High-Riding Heroes

by Joey Light

  Victoria would continue to drift in and out of consciousness as she had done the past twenty-four hours. Soon, it would all pass. And the time to set this mess right would arrive.

  Chapter Eleven

  Seventy-two hours in the hospital gave Victoria too much time to think. Enough was enough. She changed into her jeans and shirt that Wes had brought this morning when he and Katie had visited.

  Things had been stiff between them. She hadn’t allowed him to get too close. She couldn’t. It might stop her from doing what she knew she had to do.

  Still numb, she moved methodically, folding and packing what few things she had to take home. Home. The word pounded through her head. Her fingers went to her temples automatically to work the pain away. She had stopped taking the medication sometime during the night. She needed a clear head. Needed to proceed with her plan and not let anything interfere. Especially not Wes. Wes, who was coming later this afternoon to take her back to Glory Town. She wouldn’t be here. Her heart ached. Once again she had royally botched things up.

  She couldn’t get the picture of the two of them out of her mind. He anxious to get her home and in familiar surroundings and stronger. She…knowing there was no sense going over any of it again. Over the last three days, he had tried, time and again, to get her to discuss what she had overheard. She’d listened to his lame explanations…no more.

  But she would never go back to Virginia. Not to stay anyway. Her mother’s enjoyment of her failure was more than she wanted to put up with. She did feel the need to be around some of her friends at the veterans hospital, though, and the thought was in the back of her mind to go there. Spend some time unwinding. And then do what? She slammed the hairbrush into the case. Twice she had embarked on a way of life only to find out it was the wrong way. And twice it had been her fault. What was she doing wrong? She picked up the fuzzy white bear that Wes had given her during the first night. Sweet. How could he be so sweet, so genuine, and at the same time be playing a game? A cruel game.

  She felt rather than heard someone enter the room. Turning, she was relieved to see Nick standing just inside the door, hat in his hand.

  “It’s nice to see you up.” He thought of the hours he had spent close to her while she slept. He didn’t like that she still looked pale and drawn. It hurt him. He wanted her looking pink and healthy and full of hellfire as he’d seen her before.

  “Hi, Nick.” Her fingers were still stiff and sore, so she took her time making sure all her things were together. Idly, she wondered why he was here. Surely Wes would have told him he was bringing her back there soon. Little did he know she planned to be far away by this afternoon.

  “Wes sent me in to get you.”

  “Oh. Why?” She tossed her toothbrush and paste into the valise.

  “Said something about Katie, a doctor’s appointment he had forgotten…I volunteered to pick you up.”

  Strange. Nick was almost whispering. His voice husky. She turned to look at him. He looked…tormented was the only word that came to mind. “Are you all right?”

  He smiled and moved closer to her. Closing the top on the suitcase, he sat on the edge of the bed and kept his eyes on her.

  “You look better. If I could only tell you how it made me feel to see you. To see you lying here.” He looked at the bed and back to her. “Needles stuck in that soft skin of yours. Skin burned from the fire. He shouldn’t have done it. I even heard you warn him about it before.”

  “What?” Totally confused now, Victoria moved to the window.

  “Wes. He shouldn’t have been smoking in the barn just before he went out into the street to watch the bank holdup.”

  “How do you know this?” Dread drilled down her spine and perspiration rolled down her back.

  “I saw him. And I found a pack of his cigarettes he must have dropped.”

  Now her head spun. “Wait a minute. Are you telling me,” she walked to the end of the bed and held on to the cold steel railing, “that Wes caused the barn fire? Look at me, Nick.”

  He tilted his beard-stubbled chin and looked her square in the eyes. He shook his head in affirmation, a deep sadness in his eyes.

  She saw him wince and reach for his head. Assuming he must be having one of his migraines, Victoria became concerned. “Nick. Is your head hurting? We can probably get something for you here.”

  Blinking, he got up and walked closer to her. “I’m just in a hurry to get you home. Ready?”

  Now what? And something was very wrong. Very wrong with Nick. “I’m not leaving yet. The doctor wants me to wait until he makes his rounds at four. That’s why Wes wasn’t coming until after five.”

  Nick seemed slightly confused by that information but he recovered quickly. “We can come back tomorrow. Let’s go. You have to be in a hurry to get out of this place. Besides,” he pressed his palm to his forehead, shook his head, and let his hand drop. “Let’s go.” He clamped a hand around her wrist and dragged the valise off the bed with the other.

  She followed him. She would simply have to devise another plan. It would be easy enough to slip away later. She needed time to digest this latest information.

  The air seemed to clear Nick’s head and lighten his mood. It was as if he had forgotten any of the conversation they had had back in the hospital room. He rounded his truck and opened the door for her, helping her and moving her gently.

  Tired, she let her head drop to the back of the seat. Wes caused the fire. How he must be feeling. Never mind, she told herself. Everyone was safe. Everything was all right. She was out of this. All of it. Turning her face toward the cool spray of the air-conditioner, she closed her eyes, the lids still gritty. She felt the truck move and. listened as Nick turned on the radio, tuned it in, and set the volume down low.

  She hadn’t realized she would be so weak. Her limbs felt disjointed and her mind grew fuzzy. She smelled food. Onions, mayonnaise, salami. Nonsense. She was still befuddled from the past events. Trapped in another world. The gentle rocking motion of the truck as it made its way back toward Glory Town lulled her into a half-sleep.

  Crazy figures ran helter-skelter in her brain. All hazy. Gray. Nothing clear. Something pressed on her chest and made breathing difficult. Voices. Loud hysterical tones amidst the jumble of colors. Fire orange. Smoke black. She felt the heavy moisture of tears and fought to pull herself from what she came to realize was but yet another nightmare.

  The truck had stopped. Nick was twisted around in his seat so he could watch her. From his relaxed position, Victoria guessed he had been sitting that way for some time. Not hearing any of the usual sounds of Glory Town, she looked out the window and waited for her vision to sharpen.

  Green. Glory Town wasn’t green. Leaves turned, branches bowing to the wind, warning of an upcoming storm.

  “Where are we?” Perplexed, she struggled to sit up and look around.

  “Where we should have been from the beginning.”

  No more low, quiet tones. Nick’s voice was full and deep and confident.

  There was no town here. Only one dilapidated dingy shack with a sagging porch. Fear stabbed into her. All the suspicions she had had from time to time about Nick’s mental condition came to full stand. Don’t panic, she told herself as she asked, “Why are we here?”

  “Rest. You need rest. And care.” He reached down and grabbed a sack that rested at her feet. “I brought food. I came up here earlier and stocked what else we’ll need.”

  Necessity gathering all her brain cells to work, Victoria fought back the bitter taste of distrust. “I can get all the rest I need at the hotel. Take me there, Nick.”

  He shook his head slowly, back and forth. “No. Wes is there. And when he is around, you don’t even see me. And I so want you to see me, Vic.” He reached over and threaded his fingers through her hair. “You need me, not him. I know how to care for a woman.”

  His mood was too bright. Too happy. He’d left the realm of reality. There had been plenty of times she had su
spected that Nick was much too far into Glory Town and the role he played. Sometimes he seemed too twisted, too mixed up, too intertwined with the droopy-mustached character he portrayed. Muddled. She had sensed that he took it for real. And her role for real, too.

  “I’m sure you do, Nick. That’s not the point. I want to be at the hotel. I have work to do. I have to see about the insurance. See to the cleanup. To Katie.” The thought of that baby threatened to force tears too close to the surface.

  “Sure. In a few days. Right now, I’m going to see to it that you rest and get completely better.” He jerked the door handle and opened the door. As if he read her thought to slide over and start the truck, he reached back in and slid the keys out of the ignition and into his jeans pocket. She watched him saunter around and pull her door open. Not waiting for her to climb out, he picked her up and pushed the door shut with his foot.

  Placing a small kiss on her cheek, he carried her to the shack. Fighting was useless at this point. She had a clear head. She would talk her way out of this. Maybe, just maybe, he would pull out of this frame of mind all by himself.

  Inside, the shack was shadowy but she could see the gleam of the clean sheets on the big bed in the corner. The table was set with nice white china and dull silver. It was a scene out of Stephen King’s mind. All else in the room was in dirty disarray. Dust danced in the few sun rays that made their way through the cracks in the walls. Old dusty boxes and crates were piled in one corner. An ice chest sat against the wall. It was clean and she guessed filled with beer or pop. He set her in the chair closest to the wall and put the bag in the center of the table.

  “I come here sometimes, when I don’t want any people around. Annie and I used to come up here before we were married to…well, to be together.” His eyes glinted as they caressed every inch of her face. “Annie would like you. She wouldn’t mind us being together now that she is gone. She wouldn’t have wanted me to be alone all these years. I sure miss her.” He removed his Stetson and idly dropped it on the dirty floor. In his right mind, he would never have done that. It was sacrilege. She swallowed her fear.

  At the sight of his moist eyes, Victoria decided to change the subject before he started thinking she was his Annie. “What’s in the bag, Nick?”

  She didn’t care. Where was Wes? He wouldn’t miss her for hours yet and he would never guess she was here.

  Wherever that was. Lord, what else could happen on top of everything else?

  He brightened again. “Subs. I’m hungry, too.” He reached in and dragged out two soggy sleeves of food. Then he proceeded to meticulously unwrap, cut, and arrange the cold-cut sandwich on her plate as if it were sweet and sour venison over wild rice. She could only watch in amazement as he walked to the cooler and removed a full bottle of wine and two chilled glasses. He whistled as he moved about and she sighed. She didn’t ever remember Nick whistling. Wine poured, he seemed to suddenly remember the bag of potato chips he had stashed in the unhinged cupboard and dashed to get it.

  Seeing the opportunity and without taking the time to think, Victoria bolted up from the table and headed for the door at a dead run.

  He was in front of her, dangling the red and white bag of chips in seconds. “We’re not finished yet. After we’ve had some time together, I’ll take you back. Don’t try to run away.” His eyes, darkened and he brought his mouth to her lips for a slight kiss. “Don’t try to run away again. I’ll get mad. I don’t like it when I get mad.”

  She let him lead her back to the table and noticed that the hand that held hers was cold and clammy and shook a little. This wasn’t Nick. This was whoever he thought he was. Best to play along, for now.

  Wes kicked over the nightstand, causing the nurse to jump back cautiously. “What the hell do you mean she left with her brother this morning? She doesn’t have a brother. What kind of place is this that lets just anyone leave with anyone?”

  The nurse, remembering her stature, grew tall and narrow as she admonished him. Looking at him over the rim of her glasses, she sputtered. “You just look here, Mr. Cooper. Control your temper, or I’ll call an orderly. This is a hospital, not a prison.

  And if we spent all our time checking out who patients left with, well, we wouldn’t have time to do our jobs.”

  Wes looked around the empty room, eyes shooting darts in every direction. “The lady’s been through hell. Hell! Dammit! You know that. The sawbones was supposed to check her at five.”

  “As well he would have, had she been here.”

  Furious, Wes stomped from the room. Her brother. It was Nick. He had her. After their talk this morning he should have guessed it. He was a fool. An old, stupid, trusting fool. And now she was in danger. Wherever he had taken her, he would…because he…God, Nick wasn’t right and Victoria was out there, somewhere, with him. He’d never forgive himself if anything happened to her.

  Jogging across the parking lot to his truck, he jerked the door open. Stomping the gas pedal to the floor, he feverishly tried to figure out where he would have taken her. The first place to check was his trailer on the back lot but he knew already that it would be futile. Still, he might have left a clue. Careening around the corner on two wheels, Wes drove. And swore. Viciously.

  Finding Nick’s trailer door unlocked, he entered. It was empty. Neat as a pin…but devoid of human life. Looking around, Wes made his way to Nick’s bedroom and then had to brace himself against the doorjamb. There, covering one wall and half of another were pictures of Victoria. Victoria walking, Victoria riding, Victoria shooting skeet, Victoria smiling up at Wes. He remembered that day. That was the only way he knew that the faceless male form that stood beside Victoria was himself. Nick had scratched the face away. Wes walked over and examined the pictures closer. With the tips of his fingers, he touched her face as it smiled out at him. He felt the nausea rising.

  Obsession. He had seen cases of it before while on the force. Madness. Anything could happen. Anything. Rifling through Nick’s place uncovered no clues to where they might be. It crossed Wes’s mind that they could be on the road, rolling farther and farther away as he stood there. But where? They had four or five hours’ head start. He wouldn’t hurt her. He thinks he loves her. Even repeating those lines in his mind didn’t convince him. The first thing to do was get an APB out on his truck. He’d get the employment records and find out his license number. Then he’d talk to Sally. Nick talked to Sally a lot. Maybe he would have said something to her that would be a lead. He needed a lead, or he would lose his sanity completely…too.

  Victoria forced herself to eat. All she wanted to do was lie down on that bed and sleep. How could she still feel so tired? How could she think of getting on that bed? Nick hadn’t taken his eyes off her since they had arrived. He had finished his sandwich now and had simply leaned back in the chair to watch her, to smile at her.

  “Eat more, Vic. I want you strong and healthy real soon. When we go back to Glory Town, we’ll run it together. We’ll tell that new guy to hit the road. We don’t need him. You and me. We can do it together. Annie and me, we planned and planned. Someday we’d do this or that. But that day never came. I’m not going to waste time again. Not now that I’ve had a second chance to love someone. You’re so beautiful, Vic. You treat me so nice.”

  “You’re a nice man, Nick.” When you’re not spaced out like this. Dangerous. She couldn’t be sure. It was there. It had always been there. Lurking just beneath the surface. She had felt it sometimes. Sensed it.

  The human mind was at once fragile and steely. Nick seemed to be in some sort of a balance mode. When he was tipped one way or the other, she couldn’t trust what would happen.

  He had said he was going to take her back to town, hadn’t he? Maybe she should be cool and try to relax. Wait him out. Cooperate. To a point, she decided. To a very fine point.

  Licking mayonnaise from her finger, she put a hand to her stomach and sighed. “I’m full. It was nice of you to think of all this, Nick.”

&
nbsp; “I’ve been thinking a lot, lady. You make me happy. The way you smile at me. The way you listen when I talk. After we’re married, we’ll have lots of babies. We’ll spend a lot of time just like we are now. Sitting together, talking.”

  Married? The stage of his fantasy was much wider than she had imagined. She had to find some way to pull the curtain on this play, but at the same time she couldn’t force it. “You have it all planned out. Nick, you never even asked me what I want.”

  His eyes darkened and he leaned forward. “I know what you think you want. You think you want J. Weston Cooper, super cowboy.” The tone of his voice became slightly menacing. “He has you fooled with his sharp good looks and his skills. I’ve seen you two with each other. He has you fooled. That’s what it is. Women don’t know what they want. Just like Luke had Annie fooled. But I fixed him and then I fixed her.” Satisfied, he sat back.

  Words flew around in her head like insects blinded by flame. Fixed. Luke. Annie. His wife was dead. She had never heard how she died. She had just assumed she had been ill. And Luke, she never heard of him. She wanted to scream. Had he killed his wife? No, impossible. Someone would have found out. He’s crazy, that’s all. And crazy people say crazy things. Oh God, she prayed. Let that be all this is. Nick is too nice a man to have committed murder. Isn’t he?

  “Yep,” he began again and looked directly at her. “I made it look like Wes set the barn on fire by his carelessness. Left a pack of his cigarettes out there. It was easy.

  And just like leaving the feed door open. People will find out and they won’t want Wes in town anymore.”

  Ice formed in her veins followed by a flash fire of anger. Nick did it. Nick caused her horse to die a slow and painful death. Nick set fire to the barn. It was his fault that so many people were hurt. In his mind he justified his way to get to her. Oh God. The room seemed to twirl. Nausea filled her stomach. She tried to concentrate on his words.