She curled into a tight ball on the bed she and Rafe had slept in together and spent hours sleeping. When the divorce papers were signed and filed, her mind shut down. She felt useless, as limp as a rag, and too numb to cope with making the decision to pack her things and leave. Rafe stopped calling. She couldn’t bring herself to contact him or go to him.
He’d known what Danger was doing, known her husband had simply handed her to him. Rafe hadn’t hesitated to take advantage of the situation. She’d been an easy target, easy and stupid.
God, Lacey, you are so stupid!
Danger’s words slashed at her mind, cutting it to ribbons. Yes, she was stupid. Her husband had passed her to another man like she was a bargaining chip or something or something not worthy of his time.
I can’t believe it took you so long to catch on. Are you such a fool not to realize if I’m not fucking you, then I’m screwing another woman?
Yeah. She’d been too stupid to realize the trust she placed in her husband had been foolish. His cruel words echoed in her head time and time again. They lingered in her mind, eating at her, ripping her apart. They remained there, until the day she realized she was pregnant with Rafe’s baby.
Chapter Thirteen
Courage is being afraid but going on anyhow.
~Dan Rather
Blackstone Ranch
February 7, Saturday
5:00 a.m.
Rafe set his coffee cup aside and fumbled for his cell phone. Earlier, he’d set it on vibrate. The soft buzz pulled his attention from the scrawling on Lacey’s kitchen wall. Distracted from the gruesome scene, he glanced at the screen. Duel.
Duel wouldn’t call, except with bad news.
“Duel?”
“Rafe.” His friend’s voice sounded shaky.
Rafe’s heart plummeted. “What’s wrong? Is it Jace? Is he okay?”
He heard Duel’s hard swallow and sharp intake of breath. “It’s Joseph. He died a few minutes ago.”
“Oh, dear God.” Rafe’s stomach clenched. Nausea bubbled in his gut. He couldn’t breathe for the knot in his lungs. “My God.” His heart felt as if it had just been ripped from his chest. Lacey’s son. Jesus. Tears stung his eyes. He blinked, trying desperately to keep control. He couldn’t do anyone any good if he fell apart. “Jesus. Where’s Danger?”
“He left out of here like a madman. God, Rafe. I think he might have gone a little insane. He blames Lacey for their son’s death.”
“What? How can he blame Lace? Jesus. She couldn’t stop Smitt from doing what he did.”
“I know that. You know that. I don’t think Danger is thinking straight. Hell, he left his new wife here. She’s fuming.”
“Shit, we sure wouldn’t want her upset.” Rafe dragged fingers through his hair. “Forget I said that. It’s none of my business who Danger chose to marry.”
Duel sighed. “I offered her a ride to Rimrock. I told her one of the ranch hands would fly her in the chopper. She agreed to the chopper ride, but declared she’s coming there. She said Blackstone Ranch was her home now, and everyone better get used to her being Danger’s wife, including Danger.”
Rafe bit off an epitaph. In his opinion, Danger deserved Karen Monroe in large doses. He thrust unsteady fingers through his hair. “How can Danger possibly put the blame on Lacey?”
“I don’t know, Rafe. I don’t understand what happened between Lacey and Danger.”
“Karen happened.”
“Did she now? I thought Danger had better taste than that.”
“They fell out of love. People change and they fall out of love.”
Duel snorted. “Man, love sucks. I am never falling into the mouse trap.”
Rafe grunted. “Don’t say never, my friend. Love has a way of sneaking up on a man. It hits you smack in the heart before you know what’s happened.” His breath caught on a hitch. “I’m very sorry about Joseph. This has to be extremely difficult for Danger.”
“I’m sure.”
Rafe frowned. He couldn’t think about Lacey and how all of it was going to damage her, and there was no point dragging Duel into the mess of Lacey and Danger’s turbulent relationship. “This whole thing has been a nightmare for Danger, losing his sister, now Joseph.”
“And Lacey. Where the hell was Danger when all this happened?”
Rafe hesitated. “I’m not sure…work, I guess.”
Getting married!
Rafe bit his tongue to keep from shouting the words and placing the blame squarely on Danger.
Danger was getting married when Lacey was attacked.
He swore softly. If he’d taken Lacey with him in December, none of this would have happened. He couldn’t lay all the blame at Danger’s feet. The man had every right to re-marry if that was what he wanted.
He sure as hell wasn’t going to complain that Lacey was free. He prayed she was alive. That was what mattered now, that and finding her.
As if reading Rafe’s thoughts, Duel echoed, “I suppose it isn’t important where he was. What matters is that we find Lacey. I don’t think Danger’s going to be much use in the search.”
“No.” Rafe barely got the word past his lips. “I’m sure he won’t be. Are you on your way here?”
“I’ll be there in about thirty minutes.”
“Good. I need help solving this damn riddle.”
* * * *
Blackstone Ranch
6:00 a.m.
Duel Remington entered Lacey’s kitchen less than an hour later. Rafe looked up and sighed with relief. He desperately needed the agent’s help, but at the same time, he felt dread, acutely aware that Duel was a neighbor of Danger’s, and a lifelong friend.
He was the intruder here.
But Smitt Davis’s brain was like a sinkhole, dark and deep and empty, except for the dirt in it. Rafe realized he didn’t know the man well enough to play in the mud with him. He couldn’t solve the riddles of his insane mind without Duel’s input. Shit. This had turned into such a frigging nightmare.
Duel froze halfway across the room and looked around, his gaze settling on the wall. “Jesus. The bastard has a lot to answer for. Has Danger seen all this?”
“Unfortunately.”
“Have you seen him? Did he come here from the hospital?”
“Yeah. He showered and changed clothes.”
“Where is he now?”
“He left for town, says he wants to be there early to make funeral arrangements for Joseph. He and Anna Leigh’s husband left here a few minutes ago.”
“So, he’s calmed down some?”
“Like he has ice water in his veins. Calm. Collected. Angry. Pale as death. There’s something wrong with him.”
“Yeah, but getting him to slow down and see a doctor isn’t going to happen anytime soon.” Duel moved closer to the wall and eyed the strange symbols. “The fucker used her blood to paint the wall?”
“Yeah. When he was here, everything was about Lacey. He could have raped Anna Leigh if he wanted or tortured her. Instead, he gut-shot her and left her where she lay.”
“What else did Davis do?”
“It’s what he didn’t do that’s important. He didn’t touch Anna Leigh in any other way. He left her lying on the floor hanging onto life by a thread while he went on with his cold-blooded plans and tortured Lacey. All his rage was directed on Lacey, except…something about Joseph made him angry.”
“The baby must have done something to enrage him. What?” Duel asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe he was crying? Screaming? He might have been sleeping when the attack on Lacey started. Maybe the sound of the gunshots woke him. Mom doesn’t come to him, so he starts crying. Then Anna Leigh shows up and pow! Another gunshot sets the kid to screaming. Smitt’s already enraged at Lacey. He loses all control and attacks Joseph, then he returns to Lacey and finishes what he came here to do.”
“That sounds like Smitt. All his time and attention focused on what he’s doing at the time.”
&nbs
p; “He wasn’t in a hurry,” Rafe said.
“Did he rape Lacey?”
“No. I don’t know. I don’t think he did, not in the conventional way you mean. He…uh, shit! He’s insane, you know? He must have had things with him to use to torture her.”
“Jesus,” Duel said quietly. “He always was a perverted fuck.”
“She’s pregnant.”
“What? Who? Lacey? How do you know?”
“Danger told me, but I already figured.” Rafe thought it best to have everything out in the open.
“Why would you already—?” Duel held up his hand. “Aw, shit. No. I don’t wanna know, Rafe. Don’t tell me anymore.”
“I’m not going to hide what’s between Lacey and me. I love her. It’s not something I can conceal anymore. I don’t want to even if I could.”
“It’s your baby?”
Rafe stared at him tightlipped.
“You don’t have to answer. I see it on your face. I thought you said it was Karen who came between them.”
“It was.”
Duel snorted. “Somehow I doubt that. Lacey—”
“Don’t.” Rafe raked fingers through his hair. “Don’t judge her. Danger slept with Karen long before I ever touched Lacey.”
“Sonofabitch!”
“You don’t know what happened between us.”
“The hell I don’t! You fucked her. She fucked you. You both fucked over Danger. No wonder he wanted a divorce.”
“It wasn’t like that.”
“You’re saying you forced her to have sex with you?”
“No. Of course I didn’t rape her. I love her, for Christ’s sake. It’s just that our relationship isn’t a typical relationship. We didn’t jump into an affair. I spent one night with her. Before you say anything more, I plan to marry Lacey. I want her for my wife. I want this baby we made together, more than I can say.”
“Don’t you think we have to find her first, before you start making wedding plans?”
Rafe scowled at Duel’s obvious sarcasm. “Yes. And find her alive. Look, man, I don’t expect you to be my best friend, and I’m not asking for your blessing. Things just happened between us, but I’m not sorry. I didn’t break up their marriage. It was already dead.”
Duel held up a hand. “Okay. What’s between Lacey and you is your business, but you need to understand, I’ve known Danger for years. This is his home.”
“I know that.”
“Just so you know. It’s going to get awful uncomfortable if you and Lacey decide to settle in Rimrock. ”
“We won’t live here. There’s nothing left here for Lacey. If she’ll have me, I’ll take her away from here. We’ll live in Texas.”
“Yeah. I think it’d be best.”
“Unless she wants to live here. Since I plan on spoiling her, I guess I’ll have to let her have her way. Wherever she wants to live, it’s her choice. Just so you know.”
“Shit! Okay. Now that we’ve cleared the air, let’s see if we can figure out what this mess on the wall means and nail this fucker.”
“I hope you have better luck at deciphering this crap than I’ve had,” Rafe said, ignoring the fatigue weighing him down.
Duel faced the wall. Frowning, he rubbed his chin. “Hmm, that looks like a pig,” he said, pointing to one of the drawings. “A pig in a pen.”
“Yup. That’s what I thought, too, but it’s just plain crazy. Do you have any idea of the significance of a pig to Smitt Davis? What it means?”
“I have no idea, except, hmm….” Duel scratched his jaw. “Smitt’s grandma kept a big hog in a pen behind their house when Smitt was a kid. She used to threaten to feed him to it when he misbehaved.”
“Good God. Can you imagine a little kid with that kind of threat hanging over his head? He’d be scared shitless.”
“Yeah.” Duel frowned. “As I recall, Smitt was terrified of that big old hog. The hog must have some importance to him. It looks as if the figure outside the pen is a young boy carrying a bucket of scraps to feed to the pig, only the scraps…” he squinted, “are human parts, legs, arms, feet, hands. Jesus. You got a magnifying glass?”
“Yeah. Hang on.” Rafe rummaged through a kit he always carried for crime scenes and handed Duel the glass. “What is it?”
“Did you see the writing on the legs and arms?”
Rafe stepped closer. “No. I didn’t. I thought it was blood running down the body parts.”
“Hell, no. He’s written Mommy on them.”
“What? Jesus Christ. What a warped mind.”
Duel handed the glass to Rafe. “Take a look, but I’m pretty sure that’s what he wrote.”
“Why would he write Mommy on the body parts?”
“I have no idea, but…wait!” Duel snapped his fingers. He rubbed a hand across his chin. “Surely…not.”
“What? Did you think of something?”
Duel nodded. “I’d all but forgotten—Smitt’s mother disappeared years ago. The old lady always said she took off with some rodeo cowboy and never came back home. What if—”
“What?” Rafe frowned. “What if…what?”
“I don’t know.” Duel paced. “I’m thinking and my thoughts are crazy, way out there. What if the old woman murdered her daughter and…” Duel’s voice trailed away at the gruesome thought.
“And?”
“I don’t know. Something’s niggling at my mind.” Duel snatched up the stack of pictures off the table of the crime scene. “Have you looked at these?
“No, not yet.”
“Mommy. There’s the word plain as anything. See here?”
“This is the first time I’ve looked at these new photos. They were dropped off a few minutes before you arrived.”
Duel returned to the wall. “Here, the boy is walking, but as he walks, he’s growing, becoming an adult. There, he’s carrying a woman in his arms. Hell, that’s it! He tossed her into a well. Sonofabitch! He threw Lacey into the well.”
“The well?”
“Yes. There’s an old open well on the backside of the Davis property. Smitt used to kill small animals and throw them in it to hide his crimes. That’s what he did with Lacey. She’s nothing better than an animal to him. Trash to get rid of once he finished with her.”
“Fucking bastard! Do you know where the well is?”
“Yes. It’s been years, but yeah, I think I can find it. Are we gonna wait on Danger to get back?”
“Hell no! It could be hours. Lacey might not have that much time. Will you show me where the well is?”
“Of course. Let’s go.”
“We’ll need rope.”
“No problem,” Duel said. “There’s plenty of rope in my Jeep. We’ll stop by Dancing Star and get the chopper. It’ll be faster, and I can fly her to Havre to the hospital.”
“Good. Blankets. If Lacey’s alive, we’ll need blankets.”
“I know where she keeps them,” Duel replied. “I’ll get some from the hall closet. I think we should call Danger.”
Rafe hesitated. “Call him, but I don’t think he’ll join us.”
“Why not?”
“Like you said, he blames Lacey for Joseph’s death. He hates her, Duel. He won’t help us rescue her or help search for her body, whichever the case may be.”
“I’m calling him. He knows Lacey isn’t to blame for Joseph’s death. It’s crazy that he’d even think it.”
“Come on. You can call from the Jeep. Every minute counts. She’s the one I’m concerned about, not Danger.”
Duel gathered blankets and shoved them in Rafe’s arms. He yanked his cell phone from the leather case hooked to the waistband of his jeans and hit speed dial as he followed closely behind Rafe. “I’m concerned about both of them.”
“He won’t come, Duel.”
“We’ll see. Yes. Hey, Danger, I wanted to let you know Rafe and I figured out the drawings. We know where Smitt put Lacey. What? Huh. I…uh…see. Okay. We’ll meet you in Havre at the hospit
al.”
Duel snapped the phone closed and shoved it back in its holder.
“Well?” Rafe arched a brow in question.
“He’s too busy to be bothered with Lacey right now.”
“What’s he doing?”
“Having breakfast with Karen, then he has some other things more important to do. He’ll meet us at the hospital in Havre when he has time.”
Rafe clenched his jaw. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Fourteen
Killing someone is just like walking outdoors. If I wanted a victim, I’d just go get one…I didn’t even consider a person a human being.
Henry Lee Lucas
(Serial Killer)
Davis Property
February 7, Saturday.
6:00 a.m.
“You still alive down there, bitch?”
The voice! She knew that voice. Lacey’s eyelids fluttered open. The voice from her nightmares. Was she dreaming? Maybe her imagination was playing tricks on her. As she dragged her mind out of the nightmare fog she found comforting, her heart raced with terror.
Oh, God. Where was she? Where had he put her?
Gray shadows twisted around her, silent and threatening. It wasn’t quite as dark as it had been when she awoke before.
Imagination was a crazy thing. She saw shadows, images that appeared threatening. She heard his voice, that cold, uncaring voice, but sometimes the voice sounded like Danger’s. She didn’t know what was real or her imagination. Lacey whimpered. “Please don’t let him be real,” she whispered. “Let it all be a dream. A dream—”
“So they haven’t found your rotting corpse yet? How do you like it down there in my well?”
Lacey stifled a moan. Oh, God! No! He was back! He was real. Real. She tried to hold her breath, but it hurt too much.
“I know you’re still alive down there, cunt. I know you’re breathin.’ I see those pretty tits I sucked heaving like a smoke stack. Did you miss me? Are you lonely? Maybe I should come down there and fuck you. Would you like that? Yeah, I think you’d like it.”
Lacey choked back a cry. What did he want?
Too Close To The Fire/Too Hot To Handle (Montana Men 3) Page 25
