Twelve-Gauge Guardian

by B. J Daniels

  “You look beautiful,” his grandmother said to Raine. She looked older and Cordell had picked up on the tension on the ranch with his father and aunt and uncle under the same roof.

  “And you look very handsome,” she said to him and reached out to touch his cheek. It was the most loving she’d ever been to him and it surprised him. “You look lovely together.”

  Raine looked away as if embarrassed. Or maybe, like him, for a moment she’d forgotten why they were dressed like this.

  Cordell hoped her embarrassment wasn’t because they weren’t really together, not a couple, no matter how much Enid and his grandmother suspected they were. This was about catching monsters. He didn’t doubt that Raine would hightail it back to California once it was over.

  They didn’t say much on the ride into town. For Cordell, the gravity of this evening had set in. Raine seemed lost in her own thoughts.

  The moon came up, a huge golden orb that climbed up over the horizon into a vast sky studded with glittering stars. A warm breeze sighed among the leaves of the trees along the street as they parked outside the large old school where the dance was being held.

  “You’re sure about this?” he asked her as he cut the engine. Silence fell over them, the warm summer night making the inside of the pickup cab intimate. Cordell wanted to hang on to this moment, sitting here with Raine. It felt like a high-school date, both of them nervous and expectant. And for a moment he could pretend that was all this was.

  DINNER COULD HAVE been much worse, Pepper Winchester thought halfway through the meal, although she couldn’t imagine how.

  The food was Enid’s usual tasteless fare, Virginia hit the wine hard right away and her sons were more morose than ever.

  She was counting down the minutes, hoping to put this meal and this night behind her when Brand tossed down his napkin before dessert was served and demanded, “What is it you want from us, Mother?”

  “I don’t want any—”

  “She thinks one of us is responsible for Trace’s death,” Virginia spat out, sloshing her glass of wine as she put it down. “And she thinks one of her grandchildren saw the whole thing from the third-floor room.”

  That definitely answered the question of whether or not Virginia had done some eavesdropping of her own, Pepper thought.

  “Well?” Brand demanded. “Is that true?”

  There seemed no reason to deny it.

  “You think one of us killed our own brother?” Brand was on his feet now, his face twisted in anger. “Have you lost your mind?”

  Enid appeared then in her usual fashion—sneaking up on them. “Does this mean you won’t be having dessert?”

  “I’ll have dessert,” Virginia said, refilling her wineglass.

  Pepper waved Enid back into the kitchen. “I have reason to believe that someone in this household conspired with the killer to have Trace murdered within sight of the lodge, yes.”

  “Someone in this household?” Worth asked.

  “Don’t you mean someone in the family?” Brand snapped.

  “I suspect it was a member of this family because if I’m right, one of my grandchildren saw the murder—and covered for that person.”

  Brand was shaking his head. “So that’s what this invitation back to the ranch was about.” His rueful smile broke her heart. “I should have known. But for a moment there, I thought maybe, just maybe, you had changed. That you regretted what you did all those years ago. That you wanted to make amends. Or at least bring your family together to say goodbye.”

  His gaze bored into her and she felt his disappointment in her like a knife to the heart. “Brand—”

  “Don’t, Mother. You want to know who killed your beloved son? You did. If one of us conspired with a killer to get rid of Trace, then you have only yourself to blame for pitting us against him.” With that he stormed out of the dining room.

  In the silence that dropped like a wet blanket over them, Enid appeared with a chocolate cake. She set it down in front of Virginia, along with a knife. Before Enid could turn to leave, Virginia picked up the knife and looked at the only other brother left at the table.

  “Worth, are you going to have some cake with me?” Virginia asked. “It has to be better than dinner was.”

  “Sure,” Worth said, his gaze going to his mother’s.

  Pepper felt a chill snake up her spine at the look in her son’s eyes. As Virginia cut the cake, she watched her, realizing that either of these two could have been behind Trace’s death.

  But then they weren’t the only ones at the table who were capable of murder, she thought as Virginia handed her a piece of cake.

  “Who says you can’t have your cake and eat it, too?”

  Virginia said with a laugh. “Isn’t that right, Mother?”

  THIS WAS IT, RAINE THOUGHT as Cordell parked the pickup. She could feel it. “They’ll be here tonight,” she said as she watched a group of laughing couples enter the building for the Whitehorse Summer Gala.

  Music escaped as the front door of the school opened and died just as quickly as the huge doors closed.

  She hoped this wasn’t a mistake. All those people inside the school, all the noise… How would they find her? Or her find them.

  But in her heart, she believed she would recognize the couple when she saw them. And if all else failed, recognize their voices. Some things she remembered only too well.

  Still she felt torn, feeling they should be out looking for Lara instead, even though she knew their chances were next to impossible of finding the girl without help.

  She met Cordell’s dark gaze. What a gorgeous man both inside and out. She’d come to trust him, trust him with her life—and her secrets. That said more for his character than his good looks.

  At his gentle, caring expression, she felt her heart kick up a beat.

  “Raine, I just want to say—”

  “I know,” she said quickly, afraid of what he was going to say. They’d grown close too quickly. She didn’t trust the feelings she had for him and certainly wouldn’t trust his for her right now. This was too emotional for both of them. Maybe when this was over…

  Raine refused to let her thoughts go there. “Let’s do this.”

  He nodded, though looking disappointed she hadn’t let him say what was on his mind, and reached for his door handle.

  Outside the pickup, the warm summer breeze caressed her skin. She looked up at the stars in the midnight-blue canopy overhead and breathed it in, memorizing all of it. The feel of the breeze, the smell of summer, the awareness of the man beside her, knowing this could be the last time.

  Cordell took her hand and squeezed it as they started up the steps and Raine took one more look at the summer night—a night made for lovers—before he opened the door and they slipped inside.

  As they walked in, Raine felt as if everyone turned to look at them. Cordell pulled her closer, his hand warm on her waist, as they worked slowly through the crowd gathered around the dance floor.

  She took strength in his touch and tried to relax. The couple who’d abducted her were in this room. She could feel it more strongly than ever.

  Groups of people stood around talking, drinking and eating the food that had been laid out along several tables. The school gymnasium was decorated as if for a prom with glittering lights and a dark blue backdrop.

  The voices, laughter and music blended together in a din. How would she ever be able to distinguish any one voice?

  Fear seized her. This had been a fool’s errand. She and Cordell should be out looking for Lara—not here at a dance.

  As if seeing her panic, Cordell whispered next to her ear, “If they’re here, they aren’t with Lara.”

  She nodded. Lara was safe. At least until the dance was over.

  They worked their way around the large room, picking up bits of conversations, looking for one couple, listening for a voice she recognized. After they’d made the loop twice, Cordell asked with a slight bow, “May I have this
dance?”

  Raine took his hand and let him lead her onto the dance floor. The band was playing a slow song. She laid her head on his shoulder and pretended they were merely a man and a woman dancing on a warm summer night.

  But being in Cordell’s arms sent her senses soaring. She loved the smell of him, the feel of him, and when he danced them into a dim corner, the taste of him as he kissed her.

  He pulled back to look in her face. His gaze caressed her face, then settled on her lips an instant before he lowered his mouth to hers again. She melted into his embrace, into the kiss, and then he was dancing her back into the crowd, holding her closer as if they really were lovers.

  Raine closed her eyes, wishing they had grown up in this town, been high-school sweethearts who’d settled on the ranch and went every year to the Whitehorse Summer Gala dance.

  But instead she’d been abducted on the edge of this town and Cordell had been exiled from the ranch and his brother Cyrus now lay in a coma because of what had happened all those years before.

  Earlier, she’d heard Cordell on the phone with the hospital. His twin’s condition hadn’t changed. She reminded herself that he was only helping her to get the people who’d injured his brother and find Lara and save her from these monsters.

  But it was good to remind herself what they were doing here tonight and not let desire or emotion make this more than it was.

  “Are you all right?” he asked, looking worried. “If you’re right, the person will contact you.”

  She smiled and nodded. The song ended. “I’m going to find the ladies’ room.” She started to step away, but he grabbed her hand. “Hurry back.”

  Her smile broadened as she saw the concern in his expression. She nodded and he released her, but she could feel his gaze on her as she wound through the crowd and away from him.

  She studied the faces she passed. How different her life would have been if she’d known these people all her life. If she and Cordell really had been high-school sweethearts and there wasn’t a child molester about to kill a little girl if they didn’t find her.

  Suddenly she was blinded by regret and rage, disappointment and determination. Life had not been kind to her and yet she’d survived it all. She’d never thought about being happy. She’d just been glad to be alive, not to be hungry, to have a roof over her head and a job.

  She’d asked little of life.

  But tonight she yearned for more. She wanted Cordell.

  She wanted happily ever after. And yet she feared that wasn’t the destiny that awaited her and hadn’t from the moment that car pulled up beside her sixteen years ago.

  The music drifted on the air, growing fainter as she finally found a ladies’ restroom deep in the building without a line. This one was empty. Her heels echoed on the tile as she rushed to the sink.

  Turning on the cold water, she cupped it in her hands and splashed it on her face to wash away the hot angry tears that flowed down her cheeks.

  Her heart ached at the memory of being in Cordell’s arms on the dance floor, the way he’d looked at her when she’d come out in the dress, that amazing kiss and the look in his eyes just moments ago—

  She grabbed one of the cloth towels and began to dry her face. Her makeup was ruined, her eyes red and swollen, and she could practically hear the clock with Lara’s name on it, ticking down the minutes.

  She knew what had her so upset and felt guilty for it.

  All her thoughts should be with Lara. But she was falling for Cordell Winchester. Last night in the pickup and again in the motel, it had been about lust and comfort and the need not to be alone with their thoughts and fears.

  Tonight, though, in his arms on the dance floor…

  She couldn’t bear the feelings he’d evoked in her. And she’d seen something in his gaze—

  At the sound of the bathroom door swinging open she hurriedly rushed to the end stall.

  The voices of two women melded together as they came through the restroom door. Faint music swept in with them, then the door closed and everything grew quiet.

  Raine leaned against the stall wall, her face feeling hot. She was tired, completely drained, both emotionally and mentally. She knew she couldn’t trust her emotions and had to pull herself together.

  She’d hoped by now that one of them would have made contact. She had to believe that her theory was right—even though by all appearances the person had only gotten her back here to kill her.

  No, she told herself. It was the man who’d taken Lara and tried to run Raine down. Just like tonight with that huge truck that had run them off the road. It was the man. The woman had to be the one who Marias called CBA and she would contact her. Why else leave tickets for the dance at the door for her and Cordell?

  But as she stood, her back against the stall wall, she felt as if this was hopeless. She would go back out there and mill until it was over and pray that she spotted the couple. After that…

  She didn’t have a clue what to do after that. A stall door down the line creaked open, then closed and locked.

  “I can’t believe what Nancy Harper is wearing,” the woman in a far stall said.

  “Ghastly,” the other woman said from somewhere over by the long row of sinks. She sounded as if she was standing at the mirrors no doubt checking her makeup.

  The woman flushed the toilet, the door unlocking and opening. Raine heard the woman’s heels on the tile floor as she joined the other woman.

  Neither seemed to realize Raine was in the last stall at the end of the long line. She thought about flushing the toilet and letting them know they’d been caught gossiping and might have, if the woman at the mirror hadn’t spoken again.

  “Do you think you can talk Frank into coming over for a drink after the dance?”

  Raine froze at the sound of the woman’s voice.

  “It’s going to be awfully late.”

  “I know but I picked up a bottle of wine I think you and Frank will like.”

  “Honey, is everything all right with you and Bill?”

  “Of course.” She laughed, a laugh that sent a blade of ice up Raine’s spine. “It’s just that he’ll be tired and I’ll be all wound up and not wanting the night to end.”

  “Well, I can ask Frank…” Their voices started to trail off.

  Raine could barely hear the other woman’s reply her heart was pounding so hard. The woman’s voice, the one who’d stayed by the sinks. That was her! That was the voice of the woman who’d helped abduct her sixteen years ago.

  CORDELL HAD WATCHED RAINE head for a ladies’ restroom in the far recesses of the building. Now he felt anxious as he waited for her to reappear. The crowd kept obstructing his view of the hallway just enough to set his nerves on edge.

  For a while with Raine in his arms on the dance floor, he’d forgotten that someone had made certain that she was here tonight by seeing that they got an invitation. But he hadn’t noticed anyone taking any particular interest in either of them.

  Oh, there were always a few men who couldn’t help but notice Raine. But he hadn’t seen anyone watching them and no one had made contact.

  He was beginning to wonder if all of this wasn’t just a way to torment Raine. The dance was almost over. If this woman, the one Raine’s friend Marias called CBA, had gone to all this trouble to get Raine to Whitehorse and to this dance, then what was she waiting for? Had the woman lost her nerve?

  As his cell phone vibrated in his pocket, Cordell began to move in the direction Raine had gone. He pulled out his phone and checked caller ID.

  He was jostled by the crowd and forced to step outside one of the open doors. Standing on a small landing in the darkness, he snapped open his phone.

  “How did you get this number?” he asked, still watching the hallway Raine had disappeared down.

  A woman’s chuckle. “Didn’t Raine tell you? I’m amazing.” Marias quickly turned serious. “I’ve left a dozen messages on her cell. This couldn’t wait.”

 
; Cordell felt his blood run cold as he listened. “What did you just say?”

  RAINE QUICKLY BENT DOWN and looked under the stalls. She saw two pairs of women’s high heels. A pair of bright red strappy sandals and a pair of classic black high heels.

  She didn’t know which ones belonged to CBA. As the outer door closed, Raine quickly stepped from the stall and hurried after them.

  Several more women were coming in as she reached the door and she had to wait as they passed before she could exit. By then, the two women had dissolved into the crowd.

  She looked around frantically for Cordell, then at the array of shoes on the dance floor. She’d never find the woman before the dance ended and all she had was a name: Bill. There must be dozens of Bills in this town.

  Raine moved along the edge of the crowd as quickly as she could, searching for Cordell and the woman with the strappy red heels. There were too many black heels on the floor. She’d never find that woman.

  As she passed an open door, she felt the cool summer night air beyond the darkness and wondered if Cordell had stepped out for some fresh air. “Raine.”

  At the sound of her name, she turned back to step out into the dark. She blinked, trying to get her eyes to adjust, and saw no one. Had she just imagined someone calling her name?

  She turned to look back into the huge glittering room. That was when she saw Cordell across the dance floor. He’d just stepped in from outside. He appeared to be searching for her, his cell phone to his ear. But it was his expression that turned her blood to ice.

  There was a sound like the scrape of a shoe sole on the concrete behind her as she started to go back inside hoping she could reach Cordell before she lost him again in the crowd.

  She was grabbed from behind. The cloth clamped over her mouth brought it all back. She was ten again on a dirt road in a strange place and terrified of what was about to happen to her. Only this time, she knew.

  CORDELL DIDN’T THINK he’d heard Marias correctly over the music and the din.

  “Orville Cline was sighted yesterday—just miles from Whitehorse. Do I have to tell you where he’s headed?”