by J. D. Faver
He raised the gun, but Red jerked the reins from Cami’s grasp, rearing up on his back hooves. He kicked out at Eldon, knocking the gun from his hand. It went skittering to the side. He bent to retrieve it, but Red caught him with both front hooves as he came down, knocking him off his feet.
Cami was helpless to stop Red as he stomped Eldon’s fallen form, whinnying with rage. When Eldon stopped moving, Red stepped back and she was able to grab the reins again.
She stroked his neck to calm him, before squatting to check on the fallen man. She felt for a pulse and found it throbbing a rapid tempo against her fingers.
A raspy wheeze rattled out of Eldon’s chest as he raised his head. He reached for her wrist, grasping it with his strong fingers. He struggled to turn over, displaying the revolver he’d managed to retrieve.
A smile spread across his face. “See, you can’t get away from me,” he wheezed. He aimed the barrel of the gun at her face.
Terror seized her gut as she stared into the gun barrel.
Eldon turned to point it at Red. “I hate that horse.” His finger tightened on the trigger.
“No!” Cami knocked the weapon skyward just as it discharged, sending the echo reverberating across the rocky surfaces.
Both horses started, but Red kicked out at Eldon’s horse, sending him running back toward the ranch. Red glanced back at Cami and took off running after the black stallion.
She watched, relieved that Red was out of danger and horrified that she was alone and isolated with a wounded killer.
They gazed into each other’s eyes, murderer and would-be victim.
“I suppose you think I’m done.” His voice was little more than air.
“Could be.” She struggled to keep emotion out of her voice, sensing that her fear would only feed his ego.
“It looks like you are too.” He cut his eyes to the sky behind her.
Cami turned. A wall of deep blue, almost navy, seemed to be coming toward them from the north.
“That’s what we call a Blue Norther around here. Temperatures will drop in a matter of minutes and it’ll freeze your ass off.” A hollow rattle that passed for laughter shook his entire body. “You may outlive me, but not for long.”
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
Breck drove back from Henderson as the sun was setting. He always got a thrill from watching the sun set behind the mountains. This time, with the weather conditions so fluky he wasn’t taking any chances. Getting home before the storm broke was imperative.
In Henderson, he’d managed to get the Marshall brothers released on their own recognizance, confident that the owner of the bar would probably drop the charges if they made complete restitution.
Breck still had a burr under his saddle when he thought about Cami in E.J.’s arms. His fingers tightened around the steering wheel as he imagined punching that pretty boy in the face. Just one time. That’s all it would take to make his point. You don’t put your hands on another man’s fiancé.
A deep chuckle rolled up from the depths of his chest. He sobered when he suddenly realized that was exactly what he’d done in the first place.
She’d told him from day one that she was engaged, but he’d just kept coming on anyway. He’d never believed that her so-called engagement was real. What kind of man doesn’t give a girl a ring anyway? A loser like old whatsis name.
Now Breck was the man engaged to her and he’d drag her down the aisle in June. But in the meantime, he’d have to deliver the message to E.J., up close and personal. Stay away from Cami.
The sky to the north had darkened, a curtain of crayon blue crept over the Texas Panhandle like a blue velvet shroud.
He hoped the Carmichael horses were secured in his stables and barn.
He thought about Cami’s deep attachment to Red, the horse that had also been Silky’s favorite. He was glad she had grown to love the animals and land. She needed more reasons to stay than just his aching need for her.
He turned off the main highway onto the road that led to the Carmichael house where Cami waited for him. He smiled when he rounded the corner and spotted the big red Lincoln pulled into the circle drive. He stopped the truck behind it, preparing to rush inside, eager to hold her again.
Frank and T-Bone were in the corral, struggling with Red and a strange horse.
He loped toward the corral, climbing over the railing. “Need some help?” The look on Frank’s face sent a chill down his spine. “What’s wrong?”
“Cami went out for a ride earlier to get some exercise. She was only going to be gone a little while, but Red came back without her and that’s Eldon Kincaid’s horse, Stryker.”
“Red is upset ‘n all.” T-Bone dodged Red’s feet as he moved restlessly.
“Which way did she go?” Breck asked.
Frank pressed his lips together. “I didn’t see her leave.”
T-Bone shrugged. “An’ I took some feed to the cattle. She’d gone in the house to change just before I left.”
Breck’s gaze dropped to Red’s forelegs. Close to his hooves, droplets of blood had spattered against the white. “Call the Sheriff. I’m going to Kincaid’s.”
He drove to the Kincaid ranch in record time, spewing loose gravel as he skidded to a stop beside E.J.’s pretentious little sports car. He noted that Eldon’s big black double dually was also parked in front of the house.
He pounded his fist on the door. When E.J. flung it open, Breck pushed past him. “Where is she?” he demanded, glowering at his foe.
E.J. looked confused. “Who are you looking for?”
“Cami, who do you think?” Breck rounded on him, his jaw tight and fists cocked.
E.J. held up his hands. “And why would Cami be here? Trouble in Paradise?”
Breck checked his temper. “Your father. Where is he?”
“I don’t know. He rode out a couple of hours ago. Why are you here asking about my father and Cami?”
“Because their horses came back to Moonshadows riderless. Somewhere out there, over thousands of acres, my fiancée and your father are in trouble.” He turned on his heel and strode out the open door.
“Maybe there was an accident,” E.J. called.
Breck glared at him as he wrenched open the door to his truck. “You don’t believe that.”
#
Cami listened to Eldon’s breath sounds. His lungs were filled with fluid, most likely blood. Broken ribs had punctured the lung, allowing only a minimal amount of air into the cavity.
With darkness looming from the east and a storm bearing down from the north, Cami looked around for some way to shelter her patient.
Eldon pointed his hand, his voice too soft to hear.
She checked her medical bag and found the high intensity flashlight. She walked in the direction he’d pointed.
“Great. I’m trying to save the man who killed my aunt and attempted to kill me. What’s wrong with me?” She climbed a short rise and stumbled upon an opening in the rocks.
She entertained visions of snakes and other unsavory creatures sheltering in the depths of the caves, but forced herself to step up to the yawning mouth. Shining her flashlight inside, she saw no immediate danger lurking therein.
Eldon probably outweighed her by at least a hundred pounds. He was well over six feet tall and although more than twice her age, had a solid mass of muscle upholstering his big chest. How to get him into the cave and out of the approaching storm? That was her immediate problem.
She watched him struggle to breathe and for a nanosecond considered leaving him to the elements.
Just for a nanosecond.
She scrambled down the slope and stood over Eldon Kincaid, looking at him dispassionately. Bending from the waist, she spoke slowly. “If you want to live, you will help me.”
Cami managed to haul Eldon to his feet and, with him draped over her shoulders, struggled to climb to the top of the rise. She slid to one knee, ripping her jeans and scraping her flesh against the rock, but she managed to
keep Eldon from falling.
Rising again, she half dragged, half carried him to the top. She leaned him against the wall of the cave and allowed him to slide down to a seated position.
Cami took a deep breath, but knew there was no time to rest. She clambered once more down to where her medical bag lay. Picking up the handgun she had knocked from his grasp, she brushed off the dirt and stuck it in the pocket of her jacket before re-tracing her steps to the cave opening.
Standing at the mouth of the cave, she glanced over her shoulder. The sky had turned dark and the temperature was dropping fast. Air pushing ahead of the impending front blew her hair away from her face.
She gathered the few sticks she could find and brought dried grass into the cave. Collecting small rocks, she arranged them in a circle and placed the dried grass on the bottom and the sticks on top.
“Mister Kincaid, I certainly hope you smoke.” Cami patted him down, noting a cigar stuck in his inside breast pocket. She found an expensive platinum lighter in his pants pocket. She removed a couple of squares of gauze bandage from sterile wrappers and soaked them in alcohol. She ignited the gauze and poked it into the dried grass, setting it afire.
There was a flutter from the top of the cave and the glitter of many small beady eyes caught in the light. Cami aimed the flashlight upwards as the ceiling of the cave came alive. A stirring of wings sent an involuntary shudder throughout her being. The high-pitched scream of the bats echoed off the walls along with the flapping of hundreds of tiny wings as they stirred and peeled off the ceiling to fly out the opening of the cave.
“They’ll be back,” Eldon whispered. His eyelids drooped and his mouth fell slack.
“Mister Kincaid,” she shouted as his eyes rolled up in his head. “Eldon!”
Cami unbuttoned his shirt and examined his ribs. One bony protrusion indicated a fractured rib had stabbed into his lung which was now filled with blood. She checked the instruments in the bag and extracted a scalpel. With the flashlight she located the site she intended to cut and made an incision in the space between his ribs and stuck a small piece of tubing into his lung. Blood, the color of tar, seeped down the tube and away from Eldon’s body.
“It’s a choice between bleeding to death and drowning.”
She listened through the stethoscope until his breath sounds eased. Pulling his shirt back together, she arranged his jacket to allow as much warmth as possible.
Rising stiffly, Cami took a few steps around the cave, inspecting the ceiling for any stragglers. She checked the periphery for any other animals or reptiles that might have been disturbed by their presence.
“Don’t leave me.” Eldon had regained consciousness and his voice sounded a little stronger.
“I was just looking around for something else to burn.”
“These caves were sacred to the Native Americans a hundred or so years ago. The Apache and Comanche left relics and drawings deeper in the cave.”
“No thanks,” she said. “I was looking for a stack of firewood.”
Eldon coughed and spat out a clot of blood. “I’m not going to make it, am I?”
She gazed into his craggy face, dispassionately. “I think you’re too mean to die.”
He grinned, his pallor ghostly. “You could be right.”
#
Breck turned into the circle drive, relieved that several Sheriff’s deputies were there. Frank had made them aware of the facts and the Sheriff requested air support to criss-cross the area overhead with helicopters. Fear cinched his gut like a too-tight saddle but he refused to let it paralyze him. Cami was out there somewhere, depending on him.
To Breck’s annoyance, E.J. pulled into the drive in his Jaguar and got out, walking towards him. He shook hands with the Sheriff and pointed to the black horse in the corral. “That’s my dad’s horse.”
Frank had also called the Ryan ranch. Several of Breck’s hands arrived, pulling horse trailers behind their trucks. Breck’s horse, Cavalier, was fully saddled and ready to ride.
“The tracks led from the direction of the mesa.” Frank pointed to the distant formation. “We’re going to ride over that way while there’s still some light left.”
He nodded and mounted Cavalier. He reached for Red’s reins. E.J. took Stryker out of the corral and mounted him. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“My father is out there somewhere and I have a right to find him.”
Breck sent him a sharp look and then nodded tersely. He and Frank led the way with E.J. close behind. Three of Breck’s men accompanied T-Bone to check the area where the cattle were somewhat sheltered since Cami often rode in that direction.
Breck held fast to Red’s reins, counting on the horse to carry her out when he found her. He refused to think of the alternative.
The temperature was dropping steadily and the light was fading fast. The mountains to the west appeared black against a streak of salmon left by the setting sun. At least the wind had died down.
As men and horses rode steadily toward the mesa, Breck alternated between feelings of rage and fear. Afraid for Cami and angry that Eldon might have harmed her.
Breath came out as puffs of steam from both men and animals. In time, the full moon rose, sitting low on the horizon to light their way, with a million stars glittering in the cloudless sky.
#
Cami opened a small bottle of sterile water and held it to Eldon’s lips. She allowed him a few sips before she screwed the lid back on it. “You may need this later.”
“Why are you doing this? You know I’m dying.” He struggled to fill his lungs and coughed up more blood.
“I want you to stand trial for murdering my Aunt Silky.”
He guffawed indelicately. “I’d just as soon die now.”
“Why did you do it? Was it all about the land?” She squatted across from him, the campfire between them.
He exhaled a ragged breath. “I’d given up that the old heifer would ever sell her land.” He succumbed to a fit of coughing. “It was the Scouts. She shouldn’t have said she’d let them explore the caves.” He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes, his breathing pattern changing to a shallow panting.
“What about the caves, Eldon?” She moved closer and felt his pulse. Weaker, but steady. “Eldon?” He’d passed out again.
What about the caves? Cami stood and pointed her flashlight into the depths of the cave. Was he talking about this cave?
Suppressing a shiver, she took a few steps toward the back of the cave and found that the shaft turned, forming an almost right angle before a slight decline. She looked back in the direction where she’d left Eldon, but couldn’t see the glow of the campfire anymore. The utter blackness was suffocating but, unable to resist, she pressed deeper.
Her curious nature was, once again, drawing her into something her brain told her to stay out of. Another turn brought her into a cavern with quartz crystals studding the walls. Large formations of quartz and limestone had formed columns many millennia ago when water had covered this part of the earth.
She stood rapt, casting the light around the walls, fearful yet thrilled by the beauty of the formations. Several openings led out of this void. Cami was afraid to venture further lest she become disoriented and lose her way.
Panic skittered down her spine when her foot slipped on the loose rock. She steadied herself, breathed out in relief. Turning to go back the way she’d come, Cami saw that one section of the cave floor fell away sharply. She leaned over and shone the light around, drawing in a sharp breath when she illuminated two human forms in the depths of the well-like structure.
The flashlight slipped from her hand, plunging her into total darkness.
The blanket of blackness enveloped her, suffocated her. She squatted, groping to find the flashlight. She recoiled when she realized she was rummaging through bat guano. Her fingers grazed the metal cylinder, grasping it before it rolled away down the steep grade.
Her heart pumped
so fast it seemed to pulse her entire body. She switched the flashlight on, breathing a sigh of relief that it hadn’t shattered when she dropped it.
Cautiously, she shone the light back down on the bodies, side by side at the bottom of the grade. One appeared to be a woman and the other a man. Their skin had developed the appearance of parchment stretched over the skulls. A shock of blonde hair stuck like dried corn silk to the side of the woman’s skull.
Swallowing hard, Cami shivered and backed away. She turned and picked her way carefully back to the place she’d left Eldon Kincaid.
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
Cami ventured outside the cave to search for more dried grasses to fuel the fire. She shivered as the cold wind bit her exposed skin. Conversely, she relished the fresh air in her lungs after the claustrophobic experience in the cave.
She gathered a few twigs and handfuls of dried grasses before returning to the rank-smelling cave. She removed every scrap of paper she could find from her medical bag and twisted it into tight wads. By the time Eldon opened his eyes, she had built the fire back up.
She gazed at him steadily. “I found your relics. Who were they?”
His eyes narrowed as though assessing her. He coughed, a wet rattle in his chest. “I didn’t mean to kill him. It was an accident”
She bit back the hoard of accusations poised on the tip of her tongue. “How did it happen?”
A hiss of air escaped the tube draining his chest. “Young fool was a drunk. He signed his land over to me one night if I’d settle a bar bet for him. The next day he sobered up and came after me. We fought. It wasn’t my fault.”
“I see,” she said. “And the woman?”
He shook his head slowly. “I couldn’t leave her. She knew, don’t you see? I went to their house and killed her. I brought the bodies up here and dumped them in the cave. I’d found this place when I was a Landman thirty years ago. I had an oil lease on Silky’s land, so it wasn’t odd to find me poking around.” He turned to gaze at her, imploring her to understand. “I thought I was safe. For thirty years I was safe.”
She forced air into her lungs. “What happened?”
