then there's . . . "

  Mandy cut him off. "Fine," she said. "All four of us will be off the ranch. We'll take the girls Christmas shopping in San Antonio that day and I don't want to hear . . .”

  Kate cut in smoothly. “That’s a good idea,” she said. “I don’t think Josh will give us any trouble, but I agree with Joe Bob that it's better to play it safe.”

  Still looking like her feathers were a little ruffled, Mandy said, "It's settled then." She looked at Kate, Jake, Jenny, Dusty, and Phil. "That means that whatever happens on that Saturday is up to the five of you."

  "Since it's my plan," Jake said, "it's only right that I see it through."

  "I'm in," Dusty said. "I signed on to ride for the Rocking L brand."

  Phil, who was toying with the rim of his coffee cup didn't look up.

  “Are you okay with all this, Phil?” Kate asked. “I realize we’re sitting here talking about your nephew like he’s a common criminal.”

  The older man lifted his head. “Fact of the matter is, you may be dealing with a common criminal,” he said sadly. “I thought Josh had better judgment than the rest of us Baxters, but I don’t think so anymore.”

  From her place next to him, Mandy raised her voice in protest. “Don’t say that!” she said. “You have very good judgment.”

  Phil patted her hand. “Now I do, honey,” he said, “but I didn’t when I was his a
ge. I did a magnificent job of messing up my life. I was headed in a really bad direction, and then I met your mother.”

  A sudden silence filled the room, the awkwardness of the moment holding Phil's words suspended in the air. Finally, Phil sighed and said, “Look, I’m sorry if it makes you girls uncomfortable when I talk about her. I know Irene and I didn’t have much time together, but she was the most wonderful woman in the world. Because of her — because I knew she was in the world — I managed to find the strength to turn my life around.” He looked over at Jenny, “I had hoped you’d be able to do that for Josh.”

  There was neither hesitation nor self-doubt in Jenny’s voice when she answered him. “I wish I could have done that, too, Phil,” she said, “but I'm convinced that Josh and I would never have been good together. I couldn't be what he wanted, and the longer we stayed together, the more he was going to resent me for it. I understand now that it was that growing resentment that made his temper come out in the first place.”

  Phil raised both hands in a gesture of futile resignation. “I have no doubt,” he said. “Most Baxter men don’t like to be told what to do, especially by their women. You did what you had to do to protect yourself, Jenny. Nobody can save Josh from himself. He has to take that journey alone. It just hurts to see him throwing himself headlong down a road filled with bad choices just the way my brother Eddie did."

  “So you’re with us?” Kate asked.

  “Of course I’m with you,” Phil said. “I just don’t like it.”

  The following Monday at the morning team meeting, Jake announced Saturday, December 12, as the day all work on the site would stop. “I have a company coming out from San Antonio the next Monday,” he said. “We don’t want any trouble in here until we start working again in the spring, so I’m having an iron grate installed over the entrance. Between now and March, we’ll stay warm and dry in the Institute building analyzing data and getting papers ready to present. Sound good?”

  His plan was greeted with approval all around. They were all looking forward to some desk time after months inside the cave. Out of the corner of his eye, Jake watched Josh for any overt reaction, but saw nothing but the man's usual easygoing grin.

  As soon as the meeting was over, however, Josh went outside and placed a phone call, speaking quietly into the handset for several minutes before ending the call and going back to work.

  That night, when Jake described the behavior to Kate and Jenny over supper, Kate said, "I'd say he took the bait."

  "Maybe it was just a coincidence," Jenny suggested.

  "Maybe," Jake said, "but it looked for all the world like he was reporting in to someone."

  "All we can do is wait and see what happens between sundown on Saturday the 12th and dawn on Monday the 14th," Kate said. "There's an old hunting blind down there. I'll get Dusty to clean it out and we'll use that as our observation post. We should have a clear line of sight on the cave, and we'll work in shifts."

  Over the next two weeks, the weather worsened daily. Cold, steady rain set in, and as the ground grew more saturated, the level of the South Llano River began to rise. By the Friday before the scheduled closure of the cave, the river had reached full-blown flood stage.

  Standing well up on the bank late in the afternoon, Jake said, "If we hadn't already decided to stop work, all this water would have made me decide to close up shop. A few more feet and we could get some flooding at the entrance."

  Kate, who stood beside him, bundled up in a Indian blanket coat, surveyed the flood waters with a practiced eye. "It's still coming down," she said. "See that debris out there in the middle of the channel? This old river isn't done yet."

  "Can you explain to me why when a river is still rising people say it's coming down, but then will turn right around and refer to the water being up?" Jake asked.

  "Texican is a strange and wonderful language," Kate said with a grin. "We believe words exist to be used flexibly."

  "I think you mean words exist to be bent out of shape beyond all reason," Jake laughed. Then, in a more somber tone, he said, "Who gets the first shift tonight?"

  "Jenny and Dusty want to do it," Kate said. "We'll switch off every four hours through the night and sleep at Mandy's in between shifts. She and Joe Bob have already left for San Antonio with the kids. Do you think it’s going to work?"

  Jake looked back out across the roiling floodwaters. "I do," he said. "I just can't tell you how it's going to work. We could be opening a real Pandora's box with this Simpson Browning business."

  "Better us than Rafe and Retta," Kate said. "And Jenny will finally know if she made the right choice leaving Josh."

  "Oh," Jake said, "I think she knows that already. This is just going to confirm it for her."

  131

  About an hour before dawn on Sunday, December 13, Dusty spotted a dark figure moving through the underbrush. She nudged Jenny to get her attention and pointed silently as the shadowy form slipped into the cave.

  “Is that him?” Dusty whispered.

  Jenny nodded and glanced at her watch. Kate and Jake were probably already on their way from Mandy’s house to take the next watch in the deer blind. Jenny quickly typed a text message and sent it to Kate. “Josh inside cave. Be quiet.”

  Within seconds Kate replied. “Understood. Coming through the brush. Will text again 100 yards out.”

  Ten minutes passed before the screen of Jenny’s phone flashed again. The message read, “Coming in now.”

  Kate and Jake slipped into the back of the hunting blind. Dusty and Jenny made room on the small bench and the four of them spoke in low tones.

  “How long has he been in there?” Kate asked.

  “No more than 15 or 20 minutes,” Jenny said.

  “It would take him that long just to get to the part of the cave where I think he found Simpson Browning,” Jake said. “We need to get into position.”

  “Okay,” Kate whispered. “Jenny, you come with me. I want us to talk to him first. We’ll wait out of sight straight across from the cave. Dusty, Jake, you get in that bunch of boulders just to the left.”

  The group split into pairs and moved just as the sun began to lighten from dark purple to a lavender. The roar of the river drowned out any other sound. Crouched down near the entrance, Kate caught Jenny’s eye and pointed first at the water and then up.

  “Still rising?” Jenny mouthed silently.

  Kate nodded.

  They’d been in place about an hour when Josh came out of the cave carrying a canvas duffle bag. As soon as he was clear of the rock overhang, Jenny and Kate stood up.

  Josh stopped in his tracks and looked from one sister to the other. “Well,” he said, putting the bag down on the ground beside him. “I might have known the two of you were smart enough to figure it out.” He pulled a .9-millimeter automatic from the pocket of his jacket. “Take your weapons out slowly and put them on the ground, and then get out of my way.”

  “We’re not armed,” Kate said.

  “I don’t believe you,” Josh snapped.

  “She’s telling you the truth,” Jenny said. “Neither of us is carrying a gun.”

  “What about your derringer?” he asked Kate.

  “Lying on the top of my desk,” Kate said.

  Josh made a dismissive sound in his throat. “You may not be armed,” he said, “but I’m betting Jake and Dusty are loaded for bear. You all come out of those boulders. Do as you’re told or I’ll put a slug right in Katie’s bad shoulder. You know I can make the shot so don’t even think about crossing me.”

  Jake and Dusty emerged reluctantly. Dusty was holding a 30-30, which she carefully placed atop a flat boulder. Jake put a pistol beside it.

  “I want the one in your boot, too, Dusty,” Josh said.

  “How do you know I’ve got a gun in my boot?” she asked.

  “Because you’re rodeo trash,” Josh said pleasantly. “Nice and slow now.”

  Dusty did as she was told, pulling out a
small .22 caliber automatic, which she put on the rock beside her rifle.

  “Both of you get over there with Saint Katherine,” Josh ordered.

  As Dusty and Jake carefully moved over, Kate asked conversationally, “So you found Simpson Browning? How far back was he?”

  Josh laughed. “You might as well know,” he said. “It’s not like you can do anything about it. He was about where the roof caved in on you, but down a winding side tunnel in a little room that made a very cozy crypt.”

  “So which one of them killed him?” Kate asked. “My grandfather or yours?”

  “I guess that depends on which one of us is telling the story,” Josh said, motioning with the pistol barrel. “Now, I asked you nice. This time I’m telling you. Move.”

  Without a word, Jenny walked half the distance between them and stopped, facing Josh. “Your business is with me,” she said. “Not with Kate.”

  “All business on the Rocking L goes through the great and mighty Kate Lockwood,” Josh said sarcastically, anger darkening his features. “Everyone else on this ranch is just a peon. Move back, Jenny.”

  “No.”

  Josh shook his head and clucked his tongue. “Now, now. Don’t be your usual bitchy, high-headed self. Be a good girl and move. Don’t make me shoot you.”

  Jenny held her ground. “You won’t shoot me, Josh, and you know it, so drop the tough-guy routine and talk to me,” she said.

  “We don’t have anything to say to one another,” he snapped angrily

  “Oh, but I think we do,” Jenny said, taking another step forward.

  Josh took a step back. “Stop where you are.”

  Jenny kept moving, forcing Josh to retreat even farther. “Were you working for Robert Marino?” she asked. “Tell me the truth.”

  The angry, arrogant expression faltered for a second, then Josh said, “Yes, I was working for Marino.”