by Nora Roberts
“Got enough luck to shit gold nuggets.” But Ham decided to try his own. “Deal me in this hand. I’ve gotta take over for Billy outside in an hour. Might as well lose some money first.”
An hour, Jesse thought, as he took his turn at deal. Billy and that know-it-all college boy were on shift now. Neither one of them would be much challenge to him. He would give the game another ten minutes, then make his move.
He lost one hand, folded on another, then pushed back from the table. “Deal me out. Gonna get some air.”
“Make sure Billy don’t shoot you,” Jim called out. “That boy’s mind’s on town pussy and he spooks easy.”
“Oh, I can handle Billy,” Jesse said, and shrugging into his jacket, he strolled out.
He checked the time. He’d studied the workings of Mercy carefully enough to know that Adam would be giving his horses a final look for the night. The main house would be settled down, and Lily would be alone. He took the Colt out from under the seat of his rig. You could never be too careful. Tucked it into his belt and moved through the shadows toward the pretty white house.
It would go like clockwork, he mused. Lily would cry and plead, but she’d come easily enough. She always did what she was told. If not quick enough, after the first smack.
He was looking forward to that first smack. It had been much too long.
He tapped his belt, moved quietly toward the rear of the house.
“That you, J C?” Cheered by the prospect of company on his shift, Billy came forward, rifle lowered and on safety. “You skinning the guys back at the bunkhouse again? What are you doing out here?”
Jesse smiled at him, slid the gun from his belt. “Taking what’s mine,” he said, and smashed the butt of the Colt down. “No reason to shoot you,” Jesse said as he dragged Billy into the bushes. “And it makes too much noise. You just stay out of my way now, or I might change my mind.”
He crept to the back door, quiet as a snake, and looked through the glass.
And there she was. Sweet little Lily, he thought. Sitting at the table drinking tea and reading a magazine. Waiting for her Indian lover to come stick it to her. Faithless bitch.
The rumble of thunder threw him off a moment, made him look up at the starless sky. Even the weather was on his side, he thought with a grin. A nice rain would be fine cover on the trip south.
He turned the knob slowly, stepped in.
“Adam, there’s an article in here about wedding cakes. I wonder . . .” She trailed off, her gaze still glued to the page, but her heart thudding. Beans was growling under the table. And she knew, even before she gathered the courage to turn, she knew.
“Keep that dog quiet, Lily, or I’ll kill him.”
She didn’t doubt it. He looked the same—even with the darker hair, the length of it, the moustache, he looked exactly the same to her. Those beautiful eyes slitted mean, his mouth frozen in a dangerous smile. She managed to get to her feet, put herself between Jesse and the dog.
“Beans, hush now. It’s all right.” When he continued to growl, she watched in horror as Jesse took a gun from his belt. “Don’t, please, Jesse. He’s just an old dog. And they’ll hear you. They’ll hear if you shoot. People will come.”
He wanted to kill something, felt the urge bubbling up. But he wanted it quiet more. “Then shut him up. Now.”
“I—I’ll put him in the other room.”
“You move slow, Lily, and don’t try to run.” He liked the feel of the gun in his hand, the way the butt curled neatly into his palm. “I’ll hurt you bad if you do. Then I’ll sit right here and wait for that Indian you’ve been spreading your legs for. And I’ll kill him when he walks in.”
“I won’t run.” She took Beans by the collar, and though his pudgy body was tense and he strained against her, she dragged him to the door and through it. “Please put the gun away, Jesse. You know you don’t need it.”
“Guess I don’t.” Still smiling, he slid it back in his belt. “Come here.”
“This is no good, Jesse.” She struggled hard to remember everything she’d learned in therapy, to stay calm, to think clearly. “We’re divorced. If you hurt me again, they’ll put you in jail.”
He laid a hand on the butt of the gun again. “I said come here.”
Closer to the door, she thought. There might be a way to get through. She had to get through to warn Adam, everyone. “I’m trying to start over,” she said as she walked toward him. “We can both start fresh. I never did anything but disappoint you, and—” She cried out, not in shock but in pain, when he slapped her backhanded across the face.
“I’ve been waiting to do that for more than six months.” And since it felt so good, he did it again, hard enough to send her to her knees. “I’ve been right here, Lily.” He gripped her hair, yanked her to her feet by it. “Watching you.”
“Here?” The pain was too sickeningly familiar, made it too hard to think. But she did think. Of murder, of madness. “You’ve been here. Oh, God.”
Now the fear was paralyzing. He used his fists, she told herself. Just his fists. He wouldn’t rip people apart.
But all she saw when she looked in his eyes was blind rage.
“Now you’re coming with me, and you’re going to be quiet and do just what I say.” In case she didn’t understand his meaning, he gave her hair another vicious yank. “You mess with me, Lily, I’ll hurt you and anybody else that gets in the way.” He continued to talk, his face close to hers. In the other room the dog was barking wildly, but neither paid attention. “We’re going to take a nice long trip. Mexico.”
“I’m not going with you.” She took the next blow, reeled from it, then shocked them both by leaping forward, attacking with nails, teeth, fists.
The force of her headlong rush rammed him back against the counter, and pain bloomed in his hip where it struck the edge. He howled when she drew blood from his cheek, too stunned to strike back until she’d raked his face a second time. “Fucking cunt!” He knocked her back into the table, sent her pretty teacup flying.
The dogs howled like wolves and scratched madly at the door.
“I’ll kill you for that. I’ll fucking kill you.”
And he nearly did. The gun was in his hand, his finger on the trigger vibrating. But she was staring up at him, not with fear, not with pleading in her eyes. But with hate.
“Is that what you want?” He dragged her up again, held the barrel to her temple. “You want me to kill you?”
There had been a time she might, out of sheer weariness, have said yes. But she thought of her life here, with Adam, with her sisters. Her home and family.
“No, I’ll go with you.” And wait, she promised herself, for the first chance to escape, or to fight.
“Damn right you will.” He closed a hand over her throat, shook her as blood stung his eyes. “I haven’t got time to make you pay now, but you wait. You just wait.”
He was trembling as he pulled her to the door. The shock of her hurting him, actually hurting him until the blood ran down his face, had rocked him badly. The time he’d wasted dealing with her when she could have come along docile as a cow left him jittery.
He barely noticed that it wasn’t rain falling from that dark sky, but snow. While the thunder still raged. Thick, heavy flakes danced in front of his eyes so that he didn’t see Adam until they were nearly face-to-face and he was looking at a rifle.
“Let go of her.” Adam’s voice was calm as a lake, without any of the fury or fear rippling the surface. “Lily, step away from him.”
Jesse shifted his grip to her throat, his arm over her windpipe. The gun, still in his hand, was at her head. There was no calm in him. He was screaming, “She’s my goddamn fucking wife! Get the hell out of my way. I’ll kill her. I’ll put a bullet in her brain.”
He heard a gun cock and saw Willa step forward, coatless, snow covering her hair. “Take your hands off my sister, you son of a bitch.”
It was wrong, everything was wrong, and
the panic made Jesse’s finger tremble. “I’ll do it. Her brains’ll be splattered on your shoes if you take one step. You tell them, Lily. Tell them I’ll kill you here and now.”
She could feel the steel pressed into her temple. Imagine the flash of explosion. She could barely breathe through the grip on her throat. To stay alive, she kept her eyes on Adam. “Yes, he will. He’s been here, all the time, he’s been here.”
Jesse’s eyes fired. He looked like a monster with the blood oozing down his face and his lips peeled back in a wide, challenging grin. “That’s right. I’ve been here, right along. You want me to do to her what was done to the others, you just stay in my way.” His lips curved in a dazzling smile. He was in charge again. He was in control. “Maybe I won’t gut her, I won’t lift her hair, but she’ll still be dead.”
“So will you,” Adam said, and sighted.
“I can snap her neck like a twig.” Jesse’s voice rolled and pitched. “Or put a bullet in her ear. And maybe I’ll get lucky.” He increased the pressure on Lily’s throat so that her hands came up in defense to drag at the obstruction. “Maybe I’ll get off one more shot, right into your sister’s gut.”
“He’s bluffing, Adam.” Willa’s finger twitched on the trigger. She’d put a bullet in his brain, she thought grimly. If Lily would just move her head another inch, just shift over an inch, she could risk it. But the damn snow was blowing like a curtain. “He doesn’t want to die.”
“I’m a fucking Marine!” Jesse shouted. “I can take two of you out before I go down. And Lily’s first.”
Yes, Lily was first. “You won’t get away.” But Adam lowered his rifle. Rage, pride, weren’t worth Lily’s life. “And you’ll pay for every minute she’s afraid.”
“Back off, bitch,” he ordered Willa, and tightened his grip so Lily’s eyes rolled up white. “I can break her neck as easy as blinking.”
Helpless, every instinct raging against it, Willa stepped back. But she didn’t lower the gun. One clear shot, she promised herself. If she had one clear shot, she’d take it.
“You get in the rig.” He pulled Lily with him, moving backward, his eyes jumping from side to side. “Get in the fucking rig, behind the wheel.” He pushed her in, shoved her across the seat, keeping the gun high and in plain sight. “You come after us,” he shouted, “I kill her, slow as I can. Start the goddamn thing and drive.”
Lily had one last look at Adam’s face as she turned the key. And she drove.
With hands that trembled, Willa lowered the rifle. She hadn’t taken the shot. There’d been a moment, just an instant, and she’d been afraid to risk it.
“God. Dear God. They’re heading west.” Think, she ordered herself. Think. “The cops can put up a roadblock, stop them if he tries for the main road. If he’s smart, he’ll figure that and go into the hills. We can be after them inside twenty minutes, Adam.”
“I let her go. I let him take her.”
Willa gave him a hard shake. “He’d have killed her, right in front of us. He was panicked and crazy. He’d have done it.”
“Yes.” Adam drew in a breath, let it out. “Now I’ll find them. And I’ll kill him.”
Willa nodded once. “Yes. You call the police, I’ll get the men. Those of us going into the hills will need horses and gear. Hurry.”
She started off in a spring, nearly tripped over Billy, who’d managed to crawl, groaning, onto the road. “Jesus.” The blood covering his face made her certain he’d been shot. “Billy!”
“He hit me. Hit me with something.”
“Just sit tight. Stay right here.” She headed toward the main house at a dead run. “Bess! Get the first aid kit. Billy’s over in front of Adam’s. He’s hurt. Get him in here.”
“What the hell’s going on?” Annoyed at having her evening session at her computer interrupted, Tess came to the head of the stairs. “First dogs barking like maniacs, now you yelling down the roof. What happened to Billy?”
“Jesse Cooke. Hurry,” she ordered as Bess scooted by her. “I don’t know how bad he’s hurt.”
“Jesse Cooke.” Alarmed, Tess raced down the stairs. “What are you talking about?”
“He’s got Lily. He’s got her,” Willa repeated, overriding Tess’s babbled questions. “My guess is he’s taking her into high country. We’ve got a thunder blizzard in the works, and she didn’t even have a coat.” The first bubble of hysteria was her last as Willa clamped down hard on emotion. “He’s panicked and he’s got to be half crazy, more. You call Ben, Nate, anyone else you can think of, tell them we need a search party and fast. We’re riding after them.”
“I’ll get warmer gear together.” Tess’s fingers stayed white on the newel post. “And for Lily. She’ll need it when we find her.”
“Make it fast.”
Within ten minutes Willa was organizing the men. They were armed, prepared to set out in rigs or on horseback with supplies to last two days.
“He doesn’t know the area like most of us,” she continued. “He’s only had a few months. And Lily will throw him off, slow him down as much as she can. We’ll spread out. There’s a chance he’ll take her up to the cabin, so Adam and I will head there. The weather’s going to make it rough on him, but it isn’t going to help us either.”
“We’ll get the son of a bitch.” Jim slapped his rifle into its sheath. “And we’ll get him before morning.”
“There won’t be any tracking in this, so . . .” She trailed off as she saw Ben’s rig drive recklessly into the ranch yard. She wanted to buckle then, needed to, so she stiffened her spine. “So we spread out over a wide area. You all have your targets. The cops are covering the main roads, and they’re sending more men. Search and Rescue will be out at first light. I want her back by then. As for Cooke—” She drew a breath. “Whatever it takes. Let’s move.”
“Which are you taking?” It was the only question Ben asked.
“I’m going with Adam, up the west face toward the cabin.”
He nodded. “I’m with you. I need a horse.”
“We’ve got one.”
“I’m going too.” Eyes ready to brim over with tears, Tess stepped next to Adam. “I can ride.”
“You’ll slow us down.”
“Goddamn you.” Tess gripped Willa’s arm and spun her around. “She’s my sister too. I’m going.”
“She can ride” was all Adam said. He swung into the saddle and, with his young hound beside him, galloped off.
“Wait for Nate,” Willa ordered. “He knows the way.” She mounted quickly. “He’ll need someone to fill him in on the rest of it.”
Knowing she had to be satisfied with that, Tess nodded. “All right. We’ll catch up with you.”
“We’ll bring her home, Tess,” Ben murmured as he hoisted into the saddle, whistled for Charlie.
“Bring them both home,” Tess said, as she watched them ride away.
A DAM SAID NOTHING UNTIL THEY FOUND THE abandoned rig. His mind was too dark for words, his heart too cold. They stopped long enough to look carefully for signs. The rig was plunged to the wheel wells in snow, leaning drunkenly against a tree.
The thick, wet snow covered everything, and the dogs scouted through it, noses buried.
“He’d hit her.” Adam wrenched open the driver’s-side door, terrified that he’d find blood. Or worse. “There were bruises already on her face where he’d hit her.”
The rig was empty, with a few drops of blood near the far door. Not Lily’s, he thought. Cooke’s.
“There was blood running down his face,” Willa reminded him. “She’d given it back, in spades.”
When Adam turned, his eyes were blank as a doll’s. “I told her, I promised her, no one would ever hurt her again.”
“There was nothing you could do. He won’t hurt her now, Adam. She’s his only way out of this. He won’t do to her what—”
“What he did to the others?” Adam bit the words off, buried the thought. Without another word he mounted a
nd rode ahead.
“Let him have some distance.” Ben laid a hand over Willa’s. “He needs it.”
“I was standing right there too. I had a gun on him. I’m a better shot than Adam, better than anyone on Mercy, but it didn’t do any good. I was afraid to risk—” Her voice broke and she shook her head.
“What if you’d risked it, and she’d moved, jerked? You might have hit her instead.”
“Or she might be safe now. If I had it to do over again, I’d shoot the son of a bitch right between the eyes.” She made herself shake it off. “Doubling back on it doesn’t help either. It could be he’s heading toward the cabin, the direction’s right enough. He’d think he could make a stand there.”
Willa swung onto her horse. “She tried to fight him this time. Maybe running would have been better.”
L ILY WOULD HAVE RUN IF SHE COULD HAVE. SHE WAS freezing, her shirt soaked through, but she would have taken her chances with the storm and the hills if running had been an option.
He’d put the gun away, but after she ran the rig into the tree, he changed strategies. She’d aimed for the tree, hoping the impact on his side would jar him enough to buy her a lead. It had only earned her a headlong toss into the snow.
And then he tied her hands and looped the slack around his waist so that she was tethered to him. She stumbled a lot, deliberately at first to slow him down. But he only jerked her upright again.
The snow was monstrous. The higher they climbed, the more vicious it became, with bellowing bursts of thunder following the eerie sky-cracking lightning. And the wind was so fierce she could barely hear him cursing her.
The world was white—swirling, howling white.
He had a knapsack over his shoulders. She wondered if there was a knife in it, and what he might do to her in the end.
The cold had sapped her strength, leached into her bones so that they felt like brittle sticks, ready to snap. Fighting him was no more than a fantasy now, running a fading hope. Where could she run when there was nothing but a blinding wall of snow?
