Ambushed!

by B. J Daniels

  But her real worry was for Cash. She knew she wouldn’t be able to sit still until he came back. Just let him be safe. Let him catch the killer. Let him finally be free of Jasmine. Let Vince and Angel be caught. Let this be over.

  But then he will also be free of you.

  Right.

  She told herself he would be back soon. In the meantime what she needed was brownies. She started to go into the kitchen to find them when she heard another creak of a floorboard upstairs.

  Could it be one of the cops Mathews left to protect her? Cash had searched the house and if she knew him, had double-checked to make sure all the doors and windows were locked.

  Unless someone had been in the house and he’d missed them. After all, he had been looking for two men: Vince and Angel.

  She listened and heard nothing. It was an old house. Old houses creaked and groaned. She was just being paranoid. Still, she waited. Not a sound.

  Brownies. She needed brownies. And a glass of milk. Comfort food. She glanced at the clock and prayed Cash would be back soon. In only a few days everything had changed for her. Where she had once always loved the idea of not knowing where she was going or what she would do when she got there, that life now had little appeal.

  She didn’t feel the need to hit the road. In fact, dreaded the thought of leaving here. Leaving Cash.

  What would he do when she was gone? Start over. Just as she would have to do.

  She wandered into the kitchen, not surprised to find the brownies on the counter, covered in plastic with a note taped on top.

  “Thought you might need these. Take care of yourself until I get back. Cash.”

  “Don’t you even think about crying,” she warned herself as she cut a brownie, took a bite, then put it down to open the fridge to get the milk.

  The note made her feel better. That and the brownie. As she pulled the milk carton from the fridge, she heard the sound of a footfall.

  Only this time it wasn’t upstairs. This time, it was right behind her.

  She spun around with the milk carton in her hand, two thoughts crowding together. Run! Scream!

  But she didn’t get the chance to do either. The milk carton hit the kitchen floor, burst. Milk pooled on the floor like fresh blood as she stared at the barrel of the gun pointed at her heart.

  “Don’t make a sound or I’ll kill you.”

  THE ROAD OUT TO the old Trayton place seemed farther than usual. Cash couldn’t think about anything but Molly. He hated leaving her. Even with three armed guards. It was all he could do not to tell Mathews to turn the car around and take him back. He had a bad feeling, one he couldn’t shake.

  “You all right?” Mathews said with a sideways glance.

  “Just worried about Molly,” he said.

  “She’s in good hands. Anyway, I have a feeling that is one woman who can take care of herself.”

  Cash fell silent. He didn’t doubt Mathews’s words. But the past few days he’d fallen into the habit of taking care of her. It was a habit he didn’t want to break.

  He remembered that he hadn’t heard back from Frank. Molly could be wanted for just about anything. She could be facing criminal charges and a long prison term. He closed his eyes to the thought.

  He felt Mathews turn off on the back road, one that the killer shouldn’t know about. The old barn wasn’t far off the main highway, easily seen by anyone looking for a place to hide a car. Or a body.

  The patrol car slowed, then stopped. Mathews turned off the engine and the lights. They sat for moment in the darkness, then Cash heard him pop the trunk. He opened his door and got out, Mathews doing the same.

  They were on the far side of the farm, hidden by a small hill. From here they would walk.

  Cash followed him around to the trunk. Mathews reached in and took out two shotguns. He handed one to Cash along with a look. He was touched by Mathews trust in him—but if things went badly tonight, heads would roll.

  After tonight, he would tell Mathews everything. He just hoped he wouldn’t lose his job over it. But with luck, Jasmine’s killer would be behind bars after tonight. Her body recovered and laid to rest. His name cleared. And Molly? He just prayed that she would be safe until he returned. And she would be as long as Vince and Angel didn’t realize they’d been duped and doubled back.

  With any luck, a highway patrolman already had the two men in custody.

  Cash took the shotgun Mathews handed him. He also had his service revolver.

  “Ready?” Mathews asked.

  He nodded and Mathews softly closed the trunk.

  They walked up over the hill through the dark night. Clouds scudded overhead covering the moon. A few stars glittered through the clouds. They moved quickly, taking advantage of the lack of moonlight.

  Below them, the lake’s surface was hammered pewter. Cash could smell the water. A restless breeze rustled the cottonwoods as they moved along the north shore.

  Ahead, he could make out a dark smudge on the horizon, beyond it, the broken, jagged roof of the old barn where Jasmine’s car had been found.

  Cash heard the sound of the vehicle at the same instant Mathews did. They both stopped to listen, their gazes meeting in the darkness. Someone was coming up the road toward the old farm. Someone driving with his headlights off.

  Cash moved quickly toward the stand of pines from where they would have a good view of the barn and the rest of the farm. Overhead, the clouds parted. A shaft of moonlight beamed down as they ducked into the darkness of the pines, disappearing from view.

  The sound of the engine rumbled as the vehicle drove along the bumpy road. Every once in a while, Cash would catch the flicker of brake lights as the driver slowly moved on the rutted road.

  Mathews looked over at him as he heard the vehicle stop, the sound of the engine dying into silence. The night settled around them. Cash could see the dark shape of the car but couldn’t tell the make.

  He realized he was holding his breath. A car door opened and then closed quietly. Someone stepped away from the vehicle, just a shadow of a figure moving through the darkness, headed directly toward them. A man. He was carrying a shovel.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Molly didn’t feel the milk carton slip from her fingers, didn’t hear it hit the floor and burst open, didn’t notice the spray soak the hem of her jeans.

  She stared at the gun in Patty Franklin’s hand, her mind telling her This isn’t happening.

  Jasmine’s former roommate smiled. “Surprised to see me, Jasmine?”

  “Patty, I’m not—”

  “Don’t even bother. You might be able to fool the others but remember me? What did I hear you tell Bernard one time, that I was ‘dumb as dirt and just as interesting’? But there is an advantage to being invisible. No one notices me so I hear and see things, Jasmine.”

  Molly’s mind raced. It didn’t make any sense. Molly had been so sure that the killer would go to the farm, check Jasmine’s grave, not chance another murder until he was sure. Cash would never have left her if he thought there was any chance the killer would come here.

  Because Patty wasn’t the killer. She’d just come here, angry at Jasmine. But how had she gotten past the three men guarding the house?

  Patty smiled as if reading her mind. “I was in the house all the time. Your boyfriend didn’t even see me. Another benefit of being small and mousy. I practically blend into the wallpaper.”

  So she hadn’t even heard about the search being called off at the farm. Had she heard about the plan? “Cash and the state investigator will be back soon.”

  Patty smiled. “I don’t think so. I would imagine they’re out at the farm waiting for Jasmine’s killer to show them where she’s buried.”

  So she had heard the plan. She knew Cash and Mathews wouldn’t be back, probably for a long time. “But there are three men outside,” Molly said.

  “And if you try to alert them I will kill you before you and I have our talk,” Patty said. “And in case you
really do have amnesia and don’t remember, I’m an exceptional shot with a gun. I’m just not as good with a rock.”

  A rock? Shock rippled through her. Molly’s blood ran cold at the thought of Jasmine’s head injury. “You killed Jasmine?”

  “I’m starting to believe that you don’t remember what we said to each other that night in the Dew Drop Inn parking lot before I killed you the first time,” Patty said.

  Distracting Patty would be next to impossible. The woman seemed unshakable. Time might be the only chance Molly had. Maybe Cash and Mathews could come back for some reason. “I told you I don’t remember because—”

  “Because you aren’t Jasmine. You even fooled the sheriff and the state investigator. I saw you with your suitcase earlier. You just got rid of them so you could take off again.”

  Molly groaned. Nothing she could say to Patty would convince her she wasn’t Jasmine. She saw it clearly now, the reason Patty hadn’t gone out to the grave. Patty wanted her to be Jasmine, wanted her to be alive—so she could kill her again.

  That’s why she wasn’t worried about the three men outside. The moment Patty pulled the trigger they would come busting in here. She couldn’t possibly get away with this. But she didn’t care.

  Patty’s expression was that of a woman about to commit murder. There was little emotion in the single-minded way Patty held the gun. No wavering. She didn’t even seem nervous. What she seemed was determined. Patty had come here to kill her. Plain and simple.

  “It’s over,” Patty said. “But at least this time I will make sure I take you with me. This time you’re going to stay dead.”

  “Jasmine is dead, Patty. You’re making a terrible mistake. You killed her the first time. If you kill me it will be for nothing. Jasmine’s wherever you buried her.”

  “I didn’t bury you,” Patty said. “I just left you behind the steering wheel of your car. I checked your pulse. I was so sure you were dead.”

  Molly stared at her. “Then how did the car end up in a barn outside of Antelope Flats?”

  “I have no idea. Why don’t you tell me? Didn’t you put it there to frame the sheriff?”

  Molly’s head was spinning. None of this made any sense.

  “I wish I’d pushed your car off a cliff instead of just leaving it in front of the bar,” Patty said. “It would have made things so much easier.”

  “What bar?”

  “The Dew Drop Inn, of course.” Patty cocked her head. “Don’t tell me you can’t remember what we fought about.”

  “In case you really care, my name is Molly Kilpatrick.” Molly tried to remember what was on the kitchen counter behind her. “My father was killed after a diamond heist in Hollywood.” Back when she worked with her father she could have recalled everything that was there in the proper placement. But she was out of practice. “I’m pretending to be Jasmine because there are two killers after me.”

  “I heard that story when I was listening on the stairs,” Patty said.

  “It’s true.” Molly inched back toward the kitchen counter, praying there was something she could use to defend herself. But she couldn’t imagine what, especially against a gun. “My father hid the diamonds and now his partners just got out of prison and think I know where the diamonds are. They plan to kill me.”

  “They aren’t going to get the chance if you move again,” Patty said, no emotion in her voice. “Even if these two killers existed, I will shoot you first.”

  Molly froze, seeing she meant it. “So tell me what it was you and Jasmine fought about the night you killed her.”

  Patty smiled. “I have some things to say to you, Jasmine. Last time you did all the talking until I shut you up with that rock. This time, I’ll do the talking.” Patty glared at her. “Since you don’t remember…I was waiting for you when you came out of the bar. You’d just had a big fight with someone. Either your brother or Kerrington since I knew you’d been with them. Whoever it was had shoved you. You’d hit your head. It was bleeding. You were in one of your foul moods. I noticed when I was waiting that one of the headlights on that new car you were so proud of was out and when I got closer, I saw that the right front fender was smashed. I asked you what had happened, but you said you didn’t have time for my ‘mindless prattle.’”

  Patty took a breath, shifted from one foot to the other, her eyes a little glazed as if lost in the past. But Molly knew that before she could move, Patty could get off several shots at this close range.

  “You were furious because the sheriff had crashed his pickup into your brand new expensive car,” Patty continued. “I loved it. Finally someone had stood up to you. He’d caught you with Kerrington. All your games with him were over. He threatened to go to your father if you didn’t take back that announcement you’d made about being engaged to him. You were beside yourself. No one walked away from you. You’d get him back. You’d show him. Then you’d break him. And Kerrington, too. You’d found out that Kerrington wasn’t just dating Sandra but that he’d gotten her pregnant and was going to have to marry her. You were going to destroy both of them, too.”

  Molly felt sick. Had Jasmine really been that vicious? “Jasmine must have been nice some time. Otherwise, why did any of you put up with her?” For a moment Molly didn’t think she was going to answer her.

  “You were nice at first. You did these little thoughtful things like buy us a pair of earrings or bring us a latte. You seemed to care.” Her voice took on a bitter edge. “You got us to tell you our deepest, darkest secrets, things we’d never told anyone, and later, when you turned on us and used those secrets against us, you always managed to come off as the victim, the one who was so hurt that we would think you would ever do anything like that.”

  Molly felt a cold chill skitter up her spine. What horrible thing had she done to this woman to push her to this point? “What did I do to you?”

  “I loved him.” Patty’s voice broke. It was the first emotion Molly had seen and she knew she’d hit a nerve.

  “Kerrington?”

  Patty’s headed snapped back in surprise. “No. Bernard.”

  “Bernard?” Molly couldn’t have been more shocked.

  Patty was looking at her strangely. “You really don’t remember.” She gripped the gun a little tighter. “You said you would talk to him about me.” Her eyes shone brightly in the kitchen light. “You said you would tell him the good things about me.”

  Molly could see what was coming.

  Patty’s eyes brimmed with tears. “When he asked me out, I was so excited. You did my hair and makeup. You said I looked beautiful. You said he wouldn’t be able to resist me, once he saw me, once he got to know me.”

  Molly felt her own tears. She didn’t want to hear anymore. “I’m so sorry, Patty.”

  But Patty wasn’t listening. She was reliving the humiliation of that night, a humiliation Molly didn’t even want to imagine.

  A sob escaped Patty’s lips. She choked back another. “It was all a joke. On me. A big laugh for you.”

  Molly saw her fingers tighten again on the gun and knew she didn’t have much time now. Could one of the men outside get in fast enough to save her if she screamed and dove for the door?

  Something moved behind Patty. A stealth shadow. Cash had come back? Or maybe one of the guards had come in to check on her?

  Except the doors were all locked. So were the windows. Whoever had come in either had a key. Or…Molly felt her pulse jump. Or had broken into the house.

  The shadow moved closer just behind Patty, drawing Molly’s attention. Patty saw Molly’s eyes dart to a spot over her shoulder. She swung, trying to bring the gun around, but before she could fire a shot, Angel was on her, wrenching the gun from her hand.

  Patty cried out and dropped to her knees. Angel stuck the weapon into the waist of his pants and put a knife to Patty’s throat, but his eyes were on Molly as if daring her to move.

  “Looks like it was a good thing we came back when we did, Vince,” Angel s
aid.

  FROM THE STAND OF PINES, Cash froze as he watched the figure move through the darkness toward them, carrying the shovel.

  Cash could sense Mathews next to him, thinking no doubt the same thing he was. What if the body was buried in the pines where they stood?

  They didn’t dare move, didn’t hardly breathe for fear whoever was coming toward them would see or hear them and take off.

  The man appeared as a silhouette against the horizon. He walked awkwardly across the uneven ground in the pitch blackness of the cloudy night, the shovel in his right hand.

  Just when Cash knew they would be discovered if the man came any closer, he stopped just inside the pine grove, picked up a large rock and threw it aside. Cash heard the sound of metal scrape dirt as the man began to dig.

  Cash silently let out the breath he’d been holding, his relief almost as great as his grief. Finally, Jasmine would be found. Whatever Jasmine had done in her life, she deserved to be put to rest. Cash leaned back against the tree to wait.

  The digging stopped. The man threw down the shovel and knelt on the ground.

  Beside Cash, Mathews motioned it was time. They moved in quickly, weapons drawn.

  If the grave digger heard them coming, he didn’t have time to react. Cash sprung from the trees, covering the short distance in a matter of a few strides, the shotgun in his hands.

  The man was kneeling on one knee next to the grave. Cash pressed the end of the shotgun barrel against the man’s right ear. “Freeze! Police!”

  Mathews flicked on his flashlight and shone it into the man’s face, then into the partially opened grave, the light ricocheting off a skull.

  Kerrington blinked, blinded by the light. He let out a sound like a sob and dropped to his other knee. “It isn’t what you think,” he cried. “I didn’t kill her. I swear to God, she didn’t fall hard enough to kill her.”