Escape From the Badlands

by Dana Mentink

  Gleeson’s smile vanished. “Why don’t you? As long as we’re airing our dirty laundry here, maybe you should go first. Your last name isn’t Matthews; it’s Mason. You’re a horse rancher who signed onto this race to dig up some dirt on someone, and I have a strong hunch that someone is Devin Ackerman.”

  It was almost a relief to Shane to have it out in the open. “Why does it matter to you what I’m after if you’re just here to race?”

  “I’m a jack-of-all-trades. Been in the military, been an insurance investigator. Sometimes I do some off-the-books security work.”

  “For Ackerman?”

  He shrugged. “For whoever pays me. I run license plate numbers on all the racers as a precaution. Took about two seconds to find out who you really are.”

  “And what are you supposed to do about it?”

  “I just make sure things run smoothly.”

  “By getting rid of me? Did you do a number on my bike?”

  “Hey, you’re my race partner, remember? I really am in this thing to win. The security job is on the side.”

  “So you worked on the race last year?”

  “Maybe.”

  “But things didn’t run so smoothly then, did they?” Shane felt his pulse pound. “One of your race cronies killed Olivia Mason, my sister-in-law.”

  “And you’re here to clear your brother by finding out the truth? Listen, kid, I admire your loyalty, but this is just a race. There’s no one hiding from the law here, as much as you want there to be. It’s hard for you to face the truth about your brother.”

  “My brother didn’t kill her.”

  “As I said, you’ve got admirable loyalty.”

  “If you were here last year, you remember Ellen Brown. She left suddenly after giving Ackerman an alibi.”

  His eyes narrowed. “So?”

  “So what happened to her? She took sick and then vanished. Didn’t even want to stay in the hospital.”

  “You’ve done some research.”

  “Seems to me she was afraid. Maybe Ackerman threatened to hurt her if she told the truth.”

  “You’re tilting at windmills.”

  “Ackerman would like me to think so.”

  Gleeson sighed. “Look, kid. Why don’t we just concentrate on the race. Ackerman’s an adrenalin junkie—same as we are—that’s all. He has nothing to hide.”

  Something in his eyes made Shane press further. “But someone does. That night you were out in the woods. You were looking for something.” His mind put it together. “My bike. You were looking for my bike, because you think someone really did sabotage it.”

  Gleeson glanced away.

  Shane laughed grimly. “So we do have something in common. You believe someone here is trying to keep me from figuring out the truth, don’t you? Otherwise you wouldn’t have been out looking for my bike.”

  “I’m saying no such thing. It pays to be cautious.” He turned to go. “You and your girlfriend should remember that.”

  Shane was on him in a minute, grabbing his arm and spinning him around. Gleeson’s hands came up reflexively in a fighting stance. Shane gripped him tightly. “What are you saying about Kelly? Is she in danger? Did you put that snake in her backpack to scare her?”

  “Snake?” There was a glint in Gleeson’s eyes before he pulled away. “No. I can’t stand snakes. That was someone else’s little trick. I’m just telling you that people who go around digging up trouble usually find it, and those around them pay the price.”

  “Is that a threat?”

  “No, just an observation.” He left, walking away from the pool of porch light and melting into the shadows.

  THIRTEEN

  Uncle Bill’s angry voice rang in Kelly’s ears as she finished the bowl of spicy chili Aunt Jean had made. Even the hot food did not dispel the memory of the cold snake coiled around her ankle.

  “He’s just mad because he worries,” she said. “And he is probably frustrated that he didn’t know Rose stayed in Ash Ridge.”

  “I know.”

  “So close and she might as well have been a million miles away. Oh, I forgot,” she said, heaving herself out of the chair and putting Paddy Paws down on the floor. “I was out for my walk when the rain let up and I ran into one of the racers, a Tim something or other.” She pulled a scrap of paper from her purse. “He left you a phone number of a mutual friend, I think he said.”

  Kelly grabbed the scrap eagerly. Tim’s handwriting was terrible, but she could make out the name Ellen Brown and a phone number. This might be the break Shane had been waiting for since his brother was arrested. “I need to go give this to Shane. Will you be okay here for a little bit?”

  “Of course.” She hesitated. “Honey, I know it’s not my place, but Shane hurt you pretty bad last time.”

  Kelly’s face flushed. “It’s not what it looks like. We’re just working together on a project. I’m…I’m actually going to leave the race after the next event.”

  “Why?”

  She shrugged. “Plenty of reasons.”

  “Are you sure one of them isn’t because you’re starting to have feelings for Shane again?”

  Again? Her cascade of feelings for Shane had never ebbed. The overwhelming crush of love, followed by a pain so profound she did not think she would survive it. Aunt Jean took her hands, and she saw deep compassion in that wrinkled face.

  “Don’t misunderstand me,” she said quietly. “Forgiveness is the very sweetest thing, Kelly, and if you can find it in your heart to forgive Shane, then that will bless you both. Just be careful, honey, that you don’t ask more of him than he can give.”

  She squeezed Aunt Jean’s hands before gently pulling hers away. “I learned that lesson already. I’m not asking him for anything.” She dropped a kiss on her aunt’s cheek and hastened out the door.

  The light in Shane’s trailer outlined him sitting at the table, staring at his laptop. She knocked and he opened it, a startled expression on his face. “Everything okay?”

  “Yes.” She held out the scrap. “It’s from Tim. It’s Ellen’s number.” The hopefulness that flickered across his face for a moment took her breath away.

  He snatched up his satellite phone and gestured for her to sit next to him at the table as he dialed. “I hope it’s not too late to call.” He tensed as he set the phone between them.

  A woman’s voice answered. “Hello?”

  “Is this Ellen Brown?” Shane asked.

  “Who wants to know?”

  “My name is Shane Mason. I’m participating in the Desert Quest Race. I know you raced last year, and I wondered if I could ask you a question.”

  Her tone was icy. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Last year, you raced with Tim Downing. You got sick and had to leave.”

  Silence.

  “You provided an alibi for Devin Ackerman in the killing of a woman by the name of Olivia Mason here in South Dakota a few days before the race began.”

  More silence.

  “Please, Ellen. I’m not trying to hurt you or make trouble. I just want to go over the details of your statement.”

  “Are you a cop?”

  “No.”

  “Then I have nothing to say to you.”

  Shane leaned toward the phone. “I’m not accusing you of anything. My brother is in jail for the crime, and he didn’t do it. I’m trying to help figure out what really happened.”

  “I’m sorry about your brother, but I’m not talking anymore. That was the worst time in my life, and I just want to forget about it.”

  “Just…”

  “No. I’m not exposing myself to a psychopath ever again. Don’t call me anymore because I’m changing my number.”

  The dial tone sounded loud in the quiet room. Shane threw himself back in the chair with an exasperated groan.

  “A psychopath?” Kelly mused aloud. “Was she talking about Devin?”

  “Ackerman, Chenko—even Gleeson could be invo
lved for all I know.” Shane got up and stalked around the small space. “I feel as if I’m going in circles.”

  Kelly nodded. “Every time we discover something, it upsets the balance of what we already believed.” She looked at the open laptop and saw what he’d typed in the search box. “Angel Heart?”

  He nodded, settling into the chair again. “My brother said Olivia was involved in the organization. It’s a group to assist unwed mothers.”

  Kelly started. “And Olivia worked in Ash Ridge? Did she know my sister?”

  He sighed. “Todd said she never talked about it. She witnessed a crime four years ago, before they met, and it really traumatized her. That’s what I was about to dive into.”

  Kelly moved close to watch the screen, ignoring the feeling of his muscled shoulder against her cheek and the faint scent of his musky aftershave. He began to type terms in the search box; Ash Ridge, the year and murder. It took only moments to get a hit. Shane squinted at the screen. “It’s an article about a murder, a local waitress at Buckthorn Diner just outside Ash Ridge almost four years ago.” Shane tensed. “Here it is. It says the killer was spotted by a woman named Olivia Tantino as he fled. The killer escaped.”

  There was a grainy picture of a group outside the crime scene. A waitress clutched an apron to her mouth. Several police officers and bystanders were assembled outside the diner.

  Kelly’s mind whirled. “It’s not a coincidence. It can’t be. My sister was in Ash Ridge four years ago, and she was pregnant. Your sister-in-law was there, too. Do you think they were somehow both connected to the murder of that poor waitress?”

  Shane’s eyes darted in thought. “The more we learn, the more it seems as if their lives are somehow intertwined. Could be the person who killed that waitress also killed Olivia because she could ID him.”

  Kelly peered at the picture. Could her sister have even been there in the crowd? But why had she left Ash Ridge, pregnant and alone? Something about the picture niggled at her, but she couldn’t figure out what.

  She felt bone-weary. Dropping her head on her arms, she sighed.

  “None of it makes sense,” she groaned. “My sister, Olivia. A murder four years ago. Your bike, the snake—how is it all connected?”

  Shane rested his hands on her shoulders and gave her a gentle massage. “Maybe it’s not. Could be we’re trying to tie things together that just don’t fit.”

  His fingers continued to squeeze, and she relaxed in spite of herself.

  “But it’s a good thing you’re going home, just in case.”

  She sat up, a trickle of fear washing through her. “But if you’re right, and someone here killed Olivia, that person is going to come after you.”

  He smiled, that roguish grin that still made her weak in the knees. “I’m tougher than I look.”

  She put a hand on his cheek. “No jokes. Not now. You could get hurt, Shane. Or killed.”

  “As long as you and Charlie are safe, that’s the important thing.”

  She was suddenly pulled against his chest, his arms circling her body in a warm embrace. “I don’t want you to get hurt,” she whispered, feeling the pulse of his heart. “You should leave, too.”

  “I’ve got to see this thing through to the end.” He brushed her hair away from her face. “I’ve got to.”

  She was lost in a cloud of emotion, in the feeling of his arms around her. There it was again, the shimmer of grief in his voice when he spoke of Todd, as if he knew from experience the agony of losing a brother.

  “Shane, when you were talking to Charlie, you told him you used to hunt for snakes with your brothers. Was your other brother younger?”

  He jerked backward as if she’d struck him. “Yes. He drowned.”

  “How?”

  He turned away. “I don’t talk about that.”

  “Why not? When we were together before, we shared everything.”

  He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them his face was cold and distant. “Some things aren’t meant to be shared.”

  She took a step back, repelled by the hardness in his tone. All that time, she’d told him everything—about Rose, about her mother, about her fears and triumphs. All that time, he’d been keeping something from her, something that rocked him to the core.

  “Those are the things that usually need sharing most of all,” she said quietly as she moved to the door and left.

  The first thing Kelly did the next morning was go straight to the lodge, where she knew she would find Devin and Martin Chenko busily planning the day. She was not disappointed. They sat at a far table, heads bowed over a computer screen. A few racers were up. Betsy and Gwen sipped coffee at a quiet table. Gwen waved at Kelly as she came in, and Betsy raised her coffee mug in greeting. Kelly waved back but did not veer from her uncomfortable mission.

  It was unprofessional to leave a job midstream, but after the snake incident and Charlie’s brief disappearance, she was beginning to worry about his safety, too. And there was something about the way Gwen looked at Charlie that unnerved her.

  You’re lying to yourself, Kelly.

  The reason she was leaving—the real reason—was the way her heart quickened whenever she saw Shane looking at her, and the way being in his arms made her feel. She could never again risk becoming lost in those feelings. Squaring her shoulders, she approached the two men.

  Chenko looked up . “Good morning, Kelly. Join us.”

  Devin stood and pulled out a chair for her. “Going to be a great day.”

  She nodded. “I’ve got some bad news. I need to leave after this leg is over.”

  Chenko’s brows drew together. “Leave? You can’t leave; we’ve got another event after this.”

  “I’m sorry. I know it’s not the best scenario.”

  “Not the best? It’s going to put us in crisis mode.” Chenko held up his hands. “Please don’t back out on your commitment here. If it’s a matter of money…”

  “No, no, it’s nothing like that. I’ve contacted a few colleagues of mine who are available to replace me.”

  Devin leaned toward her. “What’s behind this decision? Has someone treated you badly here?”

  “No, nothing like that. It’s a family issue.”

  Her stomach constricted, and she found herself babbling. “It’s Charlie. I’m not sure this is a good place for him. It was my mistake committing us to the race.”

  “Charlie’s doing okay here, isn’t he? Plenty of room to run and your aunt to stay with him. What better place for a kid?” Chenko asked.

  “Come on,” Devin said. “Give us another chance. We can help you. Get a babysitter from town if your aunt isn’t up to it.” He came next to her and put his arm around her shoulder.

  “I really don’t think it will work out,” Kelly said, taking a step away.

  Chenko sighed. “Please, Kelly. This race is my whole life right now, and I don’t want anything to derail it. At least think about it, and we can talk again tonight. Will you do that for me?”

  She saw the fatigue on his face. It was wrong to leave him in the lurch. “All right. We can talk again tonight.”

  Kelly returned to her trailer and found Aunt Jean hanging up the phone. Her face was grave. “What’s wrong?”

  “It was Uncle Bill. He tracked down the chief of Ash Ridge who went through the files on the death of that waitress.”

  “And?”

  “And the sheriff confirmed that Olivia saw the killer as he ran. She provided a vague description to the police.”

  Kelly nodded. “Yes, we know all that. Shane suspects it might have something to do with why she was killed.”

  Aunt Jean pursed her lips. “She wasn’t alone.”

  “What?”

  “Olivia reported that there was a woman with her, a woman she was helping through Angel Heart. The woman refused to go to the police. She took off, and Olivia didn’t know where to contact her.”

  Kelly’s heart thudded to a stop. “What was the
woman’s name?”

  Aunt Jean took a deep breath. “Olivia never knew the woman’s real name, but she went by the name of Stormy.”

  Shane grabbed a quick breakfast and helped load the canoes before they headed to the river. He didn’t see Kelly or Charlie. More than anything, he wanted to get the race over with and send Kelly on her way.

  He felt raw inside, her question the previous night had opened up the gaping hole in his heart again. Would things have been different if he’d told her about Lonnie? No. She would have known much sooner that he was not the man she thought he was.

  What kind of man are you now?

  He gritted his teeth, determined to finish the next leg of the race and send Kelly home safely. Then he could get to the bottom of things. Maybe he could hire a detective to track down Ellen Brown. He’d tried to call back but, true to her word, Ellen’s phone was disconnected. Or he could pump Gleeson for more information. The man was closemouthed, but he also was beginning to suspect someone—his boss, maybe—was up to something. It had to be related to the crime Olivia had witnessed in Ash Ridge years before.

  He had no more time to contemplate as they made their way to the river’s edge. The race was intended to be a frantic trip through class-four rapids, followed by a fifteen-mile run at the other end. Racers would spend the mandatory six-hour rest period at an overnight checkpoint before starting the last leg, the ropes course and spelunking event, in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Awards would be given out on Monday.

  Then it would be over.

  A dull throb started in his chest. It felt as if it was over the moment he’d convinced Kelly to leave.

  Get your head in the race and help your brother.

  The river water rushed violently along as the racers made their way down to the water’s edge. Kelly caught him by the arm as he clipped on his helmet.

  “My sister was with Olivia at the diner,” she whispered in his ear. “She saw the killer too, but she took off rather than go to the police.”

  He gasped. “So they really are connected.”

  She nodded. “My uncle is meeting with the sheriff in person today to go over the files. He’s going to join us when we drive back.”