Rewarding Redemption

by Bonnie R. Paulson

  Bear Claw called out. “The cop has a map to the treasure.”

  “Oh, I enjoy a good twist.” Chris jerked the gun in Jason’s direction, rending a tear in Jenny’s heart. What if he shot him? Chris nodded. “Bring the map with you, Jenny. No reason to have the rest of them following us.”

  “I go with the map, Caracus. Shoot me if you want, but that’s the way it is.” Jason moved up beside her, passing her the small envelope, their fingers touching before he pulled away. He fell behind her but his boot steps reassured her as he matched her pace.

  Training his focus back on Jenny, Chris stared hard as if trying to ascertain her deepest motives.

  She crossed the road under his scrutiny, nausea working its way up her throat. Passing Mary, Lisa, and Sara Beth, Jenny whispered without moving her lips much, “Get going!”

  They broke from their fear-induced trance and finished their trek across the quiet road, leaving Jenny to walk in front of Jason. At least she wasn’t alone.

  She hardened her jaw with each step. She wouldn’t break. She wouldn’t be afraid. She was a Caracus – no matter what that meant to them. She remembered her mom and how strong she was, even at the end.

  In short seconds, Jenny reached her uncle, who pulled her into an awkward hug, pressing her chest to his. He laughed, jostling her against him. Jenny didn’t jerk away or act like he bothered her. He wanted a reaction and she refused to give him one.

  “You can back up now, boys.” Chris pressed Jenny to his side, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pointing at Jason. Michael and the two MacAllister twins had followed Jenny without her knowledge. Even if they couldn’t do anything, the thought comforted her that she and Jason hadn’t been alone.

  The Montana Trails closed rank around the rest of the Caracus daughters. Rosie’s exclamations over Sara Beth carried through the air. Nate called out to Jason. “We’re taking the women back to the ranch. We’ll be back with the posse.” His tone wouldn’t allow an argument and judging by Jason’s steely gaze, he wouldn’t get one.

  Relief that her sisters would be out of harm’s way gave Jenny more strength to endure what was necessary.

  Soft pastel pinks and purples arced across the sky, fading the stars as they passed. The waking dawn added a dim gray cast to the scene.

  Jenny stared longingly at Jason. She didn’t dare hope he would be able to keep his promise. The tight grip of Chris’s fingers on her shoulder warned she wouldn’t be getting away from him any time soon.

  Chris grabbed the envelope from her hands and shook out the folded paper. Dropping the envelope, he twisted the page back and forth. “I can’t make this out. Do either of you know how to read this?” He thrusted the crinkling map toward Jason, then to Jenny.

  Slowly, Jenny took the paper. She turned it around, so the shapes and squiggles faced the right way. Softly, she smiled. When was the last time she saw one of Devlyn’s love letters to Ellsbeth? She hadn’t been able to take any with her when she left.

  The poignancy of the moment wasn’t lost on her. Jason carried around a token of love from Devlyn to Ellsbeth for years, thinking it was a key to treasure. When really, it was just a reminder of what Jenny had lost so long ago – a façade. Her father hadn’t even been able to share his love in plain English. He’d had to hide behind an act.

  No one knew the real Devlyn. He had too many hidden pieces.

  But there was a long lost letter, right there in her hands and Jason held onto it the entire time.

  Of course, the letter would be easy to mistake for a map. Devlyn’s trademark style led Ellsbeth from one sentence to another with curly lines looping from one group of symbols to the next.

  A collection of triangles and circles with a square around them was how he signed his letters to her.

  Jenny never thought about it before, but the entire note looked exactly like a map.

  But it wasn’t.

  The page read:

  Ellsbeth,

  Where are you? I miss you.

  I hid our secrets.

  I love you.

  Devlyn

  She couldn’t tell Jason his hopes and dreams were wrapped up in a note Devlyn must have left for his dead wife. Especially not in front of Chris when her uncle might trade Jenny’s release for the fabled map.

  Convincing Chris wouldn’t be easy, but he expected her to try to trick him. Maybe she could send him the opposite way.

  But wouldn’t he be expecting that? A true Caracus expected trickery. And Chris was nothing, if not a full Caracus.

  Chapter 26

  Jason

  The sun crept above the plains to the east. Jason couldn’t take his eyes off the golden reflection on Jenny’s hair. She was so brave, even when she was faced with so much.

  He couldn’t lose her. If he didn’t get her to safety in the next couple of minutes, he might go postal and shoot everything in sight.

  She turned the map Chris held toward her, bending slightly at the waist to see the markings better. Her hair created a curtain around her face and she impatiently pushed the blonde mass behind her shoulder, glancing at Jason as she did so, then she stared down at the map another moment.

  Standing, she handed Chris the map again. “You’ll go to Lacey Caverns. That’s where it is. Back inside the tunnels.” She seemed so certain, creating doubt in Jason when he thought she would redirect the gang.

  Her uncle stared at her, his gaze so intense Jason shifted on his feet, ready to pounce if the intensity went any further.

  “You think I’m stupid? If you’re sending us that way, more likely what I’m looking for is in the opposite direction. You sending me on a wild turkey chase, Jenny?” He grabbed a chunk of her hair, yanking her face close to his and brandishing a knife as if by magic against her throat. “Why would you tell us so easily? Huh?”

  Jason lunged forward, barely restraining himself before choking Chris out. He forced his hands to his sides, disgust roiling inside him as Chris’s grubby hands sought for a way to hurt Jenny more.

  Give him three minutes alone with Chris, and Jason guaranteed he’d be short ten fingers.

  Jenny’s wild gaze flew until landing on Jason. She swallowed, her hands calming in their clamor for a grip on Chris’s arm. She struggled to gasp out, “Why wouldn’t I tell you? I want to be rid of you. We made a deal. Let me go.”

  Chris studied the overly tense group across from him, searching even beyond Jason. His eyes narrowed and the scraggly beard quivered when he spoke. “Tell you what, we’ll go together. If the treasure’s there, I’ll let you leave. If not…” He released her hair and pushed her back to his side. “Well, we’ll see just how skilled I am with this knife.”

  Dark red tinged the grooves in the weapon he held, leaving no doubt how he used the blade in the past.

  Hard fear in Jason’s stomach burst open into bold desperation. If Jenny left his sight, there would be no guarantee he would ever see her again.

  And not for lack of trying.

  Jason stepped forward, tucking his gun into his holster. “We’ll go with you.”

  “I don’t need no babysitter, son. I respected your dad, but I won’t be taking any crap from you.” Chris watched Jason like his words would hold meaning for the man.

  “You misunderstood. I’m not asking. I’m telling you. We’re going with you, or no one is leaving this spot alive.” To mark his words, Robbie MacAllister slid a shotgun shell into place, the click of the bolt-action of his shotgun loud in the sudden silence.

  The grudging acceptance in Chris’s eyes revealed he recognized Jason’s words for a promise. Not a threat.

  Chris motioned toward the rest of both groups. “I don’t think we want everyone to go with us. Let’s keep the secrets of the treasure to ourselves, don’t you agree? Put away your gun. You won’t be able to stop me, if I gutted her.”

  Jason tucked his gun slowly into the holster. “Before we leave, I’m going to check to make sure the girls are safe. I’d hate to find out t
hat you sent some of your fine men to ambush them while we sit here talking.” He pulled out his cellphone, swiping the screen to text.

  Instead of Nate’s contact information, Jason pulled up Officer Orville’s from the morning before. He didn’t have any credentials anymore, but Jason needed help and fast.

  Have leader of Caracus gang, heading toward Lonely Rivers and Lacey Caverns. Requesting backup.

  He hit send then created a fast text to Nate.

  You guys good?

  He hit send once again, meeting Caracus’s gaze with his own.

  The older man cocked his head to the side. “How do I know you didn’t just turn us in? You’re FBI now, ain’t you?”

  “Not anymore. I quit my job. Now what I’m doing is just as illegal as it is for you.” Jason tried ignoring the confirming glance Chris sent toward Jenny and her slow nod as she backed up Jason’s words. “Check for yourself.” He turned the phone toward Chris who peered at the screen.

  “Fine.” Chris narrowed his eyes at Jason, taking the evidence at face value but obviously not trusting him.

  If his call resulted in anything, they wouldn’t be alone much longer. Turning, he faced Slate and Robbie. “Thank you for your help. Maybe you should keep watch over these guys. I’m not sure they’re safe to be left alone around Colby.”

  Robbie and Slate nodded in unison, holding their stances – Robbie with his shotgun aimed toward Chris’s chest and Slate with his pistol aimed at Jack.

  Prodding Jenny with the knife blade at her back, Chris motioned forward. “Lead the way, little girl.”

  And like a small army, the three of them marched forward, over the ditches and across the field into the tree line.

  Jenny bobbed in and out of Jason’s line of sight. He stumbled multiple times while watching for her rather than where he was going. After twenty minutes of hiking, he finally breathed easier when they reached a collection of small rivers intertwining with each other.

  The trio gathered together at the base of a narrow bridge arcing over the waters at the narrowest part of the rivers. The bases reached far onto the banks to allow for flooding.

  Jason moved toward the bridge. “Who’s first?”

  Chris shoved Jenny forward, his rough handling greatly irritating Jason’s slim grasp of control. “My niece and I, of course.”

  Clenching his hands at his sides, Jason couldn’t refute the way Chris treated her. If he could get her away, he would, but help hadn’t arrived yet and Chris wasn’t the type of man to let things be once they were started.

  Jenny crossed carefully, walking beside Chris over the water and then continuing on the opposite bank. Chris didn’t stop, but pushed her over the grassy slope to the thin trees beside the mountainside. Jason jostled over the wooden slats as he rushed over to join them.

  Reaching a collection of cave openings at the base of the mountain, Jenny pulled against Chris’s hold on her arm. Her voice grew louder and louder. “I can’t go inside. Don’t make me go in there.” Tears strangled her words and she struggled harder.

  Jason’s heart ached for her. If they needed to go, then Chris would drag her in, kicking and screaming if necessary. What Jason wouldn’t do to trade her spots, save her from her the fear engulfing.

  First chance he got, he’d take Chris down. Until then, he’d have to just be a silent source of support for Jenny. Like when they were kids.

  Chapter 27

  Jenny

  What was Jenny thinking leading them to the caves? Of course he would force her to go inside. But she took the chance when she told them the caverns that they would be tempted to go the opposite direction. Running away on the plains would have been easier than trying to escape a dark memory from her past.

  She hadn’t figured Chris would make her take them. She was stupid and hoped the pseudo-map would be enough.

  At least Jason followed, so she wasn’t completely alone.

  Even Jason’s presence didn’t help though as Chris moved her to the cave entrances.

  Memories overcame her and she was ten years old again, standing with her dad at the cave entrances. They buried her mom only a week before. Jenny already met Mary and they had swung together on the park the previous day. Lost in her melancholy, she didn’t fight Devlyn when he instructed her to do things. Jenny’s thoughts focused on her mom and how lonely Jenny was since losing her.

  At the cave entrance, her dad asked her to stand inside, in the dark, and wait while he met with a man. They drove all that way on their four-wheeler with the trailer full of boxes and bags.

  Jenny waited, and waited, even as her dad drove off on the quad, disappearing around the bend. She sat down, just inside the mouth of the cave, drawing her knees to her chest and wrapping her thin arms around her lower legs. A spider crawled across her arm and something slithered in the grasses at the opening.

  Jenny whimpered in memory.

  Her mom was gone and now so was her dad. Had he abandoned her there? Nothing was certain. Nothing was safe anymore.

  But he returned soon and then they did the same trip four or five more times.

  Until that last one… the last time she was alone with him.

  He returned Jenny to that cave, the large entrance beside two small ones and he pushed her further inside, making her lead as they walked deeper into the darkness.

  Oh, she could still feel the damp chill in the air. Smell the dry dirt under their feet. Her memories mingled with the present and her breathing shallowed into pants.

  Devlyn had carried a small flashlight the size of a pen and the light bounced around the rock walls, the gray texture dizzying as she passed.

  In about twenty feet, Devlyn propelled her to an opening in the rock wall to the left.

  Then another left after another thirty steps.

  She counted her steps to avoid going insane. What if he left her there? She needed to get out.

  Fifteen more painful steps and left again.

  Five more excruciating steps and right.

  They were there for only a moment, but the small amount of time was enough to haunt her nights for months after.

  “Where do we enter, Jenny?” Chris poked her in the back, the jab sharp and insistent.

  Enter? “I’m not going in there. No way. I can’t.” She didn’t want to go back. Forget that she was planning on reentering on her own to retrieve the treasure. But that wasn’t with a man who very well could leave her alone in the caves.

  When she did things on her own, they weren’t as traumatizing. Put her uncle behind her with a knife and the man that she cared about in danger as well and even ordering ice cream was going to become a dramatic event.

  It wasn’t even a matter of want so much as couldn’t. Terror of being abandoned in there compounded with her lack of a light and any control and awakened her extremely delicate sense of survival.

  Chris wrapped his thick fingers again in her hair, yanking her to the side, bent at the waist. Rotten breath snapped her out of dizzying hysterics like smelling salts to a faint victim. “Calm down and get me inside. Where do we go next?”

  She swallowed back her sob, pointing slowly toward deeper into the larger opening. The warmth of the day disappeared behind them.

  “You don’t need to manhandle her, Caracus. She’ll take us.” Jason’s presence banished her alarming chill. If she could, she would run to him, hide her face in his neck and cry for weeks.

  But Chris threw her forward, and she fell onto the ground, the sudden difference in height perspective so similar to when she was little. Jenny gasped.

  Her daddy’s words resounded in her mind. “Stay there. I’ll be back.”

  “It’s going to be too dark. We need a flashlight.” She stood, pressing herself to the craggy wall of the cave. The jagged rock cut into her palms. But she welcomed the bite to her skin. She couldn’t go further.

  Chris pulled a scratched and dented flashlight from a pocket in his duster. He tilted his cowboy hat back, moving inside the tunne
l. “Go ahead, Jenny. I’ll carry the light.”

  She couldn’t get out of going further. She bit her lip, meeting Jason’s eyes with her own. “Are you coming too?” She could do it, if he went.

  Jason nodded. “I’m right behind you.”

  Relief strengthened her. She crossed her arms, holding herself close as the chilly moisture grew stronger with each step she took.

  The huff of Chris’s breathing could’ve been her dad’s as the darkness tricked her mind and she relived some kind of an overlap of memory and reality. The light bobbed over the walls.