Wedding at Cardwell Ranch

by B. J Daniels

  “I’ll take that chance,” Jackson said.

  His brother shook his head as he turned out the light and moved to the window to open the curtains like he’d found them.

  “Does anyone else know how involved you are with the wedding planner?” Silence. “I didn’t think so. Better not let cousin Dana find out or there will be hell to pay. She is very protective of people she cares about. She cares about that woman and her child. If you—”

  “I’m not going to hurt her.” He couldn’t see his brother’s expression in the dark. He didn’t have to.

  * * *

  ALLIE BRACED HERSELF. She hadn’t shared her fears about the visit with the psychic with Jackson before she’d left. She hadn’t had to. She’d seen the expression on his face as he watched her leave. He was terrified for her.

  For months someone had been trying to push her over the edge of sanity. She had a bad feeling that the psychic was part of the master plan, a shocker that was aimed at driving her insane. By now, they probably thought she was hanging on by a thread. While she was stronger, thanks to Jackson and his determination that she was perfectly sane and those around her were the problem, there was a part of her that wasn’t so sure about that.

  Just this morning, she’d stepped into the bathroom, opened the shower curtain and let out a cry of shock and disbelief. Nick’s favorite shirt was hanging there, the same shirt she’d burned in the fireplace a few nights ago. Or at least one exactly like it. Worse, she smelled his aftershave and when she opened the medicine cabinet, there it was in the spot where he always kept it—right next to his razor, both of which she had thrown out months ago.

  Had he hoped she would cut her wrists? Because it had crossed her mind. If it hadn’t been for Natalie...and now Jackson...

  “Remember, you’re that strong woman you were before you met Nick Taylor,” Jackson had said earlier.

  She’d smiled because she could only vaguely remember that woman. But she wanted desperately to reacquaint herself with her. Now all she could do was be strong for her daughter. She couldn’t let these people get their hands on Natalie.

  Belinda parked in front of a small house and looked over at her. “Ready?”

  Allie could hear reluctance in her friend’s voice. If Jackson was right and Nick was behind this, then Allie suspected he was forcing Belinda to go through with the plan no matter what.

  But that’s what she had to find out. If Nick was alive. She opened her car door and climbed out. The night air was cool and scented with fresh-cut hay from a nearby field. It struck her how remote this house was. The closest other residence had been up the road a good half mile.

  If a person was to scream, no one would hear, Allie thought, then warned herself not to bother screaming. Belinda and the psychic were probably hoping for just such a reaction.

  “I was surprised when you agreed to do this,” Belinda said now, studying her as she joined Allie on the path to the house.

  “I told you. I would do anything to make whatever is happening to me stop.” Allie took a deep breath and let it out. “Let’s get this over with.”

  They walked up the short sidewalk and Belinda knocked. Allie noticed that there weren’t any other vehicles around except for an old station wagon parked in the open, equally old garage. If Nick was here he’d either been dropped off or he’d parked in the trees at the back of the property.

  The door was opened by a small, unintimidating woman wearing a tie-dyed T-shirt and worn jeans. Her feet were bare. Allie had been expecting a woman in a bright caftan wearing some sort of headdress. She was a little disappointed.

  “Please come in,” the woman said in what sounded like a European accent. “I am Katrina,” she said with a slight nod. “It is so nice to meet you, Allie. Please follow me. Your friend can stay here.”

  Belinda moved to a couch in what Allie assumed was the sparsely furnished living area.

  Allie followed the woman down a dim hallway and through a door into a small room dominated by a table and two chairs. The table was bare.

  Katrina closed the door, making the room feel even smaller. She took a seat behind the desk and motioned Allie into the chair on the opposite side.

  This felt silly and it was all Allie could do not to laugh. She and a friend in the fifth grade had stopped at the fortune teller’s booth at the fair one time—her friend Willow’s idea, not hers.

  “I want to know if I am going to marry Curt,” her friend had said.

  Allie could have told her that there was a good chance she wasn’t going to marry some boy in her fifth grade class.

  The fortune teller had told them they would have long, happy lives and marry their true loves. Five dollars each later they were standing outside the woman’s booth. Willow had been so excited, believing what the fortune teller had said was that she would marry Curt. She’d clearly read what she wanted into the woman’s words.

  Willow didn’t marry Curt but maybe she had found her true love since she’d moved away in sixth grade when her father was transferred. Allie hadn’t had a happy life nor had she apparently married her true love and now here she was again sitting across from some woman who she feared really might know her future because she was about to control it.

  “I understand you want me to try to reach your husband who has passed over,” Katrina said. “I have to warn you that I am not always able to reach the other side, but I will try since your friend seems to think if I can reach...”

  “Nick,” Allie supplied.

  “Yes, that it will give you some peace.” The woman hesitated. “I hope that will be the case. It isn’t always, I must warn you. Do you want to continue?”

  Allie swallowed and nodded.

  “Give me your hands. I need you to think of your husband.” Katrina dimmed the lights and reached across the table to take Allie’s hands in hers. “It helps if you will close your eyes and try to envision your husband.”

  That was about the last thing Allie wanted to do, but as Katrina closed hers, Allie did the same. She couldn’t help but think of Nick and wonder if he was watching her at this very moment.

  * * *

  “WHILE WE’RE BREAKING the law, there is one other place I’d like to have a look before we head back,” Jackson said to his brothers.

  Hayes looked disapproving. “What part of breaking and entering don’t you understand?”

  “You can wait in the car.”

  Gallatin Canyon Specialty Construction was located on the outskirts of town next to a gravel pit. The industrial area was dark this time of the night as Jackson pulled in with his lights out and parked.

  “Allie said the company hasn’t been doing very well without Nick and wasn’t doing that well even before Nick allegedly died,” Jackson said. “I just want to take a look at the books.”

  “Good thing you brought me along,” Laramie said. “You did mean, you want me to take a look, right?”

  Jackson laughed. “Yeah, if you don’t mind.”

  Hayes sighed and they all got out and walked toward the trailer that served as the office. Hayes unlocked the door then said, “I’ll stand guard. Make it quick,” before disappearing into the darkness.

  “You do realize you might be jeopardizing everything by doing this,” Laramie said. “Is this woman worth it?”

  Jackson didn’t answer as he pulled on the latex gloves Hayes had shoved at him in the car and handed his brother a pair before turning on a light and pointing at the file cabinets.

  It wasn’t until they were all three back in the car and headed south toward Cardwell Ranch that Jackson asked his brother what he’d found, if anything.

  After Laramie tried to explain it in fiduciary terms, Hayes snapped, “The bottom line, please.”

  Laramie sighed. “It is clear why you all leave the business part of Texa
s Boys Barbecue up to me. All right, here it is. Drew Taylor is broke and has been siphoning off the money from the business before the sale.”

  “Sale?” Jackson said.

  “While not of general knowledge, Drew has been trying to sell the business through a company in other states.”

  “That’s suspicious,” Hayes said.

  “Is his mother involved in the construction business?” Jackson asked.

  Laramie chuckled. “Excellent question. I believe she might have been a silent partner, which I take to mean she provided some of the money. Until recently, Drew was writing her a check each month.”

  “Think she knows what her son is up to?” Hayes asked.

  “Doubtful. According to Allie, Mother Taylor rules the roost. Everyone is afraid of her.”

  “Sounds like our boy Drew is planning to escape in the dark of night,” Hayes commented and Jackson agreed.

  “As for the rest of the people you asked me to look at the finances of, Mildred Taylor is fine as long as her old, absentee husband sends her a check each month. She and her daughter live off the old man. Nick wasn’t much of a breadwinner. Montana winters slow down construction, apparently. But he did okay. After his death, there wasn’t much in his personal account.”

  “So the thirty-eight thousand Belinda just received wasn’t from Nick, then,” Hayes said.

  Laramie continued, “Nick did, however, leave a hundred-thousand-dollar insurance policy, which is supposed to pay out any day once Nick has finally been ruled legally deceased.”

  “A hundred thousand?” Jackson exclaimed. “That doesn’t seem like enough money to put Allie into the nuthouse for.”

  Laramie and Hayes agreed. “There could be other insurance policies I’m not aware of.”

  “What about Megan Knight?” Jackson asked.

  “Just finished college, has thousands of dollars in student loans,” Laramie said. “Majored in psychology so unless she goes to grad school...”

  “What do you all make of this?” Jackson asked.

  “Well,” his brother Laramie said. “I’ve always said follow the money. That will usually take you to the source of the problem.”

  * * *

  “SO WE HAVE Drew siphoning money from the business and Belinda coming into some money and Megan needing money to pay off her student loans,” Jackson said. “So which of them has motive to want Allie in the nuthouse?”

  “Your guess is as good as mine,” Hayes said. “That photo you took from Belinda’s apartment of her and Nick? The lovebirds didn’t look like they were getting along.”

  “Wait a minute,” Laramie said from the backseat. “Are you thinking with Nick gone, Drew and Belinda hooked up?”

  “Good question,” Jackson said.

  “I’ve heard of stranger things happening,” Hayes said.

  “Or maybe it’s blackmail money,” Jackson said. “Maybe Belinda has something on Drew and he’s the source of the thirty-eight thousand.”

  “Or Drew is simply taking money from the business and giving it to Belinda to give to Nick,” Hayes threw in.

  “Which would mean that Drew knows Nick is alive,” Jackson said.

  “Or at least he has been led to believe his brother is alive according to Belinda,” Hayes said.

  “You two are making my head spin,” Laramie cried and both brothers laughed. “No wonder I prefer facts and figures. They are so much less confusing.”

  “He’s right,” Hayes said. “It could be simple. Nick’s dead, Belinda got her money from another source entirely and Drew is blowing his on beer.”

  As they reached Cardwell Ranch, Jackson glanced at the time. “Let’s hope Allie gets some answers tonight,” he said, unable to keep the worry out of his voice. “Who knows what horrors they have planned for her.”

  * * *

  “ALLIE.”

  Nick’s voice made Allie jump, but Katrina held tight to her hands. Goose bumps skittered over her skin as Nick spoke again.

  “Allie?” His voice seemed to be coming from far away.

  “We’re here, Nick,” Katrina said after she’d spent a good five minutes with her eyes closed, calling up Nick’s spirit. “Is there something you want to say to Allie?”

  She heard him groan. The sound sent her heart pounding even harder. Somehow it was more chilling than his saying her name.

  “Please, Nick, do you have a message for Allie?”

  Another groan, this one sounding farther away. Katrina seemed anxious as if she feared she was going to lose Nick before he said whatever it was he wanted to say.

  Allie doubted that was going to happen, but maybe the woman would try to drag this out, get more money from her by making her come back again.

  She tried to pull away, but Katrina tightened her hold, pulling her forward so her elbows rested on the table.

  “Nick, please, give your wife the peace she desperately needs.”

  Another groan. “Allie, why?” The last word was so ghostly that Allie felt her skin crawl. At that moment, she believed it was Nick calling to her from the grave.

  “What are you asking?” Katrina called out to him.

  Silence. It was so heavy that it pressed against Allie’s chest until she thought she couldn’t breathe.

  Then a groan as forlorn as any she’d ever heard filled the small room. She shivered. “Allie,” Nick said in a voice that broke. “Why did you kill me?”

  Chapter Ten

  Allie jerked her hands free and stumbled to her feet. She didn’t realize she’d made a sound until she realized she was whimpering.

  As the lights came up, she saw that Katrina was staring at her in shock as if whoever was behind this hadn’t taken her into their confidence. Either that, or she was a good actress.

  Allie rushed out of the room and down the hallway. Belinda wasn’t in the living room where she’d been told to wait. Opening the door, Allie ran outside, stopping only when she reached Belinda’s car.

  None of that was real. But it had been Nick’s voice; there was no doubt about that. He was either alive...or they’d somehow gotten a recording of Nick’s voice. That wasn’t Nick speaking from his grave. Intellectually, she knew that. But just hearing Nick’s voice and those horrible groans...

  Belinda came bursting out of the house. Allie turned to see Katrina standing at the doorway looking stunned. Or was that, too, an act?

  “Allie?” Belinda ran to her looking scared. “What happened in there?”

  She ignored the question. “Where were you?”

  Belinda seemed taken aback by her tone, if not her question. “I had to go to the bathroom. I was just down the hall. Are you all right?”

  “I want to go.” Katrina was still standing in the doorway. Allie reached for the door handle but the car was locked. “Belinda, I want to go.”

  “Okay, just a sec.” She groped in her purse for her keys.

  “Can’t find them?” Allie taunted with a sneer. “Maybe you left them in the bathroom sink.”

  Belinda glanced up in surprise, frowning as if confused. “No, I have them. Honey, are you sure you’re all right?”

  Allie laughed. “How can you seriously ask that?”

  Belinda stared at her for a moment before she opened the car doors and went around and slid behind the wheel.

  They rode in silence for a few minutes before Belinda said, “I’m sorry. Clearly, you’re upset. I thought—”

  “What did you think?” Allie demanded.

  Belinda shot her a glance before returning to her driving. “I seriously thought this might help.”

  “Really? Was it your idea or Nick’s?”

  “Nick’s?” She shot her another quick look.

  “I know, Belinda.” Silence. “I know abou
t you and Nick.” Belinda started to deny it, but Allie cut her off. “You two had me going for a while, I’ll give you that. I really did think I was losing my mind. But not anymore. How long have you and Nick been having an affair?”

  “Allie—”

  “I don’t have to ask whose plan this was. It has Nick written all over it.”

  “Honey, I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “No?” Allie reached into her pocket and pulled out the photo of Belinda and Nick standing next to the trailhead sign at Grouse Creek. “As you’ve often said, a picture is worth a thousand words.”

  Belinda groaned, not unlike Nick had back at the alleged psychic’s. “It isn’t what you think.”

  Allie laughed again as she put the photo back in her pocket. “It never is.”

  “I’m sorry.” She sounded as if she were crying, but Allie could feel no compassion for her.

  “What was the point of all that back there?” Allie demanded as they left the Gallatin Valley behind and entered the dark, narrow canyon.

  “I swear I don’t know what you’re talking about. What happened in there that has you so angry and upset?”

  “Don’t play dumb, Belinda. It doesn’t become you. But tell me, what’s next?” Allie demanded. “You failed to make me crazy enough that you could take Natalie. Is it the insurance money? Is that what you’re planning to use to open your own studio? But in order to get it, you’re going to have to kill me. Is that the next part of your plot, Belinda?”

  The woman gasped and shot her a wide-eyed look. “You sure you aren’t crazy, because you are certainly talking that way. That photo of me and Nick? That was before he met and married you. I broke up with him. Why do you think he didn’t like me? Why do you think he put up with me? Because I threatened to tell you about the two of us.” She took a breath and let it out. “As for me trying to make you think you were crazy...” Belinda waved a hand through the air. “That’s ridiculous. I’m the one who has been trying to help you. I should have told you about me and Nick, but it was water under the bridge. And Nick’s insurance money? I don’t need it. Remember I told you about my eccentric aunt Ethel? Well, it seems she’d been socking money away in her underwear drawer for years. Thirty-eight thousand of it was left to me, tax free. That’s what I plan to use to start my own photo studio. Allie, no matter what you think, I’m your friend.”