The Deputy Gets Her Man

by Stella Bagwell

  Rosalinda hung up the phone. “Oh, Ty, I just said we weren’t going to do anything before we talk, but it’s going to have to wait. The call was an emergency. Frankie Cantrell is missing.”

  He frowned with confusion. “Mrs. Cantrell missing? I thought she was in Texas with her sons!”

  “She was. But she came home a couple of weeks ago.” Urgent now, Rosalinda grabbed him by the arm. “I’ll explain everything on the way to the Chaparral. Brady thought you might volunteer to help.”

  He quickly turned to enter the house. “I’ll get my hat and tell Gib.”

  Two minutes later, in her official truck, Rosalinda pushed down on the accelerator and took the turns on the graveled mountain road as fast as she could while still keeping all four tires on the ground.

  As she focused on her driving, she explained the details of Frankie’s disappearance to Tyler. “Brady says Frankie went out horseback riding this afternoon and never returned. Two ranch hands saw her leave the ranch and ride north. She told Leyla, Laramie’s wife, that she’d only be gone for an hour or two at the most. That’s all I know so far.”

  On the dashboard, the two-way radio continued to buzz and crackle and broken voices sounded intermittently. From earlier experience Rosalinda knew there would be no use in twisting knobs to gain a better signal. The mountains blocked out most of the radio transmission.

  Tyler peered out the windshield, his gaze helping her to spot any wildlife that might be leaping out of the shadows and into the path of the truck. “Hmm. That doesn’t sound like Mrs. Cantrell. I don’t know her all that well, but I’ve talked with her a few times. Lewis, her late husband, was still alive when I first met them. She was ailing back then with her heart. A problem sort of like Mom’s. But she got over it and from what Quint has told me, she’s been doing quite well.”

  Even though the distance between the Pine Ridge Ranch house and the Chaparral was no more than five miles, it seemed double that amount to Rosalinda.

  “When Hank and I spoke with her the other day, she appeared healthy and robust,” she said. “But I suppose it’s possible she could have suffered an incident with her heart. Or an accident with her horse. Oh, my, the family must be worried frantically.”

  “No doubt. And Quint’s wife, Maura, is expecting their third child. This couldn’t be good for her.”

  “Yes. That’s one of the reasons Frankie returned to the Chaparral. To be with Quint and Maura while they wait for the baby. And she’s concerned about all the bad things that’ve been happening at the ranch. I just pray she shows up soon.” Rosalinda dared a glance at him. “I called the hospital yesterday and inquired about your mother’s condition. The nurse said she’s much improved.”

  “Yes. Connie took her home today.” He looked at her. “I wasn’t sure that you cared.”

  “You need to learn some things about me,” she said softly. “And it looks like I need to learn them about you, too.”

  He reached over and touched her shoulder. “When this is over,” he promised.

  “Yes,” she agreed while the urgency of the moment overshadowed the hope that was trying to blossom in her heart. “When this is over.”

  Minutes later, they found the Chaparral Ranch yard abuzz with law officers, vehicles with flashing lights, and cowboys mounted on horses and four-wheelers.

  Sheriff Hamilton had set up a headquarters of sorts on the tailgate of his truck and Rosa strode through the crowd until she reached him and Undersheriff Donovan.

  “We’ve already got a grid search started,” Brady told her. “The men are slowly fanning out in a northeasterly direction. You and Tyler go drive the perimeter roads. Just in case Frankie managed to reach one of them.”

  “Right. Still no word or clues?” she asked before she turned to follow his orders.

  He cast her a grim glance. “No. My sister is beside herself and Quint fears his mother has had a heart attack.”

  “I’ll call in if I see anything out of the ordinary,” she assured him.

  She spotted Tyler waiting for her at the edge of the crowd and quickly motioned for him to join her at the truck. Once they were both in the vehicle, she said, “They’ve already started a grid search. Brady wants us to drive the roads. Just in case Frankie wanders onto one of them.”

  As she gunned the truck out of the ranch yard, Tyler said, “Hell, there’s no telling how many roads crisscross this ranch. Some of the old dim trails even travel onto my property, although those are cut off by fences. Miners and hunters made them years ago. It would take us hours to drive them all.”

  “God willing we’ll run into her before that,” Rosalinda said hopefully.

  “Rosa, I have a bad feeling about this. I think someone has caused Frankie to go missing.”

  Stunned by his observation, she eased her foot off the accelerator and looked at him. “You think she might have been kidnapped?”

  “Think about it,” he said. “The fire was deliberately set. Someone has been causing all those other problems for the Cantrells. Someone has Frankie. It all adds up to me.”

  “As much as I’d like to think you’re wrong, you’re making very good sense.” She pushed her foot down on the gas. “I didn’t ask Brady about that possibility. I suppose he and Sheriff Hamilton aren’t so concerned about the why of it right now. They’re concentrating on finding her.”

  “Yeah, but the motive might help find her.”

  “So where do we look?” Rosalinda asked. “It’s been dark for nearly two hours now. And this ranch covers thousands of acres. If she went north, maybe we should drive in that direction. But lost people tend to go around in a circle.”

  “Like I said, I don’t think she’s lost.” He stared thoughtfully out the window. “The Cantrells are worth millions. Someone might have gotten ideas to ransom her.”

  “Ty, if this wasn’t so serious, I’d accuse you of watching too much television.”

  “What’s a television?” he asked drolly. Then a thought suddenly struck him and he snapped his fingers. “Rosa, when you get to the next intersection, turn right. That’s the road the rustlers used back when they nabbed Alexa.”

  “Ty, that incident has nothing to do with this and—”

  “Please, Rosa. Trust me. Remember? I told you that road is not that far from my old cabin. Whoever took Frankie probably knows the area well. He or she might even think the location is too remote for the law to think of looking there.”

  Nodding in agreement, she said, “Okay, Ty. We’re going to follow your hunch. Meanwhile, let’s pray you’re right.”

  * * *

  For the next thirty minutes, Rosalinda was forced to bring the truck to a slow crawl as they steadily inched over a washed road that had gradually turned into little more than two rough ruts with waist-high grass and sage growing in the center.

  When the track finally became too rough to navigate, she parked, and after strapping on her weapon, they left the vehicle and started hiking up the mountain. Thankfully, a full moon had risen and they were able to pick their way by the silvery light. But as the forest thickened, it was slow going and Rosalinda didn’t let Tyler out of her reach as they climbed through rough gullies and over slabs of rock.

  “An hour ago I thought this was a good idea,” Rosalinda whispered between the huffs and puffs of her laboring lungs. “Now I’m wondering if we’re both crazy. Why would anyone bring Frankie up here?”

  “To isolate her. To avoid the law or her family. Because the person is crazy. I don’t know. I’m just following the feeling in my gut.”

  “And I’m following you,” she reminded him. “God only knows what Sheriff Hamilton might say if he knew we were up here.”

  “If we get Frankie back to safety he’ll give you a medal,’ he assured her.

  Fifteen more minutes of hard climbing took them pas
t the tiny lake and the beautiful falls. Ten more on to that brought them to within fifty yards of the cabin.

  As soon as Rosalinda spotted a dim light in the tiny log house, she grabbed Ty by the shoulder and tugged him down so that they were both in a crouched position.

  “Stay down!” she whispered the sharp command. “We don’t want to announce our presence. Not yet.”

  “No one has asked me about staying in the cabin, so it’s a trespasser. Or worse.”

  Using her head, she motioned toward the cabin. “Let’s creep closer. Maybe we can hear what’s going on in there.”

  Careful to keep from stepping on anything that would make a noise, they hunkered down and slowly picked their way to the log structure. The front door and all three windows were opened to the night air. But whoever was inside was out of view.

  On the west side of the building, Rosalinda and Tyler crouched below the window and listened intently.

  At first the only sound to be heard was the faint clatter of tin like an eating utensil against a granite plate or cup. Then heavy footsteps thudded close to the window, making Rosalinda and Tyler squat even lower.

  Then suddenly a woman’s voice spoke. “I really need to go home, Saul. I’m not feeling well. It’s time for my medicine.”

  “Can’t do that, Frankie. Not yet. I got to figure out what to do with you.”

  The woman sighed. “Saul, I’ve promised. I’ll explain everything to Sheriff Hamilton. I know you’re sick and not yourself. I’ll tell him that I don’t want charges filed against you.”

  “Not myself,” he drawled sarcastically. “Hell, I’ve never felt more like myself than I do right now. I’m almost glad you found me out. At least I don’t have to worry about hiding things anymore.”

  Rosalinda and Tyler’s gazes met in the muted light filtering from the open window, and she could see he was just as shocked by the unfolding events as she was.

  “Saul, you’ve always been a good man,” Frankie continued. “When I rode up and saw you cutting that fence I could hardly believe my eyes. And then for you to pour that tainted feed on the ground, I’ve never been so ashamed of anyone in my life!”

  Apparently, Frankie wasn’t too afraid to speak her mind to the man, Rosalinda thought. Could be the woman believed she knew Saul enough to safely reason with him.

  He said, “It’s funny to me that you never took notice of all the good things I done around the ranch. I was just another slave to the Cantrell family.”

  “There isn’t one person working for the Chaparral who thinks of himself as a slave. Only you,” Frankie pointed out. “And I can’t understand why. We’ve never treated you unkindly.”

  Saul snorted. “After Lewis died you knew I wanted to take care of you. But no, you had to take off to Texas and leave me. That’s why I had to do all that bad stuff. I had to get you worried enough to come home and stay home.”

  His footsteps took him away from the windows to some point across the room, but Frankie’s voice remained close by, telling Rosalinda that the man wasn’t physically restraining her. But without looking inside there was no way of knowing if Frankie was confined by some other means.

  “There was never anything like that between us, Saul. I told you that I’m still carrying Lewis in my heart. There’s no room for another man in my life now.”

  “Well, you shouldn’t have been riding your horse today. And you damned well shouldn’t have ridden all the way to the flats. Then you wouldn’t have caught me doing that stuff. You’ve messed things up, Frankie, showin’ up like you did. Now I’ve gotta think. I gotta figure out what to do. ’Cause I ain’t gonna let anybody put me in jail. No, sir.”

  “What are you going to do, Saul? Keep me here in this cabin forever? Kill me so that I can’t talk?” Frankie bravely taunted. “That’s really the way to show a woman you love her.”

  “Shut up! Just shut your mouth and let me figure things out or I’ll throw you in that mine shaft behind the cabin and they’ll never find you!”

  Her mind spinning with possible solutions to get Frankie safely out of the cabin, Rosalinda touched Tyler’s hand then pointed toward the rear of the cabin.

  He nodded that he understood and the two of them slipped silently to a pitch-dark spot behind the little house.

  “The man is crazy!” Tyler exclaimed in a whisper so low she could hardly hear him. “We’ve got to get Frankie out of there!”

  “I could try to call for backup, but my phone is useless up here. Besides, it would take too long. If you ask me, he’s losing his grip on reality.” She swiped a hand across her forehead before the balls of sweat had a chance to roll into her eyes. “It would help to know if he had a weapon. But since we don’t, I’ll have to go on the assumption that he does.”

  “You’re wearing your uniform. Once he sees you he’ll know his chance to escape is over. I could go in all innocent like and demand to know why he was trespassing and using my cabin,” Tyler suggested. “That might distract him long enough for you to come in and get the upper hand.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t want to risk your safety.”

  “Rosa, do you think I want to risk yours? We’re in this together. In everything together.”

  She squeezed his hand, and he placed a hard, swift kiss upon her lips. In that moment Rosalinda knew that for as long as they lived, she would never doubt this man’s devotion or love.

  “All right,” she relented. “Let’s ease back to the window. When I give the signal, you make your way into the cabin. I’ll be a few seconds behind you.”

  He nodded and they crept stealthily back to the shadowy spot beneath the window. By now the cool mountain air was growing cold with the night. If Saul was paying any attention at all, he’d soon be shutting the door and windows. They had to make their move soon.

  Inside, Frankie was still bravely goading her captor. “You’re a big blowhard, Saul. And I’m going to be damned mad if something happens to my horse. Caspar doesn’t know why he’s tied up to a tree in the cold and the dark. He wants his oats and hay and his bed.”

  “That horse. That horse,” Saul mimicked sarcastically. “Why don’t you care about me like you do that horse of yours?”

  “Maybe because Caspar is a whole lot nicer and smarter than you are.”

  “Why you—” Saul’s words halted as something suddenly fell with a thud to the floor.

  Rosalinda looked at Tyler, then made a circular motion with her finger to let him know it was time for him to move. He nodded and with her heart in her throat, she watched him disappear to the front of the house. She counted to three, then followed.

  “Hey in there,” Tyler called as he stepped through the open door. “What are you doing here in my cabin?”

  Tyler’s voice had Saul whirling around in shock. Seeing he was cornered, the man grabbed a bowie knife lying on the table.

  “Get Frankie out of the way,” Rosalinda shouted to Tyler. “I’ll take care of him.”

  In the flash of an eye Rosalinda was busting Saul’s arm over her knee. Once the knife went clattering to the floor, she twisted and shoved the man’s elbow up to the middle of his back.

  Already winded from the brief altercation, the paunchy man struggled only slightly as she brought his wrists together and clipped on the metal cuffs.

  “Oh, thank God you two showed up,” Frankie said as Tyler unwrapped the cord binding her hands to the chair. “I didn’t know how I was going to get away from that idiot. He’s the one who set the fire. The one who’s been causing all the trouble.”

  “Yes, we heard some of what he said through the window,” Rosalinda told her. “Enough to send him away for a long time to come.”

  Saul tried to jerk out of Rosalinda’s grip, but she held him fast. “You ain’t got enough evidence to convict me,” he boasted. “And I ain
’t talkin’.”

  “You don’t have to,” Rosalinda told him. “We caught you holding Mrs. Cantrell against her will. That’s kidnapping and you’re going to pay dearly for it.”

  Rosalinda’s remark clearly knocked the sass from him. His shoulders slumped and his jaw went slack. A few feet away, Tyler was helping Frankie to her feet.

  “Our truck is down the mountain on the road. Do you think you can make it that far?” Tyler asked her. “We heard you telling Saul that you were feeling sick.”

  With a little laugh of relief, the dark-haired woman stood and hugged him tightly. “That was just a ploy. And it’s downright lovely to be rescued by my neighbor. Thank you, Tyler. But I’m not going to leave this place without my horse. Will you go get him? He’s tied to a tree not far from the east side of the cabin.”

  “What about Saul? Was he riding a horse when you came across him?” Rosalinda asked her.

  “The damned nag ran off.” Saul decided to speak. “He’s probably back at the ranch now with his head in a feed bucket.”

  She nudged the old ranch hand toward the door. “All right. We’ll check that out later. Get going and don’t think about trying to bolt in the dark,” she ordered. “I’m not averse to using my weapon if I have to.”

  A half hour later, Rosalinda, with Frankie next to her in the passenger seat, was driving back to the Chaparral. Saul sat in the back, cuffed to a metal ring attached to the floor of the bed, while a short distance behind the slow-moving vehicle Tyler rode Caspar. During the drive to the Chaparral, Rosalinda tried several times to radio the news that Frankie had been found safe and sound, but it wasn’t until they reached the river bottom that the signal finally got through.

  When they arrived at the ranch yard, a crowd of happy people were waiting for their arrival. Frankie was instantly swept up in joyous embraces from her family while Rosalinda and Tyler relayed the events that had led to the woman’s rescue to Sheriff Hamilton and Undersheriff Donovan. Most of the ranch hands who’d been so diligently searching for the ranch’s mistress gathered around in groups, talking in hushed tones. Clearly the men were shocked to learn that Saul had betrayed them all. And so was Hank, who’d written off Saul as being too old and lazy to be a criminal. As for Rosalinda, tonight had taught her to never assume anything until she got the facts.